"Paperback Writer" and other Beatles songs Quiz

Answer: Lear

The song is a letter to an editor asking that they consider a partially written book for publishing as a paperback. So far there are approximately a thousand pages written, but the singer has plans to write more "in a week or two".

Edward Lear (1812 to 1888) wrote "The Owl and the Pussycat" and drew the line drawings to go with it. He was an accomplished artist and it seems unfair that he is most famous only for his nonsense poems.

Answer: Octopus's Garden

Ringo Starr (born Richard Starkey in 1940) sang all four of the above songs, but "Octopus's Garden" was the only one also written by him.

The Muppets performed several Beatles songs. Depending upon my mood I will often choose "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" or the German version of "Yellow Submarine".

Answer: Baby It's You

All four tracks were recorded by the Beatles in 1963, but "Baby It's You" was the only one written by Burt Bacharach.

Answer: it was an instrumental

"Flying" was originally almost ten minutes long, but after several revisions was cut down to under three minutes. It was one of the few Beatles' recordings that credited all four members as writers. Although there was no singing, the spoken voice was used as an instrument.

On a personal note I would add that this track does strange things to my stomach and as such it is not one that I can listen to very often. A search on-line will find the original full length version as well as the one used on the album.

Answer: Roll Over Beethoven

The Beatles covered several Chuck Berry songs, but only "Roll Over Beethoven" of the four tracks listed. It appeared on the album, "With the Beatles".

My mother's oldest brother was also a George Harrison, so he was an obvious choice for me. It helped that he was "the quiet Beatle" and young and cute. As a music student my daughter thinks he is the best for his musicality.

Answer: Words of Love

Paul and John sang "Words of Love" and stayed fairly close to the original version as they were both fans of Buddy Holly. As usual, Ringo played drums, but he also used a packing case to try and match the "Holly sound".

Answer: Yer Blues

"Yer Blue" was written by John Lennon and was his contribution to the debate about Blues music in the British Press around the time. Some music journalists were suggesting that white singers could not perform the Blues properly.

Everton F.C. and Liverpool F.C. are rival soccer clubs. Liverpool wear red and Everton wear blue, which gives them one of their nicknames, "The Blues".

Answer: Step Inside Love

On the "Anthology 3" album, "Step Inside Love" was paired with "Los Paranoias" and it sounds like the Beatles were having fun. Other versions can be found, but this one is so different and well worth hunting down. I will not tell you why as it would spoil the surprise!

Answer: Please Mr. Postman

"Please Mr. Postman" was written by Dobbins, Garrett, Holland, Bateman and Gorman for the Marvelettes' first single in 1961. They took it to the top of the Billboard Hot 100, the first ever Tamla Motor song to do so. It was regularly performed by the Beatles in their early days and it was decided to include it on the "With the Beatles" album in 1963. The Carpenter's 1975 version reached the top spot as well.

The three wrong answers were all Marvelettes songs.

Answer: Maxwell

"Maxwell's Silver Hammer" was written and sung by Paul. It is such a happy and jaunty song, despite the fact that three people (Joan, teacher and judge) did not survive. My children always sang along with extra enjoyment to the part about the teacher going down.