This image is a cover of an audio recording, and the copyright for it is most likely owned by either the publisher of the work or the artist(s) which produced the recording or cover artwork in question. It is believed that the use of low-resolution images of such covers qualifies as fair use.
- Album Songs recorded during this session officially appear on the Step Inside Love / I Couldn't Take My Eyes Off You 7" Single.
- Studio:
- EMI Studios, Abbey Road
Timeline
More from year 1968
Some songs from this session appear on:
Spread the love! If you like what you are seeing, share it on social networks and let others know about The Paul McCartney Project.
About
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 of “Step Inside Love” 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 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“, to be released as her next single. Paul didn’t attend the session, as he was in India with the other Beatles and the Maharishi.
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
Last updated on September 30, 2021
Staff
Musicians
- Cilla Black:
- Vocals
- The Breakaways:
- Backing vocals
Production staff
- George Martin:
- Producer
- Mike Vickers:
- Music director
Contribute!
Have you spotted an error on the page? Do you want to suggest new content? Or do you simply want to leave a comment ? Please use the form below!