Jump to content

All My Loving

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by EdMcCorduck (talk | contribs) at 13:31, 4 February 2021 (→Recording). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

This article is about the Beatles song. For other uses, see All My Loving (disambiguation).

"All My Loving"
Canadian picture sleeve
Song by the Beatles
ReleasedNovember 22, 1963 (1963-11-22)
Recorded30 July 1963
StudioEMI, London
GenrePop rock[1][2]
Length2:04
LabelParlophone (UK)
Songwriter(s)Lennon–McCartney
Producer(s)George Martin
Audio sample

"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[3] (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.[4] 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.[5][6]

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".[7] 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.[3] 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."[3]

The lyrics follow the "letter song" model as used on "P.S. I Love You",[4] 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.[3][4] John Lennon's rhythm guitar playing uses quickly strummed triplets similar to "Da Doo Ron Ron" by The Crystals, a song that was popular at the time,[4] and McCartney plays a walking bass line.[8]

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."[9]

It has been hypothesized that the piece draws inspiration from the Dave Brubeck Quartet's 1959 song "Kathy's Waltz".[10]

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.[11] It was remixed on 21 August (mono)[11] and 29 October (stereo).[12]

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 in Germany and the Netherlands in 1965 on a compilation album entitled Beatles' Greatest.[13] 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 on 9 February 1964;[15] the recording was included on Anthology 1 (1995).[16] 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 8 December 1980.[17]

Reviews

Several critics have praised the song. Ian MacDonald said, "The innocence of early Sixties British pop is perfectly distilled in the eloquent simplicity of this number" and described the song as helping McCartney be seen as more of an equal to Lennon.[4] 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.[18]

The guitar work for "All My Loving" has also been lauded by later critics. Harrison's concise solo has been described as reminiscent of Chet Atkins,[19] and Lennon's complex rhythm work (relying on the unusual use of constant triplets[20]) was referred to as "the most recognizable feature"[21] of the song; Lennon himself later described his performance as "a superb piece of guitar."[19]

Personnel

Personnel per Ian MacDonald:[4]

Charts

Chart (1963–64) Peak
position
Canada (CHUM)[22] 1
Australia (Kent Music Report)[23] 1
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[24] 16
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[25] 2
New Zealand (Lever Hit Parade)[26] 6
Norway (VG-lista)[27] 2
Swedish Kvällstoppen Chart[28] 1
US Billboard Hot 100[29] 45
US Cash Box Top 100[30] 31
West German Media Control Singles Chart[31] 32

Cover versions

Dutch Australian singer Johnny Young recorded "All My Loving" in early 1967. His slower rendition reached #9 in Australia (Kent Music Report) and #4 on the Go-Set chart.[32]

Notes

  1. ^ Pollack 1991.
  2. ^ Erlewine.
  3. ^ a b c d Miles 1997, p. 148.
  4. ^ a b c d e f MacDonald 2005, p. 94.
  5. ^ Castleman & Podrazik 1975, pp. 25, 347.
  6. ^ Wallgren 1982, p. 23.
  7. ^ Harry 2000, pp. 25–26.
  8. ^ Everett, Walter (2001). The Beatles as Musicians: The Quarry Men Through Rubber Soul. Oxford University Press. p. 189. ISBN 978-0-19-514105-4. Retrieved 7 November 2013.
  9. ^ Sheff 2000, p. 171.
  10. ^ Leigh, Spencer (8 July 2010). "When it comes to songwriting, there's a fine line between inspiration and plagiarism". The Independent. Retrieved 26 December 2011.
  11. ^ a b Lewisohn 1988, p. 34.
  12. ^ Lewisohn 1988, p. 37.
  13. ^ Schaffner 1977, p. 203.
  14. ^ a b c Lewisohn 1988, pp. 200–201.
  15. ^ Harry 2000, p. 1043.
  16. ^ Lewisohn 1995, pp. 32–33.
  17. ^ Mcleod 2005.
  18. ^ Unterberger 2009.
  19. ^ a b Margotin, Philippe; Guesdo, Jean-Michel (2014). All The Songs: The Story Behind Every Beatles Release. Running Press. ISBN 9781603763714.
  20. ^ Serna, Desi (27 May 2015). Guitar Rhythm and Technique For Dummies. ISBN 9781119022886.
  21. ^ Desai, Boman (11 June 2013). About Architecture: A Songwriter's Guide to the Lennon-McCartney Catalog. ISBN 9781481730143.
  22. ^ CHUM charts, April 20, 1964
  23. ^ Kent, David (2005). Australian Chart Book (1940–1969). Turramurra: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-44439-5.
  24. ^ "The Beatles – All My Loving" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
  25. ^ "The Beatles – All My Loving" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
  26. ^ Flavour of New Zealand, 30 April 1964
  27. ^ "The Beatles – All My Loving". VG-lista. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
  28. ^ "Swedish Charts 1962–March 1966/Kvällstoppen – Listresultaten vecka för vecka > Mars 1964" (PDF) (in Swedish). hitsallertijden.nl. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
  29. ^ "The Beatles Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
  30. ^ Hoffmann, Frank (1983). The Cash Box Singles Charts, 1950-1981. Metuchen, NJ & London: The Scarecrow Press, Inc. pp. 32–34.
  31. ^ "Offizielle Deutsche Charts" (Enter "Beatles" in the search box) (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
  32. ^ "Go-Set search engine results for "Masters Apprentices"". Go-Set. Waverley Press. Retrieved 30 August 2009. Note: Go-Set published its national charts from October 1966 until August 1974

References

Wikiquote has quotations related to With the Beatles.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=All_My_Loving&oldid=1004802100"