Written by: Larry Williams
Recorded: 1, 4 June 1964
Producer: George Martin
Engineer: Norman Smith
Released: 19 June 1964 (UK), 20 July 1964 (US)
John Lennon: vocals, rhythm guitar
Paul McCartney: bass
George Harrison: lead guitar
Ringo Starr: drums
George Martin: piano
Available on:
Past Masters
Live At The BBC
First appearing on The Beatles' Long Tall Sally EP, Slow Down was a cover version of Larry Williams' 1958 song, and was originally the b-side to his hit single Dizzy Miss Lizzy.
Slow Down had been a part of The Beatles' live repertoire between 1960 and 1962, and the group had stopped playing it by the time they revived it during the A Hard Day's Night sessions.
In the US, the song was released as a single in August 1964, with Matchbox as the b-side. It was also included on the Something New album.
A version of Slow Down, recorded on 16 July 1963 at the BBC Paris Theatre, London, was included on Live At The BBC. Taped for the Pop Go The Beatles programme, it was the group's only BBC recording of a Larry Williams song.
In the studio
The song was taped swiftly in six takes in the afternoon of 1 June 1964. The rhythm track of take three was the best, and onto this was overdubbed a double-tracked Lennon vocals.
Three days later George Martin added a piano part. None of the performers appear to have taken it too seriously, with vocal fluffs (most noticeably during the line "But now you've got a boyfriend down the street"), a somewhat workmanlike guitar solo and generally sloppy playing.
But that's the essence of rock 'n' roll, and Lennon's vocal has enough brio to make the result worth searching out by Beatles fans.
Lyrics
Well, come on pretty baby, won't you walk with me?
Come on, pretty baby, won't you talk with me?
Come on pretty baby, give me one more chance
Try to save our romance
Slow down
Baby, now you're moving way too fast
You gotta gimme little loving gimme little loving
Ow! If you want our love to last
Well, I used to walk you home, baby, after school
Carry your books home, too
But now you've got a boyfriend down the street
Baby what you trying to do?
You better slow down
Baby, now you're moving way too fast
You gotta gimme little loving, gimme little loving
Brrr! If you want our love to last
Well you know that I love you, tell the world I do
Come on, pretty baby, why can't you be true?
I need your loving baby, oh so bad
The best little woman I ever had
Slow down
Baby, now you're moving way too fast
You gotta gimme little loving, gimme little loving
Ow! If you want our love to last
Related articles:
- Ooh! My Soul
- Recording, mixing, editing: Long Tall Sally, Matchbox, I Call Your Name, Slow Down, When I Get Home, Any Time At All, I'll Cry Instead
- Baby It's You
- Dizzy Miss Lizzy
- I Got To Find My Baby
I'm fairly certain that you, and no doubt many others, are mishearing the lyrical clash in the second verse. On one track, John is singing, "now you've got a girlfriend down the street," and on the other track, he's singing "now you don't care a dime for me." This latter line can be heard clearly by itself on the Beatles' rendition of this song on "The Beatles at the Beeb."
Lennon may have made Lyrical changes between BBC taping and EMI Taping
who played guitar solo ? John again ?
I suspect that it was actually George on lead & John on rhythm - that guitar solo sounds a bit note-y for John. But I'm relying on memory, "Slow Down" being one of my least-played tracks, so I could be mistaken. I'll have to give it a listen or two tonight.
It's an awful solo, John was a shaky guitarist, the pieces fit. I counted eleven mistakes in the solo alone, and the lead guitar is prodding uncertainly throughout the track, in a lazy pluck typical of John's style (Compare with George's heavier handling and generally assured timing). By a long way the worst solo the Beatles ever got away with.
And George does, in fact, use his 12-string on I Call Your Name.
The line in the third verse shown above "I need your loving baby, oh so bad" if you listen to it closely sounds like John is singing "I need your butt and baby oh so fat". I'm not making this up...listen and decide for yourself!
thanks bon vontee, but let me tell you that George was using with such obsession his 12 strings Rickenbaker by the time, but I can't hear it on any of the 4 songs EP "Long tall Sally" (just in "I call your name"). Maybe because George wasn't there at the sessions. If you or anybody else know something about it...
Pointless, semi-interesting factoid: This is the first Beatles track to open with more than 30 seconds (0:35 to be exact) of instrumental work before the vocal begins - by far the longest such intro they'd yet recorded. And unless I'm overlooking something, only 3 other tracks have longer intros: "Love You To", "Flying" and "Sun King".
Flying doesn`t really count. Maybe Tomorrow Never knows