And I Love Her
"And I Love Her" is a song recorded by English rock band the Beatles, written primarily by Paul McCartney and credited to the Lennon–McCartney partnership. It is the fifth track of their third UK album A Hard Day's Night and was released 20 July 1964, along with "If I Fell", as a single release by Capitol Records in the United States, reaching No. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100.
The Beatles performed "And I Love Her" just once outside EMI Studios; on 14 July 1964 they played it for an edition of the BBC's Top Gear radio show, which was broadcast two days later.
Composition
A majority of the composition shifts back and forth between the key of E and its relative minor C#m. It also changes keys altogether just before the solo, to Gm. The final chord is a D major. This technique of ending is known as Picardy third resolution.The song was written mainly by McCartney, though John Lennon claimed in an interview with Playboy that his major contribution was the middle eight section.
Beatles publisher Dick James lends support to this claim, saying that the middle eight was added during recording at the suggestion of producer George Martin. According to James, Lennon called for a break and "within half an hour wrote... a very constructive middle to a very commercial song." McCartney, on the other hand, maintains that "the middle eight is mine... I wrote this on my own. I would say that John probably helped with the middle eight, but he can't say 'It's mine'."
"The 'And' in the title was an important thing – 'And I Love Her,' it came right out of left field, you were right up to speed the minute you heard it," McCartney said. "The title comes in the second verse and it doesn't repeat. You would often go to town on the title, but this was almost an aside: 'Oh... and I love you.'"
McCartney has credited George Harrison with composing the signature guitar riff, saying it "made a stunning difference to the song". He also said that Harrison should probably have been listed as a co-writer.
McCartney called "And I Love Her" "the first ballad I impressed myself with". Lennon called it McCartney's "first 'Yesterday'".
An instrumental version of "And I Love Her", orchestrated by George Martin, was released as a single with "Ringo's Theme " as the B-side on 18 July 1964. It failed to chart on the US Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 105, while "Ringo's Theme " peaked at number 53 later that year. "And I Love Her" was included on Martin's Parlophone album Off the Beatle Track and the EP Music From A Hard Day's Night by the George Martin Orchestra, released on 19 February 1965. It was also included on the American A Hard Day's Night soundtrack album.
Recording
Recorded by the Beatles over three days, in Abbey Road Studio Two, the sessions were produced by George Martin and engineered by Norman Smith. The second engineer was Richard Langham.Day 1
Work began at 2:30pm on Tuesday 25 February 1964 for the first day of the sessions for the Hard Day's Night soundtrack and the accompanying album. Two takes were recorded. Take 1 was incomplete, but Take 2 was complete. However, the Beatles decided a lighter touch was required. Take 2 was eventually released on Anthology 1 in 1995. This version was missing the middle-eight.Instrumentation on this session was
- Paul McCartney – lead vocal, 1963 Höfner 500/1 bass guitar through Vox AC-100 bass amp.
- John Lennon – 1964 Rickenbacker 325 electric guitar through Vox AC-50 guitar amp
- George Harrison – 1964 Rickenbacker 360-12 12 string electric guitar through Vox AC-50 guitar amp
- Ringo Starr – Ludwig drum kit
Day 2
Instrumentation on both this session and Day 3 was
- Paul McCartney – lead vocal, 1963 Höfner 500/1 bass guitar through Vox AC-100 bass amp
- John Lennon – Harrison's 1962 Gibson J-160E acoustic-electric guitar through Vox AC-50 guitar amp
- George Harrison – 1964 José Ramírez Guitarra de Estudio classical guitar
- Ringo Starr – Ludwig drum kit, switching to bongos and claves
Day 3
Mixing and release
All mixes were prepared from Take 21.Mono Mix 1
This initial mono mix was made in the Abbey Road Studio One control room on Tuesday 3 March. As for the recording session, Martin and Smith were producer and engineer. The second engineer was A.B. Lincoln.The mix features McCartney's single-tracked vocal, with only selected phrases highlighted by double tracking.
This mix was sent to Capitol and United Artists on Tuesday 9 June, and released on the US mono version of the Hard Day's Night soundtrack album on Friday 26 June 1964. The stereo version of the album used a fake stereo version of this mono mix.
This mix was also used on the mono version of the Capitol album Something New, released on Monday 20 July 1964.
This mix was also used on the film print of A Hard Day's Night except the speed was slower in a low pitch.
It can currently be found as part of the Capitol Albums Volume 1 box set.
Mono Mix 2
This second mono mix was made in the Abbey Road Studio One control room on Monday 22 June. Martin and Smith were again producer and engineer. The second engineer was Geoff Emerick.In this mix, McCartney's vocal is double-tracked throughout, except for the first two lines of the third verse.
This mix was released on the UK mono version of A Hard Day's Night on Friday 10 July 1964.
It can currently be found on The Beatles in Mono box set.
Stereo Mix
A stereo mix of "And I Love Her" was made on Monday 22 June immediately after Mono Remix 2. As with Mono Remix 2, McCartney's vocal is double-tracked throughout, except for the first two lines of the third verse.This mix was released on the UK stereo version of A Hard Day's Night on Friday 10 July 1964.
This mix was also used on the stereo version of the Capitol album Something New, released on Monday 20 July 1964.
It can currently be found on the A Hard Day's Night CD, and as part of the Capitol Albums Volume 1 box set.
Extended Stereo Mix
The German version of Something New contained an edited version of the 22 June stereo mix, repeating the closing guitar riff six times instead of three. This version also appeared on the American Rarities album in 1980. It is not known when this edit was made. It has not yet been released on CD.Personnel
- Paul McCartney – vocals, bass guitar
- John Lennon – acoustic rhythm guitar
- George Harrison – classical lead guitar
- Ringo Starr – bongos, claves
- George Martin – producer
Covers and other versions
An instrumental cover by Santo & Johnny topped the Mexican charts in 1965. Jazz pianist Brad Mehldau included an extended instrumental trio version on his 2016 album Blues and Ballads, which an AllMusic review describes as "transfiguring the minor/major-key centers into something sweeping and operatic." •. The Seminal Jamaican Band The Wailers Covered the song in 1965, it was recorded at Studio One at the Brentford Road Premises, Bob Marley sang the Lead Vocals with Peter Tosh and Bunny wailer aka doing Harmonies, it was released on the Coxsone Imprint in Jamaica, and the Ska Beat Label in the UK in 1966 -.
Patty Pravo covered the song on his 1970 album in Italian as La tua voce, text by Don Backy and Mogol.
Bobby Womack covered the song on his 1972 album Understanding.
McCartney has played the song live on various tours. There have been two official releases of live versions, one by McCartney solo on 1991's Unplugged and another by the Beatles on On Air – Live at the BBC Volume 2.
An outtake from the original studio sessions, Take 2 recorded Feb. 25, 1964, was released on the 1995 issue of Anthology 1.
Chart performance
Kurt Cobain cover
In 2015, a solo version by Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain was discovered, and subsequently used in his biopic, '. It was also released on the soundtrack album ' as well as a 7-inch vinyl single.Cobain's chart positions
Chart | Peak position |
US Hot Singles Sales | 2 |
UK Physical Singles Sales | 2 |
UK Vinyl Singles Chart | 1 |