Tell Me Why (Beatles song)

"Tell Me Why"
Song by the Beatles from the album A Hard Day's Night
Released 10 July 1964
Recorded 27 February 1964,
EMI Studios, London
Genre Rock and roll
Length 2:10
Label Parlophone
Writer(s) Lennon–McCartney
Producer(s) George Martin

"Tell Me Why" is a song by English rock band the Beatles from their album A Hard Day's Night. In North America, it was released on both the American version of A Hard Day's Night and the album Something New. Credited to Lennon–McCartney, it was written by John Lennon in either Paris or New York City[1][2] and recorded in eight takes on 27 February 1964.[3]

Background

Paul McCartney said:

I think a lot of these [Lennon's] songs like "Tell Me Why" may have been based in real experiences or affairs John was having, or arguments with Cynthia [Lennon’s wife] or whatever, but it never occurred to us until later to put that slant on it all.[4]

Lennon described the song as resembling "a black New York girl-group song".[5] Its basic structure of simple doo-wop chord changes and block harmonies over a walking bass line "creates an illusion of sincerity through its sheer attack."[2]

"Tell Me Why" was performed in the Beatles' debut feature film, A Hard Day's Night. The song was part of the 'studio performance' sequence, which was filmed at the Scala Theatre, London, on 31 March 1964.

The song is in the key of D major. John, Paul, and George sing a three-part harmony. Unusually, Paul sings a lower harmony to John's lead during the chorus.

Releases

Personnel

Lennon's vocal is double-tracked in the stereo version, but single-tracked in the mono mix.

Personnel per MacDonald[2]

Covers

Notes

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/2/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.