Beatles Trivia: ‘All You Need Is Love’ Featured a British Invasion Icon

Every icon from the British Invasion crossed paths with The Beatles at one point. For example, a British Invasion star sang on The Beatles’ “All You Need Is Love.” The singer in question had a strained relationship with Linda McCartney for reasons that might come as a shock to some Beatlemaniacs.

The Beatles’ ‘All You Need Is Love’ features 1 of the only female British Invasion stars

Marianne Faithfull was one of the only female singers who was part of the British Invasion. The others were Petula Clark, Dusty Springfield, and, arguably, Mary Hopkin. Faithfull performed two famous songs written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, “As Tears Go By” and “Sister Morphine,” as well as a moderately successful cover of The Beatles’ “Yesterday.” 

During a 2011 interview with Louder, Faithfull discussed her relationships with The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. “I’m still very close to Paul,” she said. “I sang on ‘All You Need Is Love.’ I went to a lot of Paul’s sessions — I was there when he did ‘Lovely Rita’ and ‘Fixing a Hole.’ Always late evening. 

“That’s when I saw John [Lennon] mostly,” she added. “He was very forbidding. He didn’t like other people being there. I was always very shy and quiet.”

Marianne Faithfull’s voice in unrecognizable on ‘All You Need Is Love’ and that’s a bad thing

Faithfull’s comments about “All You Need Is Love” are interesting, considering she is a non-presence on the track. The backing vocals on “All You Need Is Love” don’t sound like her delicate tone at all. It’s unclear if that’s because her voice is mixed in with so many others or because she decided to sing in a way that was atypical for her. 

Perhaps she should have been allowed to do more on the song! After all, “All You Need Is Love” is supposed to unite us. A “We Are the World”-style arrangement where a bunch of singers each got their turn to shine might have communicated the idea of different people coming together better than John hogging the microphone. 

Pretty much any arrangement would have been better than what The Beatles went with on “All You Need Is Love.” While it’s one of their most beloved songs and it has a good message, the mixing on the track just sounds awful at points. The Beatles gave us many great hit singles, but “All You Need Is Love” was definitely one of their worst. It works better as a slogan than it does as a song.

Marianne Faithfull contrasted The Beatles’ sessions with The Rolling Stones’

Faithfull contrasted her work with The Beatles and her work with The Rolling Stones. “Even with the Stones I didn’t want to be noticed,” she recalled. “I sang on ‘You Can’t Always Get What You Want,’ but I wore a dark green floppy hat so you couldn’t see me. 

“At least Paul was welcoming,” she continued. “I liked Linda McCartney very much but she didn’t like me. She wasn’t sure whether I’d had an affair with Paul. She thought everybody had because he had a lot of affairs. Not me, though. I wasn’t one of his affairs.”

“All You Need Is Love” has a little bit of Faithfull’s voice in it, but it could have used a lot more.