Written by:Â Lennon-McCartney
Recorded: 29, 30 September 1964
Producer:Â George Martin
Engineer:Â Norman Smith
Released: 4 December 1964 (UK), 14 June 1965 (US)
Personnel
John Lennon: vocals, lead guitar, acoustic rhythm guitar
Paul McCartney: vocals, bass, piano
George Harrison: acoustic guitar
Ringo Starr: drums, timpani
About The Song
Primarily composed by Paul McCartney, ‘Every Little Thing’ was performed by both McCartney and John Lennon for The Beatles’ fourth album, Beatles For Sale.
Initially, McCartney envisioned it as the successor to ‘A Hard Day’s Night,’ though it didn’t materialize. In the United States, ‘Every Little Thing’ debuted in 1965 on the Beatles VI album.
‘Every Little Thing,’ like much of my work, aimed to be the next single. I recall playing it for Brian backstage at some venue. It was one of those gatherings—’Oh, we need to do some recordings, who has what?’—and we played a few for Brian. We rarely consulted Brian, but this memory stands out because I found it quite catchy. I played it among a few songs, thinking it was good, but it ended up as an album filler rather than the anticipated single. It lacked the necessary elements.
The song was crafted in August 1964 during The Beatles’ inaugural full US tour.
John and I penned this one in Atlantic City on our last Stateside tour. John handled the guitar riff, and George played acoustic. Ringo added some timpani drums for the impactful sounds you’ll notice.
A likely love song, possibly inspired by Jane Asher, ‘Every Little Thing’ is as emotionally revealing as any of Lennon’s tracks on Beatles For Sale. While the music may not have been as successful, McCartney’s lyrics are among his most concise and tender on the album.
During the studio recording on September 29, 1964, The Beatles recorded four takes, with the last initially considered the best.
They revisited the song the next day, attempting five more recordings. The session was light-hearted, as detailed by Beatles historian Mark Lewisohn:
Take six was halted when Paul accidentally burped a vocal instead of singing it; take seven was completed but dissolved into laughter. Ringo had fun introducing a new instrument to Beatles recordings—timpani. This made its debut on take nine, along with the guitar intro and piano piece.