Wednesday, February 28, 1968
Recording "Step Inside Love"
For Cilla Black
Last updated on September 1, 2024
Wednesday, February 28, 1968
For Cilla Black
Last updated on September 1, 2024
Recording studio: EMI Studios, Abbey Road
Previous session Feb 15, 1968 • Mixing "Lady Madonna"
Article Feb 24, 1968 • The first Apple ad appears in the New Musical Express
Interview Feb 24, 1968 • Paul McCartney interview for Evening Standard
Session Feb 28, 1968 • Recording "Step Inside Love"
Article Feb 29, 1968 • "Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band" wins four Grammy Awards
Article March 1968 • "She's Leaving Home" and "The Family Way" win Ivor Novello awards
Next session Late May 1968 • The Esher recordings
AlbumSome of the songs worked on during this session were first released on the "Step Inside Love / I Couldn't Take My Eyes Off You" 7" Single
Paul McCartney wrote “Step Inside Love” to serve as the musical theme of “Cilla“, a BBC TV program hosted by singer Cilla Black. Cilla and Paul had previously recorded a demo and a first version with orchestra on November 21, 1967.
The show started on January 30, 1968, and there was a positive buzz around the song. But at this stage, the song only consisted of one verse and a chorus. So, in early February, Paul augmented “Step Inside Love” with a second verse.
After a few weeks of my TV show I was fed up singing it and I thought the public would be, too. […] Paul McCartney had to write the middle a couple of days before he went to India so I could record it.
Cilla Black – From Melody Maker – April 13, 2021
On this day, Cilla was in the studio to record the full-length rendition of “Step Inside Love“, which was released as her next single. Paul didn’t attend the session, as he was in India with the other Beatles and the Maharishi.
CILLA BACKS BEATLES AGAIN
The letters bombarded the BBC. “Please Cilla,” they said, “where can we get a recording of your theme song?“
That’s the Lennon-McCartney song, “Step Inside Love” used on Cilla’s own show.
“So I just had to do a recording,” cooed Cilla this week in that fetching Liverpudlian accent.
“Actually, it’s the first Beatles song I’ve done since ‘It’s For You’.” That was back in July, 1964.
“Oh,” corrected Cilla, “I did do ‘Yesterday’ – but that was used as the B-side to ‘Love Is Just A Broken Heart’. This new one will be the first A side since ‘It’s For You’.“
Why such a shortage of Beatles songs in Cilla’s repertoire? “I never go to people and ask them to write a song for me,” says Cilla. “I think it takes the edge off“.
“Paul asked me if he could do the signature tune for my series. Now I’m recording it because I’ve had so many requests following the TV shows. It’s quite a simple song, but we had three goes at it before we got it right. Paul writes simple songs, but they are difficult to arrange and get the sound you want. On the first recording, Paul played it on guitar, but the key didn’t suit me – I had to have it taken up. Then the second recording was disappointing. I just couldn’t get my teeth into it. But we did a great recording last Wednesday, and the record is out this week. One advantage of doing a TV series, you can experimentally try songs out and see what sort of reaction you get. We got a good one to ‘Step Inside Love’, so we decided to go ahead with it“. […]
From Melody Maker, March 9, 1968
Recording
Notice any inaccuracies on this page? Have additional insights or ideas for new content? Or just want to share your thoughts? We value your feedback! Please use the form below to get in touch with us.
