Recorded - June 14 and 17, 1965
Released - August 6, 1965 (UK), September 13, 1965 (US)
#1 for weeks of October 9, 16, 23, and 30, 1965.
While many of the songs from the Help! album displayed a subtle shift in the gears of The Beatles' sound, it was on the album's penultimate track, "Yesterday" that they shifted into high gear and did something truly different. In the UK, "Yesterday" was strictly an album track, and didn't get a single release. In America, the song wasn't put on an album until June of 1966, but it did get a single release nine months prior, where is zipped right up to #1 for four whole weeks.
Some of the elements that would make up "Yesterday" actually came to Paul in a dream sometime around 1964. Luckily, he remembered the song when he woke up, and a year later, he had started to properly compose it. Before finishing the lyrics, he had given the song the temporary title of "Scrambled Egg(s)", and even written lyrics to match this unusual title! Once a more serious topic of a breakup was decided upon, the song got its final name we all know it by today.
"Yesterday" broke ground for being the first Beatles song to only feature one Beatle: the song's composer Paul McCartney. Despite this, the other three Beatles were present that day as two other Help! era songs, "I've Just Seen A Face" and "I'm Down" were recorded just prior to "Yesterday". It's quite amazing then that Paul went from shouting his lungs out in "I'm Down" to singing the gentle and serene "Yesterday" all in just a few hours!
What makes the song even more innovative for the group was its use of a string quartet. The use of the strings help enhance the song's melancholic feel, without getting in the way of any of the emotion in Paul's vocal performance. Even though by 1966 The Beatles would turn this song into a full band performance, (Albeit, one that is very laid back), "Yesterday" is most fondly remembered in the minimalist solo album version.
The lasting legacy of "Yesterday" has been massive. Hundreds of cover versions have been recorded, many artists from the 1960's and beyond have also recorded similar acoustic guitar and orchestra songs. Even in the early 1970's, when animosity between John and Paul was at an all time high, John Lennon still considered "Yesterday" to be among, if not the best song Paul ever wrote. It certainly remains a beloved classic to this very day.
Final Verdict - "Yesterday" is a great example of "Less is more". The song remains a haunting ballad, is easily one of the top five songs that Macca ever wrote, and I'd even go as far as to calling it one of, if not the best #1 of 1965.
Coming Up Next - "Get Off Of My Cloud" by The Rolling Stones.
Until Next Time - I'm Dr. Rock, looking back at music from yesterday to today -
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