1. Ticket to Ride
- Released in April 1965, and later featured in the Help! film (originally titled Eight Arms to Hold You) and on the album of the same name.
- Written by Lennon, this remained one of the Beatles tracks that he was most proud of (especially the double-time ending).
- McCartney claims to have written about 40% of it but Lennon disputed this and responded that McCartney was only responsible for the way Ringo plays the drums in it.
- Popular myth/folklore has it that the song was originally titled Ticket to Rye (as in the train station Rye) and that the title was changed so as not to confuse American fans. I doubt that's true, but it's pretty funny either way.
- This song was 'heavier' sounding than any other Beatles songs before it, especially in terms of the drums and the drone-style bass.
- This may be due to the fact that it was the first time the band layed down all the rhythm tracks before building on top of it with melody and vocals. A lot of Beatles fans see this song as the first in their 'middle period'.
- Lennon plays a 12-string acoustic guitar on the recording, and McCartney contributes both guitar and bass tracks. Harrison doesn't play guitar at all on the recording, instead just singing some harmony vocals.
- Ringo provides handclaps and tambourine alongside his drum track. Multi-talented!
- Some footage of the band performing this song only survives thanks to the fact that it was included in it's entirety as part of a Doctor Who episode broadcast in 1965. In the episode the Beatles were originally due to appear as old man-versions of themselves, suggesting that they were going to be around for a long, long time. Brian Epstein vetoed the idea as 'silly' and this archival footage was used instead.
- Later, in the 70s, Lennon claimed that this was the first heavy metal song of all time and that he, by association, invented heavy metal. One of his more arrogant and ridiculous claims.
- Runs for three minutes, and took 2 takes. This was the longest running Beatles song to date.
2. Yes It Is
- B-side to the Ticket to Ride single.
- Written by Lennon, and possibly about his deceased mother.
- Took many takes to complete, and is the song the band spent the longest amount of time to record throughout all of 1965.
- Of the songs Lennon wrote for the Beatles, this was one of his least favourite.
- Harrison makes interesting use of a volume pedal to get some weird-ish almost violin-like sounds out of his guitar.
- Yes It Is features a higher level of harmonising from Lennon, McCartney and Harrison than usual. Harrison's vocal contributions in particular would become more frequent from this point on.
- Ringo adds a tambourine track alongside his drums.
- Runs for two minutes anf forty seconds, and took 14 takes.
