Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Hey, is there a reason anyone knows of that John is singing this on the 1958 (?) demo? It's obviously Paul's song and he's said as much.

I think John does a much better job....

Than again JL was 16 and PM is 63.

Michael: I haven't listened to that particular track in a long time, so I can't recall how it goes. Sometimes John sang lead on Paul's songs. 'Ticket To Ride' comes to mind. Perhaps they decided that it suited John's voice or singing style better than Paul's.

Hm. I never knew TTR was a 'Paul' song. Sounded like Lennon's writing style to me. Cool.

Steve: I think I'm correct on this. For many years I assumed it was John's song, because he sang it. Of course, I also assumed for many years that George played lead on everything too, and that was very bad assumption. Paul in fact played lead on several songs from the 'Help!' sessions including 'Ticket To Ride'. Some people think that John may have been adding some jingle-jangle with his Rick 325/12 on this track too. Let's see if someone comes along to say I'm wrong. It wouldn't be the first time.

Randy,

I always considered that to be a Lennon song and this excerpt from Wilkipedia seems to support that notion:

"Ticket To Ride" is the title of a 1965 song by the 1960s pop/rock band The Beatles. It was recorded on February 15, 1965 at Abbey Road Studios. The song credited to John Lennon and Paul McCartney (as are all Beatles works by either writer), though it is considered a Lennon song.

Lennon performed the vocals. The lead guitar breaks are by Paul McCartney on a lead guitar; this is the first time the bassist played lead guitar on a Beatles record.

The actual inspiration of the song is cloudy: some say it was a reference to Lennon passing his driving test, some say it was a reference to a girl walking out of his life, some say it was about buying a train ticket to Ryde (on the Isle of Wight).

Interesting discussion! I would like to know definitively who in fact wrote that song.

Paul also acknowledged that Ticket To Ride was a Lennon song in this BBC interview.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/2588347.stm

Brian: I can't recall where I got the idea that Paul wrote 'Ticket To Ride'. I remember being surprised, because I had assumed it was John's song. I suppose it must have been misinformation. With as many books, interviews, and videos as I've absorbed on this and related topics, I know that a lot of bad info gets passed around. I stand corrected.

Randy,

My apologies if I appear to have steam rollered your original comment.

I am in fact, very interested in all of the works of The Beatles. If Paul had indeed been the writer of Ticket to Ride then that would have been a huge revelation to me. I just felt compelled to explore that notion further.

It's easy to get confused on Beatles' songs. Lewisohn also credits Lennon with composing the song in his book, The Beatles Recording Sessions. And it was McCartney on lead and the opening riff. I think it was also the first Beatles tune which was over three minutes in length.

You all are blowing my mind here - TTR is a "Paul" song??? And he played lead on it??? Oh please...

If ANY of that is true, my personal universe is now spinning in reverse, out of control!

OK, first of all - in regard to the original question about "In Spite Of All The Danger."

Been a long time since I've heard it on the "Anthology" set, so I don't know offhand who sang it for that recording.

I also know that it all was mentioned in the newest "The Beatles - The Biography" writen by Bob Spitz too. I'm reading that book at the present time. Nice elaborations of stories I've read in previous books - so it's a nice addition overall. Nothing much "new" - just a touch more detailed in some cases.

I'm old, and have read a lot of the past books too, but I can't say I remember a lot of specifics regarding who sang what in those early days.

But OK, John sang "In Spite Of All The Danger" back then. And Paul wrote it (for the most part - or Completely). So what? Read the Spitz book, the Anthology, and any/all books that came before and come to your own conclusions.

I mean, there's SO much Beatles mythology mixed with truth that you've got to take it all in and then decide what's really true or not. Just saying no one source is really "definitive" or not.

As for TTR - That's a "Paul" song??? - IMO, that's GOT to be wrong. Not his writing style at all.

Just operating on very faulty memory here but isn't "In Spite of All the Danger" the only Beatles song credited to McCartney/Harrison...?

Steve,

As I said in my earlier post and Paul McCartney acknowledged in a BBC interview that John Lennon wrote Ticket to Ride. BTW, Paul did play lead on the song.

Besides Spitz's, generally rehashed, bio of the Beatles, one should read Lewisohn's book, the Beatles Recording Sessions and Mark Hertsgaard's, A Day in the Life. Both books are just about their music and both credit Paul with playing the lead (if you can call it such). I think everyone agrees John wrote it.

Steve H: It's a well-known fact that Paul played lead on 'Ticket To Ride' and during the later studio years he played lead on many many songs (i.e. 'Helter Skelter'). Frankly, the one that blows my mind is 'Taxman'. I couldn't believe that George wasn't playing lead on his own song. I don't know where I read that 'Ticket To Ride' was Paul's song, but I'm satisfied that the source was misinformed. It certainly sounds like John's song, and he's singing it. That appears to be the best evidence of authorship.

Steve H. Paul does indeed play lead on TTR and on Another Girl, both from the Help album and if you LISTEN to the two solos, the similarities are immediately apparent, apart from the fact that it's obviously NOT George's style of playing (much too sloppy, not precise).

As to the question of "so what" if John sings lead on Paul's song, I was simply curious. I thought that's what boards like this were for, but I guess you found the question egregious.

Thanks for the referral to the Spitz Beatles book, although it's already been read and filed up on the shelf.