The Beatles: Note By Note

Every Little Thing is a Paul McCartney song that could fool you into thinking it is a John song, especially with John’s voice so forward in the verses. In this Beatles podcast episode of Note By Note, Peter, Kenyon, Josh, and guest TJ Byrnes break down the timpani punch, the Anthology 4 takes, and why this deep cut never quite plays by pop rules.

We cover:
- Recording sessions, the redo, and what Anthology 4 reveals in takes 6–7
- Timpani as a claimed Beatles first, the piano credit debate, and the AKG D19 C drum mic switch
- How it gets compared to What You’re Doing and the shift to arranged guitar solos
- 1964 UK tour storytime, including the mid-tour nine-hour EMI session

TJ Byrnes Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaqdTns-CVdVUMSk7xBhhmw

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In this Beatles Lecture Series episode, Kenyon argues that Every Little Thing never fully settles, like it keeps dodging the clean landing you expect from a Beatles love song. You come away hearing the whole track as intentionally unresolved, both in the melody and the chord changes.

Website: https://www.notebynoteseries.com
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/NoteByNoteSeries
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On this Beatles podcast episode of The Beatles Note by Note, we start with Honey Don’t and end up in some surprisingly detailed territory. If you like songwriting context, studio specifics, and a few 1964 detours that explain why certain songs stuck, this one is for you.

We cover:
- Where Honey Don’t came from, and how the Beatles folded it into their live set before giving it to Ringo
- The last Beatles for Sale recording session and how quickly they put the track together
- A version-by-version compare: Carl Perkins, the Beatles, and John’s Plastic Ono Band jam
- Ringo’s 1964 tonsil surgery story and the strange press attention around it
- The “Ringo for President” campaign and what it said about youth culture at the time

Website: https://www.notebynoteseries.com
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/NoteByNoteSeries
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/notebynoteseries
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A Buddy Holly deep cut turns into a surprisingly big conversation in this Beatles podcast episode. With guest Chris McGovern, also known as the Gen X Muse, we dig into why “Words of Love” hits so differently on Beatles for Sale.

We cover:
- What Buddy Holly meant to the Beatles
- Who may or may not be singing
- The packing case Ringo plays
- The recording session details
- A retrospective of Brian Epstein's youth

The Gen-X Muse: https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/chris-h-mcgovern

Website: https://www.notebynoteseries.com
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/NoteByNoteSeries
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/notebynoteseries
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You would not expect a psychoanalyst to pick Eight Days a Week as the song to talk about, but once he explains why, it clicks. In this Beatles podcast episode, we dig into why their newest hit at the time still feels like an intentional throwback, with little “odd” details that make it more interesting the longer you listen.

We cover:

- Who actually wrote it, and where the title “Eight Days a Week” may have come from
- The intro they could not get right, and why the released version fades in
- The musical move that makes the song feel slightly unresolved (in a good way)
- How and why it became a U.S. #1 single, plus the Beatles for Sale EP context
- A quick Help! pre-production storytime: “Eight Arms to Hold You” and how the film got its final shape

Website: https://www.notebynoteseries.com
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/NoteByNoteSeries
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/notebynoteseries
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.