How Little Richard Might’ve Inspired The Beatles’ ‘Oh! Darling’
TL;DR:
- Little Richard might’ve inspired The Beatles’ “Oh! Darling.”
- Paul McCartney said he tried over and over to get the song’s vocals just right.
- John Lennon liked “Oh! Darling” but he felt it had a flaw.
Paul McCartney could do an impression of Little Richard. A sound engineer said Little Richard might have inspired The Beatles‘ “Oh! Darling.” Paul shared his memories of crafting the song.
Paul McCartney contrasted Little Richard with with The Beatles during their early days
The 1997 book Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now says Paul was always a Little Richard fan. He memorized all of Little Richard’s hits. Paul felt Little Richard could write several rock ‘n’ roll songs in a row with ease while The Beatles struggled with that, at least during their early days.
“I could do Little Richard’s voice, which is a wild, hoarse, screaming thing, it’s like an out-of-body experience,” he said. “You have to leave your current sensibilities and go about a foot above your head to sing it.”
A sound engineer said Little Richard might’ve inspired Paul McCartney’s vocals on The Beatles’ ‘Oh! Darling’
Geoff Emerick was a sound engineer who worked on The Beatles’ Revolver, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, and Abbey Road, as well as other famous albums by Elvis Costello, Paul McCartney & Wings, and The Zombies. During a 2014 interview with Music Radar, Emerick discussed The Beatles’ “Oh! Darling.” “[EMI engineer] Phil MacDonald worked on this one,” he recalled.
“I remember hearing that Paul kept rehearsing the vocal lying on his back, and that he used to come to the studio quite early, before any of the other guys were supposed to be there, just so he could do it over and over again,” Emerick added. “He was searching for something, a Little Richard vibe perhaps.”
Emerick gave fans more insight into Paul’s vocals. “Artists are artists — you never know what drives them to do what they do, but you can’t deny the end result, which is one of his most powerful vocals,” he said. “He cut the final take standing up, I believe. It’s something John could have probably knocked out in a couple of passes, but Paul had to work himself up for it.”
What John Lennon thought about ‘Oh! Darling’
In Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now, Paul said he had vague memories of recording “Oh! Darling.” He didn’t connect it to Little Richard in any way. Paul said he tried many times to get the vocals just right and he was “reasonably happy” with the final result.
The book All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono features a 1980 interview. In it, John was asked about “Oh! Darling.” John loved the song but he was disappointed with the vocals. He felt he should have sung the song because it was more his style than Paul’s.
“Oh! Darling” is a great rock song even if it has nothing to do with Little Richard.
