I'll Be on My Way: Difference between revisions
link fix |
No edit summary Tags: Mobile edit Mobile web edit |
||
(42 intermediate revisions by 27 users not shown) | |||
Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
{{Short description|Song written by Lennon–McCartney}} |
|||
{{Infobox single |
|||
{{Infobox song |
|||
| Name = I'll Be on My Way |
|||
| |
| name = I'll Be on My Way |
||
| cover = |
|||
| A-side = "[[Do You Want to Know a Secret]](UK) [[From A Window]] (US)" |
|||
| |
| alt = |
||
| type = single |
|||
| artist = [[Billy J. Kramer]] with [[The Dakotas (band)|the Dakotas]] |
|||
| |
| album = |
||
| A-side = "[[Do You Want to Know a Secret]]" (UK) "[[From a Window]]" (US) |
|||
| Published = |
|||
| |
| released = 26 April 1963 |
||
| |
| format = |
||
| |
| recorded = 14, 21 March 1963 |
||
| |
| studio = |
||
| |
| venue = |
||
| |
| genre = |
||
| |
| length = 1:40 |
||
| label = Parlophone (UK) <br> Imperial (US) |
|||
| |
| writer = [[Lennon–McCartney]] |
||
| producer = [[George Martin]] |
|||
| prev_title = |
|||
| prev_year = |
|||
| next_title = |
|||
| next_year = |
|||
}} |
}} |
||
{{Infobox song |
{{Infobox song |
||
| |
| name = I'll Be on My Way |
||
| |
| cover = |
||
| |
| alt = |
||
| type = |
|||
| Album = [[Live at the BBC (Beatles album)|Live at the BBC]] |
|||
| |
| artist = [[the Beatles]] |
||
| album = [[Live at the BBC (Beatles album)|Live at the BBC]] |
|||
| track_no = 7 |
|||
| released = *30 November 1994 (UK) |
|||
| Recorded = 4 April 1963 |
|||
*5 December 1994 (US) |
|||
| Genre = [[Pop music|Pop]] |
|||
| |
| format = |
||
| recorded = 4 April 1963 |
|||
| Writer = [[Lennon–McCartney]] |
|||
| |
| studio = [[Paris Theatre|BBC Paris Theatre]], London |
||
| venue = |
|||
| Producer = Bryant Marriott, [[George Martin]] (Executive Producer) |
|||
| |
| genre = [[Pop music|Pop]] |
||
| |
| length = 1:58 |
||
| label = [[Apple Records]] |
|||
| next = "[[Young Blood (The Coasters song)|Young Blood]]" |
|||
| writer = [[Lennon–McCartney]] |
|||
| next_no = 8 |
|||
| producer = Bryant Marriott, [[George Martin]] (Executive Producer) |
|||
}} |
}} |
||
"'''I'll Be on My Way'''" is a song |
"'''I'll Be on My Way'''" is a song written by [[Paul McCartney]], credited to [[Lennon–McCartney]], first released on 26 April 1963 by [[Billy J. Kramer]] with [[The Dakotas (band)|the Dakotas]] as the [[A-side and B-side|B-side]] of their hit debut single "[[Do You Want to Know a Secret]]", a song also written by Lennon–McCartney. The single reached number two in the UK charts while "[[From Me to You]]" by [[the Beatles]] occupied the number 1 position. The Beatles recorded a version of the song on 4 April 1963 for BBC radio, first released on the 1994 compilation album ''[[Live at the BBC (The Beatles album)|Live at the BBC]]''. |
||
== |
==Composition== |
||
[[John Lennon]] explained "I'll Be on My Way" "was early Paul."{{sfn|Cadogan|2008|page=159}} Credited to [[Lennon–McCartney]], [[Paul McCartney]] wrote the song in the first half of 1959.{{sfn|Lewisohn|2013|p=214–215}} Author Todd Compton attributes it to "McCartney–Lennon."{{sfn|Compton|2017|pp=48-49}} McCartney wrote the song on his first guitar, a [[Framus]] Zenith [[Steel-string guitar|acoustic guitar]].{{sfn|Lewisohn|2013|p=215, 705}} In ''[[The Beatles Anthology (book)|The Beatles Anthology]]'', McCartney recalls, "All my first songs... were written on the Zenith; songs like '[[Michelle (song)|Michelle]]' and '[[I Saw Her Standing There]]'. It was on this guitar that I learnt '[[Twenty Flight Rock]]', the song that later got me into the group [[The Quarrymen|The Quarry Men]]."{{sfn|The Beatles|2000|p=20}} When first written, the song had little beyond its melody.{{sfn|Lewisohn|2013|p=705}} The song was fleshed out years later after the Beatles added it to their live repertoire.{{sfn|Lewisohn|2013|p=705}}{{refn|group=nb|[[Walter Everett (musicologist)|Walter Everett]] writes the song was added to the Beatles' repertoire in "the last months of 1961",{{sfn|Everett|2001|p=101}} while Lewisohn writes it was not until September 1962.{{sfn|Lewisohn|2013|p=705}}}} |
|||
In 1980 Lennon said "that's Paul on the voids of driving through the country."{{sfn|Sheff|2000|p=170}} |
|||
The song is heavily inspired by [[Buddy Holly]]. [[Musicology|Musicologist]] and writer [[Ian MacDonald]] writes, "Played a little faster, the song reveals its debt to Buddy Holly's simple three-chords schemes. (Imagine each chorus finishing 'I'll be on my way ah-hey-hey'.)"{{sfn|MacDonald|2005|p=82}} Everett agrees, writing the song "has strong Holly ties, especially in the duet refrain,"{{sfn|Everett|2001|p=52}} as does Lewisohn who calls the song "Hollyesque."{{sfn|Lewisohn|2013|p=705}} The rising and falling chromatic line of the guitar intro comes from [[the Crickets]]' cover of "[[Don't Ever Change (song)|Don't Ever Change]]",{{sfn|Everett|2001|p=169}} especially the augmented E chord.{{sfn|Lewisohn|2013|p=705}} After measure 11, McCartney's vocal part moves to a [[descant]] in [[Parallel harmony|parallel]] thirds above Lennon's, a technique derivative of Holly's normal [[Double tracking|double-tracked]] vocal patterns.{{sfn|Everett|2001|p=169}} |
|||
"I'll Be on My Way" is considered to be the first song that Lennon and McCartney "gave away",{{sfn|Calkin|2002a}} and the Billy J. Kramer with the Dakotas' version of the song is included on the [[EMI]] album ''[[The Songs Lennon and McCartney Gave Away]]''.{{sfn|Calkin|2002b}} |
|||
Though Lennon sang the lead vocal as a harmony duet with McCartney, he never liked the song.{{sfn|Lewisohn|2013|p=705}} Beatles historian [[Mark Lewisohn]] writes that while performing it, "when they got to the line 'this way will I go'—[Lennon] pulled a [[Cripple|crip]] face and hunched himself [[Quasimodo]]-like around the microphone. Paul had no choice but to ride the laughter."{{sfn|Lewisohn|2013|p=706}} |
|||
In 1963, the Beatles and Billy J. Kramer with the Dakotas were both acts managed by [[Brian Epstein]], with [[George Martin]] as their producer. |
|||
The song may have been influenced by the musical and lyrical style of [[Buddy Holly]]. The persona forces a happy-go-lucky view on his break-up to make himself feel better, similar in character to Holly's 1959 song "[[It Doesn't Matter Anymore]]". |
|||
The song was recorded at BBC Paris Theatre, London |
|||
==Recording== |
==Recording== |
||
McCartney made a demo of the song prior to [[Billy J. Kramer]] and [[The Dakotas (band)|the Dakotas]] recording it.{{sfn|Everett|2001|p=169}} Dakotas guitarist [[Mike Maxfield]] claims that he still owns the [[Acetate disc|acetate]] and that all of the Beatles play on it, though this claim has never been substantiated.{{sfn|Everett|2001|p=388n190}} |
|||
The Beatles recorded the song on 4 April 1963 at the [[BBC]] Paris Theatre, [[London]], and broadcast on the BBC radio show ''Side by Side'' on 24 June 1963.{{sfn|MacDonald|2005|p=82}} Everett writes that [[George Harrison]]'s guitar solo features "the clash of bent unison [[double stop|double-stops]]",{{sfn|Everett|2001|pp=134–135}} similar to those of [[Scotty Moore]] in [[Elvis Presley]]'s "[[Just Because (Nelstone's Hawaiians song)|Just Because]]" and "[[Jailhouse Rock (song)|Jailhouse Rock]]" and in [[Jerry Lee Lewis]]'s "Livin' Lovin' Wreck".{{sfn|Everett|2001|p=135}} |
|||
==Release and reception== |
|||
==Notes== |
|||
Everett suggests the Beatles recorded a rendition of the song only to help promote Kramer's record.{{sfn|Everett|2001|p=169}} The Beatles released their version on the 1994 album ''[[Live at the BBC (Beatles album)|Live at the BBC]]''.{{sfn|MacDonald|2005|p=82}}{{sfn|Everett|2001|p=160}} It is the only non-cover song on the album that was previously unreleased.{{sfn|Goodden|2008}} |
|||
{{Reflist}} |
|||
MacDonald describes the lyrics and music as "almost derisively naive".{{sfn|MacDonald|2005|p=82}} Lewisohn singles out the lyric "When the June light turns to moonlight" as the kind Lennon and McCartney "usually spurned" in others.{{sfn|Lewisohn|2013|p=215}} McCartney reflected on the work in his official biography, ''[[Paul McCartney: Many Years from Now]]'', saying "It's a little bit too June-moon for me, but these were very early songs and they worked out quite well."{{sfn|Miles|1998|page=180}} In 1980, [[John Lennon]] said of the song, "That's Paul, through and through. Doesn't it sound like him? Tra la la la la [laughs]. Yeah, that's Paul on the voids (joys) of driving through the country."{{sfn|Sheff|2000|p=170}} Everett writes the "this way I will go" lyrics, "are too closely related, in an innocent way, to those of "[[I'll Follow the Sun]]."{{sfn|Everett|2001|p=169}} He concludes that the chord transitions are ultimately uninteresting.{{sfn|Everett|2001|p=169}} |
|||
==Personnel== |
|||
According to [[Ian MacDonald]]:{{sfn|MacDonald|2005|p=82}} |
|||
* [[John Lennon]] – lead vocal, acoustic guitar |
|||
* [[Paul McCartney]] – harmony vocal, bass |
|||
* [[George Harrison]] – lead guitar |
|||
* [[Ringo Starr]] – drums |
|||
==The Billy J. Kramer version== |
|||
Kramer and the Dakotas recorded "I'll Be On My Way" on 14 and 21 March 1963.{{sfn|Everett|2001|p=167}} |
|||
Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas released their cover of the song as the B-side of their hit debut single, "[[Do You Want to Know a Secret#The Billy J. Kramer version|Do You Want to Know a Secret]]"{{sfn|MacDonald|2005|p=82}} on 26 April 1963.{{sfn|Everett|2001|p=387n182}} The record held at #2 nationally in the U.K., second to the Beatles' "[[From Me To You]]".{{sfn|Everett|2001|p=167–168}} This version of the song is included on the 1979 [[EMI]] album ''[[The Songs Lennon and McCartney Gave Away]].''{{sfn|Calkin|2002}} |
|||
==References== |
==References== |
||
===Footnotes=== |
|||
{{Refbegin|2}} |
|||
{{Reflist|group=nb}} |
|||
* {{cite book |
|||
| last=Cadogan |
|||
| first=Patrick |
|||
| year=2008 |
|||
| title=The Revolutionary Artist: John Lennon's Radical Years |
|||
| publisher=Lulu |
|||
| isbn=978-1-4357-1863-0 |
|||
| ref=harv |
|||
}} |
|||
* {{cite web |
|||
| last=Calkin |
|||
| first=Graham |
|||
| year=2002a |
|||
| title=Collaborations: Do You Want to Know a Secret |
|||
| work=JPGR |
|||
| url=http://www.jpgr.co.uk/col_r5023.html |
|||
| accessdate=29 October 2006 |
|||
| ref=harv |
|||
}} |
|||
* {{cite web |
|||
| last=Calkin |
|||
| first=Graham |
|||
| year=2002b |
|||
| title=Collaborations: The Songs Lennon and McCartney Gave Away |
|||
| work=JPGR |
|||
| url=http://www.jpgr.co.uk/col_nut18.html |
|||
| accessdate=29 October 2006 |
|||
| ref=harv |
|||
}} |
|||
* {{cite book |
|||
| last= Compton |
|||
| first=Todd |
|||
| year=2017 |
|||
| title= Who Wrote the Beatle Songs? A History of Lennon-McCartney |
|||
| publisher= Pahreah Press |
|||
| isbn=978-0-9988997-0-1 |
|||
| ref=harv |
|||
}} |
|||
===Citations=== |
|||
* {{cite book |
|||
{{Reflist}} |
|||
| last=Sheff |
|||
| first=David |
|||
===Sources=== |
|||
| year=2000 |
|||
{{Refbegin}} |
|||
| title=All We Are Saying |
|||
* {{cite book |author=The Beatles |author-link=The Beatles |year=2000 |title=The Beatles Anthology |publisher=[[Chronicle Books]] |location=San Francisco |isbn=978-0-8118-2684-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HWuQu8EMDKcC |access-date=4 February 2021}} |
|||
| publisher=St Martin's Griffin |
|||
* {{cite book| last=Cadogan| first=Patrick| year=2008| title=The Revolutionary Artist: John Lennon's Radical Years| publisher=Lulu| isbn=978-1-4357-1863-0}} |
|||
| isbn=0-312-25464-4 |
|||
* {{cite web| last=Calkin| first=Graham| year=2002| title=Collaborations: The Songs Lennon and McCartney Gave Away| work=JPGR| url=https://www.jpgr.co.uk/col_nut18.html| access-date=29 October 2006}} |
|||
| ref=harv |
|||
* {{cite book| last= Compton| first=Todd| year=2017| title= Who Wrote the Beatle Songs? A History of Lennon-McCartney| publisher= Pahreah Press| isbn=978-0-9988997-0-1}} |
|||
}} |
|||
* {{cite book |last=Everett |first=Walter |author-link=Walter Everett (musicologist) |year=2001 |title=The Beatles As Musicians: The Quarry Men through Rubber Soul |url=https://archive.org/details/beatlesasmusicia00ever |url-access=registration |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford and New York |isbn=978-0-19-514105-4 |access-date=4 February 2021}} |
|||
* {{cite web |
|||
* {{cite web|last=Goodden |first=Joe |website=The Beatles Bible| year=2008| title=I'll Be On My Way| url=https://www.beatlesbible.com/songs/ill-be-on-my-way/| access-date=15 September 2008}} |
|||
| work=The Beatles Bible |
|||
* {{cite book|last=Lewisohn |first=Mark |author-link=Mark Lewisohn |title=[[The Beatles: All These Years|The Beatles – All These Years]], Volume One: Tune In |publisher=Crown Archetype |year=2013 |isbn=978-1-4000-8305-3 }} |
|||
| year=2008 |
|||
* {{cite book |last=MacDonald |first=Ian |year=2005 |author-link=Ian MacDonald |title=Revolution in the Head: The Beatles' Records and the Sixties |edition=2nd revised |publisher=Pimlico |location=London |isbn=978-1-84413-828-9}} |
|||
| title=I'll Be On My Way |
|||
* {{cite book|last=Miles|first=Barry |author-link=Barry Miles|title=[[Paul McCartney: Many Years from Now]]|publisher= Secker & Warburg|location=London|year=1998|isbn=978-0-436-28022-1}} |
|||
| url=http://www.beatlesbible.com/songs/ill-be-on-my-way/ |
|||
* {{cite book | last=Sheff | first=David | year=2000 | title=All We Are Saying | publisher=St Martin's Griffin | isbn=0-312-25464-4| url-access=registration | url=https://archive.org/details/allwearesayingla00lenn}} |
|||
| accessdate=15 September 2008 |
|||
| ref={{SfnRef|The Beatles Bible|2008}} |
|||
}} |
|||
{{Refend}} |
{{Refend}} |
||
{{authority control}} |
|||
[[Category:1963 songs]] |
[[Category:1963 songs]] |
||
[[Category:The Beatles and radio]] |
|||
[[Category:The Beatles songs]] |
[[Category:The Beatles songs]] |
||
[[Category:Billy J. Kramer songs]] |
[[Category:Billy J. Kramer songs]] |
Latest revision as of 19:35, 13 July 2024
"I'll Be on My Way" | |
---|---|
Single by Billy J. Kramer with the Dakotas | |
A-side | "Do You Want to Know a Secret" (UK) "From a Window" (US) |
Released | 26 April 1963 |
Recorded | 14, 21 March 1963 |
Length | 1:40 |
Label | Parlophone (UK) Imperial (US) |
Songwriter(s) | Lennon–McCartney |
Producer(s) | George Martin |
"I'll Be on My Way" | |
---|---|
Song by the Beatles | |
from the album Live at the BBC | |
Released |
|
Recorded | 4 April 1963 |
Studio | BBC Paris Theatre, London |
Genre | Pop |
Length | 1:58 |
Label | Apple Records |
Songwriter(s) | Lennon–McCartney |
Producer(s) | Bryant Marriott, George Martin (Executive Producer) |
"I'll Be on My Way" is a song written by Paul McCartney, credited to Lennon–McCartney, first released on 26 April 1963 by Billy J. Kramer with the Dakotas as the B-side of their hit debut single "Do You Want to Know a Secret", a song also written by Lennon–McCartney. The single reached number two in the UK charts while "From Me to You" by the Beatles occupied the number 1 position. The Beatles recorded a version of the song on 4 April 1963 for BBC radio, first released on the 1994 compilation album Live at the BBC.
Composition
[edit]John Lennon explained "I'll Be on My Way" "was early Paul."[1] Credited to Lennon–McCartney, Paul McCartney wrote the song in the first half of 1959.[2] Author Todd Compton attributes it to "McCartney–Lennon."[3] McCartney wrote the song on his first guitar, a Framus Zenith acoustic guitar.[4] In The Beatles Anthology, McCartney recalls, "All my first songs... were written on the Zenith; songs like 'Michelle' and 'I Saw Her Standing There'. It was on this guitar that I learnt 'Twenty Flight Rock', the song that later got me into the group The Quarry Men."[5] When first written, the song had little beyond its melody.[6] The song was fleshed out years later after the Beatles added it to their live repertoire.[6][nb 1]
The song is heavily inspired by Buddy Holly. Musicologist and writer Ian MacDonald writes, "Played a little faster, the song reveals its debt to Buddy Holly's simple three-chords schemes. (Imagine each chorus finishing 'I'll be on my way ah-hey-hey'.)"[8] Everett agrees, writing the song "has strong Holly ties, especially in the duet refrain,"[9] as does Lewisohn who calls the song "Hollyesque."[6] The rising and falling chromatic line of the guitar intro comes from the Crickets' cover of "Don't Ever Change",[10] especially the augmented E chord.[6] After measure 11, McCartney's vocal part moves to a descant in parallel thirds above Lennon's, a technique derivative of Holly's normal double-tracked vocal patterns.[10]
Though Lennon sang the lead vocal as a harmony duet with McCartney, he never liked the song.[6] Beatles historian Mark Lewisohn writes that while performing it, "when they got to the line 'this way will I go'—[Lennon] pulled a crip face and hunched himself Quasimodo-like around the microphone. Paul had no choice but to ride the laughter."[11]
Recording
[edit]McCartney made a demo of the song prior to Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas recording it.[10] Dakotas guitarist Mike Maxfield claims that he still owns the acetate and that all of the Beatles play on it, though this claim has never been substantiated.[12]
The Beatles recorded the song on 4 April 1963 at the BBC Paris Theatre, London, and broadcast on the BBC radio show Side by Side on 24 June 1963.[8] Everett writes that George Harrison's guitar solo features "the clash of bent unison double-stops",[13] similar to those of Scotty Moore in Elvis Presley's "Just Because" and "Jailhouse Rock" and in Jerry Lee Lewis's "Livin' Lovin' Wreck".[14]
Release and reception
[edit]Everett suggests the Beatles recorded a rendition of the song only to help promote Kramer's record.[10] The Beatles released their version on the 1994 album Live at the BBC.[8][15] It is the only non-cover song on the album that was previously unreleased.[16]
MacDonald describes the lyrics and music as "almost derisively naive".[8] Lewisohn singles out the lyric "When the June light turns to moonlight" as the kind Lennon and McCartney "usually spurned" in others.[17] McCartney reflected on the work in his official biography, Paul McCartney: Many Years from Now, saying "It's a little bit too June-moon for me, but these were very early songs and they worked out quite well."[18] In 1980, John Lennon said of the song, "That's Paul, through and through. Doesn't it sound like him? Tra la la la la [laughs]. Yeah, that's Paul on the voids (joys) of driving through the country."[19] Everett writes the "this way I will go" lyrics, "are too closely related, in an innocent way, to those of "I'll Follow the Sun."[10] He concludes that the chord transitions are ultimately uninteresting.[10]
Personnel
[edit]According to Ian MacDonald:[8]
- John Lennon – lead vocal, acoustic guitar
- Paul McCartney – harmony vocal, bass
- George Harrison – lead guitar
- Ringo Starr – drums
The Billy J. Kramer version
[edit]Kramer and the Dakotas recorded "I'll Be On My Way" on 14 and 21 March 1963.[20]
Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas released their cover of the song as the B-side of their hit debut single, "Do You Want to Know a Secret"[8] on 26 April 1963.[21] The record held at #2 nationally in the U.K., second to the Beatles' "From Me To You".[22] This version of the song is included on the 1979 EMI album The Songs Lennon and McCartney Gave Away.[23]
References
[edit]Footnotes
[edit]- ^ Walter Everett writes the song was added to the Beatles' repertoire in "the last months of 1961",[7] while Lewisohn writes it was not until September 1962.[6]
Citations
[edit]- ^ Cadogan 2008, p. 159.
- ^ Lewisohn 2013, p. 214–215.
- ^ Compton 2017, pp. 48–49.
- ^ Lewisohn 2013, p. 215, 705.
- ^ The Beatles 2000, p. 20.
- ^ a b c d e f Lewisohn 2013, p. 705.
- ^ Everett 2001, p. 101.
- ^ a b c d e f MacDonald 2005, p. 82.
- ^ Everett 2001, p. 52.
- ^ a b c d e f Everett 2001, p. 169.
- ^ Lewisohn 2013, p. 706.
- ^ Everett 2001, p. 388n190.
- ^ Everett 2001, pp. 134–135.
- ^ Everett 2001, p. 135.
- ^ Everett 2001, p. 160.
- ^ Goodden 2008.
- ^ Lewisohn 2013, p. 215.
- ^ Miles 1998, p. 180.
- ^ Sheff 2000, p. 170.
- ^ Everett 2001, p. 167.
- ^ Everett 2001, p. 387n182.
- ^ Everett 2001, p. 167–168.
- ^ Calkin 2002.
Sources
[edit]- The Beatles (2000). The Beatles Anthology. San Francisco: Chronicle Books. ISBN 978-0-8118-2684-6. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
- Cadogan, Patrick (2008). The Revolutionary Artist: John Lennon's Radical Years. Lulu. ISBN 978-1-4357-1863-0.
- Calkin, Graham (2002). "Collaborations: The Songs Lennon and McCartney Gave Away". JPGR. Retrieved 29 October 2006.
- Compton, Todd (2017). Who Wrote the Beatle Songs? A History of Lennon-McCartney. Pahreah Press. ISBN 978-0-9988997-0-1.
- Everett, Walter (2001). The Beatles As Musicians: The Quarry Men through Rubber Soul. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-514105-4. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
- Goodden, Joe (2008). "I'll Be On My Way". The Beatles Bible. Retrieved 15 September 2008.
- Lewisohn, Mark (2013). The Beatles – All These Years, Volume One: Tune In. Crown Archetype. ISBN 978-1-4000-8305-3.
- MacDonald, Ian (2005). Revolution in the Head: The Beatles' Records and the Sixties (2nd revised ed.). London: Pimlico. ISBN 978-1-84413-828-9.
- Miles, Barry (1998). Paul McCartney: Many Years from Now. London: Secker & Warburg. ISBN 978-0-436-28022-1.
- Sheff, David (2000). All We Are Saying. St Martin's Griffin. ISBN 0-312-25464-4.