Thursday, January 29, 2009

This Boy

A very interesting Beatles fact is that "This Boy" was released on November 29, 1963 in the UK as the B side to "I Want to Hold Your Hand." In the U.S., no single was released, with Capital releasing the song on Meet the Beatles. It was recorded on October 17, 1963.

The song is distinctive for its three-part harmony, with Lennon, McCartney, and Harrison singing the song, except for the middle eight, which is all Lennon, who wrote the song. Harrison said that this song was Lennon's attempt to do a Smokey Robinson-like number.

An orchestral version is featured in A Hard Day's Night and on the United Artists Soundtrack LP for the film. The group performed the song on tours in 1963 and 1964, and also sang it on their second appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show.

Lennon does lead vocal, with McCartney and Harrison handling significant harmony vocals. McCartney plays bass, Lennon acoustic, Harrison lead (although he uses chords for much of the song, as does Lennon), Starr drums.

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