Hey Friend,
This was one of the first songs released on record by the band (and the first track on their first album, Please Please Me), and it contrasts the poppy sound of two other hits off the same album - She Loves You and I Wanna Hold Your Hand.
While I Saw Her Standing There didn’t do quite as well in the charts, it still held its own, getting to #14 on the Billboard Hot 100.
The song was a good representation of where they had come from. The Beatles learned their craft playing old Rhythm and Blues songs, and this one shows that influence.
In fact, McCartney even admitted the bass part wasn’t original - he used the bass riff from a Chuck Berry song.
What we’re going to do is look at the chords used during the first eight measures in the song, as they were written. Then, I’m going to show you what it might have sounded like if they had used a more pop-like approach.
We’ll compare what sounds better, although this is a subjective comparison. We all have our own ideas of what sounds good, so you might really like the way the comparison version sounds versus the Blues-based recording.
For today, listen through the recording, paying particular attention to the first eight bars (right after “Well, she was…”). This is where we’ll focus our attention.
Talk to you tomorrow. Have a great one!
Peace~
Dave
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