THE LOST '65 SINGLE

[EdinSc]

It's always been claimed that the Fabs intended to give away "That Means A Lot," but it's odd that the entire band would work on a song that was meant for someone else. Paul would have done a solo demo for giveaway, instead of conduct a multi-take session with the band, don't you think? I suspect this started out to be a Beatles track, but at some point the group decided it wasn't up to par.

[Rave O Lucien]

The song is a ballad which Paul and I wrote for the film but we found we just couldn’t sing it. In fact, we made a hash of it, so we thought we’d better give it to someone who could do it well.

John Lennon
New Musical Express, 1965

[Lord Reith]

It's always been claimed that the Fabs intended to give away "That Means A Lot," but it's odd that the entire band would work on a song that was meant for someone else. Paul would have done a solo demo for giveaway, instead of conduct a multi-take session with the band, don't you think? I suspect this started out to be a Beatles track, but at some point the group decided it wasn't up to par.

Not only that but they recorded it twice! Paul obviously wanted a workable version, but in the session for the remake you can hear them go through various arrangements and then just give up, with the final take being a sendup.

Looking back at my comments, I realize they might've come off as too harsh. My criticism isn't directed at LR or you or anyone else who's ever tried their hand at bettering this song... My criticism is solely directed at the song-- it's such a stinker!

I still remember many decades ago hearing the song the first time. I had just bought a boot vinyl copy of SESSIONS. All the way home, I was eyeing the track listing with anticipation. Obviously, I hadn't heard most of the performances before but I was familiar with a version or two of all of the songs except for "If You've Got Trouble," "That Means A Lot," and maybe "Leave My Kitten Alone." While the later song certainly didn't disappoint, I was crestfallen at hearing the other two, amazed that my heroes could've produced such atrocious songs. So now when I hear either "If You've Got Trouble" or "That Means A Lot," I'm experiencing not just that song but also the sting of that initial disappointment.

I first heard the song on File Under Beatles in late 1984, in a record store. I actually was pretty excited by it, because in 1983 there had been a story that had gone out worldwide on the news wires about four unreleased songs being found in the EMI vaults. This must have been just after Barret did his research. They listed them as : How Do You Do It, Leave My Kitten Alone, If You've Got Trouble and That Means A Lot. I was so excited when I read it in the newspaper because I thought it meant they'd be coming out as an EP! It's hard to imagine the public excitement such a small announcement made in 1983. One of the top FM stations was at the time running the documentary The Days In Their Life, and someone at the station had figured out that HDYDI featured in that series. So they made this big announcement that they HAD one of the four unreleased songs and were going to play it at some undetermined point during the day. I was at school, so I got my dad to tape THE ENTIRE MORNING AND AFTERNOON so that I would not miss it. And they did play it. And my dad caught it! But then for ages afterwards I was left wondering about those other three songs, especially the one about the cat. What was that, a nursery rhyme or something? So when File Under turned up it seemed like these missing songs had fallen like manna from heaven. And not only that but there were other unreleased songs on there too - Come And Get It, Bad To Me and Goodbye! Flippin' heck! They could have all been the worst songs ever written and I wouldn't have cared. I was just so excited to have them. And I thought TMAL was one of the better ones actually, just because of the "can't you see" bits which were (and still are) electrifying.

The drum pattern is also quite interesting.

Great and thanks. I know it was far from TMAL in terms of development but any chance of giving the same treatment to You know what to do? Thanks again

I did that one on Monolonger.

[paul62]

The definitive (i.e., fully-realised) version of the song is the P.J. Proby version, with production and arrangement by Ron Richards.

Perhaps "That Means A Lot" could have worked better if it had been given the same treatment as "Yesterday", with just Paul's vocals and a George Martin orchestral arrangement as the backing (and we'd have a Paul McCartney solo single of "Yesterday" b/w "That Means A Lot" (as long as Brian Epstein gave his blessings to the idea)).

A friend of mine named Zoomer Roberts has done a great job on "That Means A Lot": he's happy for me to share his remix and his commentary here, so here 'tis!

I see Lord Reith has remixed "That Means a Lot."
BUT, he ignores what is, to me, the track's biggest problem: Paul's vocal is flat!
I did my own version of TMAL a while back, nudging Paul up to pitch with Melodyne, and think it compares favorably.

hxxps://we.tl/t-ObFw24lhwV

[ennolenno]

Oh that sounds great. Thank you.

Remember the other "withdrawn" '65 single, where Ringo almost got the chance to sing on the A-side?

"If You've Got Trouble" b/w "I Need You". I'd love to hear re-balanced instruments there as well (i.e. drums centred), so is there any chance, Mr. Reith?

That would be marvellous!

[Lord Reith]

Oh that sounds great. Thank you.

Cool.

Remember the other "withdrawn" '65 single, where Ringo almost got the chance to sing on the A-side?

"If You've Got Trouble" b/w "I Need You". I'd love to hear re-balanced instruments there as well (i.e. drums centred), so is there any chance, Mr. Reith?

That would be marvellous!

Yes, I've done those and they're on Abracadabra V5 (haven't shared it yet though). I couldn't make IYGT any better a song though! Surely the worst original they ever put to tape. There's a funny bit in the introductory interview in Recording Sessions where Lewisohn mentions the song title and it just say:

Paul: [pulls face]

[20YearsAgo]

Yes, I've done those and they're on Abracadabra V5 (haven't shared it yet though). I couldn't make IYGT any better a song though! Surely the worst original they ever put to tape. There's a funny bit in the introductory interview in Recording Sessions where Lewisohn mentions the song title and it just say:

Paul: [pulls face]

Just yesterday I was chatting with someone who professed to love IYGT. Honest. He was especially complimentary about Ringo's drumming on that track. So I'm eager to see what you can do with it.

[Lord Reith]

Just yesterday I was chatting with someone who professed to love IYGT. Honest.

No!!



Hey williamshears (I'm going to call you Billy from now on, ok?)

Could we hive off all the bootlegs recollections here into a brand new thread? This stuff is too interesting to get lost in an otherwise unrelated thread.

You could call it "The Old Timers' Bootleg-Shopping-Recollections Thread".

[WilliamShears]

Could we hive off all the bootlegs recollections here into a brand new thread? This stuff is too interesting to get lost in an otherwise unrelated thread.

You could call it "The Old Timers' Bootleg-Shopping-Recollections Thread".

I've split them out to a new topic. We now resume discussion of the underrated gem that is TMAL

[Tex]

I actually like "If You Got Trouble" for the corn-ball aspect of it. I also like "What Goes On" which I term Alt-Rockabilly.

The main issue for me with "If You Got Trouble" as presented on Anthology is that it is very harsh/shrill and hollow sounding. It needs some stereo widening, rebalancing and mid range work. I did it myself years ago and it sounds much, much better. It's almost like there a point in the mixing for Anthology where you go from harsh tinny mixes to more hi-fi mixes. I will put forward this is the point that Giles Martin became his Dad's "ears" (admitted to) in the mixing and that by Anthology 3 (and maybe some of Anthology 2) Giles was doing the main mixing and George was editing/selecting.