The first of John Lennon’s songs to be directly influenced by Bob Dylan, ‘I’m A Loser’ was written in the summer of 1964 and recorded for the Beatles For Sale album.
That’s me in my Dylan period. Part of me suspects I’m a loser and part of me thinks I’m God Almighty. [Laughs]
All We Are Saying, David Sheff
Dylan’s acoustic songwriting and lyrical depth had a profound effect on Lennon; as a result, he began to explore his own feelings more in song.
‘I’m A Loser’ is me in my Dylan period, because the word ‘clown’ is in it. I objected to the word ‘clown’, because that was always artsy-fartsy, but Dylan had used it so I thought it was all right, and it rhymed with whatever I was doing.
1974
Lennon was inspired further by an encounter with the journalist Kenneth Allsop, whom he had met in March 1964.
Allsop told Lennon that his songs lacked the depth and meaning of his book In His Own Write. He suggested that Lennon try to write more autobiographically, basing his songs on personal experiences rather than generic sentiments of love.
The encounter marked a turning point for Lennon, and Allsop’s advice played a key part in inspiring him to write ‘In My Life’ in 1965.
Looking back on it I think songs like ‘I’m A Loser’ and ‘Nowhere Man’ were John’s cries for help. We used to listen to quite a lot of country and western songs and they are all about sadness and ‘I lost my truck’ so it was quite acceptable to sing ‘I’m a loser’. You didn’t really think about it at the time, it’s only later you think, God! I think it was pretty brave of John.
In the studio
The Beatles recorded ‘I’m A Loser’ on 14 August 1964, the day they also taped ‘Mr Moonlight’ and ‘Leave My Kitten Alone’.
The recording was straightforward, and took eight takes to get right with no overdubs needed.
I reckon the best way to describe this one is a folk song gone pop. John and I both sing, but John does most of it. He also plays some nice harmonicas, too.
Disc, 14 November 1964
Beatles For Sale was released four months after ‘I’m A Loser’ was recorded. On 17 November 1964, however, they gave fans a sneak preview of four tracks from the album, along with ‘I Feel Fine’ and ‘She’s A Woman’, on the BBC radio show Top Gear.
This BBC version of ‘I’m A Loser’ was first broadcast on 26 November, and was eventually released commercially on 1994’s Live At The BBC.
The Beatles recorded another version for the BBC on 26 May 1965. John Lennon sang one of the lines as “Beneath this wig, I am wearing a tie,” introducing a moment of bathos into an otherwise maudlin song.
First use of ACOUSTIC 12 string by them…
George usted that 12-string while recording the previous Album.
There obviously were overdubs on this track. Though Lennon’s vocal is entirely single-tracked (which may be what the statement is based on), there are two guitar tracks (most audible during the solo, but also during the verses), handclaps low in the mix during the guitar solo, and a tambourine, which Ringo could not have been playing while drumming.
I put the old headphones on to see if you were right, and you are–kudos. There’s a first lead guitar stereo left, at the same spot in the mix where the acoustic and drums are, and a second lead guitar stereo right. The stereo right one does the solo, and in the verses the fills generally start with a G note from the left guitar and then move to an A to B bend from the right guitar. The tambourine and faint hand claps are also there, as you say.
Very nice C&W-inflected song from the Beatles’ most C&W-inflected album. And I think it has the lowest melody note of any Beatles song (a low G).
Johnny Cash once mentioned that he thought “I’m A Loser” sounded like a Johnny Cash song.
I would love to have heard Cash cover this one.
When I got my copy of Beatles For Sale in late 1978, this was instantly one of my favorites. John Lennon at his best, telling people how he really feels. Songs like this underline why Beatles For Sale is such an underrated album. Should always be included in top 100 of all time.
Obviously John Lennon was being influenced by Bob Dylan. But the words and very personal nature of the words are Lennon’s. This song is another step on from “I’ll Cry Instead” off “A Hard Days Night”. “Although I laugh and act like a clown beneath this mask I am wearing a frown”. As this line epitomizes John Lennon was on his way to “John Lennon and The Plastic Ono Band” six years later.
I’ve always been intrigued by the artistic kinship between The Beatles and Smokey Robinson &’ the Miracles. Aside from obvious things like The Beatles covering “You Really Got a Hold On Me,” there were more subtle things like Paul citing the opening guitar lick of The Miracles’ “The Tracks of my Tears” as an inspiration for the opening lick in “In My Life.” I would not be surprised if “I’m A Loser,” with it’s references to sadness hidden behind a clown’s mask, influenced Smokey to write “Tracks Of My Tears”
“…I act like a clown” is artsy-fartsy, but “…all you clowns” must be ok since it’s about someone else.
“Gather ’round all you clowns” was recorded after this song.
I was always impressed how they really cooked as they ramp up to John’s harmonica and George’s solo !!!
Super song no doubt about it
Although one can hear Dylan’s influence in the harmonica solo, otherwise this is C&W, certainly much more lyrically straightforward than anything Dylan was writing at the time (though it wouldn’t have been out of place on ‘Nashville Skyline’.) A great song on an underrated album.
John’s acoustic guitar credit needs to be corrected – he is actually playing a 12-string acoustic guitar, not a regular 6-string one, according to Walter Everett.
I used to think that he didn’t have his Framus Hootenanny 12-string acoustic guitar until the recording of “Help!”, not realizing that he must have bought it as early as 1964 if he played it on this song as well as “Honey Don’t”.