Hello Little Girl
From BeatlesWiki
Hello Little Girl is an early Beatles song. It was, in fact, the first song John Lennon ever wrote.
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Writing
Hello Little Girl was written by John Lennon in 1957 and was the first original composition written by him. It sounds heavily influenced by Buddy Holly's earlier work. It was also based off Cole Porter's song "It's De-Lovely" from his 1936 musical Red, Hot and Blue. John Lennon recalled in 1980, "That was me. That was actually my first song. [Singing] 'When I see you every day I say mmm hmm, hello little girl.' I remember some Thirties or Forties song which was [singing] 'You're delightful, you're delicious and da da da. Isn't it a pity that you are such a scatterbrain.' [Laughing] That always fascinated me for some reason or another. It's also connected to my mother. It's all very Freudian. She used to sing that one. So I made Hello Little Girl out of it."
Recording
The Beatles recorded the song twice, only one of which was recorded professionally. The first recording was done in Spring or Summer 1960, when The Beatles were rehearsing at Paul McCartney's house on 20 Forthlin Road. This version featured John, Paul, and George on guitars and Stuart Sutcliffe on bass. This version is the less-deveolped of the two recorded versions, with lyrics missing and in far inferior quality. The other recorded version was recorded at The Beatles' failed audition with Decca Records on January 1, 1962. By this time, the song was much more perfected, featuring completed lyrics and vocal harmonies. This song, as well as Like Dreamers Do and Love Of The Loved, was one of the few Lennon/McCartney originals played at the Decca audition, signaling that they did not have a large catalog of songs in the early 1960's. Like Like Dreamers Do, this song had been part of their setlist in 1958, meaning that they may not have been confident in their abilities to write good songs just yet. The song did not stay part of their live setlists much longer, though it was performed during an audition for BBC radio on February 12, 1962 at Broadcasting House in Manchester. This performance is not believed to have been recorded.
The Fourmost Version
The Beatles had offered to give the song to Gerry and The Pacemakers for their follow-up single to How Do You Do It?. They recorded a demo of it on July 17, 1963, but did not formally record the song, instead covering Mitch Murray's "I Like It." Instead, The Beatles gave the song to another Merseybeat act, The Fourmost. They recorded a version at Abbey Road Studios on July 3, 1963, with Beatles producer George Martin producing. Their version was released August 30 and reached number nine on the UK charts. Paul McCartney said of the song, "Unfortunately the words aren't too wonderful. They're a bit average, but the Fourmost were eager to have a hit and they were very good friends of ours. They were more of a comedy group, a really very funny cabaret act, and when it came to making a record and being serious on a TV show, they always laughed and giggled. They were always having such a laugh, it was very difficult for them. They just weren't the kind of guys who were going to get a major hit. I tried a few times."
Recording Sessions
The wiki has no info about this for now
Personnel (Decca Audition version)
The Beatles
- Lead Vocals: John Lennon
- Rythm Guitar: John Lennon
- Backing Vocals: Paul McCartney
- Bass: Paul McCartney
- Lead Guitar: George Harrison
- Drums: Pete Best
Production
- Producer: Mike Smith
Available Beatles Versions
- Rehearsal at Paul's House, Spring/Summer 1960, (Bootlegs)
- Decca Audition, January 1, 1962, (Anthology 1, Bootlegs)
Available On
- Anthology 1, 1995.
