Recording: That Means A Lot, You’re Going To Lose That Girl

Studio Two, EMI Studios, Abbey Road
Producer: George Martin
Engineer: Norman Smith

After an initial attempt at recording ‘That Means A Lot’ on 20 February 1965, The Beatles returned to Abbey Road to remake the song.

At this stage they intended to featured it on the Help! soundtrack, although it the song remained unreleased until 1996’s Anthology 2.

Two takes of ‘That Means A Lot’ had been recorded in the February session. On this evening The Beatles recorded five more, numbered 20-24, although 22-24 were incomplete. The session lasted from 7-10pm.

The remake was faster than the earlier version, with a more straightforward backbeat from Ringo Starr and a guitar part by George Harrison which ‘answered’ the vocal melody.

Unlike the previous attempt, however, the 30 March recordings were not remixed for mono or stereo, indicating that The Beatles never felt it was of sufficient quality for release. This day’s attempts have never been officially released.

Also in this session, The Beatles added final overdubs onto ‘You’re Going To Lose That Girl’, onto the backing track recorded on 19 February.

An overdub from that date, containing electric piano and lead guitar, was wiped. In its place Harrison recorded a new guitar solo, accompanied by bongos and piano, played by Starr and McCartney respectively. The song was mixed on 2 April 1965.