A discarded idea from an album ended up being used to “comply with the schedule” on the next album and was hated by John Lennon
Not every artist can maintain a high level at all times in their career. Even the Beatles.
A not exactly brilliant song by the group is not considered so good by the main author himself, Paul McCartneywhile John Lennon hated her. The song in question was recorded for the debut album, but the musicians decided to leave it aside. Even so, she made it onto the second album.
It is about “Hold Me Tight”present in With the Beatles (1963). The song was originally developed in the sessions that gave life to the debut Please Please Me (1963), but after 13 takes, the tapes were destroyed, as the idea seemed not to go ahead.
With some changes, it was resumed and ended up on the next LP. It worked as a “filler”, that is, consciously just to take up space on the disk.
In the book Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now” (via Showbiz CheatSheet), Macca reveals that the composition was thought of as a single, but it wasn’t even close to that. He states:
When we started, everything was about singles and we were always trying to write singles. That’s why you have a lot of these 2 and a half minute songs, they all came out the same length. ‘Hold Me Tight’ was a failed attempt at a single that became an acceptable filler for the album.”
On the other hand, Paul understands that the Beatles were in a great phase when it came to composing. In the same book, the quartet’s singer and bassist highlighted the quality the group had at that time.
McCartney stated:
The thing with the Beatles is that it wasn’t a vulgar thing. We were actually pretty good. It was like being in an art group, in an association with some artist friends. That was the general feeling we had after being in Hamburg [em uma longa temporada de shows].”
Perhaps as an acknowledgment that “Hold Me Tight” did not represent the full firepower of the Beatles — and of himself as a songwriter — McCartney recorded a song of the same name, but completely different, ten years later. It appeared on the album Red Rose Speedway (1973), from Wings.
John Lennon didn’t like
John Lennon was even more incisive about “Hold Me Tight”. In the interview book All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Onoa conversation from 1980 features the artist commenting on some Beatles songs.
While Lennon made long comments about “Come Together” and “Strawberry Fields Forever”little was said about “Hold Me Tight”. But this “little” says a lot about what he thought:
That was Paul’s. Maybe I put some parts in it – I don’t remember. It was a pretty bad song and I never really got into it anyway.”
As incredible as it may seem, some covers of the song were made. One of the most recent is the one that was part of the film’s soundtrack Across the Universe (2007), with the actress Evan Rachel Wood taking on vocals alongside Jim Sturgess and Lisa Hogg.
Collaborated: André Luiz Fernandes.
Source: Rollingstone
Earl Johnson is a music writer at Gossipify, known for his in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the industry. A graduate of USC with a degree in Music, he brings years of experience and passion to his writing. He covers the latest releases and trends, always on the lookout for the next big thing in music.
