1964 and 1965: The Touring Years
1964 and ‘65 are mostly a blur of one-night gigs, TV appearances, and
recording new and old songs for yet another record.
1964
(After completing A Hard Day’s Night)
May: The Beatles’ first real break in six months.
The Lennons, George Harrison, & girlfriend Pattie Boyd go to Hawaii and
Tahiti.
Paul and Jane and Ringo and Maureen go to Portugal and the Virgin Islands.
Within three weeks, they are recording again.
June: World Tour begins.
20 shows in Denmark, Holland, Hong Kong, Australia, and New Zealand.
For the first ten days, Jimmy Nicol subs for Ringo, who has tonsillitis.
July: A Hard Day’s Night is released to cinemas.
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August: US Tour starts. 26
cities in 32 days.
In New York, Bob Dylan visits
them at their hotel suite.
Bob brings cheap red wine.
And weed.
Video: 2019 Beatles 4(B)
(15mins)
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Beatles For Sale (December 1964)
At the end of September, The Beatles begin
work on another album. (EMI wants a record in
the shops for Christmas.)
They are tired, and don’t have many new
songs.
After all, they’ve made A Hard Day’s Night
(film and 13-song album), and several #1
singles, including Eight Days A Week, All My
Loving, and Can’t Buy Me Love.
And they’ve toured five countries on three
continents, plus the US. And England.
That’s just the first eight months of 1964.
They go back to the formula. Eight of the
songs are new, and the rest are from their
Hamburg repertoire.
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About songwriting
The ‘Lennon/McCartney’ songwriting credit is mostly a myth, especially after 1964.
Very few Beatles songs are completely jointly written. Often, one would help finish or fix a song
started by the other. This cooperation will continue, but will decline as time goes on.
The main singer of the song is almost always the primary author.
By late 1964, the styles of John and Paul begin to diverge. John’s songs become darker,
influenced by his oncoming depression and by Bob Dylan. Paul McCartney’s songs are developing
as attempts at the perfect pop ear candy. Even then, some of them are about failed love.
George Harrison had begun writing songs on With The Beatles, and usually gets one or two on
each album after that.
Songs are written and recorded continuously, whenever there was time. Albums are simply
collections of songs that were finished.
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What makes the Beatles different from before?
• Their songwriting is branching out. It is no longer just about teenage concerns. The
influence of Bob Dylan is clearly heard.
• Their sound is branching out. The quality of the recordings is slowly improving. (PPM was
recorded in 2-track; after that, all the albums are in 4-track). The vocals are now stronger –
usually “double-tracked” - recorded twice, one atop the other.
• The instrumentation is branching out. The Rickenbacker electric 12-string guitar – given to
George Harrison in February 1964 – is used a lot, and since no one else had one (George’s is
only the second one made), it becomes a signature sound. Acoustic guitars are prominent.
Keyboards are also used. (Paul plays piano fairly well, and John plays a bit. For harder
parts, George Martin plays.). Percussion instruments – bongos, congas, shakers,
tambourines, etc. – are added.
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1965 6
Help!
Help!, their second film, is made in
February through May 1965.
The soundtrack album, started in
February and completed in June, is
made of the seven songs featured in the
film (recorded first), plus seven more
(added after the film was finished). Some
of these songs have already been
previously recorded. Two are covers.
Yesterday: redefining the Beatles
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April:
John and George
(and Cynthia and
Patti) are dosed with
LSD (by their dentist.
After dinner.)
May:
Beatles are named
MBE (Members of
the British Empire)
and awarded medals
by Queen Elizabeth.
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June-July:
European Tour (15 shows in 13 days)
August:
• Second US Tour (16 shows in 17 days). The Beatles now
refuse to play for segregated audiences.
• The Shea Stadium concert.
• In L.A., all but Paul take LSD with Peter Fonda, Roger
McGuinn, and David Crosby.
• Also in L.A., the Beatles meet Elvis Presley.
October and November:
Rubber Soul album recording
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Rubber Soul (December 1965)
Rubber Soul, recorded in
October and November of
1965, is released just four
months after Help!, but it is
substantially different and
another leap forward.
The recording process is
changing.
Previously, songs are written
wherever they happen, and
many are tested on stage.
Musically, the Beatles have
travelled an enormous distance
since Please Please Me.
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The Beatles are searching for new sounds.
They realize that their music is less and less likely to work on a stage where no
one can hear them anyway.
They will go their own way, and take the audience along.
Their new way of recording songs:
The song is played in “demo” form by its primary author.
Instrumentation is chosen.
Development through multiple takes. Different things are tried.
As before, other instruments are added to the best take, but the variety of instruments is
wider. Outside players (horns or strings, arranged and contracted by George Martin)
might be added. Lead vocals are often sung twice, a process called “double tracking”,
for strength. Background vocals may be done more than once, for a bigger sound.
Solos need not all be played by guitars.
Previously, most of the songs were developed in front of an audience. The
band knew how each song should be done. Now, they create them in the
studio, and (perhaps) figure out how to play them later for an audience.
Most of these songs will never be played live.
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The songs on Rubber Soul are diverse, and unlike anything they had done previously.
Drive My Car Modeled after Motown. The title is a euphemism for sex.
Norwegian Wood includes the first use of the sitar, which George Harrison discovered while
filming Help!
Nowhere Man. John said this was about him. The new guitar sound is courtesy of the Fender
Stratocasters John and George had bought.
Michelle: Paul’s song is modeled after French pop music
Girl: Paul wrote the ending section to this John Lennon song (one of his personal favorites)
while on a Greek holiday
In My Life: One of John Lennon’s finest songs. The piano solo (in the style of J.S. Bach) was
composed and played by George Martin at half-speed
Think For Yourself: Paul’s bass on this George Harrison song is intentionally distorted
What Goes On: A country song written for Ringo to sing
The Word: John Lennon is writing about deeper matters
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December: UK Tour (18 shows in nine days)
John Lennon begins to suffer from
depression.
Video: Beatles 5 (45 mins)
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