Songs for the Soul Trivia Quiz

Answer: I Want to Hold Your Hand

These were four of the five songs they performed live that evening. The first set was 'All My Loving', 'Till There Was You' and 'She Loves You'. Some of my friends thought that was it, so they didn't see the second set at the end of the show, which featured the two songs on their single, 'I Want to Hold Your Hand' and 'I Saw Her Standing There'. 'I Want to Hold Your Hand' made the US Billboard charts on January 18, 1963, hit the Number One spot on February 1, and stayed there until it was dethroned by their next release, 'She Loves You', seven weeks later.

All the promotion in advance of this performance almost certainly ensured the massive audience their debut got, but it wasn't responsible for the immediate "Yes" response from millions of young people. What caused Beatlemania? We heard lots of learned opinions, but, speaking as a Beatlemaniac, they were just so exciting to listen to (and cute) that they were irresistible. Even my mother thought their sound was a lot more interesting than what had been available in the US pop music scene at the time, although my father kept muttering about haircuts. Looking back at pictures of those early days, their hair doesn't look all that shaggy, but at the time it was revolutionary for my part of the world.

Answer: She Loves You

They also performed 'I Want to Hold Your Hand' and 'I Saw Her Standing There' again - you've got to promote the current single! 'She Loves You' had been released by Swan Records in 1963, but went nowhere. After public interest had been stirred up, Swann re-released it. Although it did not sail to the top of the charts as quickly as had been the case for 'I Want to Hold Your Hand', it did eventually make Number One, and stayed there for two weeks before being knocked off the top spot by 'Can't Buy Me Love'. Those were the days, when the only thing that could replace a Beatles' song at the top was another one.

I started paying attention to the charts in order to track "my boys". On Sunday mornings a local radio station (WBZ in Boston) had a top 100 countdown. I took to doing my homework in the living room, where I could listen to the radio and (of course) write out the list of songs as they were played. There were many weeks during that memorable year when I recorded over ten Beatles songs in the local top 100. Then there were the bitter weeks when some other group grabbed the top slot - I still feel a bit of inner rage at the fact that the Supremes were able to produce several such songs.

Answer: Twist and Shout

'Twist and Shout' was a performance of raw energy, and usually closed the show, since Lennon was left with little vocal power once he had finished it. Like 'She Loves You', it also often featured George and Paul leaning close together to produce their trademark harmonies, although with less head-shaking. Although they had been performing the song live for quite a while, it was the recorded version on their UK album 'Please Please Me', recorded in February of 1963, which is generally considered the definitive performance.

With the Beatles gone back to the UK after taking the US by storm, promotions to cash in on their popularity abounded. My twin brother was given a Beatles wig for his twelfth birthday, and the three of us shared it to play a tennis racket as we sang along with the records, in 'live' living room performances. I also started collecting Beatle cards. Originally they came packaged with a stick of bubblegum - I quickly accumulated a reserve of gum that lasted me months; it was a bit stale by the time I got through it all. Fortunately, they then made the cards available in packs of ten, no gum. I did volunteer chores to earn extra money, in a vain attempt to get a complete set. I remain convinced that they didn't actually print some of them, just had a designation for 'Series 2, #33' to make us keep trying to get it. I did end up with over 50 copies of the one showing the Beatles with shaved heads - nobody wanted to trade for it.

Answer: I Should Have Known Better

In order, the concert scene of 'A Hard Day's Night' featured 'Tell Me Why', 'If I Fell', 'I Should Have Known Better' (during which Paul's mischievous grandfather appeared onstage by means of a trap door) and 'She Loves You'. The movie showed the audience screaming and crying, as well as the technicians controlling the sound, in addition to showing us the performance itself. The movie was rushed through production so that United Artists could get music rights to its songs in the US - they expected to make money from the records, not the movie. The movie was, however, both a financial and critical success, partly due to the facts that they used writers who could produce material that worked for non-actors, they had a brilliant director in Richard Lester, and the characters surrounding the Beatles were totally professional actors. Then there was the music. This entire movie, especially the 'Can't Buy Me Love' sequence, is considered by many to be an important precursor to the music video concept.

My best friend and I saw the film together 34 times (and I still have the ticket stubs), including a couple of triple-headers at a cinema that didn't clear the house between screenings, so we could stay for all three shows. Of course we could act the entire thing out, taking it in turns to be the various characters. Many years later I bought the DVD so my daughter could get an idea of what it was like, and was delighted to find it just as much fun as I remembered.

Answer: Things We Said Today

'Things We Said Today' was originally written as part of the film project, but was not included in the movie. The UK soundtrack album had songs from the film on the A side, and a collection of other material on the B side, where 'Things We Said Today' appeared, along with 'I'll Cry Instead', originally planned to be part of the movie concert. In the UK, it was also the B side of the single of 'A Hard Day's Night'.

I don't remember what else they sang that night, I was in too much of a daze! This song stuck in my head because I only picked up a few bits, and had to go home and play all my records to work out what it was. 'Something New' was released in July, while I was away at summer camp. I bought a copy as soon as I got home, but hadn't completely memorized every track before the big concert. My father managed to get seven tickets - each child got to invite a friend, and he drove us to Boston for the show. We got there early, and spent some time standing outside the nearby hotel in which the Beatles were staying, vainly trying to guess which window might be theirs. The crowds were kept out of the street by mounted policemen, whose horses weren't all that impressed by the screaming horde.

Answer: You've Got to Hide Your Love Away

There is general agreement that this song is "Lennon doing Dylan" - John Lennon had become very impressed with Bob Dylan's use of meaningful lyrics for his songs, and wanted to move in that direction. Even his vocal style seems to be an homage to Dylan's rasping voice. The song is performed acoustically for the film, with Ringo playing a tambourine and the character of George's gardener providing the flute section.

In this scene, the Beatles appear to be having a jam session in the flat they all share. Eleanor Bron, as Ahme (whose sister was supposed to have the sacrificial ring which Ringo is currently sporting) is listening and flirting with the boys. Clang, who is the leader of the cult that wishes to offer the wearer of the ring as a sacrificial offering, is, for some reason, in the middle of the street outside, peering out from under a manhole cover. You'll have to see the movie (possibly several times) to work out the plot. As I was not, at the age of 13, familiar with the British comedy tradition of the Goons and the growth of Monty Python, I found it quite baffling and more than a little disappointing. Watching it now, I still don't enjoy 'Help' as much as 'A Hard Day's Night', but I can see a lot more clearly what they were trying to do.

Answer: All You Need is Love

The Beatles, representing England for the broadcast, sang and played their instruments live, but the rhythm track was prerecorded. The Beatles were surrounded onstage by such luminaries as Mick Jagger, Keith Richard, Eric Clapton, Marianne Faithfull, and a number of other musical and personal friends sporting flowers and balloons.

There was plenty of chance for them (and us in front of the television) to sing along, with "Love is All You Need" repeated almost ad nauseam. It was pretty exciting to feel part of this awesome project, and have the chance to see the newest Beatles song performed for the very first time.

A single was released in July (and made it to Number One in both the US and the UK), with 'Baby You're a Rich Man' on the flip side.

Answer: 'Strawberry Fields Forever' and 'Penny Lane'

All of these tracks appeared on the album 'Magical Mystery Tour' in the US, but the double-sided single was 'Strawberry Fields Forever' and 'Penny Lane'. Both songs were inspired by memories of a Liverpool childhood and youth, but by this time, it was pretty clear which Beatle wrote which Lennon-McCartney song - Lennon was clearly the dominant if not exclusive writer of 'Strawberry Fields Forever', which has become a staple of the psychedelic rock genre. 'Penny Lane', a cheeky but also sentimental recollection of earlier times, is just as clearly a product of the McCartney pen.

Those of us Beatle fans who were too young and/or too naïve to be aware of the drug influences on their music found 'Strawberry Fields' rather confusing, to say the least. I still have no idea what the point of pouring paint over the upright piano was. But then, that's probably the point - "Nothing is real, And nothing to get hung about".

Answer: All Together Now

The song 'All Together Now' was recorded for use in the movie on May 12, 1967; the Beatles filmed their live intro section on January 25, 1968; the film's world premiere was on 17 July, 1968; the soundtrack was not released until January of 1969. 'All Together Now' was intended to be reminiscent of children's chanting songs, in which it was successful. In fact, it became a party sing-along favorite, because the lyrics were so easy to master. All together, now: "One, two, three, four, Can I have a little more? Five, six, seven, eight nine ten I love you!"

It was originally rumored that the Beatles would be providing the voices for the movie 'Yellow Submarine', but, whether or not that was in fact actually ever planned, it did not eventuate. At least the actors employed did not sound quite so much like a spoof of their accents as was the case for the cartoon series 'The Beatles', in which one American actor provided the voices of John and George, and one British actor did the same for Paul and Ringo. Although the voices were so wrong they made me cringe, I still couldn't help tuning in each Saturday morning to hear the featured song for that week's episode - those voices were proper!

Answer: Get Back

The fifth song in the concert was 'One After 909'. The concert recording was done on January 30, 1969 - in the middle of winter, no wonder they looked so chilly! Billy Preston on keyboards joined the four Beatles for the performance, and the single release of 'Get Back' was credited to 'The Beatles with Billy Preston'. The documentary film was finally released in May, 1970, and earned the Beatles an Oscar for Best Original Song Score.

By the time the documentary was released, the Beatles had clearly broken up and gone their separate ways. Although the documentary was not well received at the time, it has been recognized in retrospect as providing insight into the group dynamics as they were falling apart. It was a tough time for us Beatlemaniacs, but we survived.