Why Paul McCartney Never Recorded One of the First Songs He Ever Wrote
Paul McCartney has written hundreds, possibly thousands of songs in his immaculate career. However, not every song he’s written has entered the studio. One of the first songs he ever wrote was never recorded as it was involved in one of The Beatles’ failed auditions.
Paul McCartney has a few songs that didn’t make the cut with The Beatles
Paul McCartney wrote many of The Beatles’ most iconic songs, either by himself or with John Lennon. However, not every song he wrote made the cut. A few examples include “I’ll Be on My Way” and “A World Without Love,” which ended up being a hit for Peter & Gordon. A few of McCartney’s Beatles songs that didn’t make the cut were resurrected by the singer in his solo career.
His first solo album, McCartney, included a few rejected Beatles songs, such as “Teddy Boy.” In an interview for the book Wingspan: Paul McCartney’s Band on the Run, he explained why he decided to include the track on his first solo album.
“There was one called ‘Teddy Boy’ – the unsuccessful Beatles version is on Anthology,” McCartney shared. “The Beatles were breaking up and nobody had any patience, whereas in the earlier days, we might have said, ‘Why don’t we try it like this?’ So I thought, ‘Right, I’ll do it on my own album’.”
McCartney didn’t like the arrangement of ‘Like Dreamer’s Do’
“Like Dreamer’s Do” is one of the earliest songs Paul McCartney wrote. The group tried it out in 1958 when they were The Quarrymen, performing at The Cavern Club. However, McCartney didn’t like it early on, as he thought it had a “weak arrangement.”
“‘Like Dreamers Do’ was one of the very first songs I wrote and tried out at the Cavern,” McCartney said in Barry Miles’ Many Years From Now. “We did a weak arrangement but certain of the kids liked it because it was unique, none of the other groups did it. It was actually a bit of a joke to try your own songs… For you to write it yourself was a bit plonky, and the songs obviously weren’t that great, but I felt we really had to break through that barrier because if we never tried our own songs we’d just never have the confidence to continue writing.”
Still, The Beatles brought it back for their failed Decca audition in 1962. That version was recorded and is included in Anthology 1. However, it was never officially recorded by The Beatles or McCartney.
The song was given to another band, but it still didn’t sound as good as The Beatles
In 1964, Decca gave “Like Dreamer’s Do” to British band The Applejacks, who turned it into a top 20 hit in the U.K. While it does sound more professionally crafted, it doesn’t have the same raw sound that makes The Beatles’ version better.
The Beatles may not have believed in it, but it did feature some intriguing aspects. Paul McCartney delivers a unique vocal performance on the song, almost doing his best Elvis Presley impression, who The Beatles highly admired. It has all the pieces of a classic rock song, and shows how the band’s influences shaped their sound in their early days.
