#41: Matchbox

Written by: Carl Perkins
Released: June 19, 1964
Appears on: Long Tall Sally (EP) & Past Masters, Vol. 1
Lead vocal: Ringo

The last song on the Long Tall Sally EP is the sole Ringo song that didn't appear on an album - a cover of Carl Perkins's "Matchbox".

"Matchbox" is one of only two songs that the Beatles covered where the singer on the recorded version was not the one that always sang it. John was the Beatle assigned to "Matchbox" all through the Cavern and Hamburg years. However, by 1964, it had become a Ringo song, who loved Carl Perkins almost as much as John loved Larry Williams, Paul loved Little Richard and George loved Chuck Berry.

Probably one of the reasons why Ringo got to do this song was because they knew they couldn't give him a shot on A Hard Day's Night, so they gave him a consolation prize.

Ringo has the perfect voice for this song and it proves that his real talent lied in singing rockabilly numbers (in fact, probably one of the best Beatle solo records is his country album, Beaucoups of Blues). It's like he was born in England, but should have come from some backwater Texas town.

As we all know, Capitol did some bizarre things to make as much money as they could off the Beatles name during 1964 and, probably the most bizarre thing they did was release the "Slow Down" b/w "Matchbox" 45. It made a lot of money for Capitol, reaching #17 on Billboard, but it was still a silly release. It was the only time where Capitol got its wish to make money off the Beatles' covers and it made Capitol even happier, since neither had appeared on an LP (yet...they appeared on Something New shortly after the 45). They also got a chance to cash in on America's bizarre love for anything Ringo. It also didn't hurt that the single would be popular in the Southeast, where Country is (still) king.

Next up: we get to the meat of A Hard Day's Night!!!!

#40: Slow Down

Written by: Larry Williams Released: June 19, 1964 Appears on: Long Tall Sally (EP) & Past Masters, Vol. 1
Lead vocal: John

Larry Williams was another one of John's favorite artists. The Beatles recorded three of his songs; "Slow Down", "Bad Boy" and "Dizzy Miss Lizzy". Plus John included "Bony Maronie" on Rock 'N' Roll in 1975 and Paul also did "She Said Yeah" on Run Devil Run in 1999.

The Beatles' version is very faithful to Williams' original, although I think they drew out the intro a little longer than necessary. John pulls out that rockin' and screamin' vocal, although, I think by this time he's getting pretty tired of it (even though he would do it a few more times).

For technical geeks, there is a big goof on this, where John's second vocal flops the words during a verse. Although his vocal is double-tracked, they are two separately recorded vocals. It just goes to show that not everything George Martin produced and Norman Smith engineered could be perfect and that the Beatles were obviously in a rush to get this out (it was literally recorded two weeks before it was released).

#39: I Call Your Name

Written by: John Lennon & Paul McCartney Released: June 19, 1964 Appears on: Long Tall Sally (EP) & Past Masters, Vol. 1
Lead vocal: John

By 1964, John and Paul were becoming the British Leiber & Stoller, as any song that they didn't see fit to record themselves was given to another artist. You have to remember, just because a song wasn't good enough for the Beatles, doesn't mean it's a bad song. I mean, if "I Call Your Name" wasn't initially good enough for the Beatles, what was?

Essentially, this meant that John and Paul knew not every song they wrote could be "I Want To Hold Your Hand" or "Can't Buy Me Love", so the one's they knew weren't that great got tossed to Brian Epstein's other groups.

Billy J. Kramer & The Dakotas was one group that benefited greatly from the Beatles' cast-offs. Kramer made "Do You Want To Know A Secret?" a #2 hit after it saw release on Please Please Me, then he got his sole #1 with the "Bad To Me" b/w "I Call Your Name" 45. Following that, he had his last hit with "I'll Keep You Satisfied". His version of "I Call Your Name" is virtually identical to the way the Beatles performed it, save for a pretty nifty guitar solo. Still, John's vocals are great and I really think the Beatles version is much better. Then again, it just proves that the Beatles did everything better.

The Beatles ended up recording "I Call Your Name" for themselves when Capitol of the US came knocking on the door asking for some tunes to fill out The Beatles' Second Album with. They knew they were building an album on the covers of with the beatles and the "She Loves You" b/w "I'll Get You" 45 with "You Can't Do That" and "Thank You Girl" thrown in for good measure. This still left them two songs shy of the eleven song ultimatum for an American album (the Please Please Me tracks were still at VeeJay in the US and "Can't Buy Me Love" was exclusive to United Artists in the US), so they got George Martin on the line and the Beatles delivered "Long Tall Sally" and "I Call Your Name" on demand. As I noted in the "Long Tall Sally" entry, both remained US exclusives until the EP. This is also not the last time the Beatles were forced to do some quick tracks on demand for Capitol, though...

#38: Long Tall Sally

Written by: Robert "Bumps" Blackwell, Enotris Johnson & Richard Penniman Released: June 19, 1964 Appears on: Long Tall Sally (EP) & Past Masters, Vol. 1
Lead vocal: Paul

Ever hear of some guy named Little Richard? Well, if not you haven't lived a full life. After you hear the original here, you can read the rest of this entry...until then, you need some educatin'.

Anyway, the Beatles' take on the song is ridiculous and I think they got as close to recreating what made the original version so cool: Little Richard's awesome vocals. I mean, if there ever was a true heir to Little Richard, it is, without a doubt, Paul McCartney. It's amazing how John was able to get in the minds of those great Motown singers in songs like "You Really Got A Hold On Me" and "Money", while Paul just stepped into Little Richard's skin.

Another thing about Little Richard (and "Long Tall Sally" is a perfect example of this) is that he easily had as much influence on the Beatles as, say, Buddy Holly. In fact, the Beatles' trademark "woooo!" was totally derived from Little Richard.

The history of the Long Tall Sally EP is kind of interesting (if you'd like more information on the overall history of Beatles EPs, I wrote a review on the box set back here). Other than the bizarre 2-EP Magical Mystery Tour set, Long Tall Sally was the only EP to include new tracks...at least new to the UK. The first two songs, "Long Tall Sally" and "I Call Your Name" debuted on The Beatles' Second Album, released by Capitol in the US a full two months before they saw release in the UK. "Slow Down" and "Matchbox" came out on Something New, a month after Long Tall Sally. It's stuff like this that truly makes the Beatles' catalog confusing and why we should all be thankful that Apple standardized it.