Balarama Music

Beatles Countdown #93 – This Boy

Mar 01

Doug1960s john lennon, paul mccartney, the beatles No Comments

Continuing on with the most famous songwriting partnership in history, the B-Side of “I Want To Hold Your Hand” clocks in at #93: “This Boy!”

Though always held up that it was a joint song, the song was more primarily written by John Lennon in one of Paul & John’s many hotel sessions though naturally Paul had a lot of influence. On tour in 1963 with a couple of hours to kill, the two got together to write a song based in harmony. Written around doo-wop chord progressions, John Lennon drew inspiration from Smokey Robinson’s “I’ve Been Good To You,” a favorite artist of The Beatles at the time. They would later cover “You Really Got A Hold On Me” by Smokey Robinson’s Miracles in the same recording session. Paul would later add in The Teddy Bear’s “To Know Him Is To Love Him” to the list of inspirations to this song. John & Paul wrote the song in three-part harmonies for themselves & Harrison in a move that Paul said he liked to do from time to time to expand the versatility of the band. They would later master multi-layered harmonies in “Because” at the end of their career. Originally, the band had a guitar solo in the middle eight of the song, but it was dropped during the recording process for a blistering vocal performance by John Lennon that stood out with the otherwise timid nature of the song. Just another last minute addition that makes the song.

Historically, the song was actually the first song they had commented on by a music critic. William Mann of The London Times gave the song a glowing review in December, 1963, a line of compliments that just wouldn’t stop until the band broke up. Later on, George Martin would use the instrumental of the song in Ringo Starr’s big scene in their first movie A Hard Day’s Night which was titled “Ringo Theme (This Boy).” Even more, the song itself was portrayed on the second performance by the group on The Ed Sullivan Show. Lots of history for just a B-Side, huh? Well that’s what you’re going to get from me. Well, that and downloads so here you go:

Song: This Boy
Album: “I Want To Hold Your Hand” Single
Year: 1963

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