"
If I Needed Someone" is a song written by George Harrison. Versions by
The BeatlesThe Beatles were an English rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960 who became one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed bands in the history of popular music...
and by
The HolliesThe Hollies are an English rock group from Manchester formed in the early 1960s. Known for their distinctive vocal harmony style they became one of the leading British groups of the era, and they enjoyed considerable popularity in many other countries although they did not achieve major US chart...
appeared simultaneously, both being released in the UK on 3 December 1965. The Hollies version appeared on a single. Most of the Hollies previous singles had been big top ten hits. When their version of "If I Needed Someone" only reached the lower half of the top 20 in the UK, they were quite critical and said had they had made a mistake recording it.
"
If I Needed Someone" is a song written by George Harrison. Versions by
The BeatlesThe Beatles were an English rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960 who became one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed bands in the history of popular music...
and by
The HolliesThe Hollies are an English rock group from Manchester formed in the early 1960s. Known for their distinctive vocal harmony style they became one of the leading British groups of the era, and they enjoyed considerable popularity in many other countries although they did not achieve major US chart...
appeared simultaneously, both being released in the UK on 3 December 1965. The Hollies version appeared on a single. Most of the Hollies previous singles had been big top ten hits. When their version of "If I Needed Someone" only reached the lower half of the top 20 in the UK, they were quite critical and said had they had made a mistake recording it.
The BeatlesThe Beatles were an English rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960 who became one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed bands in the history of popular music...
recording of the song first appeared in the
UKThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
on the 1965 album
Rubber SoulRubber Soul is the sixth UK studio album and the eleventh US release by the British rock band The Beatles. Produced by George Martin and released in December 1965, Rubber Soul had been recorded in just over four weeks to make the Christmas market...
and was later included in the 1966 U.S. release 'Yesterday...and Today.
The Beatles version was recorded on 16 October and 18 October 1965, the basic track being recorded right after sessions for "
Day Tripper"Day Tripper" is a song by The Beatles. Written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, it was released as a double A-side single with "We Can Work It Out". Both songs were recorded during the sessions for the Rubber Soul album...
".
History
The song was heavily influenced by the music of
The ByrdsThe Byrds were an American rock and roll band. Formed in Los Angeles, California in 1964, The Byrds underwent several personnel changes, with frontman Roger McGuinn remaining the sole consistent member until the group disbanded in 1973....
. In a 2004 radio interview with the BBC in London,
Roger McGuinnJames Roger McGuinn is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He is best known for being the lead singer and lead guitarist on many of The Byrds' records...
confirmed that Harrison had sent a tape recording of the song to him in Los Angeles before it was released on record. Harrison did this to show McGuinn that the guitar riff he had used in "If I Needed Someone" was based on McGuinn's own riff in "The Bells of Rhymney." The song's introduction and
codaCoda is a term used in music in a number of different senses, primarily to designate a passage which brings a piece to a conclusion.-Coda as a section of a movement:...
are also very similar to those of The Byrds' song. Appropriately, The Byrds' own use of electric 12-string guitar was influenced by George Harrison's use of the instrument in the film
A Hard Day's NightA Hard Day's Night is a 1964 British comedy film written by Alun Owen starring The Beatles—John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr—during the height of Beatlemania. It was directed by Richard Lester and originally released by United Artists...
.
The song as recorded by the Beatles is in the key of
A mixolydianThe Mixolydian mode is a musical mode or diatonic scale. It has the same series of tones and semitones as the major scale, except the fifth note is taken as the tonic or starting pitch of the scale...
, switching to B minor during the breaks. The verses are heavily harmonised, with George Harrison taking the lead line on the first two lines, and John Lennon and Paul McCartney singing above him throughout on each subsequent verse. Harrison sings the break solo, but double tracked in the studio with himself as was customary during the period the Beatles recorded "Rubber Soul".
"If I Needed Someone" was the only Harrison composition played during any of the Beatles' tours; The Quiet Beatle otherwise only sang covers onstage. "If I Needed Someone" is included in the Beatles'
Tokyo, officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan and is located on the eastern side of the main island Honshū. The twenty-three special wards of Tokyo, each governed as a city, cover the area that was once the city of Tokyo in the eastern part of the prefecture, totaling over 8 million people....
concerts in July 1966; the documentary
The Compleat BeatlesThe Compleat Beatles, released in 1984, is a two-hour documentary, chronicling the career of the "Fab Four". Though it has since been supplanted by the longer and more in-depth documentary Beatles Anthology, The Compleat Beatles was for many years largely regarded as the definitive source of...
used a clip from the Beatles' haggard performance of the song on stage in Tokyo as illustration of how the band was growing tired of touring. The song was also performed on the Beatles' very last concert in Candlestick Park on August 29, 1966. It is suspected, but not confirmed, that "If I Needed Someone" was performed at every Beatles concert in 1966.
Personnel
- John Lennon
John Winston Ono Lennon, MBE was an English rock musician, singer-songwriter, author, and peace activist who gained worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles...
– harmony vocal, rhythm guitar
- Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE , is an English singer-songwriter, poet, composer, multi-instrumentalist, entrepreneur, record and film producer, painter, and animal rights and peace activist. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings, McCartney is the most successful songwriter in the history of popular music...
– harmony vocal, bass
- George Harrison
George Harrison MBE was an English rock guitarist, singer-songwriter and film producer who achieved international fame as lead guitarist in The Beatles. Often referred to as "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Indian mysticism, and helped broaden the horizons of the other Beatles, as well as...
– double-tracked lead vocal, 12-string lead guitar
- Ringo Starr
Richard Starkey, MBE , better known by his stage name Ringo Starr, is an English musician, singer-songwriter, and actor who gained worldwide fame as the drummer for the rock group The Beatles. When The Beatles formed in 1960, Starr belonged to another Liverpool band, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes....
– drums, tambourine
- George Martin
Sir George Henry Martin CBE is a British record producer, arranger and composer. He is sometimes referred to as "the Fifth Beatle"—a title that he owes to his work as producer of all but one of The Beatles' original records, as well as playing piano on some of The Beatles tracks—and is...
– harmonium
Hollies version
"If I Needed Someone" was the first George Harrison composition to be a UK chart hit, as a result of
The HolliesThe Hollies are an English rock group from Manchester formed in the early 1960s. Known for their distinctive vocal harmony style they became one of the leading British groups of the era, and they enjoyed considerable popularity in many other countries although they did not achieve major US chart...
' cover. Their version reached No. 20 in January 1966, but by their standards it was one of their least successful singles. Dismissive comments about The Hollies' track by Harrison (as reported in the music press) allegedly led to angry exchanges between both groups.
Other versions
George Harrison included the song on his Live in Japan album in 1992. Harrison and
Eric ClaptonEric Patrick Clapton, CBE is an English blues-rock guitarist, singer, songwriter, and composer. Clapton has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Yardbirds, of Cream, and as a solo performer, being the only person ever to be inducted three times...
play considerably longer guitar interludes between verses. Harrison's voice is also much more prominent than on The Beatles' original.
Clapton played a cover of the song as a tribute at the
Concert for GeorgeThe Concert for George was held at the Royal Albert Hall in London on 29 November 2002 as a memorial to George Harrison on the first anniversary of his death. The event was organized by Harrison's widow, Olivia, and son, Dhani, and arranged under the musical direction of Eric Clapton and Jeff Lynne...
in 2002.
It was covered by
Type O NegativeType O Negative is a heavy metal band from Brooklyn, New York City. Although commonly viewed as a gothic metal band, Type O has also incorporated elements of doom metal, and thrash metal. Their dramatic lyrical emphasis on themes of romance, depression, and death has resulted in the nickname "The...
, as part of a medley also containing "
Day Tripper"Day Tripper" is a song by The Beatles. Written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, it was released as a double A-side single with "We Can Work It Out". Both songs were recorded during the sessions for the Rubber Soul album...
" and "
I Want You (She's So Heavy)"I Want You " is a song by The Beatles, from their album Abbey Road. It was written by John Lennon, with some creative input from Yoko Ono, although it is credited as a Lennon/McCartney collaboration....
". It appears on their 1999 album
World Coming DownWorld Coming Down is the fifth album by Brooklyn band Type O Negative. Even though the band has often expressed dark themes through their music, the lyrical content of this album is markedly morbid.-Overview:...
.
Les FradkinLes Fradkin is a guitarist, composer and record producer. He is best known for being a member of the original cast of the hit Broadway show Beatlemania...
has covered it twice: as a
guitarThe guitar is a musical instrument with ancient roots that adapts readily to a wide variety of musical styles. It typically has six strings, but four-, seven-, eight-, ten-, eleven-, twelve-, thirteen- and eighteen-string guitars also exist. The size and shape of the neck and the base of the guitar...
instrumental rockInstrumental rock is a type of rock music which emphasizes musical instruments, and which features no or very little singing.Examples of instrumental rock can be found in practically every subgenre of rock, often from musicians who specialize in the style, most notably Buckethead, Joe Satriani,...
version on his CD "While My Guitar Only Plays" and as a vocal version on "Love You 2".
Roots duo
Show of HandsShow of Hands is an English acoustic roots and folk duo comprising singer-songwriter Steve Knightley and multi-instrumentalist Phil Beer. Their appeal is based on the combined power of Knightley's original songs, the quality of their vocals and harmonies, and their multi-instrumental virtuosity...
included a cover of the song on their studio album 'Witness'.
Golden Carillo (
Annie GoldenAnnie Golden is an American actress and singer.Born in Brooklyn, New York, Golden began her career as the lead singer of The Shirts . During the early 90s she performed as part of the duo Golden Carillo with Frank Carillo...
, Frank Carillo) included a cover of the song on their 1993 studio album "Toxic Emotion" and also released the song as a cd-single.
The Bacon BrothersThe Bacon Brothers is the American musical duo of Michael Bacon and Kevin Bacon. Although they have played music together since they were boys, the brothers have only been a working band since 1995....
covered it on their album White Knuckles
.
The Cryan' ShamesThe Cryan' Shames are an American pop rock group from Hinsdale, Illinois. They originally formed as The Travelers, with founding members Tom Doody , Gerry Stone , Dave Purple of The Prowlers, Denny Conroy and Jim Fairs from The Roosters, and Jim Pilster . The band later changed its name to The...
covered it on their 1966 debut album Sugar And Spice.
External links