Lullaby

Song facts

“Lullaby” is a track written by George Alexander of the late 60s band “Grapefruit“. It was produced by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, the only song they produced together.

“Lullaby” was released on Grapefruit’s debut album in 1968, but according to Stefan Granados (who wrote the liner notes of Grapefruit – Yesterday’s Sunshine: The Complete 1967-1968 London Sessions, 2016), this was not the version produced by Lennon / McCartney. It seems the Lennon / McCartney-produced version was released for the first time in 2016.

[…] Apple Publishing had been set up as a publishing business. But for Grapefruit, they would assume a larger role, effectively becoming a production company as well. Apple would pay for all of the Grapefruit recording sessions and then license the finished masters to a record label. With “Dear Delilah” in the can, Apple negotiated a deal with RCA to release Grapefruit’s records in England. For the United States, Grapefruit would be signed to a new label formed by [Terry] Melcher, Equinox Records.

The Beatles were impressed with “Dear Delilah” and soon developed a genuine interest in the group. On 10th January 1968 – several weeks before “Dear Delilah” was even released – Grapefruit entered Advision Studios in the company of Paul McCartney and John Lennon, who would product “Lullaby” as the follow up to “Dear Delilah”.

“Lullaby” was the song that had captured John Lennon’s imagination in the summer of 1967 and had led to George Alexander being signed to Apple. Lennon was particularly keen to get this song captured on tape and this was to be the only recording to ever be jointly produced by John Lennon and Paul McCartney. In a single session, the two Beatles transformed “Lullaby” into a perfect encapsulation of English psychedelic pop, but it would never be issued. Not the Lennon and McCartney produced version at least.

[…] “Dear Delilah” was released in February 1968 and in the weeks that followed, managed to climb to number 21 in the English charts. It was a promising enough start for a new group and RCA wanted a follow up single as soon as possible. They requested new material from Apple, but with the Beatles now off in India, the Lennon and McCartney version of “Lullaby” was left on the shelf after Grapefruit presented RCA with the self-produced tracks, “Elevator” and “Yes”. […]

Stefan Granados

Last updated on July 3, 2021

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