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Can’t Buy Me Love
(John Lennon/Paul McCartney)
Paul McCartney: Vocals, bass guitar
John Lennon: Vocals, acoustic guitar
George Harrison: Electric guitars
Ringo Starr: Drums
Recorded
January 29, February 25 and March 10 1964.
Availbe
on:
A
Hard Days Night
Hey Jude
The Beatles 1962-1966 (Red Album)
Anthology 1
Live At The BBC
At The Hollywood Bowl (Live)
Can’t
Buy Me Love was written entirely by Paul McCartney. In January
1964, the Beatles were holding concerts in Paris, where
they stayed at the George V five star hotel. McCartney wrote
the song on a grand piano that the Beatles had ordered to
be moved into one of their hotel hotel suites.
Some critics claimed Can’t Buy Me Love was about prostitution,
but McCartney himself denied this.
It took
the Beatles 1 hour to record Can’t Buy Me Love at EMI’s
Pathe Marconi studio in Paris. Some changes were made later
though: George Harrison recorded a new guitar solo and Paul
McCartney added extra vocals.
Can't Buy Me Love was recorded during the same session as the German-language
versions of She Loves You and I Want To Hold Your Hand.
When the tape was brought back to London for mixing, it was discovered that the
tape had a ripple in it which resulted in loss of treble on Ringo's hi-hat
cymbal. There was time pressure to get the track mixed, and the Beatles were
unavailable due to touring commitments. Hence Beatles engineer Norman Smith, who
later went on produce Pink Floyd, did the repair work on a hastily set-up hi
hat. Assistant engineer Geoff Emerick, who later took over for Norman as the Beatles'
full engineer, said in his book Here, There and Everywhere, My Life Recording
the Music of the Beatles:
"Thanks to Norman's considerable skills as a drummer, the repair was made
quickly and seamlessly, and I doubt if even the Beatles themselves ever realized
that their performance had been surreptitiously augmented."
Can’t
Buy Me Love became an instant hit single. It reached number
1 in the USA on March 28 1963 and stayed at the top for
5 weeks. At this time, the Beatles occupied the top 5 spots
on the American charts.
Can’t
Buy Me Love also reached number 1 in the UK, on March 26
1964, where it stayed for 3 weeks.
Can’t Buy Me Love
(John Lennon/Paul McCartney)
Can’t buy me love, love
Can’t buy me love
I’ll buy you a diamond ring my friend
If it makes you feel alright
I’ll buy you anything my friend
If it makes you feel alright
For I don’t care too much for money
For money can’t buy me love
I’ll give you all I’ve got to give
If you say you love me too
I may not have a lot to give
But what I’ve got I’ll give to you
For I don’t care to much for money
For money can’t buy me love
Can’t buy me love, ev’rybody tells me so
Can’t buy me love, no, no, no, no
Say you don’t want no diamond ring
And I’ll be satisfied
Tell me that you want the kind of things
That money just can’t buy
For I don’t care to much for money
For money can’t buy me love
Can’t buy me love, ev’rybody tells me so
Can’t buy me love, no, no, no, no
Can’t buy me love, love
Can’t buy me love
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