Misery (Beatles song)

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"Misery"
Merseybeat[1]
Length1:47
LabelParlophone
Songwriter(s)McCartney–Lennon
Producer(s)George Martin

"Misery" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1963 debut album Please Please Me. It was co-written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney. According to Lennon, "It was kind of a John song more than a Paul song, but it was written together."[2] McCartney was to say: "I don't think either one of us dominated on that one, it was just a hacking job."[3]

A 1963 single by Kenny Lynch made "Misery" the first Beatles' song to be covered by another artist.[4]

Background

In February 1963,

country and western album she planned to record in Nashville, Tennessee and suggested that the Beatles compose a song especially for her.[6] "Misery" was started backstage before The Beatles' performance at the King's Hall, Stoke-on-Trent, on 26 January 1963, and later completed at Paul McCartney's Forthlin Road home.[3] At the time, McCartney commented: "We've called it 'Misery', but it isn't as slow as it sounds, it moves along at quite a pace, and we think Helen will make a pretty good job of it."[7] But Paramor considered it unsuitable,[4] and so British singer and entertainer Kenny Lynch, who was on the same tour, recorded it instead (HMV Pop 1136[8]), thus becoming the first artist to cover a Lennon–McCartney composition[4][3] although he failed to enter the charts with it.[9] In 1973, Lynch appeared in the cover photograph for McCartney's album, Band on the Run
.

When the Beatles needed original material for their Please Please Me LP, they recorded it themselves, giving its treatment, according to writer Ian MacDonald, "a droll portrait of adolescent self-pity".[10] It was credited to McCartney and Lennon in that order, as were all other Lennon & McCartney originals on the Please Please Me album. The songwriting credit was changed to what would become the more familiar "Lennon–McCartney" for their second album, With the Beatles. McCartney: "It was our first stab at a ballad and had a little spoken preface. It was co-written. I don't think either of us dominated on that one, it was just a job, you could have called us hacks, hacking out a song for someone." (Barry Miles. Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now).[11]

The Beatles recorded "Misery" on 11 February 1963 (marathon session) in 11 takes. Norman Smith was the engineer.[11]

George Martin played the piano solo, which was added at a later date, and preferred recording this onto the recorded track at half speed an octave below, which would then sound correct at normal speed.[12]

Release

Personnel

Personnel per MacDonald[10][11]

Cover versions

Year Artist Release
1963 Kenny Lynch[4]
1976 The Flamin' Groovies Shake Some Action[13]
1993 Eva Braun Unplugged
2022 Gemini Fog Kinetic Sleeper

Charts

Weekly chart performance for "Misery"
Chart (1964) Peak
Italy (
Musica e Dischi)[14]
 9

Notes

  1. Allmusic
    . Retrieved 25 March 2020. This is Merseybeat at its most ingratiating
  2. ^ Sheff 2000, p. 169.
  3. ^ a b c Miles 1997, p. 94.
  4. ^ a b c d Unterberger 2009.
  5. ^ Harry 1992, p. 598.
  6. ^ Harry 1992, p. 599.
  7. ^ Badman 2000, p. 51.
  8. ^ Global Dog Productions 2009.
  9. ^ Harry 1992, p. 468.
  10. ^ a b MacDonald 2005, pp. 70–71.
  11. ^ a b c Misery | The Beatles Bible
  12. ^ Lewisohn 1988, p. 24.
  13. ^ Deming 2009.
  14. ^ "Classifiche". Musica e dischi (in Italian). Retrieved 31 May 2022. Set "Tipo" on "Singoli". Then, in the "Titolo" field, search "Misery".

References

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