“MISERY”

(Paul McCartney – John Lennon)

Although this song is not as memorable as most of the early Lennon/McCartney tracks (or “McCartney/Lennon” as was listed on their first British and US albums), it is very characteristic of their songwriting and performance style in various ways.  It is undeniable in its’ charm, especially for American audiences who, for one unknown reason or another, was denied access to this song on any album since October 15^th, 1964, when the “Introducing…The Beatles” album went out of print.  While almost every other song released by the Beatles during their career was available in the US on million selling albums or singles throughout their career, the unavailability of this track made it sound even more charming when it was found by American audiences.  Being able to find the cherished “lost Beatles song” made the enjoyment even sweeter.  (American audiences would have to wait until March 24^th, 1980 to hear this track in stereo, as we’ll see later.) 

Songwriting History

Brian Epstein, the Beatles’ manager, had been encouraging Lennon and McCartney as songwriters, not only for use within their band, but as supplying material for other artists.  Brian saw the monetary possibilities of supplying known recording artists with new material to record and perform, as well as being a promotional tool for the Beatles career.      

The Beatles, unfortunately, did not have an established credibility this early in their career.  It was January 1963, and the group had achieved a top 20 British hit with “Love Me Do” and had just released their second single, “Please Please Me” on January 11^th, which had just started to make an appearance on the British charts.  But, stirred up by Brian Epstein’s encouragement, Lennon and McCartney decided to have a go at writing a song together especially intended for a particular recording artist.        

The Beatles were just about to start an extensive nationwide tour on February 2, 1963.  They were fifth on the bill under Helen Shapiro, whose British chart career the Beatles were very well aware of.  At the age of 14, she started her string of British hits in April 1961 with a top 10, “Please Don’t Treat Me Like A Child”, followed by two number 1 songs, “You Don’t Know” and “Walking Back To Happiness”.  This was followed by a number 2 hit, “Tell Me What He Said”.  In early 1963, Helen’s deep and masculine voice was a hot commodity; surely enough to be top of the bill of a nationwide tour.

On January 26^th, 1963, a mere week before their tour with Helen Shapiro began, Lennon and McCartney started work on a song with the sole intention of presenting it to Helen during the tour, being that they would, no doubt, be in her general company during the tour.  They wrote it in a form that they felt would be compatible to her style and suitable to her vocal range.  They reasoned that, even if it ended up as a flip-side on a future record of hers, that could still be a boost to their songwriting career.  They started writing the song backstage before a performance they were doing at King's Hall, Stoke-on-Trent, and then completed the song at McCartney's home on Forthlin Road shortly thereafter.        

Shortly after the tour began, McCartney, being ever the PR man of the group, got up the nerve to introduce the song.  It was presented to Helen’s manager, Norrie Paramor, who, unfortunately, rejected it without even giving Helen a chance to hear it herself.  In retrospect, McCartney has stated that the reason the song was turned down was probably because of the “downbeat” nature of the lyrics.

A fortunate turn of events did happen, though, concerning another performer on the bill during that tour.  Kenny Lynch, a black singer, songwriter, entertainer and actor from London, also heard the song and decided to record it himself.  He had a minor hit with the song making a first for the Beatles’ songwriting career, being the first original Lennon/McCartney song ever to be recorded by another artist.  Kenny Lynch's version of the song put a soulful spin on the pop song, which caused a little disension from Lennon, mostly because of his utilizing the skills of British session guitarist Bert Weedon.  John told Lynch about these feelings during a meeting in music publisher Dick James' office in 1963.  "What'd you want to have Bert Weedon on the session for?" Lennon exclaimed.  "I would have played if you'd asked me."

Kenny Lynch would once again cross paths with a Beatle years later, as he appears on the famous cover of the hugely successful 1973 album "Band On The Run" by Paul McCartney and Wings.      

As far as the songwriting itself goes, both Lennon and McCartney are in agreement that “Misery” was pretty much a 50/50 credit, possibly favoring Lennon slightly.  The original first line of the song, as sung by Kenny Lynch, was “You’ve been treating me bad”, whereas, during the Beatles’ recording of the song, the line was sung as “The world is treating me bad.”  This was done with the attempt to make the song have a more universal appeal. 

Recording History

The recording of this song took place during the day-long recording session in which they recorded the bulk of their first British album “Please Please Me”, on February 11^th, 1963.  It was the fifth of ten songs recorded on this day, being the last one recorded during the afternoon session of 2:30 to 6:00 p.m.  Noting that there were multiple takes recorded of four other songs during the afternoon session before “Misery”, it can be estimated that the eleven takes of this song were recorded during the last hour, or between 5:00 and 6:00 p.m.  Since the song was not returned to during the evening session, the entire Beatles performance of the song was completed, without overdubs, within an approximate one hour length.  Take 11 was deemed the best.

This is not to say that the song was complete after this hour was over.  With amazing foresight, George Martin, the Beatles’ producer, recorded the song at the recording speed of 30 ips, rather than the normal speed of 15 ips.  This was done in order to facilitate an easier superimposition of piano which he wanted to add at a later date.  That later date was February 20^th, 1963, which George Martin performed himself, since the Beatles were back on their nationwide tour with Helen Shapiro at this time.  The piano parts played by George Martin on “Misery” were quite simple compared to his later performances on Beatles recordings in years to come.  A simple piano arpeggio accentuates the introductory guitar strum performed by John Lennon.  Then during both occurrences of the bridge, George Martin adds a simple fill and then accent notes to fill the gaps in between the vocal breaks.  (George Harrison originally played similar guitar phrases in these places, but it was decided sometime after take six to leave these for George Martin to superimpose later.)  These five superimpositions were added onto take 11, which then became take 16.  This then becomes the first Beatles song in which George Martin contributes to musically.       

An amusing note to add concerning the recording of “Misery” is the most noteworthy example of the Beatles pronouncing the consonant “s” as “sh”.  It can be slightly detected in other Beatle songs of 1963, such as “I Want To Hold Your Hand” (“…when I shay that shomething…”), but it definitely can be heard in “Misery” (“…shend her back to me…”).  Add to this the comedic “la,la,la,la,la,la” during the fade-out of the song, and it is apparent that the song was viewed by the band as album filler, being recently rejected by Helen Shapiro.  But, for our benefit, this adds a comedic touch which adds to its’ charm and gives us a hint of the fun-loving Beatles we were soon to get to know in their movie “A Hard Day’s Night.” 

Song Structure and Style

The song was written in one of the most established formulas of popular music of its time.  It was written in the verse/verse/bridge/verse style (or aaba) which does not have a repeatable chorus.  The songwriting style of many of the Beatles favorite artists of the time have a similar song structure, such as Fats Domino and Arthur Alexander.  The title, or hook-line, of the song is found at the end of each verse, which helps listeners to remember the title of the song.  In this case, the Beatles opted not to include a solo of any kind, which, after the last verse, allows for an immediate repeating of the bridge and final verse.  After the guitar strum/piano arpeggio, Lennon and McCartney sing a partially a cappella introduction of the key phrase of the song.  The true tempo of the song then appears as both John and Paul sing all the songs’ lyrics together mostly in unison.  Only when the words “in misery” are sung does McCartney sing a higher harmony.      

Ringo plays metronome-style drums for this song, sticking strictly on the high hat with the right hand for the entire song.  Except for the small drum intro at the beginning of Ringos’ appearance on the song, no drum fills are played at all right through until the song fades.  This is strong evidence, not of Ringos’ lack of skill, but of his performing what is suitable to the song being recorded.  In actuality, take six of "Misery" shows that Ringo originally planned on performing energetic drum fills during the bridge, but this was vetoed in favor of the simple drumming we hear on the song.  It was easily discernable at the time that a Keith Moon-like drumming style was not required here, but he surely did cut loose on other tracks recorded that day, such as “Boys” and “I Saw Her Standing There”, which shows the versatility Ringo had.  He definitely wasn’t a “showboat”, but a group player.                         

The rhythm guitar style used in this song was one that was used quite regularly in the early Beatles recording career (“From Me To You”, “There’s A Place”, “She Loves You” etc.) and which appears here for the first time.  Both John and George are confined to rhythm guitar in the song, which is primarily shifting our focus on the vocals and lyrics.  Take six of the song also shows the guitar phrases that Harrison intended for the bridge of the song which was left off in the end in favor of the similarly sounding phrases played on piano by George Martin.      

A minor surprise in “Misery” is the changed lyrics in the second bridge.  “Can’t she see she’ll always be the only one, only one” is replaced with “She’ll remember and she’ll miss her only one, lonely one”.  Usually in Beatles songs, as well as the established song structure of the day, the bridge is identical when repeated.      

It’s also interesting to note that the lyrics, although quite “downbeat”, are accompanied by a very cheerful melody line and chord structure.  Even within the lyrics it is noticeable that the heartbreak sung about isn’t taken quite that seriously.  After we hear about the singer losing his girl “for sure” not being able to see her anymore, we next hear “it’s gonna be a drag”!  It makes the listener feel he’s not taking this breakup so hard after all. 

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO "MISERY"

American Releases

The first time the US heard the song was on the Vee Jay album “Introducing…The Beatles” , released January 6, 1964.  The album was prepared for release as early as July 22, 1963, but was not released until January to make it the first Beatles album released in the states.                                     

In order to cash in on the Beatles first US visit with their three Ed Sullivan Show appearances, Vee Jay issued a four song extended play single (or EP) entitled “The Beatles – Souvenir of Their Visit To America”.  This was released on March 23, 1964 and contained “Misery” as the first song on side one.  As EPs don’t sell as well in the United States as they do in Britain, this release did not chart at all in the Billboard Hot 100, due in part to a percentage of the sales being made through mail order offers.  Nonetheless, it was reported to have sold 78,800 copies.  Capitol records also attempted releasing Beatles EPs on two occasions in the coming months, but they only fared slightly better than this one did.      

Shortly before Vee Jay records were court ordered to cease and desist producing or distributing any Beatles related product, they released the “Introducing…The Beatles” album in two more forms, which contained the song “Misery”.  The due date given to stop Vee Jay production was October 15, 1964, so on October 1^st Vee Jay released a double-compilation album entitled “The Beatles vs. The Four Seasons” coupling the Beatles album with “The Golden Hits of the Four Seasons”.  A score card was even supplied with the album for music fans to decide which group they loved the most.  Even though this higher priced double album only peaked at number 142 on the Billboard album charts, this would mark the third US release on the song “Misery”.      

Then, just three days before the court order took affect, Vee Jay records released the album “Songs, Pictures And Stories Of The Fabulous Beatles” on October 12^th, 1963.  This was a blatant attempt at gouging American fans of more money by purchasing the same set of songs they already owned.  With its’ attractive gate-fold full color sleeve, it was designed to look like a new album by America’s favorite group.  But the album inside that sleeve had, not only the same exact song list of the “Introducing…The Beatles” album, but the actual album they had purchased previously with the same label on the record.  This release proved to fool at least some of the US Beatles fans, being that it reached number 63 on Billboards album charts.  Vee Jay records apparently felt that ‘desperate times caused for desperate measures’, since the record label was facing major financial troubles at the time, which eventually resulted in their closing their doors in May 1966.  In effect, though, this became the fourth US release of the song “Misery”. 

As of mid October 1964, Capitol records now had all rights to the early Beatles catalog.  They turned their attention to this catalog on March 22, 1965 with the release of the album “The Early Beatles” which contained most of the songs previously licensed to Vee Jay records.  Unfortunately for US Beatles fans, that record did not contain the song “Misery”, nor did any of the makeshift Beatles albums that Capitol records released thereafter.  But another idea of Capitol records came to fruition on October 11, 1965 with the release of six Beatles singles on the short-lived “Star Line” budget series.  Four of these singles were the Vee Jay singles released in 1964 (“Please Please Me”, “Twist And Shout”, “Love Me Do” and “Do You Want To Know A Secret”).  The other two singles were new concoctions from Capitol, “Boys” backed with “Kansas City” and “Roll Over Beethoven” backed with “Misery”.   This would mark the fifth US release of the song.  Although this made “Misery” available again for US Beatles fans, it mostly went unnoticed as none of these singles made much of a dent on the Billboard charts (“Boys” did briefly chart, peaking at #102), which was then dominated by the Beatles current number one “Yesterday”.  Although reissues of the single containing “Misery” did surface, it was not available on any US album since October of 1964 and certainly was not available in stereo.      

That takes us to March 24^th, 1980, the sixth and final release of the song.  Capitol released the US version of the album “Rarities” which finally rectified this matter.  This album contains the first “true stereo” version of “Misery” in the US since the “Introducing…The Beatles” album went out of print in October of 1964.  US “Beatlemaniacs” were thrilled to finally have this gem available in the form they always wanted to hear it, which made this “filler” song from early 1963 sound like a long-lost masterpiece.        

Take note that, as of the date of this writing (March 4^th, 2007), “Misery” cannot be found anywhere on CD in stereo in the United States or Britain.  Either the “Rarities” album discussed above (whether in LP, cassette or 8-track form) or the stereo version of the original “Introducing…The Beatles” album needs to be in your collection in order for you to hear this song in stereo.  “Misery” is available on the CD “Please Please Me”, but only in mono.  

Live Performances

Even though both Lennon and McCartney both testified in interviews that this song was just ‘hacked out for someone,’ “Misery” did end up being in the Beatles set list periodically for the next few months.  Kenny Lynch had indeed taken on the song as a released single and in concert appearances, but this didn’t stop the Beatles from performing it themselves.  After all, it was featured very prominently as the second track of side one on their current album “Please Please Me” which was riding high on the British charts during 1963.

The Beatles included “Misery” in their set list during their Tommy Roe/Chris Montez national theater package tour which ran from March 9^th through the 31^st.  Although they apparently skipped the song during the following Roy Orbison tour of May and June, they resumed performing the song in later shows, June 30^th at the ABC Cinema in Norfolk being the last known performance.  Their “Please Please Me” album, which featured the song, was enjoying its’ third week at number one on the British charts at the time and they no doubt wanted to capitalize on its’ success.         

It could be argued that, since the material chosen for the album came from their “stage act”, the song must have been performed before the date of the recording.  This song appears to be an exception to that rule, since the song had just been written (on January 26^th) and subsequently rejected by Helen Shapiro’s manager within a period of two weeks.  Proof of this fact can also be heard by listening to the 11 takes of the song, which clearly shows suggestions being made of how to perform the song (such as the bass line).  These things would have undoubtedly been worked out beforehand had they performed the song previously.  It’s inclusion on the album probably came about because of the increase of songwriting royalties it would generate, as Brian Epstein was encouraging at the time.       

The first BBC radio appearance was on March 6^th on the BBC show “Here We Go” which aired on April 12^th.  They then performed the song on March 16^th on the “Saturday Club” BBC show which aired live.  On March 21^st, the song was performed on the “On The Scene” BBC show which aired on March 28^th.  It was then performed on the “Side By Side” BBC show on April 1^st, which aired on April 22^nd.  Then on April 3^rd it was performed on the “Easy Beat” BBC show, airing on April 7^th.  On May 24^th they performed it on the “Pop Go The Beatles” BBC show, which aired on June 4^th.  Then we go to September 3^rd for their final performance of the song on the “Pop Go The Beatles” BBC show, which aired on September 17^th. 

Conclusion

It stands to reason that, although this isn’t the most influential Beatles song by any stretch of the imagination, the Lennon/McCartney catalog would be amiss without this classic piece of early songwriting.  The fun-loving nature of this performance, coupled with the tongue-in-cheek “downbeat” lyrics, create an atmosphere of warmth and charm that give us an early glimpse of their wit.  And, dare I say, this is arguably the happiest sad song ever written! 

Song Summary

“Misery”

Written by:  Paul McCartney / John Lennon 

• Song Written:                     January 26, 1963
• Song Recorded:                 February 11 and 20, 1963
• First US Release Date:     January 6, 1964
• First US Album Release:  Vee Jay #VJLP 1062 “Introducing…The Beatles” 
• US Single Release:            Capitol Star Line #6065 (B-side to “Roll Over Beethoven”) 
• Highest Chart Position:   n/a 
• British Album Release:     Parlophone #PCS3042 “Please Please Me” 
• Length:                                1:46 
• Key:                                      C major

Instrumentation: 

• John Lennon –            Lead Vocals, Rhythm Guitar (1958 Rickenbacher 325)
• Paul McCartney -       Bass Guitar (1961 Hofner 500/1), Background Vocals
• George Harrison –     Rhythm Guitar (Gretsch Duo Jet)
• Ringo Starr –              Drums (Premier)
• George Martin -         Piano

Written and compiled by Dave Rybaczewski