Long Tall Sally (EP) 1964

- A 4-track EP, this release only features one original song.
- This is the band's first official EP of previously unreleased material.
- The title track is the band's famous cover of Long Tall Sally.
- The EP is made up of three covers and one original track, all of which were recorded during the A Hard Day's Night sessions.
- Some of the songs were repackaged with other early Beatles tracks as an album for the U.S. market.

1. Long Tall Sally
- Originally recorded by Little Richard in 1956, it was a big hit for him. Little Richard's trademark "oohs" are to blame for the many times the Beatles did this in their earlier tracks.
- McCartney sings this in a higher key than even Little Richard himself. The song had already been covered by a lot of other artists and the Beatles wanted to set their version apart from the tamer previously-recorded versions, hence the higher register for the vocals.
- It has a great energy to it, but besides that there isn't much else to say.

2. I Call Your Name
- This is the only original Beatles song to be featured on the Long Tall Sally EP.
- Written mainly by Lennon, who had been working on it as early as his pre-Beatles days. He originally wrote it for Billy J. Kramer, who used it as a B-side for his 1963 #1 single Bad to Me.
- Lennon was unhappy with Kramer's version and the fact that it had been relegated to B-side status so the band recorded their own version of it for this EP. If Kramer had used it as a single then the Beatles would probably have never even recorded their own version.
- The bridge-section of the song sees the Beatles try their hand at a bit of ska for the first time. Ringo chucks in some cowbell.
- Ringo Starr recorded a tribute version with the help of Tom Petty, Joe Walsh (The Eagles), Jeff Lynne (ELO) and session drummer Jim Keltner for a television special commemorating the 10th anniversary of John Lennon's death.

3. Slow Down
- Originally written and performed by Larry Williams, this 12-bar blues number was the B-side of 1958 hit single Dizzy Miss Lizzy (which the Beatles also covered a bit later).
- The vocals were provided by Lennon. George Martin overdubbed some piano accompaniment three days after the band recorded it.
- The band often played this in their live set during their Hamburg days in 1962.
- This was released as a B-side on the U.S. single Matchbox.
- An earlier version was recorded by the band in 1963 for the BBC.
- Took 5 takes to record and goes for nearly 3 minutes.

4. Matchbox
- This is a rockabilly/blues song originally released by Carl Perkins in 1956. It has been reworked by various bluesmen since, though the Beatles version is fairly closely modelled on Perkins own original arrangement.
- The Beatles used to play this live as early as 1961. Original drummer Pete Best used to do the vocals.
- Lennon also did the vocals for it live at least once. A recording of him performing it in Hamburg during 1962 still exists.
- For the studio version the vocals were passed on to Ringo, making this his third recorded vocal performance for the band. Not surprisingly, Ringo gets the words wrong to at least one line. He had previously sung it with the band for an earlier BBC recording as well.
- George Martin played some piano for the recording, and Harrison played his new 12-string rickenbacker (previously heard on the Can't Buy Me Love single). Lennon did the guitar solo.
- Carl Perkins himself was present during the recording of this and three other songs (Slow Down and two songs from A Hard Day's Night). Apparently he made the band a little bit nervous (Ringo referred to him as 'Mr. Perkins'), though they did all jam together on three songs Perkins' often featured in his live sets. Unfortunately though, no recordings exist of this.
- As previously mentioned, this was released as a single in the U.S. in 1964.
- McCartney often still plays this in his soundcheck when performing live, even as recently as 2007.
- Took 5 takes to record, and runs for just under 2 minutes.

U.S. album

U.S. single