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I'll Be on My Way

Summary

"I'll Be on My Way" is a song written by Paul McCartney, credited to Lennon–McCartney, first released on 26 April 1963 by Billy J. Kramer with the Dakotas as the B-side of their hit debut single "Do You Want to Know a Secret", a song also written by Lennon–McCartney. The single reached number two in the UK charts while "From Me to You" by the Beatles occupied the number 1 position. The Beatles recorded a version of the song on 4 April 1963 for BBC radio, first released on the 1994 compilation album Live at the BBC.

"I'll Be on My Way"
Single by Billy J. Kramer with the Dakotas
A-side"Do You Want to Know a Secret (UK) From a Window (US)"
Released26 April 1963
Recorded14, 21 March 1963
Length1:40
LabelParlophone (UK)
Imperial (US)
Songwriter(s)Lennon–McCartney
Producer(s)George Martin
"I'll Be on My Way"
Song by the Beatles
from the album Live at the BBC
Released
  • 30 November 1994 (UK)
  • 5 December 1994 (US)
Recorded4 April 1963
StudioBBC Paris Theatre, London
GenrePop
Length1:58
LabelApple Records
Songwriter(s)Lennon–McCartney
Producer(s)Bryant Marriott, George Martin (Executive Producer)

Composition edit

John Lennon explained "I'll Be on My Way" "was early Paul."[1] Credited to Lennon–McCartney, Paul McCartney wrote the song in the first half of 1959.[2] Author Todd Compton attributes it to "McCartney–Lennon."[3] McCartney wrote the song on his first guitar, a Framus Zenith acoustic guitar.[4] In The Beatles Anthology, McCartney recalls, "All my first songs... were written on the Zenith; songs like 'Michelle' and 'I Saw Her Standing There'. It was on this guitar that I learnt 'Twenty Flight Rock', the song that later got me into the group The Quarry Men."[5] When first written, the song had little beyond its melody.[6] The song was fleshed out years later after the Beatles added it to their live repertoire.[6][nb 1]

The song is heavily inspired by Buddy Holly. Musicologist and writer Ian MacDonald writes, "Played a little faster, the song reveals its debt to Buddy Holly's simple three-chords schemes. (Imagine each chorus finishing 'I'll be on my way ah-hey-hey'.)"[8] Everett agrees, writing the song "has strong Holly ties, especially in the duet refrain,"[9] as does Lewisohn who calls the song "Hollyesque."[6] The rising and falling chromatic line of the guitar intro comes from the Crickets' cover of "Don't Ever Change",[10] especially the augmented E chord.[6] After measure 11, McCartney's vocal part moves to a descant in parallel thirds above Lennon's, a technique derivative of Holly's normal double-tracked vocal patterns.[10]

Though Lennon sang the lead vocal as a harmony duet with McCartney, he never liked the song.[6] Beatles historian Mark Lewisohn writes that while performing it, "when they got to the line 'this way will I go'—[Lennon] pulled a crip face and hunched himself Quasimodo-like around the microphone. Paul had no choice but to ride the laughter."[11]

Recording edit

McCartney made a demo of the song prior to Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas recording it.[10] Dakotas guitarist Mike Maxfield claims that he still owns the acetate and that all of the Beatles play on it, though this claim has never been substantiated.[12]

The Beatles recorded the song on 4 April 1963 at the BBC Paris Theatre, London, and broadcast on the BBC radio show Side by Side on 24 June 1963.[8] Everett writes that George Harrison's guitar solo features "the clash of bent unison double-stops",[13] similar to those of Scotty Moore in Elvis Presley's "Just Because" and "Jailhouse Rock" and in Jerry Lee Lewis's "Livin' Lovin' Wreck".[14]

Release and reception edit

Everett suggests the Beatles recorded a rendition of the song only to help promote Kramer's record.[10] The Beatles released their version on the 1994 album Live at the BBC.[8][15] It is the only non-cover song on the album that was previously unreleased.[16]

MacDonald describes the lyrics and music as "almost derisively naive".[8] Lewisohn singles out the lyric "When the June light turns to moonlight" as the kind Lennon and McCartney "usually spurned" in others.[17] McCartney reflected on the work in his official biography, Paul McCartney: Many Years from Now, saying "It's a little bit too June-moon for me, but these were very early songs and they worked out quite well."[18] In 1980, John Lennon said of the song, "That's Paul, through and through. Doesn't it sound like him? Tra la la la la [laughs]. Yeah, that's Paul on the voids (joys) of driving through the country."[19] Everett writes the "this way I will go" lyrics, "are too closely related, in an innocent way, to those of "I'll Follow the Sun."[10] He concludes that the chord transitions are ultimately uninteresting.[10]

Personnel edit

According to Ian MacDonald:[8]

The Billy J. Kramer version edit

Kramer and the Dakotas recorded "I'll Be On My Way" on 14 and 21 March 1963.[20]

Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas released their cover of the song as the B-side of their hit debut single, "Do You Want to Know a Secret"[8] on 26 April 1963.[21] The record held at #2 nationally in the U.K., second to the Beatles' "From Me To You".[22] This version of the song is included on the 1979 EMI album The Songs Lennon and McCartney Gave Away.[23]

References edit

Footnotes edit

  1. ^ Walter Everett writes the song was added to the Beatles' repertoire in "the last months of 1961",[7] while Lewisohn writes it was not until September 1962.[6]

Citations edit

  1. ^ Cadogan 2008, p. 159.
  2. ^ Lewisohn 2013, p. 214–215.
  3. ^ Compton 2017, pp. 48–49.
  4. ^ Lewisohn 2013, p. 215, 705.
  5. ^ The Beatles 2000, p. 20.
  6. ^ a b c d e f Lewisohn 2013, p. 705.
  7. ^ Everett 2001, p. 101.
  8. ^ a b c d e f MacDonald 2005, p. 82.
  9. ^ Everett 2001, p. 52.
  10. ^ a b c d e f Everett 2001, p. 169.
  11. ^ Lewisohn 2013, p. 706.
  12. ^ Everett 2001, p. 388n190.
  13. ^ Everett 2001, pp. 134–135.
  14. ^ Everett 2001, p. 135.
  15. ^ Everett 2001, p. 160.
  16. ^ Goodden 2008.
  17. ^ Lewisohn 2013, p. 215.
  18. ^ Miles 1998, p. 180.
  19. ^ Sheff 2000, p. 170.
  20. ^ Everett 2001, p. 167.
  21. ^ Everett 2001, p. 387n182.
  22. ^ Everett 2001, p. 167–168.
  23. ^ Calkin 2002.

Sources edit

  • The Beatles (2000). The Beatles Anthology. San Francisco: Chronicle Books. ISBN 978-0-8118-2684-6. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
  • Cadogan, Patrick (2008). The Revolutionary Artist: John Lennon's Radical Years. Lulu. ISBN 978-1-4357-1863-0.
  • Calkin, Graham (2002). "Collaborations: The Songs Lennon and McCartney Gave Away". JPGR. Retrieved 29 October 2006.
  • Compton, Todd (2017). Who Wrote the Beatle Songs? A History of Lennon-McCartney. Pahreah Press. ISBN 978-0-9988997-0-1.
  • Everett, Walter (2001). The Beatles As Musicians: The Quarry Men through Rubber Soul. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-514105-4. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
  • Goodden, Joe (2008). "I'll Be On My Way". The Beatles Bible. Retrieved 15 September 2008.
  • Lewisohn, Mark (2013). The Beatles – All These Years, Volume One: Tune In. Crown Archetype. ISBN 978-1-4000-8305-3.
  • MacDonald, Ian (2005). Revolution in the Head: The Beatles' Records and the Sixties (2nd revised ed.). London: Pimlico. ISBN 978-1-84413-828-9.
  • Miles, Barry (1998). Paul McCartney: Many Years from Now. London: Secker & Warburg. ISBN 978-0-436-28022-1.
  • Sheff, David (2000). All We Are Saying. St Martin's Griffin. ISBN 0-312-25464-4.

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