A Shot of Rhythm and Blues
From BeatlesWiki
A Shot Of Rhythm And Blues is a 1961 by Arthur Alexander. It was covered by The Beatles three times for BBC Radio in 1963.
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[edit] Original Version
Arthur Alexander, a US soul singer who was a favorite of John Lennon's, released A SHot Of Rhythm And Blues in the UK as Th B-Side to You Better Move On in March 1962.
[edit] The Beatles Version
As well as recording Alexander's song Anna (Go To Him) for Please Please Me, The Beatles covered his song A Shot Of Rhythm and Blues live and for BBC Radio. McCartney recalled, "Recording was always the thing. Rather than TV and films. TV and films were a possibility, if we became stars, but records were the main objective. That was what we bought, that was what we dealt in. It was the currency of music: records. That's where we got our repertoire from, the b-sides, the Shot Of Rhythm And Blues, the lesser known stuff that we helped bring to the fore, the R&B stuff." The song was occasionally part of The Beatles' live set. Paul McCartney remembers, "A lot of our [early] tracks may not have been 'cool'. I think if we'd just been cool, we wouldn't have made it how we did. But that was a great aspect of us. John would do A Shot Of Rhythm And Blues or You Really Got A Hold On Me - you could call that cool." The Beatles have made at least four known recordings of the song, the first three of which were for BBC radio. The first one was recorded at the BBC Paris Studio on June 1, 1963 for the program Pop Goes The Beatles. It was broadcast on June 18. The next attempt was recorded on July 17, 1963 and broadcast on July 21. It was recorded at the BBC Playhouse Theatre for the program Easy Beat. This arrangement was slower than the earlier one and contained a short, bluesy guitar break played by George Harrison. This was the only recorded version played in front of a live audience. The last one recorded for BBC Radio was recorded on August 1, 1963 at the Playhouse Theatre in Manchester. It was broadcast on August 27, 1963 as part of Pop Goes The Beatles. This version, like the previous recorded version, also utilized the slower arrangement. This was included on the 1994 compilation Live at the BBC. The last recorded version was recorded more than five years later, in a Get Back session at Twickenham Film Studios on January 7, 1969. This version has been included on many bootlegs, including Thirty Days.
[edit] Personnel (August 1, 1963 version)
[edit] The Beatles
- Lead Vocals: John Lennon
- Rythm Guitar: John Lennon
- Backing Vocals: Paul McCartney
- Bass: Paul McCartney
- Backing Vocals: George Harrison
- Lead Guitar: George Harrison
- Drums: Ringo Starr
[edit] Production
- Producer: Terry Henebery
[edit] Available Versions
- Pop Goes The Beatles BBC Radio recording, June 1, 1963, (Bootlegs)
- Easy Beat BBC Radio recording, July 17, 1963, (Bootlegs)
- Pop Goes The Beatles BBC Radio recording, August 1, 1963, (Live at the BBC, Bootlegs)
- Get Back session, January 7, 1969, (Bootlegs)
[edit] Available On
- Live at the BBC, 1994.
