Almanac Music: ‘She Loves You’ – The Beatles
‘What’s your favourite Beatles song? ‘
This is an often asked question, and one that can be difficult to answer considering how many Beatles songs there are to select from.
For me the answer is simple. My favourite Beatles song is the first one I ever heard, or remember hearing, it is the one with the greatest impact on me, and that song is ‘She Loves You’. The song was released in the UK in August 1963 but in Australia, as was common at the time, the song probably was not released until a few months later.
Certainly in Form 2 (Year 8) at Colac High School in 1964 we were gobsmacked by the new sounds of the Beatles and the burgeoning Beatlemania craze, and we couldn’t get enough.
We started to grow our hair longer, bought Beatle boots, and suddenly became very fashion conscious. And of course, we bought their records. Fun times!
The Beatles changed our world, and didn’t we love them.
I’m sure someone in the Footy Almanac community will come up with a list of their top 10, 20, 50 or 100 favourite Beatle tunes, I’d imagine it to be very difficult with so many fab tunes. However my number 1 choice was an easy one for me. Here it is for your enjoyment.
‘She Loves You’ – The Beatles
You can watch The Beatles live in Melbourne in 1964 Here.
To read Ian Hauser’s response to Col click here.
More from Col Ritchie can be read here.
Read more stories from Almanac Music HERE
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About Colin Ritchie
Retired teacher who enjoys following the Bombers, listening to music especially Bob Dylan, reading, and swimming.
Yeah, yeah yeah!
My growing up took place a bit after the height of Beatle mania but the one that recently struck a chord with me whilst driving somewhere in my car was “yellow Submarine”. It was on my music stream and in that unexplainable way, it popped up and instantly took me back to my prep classroom in the early 70’s. Everything about it, sound, lyrics mood transported me to where I was at that time.
Covid times positive is that I’ve been able to take in more music!
Thanks Col. If I haven’t said it before I really have enjoyed the music stories from you and others this year.
Not a Lennon-McCartney original but “Twist and Shout” always makes me smile and gets my feet moving. “Well shake it up baby………”
Any Knackers in the crowd? Melbourne Festival Hall 1964.
Nice work Colin-in many respects She Loves You began my life long love of The Beatles.
I recently calculated that if you take out the orchestral side two of Yellow Submarine (George Martin) there were about 160 Beatles songs across their studio albums including the “Hey Jude” album.
I undertook the task of ranking them all for my community radio program here in Sydney and it took about 5 weeks (of a 2 hour weekly program) to count them down.
Here is my top ten:
1. A Day in the Life
2. While My Guitar Gently Weeps
3.In My Life
4.Something
5. Tomorrow Never Knows
6. Eleanor Rigby
7. Dear Prudence
8.With A Little Help From My Friends
9.I Am the Walrus
10. Hey Jude
Thank you CGR for evoking memories of The Beatles and their music from those revolutionary years of the 1960’s. I don’t have a favourite song although there is one, in particular, I could relate to in 2014. From their “Sergeant Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band” Album of 1967, I seem to have had an affinity with, “When I’m Sixty-Four.”
In October 2017 I was fortunate to attend the 50th Anniversary concert of Sergeant Peppers LHCB at the London Palladium. The concert was performed by “Rain” and was a chronological medley of Beatles music including the complete Sergeant Peppers album. The band had a number of costume changes throughout the concert each reflecting the changing phases of The Beatles music. Needless to say, most of the concert audience were silver tops, singing along and revelling in their memories.
Cheers. w.
Thanks CR, they are the shinning light band of bands. Favourite you ask. You mean favourites. There’s just so many. But whittled down I go to, in no particular order:
I Want to Hold Your Hand
You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away
Norwegian Wood
Revolution
Here, There and Everywhere
The long and winding road.
I am the walrus
You’ve got to hide your love away
Come together
Strawberry fields
A day in the life
Across the universe
Get back
Nowhere man
The Beatles were both real life and a cartoon to my born-in-1960 ears and eyes, but I could tell that they were bigger than anything else around. My first ever piece of vinyl was the Let It Be single, a gift for my tenth birthday, although I somehow inherited a copy of the Help! single from a relative a few years after that.
I did most of my learning about individual songs from the Beatles cartoon – I remember Penny Lane as a cracker.
Along with half of the western world, I’ve been revisiting them one album at a time lately and I recently polished off Craig Brown’s One Two Three Four.
But Col’s suggestion probably tilted the world’s axis the most.
Great question. Who could tire of this topic? Thanks Col.
Here Comes The Sun
Two of Us
Blackbird
Penny Lane
And Your Bird Can Sing
You Won’t See Me
I’ve Just Seen A Face
If I Fell
A Hard Day’s Night
Lovely Rita.
But dozens of others too!
Oh Col.
Too much.
On this Wednesday morning I’ll back: Strawberry fields forever.
We have a history, that song and I. It never fails to take me places.
Put together a fantasy Red and Blue Album Volume 2 list the other day. I prefer them to the original Red and Blue!. They have a darker and grittier tone than the effervescent stuff on their predecessors. Here’s how it come out
RED ALBUM Volume 2
side 1 “I Saw Her Standing There” Red Album 62-66 Volume 2
side 1 “Twist and Shout” Red Album 62-66 Volume 2
side 1 “There’s a Place” Red Album 62-66 Volume 2
side 1 “P.S. I Love You” Red Album 62-66 Volume 2
side 1 “It Won’t Be Long” Red Album 62-66 Volume 2
side 1 “Little Child” Red Album 62-66 Volume 2
side 1 “Roll Over Beethoven” Red Album 62-66 Volume 2
side 1 “Any Time at All” Red Album 62-66 Volume 2
side 2 “I Should Have Known Better” Red Album 62-66 Volume 2
side 2 “If I Fell” Red Album 62-66 Volume 2
side 2 “Words of Love” Red Album 62-66 Volume 2
side 2 “Baby’s in Black” Red Album 62-66 Volume 2
side 2 “I Don’t Want to Spoil the Party” Red Album 62-66 Volume 2
side 2 “Rock and Roll Music” Red Album 62-66 Volume 2
side 2 “I’ll Follow the Sun” Red Album 62-66 Volume 2
side 3 “I’m a Loser” Red Album 62-66 Volume 2
side 3 “No Reply” Red Album 62-66 Volume 2
side 3 “She’s a Woman” # Red Album 62-66 Volume 2
side 3 “The Night Before” Red Album 62-66 Volume 2
side 3 “It’s Only Love” Red Album 62-66 Volume 2
side 3 “If I Needed Someone” Red Album 62-66 Volume 2
side 3 “Yes it is” Red Album 62-66 Volume 2
side 4 “Rain” Red Album 62-66 Volume 2
side 4 “For No One” Red Album 62-66 Volume 2
side 4 “And Your Bird Can Sing” Red Album 62-66 Volume 2
side 4 “Good Day Sunshine” Red Album 62-66 Volume 2
side 4 “She Said She Said” Red Album 62-66 Volume 2
side 4 “Taxman” Red Album 62-66 Volume 2
side 4 “Tomorrow Never Knows” Red Album 62-66 Volume 2
BLUE ALBUM volume 2
side 1 “Fixing a Hole” Blue Album 67-70 Volume 2
side 1 “Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!” Blue Album 67-70 Volume 2
side 1 “Lovely Rita” Blue Album 67-70 Volume 2
side 1 “Getting Better” Blue Album 67-70 Volume 2
side 1 “Baby, You’re a Rich Man” # Blue Album 67-70 Volume 2
side 1 “Your Mother Should Know” Blue Album 67-70 Volume 2
side 1 “Dear Prudence” Blue Album 67-70 Volume 2
side 1 “Blackbird” Blue Album 67-70 Volume 2
side 2 “Everybody’s Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey” Blue Album 67-70 Volume 2
side 2 “Happiness Is a Warm Gun” Blue Album 67-70 Volume 2
side 2 “Birthday” Blue Album 67-70 Volume 2
side 2 “Helter Skelter” Blue Album 67-70 Volume 2
side 2 “I’m So Tired” Blue Album 67-70 Volume 2
side 2 “Julia” Blue Album 67-70 Volume 2
side 2 “I Will” Blue Album 67-70 Volume 2
side 2 “Sexy Sadie” Blue Album 67-70 Volume 2
side 3 “It’s All Too Much” Blue Album 67-70 Volume 2
side 3 “Hey Bulldog” Blue Album 67-70 Volume 2
side 3 “Across the Universe”[e] Blue Album 67-70 Volume 2
side 3 “Dig a Pony” Blue Album 67-70 Volume 2
side 3 “I Me Mine” Blue Album 67-70 Volume 2
side 3 “I’ve Got a Feeling” Blue Album 67-70 Volume 2
side 3 “Two of Us” Blue Album 67-70 Volume 2
side 4 “Oh! Darling” Blue Album 67-70 Volume 2
side 4 “I Want You – she’s so heavy” Blue Album 67-70 Volume 2
side 4 “You Never Give Me Your Money” Blue Album 67-70 Volume 2
side 4 “Mean Mr. Mustard” Blue Album 67-70 Volume 2
side 4 “Polythene Pam” Blue Album 67-70 Volume 2
side 4 “She Came In Through the Bathroom Window” Blue Album 67-70 Volume 2
side 4 “Golden Slumbers” Blue Album 67-70 Volume 2
side 4 “Carry That Weight” Blue Album 67-70 Volume 2
side 4 “The End” Blue Album 67-70 Volume 2
A nice piece, Col.
As an avowed Beatles fanatic, I am currently enjoying breathing in the Disney doco.
For me, Strawberry Fields Forever is not only the Beatles greatest track, it is one of the greatest songs in all of popular music.
Like the tortured artist, I have been wrestling with my Beatles top 50 for some weeks now.
Stay tuned.
Great work CR. Can’t imagine how exciting that must have been to turn the radio on in the 60s and hear this stuff.
For me “Here, There and Everywhere” is the pinnacle of songmaking. No one comes close to McCartney’s melodies. But there are so many other songs that move me – I’ll try and only mention a few…
Strawberry Fields Forever
Long and Winding Road
Fool on the Hill
Something
Here Comes the Sun
Long, Long, Long (this George song is so spiritual it’s almost beyond music).
Thanks Colin
And there are the moments within the song:
The opening chord of A Hard Day’s Night
The guitar riffs of And Your Bird Can Sing
The opening yell of Help
The trumpet solo in Penny Lane
The piano in Lady Madonna
The tonsil shredding in Twist and Shout and Dizzy Miss Lizzy
The strumming acoustic guitar in Things We Said Today
The final chord of Day In The Life
etc
The ground-breaking Tomorrow Never Knows or Strawberry Fields or ……….
Best song. Changeable.
In My Life says it all.