Any band just getting started in the industry would likely bite your hand off for a rise to fame similar to that that The Beatles had in the 1960s. It seems like almost overnight; they had gone from a small group in Liverpool to one of the biggest musical outfits in the world. However, it wasn’t all gigs, glamour and gallivanting; the band was put under immense pressure from the word go, which was tough to keep up with.
For their early recording contract, the Liverpudlians agreed to write an obscene amount of tracks, to the point that they ended up having to finish roughly two albums every year. Pair that amount of writing with the fact that the band were persistently touring, doing interviews and meeting fans, and they were one of the most overworked groups in the world. This meant that most of the tracks they put together ended up being used, as there was no room for archiving. Luckily, the group had the songwriting force of John Lennon and Paul McCartney, so they weren’t short on hits.
That being said, just because the pair was writing a lot of tunes and needed a high output to keep up with their recording contract, some songs didn’t make the cut. For instance, when writing the album Help, a few different tracks were left on the cutting room floor.
Ringo Starr’s cover of Buck Owen’s ‘Act Naturally’ was originally a track called ‘If You’ve Got Trouble’. However, the quartet hated the original number so much that they decided it simply couldn’t appear on the album. Instead, they put the cover forward.
However, one of the major efforts they dismissed for the album was a McCartney and Lennon original, ‘That Means A Lot’. The track was good, and they liked how it sounded, but they could not sing it and do it justice. “The songs a ballad that Paul and I wrote for the film,” said Lennon, “But we just found we couldn’t sing it.”
He continued, “In fact, we made a hash of it, so we thought we’d better give it to someone who could do it well.” The band ended up giving the tune to PJ Proby; he was mildly successful and had a minor hit performing the discarded Beatles track.
Paul McCartney has confirmed that during this period, he was being hounded by labels and artists left and right for different songs, so any tunes that The Beatles decided weren’t for them were given to other musicians instead. McCartney was never confident in putting these forward to people, as they had been discarded because he didn’t think they were good enough; however, just having his name attached to a song was enough for it to take off in the public eye.
This was the hardship that the Beatles faced in the early stages of their career. Being overworked and forced to create a vast amount of tracks every year meant it was tough for them to dismiss songs once they were written; however, ‘That Means A Lot’ was a track that the band simply couldn’t perform.
