Seven Inches of Success

She Loves You
no production credits
Released on August 1963
Uk Chart Position #1 (Re-Chart #45 in 1983)
Us Chart Position #1 (charted Jan. 25, 1964 for 15 weeks)
Rolling Stone Top 500 Songs: #64

S-4152

The Swan label may have been for the birds (no less than ten variations of this single were released between 1963 and 1964), but it was Parlophone who ended up with egg on their face when they sold the US distribution rights to The Beatles’ early singles rather than release them on Capitol (their US distribution arm). When this single reached #1 on both sides of the Atlantic (the first Beatles single to do so), Parlophone clipped the wings of Swan and their ilk by keeping subsequent US releases in the family. Today, the Swan single is an interesting entry-level collectible, though some variations sell for hundreds of dollars (the version you see here is one of the most common). The B side, "I’ll Get You," later appeared on The Beatles’ Second Album (along with the A side) and much later resurfaced (in part) on Elvis Costello’s "No Dancing."

Track list:
She Loves You (John Lennon/Paul McCartney) 2:18
I'll Get You (John Lennon/Paul McCartney) 2:04

Release list:
UK August 1963 Parlophone 7" R5055
US January 1964 Swan 7" S-4152
JPN EMI/Odeon 7" EAR-20224 picture sleeve
NZ 1963 Parlophone 7" NZP-3148
CAN Capitol 7" 72125
JPN Apple 7" AR-1058 picture sleeve
US 1988 Capitol CDS/CSS 44281
US 1993 Capitol 7RED S717688 red vinyl

A Hard Day's Night
no production credits
Released on July 1964
Us Chart Position #1 (re-charted #52 on July 1984)
Us Chart Position #1 (charted July 18, 1964 for 13 weeks)
Us B-Side Chart Position #53 (charted July 25, 1964 for 4 weeks)

R 5160

Scha-wung. The implications of which reverberated for years to come. So much hinged on the opening seconds of any new Beatles song, like when mana must have first hit the tastebuds after a long hunger, and scha-wung schwasn’t what anyone expected. Of course, it’s all sweetness after that. As for the implications, look to "Magic Carpet Ride," "Last Child," etc. (which is Latin for I’m too lazy to list the others). "Things We Said Today" (the B side in the UK) is another taste of honey from Paul; the US got the superior "I Should Have Known Better." Both B-sides also appear on the soundtrack to A Hard Day’s Night.

Track list:
A Hard Day's Night (John Lennon/Paul Mccartney)
Things We Said Today (John Lennon/Paul Mccartney)

Us/Can 7-Inch Single Track List:
A Hard Day's Night
I Should Have Known Better

7-Inch Ep Track List:
A Hard Day's Night
Things We Said Today
Tell Me Why
And I Love Her

Release list:
UK July 1964 Parlophone 7" R 5160
UK 1964 Parlophone 7EP GEP8920 picture sleeve
US July 1964 Capitol 7" 5222
GER 1964 Odeon 7" 1C 006 04466 picture sleeve
ITA 1964 Parlophone 7" QMSP 16363
MEX Capitol 7EP EPEM 10042 picture sleeve
NZ 1964 Parlophone 7" NZP3167
CAN 1976 Capitol 7" 5222

Ticket To Ride
no production credits
Released on April 1965
Uk Chart Position #1 (Re-Chart Position #70, 1985)
Us Chart Position #1 (B-Side Chart Position #39)
Rolling Stone Top 500 Songs: #384

5407

In the Seventies Apple issued the Blue and Red albums, which featured an actual discography of The Beatles including singles with the B sides (!) listed. Imagine. Anyway, one single in particular always caught my eye: "Ticket To Ride/Yes It Is." (I don’t know who first came up with the idea of separating A and B sides by a forward slash, but we’re still doing it today.) You see, "Yes It Is" hadn’t appeared on any album yet, so it was a complete mystery to me. A Beatles song I hadn’t even heard of before? I won’t liken it to finding the lost Dead Sea scrolls, but it did make my world a little larger. When I heard "Yes It Is" for the first time, larger still. It’s a mopey, downbeat ballad wherein John laments a lost love and the guitars drift in and out like ghosts. It puts a lump in my throat every time. "Ticket To Ride" (aah, finally getting to the A side) is an early cousin to "Norwegian Wood," experimenting with feedback while watching a relationship fall apart from a detached distance. Speculation on the song’s true meaning apparently runs rampant, so I’ll spare you from the sparring on Songfacts this time. Yes, The Carpenters did do a version of "Ticket To Ride." And, yes, it did blow giant monkey chunks.

Track list:
Ticket To Ride (John Lennon/Paul McCartney) 3:02
Yes It Is (John Lennon/Paul McCartney) 2:40

Release list:
UK April 1965 Parlophone 7" R5265
US April 1965 Capitol 7" 5407 picture sleeve
US 1968 Capitol 7" 5407 w. A Subsidiary Of on label
US 1969 Capitol 7" 5407 red/orange label
GER Odeon 7" 22 950
JPN Odeon 7" OR-1261 picture sleeve
NZ Parlophone 7" NZP3182
US 1971 Apple 7" 5407
US 1975 Apple 7" 5407 w. All Rights Reserved on label
UK 1976 Parlophone 7" R5265 green sleeve
US 1976 Capitol 7" 5407 orange label
US 1978 Capitol 7" 5407 purple label
UK April 1985 Parlophone 7" R5265


Help!
production credits unknown
Released on July 1965
Uk Chart Position #1
Us Chart Position #1 (charted Aug. 7, 1965 for 13 weeks)
Rolling Stone Top 500 Songs: #29

5476

Heavy things afoot here, but mostly a lot of tapping toes as "Help!" topped the US and UK charts. The B side is one of their best nonalbum entries, although oddly it doesn’t seem to have charted as so many Beatles B sides do. Paul’s vocals on "I’m Down" are scorching. "Help!" of course served as the title track for the band’s next album/film, and the elpee version included a montage of sounds at the beginning if memory serves (and, in my case, it usually stops serving after 4 pm).

Track list:
Help! (John Lennon/Paul McCartney) 2:16
I'm Down (John Lennon/Paul McCartney) 2:30

Release list:
UK July 1965 Parlophone 7" R 5305
US July 1965 Capitol 7" 5476 orange/yellow swirl
JPN 1965 Odeon 7RED OR-1412 red vinyl
US 1968 Capitol 7" 5476 orange/yellow w. "A subsidiary of..." in perimeter
UK 1969 Parlophone 7" R 5305 green company sleeve
US 1969 Capitol 7" 5476 orange/red target
US 1971 Apple 7" 5476
US 1975 Apple 7" 5476 w. "All Rights Reserved"
US 1976 Capitol 7" 5476 orange label
US 1978 Capitol 7" 5476 purple label
US 1994 Capitol 7WHT S7-17691 white vinyl


We Can Work It Out / Day Tripper
Produced by George Martin
Released on December 1965
Uk Chart Position #1
Us Chart Position #1 (charted Dec. 18, 1965 for 12 weeks)

5555

These two tracks took us halfway there to Rubber Soul and its warm, psychedelic setting. Paul’s "We Can Work It Out" (which appears to be the A side in the US, the B side in the UK) has its precedent in "I’ve Just Seen A Face," its antecedent in "Wait" and "I’m Looking Through You." Likeable, though the accordion/organ is a little hokey today. John’s "Day Tripper" is an angrier affair, an unsatisfying encounter cut from the same stuff as "Norwegian Wood." Of note is the opening guitar riff to "Day Tripper," which I could name in six notes. More on these tracks (including who wrote what) appears on Songfacts for Day Tripper and We Can Work It Out.

Track list:
We Can Work It Out (John Lennon/Paul McCartney) 2:10
day tripper (John Lennon/Paul McCartney) 2:47

Release list:
UK December 1965 Parlophone 7" R5389
US December 1965 Capitol 7" 5555
NZ 1965 Parlophone 7" NZP3194
GER 1966 Odeon 7" 23 122 picture sleeve
ITA 1966 Parlophone 7" QMSP 16388 picture sleeve
US 1968 Capitol 7" 5555 yellow/orange label reissue
ARG 1968 Odeon Pops 7" RRSXP001
UK 1976 Parlophone 7" R5389 green sleeve reissue
JPN 1977 EMI Odeon 7" EAR-20231 picture sleeve
UK 1985 Parlophone 7" R5389 picture disc
US 1986 Capitol Starline 7" X-6293 black label
US 1996 Capitol 7PNK S7-18895 pink vinyl


All You Need Is Love
Produced by George Martin
Released on July 1967
Uk Chart Position #1 (Re-Chart #47, 1987)
Us Chart Position #1 (B-Side Charted #34 On July 29, 1967 For 5 Weeks)
Gold Record (9/11/67) . . . Rolling Stone Top 500 Songs: #362

5964

I think many people have interpreted the song’s message as "You can do anything with Love," when in fact it’s more like "You can’t do anything different than anybody else with Love." Not exactly inspirational, although John’s utopias always seemed to align more with communism than anarchy. (And the lyrics may simply be a case of something that sounds cool on the surface.) The B side is more psychedelic, no doubt influential on The Rolling Stones (whose Mick Jagger and Brian Jones appear on the recording according to Songfacts). Both the A and B side later appeared on the catch-all Magical Mystery Tour album.

Track list:
All You Need Is Love (John Lennon/Paul McCartney) 3:57
Baby You're A Rich Man (John Lennon/Paul McCartney) 3:07

Brazilian 7-inch EP track list:
all you need is love
baby you're a rich man
penny lane
strawberry fields forever

Release list:
UK/SWE July 1967 Parlophone 7" R5620 picture sleeve
US July 1967 Capitol 7" 5964 orange/yellow swirl label
BRA 1967 Odeon 7EP 7BTD2.003 picture sleeve
ITA 1967 Parlophone 7" QMSP-16408 picture sleeve
JPN 1967 Odeon 7RED OR-1763 red vinyl, picture sleeve
NZ 1967 Parlophone 7" NZP3236
US 1968 Capitol 7" 5964 "A subsidiary of..." on label
US 1969 Capitol 7" 5964 red orange label
US 1971 Apple 7" 5964
JPN Apple 7" AR-1763
US 1975 Apple 7" 5964 "All rights reserved" on label
UK 1976 Parlophone 7" R5620
US 1976 Capitol 7" 5964 orange label
US 1978 Capitol 7" 5964 purple label
AUS'L Parlophone 7" A-8263 picture sleeve
US 1981 Capitol Starline 7" 6300
UK Parlophone 7PIC RP5620 picture disc
UK July 1987 Parlophone 7" R5620 picture sleeve
UK 1989 Parlophone CDS/CSS CD3R/TCR5620
US 1994 Capitol 7PNK S7-17693 pink vinyl
US 1997 Capitol CDSPRO DPRO-12119


Hey Jude
no production credits
Released on August 1968
Uk Chart Position #1 . . . Us Chart Position #1 (charted Sep. 14, 1968 For 19 Weeks)
B-Side Us Chart Position #12 (charted Sep. 14, 1968 For 11 Weeks)
4x Platinum Record

2276

You know, Ringo really is the greatest drummer in the world. His skipping style is stamped all over "Hey Jude." And of course, so is Paul. Though written for John’s son, Julian, it was Paul’s baby from beginning to end. You’ve got the patchworked pieces pasted seamlessly into a single epic, the soulful screaming, the almost classical melody. The flip is the original, searing version of "Revolution" from John. Man, they don’t make singles like this anymore. Both songs turned up on the catch-all compilation Hey Jude and appeared before the White Album but better harbinger the music of Abbey Road. (Compare "Hey Jude" to "Oh Darling" and "Revolution" to "Come Together.") In case you’re wondering, the Stones released "Street Fighting Man" b/w "No Expectations" the same month. Who won? Anyone who bought both singles.

Track list:
Hey Jude (John Lennon/Paul McCartney) 7:11
Revolution (John Lennon/Paul McCartney) 3:22

Release list:
UK August 1968 Apple 7" R5722
US August 1968 Apple 7" 2276
ITA 1968 Parlophone 7" QMSP-16433 picture sleeve
JPN 1968 Odeon 7RED OR-2121 picture sleeve, red vinyl
NZ 1968 Parlophone 7" NZP-3288
US 1975 Apple 7" 2276 w. all rights reserved
NZ Apple 7" NZP-3288
US 1976 Capitol 7" 2276 orange label
US 1978 Capitol 7" 2276 purple label
US 1983 Capitol 7" 2276 black colorband label
US 1994 Capitol 7BLU S7-17694 blue vinyl