A World Without Love
From BeatlesWiki
A World Without Love is a song written by Paul McCartney and given to Peter And Gordon to record. As usual, the song was credited to Lennon/McCartney.
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[edit] Writing
Paul McCartney wrote the song in the late 1950's. John Lennon recalled "I think that was resurrected from the past....I think he had that whole song before the Beatles....That has the line 'Please lock me away' that we always used to crack up at." McCartney recalls Lennon's reaction to the song in his authorized biography Many Years From Now, "The funny first line always used to please John. 'Please lock me away –' 'Yes, okay.' End of song."
[edit] Peter And Gordon Version
McCartney was not satisfied with the song, so he decided to give it to another artist rather than record it with The Beatles. First, McCartney offered the song to Billy J Kramer, who rejected it. McCartney is believed to have made a demo of the song in January 1964 that is now in possession of Peter Asher. Peter And Gordon released it as their first single in February 1964, backed by If I Were You. By June 1964, the song reached number one on the US chart Billboard Hot 100. It also topped the Cash Box US chart for a week. It was one of two Lennon/McCartney songs performed by artists other than The Beatles to reach number one in the US, the other being Elton John's cover of Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds.
[edit] Known Available Versions
- Home Demo, January 1964
[edit] Sources
- ELSON, H., 1986, McCartney, Songwriter, W.H. Allen
- MILES, B., 1997, Many Years From Now, Henry Holt & Company
- SHEFF, D., 2000, All We Are Saying, St. Martin's Griffin
- GIANELLA M., Information for Hardcore collectors of Beatles Music, http://beatlesong.info/
