The Songs Lennon and McCartney Gave Away Quiz

Answer: Billy J. Kramer with the Dakotas

In 1964, Billy J. Kramer with the Dakotas took "Bad To Me" to number one on the UK charts. It was one of six songs that Lennon and McCartney had given to the group.

Others included on the album "The Songs Lennon and McCartney Gave Away" were: "I'll Keep You Satisfied" (1963); "From a Window" (1963); and "I Don't Want to See You Again" (1964).

Billy J. Kramer was part of the Brian Epstein stable along with The Beatles. He and the Dakotas had five top 30 songs in the UK between 1963 and 1967.

Answer: Cilla Black

Cilla Black's version hit number 35 on the UK charts. Cilla also covered "It's for You" in 1964, and "Step Inside Love" in 1968, other Lennon and McCartney give-aways. "Step Inside Love" was to be the theme song for Black's TV shows for many years.

The Beatles had sung "Love of the Loved" during an audition for Decca. As an aside, on the day The Beatles auditioned for Brian Epstein, a singing duo called The Allisons also auditioned. They were not chosen and went away mystified about why he had chosen a bunch of scruffy scousers over them. [Anecdote related to this quiz author by an Allisons member in Ellmau, Austria, winter 2001].

Cilla Black went on to have a stellar career as a singer and later television presenter. She had 11 top ten hits on the UK Singles Chart, including two at number one.

Answer: The Applejacks

This was another Beatles song sung at their Decca audition. The first appearance of a Beatles recording is believed to have been on the 1995 Beatles "Anthology 1."

Between 1964 and 1963, The Applejacks had three UK top 30s. The band formed in Birmingham in 1961 and had two names before settling on Applejacks.

Answer: The Fourmost

As with so many songs, it was officially credited to Lennon and McCartney, but John Lennon is believed to have been the main writer.

The Fourmost took the song to number 17 in the UK in 1963. Billy J Kramer also recorded a version, as did The New Breed in the USA.

The Fourmost had taken another Lennon song, "Hello Little Girl" to number nine earlier in 1963 and had a number six with "A Little Loving" the following year.

The Fourmost went through two earlier names, the Blue Jays, and the Four Jays. The band were still gigging into the 21st Century, although without any of the original members.

Answer: P. J. Proby

"That Means A Lot" was recorded by The Beatles for the album "Help", but was left on the proverbial recording room floor. Eventually it showed up on "Anthology 2".

In the meantime, P. J. Proby took it to number 24 on the New Musical Express charts. As an aside, in the early 1960s several charts were in use in the United Kingdom. They included those recorded by NME as well as by the BBC and Melody Maker. That meant a song could have a different placing on different charts. It was not until August 1969 that the Official UK Charts Company was set up. This gave the UK a single point of recording sales - as Billboard had been doing in the USA.

The American P J Proby pre-dated The Beatles as a singing star: becoming active in 1957. He was still performing at the time this quiz was written in 2020.

Answer: Mary Hopkin

Mary Hopkin was a TV talent show winner who had a number one hit with "Those Were The Days", which Macca produced. He then wrote "Goodbye" and played bass on the recording. The song reached number two in the UK charts and number 13 in the US.

Hopkin was to have four songs in the UK top ten and for a time worked and recorded with her then husband Tony Visconti. Hopkin became disillusioned with the music business and she retired for a time to bring up a family.

Answer: Tommy Quickly

Paul McCartney wrote the song and the Beatles did record it in studio in 1962. While many such songs were not released at the time, they eventually made it to disc years later.

Tommy Quickly released "Tip Of My Tongue" in July 1963. The single did not unduly trouble the chart compilers.

Tommy Quickly was another singer signed by Brian Epstein. He was sometimes backed by The Remo Four and had a minor hit with "The Wild Side Of Life", a country standard. Quickly's career petered out, and he quit the business.

Answer: Peter and Gordon

"A World Without Love" also topped the Billboard Hot 100 in the USA and was a number one in Ireland and in New Zealand. The song was never recorded by the Fab Four, although a demo by McCartney does exist in private hands.

Three other Peter and Gordon versions of McCartney songs appeared on the compilation album, "Nobody I Know", which reached number ten in the UK and number 12 in the US, "I Don't Want to See You Again", a Billboard number 16, and "Woman", a UK number 28 and Billboard number 14.

Peter Asher and Gordon Waller first sang together in 1963. It may have helped that Peter was a brother of Jane Asher, who Macca dated for a time.

Answer: The Strangers with Mike Shannon

The song did not chart on either side of the Atlantic and no official Beatles version has so far been released, although a bootleg of McCartney singing it in Paris did emerge.

The song was offered to Billy J. Kramer and to The Fourmost, who had covered Lennon and McCartney songs. Both passed on it.

In 2015, allmusic.com commented that this was one of "the most forgettable" McCartney songs ever to be recorded by anyone. Judge for yourself. The McCartney bootleg and the Mike Shannon version can be found online if you look hard enough.

Answer: Ringo Starr

In fact both Harrison and Lennon joined Starr on that recording for his 1973 album "Ringo". Billy Preston, who had at times played keyboards for the Beatles, also played on the track.

That recording session was among only a handful of occasions that a combination of ex-Beatles got together again. In 2012, McCartney told "Rolling Stone" there had been a couple of occasions when a formal reunion of the Fab Four was on the cards, "but it didn't jell; there just wasn't enough passion behind the idea".