This Boy: Beatles single from 1964.

This Boy

“This Boy” is the B-side to The Beatles’ 1963 single, “I Want To Hold Your Hand.” However, in Canada, the A-side was “All My Loving.” But, then again, there were differences like this in the early days, especially in North America. Be that as it may, the single was a number-one record all over the world. Indeed, Beatlemania is now well and truly underway!

  • Release Date: November 29, 1963 (UK), January 20, 1964 (US)
  • Recorded: October 17, 1963
  • Studio: EMI Studios, London
  • Genre: Doo wop, pop
  • Format: 7-inch single (B-side) (A-side is “I Want to Hold Your Hand”) (UK), (“All My Loving” in Canada)
  • Track Duration: 2:13
  • Record Label: Parlophone R 5084 (UK), Capitol 72144 (Canada)
  • Songwriters: Lennon-McCartney
  • Producer: George Martin
  • Engineer: Norman Smith

You can still buy this song. The original single and Past Masters are good sources for the original material, of course. But if you are a collector and want other versions, choose the other two.

In the past, we heard The Beatles sing three-part harmony in songs such as “Three Cool Cats.” However, “This Boy” would see intricate three-way harmony vocals like never before with high, middle and low all clearly distinct. It’s a fine example of flawless harmonies in a Beatles’ song.

From an interview in 1980:

“Just my attempt at writing one of those three-part harmony Smokey Robinson songs. Nothing in the lyrics; just a sound and harmony.

There was a period when I thought I didn’t write melodies, that Paul wrote those, and I just wrote straight, shouting rock ‘n’ roll. But of course, when I think of some of my own songs – “In My Life” or some of the early stuff—”This Boy,” “This Boy,” I was writing melody with the best of them.”

John Lennon
All We Are Saying, David Sheff

John Lennon sings the low melody, while George Harrison sings the middle harmony. Obviously, we hear Paul McCartney singing the high-end harmony. Of course, “This Boy” features a blistering middle eight solo bit by John Lennon half way through the song.

When writing this song, John Lennon attempted to capture the Motown sound of Smokey Robinson. In particular, Lennon wanted to emulate the style close to Robinson’s song “I’ve Been Good To You.” The connection is clear in that both songs have similar circular doo-wop chord changes, melody, and arrangement.

In Paul McCartney’s official biography, he says:

“It was very co-written; we wanted to do a close-harmony thing, we liked harmonies, and we were quite good at them—we used to do a close-harmony version of The Teddy BearsTo Know Her Is To Love Her, which was good for the versatility in the band.

We weren’t all rock ‘n’ roll; we could change the pace, which was always nice after you’d played for three hours. We wrote it in two-part harmony and then put the third part in for George to sing; we’d never actually tried to write something like that. Nice middle; John sang that great, then we’d go back into the close harmony thing.”

On October 17, 1963, at the EMI Studios in London, The Beatles set about making a new single. This was to follow in the wake of their highly successful “She Loves You” single. After the Fab Four finished the A-side, “I Want To Hold Your Hand,” they began to record “This Boy.”

In total, there were fifteen takes before overdubbing and mixing took place. To complete the final mix, they joined two of these takes together; this was around John Lennon’s middle eight section. Although the track had a rounded ending, they made a decision to fade the song out during a mixing session on October 21.

“This Boy” was the B-side to “I Want To Hold Your Hand,” but this was a Beatles’ single and was sure of success. In short, this single knocked “She Loves You” off the top spot. It also went to number one in many countries around the world.

The orchestral tune for this song appears in the movie “A Hard Day’s Night.” This George Martin composition is the incidental music for the “towpath” scene where Ringo Starr wanders after he goes missing.

Known as “Ringo’s Theme (This Boy),” this tune also became a single that never charted in the UK. However, it reached number 53 in the US charts.

This Boy: Beatles 45 single.
Ringo's Theme (This Boy): Instrumental from George Martin.

The Anthology 1 version is from a live performance when The Beatles appeared on the British TV series “Two of a Kind.” This programme was the forerunner of Morecambe and Wise, of course. There are also two incomplete takes from EMI Studios on the 1995 single, “Free As A Bird.”

Now that you have all the information about this song, give it another spin. Once you listen to it, please write us a review in your own words below.

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