Hold Me Tight

Song infobox
Name = Hold Me Tight


Artist = The Beatles
Album = With the Beatles
Released = November 22, 1963
track_no = 9
Genre = Rock and roll
Length = 2:32
Writer = McCartney/Lennon
Label = Parlophone
Producer = George Martin
Misc = Extra tracklisting
Album = With the Beatles
Type = studio
Tracks = ;Side one
# "It Won't Be Long"
# "All I've Got to Do"
# "All My Loving"
# "Don't Bother Me"
# "Little Child"
# "Till There Was You"
# "Please Mister Postman";Side two
# "Roll Over Beethoven"
# "Hold Me Tight"
# "You Really Got a Hold on Me"
# "I Wanna Be Your Man"
# "Devil in Her Heart"
# "Not a Second Time"
# "Money (That's What I Want)"

"Hold Me Tight" is a Beatles song from their 1963 album "With the Beatles". It was first recorded during the "Please Please Me" album session, but not selected for inclusioncite book |first=Mark |last=Lewisohn |authorlink=Mark Lewisohn |title=The Beatles Recording Sessions |year=1988 |pages=24 |publisher=Harmony Books |location=New York |isbn=0-517-57066-1] and re-recorded for their second album. It was the first of only two occasions when a song title was held over from one Beatles album to appear on the next, "Wait" (left off "Help!" then included on "Rubber Soul") being the other.cite book |first=Mark |last=Lewisohn |title=The Beatles Recording Sessions |year=1988 |pages=60]

History

"Hold Me Tight" was composed principally by McCartney in 1961, and was part of The Beatles stage act until 1963.cite book |first=Bill |last=Harry |authorlink=Bill Harry |title=The Beatles Encyclopedia: Revised and Updated |year=2000 |pages=524-525 |publisher=Virgin Publishing |location=London |isbn=0-7535-0481-2] cite book |first=Ian |last=MacDonald |authorlink=Ian MacDonald |title=Revolution in the Head: The Beatles' Records and the Sixties |year=2005 |pages=71 |edition=Second Revised Edition |publisher=Pimlico (Rand) |location=London |isbn=1-844-13828-3] In their best-selling "The Beatles: An Illustrated Record", Roy Carr and Tony Tyler call it the album's poorest track, saying it "fails because McCartney's vision of the complete tune obviously sagged somewhat, and his distressingly out-of-tune singing became quite embarrassing after only a few bars."cite book |first=Roy |last=Carr |coauthors=Tyler, Tony |title=The Beatles: An Illustrated Record |year=1975 |pages=24 |publisher=Harmony Books |location=New York |isbn=0-517-520-451]

Indeed, both Paul McCartney and John Lennon had, at one time or another, shared their distaste for the song, and in a 1980s interview with Mark Lewisohn in "The Beatles Recording Sessions", McCartney says, "I can't remember much about that one. Certain songs were just 'work' songs, you haven't got much memory of them. That's one of them."cite book |first=Mark |last=Lewisohn |title=The Beatles Recording Sessions |year=1988 |pages=10] In Barry Miles' "Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now", the songwriter calls it "a failed attempt at a single which then became an acceptable album filler."cite book |first=Barry |last=Miles |title=Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now |year=1997 |pages=83]

However, Ian MacDonald redeems it in his book "Revolution in the Head", in which he writes: "Play it loud with the bass boosted, and you have an overwhelming motoric rocker strongly redolent of the band's live sound."cite book |first=Ian |last=MacDonald |title=Revolution in the Head |year=2005 |pages=72]

McCartney wrote a different song called "Hold Me Tight" for a medley included on his 1973 solo album "Red Rose Speedway".

Cover Versions

This song is amongst the least covered of the Beatle's original compositions. The Treasures, a Phil Spector-produced vocal group, recorded the song in 1964, on a single released on Spector's Philles Records. [ [http://www.ready-steady-go.org.uk/spectortwo.htm phil spector rarities ] ] . Another cover version was featured near the beginning of the 2007 Beatles-themed film Across the Universe.

Personnel

*Paul McCartney – bass, lead vocal
*John Lennon – rhythm guitar, backing vocal
*George Harrison – lead guitar, backing vocal
*Ringo Starr – drums

References