Recording "That Means a Lot", "You're Going to Lose That Girl"

This was The Beatles’ first recording session since February 20, 1965, during which time they had travelled to the Bahamas and to Obertauern, Austria, to film their second feature, “Help!“, before returning to London to continue production at Twickenham Film Studios. On this evening, following the day’s filming at Twickenham, The Beatles went to Abbey Road from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. to resume work on “That Means a Lot“, a song they had first attempted on February 20. They also recorded final overdubs onto “You’re Going to Lose That Girl“.

The Beatles were not satisfied with the version of “That Means a Lot” recorded on February 20 and opted for a remake.

The backing track featured Paul McCartney on bass, John Lennon and George Harrison on electric guitars, and Ringo Starr on drums (George had played acoustic guitar on the February 20 version). The Beatles recorded five takes, experimenting with different arrangements. Take 20 was a slower version, with George playing a blues riff. Take 21 returned to the original tempo. Takes 22 and 23 were breakdowns. Take 24 was complete, but was not considered good enough for release.

Following this session, “That Means a Lot” was set aside and not mixed. The song was passed to English singer P. J. Proby, whose cover version was released in September 1965.

Within two days of recording If You’ve Got Trouble, the Beatles taped a further number for the Help! movie that would also remain unissued. Indeed, they made two concerted attempts at recording Paul’s That Means A Lot, dedicating five hours to the task on 20 February […] and then cutting a re-make on 30 March. But it was all to no avail. “We thought we’d give it to somebody who could sing it well,” John Lennon told the New Musical Express soon after the Beatles decided to relinquish the song, indicating P J Proby, the era’s most controversial singer, whose exclusive version was issued in September 1965 and reached 24 on the same paper’s singles chart.

From Anthology 2 liner notes

The Beatles then returned to “You’re Going to Lose That Girl“, last worked on February 19, 1965. George Martin considered that the recording could be improved, and onto take three, Paul replaced his Pianet electric piano part with a piano part, George re-recorded his guitar solo, and Ringo added bongos. All overdubs were recorded onto track two of the four-track tape.

New mono and stereo mixes for “You’re Going to Lose That Girl” would be made on April 2, 1965.

Session activities

1. That Means a Lot

   Written by Lennon - McCartney

   Recording • Take 20

2. That Means a Lot

   Written by Lennon - McCartney

   Recording • Take 21

3. That Means a Lot

   Written by Lennon - McCartney

   Recording • Take 22

4. That Means a Lot

   Written by Lennon - McCartney

   Recording • Take 23

5. That Means a Lot

   Written by Lennon - McCartney

   Recording • Take 24

6. You're Going to Lose That Girl

   Written by Lennon - McCartney

   Recording • SI onto Take 3

Staff

Musicians on "You're Going to Lose That Girl"

Musicians on "That Means a Lot"

Production staff

Going further

The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions • Mark Lewisohn

The definitive guide for every Beatles recording sessions from 1962 to 1970. We owe a lot to Mark Lewisohn for the creation of those session pages, but you really have to buy this book to get all the details - the number of takes for each song, who contributed what, a description of the context and how each session went, various photographies... And an introductory interview with Paul McCartney!

Buy on Amazon

The Beatles Recording Reference Manual - Volume 2 - Help! through Revolver (1965-1966)

The second book of the Association for Recorded Sound Collections (ARSC)-nominated series, "The Beatles Recording Reference Manual: Volume 2: Help! through Revolver (1965-1966)" follows the evolution of the band from the end of Beatlemania with "Help!" through the introspection of "Rubber Soul" up to the sonic revolution of "Revolver". From the first take to the final remix, discover the making of the greatest recordings of all time.Through extensive, fully-documented research, these books fill an important gap left by all other Beatles books published to date and provide a unique view into the recordings of the world's most successful pop music act.

Buy on Amazon