Music Blog

AND THAT’S A WRAP!

Nancy's Notes 🖊️🎶

Today at Song Lyric Sunday, Jim is asking us to choose a song that was recorded in one take. Ok, let’s do it!

In my mind, I can’t imagine anyone not being a Beatles fan …. not to the exclusion of all other bands, mind you …. just an ordinary fan. With that thought in mind, I’m sure you’re all eager to know that the Beatles recorded not one but four songs in one take. The amazing thing about that is the lead singer for each of the four songs was a different Beatle!

Let’s see which four songs were recorded in just one take and who sang which song:

On February 11, 1963, Ringo took lead vocals for the first time on “Boys”, a hit song for the Shirelles written in 1960 by Luther Dixon and Wes Farrell. As usual, Ringo also played the drums. On that day the Beatles recorded ten songs for the first album “Please Please Me”, which was released on March 22, 1963.

Next up is Paul. On March 1, 1964, he did his greatest Little Richard impression on “Long Tall Sally” with George Martin joining in on piano. The song was written by session musician Henry Strzelecki and originally released in 1959. The Beatles version was released on June 1, 1964 on a 4-song EP that included “Matchbox’, “I Call Your Name” and “Slow Down”.

On October 18, 1964, George sang lead on a cover of the Carl Perkins song “Everybody’s Trying To Be My Baby”, originally written way back in 1936 by Rex Griffin. The take was so well done, there was no need for another. That was a very productive recording session, with the Beatles completing three songs in just five takes!

The last of the songs is one by John singing “Rock and Roll Music”, which Chuck Berry wrote and recorded in 1957. George Martin once again joined in on the piano (as he often did); it was such a clean and crisp recording, only one take was needed.

Nothing new here for the Beatles; they had performed all these songs in their Hamburg days so the group was used to playing them. Yes, you’re right if you’re saying “But, Nancy … Ringo wasn’t in Hamburg – Pete Best was the Beatles drummer back then“. And I would reply that Ringo had sung “Boys” with his previous band so it was only natural that he be given the lead for that song again with the Beatles. These songs were also Rock & Roll or Rockabilly covers – a genre the Beatles loved to listen to and play, which they did with extreme ease.

Many people mistakenly believe that the Beatles routinely recorded songs in one take when in reality it happened only four times in their entire career. Let’s listen to my favorite of the four “one take” songs …. John’s version of “Rock and Roll Music” from “Beatles For Sale”.

Rock And Roll Music (Remastered 2009)
The Beatles
Beatles For Sale

Written by: ChuckBerry
Recorded: October 18, 1964
Producer: George Martin
Engineer: Norman Smith
Released: December 4, 1964 (UK), December 15, 1961 (US)
Available on:
Beatles For Sale
Anthology 2
Live At The BBC

Personnel
John Lennon: vocals, rhythm guitar, piano
Paul McCartney: bass guitar, piano
George Harrison: acoustic guitar
Ringo Starr: drums
George Martin: piano

One and Done

Thanks to Jim for another great prompt in Song Lyric Sunday. I’m looking forward to seeing what other great songs were recorded in just one take.

NAR © 2023

40 thoughts on “AND THAT’S A WRAP!”

    1. I think that just goes to show that the Beatles music has such a complexity to it, even they didn’t get it right the first time around! That, and the fact that they were perfectionists resulted in everything requiring multiple takes.
      Thanks for your thoughts, Lisa!

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    1. Haha! That’s funny and very timely, too.
      I was looking over an old list of names …. people who I’d sent Christmas cards to. I can’t tell you how many times I came across a name and said “Who the fuck is that??” At one time they were important enough to receive a card; now I don’t even remember who they are! 😂

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  6. I share your love of Beatles music and the tracks you feature never fail please, any ol’ way you choose them! I’d never given any thought to how many takes there were before hitting the wrap button. Interesting! I’ll think of this next time it takes me 10 or more attempts to record an audio!

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    1. I believe there’s a fair amount of controversy over that, Jim. I did a lot of research on that song and I can say that I’m sure it was recorded in two takes. Here now I am quoting directly from “The Beatles Bible”. You’ll find the definitive answer in the second-to-last sentence of George Martin’s quote:

      Twist And Shout was recorded on 11 February 1963 after 10pm, the time the Please Please Me album session was scheduled to have ended. Producer George Martin wanted a show-stopper with which to close the album, and he had just one song in mind.

      “I knew that ‘Twist And Shout’ was a real larynx-tearer and I said, ‘We’re not going to record that until the very end of the day, because if we record it early on, you’re not going to have any voice left.’ So that was the last thing we did that night. We did two takes, and after that John didn’t have any voice left at all. It was good enough for the record, and it needed that linen-ripping sound.”
      George Martin
      Anthology

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  10. Funny that with such great song writers all of the one-takers are cover tunes… Actually, in the early days the biggest thing going for them was their energy and George Martin wanted to get the energy of their live shows on the albums. I’m a little surprised that there were only four and they were a little later than the Please Please Me album… (except Boys)

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    1. Thanks for your comments, Trent. I agree 100%.
      The familiarity of these tunes made it much easier for the guys to get them done in one take, having performed them so many times before. When they finally got into writing their own stuff, that’s when it took a little more time and a few more takes to get it right. There are some fabulous Rick Beato videos about the complexity of Beatles tunes and they’re all available on YouTube. You might want to check them out; they’re great fun and Rick is a living, breathing music encyclopedia! Here’s one:

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