(Credits: Alamy)
There is often an idyllic image attached to the creative process. It is viewed as a serene environment where songs fall from the air and drop onto the lap of the songwriter. However, the reality for most artists, even for The Beatles, is typically a significantly different experience, as looming deadlines force them to hurry their creations and work at a breakneck speed.
As much as The Beatles became the biggest band in the world, which arrived with immense privileges, it wasn’t always this way. For example, while they were making Abbey Road, the Fab Four were on their own record label and due to being their own bosses, they could take as long as they needed in the studio to fulfil their creative vision. This luxury is only available to a select few in the music business, and The Beatles had to earn this position. For the first few years of their career, they needed to remain active and in the public consciousness by constantly making new music to sustain interest.
Naturally, due to the sheer pace at which The Beatles churned through material, it’s understandable that they occasionally sacrificed quality. Although Paul McCartney has predominantly spoken proudly about the back catalogue he created with The Beatles, he’s honest enough to admit that two of their songs were nothing more than “work”. In contrast, following the split of The Beatles, John Lennon was ruthless in his assessment of their material. He was brutally honest in analysing their songs and the output they produced, disregarding plenty of beloved tracks to “throwaway”, “phoney”, or “granny shit“.
On the other hand, McCartney usually answers questions diplomatically, even if he’s discussing an album track of a lower quality than ‘Let It Be‘ or ‘Yesterday’. Nevertheless, there were a couple of occasions when he let that guise slip and showed his true feelings. In Barry Miles’ Many Years From Now, McCartney opened up about the laborious exercise it was creating ‘Little Child’. He said the track “was a work job. Certain songs were inspirational and you just followed that. Certain other songs were, ‘Right, come on, two hours, song for Ringo for the album’.”
Writing for Ringo was an element of his job that McCartney saw as a chore. The drummer’s limited vocal range made it an even more challenging mission. He added: “They had to be fairly simple. [Ringo] didn’t have a large vocal range but he could handle things with good con brio and spirito if they were nice and simple. It had to be something he could get behind. If he couldn’t picture it, you were in trouble.”
McCartney wasn’t any kinder about ‘Hold Me Tight’, which also appeared on With The Beatles. He noted, “I can’t remember much about that one. Certain songs were just ‘work’ songs, you haven’t got much memory of them. That’s one of them.”
On another occasion, he was even more scathing about ‘Hold Me Tight’, saying: “When we first started it was all singles and we were always trying to write singles, That’s why you get lots of these two-minute 30-second songs; they all came out the same length. ‘Hold Me Tight’ was a failed attempt at a single which then became an acceptable album filler.”
It’s no coincidence that McCartney is the least sentimental about the tracks from The Beatles’ early days. Although they had yet to develop their sound and reach their potential, this was a vital part of their journey to becoming songwriting greats. They still produced stellar tracks during this chapter; not everything they released was pop perfection, and their inconsistency was yet to be ironed out. Neither of the tracks that McCartney derides are Beatles classics. Instead, they are the sound of a band tirelessly working at improving their craft and unafraid of failure in their pursuit of greatness.
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