I Was Alone, I Took A Ride

The next song on the Parlophone UK LP "Revolver" consists of a motown-influenced sounding original composition by Lennon/McCartney written mainly by Paul entitled "Got To Get You Into My Life". It has been explained over the years that this song is McCartney's dedication to the joys of Marijuana. "Got To Get You Into My Life", indeed !!\

The first attempt at a basic track was started on Thursday April 07 1966 from EMI studio three whereas there were five preliminary takes: George Martin held down a note on the studio organ and acoustic guitar and drums were also played at the same time. Vocals were added to the mix which featured Paul on lead and John and George on the backing vocals. This version of the song was temporarily marked as "best" for a while. This version as it stands is available on the Apple/EMI 3-LP/2-CD "Anthology 2".

The next afternoon/evening on Friday April 08 1966, the Beatles decided to try another arrangement and two more takes ( takes 6 to 8) were completed. This backing track is the one that would eventually be released on LP. Three days later on Monday April 11 1966 from EMI studio two, a guitar was overdubbed onto take 08 of "Got To Get You Into My Life" as it stood. The bass, drums and guitar were now in the can but the guitar overdub is still a mystery to me as I'm not sure where it was added on the commercial release.

The first two mono mixes for "Got To Get You Into My Life" were completed on Monday April 25 1966 from room 65 at EMI studios. There mixes were reference only and acetates were cut.

On Wednesday May 18 1966, a brass section was brought in to fill the space on the basic track. This wiped out most of the backing with the exception of the bass and drums. There were five horn players ( two from Georgie Fame and Blue Flames and three independants). A tape reduction of the bass, the drums and the brass was completed onto two tracks leaving two more tracks open (therefore making this take 9). Once this was completed, Paul added a new lead vocal with backing vocal help from John and George. Some tambourine, a bit of background guitar and organ at the end of the song ended the session. Two mono mixes were completed at this session. These were never used as another overdub was to be added.

On Friday June 17 1966, the blistering George Harrison guitar solo was overdubbed onto the almost finished song. Once this was complete, the song was deemed "best" and five more mono mixes were completed. All of this done at EMI Studio two. Ah...but when you think it was all over, on June 20 1966 from the control room of EMI studio one, the EMI engineer/producer decided to fatten up the brass sound and had a tape copy from take 08 syncronized to the original brass overdub from May 18 1966 and a mono mix was than completed (remix 8 from take 8). This mono mix was used for the commercial release.

Finally, the stereo mix for "Got To Get You Into My Life" was completed on Wednesday June 22 1966 from the control room of Studio three. There are vocal and brass differences between the mono and stereo versions of "Got To Get You Into My Life". The mono version has a different last vocal line due to the two vocal recordings having been on different faders and the faders brought up on the mono mix and the stereo mix were not the same.

"Got To Get You Into My Life" is available on the Parlophone UK LP/CD "Revolver" as well as the North American Capitol LP version of "Revolver". The song is also found on the Apple 2-LP/2-CD compilation "The Beatles 1962-1966" as well as the EMI/Capitol 2-LP compilation "Rock 'N' Roll Music".

"Got To Get You Into My Life" was released as a single on May 31 1976 in the North American market (Capitol 4274) and peaked at number seven in the Billboard Hot 100.

"Got To Get You Into My Life" was performed by Wings on their 1979 tour as well as by Paul McCartney on his 1989-1990 World Tour and can be heard on the EMI/Capitol 3-LP/2-CD "Tripping the Live Fantastic".