All My Loving Explained

All My Loving
Cover:Allmyloving1964.jpg
Caption:Canadian picture sleeve
Type:song
Album:With the Beatles
Artist:the Beatles
Released:22 November 1963
Recorded:30 July 1963
Studio:EMI, London
Genre:Pop rock[1]
Length:2:04
Label:Parlophone (UK)
Producer:George Martin

"All My Loving" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, from their second UK album With the Beatles (1963). It was written by Paul McCartney (credited to Lennon–McCartney), and produced by George Martin. Though not officially released as a single in the United Kingdom or the United States, the song drew considerable radio airplay, prompting EMI to issue it as the title track of an EP. The song was released as a single in Canada, where it became a number one hit. The Canadian single was imported into the US in enough quantities to peak at number 45 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in April 1964.

Composition

According to journalist Bill Harry, McCartney thought of the lyrics whilst shaving: "I wrote 'All My Loving' like a piece of poetry and then, I think, I put a song to it later". However, McCartney later told biographer Barry Miles that he wrote the lyrics while on a tour bus and after arriving at the venue he then wrote the music on a piano backstage. He also said "It was the first song [where] I'd ever written the words first. I never wrote words first, it was always some kind of accompaniment. I've hardly ever done it since either."

The lyrics follow the "letter song" model as used on "P.S. I Love You", the B-side of their first single. McCartney originally envisioned it as a country & western song, and George Harrison added a Nashville-style guitar solo. John Lennon's rhythm guitar playing utilised back and forth strummed triplets similar to "Da Doo Ron Ron" by The Crystals, a song that was popular at the time, while McCartney plays a walking bass line.[2]

In his 1980 Playboy interview, Lennon said, "[I]t's a damn good piece of work... But I play a pretty mean guitar in back."

It has been hypothesized that the piece draws inspiration from the Dave Brubeck Quartet's 1959 song "Kathy's Waltz".[3]

Recording

The Beatles recorded the song on 30 July 1963 in eleven takes with three overdubs. The master take was take fourteen overdubbed on take eleven. It was remixed on 21 August (mono) and 29 October (stereo).

A slightly longer stereo edition of the song, featuring a hi-hat percussion introduction not found on the common stereo or mono mixes, was released on the German stereo version of With the Beatles in 1963. Later, it was released in Germany and the Netherlands in 1965 on a compilation album entitled Beatles' Greatest. This version was later released in the UK, but only as part of The Beatles Box (1980). It also turned up on a European CD bootleg release of the US Rarities with other bonus tracks not included on the original LP.

Releases and performances

"All My Loving" was the Beatles' opening number on their debut performance on The Ed Sullivan Show February 9, 1964; the recording was included on Anthology 1 (1995). The group also performed "All My Loving" three times for BBC radio, once in 1963 and twice in 1964. The final version, which was recorded on 28 February 1964, was included on Live at the BBC.

The song was used twice in films by the group—it plays in the background at the end of the nightclub scene in A Hard Day's Night (1964), though without the drum opening and the coda; while an instrumental version appears in the film Magical Mystery Tour (1967).

According to Alan Weiss, a TV producer who happened to be there, "All My Loving" was playing on the sound system at Roosevelt Hospital emergency room when Lennon was pronounced dead after being shot on December 8, 1980.

Reviews

Among the critics who have praised the song, Ian MacDonald said, "The innocence of early Sixties British pop is perfectly distilled in the eloquent simplicity of this number". Richie Unterberger of AllMusic said it "was arguably the best LP-only track the Beatles did before 1964" and that if it had been released as a single in America it would have been a huge hit. Mark Lewisohn wrote in his The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions book that the song was "magnificent ... by far [McCartney's] best, most complex piece of songwriting yet".

Harrison's concise solo has been described as reminiscent of Chet Atkins,[4] and Lennon's complex rhythm work (relying on the unusual use of constant triplets[5]) was referred to as "the most recognizable feature"[6] of the song; Lennon himself later described his performance as "a superb piece of guitar."[4]

Personnel

According to Ian MacDonald:

Charts

Chart (1963–64)Peak
position
Canada (CHUM)[7] 1
Australia (Kent Music Report)[8] 1
Finland (The Official Finnish Charts)[9] 1
Denmark (Salgshitlisterne Top 20)[10] 3
New Zealand (Lever Hit Parade)[11] 6
Sweden (Kvällstoppen)[12] 1
Sweden (Tio i Topp)[13] 1
US Cash Box Top 100[14] 31
West German Media Control Singles Chart[15] 32

Cover versions

References

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Erlewine . Stephen Thomas . Stephen Thomas Erlewine . With the Beatles - The Beatles Songs, Reviews, Credits . . 16 October 2020.
  2. Book: Everett, Walter . The Beatles as Musicians: The Quarry Men Through Rubber Soul . registration. 7 November 2013 . 2001 . Oxford University Press . 978-0-19-514105-4 . 189.
  3. News: When it comes to songwriting, there's a fine line between inspiration and plagiarism . https://web.archive.org/web/20100709135507/http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/when-it-comes-to-songwriting-theres-a-fine-line-between-inspiration-and-plagiarism-2021199.html . 2010-07-09 . limited . live . Leigh . Spencer . 8 July 2010 . The Independent. 26 December 2011.
  4. Book: Philippe . Margotin . Jean-Michel . Guesdo . All The Songs: The Story Behind Every Beatles Release . 2014 . Running Press . 9781603763714.
  5. Book: Serna, Desi . Guitar Rhythm and Technique For Dummies . 27 May 2015 . John Wiley & Sons . 9781119022886.
  6. Book: Desai, Boman . About Architecture: A Songwriter's Guide to the Lennon-McCartney Catalog . 11 June 2013 . Author House . 9781481730143.
  7. http://chumtribute.com/64-04-20-chart.jpg CHUM charts, April 20, 1964
  8. Book: Australian Chart Book (1940–1969) . Kent, David . Australian Chart Book . Turramurra . 2005 . 0-646-44439-5.
  9. Web site: 12 August 2015 . Sisältää hitin: Levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1960: Artistit SAR - SEM . 2022-03-26 . Sisältää hitin.
  10. Web site: The Beatles - Salgshitlisterne Top 20. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20131104013806/http://danskehitlister.dk/?artist_id=26. 2013-11-04. 2022-08-02. Danske Hitlister.
  11. Web site: Flavour of New Zealand, 30 April 1964 . 25 June 2018 . 24 February 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210224210354/http://www.flavourofnz.co.nz/index.php?qpageID=search%20lever&qartistid=8#n_view_location . dead .
  12. Book: Hallberg, Eric. Eric Hallberg presenterar Kvällstoppen i P 3: Sveriges radios topplista över veckans 20 mest sålda skivor 10. 7. 1962 - 19. 8. 1975. Drift Musik. 1993. 130. 9163021404.
  13. Book: Hallberg . Eric . Eric Hallberg, Ulf Henningsson presenterar Tio i topp med de utslagna på försök: 1961 - 74 . Henningsson . Ulf . Premium Publishing . 1998 . 919727125X . 53.
  14. Book: Hoffmann, Frank . 1983 . The Cash Box Singles Charts, 1950-1981 . The Scarecrow Press, Inc . Metuchen, NJ & London . 32–34.
  15. Web site: Offizielle Deutsche Charts . Enter "Beatles" in the search box . . de. 16 May 2016.
  16. "Billboard Hot 100", Billboard, July 4, 1964. Retrieved June 13, 2023.

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