Behka’s Breakfast with The Beatles Recap: Week of April 7

Here's a look at all the songs I've played this week on our first segment in the morning show, Breakfast with Behka and The Beatles. 

Every morning at 6:00 a.m.  we go over what we're gonna talk about that day, and start things off on the right foot by playing a little musical gem from my favorite band, The Beatles.

On Monday I played "No Reply".

The song is about a young man who is unable to contact his apparently unfaithful girlfriend, although he knows she is home ("They said it wasn't you, but I saw you peek through your window.") In his last major interview, Lennon said that lyrically, the song was inspired by "Silhouettes", a 1957 song first recorded and released by doo-wop group the Rays. Originally Lennon had intended to sing the higher harmony part, as this was the original melody. However, his voice had deteriorated due to excessive use, forcing Paul McCartney to sing the part, and relegating Lennon to the lower harmony line.

On Tuesday, I played "The Long and Winding Road".

It is the tenth track on the Beatles' album Let It Be. It became the group's 20th and last number-one song in the United States on 13 June 1970, and was the last single released by the quartet while all four remained alive. "The Long and Winding Road" was listed with "For You Blue" as a double-sided hit when the single hit number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 in 1970. While the released version of the song was very successful, the post-production modifications to the song by producer Phil Spector angered McCartney to the point that when he made his case in court for breaking up the Beatles as a legal entity, McCartney cited the treatment of "The Long and Winding Road" as one of six reasons for doing so. New versions of the song with simpler instrumentation were subsequently released by both the Beatles and McCartney. I played the Spector version with all the strings and choir.

On Wednesday I played their version of "That's Alright, Mama".

This version of the Elvis Presley song was included on Live at the BBC, which is a 1994 compilation album featuring performances by the Beatles that were originally broadcast on various BBC Light Program radio shows from 1963 through 1965. Live at the BBC peaked at number 3 on the US Billboard 200 album chart and reached number 1 on the UK Albums Chart. The album sold an estimated 8 million copies worldwide during its first year of release.

On Thursday, I was out of the studio.

On Friday, I played "It's Only Love".

"It's Only Love" was composed with the working title, "That's A Nice Hat." Lennon had the original idea for the song and completed it with McCartney at his home in Weybridge. In 1980 Lennon told Playboy journalist David Sheff: "I always thought it was a lousy song. The lyrics were abysmal. I always hated that song." The Beatles recorded "It's Only Love" on 15 June 1965. They recorded six takes of the rhythm track, although two of these were incomplete. Lennon overdubbed his vocals onto the final take, and George Harrison recorded a guitar part with a tremolo effect.

Let me know if there's something you'd like to hear in our segment next week!

Beat-ifficly,
Behka