The Beatles were so overflowing with composing talent they simply gave away songs to other bands.
Now a new 528-page book explores this previously little-known aspect of the Fab Four's career. The central focus of "The Songs The Beatles Gave Away" is on tunes John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison wrote for other artistes rather than just for The Beatles themselves.
As such the stories featured in the book are not about "covers" of songs The Beatles had already released. It's about songs they did not release commercially or even record at all during the active lifetime of the group. Such "giveaways" were unique and each song and its singer are discussed in detail and side stories and background explored. This is the first time a book focusing on this aspect of The Beatles’ legacy has been attempted.
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Among the more well-known songs gifted by Lennon/McCartney to other artists which went on to become hits were: Bad To Me by Billy J Kramer and The Dakotas (a No 1 hit in 1963); A World Without Love by Peter and Gordon (which topped both the British and American charts in 1964); and Cilla Black's Step Inside Love.
The author, Liverpool-based Colin Hall, 73, spent his formative years living In Woolton and actually attended the now famous St Peter's Church fete on July 6, 1957 - the day John Lennon first met Paul McCartney. As a teenager Colin also regularly attended Barnston's Women's Institute in Wirral (usually on Friday nights), where Heswall Jazz Club held dances at which The Beatles performed on three occasions.
In his introduction, Colin said: "The singles that grace my book were first-time editions of songs that had not been commercially released by The Beatles themselves. For want of a better expression, they are tunes John, Paul and George 'gave away'. They were either never issued officially by The Beatles themselves during the existence of the group as an active recording unit, or were tunes which they did not take beyond the "demo" stage.
"They are, therefore, unique recordings, a separate Beatles songbook: a body of work released by other artists fortunate enough to be gifted original tunes, some specifically composed for them, others originally written with The Beatles in mind, but not actually released by the group themselves. As such the tunes were eagerly accepted by others, no doubt in the hope that some of that special Beatles magic would rub off and propel them into the charts."
As a respected music journalist and, Colin was given access to interviews he and broadcaster Bob Harris conducted in 2008/9 for the BBC Radio 2 documentary which inspired the new book. These included Sir Paul McCartney, and - among the last interviews they gave - Sir George Martin and Cilla Black.
Previously only small extracts from these exclusive interviews have ever been available but now, for the first time, they are printed in full. Colin has also unearthed interviews he conducted with Astrid Kirchherr and Klaus Vormann and he has also spoken with eye-witness, and former member of the Plastic Ono Band, Alan White, who played on many Apple recording sessions.
Since making the original Radio 2 documentary Colin has also been able to speak to artists who did not contribute directly to the programme such as Billy J Kramer, Peter Asher, Megan Davies of The Applejacks and John Clay who played with the Black Dyke Mills Brass Band in 1968 when Paul McCartney visited Saltaire, in Yorkshire, to record "Thingumybob", an instrumental tune he had written especially for a brass band to play.
The Songs The Beatles Gave Away, priced £19.99, is available from Great Northern Books, call 01274 735056 or visit the website here .
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