“We Love You Beatles” was the only Beatles novelty record to reach the Top 40. It was released in 1964 by The Carefrees, a British group made up of session vocalists Lynn Cornell, Betty Prescott and Barbara Kay. This musical tribute to The Beatles was their only charted single, where it peaked at #39 on the Billboard Hot 100.
The song was based on “We Love You Conrad” from the musical Bye Bye Birdie. Each Beatle is named separately in individual verses. Sprinkled in the song are bits mymicing the Beatles themselves, such as some “woos” and “yeah, yeah, yeahs” similar to “She Loves You”.
Curiously, vocalist Cornell was married to Andy White, best known for playing drums on The Beatles’ first single, “Love Me Do”.
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The Lucy that inspired John Lennon to write “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” was Lucy O’Donnell. She was a classmate of John’s son Julian at Heath House School. Lucy came to the attention of John when Julian came home from school one day with a drawing that he showed his father. Julian described the picture as “Lucy — in the sky with diamonds.” Julian later said, “I don’t know why I called it that or why it stood out from all my other drawings, but I obviously had an affection for Lucy at that age. I used to show dad everything I’d built or painted at school, and this one sparked off the idea for a song about ‘Lucy in the sky with diamonds’.”
“Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” was included on The Beatles’ critically acclaimed 1967 album Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.
In 2009, Julian Lennon reached out to Lucy (married name Lucy Vodden) after learning that she suffered from the immune system disease lupus. She had been battled the disease for 15 years and her health was declining. He sent her flowers with a personally written card and gift vouchers for a garden center, as she took solace from gardening and plants. She reacted by saying, “It was lovely of Julian.” In a recent interview she said “The last time I saw Julian was when we were in our early 20s and he asked me, “So how’s Lucy in the sky getting on?”‘
Sadly, Lucy O’Donnell Vodden died on September 22, 2009, at the age of 46. After her passing, Julian said that he is “shocked and saddened” by the death of his former classmate.
“If I Needed Someone” was the only George Harrison composition ever performed live by the Beatles on stage. Otherwise, Harrison only sang covers during any of the Beatles’ tours. The song was performed in the Beatles’ Tokyo concerts in July 1966, as seen in a clip from the documentary The Compleat Beatles. The Beatles also performed the song during their very last concert, which was in San Francisco’s Candlestick Park on August 29, 1966. Although not confirmed, it is believed that “If I Needed Someone” was performed at every Beatles concert in 1966.
The Beatles recorded “If I Needed Someone” in October 1965 and it first appeared in the UK on 1965′s Rubber Soul album, and then later included on 1966′s Yesterday…and Today (released in the U.S.). The Hollies also recorded a version of the song as a single and it was released on the same day as Rubber Soul.
At a play time of 3:10, “Ticket to Ride” was the first Beatles song to surpass the three minute mark. It was perhaps a little risky, in the mid 1960s, to release a single more than 3 minutes long because most pop radio stations had a standard two and a half or three minute time limit per song. Radio back then was formatted to shorter “bite-sized” songs compared to today’s more open ended policy, as far as song lengths go.
The Beatles were always pushing boundaries and setting new standards and this case of disregard for the “time barrier” is an example of that.
