Some Other Guy

“Some Other Guy” is another cover song by The Beatles on their “Live At The BBC” album. They recorded this track 3 times while doing their BBC radio shows. This recording was also an original single release for Richie Barrett in 1962.

Just to point out that there is only a small amount of footage of The Beatles playing at the Cavern Club in Liverpool. Indeed, “Some Other Guy” is the song that they sang at the time. The song is significant because it is one of their only songs recorded at the Cavern Club. In fact, it is significant for music fans everywhere, especially Beatlemaniacs.

In Detail

Release Date: November 30, 1994
Recorded: June 19, 1963
Studio/Location: Playhouse Theatre, London
BBC Radio Show: Easy Beat
Genre: Rock and roll
Track Duration: 2:01
Record Label: Apple Records
Songwriters: Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller and Richard Barrett
Producer: Ron Belchier (Post-Production by George Martin)

Performers And Instruments

John Lennon: vocals, also the rhythm guitar
Paul McCartney: vocals and the bass guitar
George Harrison: lead guitar
Ringo Starr: drums

Where To Find “Some Other Guy”

As well as seeing this song on YouTube (below), you can still buy it on the following album.

Live At The BBC (1994)

Some Other Guy: Background

Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller, and Richie Barrett wrote “Some Other Guy,” which was a single in 1962 (the B-side was “Tricky Dicky”). In fact, it was Richie Barrett who recorded it, but the song soon became a Merseybeat standard way back in the day.

In their early days, this song was a part of The Beatles’ repertoire. Then, just like other up-and-coming groups, the Fab Four would play many cover versions of their favourite songs. However, The Beatles had access to many obscure songs as well.

“Brian [Epstein] had had a policy at NEMS of buying at least one copy of every record that was released. If it sold, he’d order another one, or five, or whatever. Consequently, he had records that weren’t hits in Britain, weren’t even hits in America.

Before going to a gig, we’d meet in the record store after it had shut, and we’d search the racks like ferrets to see what new ones were there. That’s where we found artists like Arthur Alexander and Ritchie Barrett. Some Other Guy was a great song.”
George Harrison
Anthology

Live Footage At The Cavern Club

“Some Other Guy” is significant in that The Beatles sang it at the Cavern Club on August 22, 1962. Not only that but there is also video footage of them singing the whole song there on that day.

A Granada TV crew filmed the grainy footage but they didn’t air it until The Beatles became famous. This is because the quality of the clip was not suitable for airing, even in those days! Granada Television was the regional independent television company for the North West of England; it is now ITV Granada.

At the end of the song, you can clearly hear a member of the audience shouting, “We want Pete!” This is significant because, only a few days before the filming, Ringo Starr joined The Beatles. Prior to Ringo being on the drums, Pete Best was the drummer, and people liked him, so there was a little friction at the time.

There is a lot of debate about the lyrics to the song because the Fab Four seem to have changed some of the original words. They possibly misinterpreted the song while listening to and learning it. In fact, The Beatles’ lyrics stuck, and future cover versions by other bands used them!

Recording Studio

Apart from the famous Cavern Club footage, The Beatles recorded “Some Other Guy” for popular BBC Radio shows. All in all, there were three BBC recordings:

BBC Playhouse Theatre, London (January 22, 1963) for the “Saturday Club” radio show (January 26, 1963).
BBC Paris Studio, London (January 22, 1963).
BBC Playhouse Theatre, London (June 19, 1963) for the “Easy Beat” radio show (June 23, 1963). This is also the version on The Beatles’ “Live At The BBC” album from 1994. There it sits as track 11 on disc 1 after “Sure To Fall (In Love With You)” and before “Thank You Girl.”

Take A Listen

Of course, we have to show the video footage at the famous Cavern Club. We would love to hear your views about the song, so comment below or in the massive Beatles Forum (link at the top).