“Every Little Thing”

• Published on 1964
• Author: Lennon/McCartney
• Track 11 on “Beatles For Sale“

What the Beatles said about “Every Little Thing”

JOHN 1980: “‘Every Little Thing’ is his song. Maybe I threw in something.”

PAUL circa-1994: “‘Every Little Thing,’ like most of the stuff I did, was my attempt at the next single… but it became an album filler rather than the great almighty single. It didn’t have quite what was required.”

Info about “Every Little Thing”

Credited to Lennon–McCartney, it was written by Paul McCartney. Capitol Records first issued the song in the US on Beatles VI in June 1965. The track is an early example of the Beatles’ use of non-rock instrumentation on a recording, through the addition of timpani drum over the choruses.

Recalling the song’s creation in his authorised biography, Many Years from Now (1997), McCartney says he wrote “Every Little Thing” in the music room at the London home of his then-girlfriend Jane Asher, where he was living at the time. Other sources, citing a 1964 interview with McCartney, place the song’s origins at Atlantic City in the United States, where the Beatles stopped over in late August that same year during their US tour. In 1980, John Lennon told Playboy magazine that McCartney wrote the song, although he himself might have “[thrown] something in”. Author John Winn concludes that McCartney began the composition in London and finished it with Lennon in Atlantic City.

“Every Little Thing” is a rare example of a Lennon–McCartney song in which one member of the partnership was primary composer (here McCartney) but the other sang lead vocal (here Lennon). McCartney sings in unison with Lennon on the verses, but Lennon’s vocal is more prominent. McCartney sings the high harmony on the chorus.

Personnel

• John Lennon – double-tracked lead vocal, acoustic guitar
• Paul McCartney – vocal harmony, bass, piano
• George Harrison – double-tracked lead guitar
• Ringo Starr – drums, timpani