The Beatles Song That the Group Abandoned Because They ‘Just Couldn’t Sing it’
There are many songs recorded by The Beatles that never saw the light of day. Many times, the band would be dissatisfied with the final product. However, one song was abandoned by The Beatles because they struggled to sing it.
The Beatles had a few hits from their soundtrack for ‘Help!’
In 1965, The Beatles starred in the movie Help!, a musical comedy that was also accompanied by a soundtrack featuring new music from the band. The movie was a critical and box office success, but it is mainly remembered today for its soundtrack.
Help! was the fifth studio album from The Beatles and included several hit songs such as “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away,” “Help!,” “Ticket to Ride,” and “Yesterday.” Three songs became No. 1 hits on charts worldwide, including the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. The album also performed well, reaching platinum status in the U.S., the U.K., Canada, and Argentina.
The Beatles abandoned 1 song that they couldn’t sing
Not every Beatles song made it into Help!’s final cut. John Lennon and Paul McCartney wrote several tracks that ultimately didn’t make it past the cutting room floor, and one entry they left out because they struggled to sing it.
In the 1980 interview with David Sheff, Lennon discussed the song “That Means a Lot,” a song written by McCartney that required a powerful vocalist to fulfill its potential. However, neither McCartney nor Lennon believed they could perform the song well enough to do it justice.
“The song is a ballad which Paul and I wrote for the film, but we found we just couldn’t sing it,” Lennon said. “So, we thought we’d better give it to someone who could do it well.”
The duo reportedly recorded the song three times but found it unusable each time. The demos were later released in 1996’s The Beatles Anthology 2, but the recordings still sounded subpar.
McCartney gave the song to another artist
McCartney and Lennon were often pushed by other artists to give them a song written by The Beatles stars. Macca often urged them that whatever unused song he had was no good, but these artists would try to convince him that they could make it work.
“Normally I’d try and bury these songs and not put them out, but there was so much pressure from people. They’d say: ‘Have you got anything?’” McCartney said, via Express. “I have, but you really don’t want to see them! They’d say: ‘Believe me, I think I can make a good job of it, and your name on it would be a big plus.'”
Eventually, Lennon and McCartney handed “That Means a Lot” to Texan singer-songwriter P.J. Proby, another act managed by Beatles’ manager Brian Epstein. Proby was able to save the song, releasing it as a single in 1965 and reaching No. 24 on the U.K. Singles Charts.
“So P.J. Proby, a friend of ours that we met during the Jack Good television show that we did, Round The Beatles, wanted to do it, so I gave it to him,” McCartney recalled. “He had a minor hit with it.”
