You Won't See Me
| "You Won't See Me" | |
|---|---|
| Song by the Beatles | |
| from the album Rubber Soul | |
| Released | 3 December 1965 |
| Recorded |
11 November 1965, EMI Studios |
| Genre | Pop rock[1] |
| Length |
3:22 (stereo version) 3:25 (mono version) |
| Label | Parlophone |
| Songwriter(s) | Lennon–McCartney |
| Producer(s) | George Martin |
"You Won't See Me" is a song by the Beatles, from the album Rubber Soul. Though credited to Lennon–McCartney, it was written by Paul McCartney. Canadian singer Anne Murray covered "You Won't See Me" in 1974 and had a big hit, reaching number 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, number 1 on the Billboard Easy Listening chart, and number 5 on the RPM Top Singles chart.
History
The song is about a crisis in McCartney's relationship with his then-girlfriend Jane Asher. She was rejecting him by not returning phone calls and ignoring him — for once, he was in a vulnerable position. The more biting tone of the song marks a change away from his earlier, happier love songs. Musically influenced by the Four Tops' then-current hit "It's the Same Old Song",[2] "You Won't See Me" was recorded during the last session for Rubber Soul on the night of November 11, 1965. The deadline for completing the album was up and the band needed to record three songs that evening to complete. As a result, they cut the song in only two takes.[3] At 3:22, the song was the longest that The Beatles had recorded to that point and marked a trend by Bob Dylan and others at the time to start writing longer songs.[4]
Mal "Organ" Evans (one of The Beatles' roadies throughout their career) is credited on the album sleeve as having played Hammond organ on this track, his contribution consisting solely of an A note quietly held throughout the last part of the song.[4]
Personnel
- Paul McCartney – double tracked lead vocal, bass guitar, piano
- George Harrison – backing vocal, lead guitar
- John Lennon – backing vocal
- Ringo Starr – drums, tambourine, hi-hat
- Mal Evans – Hammond organ
- Personnel per Ian MacDonald[5]
MacDonald commented that Starr added an overdubbed hi-hat part in addition to the hi-hat part played in the basic rhythm track, and that Evans's organ part was a single A note held throughout the final verse and chorus.[5]
Anne Murray version
| "You Won't See Me" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Anne Murray | ||||
| from the album Love Song | ||||
| B-side | "He Thinks I Still Care" | |||
| Released | April 1974 | |||
| Format | 7" | |||
| Recorded | January 1974 | |||
| Genre | Pop, country | |||
| Length | 3:07 (7" version) | |||
| Label | Capitol 3867 | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Lennon–McCartney | |||
| Producer(s) | Brian Ahren | |||
| Anne Murray singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
In 1974, "You Won't See Me" became a big hit for Anne Murray, reaching number 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and number 1 on the Billboard Easy Listening chart.[6] Lennon is said to have told Murray that her version of "You Won't See Me" was his favorite Beatles cover ever.[7] Murray would re-record the song as a duet with Shelby Lynne as part of her 2007 Duets: Friends & Legends album. Murray herself is a confessed Beatles fanatic and would cover several other songs of theirs as singles, including "Day Tripper" and "I'm Happy Just to Dance with You". The soulful backing vocals were devised by Anne's backup singer, Diane Brooks. And the bass line was invented by her bass player, Skip Beckwith.[8]
"You Won't See Me" was a double-sided hit for Murray. The flip side — "He Thinks I Still Care" — reached number 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart in July 1974, about the time "You Won't See Me" peaked in popularity on the Hot 100.
Chart performance
Weekly charts
|
Year-end charts
|
Other versions
- The Bee Gees recorded a cover of the song in Australia in 1966. It first appeared on the album "Inception/Nostalgia" in 1970, which was only released in Germany, France, and Japan.
- The song was covered by Bryan Ferry on his 1973 album, These Foolish Things.
- The song was covered in 1967 by The Godz, the New York avant-garde rock group, on their second album.
- Helmut Köllen, the former bassist/vocalist of Triumvirat, six months before dying at 27, recorded an album called "You Won't See Me". It was issued posthumously and the theme song closes the B-side.
- The song was not performed live by Paul McCartney until his '04 Summer Tour, with McCartney telling the audience that he had not played the song since recording it 39 years earlier.[16]
- The Dave Matthews Band covered the song and played it regularly during the early years of the band in 1993 and 1994.
- In 1974 Anne Renée (fr) covered the Anne Murray version for the Quebec market as "Je veux savoir".
- In 2014 the uruguayan musician Hugo Fattoruso covered the song, for his album "Fatto In Casa" playing it in Candombe rhythm.
- In 2015 Jennifer Leitham, former bassist for Mel Tormé, covered the song on her tenth album MOOD(S)WINGS.[17]
See also
Notes
- ↑ Olivier Julien, "Sgt. Pepper and the Beatles: it was forty years ago today", (Ashgate Publishing, Ltd, 2008), ISBN 0-7546-6708-1, p.27.
- ↑ MacDonald 2005, p. 144.
- ↑ "94 -- 'You Won't See Me'". 100 Greatest Beatles Songs. Rolling Stone.
- 1 2 The Beatles Bible 2009.
- 1 2 MacDonald 2005, p. 180.
- ↑ Whitburn, Joel (2002). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961-2001. Record Research. p. 176.
- ↑ Capitol 2010.
- ↑ http://www.softshoe-slim.com/lists/m/murray_anne.html
- ↑ "Image : RPM Weekly - Library and Archives Canada". Bac-lac.gc.ca. Retrieved 2016-10-10.
- ↑ "Image : RPM Weekly - Library and Archives Canada". Bac-lac.gc.ca. Retrieved 2016-10-10.
- ↑ "flavour of new zealand - search listener". Flavourofnz.co.nz. Retrieved 2016-10-10.
- ↑ Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-1990 - ISBN 0-89820-089-X
- ↑ "Image : RPM Weekly - Library and Archives Canada". Bac-lac.gc.ca. Retrieved 2016-10-10.
- ↑ "Top 100 Hits of 1974/Top 100 Songs of 1974". Musicoutfitters.com. Retrieved 2016-10-10.
- ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 19 October 2014. Retrieved 2015-07-16.
- ↑ Paul McCartney - "You Won't See Me" [live, Madrid '2004] on YouTube
- ↑ "CD Review: Jennifer Leitham’s “Mood(S)wings” – The International Review of Music". Irom.wordpress.com. 2015-10-19. Retrieved 2016-10-10.
References
- The Best...So Far (Media notes). Anne Murray. Capitol. 2010. ASIN: B000002TU5.
- MacDonald, Ian (2005). Revolution in the Head: The Beatles' Records and the Sixties (Second Revised ed.). London: Pimlico (Rand). ISBN 1-84413-828-3.
- "You Won't See Me". The Beatles Bible. 2009. Retrieved 15 April 2009.
External links
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