"Every Little Thing" | |
---|---|
Song by the Beatles | |
from the album Beatles for Sale | |
Published | Northern Songs |
Released | 4 December 1964 |
Recorded | 29–30 September 1964, EMI Studios, London |
Genre | Rock |
Length | 2:01 |
Label | Parlophone |
Songwriter(s) | Lennon–McCartney |
Producer(s) | George Martin |
"Every Little Thing" is a song by the English rock group the Beatles from their 1964 album Beatles for Sale. Credited to Lennon–McCartney, it was written by Paul McCartney, although John Lennon is the more prominent lead vocalist on the recording. Rather than include the track on the North American version of Beatles for Sale (which was titled Beatles '65), Capitol Records first issued the song on the June 1965 release Beatles VI. The track is an early example of the Beatles' use of non-rock instrumentation on a recording, through the addition of timpani drum over the choruses.
Recalling the song's creation in his authorised biography, Many Years from Now (1997), McCartney says he wrote "Every Little Thing" in a music room at the London home of Jane Asher, where he was living at the time. Other sources, citing a 1964 interview with McCartney, place the song's origins at Atlantic City in the United States, where the Beatles stopped over in late August that same year during their US tour. In 1980, John Lennon told Playboy magazine that McCartney wrote the song, although he himself might have "[thrown] something in". Author John Winn concludes that McCartney began the composition in London and finished it with Lennon in Atlantic City.
"Every Little Thing" is a rare example of a Lennon–McCartney song in which one member of the partnership was primary composer (here McCartney) but the other sang lead vocal (here Lennon). McCartney sings in unison with Lennon on the verses, but Lennon's vocal is more prominent. McCartney sings the high harmony on the chorus.
The Beatles recorded "Every Little Thing" for their fourth studio album, Beatles for Sale, during a period when Lennon and McCartney's productivity as songwriters had suffered as a result of the band's international touring commitments. In Many Years from Now, McCartney says he had intended the song to be their next single, but it "didn't have quite what was required", and was issued as an album track instead.