3 Songs Individual Beatles Members Refused to Record
Despite their famously tumultuous breakup, the Beatles‘ music was more or less a group effort. They all wrote songs–some more than others, but nevertheless. They collaborated in the studio, working to make their tracks as rich as they could be. So when a member was absent from the recording process, there was a very specific circumstance behind it. Find out why individual Beatles members refused to record the three songs, below.
McCartney’s momentary absence in the studio was the result of a row with John Lennon. McCartney was infamously controlling in the studio–at least according to the opinion of his bandmates. He had a very specific vision for the Beatles songs he penned, leading to lengthy, nitpicking studio sessions. However, he took his hands off the wheel with one song in particular: “She Said She Said.” According to McCartney, this is the only Beatles track he had zero to do with.
“I’m not sure, but I think it was one of the only Beatle records I never played on.” McCartney once said. “I think we’d had a barney or something and I said, ‘Oh, fu** you!’ and they said, ‘Well, we’ll do it.’ I think George played bass.”
Ringo Starr is generally considered the level-headed one of the group. He was amiable and didn’t suffer the same alienation from his bandmates the way other members did post-breakup. However, he did get fussy while recording his most famous Beatles song, “With A Little Help From My Friends.”
By Starr’s recollection, the original opening line for this track was What would you do if I sang out of tune / Would you stand up and throw tomatoes at me? If that line had stuck, Starr would’ve likely been the victim of many a heckler. Though the band wasn’t sure they would tour again, the prospect of endless tomatoes to the face was enough to put Starr off the song.
“I said, ‘There’s not a chance in hell am I going to sing this line,’” Starr once said. “Because we still had lots of really deep memories of the kids throwing jelly beans and toys on stage; and I thought that if we ever did get out there again, I was not going to be bombarded with tomatoes.”
Source: americansongwriter.com/Alex Hopper
