Worst Beatles recording?
“It’s got stupid words and is the naffest song, No wonder it didn’t make it onto anything.”George Harrison Anthology
In January 1965 the Lennon and McCartney song factory was temporarily out of stock. Time for a break? Fat chance. That ‘Ringo tune’ for yet another album (Help) was not going to write itself.
As before, and after, they ransacked their back-catalogue but still were coming up empty until George Martin found something that seemed usable, deep in the Abbey Road vaults.
This was a rough draft of an unfinished song, which had (tellingly) sunk in the sand on the lyrical front. ‘See you can do something with this,’ he suggested and they had no better ideas
They brought their-homework-done-on-the-bus-to-school to the fourth day of the Help recording session on 18 February 1965. In the morning they ran through “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away” in later in the evening “Tell Me What You See”. Both worked sessions went well.
The six-o’clock session, the Starr-time slot — not so good. After one play-through of If You’ve Got Trouble it was a unanimous thumbs down.
The song was deemed unsalvageable and was consigned to the memory hole. It would not be referred to again until the 1990s.
One reason why George Harrison might have forgotten the existence of If You’ve Got Trouble is its dreadful title. That combination of words has no meaning in isolation — and no clarification occurs in the rest of the lyric.
Ah, rock on, anybody!
George might also have winced at Ringo’s impromptu plea for a step-up in intensity from his bandmates. The solo he responds with divides opinion — spare might be one description, threadbare a harsher one.
The ‘stupid words’
The lyrics do lack a certain fluency, the ‘trouble’ evident (twice!) in the first line. If you’ve got trouble, then you’ve got less trouble than me.
That would fox Google Translate. And Siri would certainly be floored by this line, perhaps the product of one too many cold drinks.
And don’t think it’s funny / When you ask for money / For things
If you say so, Ringo. But I think it’s time to call it a night.
Jukebox Jury
The response to the first playback was brutal. The Beatles took no prisoners when it came to critical judgement, whether it be of Elvis on national TV or in their own studio. They deemed If You’ve Got Trouble unsalvageable and binned it.
The song returned to the vaults with no expectation of ever being released. When it finally appeared on Anthology 2 the response was mixed. Ian Macdonald was on Team Harrison: “the only unmitigated disaster in the Lennon–McCartney catalogue" while Mark Lewisohn damned with faint praise, “not one of the better Lennon–McCartney numbers … nor was it brilliantly performed.”
Others critics were guardedly revisionist. Richie Unterberger called it ‘hummable, likable, and performed with good-natured spirit.’ But the most positive response has been from fans.
What was a bug in 1965— the raw slightly off-kilter sound — now sounded like an early prototype for the authenticity of punk, garage etc. It also reconnected with the earliest Beatles recordings and the energy of their Hamburg sound.
That jarred with the overall sophistication of Rubber Soul. The Beatles had widened their musical palette, with brighter guitar tones and exotic instrumentation like sitar, harmonium and fuzz bass. This was the soundtrack for the future on a miraculous new four-track. They didn’t want to sound like they were still recording in bathroom at 20 Forthlin Road.
Perhaps the song’s lack of momentum would also have been displeasing. Even the bridge chugs along without impetus. Admittedly, Day Tripper was not dissimilar in this but it had that riff and that hook.
Act Naturally
Three days after his wedding, Ringo was instructed to find a new song to cover. He seized the opportunity to don his stetson and cowboy boots for Buck Owen’s Act Naturally. Rocking on would no longer be required.
The story behind Act Naturally Originally published at https://www.beatlesfaq.com.
