The Making of "It Won't Be Long" | The With the Beatles Sessions
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 2 окт 2024
- Everything you need to know about The Beatles' "It Won't Be Long." |
With the first two album releases, it was becoming clear that John was establishing himself as the group's more prominent lead singer. The next four releases in 1964 would demonstrate that this trend would only get stronger. John was ready to establish himself as the group's unquestionable and natural leader, whether he was the main vocalist or the songwriter. At this point, even the other Beatles agreed that John was their leader.
🗣️ "The Beatles were more intellectual, so they appealed on that level too," John said in David Sheff's book "All We Are Saying." "But the basic appeal of The Beatles was not their intelligence. It was their music. It was only after some guy in The London Times said there were aeolian cadences in 'It Won't Be Long' that middle classes started listening to it - because somebody put a tag on it."
#thebeatles #johnlennon #paulmccartney #georgeharrison #ringostarr #music #withthebeatles
"It won't be long, girl" is a GREAT "rocker" the only reason it didn't "make it" as a "single" would have been competition from OTHER Beatle singles!
George Martin had a good point in starting off the album with a potboiler - and they never took singles off the albums.
If you like The Beatles version, you'll probably like the BeatleJazz version, too...
You can tell he’s trying too hard to write a hit
@@Bluepillphil-d1w Not sure what you mean... It's a very good song...
And one of my favorite songs off of this album.
“It Won’t Be Long” is one of my all time favorite Beatles Songs. I was 7 years old in the US when The Beatles took over pop music. I didn’t know it wasn’t a single as I remember hearing that song on the radio more than once during the summer of 1964.
Definitely single worthy in my opinion. The harmonies and the guitar twang are some of their best.
I love this tune, very powerful John song 🎸
Ha. 😂
Two words: GREAT RECORD!
Not a Second Time is my fave on this album. Good Robert Palmer cover too.
John (in the 1980 Playboy tape heard here) mixed up "It Won't Be Long" and "Not A Second Time", the latter has the aeolian cadence.
1980 Playboy tape and aeolian cadence? Are you sure? I heard it was the Catholic Tape and Linoleum Cadence! 🤣🤣🤣
Thanks, yes, that's right.
That's interesting because I use to mix those songs up in my head too, they're kind of similar in a way.
Yes the cadence thing is the very last vocal John tag of some ‘no no no no’ at the exit of Not A Second Time… now you know!
I think you can hear G Martin que it with a ‘go!’ One beat before it begins… listen very carefully it’s there!
My favorite singer LENNON!
I LOVE Lennon's voice!!
There's a deep & rich emotional quality to John's voice few others have while singing.
John is the best rock singer and songwriter of all time, most original and inventive as well. It's a pity a psychopath killed him and deprived the whole world of his creative genius.
hum would take Mike Smith over any rock singer but as a write John was a good one
@@oldermusiclover not a good one but the best to my ears.
I've always liked that song. The first album I ever bought was Meet the Beatles (essentially the US release of With the Beatles with some different tracks). IIRC, I was seven years old (I do paying US$3.49, so about $34 today--not as cheap as I thought at the time) and I played it so much I wore it down--I regret not having gotten multiple copies (what did I know?)! All of those tunes still hold up and bring me back to my childhood. Ringo as one of my first influences as a drummer--very underrated!
What a great song! Solid song to open the album! I love With The Beatles! Great Album! 🔥❤️😊
The song "Little Wild One," from the Tom Hanks film "That Thing You Do," borrows the ending from "It Won't Be Long." Lots of clever nods to The Beatles in that movie.
Love little wild one and that movie, I agree lots of great references to the Beatles in that thing you do
And of course Tom Hanks was a frequent visitor to "Epstein's" island.
So…I believe the aeolian cadances were on “Not a Second Time”, no??? 🤷🏼♂️
Love this song! Gonna perform it at my 60th birthday party along with a dozen other early Beatles hits, including 6 from With the Beatles! Will live stream on my channel beginning ~8:30 PM EST, Saturday, June 15. 😎🎸🤠
Yes, John confused this with “Not a Second Time.”
Top 5 Beatles song for me. One of John's greatest vocals. Best song on the album. But not a single. Unbelievable.
One of my favorites . . . underrated gem, IMO. ;-)
IMHO, best song on the album, best period when John was a leader and there were no granny, pops songs yet.
McCartney always says that he helped write lennon’s songs wether he did or not as John isn’t available to give the facts
Great opening track! They had me instantly. Followed immediately by John's brilliant All I've Got To Do!
I totally overlooked this song for years. The chord changes are super interesting, especially on “I’m so alone” lyric.
I always liked this song.
Love love that song
This easily would've been a # 1 single!👍👍
there are several beatle songs that open with the chorus - She Loves You, Tell Me Why, Cant Buy Me Love, It Wont Be Long, Anytime At All - they must have sounded so exciting and fresh when they were first released. dont think anyone writes songs in that format anymore, but the beatles were the masters at it - come to think of it, Magical Mystery Tour may be another
they were trying to rock as hard as possible but only clean guitar tones existed at that time so they had to write the songs in a different way than ever happened again once distortion came out about '66 which made it much easier to come up with rockin riffs and songs
Heard George Martin say in an interview that when the Beatles were rehearsing Can't Buy Me Love, they opened the song with a verse. Martin said the song lacked a strong beginning so they changed the opening to the one we're familiar with.
John was the man!
John's stage performances were mesmerising, he looked so confident, calm and collective when he sang.
I watched Let It Be the other day and loved his stage presence. He looked like he was having a ball.
@@farrellmcnulty909 The thing i liked most about the Beatles was they were just being themselves, four young Liverpool lads being funny, witty and charming, who wrote they're own songs and played they're own instruments. They would go round to each others houses. They became the perfect role model of a new generation of music. If only they're Mums knew how famous they're Sons had become.
@@farrellmcnulty909 They were fantastic on Let It Be (and Get Back). Just got up on the roof there; played their songs like a great live band; and knocked it out of the park. There are some CDs on Amazon offering their "Complete Rooftop Concert" but wonder if they are bootlegs, or any good?
What you say is true.👍
Paul is a great stage performer as well but his mannerisms, I have to say, seem much more scripted down to the last wink or tilt of the head. Lennon just let the power ooze out of him, take it or leave it!
@@mikeeby8520 I loved how Lennon made fun of Paul's stage banter by acting like a spastic. "Clap your hands..." 😆😆😆
Paul constantly trying to change history..
Yes, he does
No.
He corrects inaccurate history. Big difference.
It's better be him than some biographer or anyone else.
"Not a second time" was also a very good tune, but NOT as good as "It won't be long".
I love Not a Second Time! Solid tune! 😁😊
incredibly difficult to sing, one of those ones that can only be sung right if a person same kind of voice as lennon
A great, great, underrated track!
Yoko ming home, Yoko ming home
Who could have thought :))
🤣 Oh my God 😂😂😂😂. Nowhere Man had the same sort of thing, "The World is at Yoko's, man!"
Qué bueno!! 😂😂😂
It has great lead singer backup singer interaction. Very clever the way they do it,by switching the order. It also shows Lennons energetic vocal quality similar to Any Time At All
All I got to do, is also a great song
Todo el "With The Beatles" se merece una mención especial, para mí es uno de los tres mejores, energía y vitalidad a tope
All of The Beatles were talented and The Beatles wouldn't have been the same without each of their contributions, but time has proven that Paul McCartney was the best all-around musician of the four of them. John and Paul separately were very creative song writers, but together they were the most imaginative, competitively challenging each other. Ringo has said that if it weren't for Paul The Beatles wouldn't have made so many records. The other three were content to lie around, but Paul was a workaholic and would push and motivate the others. And Paul was talented enough to fill in any gaps on any instrument in the studio sessions whenever necessary.
This is a great song but overlooked because its just one of so many and wasn't a single. John was, without doubt, the leader in the early days but Paul soon caught up and as much as I absolutely love and adore my favourite Beatle, I think he started to quietly resent Paul. Quite understandably, most think Brian dying, India, Apple and drugs was the beginning of the end but I think it was Yesterday.
I seem to remember in the Playboy interview, he said it was an early attempt to do “Anytime at All”.
It DOES sound a lot like that song. In fact, I used to confuse the two when I was getting to know them - the songs, that is.
McCartney digs the sex pistols. Very cool
This was and is still a great song❤
I really like the sound of the song and it's a great 'potboiler' and album intro, but if you analyse the lyrics it's protagonist is very passive - the song is essentially a narrative about someone sitting waiting for someone else to act which isn't a very interesting or powerful emotional tale.
Plus, the 'clever' word play... be long/belong...doesn't really work.
The lyrics are toying with ideas of rejection and alienation that would inspire Lennon in other songs, but the ideas are not really fully working yet. Again, the protagonist is passive but also a bit creepy...'it won't be long until I belong to you'...is a weird sentiment when you think about it....as is 'I'll be good like I know I should'...and 'Now I know that you won't leave me no more'...it's slightly disturbing, unconvincing and passive aggressive stuff - you can't see this relationship lasting (because the protagonist/singer is a bit mixed up and hasn't convincingly dealt with their issues) and that subconscious fear/sense of impending doom isn't really appealing or suitable for this era of the band.
All of this stuff that makes it unsuitable as a single does make it interesting as a (mostly) Lennon creation. It possibly sums up a lot of his personal issues at the time, albeit in a indirect or 'coded' manner.
I think the main reason Lennon didn't push it as the next single is he consciously or subconsciously knew the lyrics weren't quite right or fitting with the music, that he could do better, plus that there were other contenders for that honour that had everything this track had, and more.
Compare it, for example, to 'She Loves You', which, although still relatively simple lyrically, has a far more dynamic narrative: the protagonist thinks they've lost their love because they hurt them but then hears there is still hope - hope for them to change, hope of overcoming their pride and apologising...it's a far more interesting scenario, plus it took a novel idea of including a third person in the conversation.
Beatles songs around this time needed to tick a lot of boxes to win the coveted 'single' status and 'It Won't Be Long' just doesn't tick enough of them.
Yeah, I've tripped on the double meanings within Beatles songs for years. The dual meanings became deeper during the psychedelic phase.
I always thought "It Won't Be Long" b/w "Not a Second Time" would be a great single
Such gibberish and nonsensical analizing of a great song that basically has its roots in 1960's R&B chord changes and structure from pop songs in that era. In fact the verse is akin to a Lesley Gore song 'It's My Party'. The speaker sounds like a frustrated music teacher. If you were to have asked Lennon what was he thinking when he wrote it, he'd say I like the way the chords worked.
They both the best singers at the time and pushed each other to make the Beatles better than other groups and then George and Ringo stepped up to sing as good as other ordinary bands
3:50 By the way, there's no such paper as "The London Times". It's just "The Times". (But if you say that in America, people will probably think you mean the New York Times).
Their first AMAZING album
Between 2014 and 2020, I was performing in a busking act where I live in New York City called The Meetles. Although playing many of the songs weekend after weekend grew tedious and boring for me, even the ones that taxed my voice physically, "It Won't Be Long" was an exception.
Una de las mejores en mi opinión, tiene de todo en muy poco tiempo y engancha desde el segundo uno. La quintaesencia del sonido de la Beatlemanía
yep indeed john was the leader, macca even said so lol
Yes Paul did say that in the flowerpot conversation in Get Back then John says no.not all the time and Paul says yes you are.
I think it's one of their best album openers, but the recycled "Yeahs" date the track. It's really a proto-punk song, if you ask me.
My favourite song from their “With the Beatles” album, followed by “Don’t Bother Me” and “Not a Second Time”.
I have to tip my hat to the excellent specificity and accuracy of the musical analysis - nicely done!! Thank you!
Great song, with lots of energy. Interesting cover is on Across the Universe, with Evan Rachel Wood taking lead.
I liked how Paul was like, we were looking for the next sound, but then the critics talked about the next sound being the Mersey Beat, and realizing that the next sound was theirs. Good point on not big on categories.
As for band leadership, I thought John was to the end, when saying he wanted a divorce circa September 1969 (and in Get Back, recall Paul saying John was the boss?)? Yes, it seems Paul drove quite a few initiatives/projects, with Ringo saying "we would have made less albums if not for Paul."
And John's output was pretty good, on into their peak and later years, with Revolver, Sgt Pepper and the White Album (when checking out "Visualizing The Beatles"). And his work on Abbey Road was still good, right up to the end, while I think he had the better song on Magical Mystery Tour, with "I am the Walrus."
What I have read about the Aeolian Cadences was about the song ( Not A Second Time), that was the first song that the Beatles were taken seriously by critics, and Lennon replied he didn't know what an Aeolian Cadence was.
It's a great, great song! John and Paul were brothers, bonded by losing their mums when they were teens. Then George came along and he was younger and got more and more resentful of having only two songs per album. He was actually the first one saying he was leaving the group during a recording session! But the media went after Yoko and Paul. That's life! It's totally insane.
Don’t believe Paul’s recollections!
Always loved this one.
John burned himself out after A Hard Day's Night
Two individuals make up a team whilst still individually being different. It's the results that matter. Oh boy, did it ever!
Lennon was pissed when Paul’s’Can’t Buy Me Love’ was a huge hit.
All this is hooey about dominance and leadership. They just did what Brian told them back then.
Love the Beatles and this song is pure Beatles magic, that being said; the critic from the London Times must have been high on something. Nowhere in this song is there an Aeolian Mode which is a minor Mode, much less an "Aeolian Cadence". The term "Modal Cadence" is a contradiction in itself as modes have no point of resolution (which is what defines a tonal cadence) for lack of a key center. This song has basically 3 parts; Intro: E Ionian (Maj.) Mode / The Verses: Major Chromatic Mediant Chord Sequence / Chorus: key of E Maj. and the outro that this critic talks about goes back to the E Ionian Mode with a chromatic Maj.7th chord walk down at the very end starting on G to the E Maj.7 chord. The song is technically 1/2 E Ionian Mode and 1/2 E Major Key with 0 cadences. Since there is no traditional method of notating this kind of Tonal/Modal mixture, in this case it is simply notated as being in the E Maj. key.
Why this wasn't a regular live tune will always baffle me
I thought Aeolian Cadences were in "Not A Second Time" on the other side of the album.
Simply Fab...
Lennon was my fave Beatle-but I wouldn’t call him a great singer-and neither would he. George Martin, the “Fifth Beatle” is well known for revealing that John was never happy with his vocal abilities. In fact, the slight-delay effect was invented just for him. They also did a lot of double tracking, even with the slight-delay effect.
Paul was the superior singer in the band-and a great songwriter in his own right. But John had soul whereas Paul had notes.
A great album opener, but probably not even the best song on With the Beatles, which to me was All My Loving, which was also the first song they played on Ed Sullivan.
There were times when both Paul and John wrote fewer songs. John was one of TWO lead singers and he and Paul were not the only singers, George sang a few songs on every album!.
John didn't give leadership to Paul, he fell into drug use and slowed his song production. Paul picked up the slack and became the person to get things done, That makes him the leader John did NOT grow tired of leadership, he dropped out of it. He took his anger out on Paul with the vote for Klein.
This seems full of inaccuracies. Some from John, some from misinformation about John.
It is sad when both singers/songwriters aren't given fair treatment because someone prefers one over the other.
Their work rate is legendary
If they released it as a single they would be expected to perform it while touring… too complex and subject to flubs!
Great tune, I perform it on my channel. . .🎶💥
I thought the song was about Erectile Dysfunction.....
Not a Scond Time was the song the writer talked abut the "Aeolian cadence," Lennon had the wrong song in the interview.
Jane Asher threw out those early songs when she found them in a kitchen cupboard. Didn't know what they were.
Commentator makes speaking sound difficult
I remember the 1982 VHS documentary 'The Complete Beatles' and glad they gave this song recognition by playing it from beginning to end, yet the singles Please Please Me, From Me To You were only heard in excerpts.
I loved that doc. I seem to remember it accompanied a scene of an aiport as they were due to 'conquer America'. Complete with overdubs of British wind sounds!😆
@@crazybunkum Oh come come now the winds weren't imported from Britain, someone held a microphone next to Pigeon Forge Skydiving simulator located in Dallas, Texas.
No your rong, just a below average song from an overated band
This song is brilliant, composition-wise. The lead guitar riff is so cool with its M7 and minor 3rd. Starting the song on the VI chord is ingenious. The wispy background vocals in the bridge are brilliant.
Microphone pop protection
Your videos are really very well done. Please think about a microphone pop protection. It's really very conspicuous How much the audio quality suffers
I always enjoy the interview snippets where they share about their writing.
Lennon, McCartney zusammen erfolgreich; mit Richard und George berühmt; mit George Martin in der ewigen MUSIC-TOP-LISTE-
"Cheesily concluding on the groups Maj 7th" ... There's nothing cheesy about Beatles music, except for the attempts of people to describe - or dismiss what they don't understand ... It's a top song. But not everything can be a hit...
It Won't Be Long has a punch to it, it is one of my favorite songs off of With the Beatles, others on there next to it "Don't Bother Me," "Little Child," "Till There Was You," "Hold Me Tight," "I Wanna Be Your Man," "Devil In Her Heart," "Not A Second Time," of course "All My Loving," and "Money (That's What I Want)," the last song on the album which is a Barrett Strong cover.
Def a john Lennon song all day long! But then in 1966 something happened and his leadership waned
Drugs… psyched out John’s mind- too bad. See kids, don’t use drugs!
Great shame that we heard NO BEATLES MUSIC in this video.
Dude, it’s literally in the background 😂
@@Gus-r4g Not.
@@Gus-r4gThere's a karaoke track until 1:07, then what?
@@Gus-r4gNot the Beatles. It's a copyright issue that prevents this.
I love the Beatles but I don’t know if he actually wrote this now I know what I know. I hope he wrote it. Paul is not Paul. They never played it because they couldn’t just like Revolver
" the word "Please" was used twice in the song.." ... the man said. Well thanks a lot, it's very important. Who knew that !
I never understood why this song never appears on any compilation.
It along with She loves you and Can't buy me love are the songs that spring to mind when i hear the term Beatlemania
Ok, so what is your point?
Remade in 1968: as HELTER SKELTER!
(Compare the descending guitar riffs...)
I think it was the song "Not a Second Time" that was mentioned with the "aeolian candances".
Hearing Paul say he likes the Sex Pistols was a real trip.
Ramble and drone much?
6:15 Lol, Paul the Sex Pistols fan. 🙂
I like that chromatic stuff in this song.
You dont hear much from John lennon these days. No new records or interviews. DId he retire?
If you're into music theory, this might help you understand 'aeolian cadences'.
'Aeolian' means a melody that uses notes from the key's _natural_ minor scale. In the case of 'It Won't Be Long', which has four sharps in its key signature, the notes of the _natural_ minor scale are: C# D# E F# G# A B.
William Mann's 1963 discussion of The Beatles' use of aeolian cadences actually concerned 'Not A Second Time'. This song has one sharp in its key signature. So its melodies, if "aeolian", would use notes from the _natural_ E minor scale: E F# G A B C D.
Now, what's a "cadence"? In music, a cadence is an _ending_ phrase.
So, when looking for "aeolian cadences" in either 'It Won't Be Long' or 'Not A Second Time', we have to focus on _ending_ phrases whose notes conform to the _natural_ minor scales of C# (in the case of 'It Won't Be Long') or E (in the case of 'Not A Second Time').
You'll quickly discover that _every_ cadence in both songs is "aeolian"! In other words, "aeolian cadences" are the NORM, and William Mann's assertion that they're exceptional is nonsense!
What I _think_ Mann was referring to was the periodical use of an E _major_ chord in 'Not A Second Time'. For example: "no, no, no/not a second TIME".
But even this isn't an aeolian cadence, but a _picardy_ cadence. A better example being the final chord of 'And I Love Her'.
Ummmm…I know you’re right and quite eloquent but my mind couldn’t wrap around that great explanation
I just love those songs cause I feel them in my soul
Thank you tho 🤘🏼
Doesn’t cadence refer to rhythm? The extra no no no at the end of NASecond Time
@kevinnsevinn799 Yes, and that's the way they _should_ be enjoyed.
My point is that, not only was William Mann wrong to find 'aeolian cadences' in either of these songs, but his intellectualising of the music missed the point entirely. 😊
@felixcasper586 "Cadence" _may_ refer to rhythm, but "aeolian" specifically refers to melody.
@@EltonoutoftheclosetOfficial 😉
One of my most favorite BeatIes songs
In My Beatles Top 10
Long Live The Beatles
"It wasn't their intelligence, it was their music..." So those who write music aren't intelligent? History begs to differ...
No, no, it was probably that their music was the first thing that drew you, as it did me, then their intelligence came through. Don't take it as a slight.
John didnt make up the term Heavy Metal did he
Maybe you're thinking of the word 'Flanger'? An early phase shifting guitar effect.