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[Hello Goodbye]

Every Little Thing

Every Little Thing was written by Paul McCartney at the Asher home at 57 Wimpole Street where he had taken up residence while dating Jane Asher.  He hoped it would be released as a single to follow the very successful song A Hard Day's Night and played it for Brian Epstein during The Beatles 1964 American tour.  During the Beatles For Sale sessions, there was much debate as to what their next single would be and ultimately John's I Feel Fine was selected.
 
Every Little Thing was recorded in nine takes on 29-30 September 1964 and released in the UK on 4 December 1964 on the Beatles For Sale LP...
 

The Beatles - Every Little Thing [Mono] (Beatles For Sale)

Here in the US, we had to wait until 14 June 1965 to hear it when it was released as the last track on the Beatles VI LP... 

The Beatles - Every Little Thing - LP - Original Mono Mix

All through the year 1964, we had become used to George's distinctive-sounding Rickenbacker 360/12, the twelve-string electric guitar we heard and saw him play in A Hard Day's Night.  But if you listen to the opening riffs of Every Little Thing you can hear that the twelve-string guitar being played differs in tone from the guitar we had become familiar with.  John Lennon asked Rickenbacker to make a custom 12-string version of his solid-body Rickenbacker 325 6-string electric guitar.  So that's John playing lead on his 1964 Rickenbacker 325/12 on Every Little Thing, the only time it would ever appear on a Beatles recording.  George Harrison is playing rhythm guitar on his 1962 Gibson J-160E.






Paul is playing his Hofner 500/1 bass guitar, his bass work being intricate where necessary and loud enough in the mix to be noticed.  And for the first time in a Beatles song we hear two bass parts played simultaneously, something that would become more common in later years.  Paul is playing bass notes on a Steinway upright piano...






Ringo plays timpani to add punctuating one-two flourishes to the refrains...

[Moogmodule]

A great song this one. I think it would have made a worthy single, although I Feel Fine probably had the edge from a commercial standpoint. This one might have just been a bit too laid back.

But I love how it all fits together. The chiming guitar, piano underneath, nice bass and subtle but effective drums. As well as the seductive verse melody beautifully sung by John.

[Klang]

Nice, but not a big fave of mine. Glad that 'I Feel Fine' made the cut. Probably my fave Fab single.

 

[tkitna]

Love the song.  Probably a top 20 of mine and a definite bright spot on 'Beatles For Sale', which was a pretty lackluster album all in all.

[Mr Mustard]

They crafted a little bit of extra magic with this precious little gem, the best track on "Beatles For Sale" and certainly within my Beatles top twenty - maybe even top ten.

I just love everything about it; John's affectionate, vulnerable yet optimistic lead vocal, Paul's confident piano work and vocal harmony, the crisp, twinkling guitar solo, the prominent bass and of course Ringo's dramatic timpani bom-boom all combine to deepen this lyrically charming, romantic love song with a wonderfully brooding, dark-clouded emotional backdrop. It's the musical equivalent of sunshine gleaming through a thundery shower; a beautifully layered piece greatly enhanced by the care and attention to detail given to it.

Supposedly written by McCartney, though I don't recall seeing its authorship claimed in any interviews? I'd love to hear Paul's recollections of this track - specifically why he handed the lead vocal to John?

[Hombre_de_ningun_lugar]

Love this song, probably my favorite from Beatles For Sale.

I know that Paul was trying to write the next single, but the song was dismissed even by himself. Actually, in the liner notes of the LP, the songs that were mentioned as alternative candidates for single releasing were "Eight Days A Week", "I'm A Loser" and "No Reply".

[Dcazz]

I always liked this song. I didn't know about the guitars. I always find it interesting to learn something new!

[Hello Goodbye]

I always liked this song. I didn't know about the guitars. I always find it interesting to learn something new!

A couple of pictures of John and his Rickenbacker 325/12, Dave...

[Bobber]

The more I know about this album, the more I see the difference between the covers and the own compositions on this album.
With the exception of Kansas City/Hey Hey Hey Hey and maybe Rock And Roll Music, I could very well do without the cover versions. The Beatles own compositions on the other hand are almost all brilliant. Two were revisited from earlier years -I'll Follow The Sun and What You're Doing- and it shows, the rest is pure quality to my ears and some of the nicest and interesting stuff The Beatles recorder. No Reply, I'm Loser, Baby's In Black, Eight Days A Week, Every Little Thing and I Don't Want To Spoil The Party are among their best work in my opinion.

[oldbrownshoe]

I'm getting a fresh copy (one of the 1988 CDs) of 'Beatles For Sale' on its 50th Anniversary on Thursday, 4th December.
I got to thinking that if Apple are doing precisely diddly squat I might as well invent my own 'releases'!

'Every Little Thing' is one of those relatively obscure Beatle gems that, mercifully, hasn't been overplayed on the radio.
Definitely in my Fabs' Top 40, it reached an alarmingly low position of joint 152 (152!!!!!!) in the Beatles Monthly Poll of June 1983 with only 48 votes.

Mind you it was in good company as it was sandwiched between 'Carry That Weight' and 'The End'!

[Mr Mustard]

The more I know about this album, the more I see the difference between the covers and the own compositions on this album.
With the exception of Kansas City/Hey Hey Hey Hey and maybe Rock And Roll Music, I could very well do without the cover versions. The Beatles own compositions on the other hand are almost all brilliant. Two were revisited from earlier years -I'll Follow The Sun and What You're Doing- and it shows, the rest is pure quality to my ears and some of the nicest and interesting stuff The Beatles recorder. No Reply, I'm Loser, Baby's In Black, Eight Days A Week, Every Little Thing and I Don't Want To Spoil The Party are among their best work in my opinion.

Interesting how we all have our own little predilections within an album... for me the standout cover version here is "Words Of Love" with its ringing guitars and those wonderfully sumptuous vocal harmonies from John & Paul... "Rock And Roll Music" is good too; the rest I can live without.

But with regards to the originals, "What You're Doing" will forever be the sister track to "Every Little Thing" as far as I'm concerned. I always find it hard to think of one without the other - not sure why... the shared feature of ominous drums perhaps, or the similar darkly brooding undercurrent maybe? Who knows. Whatever it is, it makes "What You're Doing" a reasonably close second as my preferred album track to be honest. I put my dislike of "I Don't Want To Spoil The Party" (never been fond of it) down to its irritating presence between my two favourites!

But the real mystery to me with "Beatles For Sale" is the popularity within the group themselves of "Baby's In Black" - surely one of the most morbid, wailing dirges The Beatles ever came up with, yet it featured with baffling (to me) regularity as part of their live set. Must have been fun to play or something?

 

[Hello Goodbye]

They saved the best for last on Beatles VI.  I think this is one of the nicest love songs ever written.

Here's how John and George played their guitar parts...

Beatles - Every Little Thing Guitar Secrets

A Rickenbacker 360/12 is used here.

[Ollier]

Good song that.

[Hello Goodbye]

But with regards to the originals, "What You're Doing" will forever be the sister track to "Every Little Thing" as far as I'm concerned.

[Moogmodule]

Interesting how we all have our own little predilections within an album... for me the standout cover version here is "Words Of Love" with its ringing guitars and those wonderfully sumptuous vocal harmonies from John & Paul... "Rock And Roll Music" is good too; the rest I can live without

I've always liked Words of Love. I think it's one of their best recorded covers.

I find most of the covers otherwise in the album disposable.

Isn't george somewhere vocally on words of love? I seem to hear him. There's a middle and very low part neither of which sound like Paul to me.

[Mr Mustard]

A picture paints a thousand words HG! 

Jane was Paul's muse for sure... and I still think "Every Little Thing"/"What You're Doing" are the yin/yang dynamic of their relationship:

ELT the buoyant, romantic optimism and affectionate appreciation - gratitude even - for the up side...

WYD the anguished, wounded despair for the rejection and spite of the down side...

The pair of songs together give a perfect "can't live without her/can't put up with her" seesaw perspective to their intense relationship. So rare for Paul to open up like this rather than hide behind his imaginary characters posting letters and picking up rice and so on.

Meanwhile (on "Beatles For Sale") in the middle of all this there's a maudlin drunk pacing around the kitchen muttering about his girl who's stormed out of the party. Go and find her then and leave us with the fascinating hot/cold emotions of these two great tracks!!

[Hello Goodbye]

A similar pair of songs are on Revolver - Here, There And Everywhere and For No One.

Rubber Soul had two songs on the "down side;" You Won't See Me and I'm Looking Through You, the latter toned down from its original delivery...

The Beatles - "I'm Looking Through You"

I eventually got a piano of my own up in the top garret. Very artistic. That was the piano that I fell out of bed and got the chords to Yesterday on. I dreamed it when I was staying there. I wrote quite a lot of stuff up in that room actually. I'm Looking Through You I seem to remember after an argument with Jane. There were a few of those moments.

Paul McCartney
Many Years From Now, Barry Miles

[Moogmodule]

A picture paints a thousand words HG! 

Jane was Paul's muse for sure... and I still think "Every Little Thing"/"What You're Doing" are the yin/yang dynamic of their relationship:

ELT the buoyant, romantic optimism and affectionate appreciation - gratitude even - for the up side...

WYD the anguished, wounded despair for the rejection and spite of the down side...

The pair of songs together give a perfect "can't live without her/can't put up with her" seesaw perspective to their intense relationship. So rare for Paul to open up like this rather than hide behind his imaginary characters posting letters and picking up rice and so on.

Meanwhile (on "Beatles For Sale") in the middle of all this there's a maudlin drunk pacing around the kitchen muttering about his girl who's stormed out of the party. Go and find her then and leave us with the fascinating hot/cold emotions of these two great tracks!!

Oh I don't know Mr M. Couldn't you consider it a mini Rock Opera. Starts off all great I'm so lucky, moves onto drunken stalking and finishing with a plaintive cry asking what she's doing to him.

[Mr Mustard]

Oh I don't know Mr M. Couldn't you consider it a mini Rock Opera. Starts off all great I'm so lucky, moves onto drunken stalking and finishing with a plaintive cry asking what she's doing to him.

I'm liking it Moog, I'm liking it...

Finally his lottery ticket comes up with all six numbers... he sees her for the manipulative b**** she always was and with all the girls in the neighbourhood now throwing themselves at him he realises the shy girl who wouldn't take his phone calls and hid behind the curtains when he called around (making him feel like a no-hoper) at the start of the opera was the right one for him all along... so they finally overcome their awkwardness and hook up together with all the other girls looking on in envy...

cue George to close the show! 

[Dcazz]

A couple of pictures of John and his Rickenbacker 325/12, Dave...

Thanks, I knew he had one of these as they showed it in Beatles Gear but I didn't know he used it in a song. I must say I've always thought the rhythm was strong in this song. Go George!