Off The Beatle Track

As a reminder, I’m choosing tracks from The Beatles’ U.K. albums that weren’t released as singles in their home country, but could have been.

Help! (1965)

The tile track and Ticket to Ride were both issued as singles. The strong temptation here is to choose Paul’s Yesterday, which has been covered by thousands of artists.¹ I’d also consider You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away, You’re Going to Lose That Girl, and I’ve Just Seen a Face.

I’ll give in to temptation and choose Yesterday. That song is so well-known, even beloved, that one wishes Paul would open up and discuss how he came to write it. Maybe he’s forgotten.

Rubber Soul (1965)

The non-album We Can Work It Out/Day Tripper single was released the same day as Rubber Soul, December 3, 1965. More than any other album to this point (and maybe more so than any other album in their catalog, save for possibly the White Album), Rubber Soul has a bunch of songs that could have been singles. Check out these album tracks:

• Drive My Car
• Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)
• Nowhere Man
• The Word
• Michelle
• Girl
• I’m Looking Through You
• In My Life
• If I Needed Someone

For any other band, Rubber Soul would have been a greatest hits album! For The Beatles, it was a project they rushed through, spending about a month recording it in late 1965 so that it would be ready for the holiday season.

I’m bound to make someone angry, but my top three contenders for a single would be Drive My Car, Michelle, and Nowhere Man. In My Life might be the best song on the album, but I like the idea of keeping that something of a hidden gem.² They probably wouldn’t release Michelle as a single if they also released Yesterday as a 1965 single. So of the two remaining options, I’ll choose one of my top-5 Beatles songs: John’s Nowhere Man. But I wouldn’t complain about hearing Norwegian Wood or I’m Looking Through You on the AM dial of my car radio.

Revolver (1966)

Between Rubber Soul and Revolver, Paperback Writer/Rain was released as single in May 1966. Then the same day Revolver was released (August 5, 1966), two tracks from the album, Eleanor Rigby and Yellow Submarine, were issued as a single, which means that the pickings are slim for a Revolver single.

Kidding! Here’s the list of candidates:

• Taxman
• I’m Only Sleeping
• Here, There and Everywhere
• Good Day Sunshine
• And Your Bird Can Sing
• Got to Get You Into My Life

As with Rubber Soul, I’ll start by whittling the list to three: Good Day Sunshine, And Your Bird Can Sing, and Got to Get You Into My LIfe. Good Day Sunshine has never been my favorite, but Paul says it was influenced by the Lovin’ Spoonful’s 1966 single Daydream.³ And Your Bird Can Sing is my favorite Beatles’ song (today), but as of this writing it’s only the 94th most-played Beatles’ song on Spotify.⁴ No accounting for taste.

Paul’s Got to Get You Into My Life gets the nod here. Those punchy horns, especially in mono, make this a natural choice for a 1966 single.⁵

What singles would you choose from 1965 and 1966? Email me at beatletrack@gmail.com.

1. EMI did in fact release Yesterday as a single, but not until 1976, with I Should Have Known Better as the B-side. ↩︎
2. As if anything that has appeared on both The Beatles’ Red album and in a sappy Amazon holiday commercial could be considered “hidden.” ↩︎
3. When The Beatles Anthology aired on the American TV network ABC in 1995, it called itself “A Beatle C.” Around the same time, my wife and I must have seen an ad on the CBS network for a show featuring the Lovin’ Spoonful, to which my wife replied, “C B Spoonful.” ↩︎
4. Below (get this) Octopus’s Garden (#50), Till There Was You (#60), Maxwell’s Silver Hammer (#81), and Anna (Go to Him) (#92). ↩︎
5. It was also released as a single in 1976, with Helter Skelter on the B-side. ↩︎