#8: Chains

Written by: Gerry Goffin & Carole King
Released: March 22nd, 1963
Appears on: Please Please Me
Lead vocal: George

The strangest thing about the early days of the Beatles is their infatuations with girl groups. In fact, on the first two Beatles albums, there are at least two tracks that were originally recorded by girl groups. In the case of "Chains", George's debut vocal, the song was a hit for The Cookies, best-known as Little Eva's back-up singers and would later become the Realettes, who recorded with Ray Charles. It was written by the fantastic Goffin/King duo and I hope I don't have to give you a list of the numerous hits they produced.
The Beatles' performance kicks off with a classic John harmonica intro and the rest of the song is rather unimpressive, compared to the first three tracks on the album. George tries his hardest to pull off a good vocal, but after such powerful vocals from Paul and John, George's performance falls a little flat. Even the Beatles weren't immune to the fact that on every album, there's going to be at least one dud. "Chains" is the first on Please Please Me.