I'll Still Love You

"I'll Still Love You"
Song by Ringo Starr from the album Ringo's Rotogravure
Published Harrisongs Ltd
Released 17 September 1976 (UK)
27 September 1976 (US)
Genre Rock
Length 2:57
Label Polydor (UK)/Atlantic (US)
Writer George Harrison
Producer Arif Mardin
Ringo's Rotogravure track listing

"Cookin' (In the Kitchen of Love)"
(6)		 "I'll Still Love You"
(7)		 "This Be Called a Song"
(8)

"I'll Still Love You" is a song written by English musician George Harrison and first released by his former Beatles bandmate Ringo Starr on the latter's 1976 album Ringo's Rotogravure. The song had a long recording history beforehand, having originally been written in 1970, as "Whenever", after which it was soon retitled "When Every Song Is Sung". Harrison intended the song for Shirley Bassey, but recorded it himself for his All Things Must Pass triple album that year, before producing versions in 1971–72 by first Ronnie Spector and then fellow Liverpudlian Cilla Black. Mary Hopkin and Leon & Mary Russell also attempted to do the track. Only a later version by Black – this time titled "I'll Still Love You (When Every Song Is Sung)" – has ever been issued officially.

Among Beatles biographers, "When Every Song Is Sung" (as the tune was originally copyrighted) is considered one of Harrison's finest love songs and on a par with Beatles standards such as "Something" and "Yesterday". Author Ian Inglis describes the song as an "unfinished masterpiece".[1]

Background and composition

Singer Shirley Bassey, for whom Harrison originally intended his song "When Every Song Is Sung"

In late 1969, when George Harrison's song "Something" had been issued as a single by the Beatles – the first time that one of his compositions had been given that honour – he remarked in an interview for the NME, "There's a lot of songs like that in my head. I must get them down. Maybe even other people would like to sing them."[2] In the summer of 1970, "Something" gave Welsh singer Shirley Bassey her biggest UK hit in almost ten years,[3] a fact that led her to tell a reporter that she and Harrison could become a singer/songwriter pairing on the scale of Dionne Warwick and Burt Bacharach.[4] According to Harrison, he wrote what became "When Every Song Is Sung" with Bassey in mind, and his handwritten lyrics (reprinted in I, Me, Mine) even carried the heading "WHENEVER (by Shirley Bassey)".[5] "I got the chord sequence," he explained to Derek Taylor, "and 'When every song is sung' were the first words to come out of my mouth, and it developed from there."[4]

Harrison's music biographer, Simon Leng, describes it as an "emotionally complex lyric that ponders how love will even survive, 'when every soul is free'".[6]

When every song is sung
When every bells been rung
When every pictures hung up
I'll still love you
…
When every soul is free
When every eye can see
When people all agree
Then I'll still love you.

Christian theologian Dale Allison considers the subject of the song to be moksha, or liberation from rebirth in the Hindu faith.[7] "'I'll Still Love You (When Every Song Is Sung)'," he writes, "looks forward to the time when all souls are 'free,' when all eyes will 'see,' and when all human beings will be of the same mind. 'All Things Must Pass,' but no one really ever passes away."[8]

Leng notes that the song's verses have the same descending semitone pattern as "Something" and, structurally, it features a middle eight that is "harsher, dramatic" compared to the verses, just like his middle eight in the 1969 composition.[6] To Leng, "When Every Song Is Sung" is one of George Harrison's finest love songs,[6] while Beatles biographer Alan Clayson describes it as "Satisfying every musical and lyrical qualification required of an evergreen like 'Yesterday' or his own 'Something'".[9]

Pre-Ringo's Rotogravure recording history

George Harrison

As with "Something",[10] "When Every Song Is Sung" was written on a piano, in this case during a session to routine new songs for All Things Must Pass.[6] Bootlegs from the late May–August 1970 sessions, when almost all of the album's basic tracks were recorded,[11] imply that up to 44 takes of "When Every Song Is Sung" were taped.[12][13] The recordings reveal a musical arrangement featuring at least two acoustic guitars, piano, bass, drums and horns. Despite the amount of time apparently dedicated to the track, Harrison's "When Every Song Is Sung" – or "I'll Still Love You", as it is often referred to retrospectively – is only available on unofficial outtake compilations such as Songs for Patti.[12][13] Harrison biographer Ian Inglis bemoans the fact that Harrison never revisited the song himself instead of looking to give it to another artist.[1] "It has the potential, lyrically and musically, to become one of his loveliest creations," Inglis opines. "As it stands, it is an unfinished masterpiece."[1]

Ronnie Spector

"When Every Song Is Sung" was one of five or six Harrison compositions recorded in February 1971 for what was intended to be a first solo album for Ronnie Spector,[14] the former Ronettes lead singer, and wife of Harrison's All Things Must Pass co-producer, Phil Spector.[4][15] Only the Apple single "Try Some, Buy Some" has ever been released from these Ronnie Spector sessions.[16][17]

Cilla Black

The various problems associated with his Bangladesh relief project meant that Harrison was out of music production for much of 1971 and the following year.[18][19] In early August 1972 he returned to the producer's chair with a session for a new Cilla Black single,[20] the A-side of which was to be "When Every Song Is Sung".[4][21] The recording took place at Apple Studio in London, shortly after the Concert for Bangladesh film had finally been given a UK release.[22] Among the support musicians were Ringo Starr, Eric Clapton and Klaus Voormann,[21][23] and Black also recalls that another "fabulous" guitarist was present that Sunday.[24] A second Harrison composition, "You Got to Stay With Me", was also attempted during the session,[21][25] but as with the Spector venture, the Cilla Black project was not completed.[9] The B-side that Harrison started out to write for her likewise took an alternative route, winding up as the decidedly autobiographical "The Light That Has Lighted the World",[26] later released on his 1973 album Living in the Material World.[27]

Former Apple artist Mary Hopkin is also said to have recorded a version of "When Every Song Is Sung" around this time;[9] in the meantime, Black still thought the tune was "super" and tried to redo it herself in 1974–75, with producer David Mackay. "[But] even then," she said later, "it didn't have the magic it deserved. It should have had a 'Yesterday'-type arrangement."[23][24] This later version was eventually released in May 2003, on Black's three-CD compilation Cilla: The Best of 1963–1978.

Leon & Mary Russell

Leon Russell and his wife Mary McCreary, a gospel singer and Shelter Records artist, were the next to attempt the song.[4][12] Russell had played on the Ronnie Spector sessions in 1971[15] and acted as band leader at The Concert for Bangladesh later that year, but it wasn't until the spring of 1975 that he recorded again with Harrison,[28] on the latter's Extra Texture album and on another Shelter project, Larry Hosford's Cross Winds album.[29] Again, nothing came of this attempt on the song,[4] and Leon & Mary Russell's Wedding Album appeared the following April without Harrison's "When Every Song Is Sung".[30]

Ringo Starr's version

Like Cilla Black, Ringo Starr was another great admirer of the song – "a big ballady thing I've always loved", as he put it in an NME interview.[9] In April 1976, John Lennon and Paul McCartney had each agreed to donate a track and participate in the sessions for Starr's debut on Polydor/Atlantic, Ringo's Rotogravure.[31][32] Harrison was unable to attend, though,[31] under pressure as he was to deliver his first Dark Horse Records album, after having been waylaid by a long bout of hepatitis.[33] Starr instead received his blessing to record what would turn out to be the original release of "When Every Song Is Sung", now titled "I'll Still Love You".[34][35] The Rotogravure sessions took place between April and July, mostly at Cherokee Studios in Los Angeles,[36] with Arif Mardin producing.[9] The participants included a rhythm section well known to both Starr and Harrison – Jim Keltner and Klaus Voormann[37] – as well as another former Apple signing, Lon Van Eaton, on lead guitar.[9][32]

Beatles Forever author Nicholas Schaffner described the contributions from Starr's fellow ex-Beatles as "throwaways" and the treatment of "I'll Still Love You" as almost a "Harrison parody", complete with Van Eaton's "fluid imitation" of the guitarist's playing style.[31] More recently, Ian Inglis has written dismissively of the "uneven" quality of Starr's rendition, where Harrison's "delicate, poetic" lyrics are interrupted by "boisterous shouts" of "Yes I will".[1] Inglis is equally unimpressed by the arrangement: "[The] guitar solo by Lon Van Eaton cannot re-create the haunting element of Harrison's distinctive style, and Arif [Mardin]'s overzealous production conceals any emotional connection between words and music."[1] In his book Fab Four FAQ 2.0, Robert Rodriguez describes "I'll Still Love You" as one of the highlights of the album, and evidence that "when it came to George, Ringo was the recipient of his strongest giveaways".[38]'

Harrison himself was "not pleased" with the result and took legal action against Starr, which was soon settled out of court.[34] When appearing together on ITV's Aspel and Company in March 1988 – an "historic day", this being the first major television interview to feature two ex-Beatles – Harrison and Starr made light of the whole issue.[39][40]

Personnel

The following musicians played on Ringo Starr's version of the song:[41]

Citations

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Inglis, p. 56.
  2. ↑ Mark Lewisohn, "Something Else", Mojo: The Beatles' Final Years Special Edition, February 2003, p. 118.
  3. ↑ Chart Stats, "Shirley Bassey" (retrieved 19 July 2012).
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 Harrison, p. 228.
  5. ↑ Harrison, pp. 228–29.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Leng, p. 198.
  7. ↑ Allison, p. 37.
  8. ↑ Allison, pp. 37–38.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 Clayson, Ringo Starr, p. 266.
  10. ↑ The Editors of Rolling Stone, p. 176.
  11. ↑ Leng, pp. 75, 96.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 Madinger & Easter, p. 433.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 "George Harrison – Songs for Patti", Bootleg Zone (retrieved 20 July 2012).
  14. ↑ Madinger & Easter, p. 434.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Badman, p. 25.
  16. ↑ Badman, p. 26.
  17. ↑ Spizer, p. 342.
  18. ↑ The Editors of Rolling Stone, p. 43.
  19. ↑ Harrison, pp. 60–61.
  20. ↑ Leng, p. 123.
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 Madinger & Easter, p. 440.
  22. ↑ Badman, p. 79.
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 Clayson, George Harrison, p. 332.
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 "'I'll Still Love You (When Every Song Is Sung)' – a 'lost' song penned for Cilla by George Harrison receives May 2003 release", CillaBlack.com, 1 April 2003 (retrieved 13 March 2012)
  25. ↑ Castleman & Podrazik, p. 267.
  26. ↑ Spizer, p. 254.
  27. ↑ Harrison, p. 268.
  28. ↑ Leng, pp. 178, 188.
  29. ↑ Castleman & Podrazik, pp. 369–70, 376.
  30. ↑ "Leon & Mary Russell Wedding Album", Allmusic (retrieved 7 November 2013).
  31. ↑ 31.0 31.1 31.2 Schaffner, p. 191.
  32. ↑ 32.0 32.1 Badman, p. 180.
  33. ↑ Clayson, George Harrison, pp. 359–60.
  34. ↑ 34.0 34.1 Badman, p. 191.
  35. ↑ Madinger & Easter, p. 511.
  36. ↑ Madinger & Easter, p. 510.
  37. ↑ Clayson, George Harrison, p. 344.
  38. ↑ Rodriguez, p. 168.
  39. ↑ Badman, p. 405.
  40. ↑ George Harrison & Ringo Starr interview, Aspel and Company, 5 March 1988, "George Harrison & Ringo Starr on "Aspel & Company" (Part 3)" on YouTube (retrieved 20 July 2012).
  41. ↑ Graham Clakin's Beatles Pages, 2002, "Ringo's Rotogravure" (retrieved 20 July 2012).

Sources

  • Dale C. Allison Jr., The Love There That's Sleeping: The Art and Spirituality of George Harrison, Continuum (New York, NY, 2006; ISBN 978-0-8264-1917-0).
  • Keith Badman, The Beatles Diary Volume 2: After the Break-Up 1970–2001, Omnibus Press (London, 2001; ISBN 0-7119-8307-0).
  • Harry Castleman & Walter J. Podrazik, All Together Now: The First Complete Beatles Discography 1961–1975, Ballantine Books (New York, NY, 1976; ISBN 0-345-25680-8).
  • Alan Clayson, George Harrison, Sanctuary (London, 2003; ISBN 1-86074-489-3).
  • Alan Clayson, Ringo Starr, Sanctuary (London, 2003; ISBN 1-86074-488-5).
  • The Editors of Rolling Stone, Harrison, Rolling Stone Press/Simon & Schuster (New York, NY, 2002; ISBN 0-7432-3581-9).
  • George Harrison, I Me Mine, Chronicle Books (San Francisco, CA, 2002; ISBN 0-8118-3793-9).
  • Ian Inglis, The Words and Music of George Harrison, Praeger (Santa Barbara, CA, 2010; ISBN 978-0-313-37532-3).
  • Simon Leng, While My Guitar Gently Weeps: The Music of George Harrison, Hal Leonard (Milwaukee, WI, 2006; ISBN 1-4234-0609-5).
  • Chip Madinger & Mark Easter, Eight Arms to Hold You: The Solo Beatles Compendium, 44.1 Productions (Chesterfield, MO, 2000; ISBN 0-615-11724-4).
  • Robert Rodriguez, Fab Four FAQ 2.0: The Beatles' Solo Years, 1970–1980, Backbeat Books (Milwaukee, WI, 2010; ISBN 978-1-4165-9093-4).
  • Nicholas Schaffner, The Beatles Forever, McGraw-Hill (New York, NY, 1978; ISBN 0-07-055087-5).
  • Bruce Spizer, The Beatles Solo on Apple Records, 498 Productions (New Orleans, LA, 2005; ISBN 0-9662649-5-9).