Studio Two, EMI Studios, Abbey Road
Producer: George Martin
Engineer: Norman Smith
The Beatles recorded John Lennon’s song ‘It’s Only Love’ in six takes on this day, for the non-soundtrack side of the Help! album.
The session took place from 2.30-6.15pm. Four of the six takes were complete: take four was a false start, and the fifth broke down after Ringo Starr made an error.
Five guitars plus a bass feature on the recording of ‘It’s Only Love’, indicating how The Beatles had become keen to experiment with timbres by the summer of 1965. The majority of these parts were overdubbed once the rhythm track was in place.
Acoustic six-string and 12-string guitars were recorded on track one of the tape, along with bass guitar and drums; Lennon’s vocals were added to the second; and two further tracks, panned right on the stereo spectrum, feature three electric guitars, along with double-tracked vocals and tambourine in the choruses.
John later cringed with embarrassment over the lyrics to this song, which he regarded as trite. Perhaps they were – but nothing so trite as those in the second verse, scrawled in the draft shown here. Fortunately, they were left out of the final version.
The Beatles just punched out incredible song and after incredible song especially in the early years. Any one of them (mostly john amd paul) would get a simple idea or melody in their head, jot down some lyrics then the fun would begin with other members input no matter how small, then some tweaks, then recording with the overdubs and bingo – another gem. They had the recipe so down pat along with giving each songs its own secret sauce. Pure genius and the music world has benefited ever since! A band like no other and cannot not or will not ever be repeated.
Let me say that perceiving the song from the point of view of the author and from the point of view of the audience are two different things. The author can be in different moods in different periods of his or her life and of course his/her views regarding music can change. So the fact that many people are fascinated by this song means a lot. Therefore John having a low opinion of this song in one instance doesn’t prove anything. He was quite critical of his own songs, especially those recorded with the Beatles. He hated Let It be too – even though many people consider it a masterpiece.