Love You To: Introduction
“Love You To” is a Beatles’ song from the 1966 album “Revolver.” It’s a George Harrison composition, which goes to show what a good songwriter he was. The track is also on the Yellow Submarine Songtrack album.
In Detail
- Publisher: Northern Songs
- Released: August 5, 1966
- Recorded: April 11 & 13, 1966
- Studio: EMI Studios, London
- Genre: Indian music, raga rock
- Track Duration: 3:09 (mono), 3:00 (stereo)
- Record Label: Parlophone
- Songwriter: George Harrison
- Producer: George Martin
- Engineer: Geoff Emerick
Performers And Instruments
- George Harrison: lead and backing vocals, acoustic guitar, sitar, rhythm guitar, fuzz-tone, lead guitar
- Paul McCartney: backing vocal
- Ringo Starr: tambourine
Other Performers
Where To Find “Love You To”
Love You To: Background
George Harrison sings this song as well as playing most of the instruments, including the sitar. Although Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr gave a helping hand, most of the song comprises work from himself, together with tabla player Anil Bhagwat and Indian musicians from the Asian Music Circle in London.
In 1965, Harrison successfully introduced the western world to the Indian instrument on a commercially available pop song. This was the memorable Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown), of course.
However, that song only introduced the sitar to western pop fans, while this song was an attempt at recording a song entirely in the classical Indian style. The musical inspiration obviously came from sitarist Ravi Shankar, who later became Harrison’s sitar tutor.
George Harrison married Pattie Boyd on January 21, 1966, and he partly portrays his love for her in this song. However, he also incorporates philosophical ideas after experimenting with drugs. In particular, LSD, which was the drug of the day. The Beatles were going along with the emerging counterculture from time to time, and “Love You To” was one of the first examples of that.
Recording Studio
On April 11, 1966, recording began in Studio Two of the EMI Studios, London, during the 2.30 p.m.–7 p.m. session. They recorded three takes, of which the last was suitable for the basic rhythm track. Harrison sang and played the acoustic guitar, while Paul McCartney sang backing vocals that day too.
On April 13, Ringo Starr added his tambourine part, along with further vocal pieces from Harrison himself. Further mixing took place on June 21st to complete the track. There was an urgency to finish the song because the Revolver album was nearing completion and it was almost time for the first leg of their 1966 world tour.
Obviously, with the Abbey Road team having all the experience necessary, they concluded all business on time. Although it didn’t appear on the Yellow Submarine Soundtrack album, it did appear on the Yellow Submarine Songtrack album from 1999. This is because in the Yellow Submarine film, we get to hear a small sample from the song at the point of George Harrison’s introduction to the animated movie.
Take A Listen To The Song
Finally, listen to this song and let us know your thoughts.
