The Beatles’ version of Little Richard’s rock ‘n’ roll classic ‘Long Tall Sally’ was recorded in a single take during the sessions for A Hard Day’s Night.
‘Long Tall Sally’ was originally released by Little Richard in March 1956, and was a staple of The Beatles’ live set from 1957 right up to their final show in San Francisco in August 1966 – the most enduring of any of their songs.
Little Richard was one of the all-time greats. The first time I heard him a friend of mine had been to Holland and brought back a 78 with ‘Long Tall Sally’ on one side, and ‘Slippin’ And Slidin” on the other. It blew our heads – we’d never heard anybody sing like that in our lives and all those saxes playing like crazy.
The Beatles had played with Little Richard in England and Hamburg during the early 1960s, and Paul McCartney was especially proud of his ability to mimic his hero’s vocal delivery.
One of the things I didn’t like about the film Backbeat is that they gave ‘Long Tall Sally’ to the John character. I was not amused. I always sang that: me and Little Richard.
Anthology
‘Long Tall Sally’ was taped in the midst of the sessions for the A Hard Day’s Night album. It is possible that the song was considered for inclusion in the film, possibly during the live finale, but was deemed to be surplus to requirements.
In the UK it was first released as the lead song on the Long Tall Sally EP. The US heard it two months earlier, on The Beatles’ Second Album.
The Beatles included ‘Long Tall Sally’ during Around The Beatles, a TV show for the ITV network filmed on 19 April 1964. That version can be found on Anthology 1.
An earlier radio version, recorded on 16 July 1963 and broadcast on 13 August, was included on Live At The BBC. The Beatles recorded six other versions of ‘Long Tall Sally’ for BBC radio between 1 April 1963 and 17 July 1964.
In the studio
The Beatles recorded ‘Long Tall Sally’ in a single take on 1 March 1964. Having played it so often live, they simply had no need to record it twice.
The song featured two guitar solos, the first played by John Lennon and the second by George Harrison.
During the same session, which lasted from 10am to 1.30pm, The Beatles also completed ‘I’m Happy Just To Dance With You’ and ‘I Call Your Name’.
Lyrics
I’m gonna tell Aunt Mary ’bout Uncle John
He said he had the misery but he got a lot of fun
Oh baby, yeah now baby
Woo baby, some fun tonight
I saw Uncle John with Long Tall Sally
He saw Aunt Mary coming and he ducked back in the alley
Oh, baby, yeah now baby
Woo baby, some fun tonight
Well Long Tall Sally she’s built for speed
She got everything that Uncle John needs
Oh baby, yeah now baby
Woo baby, some fun tonight
Well, we’re gonna have some fun tonight
Have some fun tonight
Ooh, everything’s all right
Have some fun tonight
Have some fun
Yeah, yeah, yeah
We’re gonna have some fun tonight
Have some fun tonight
Everything’s all right
Have some fun tonight
Yeah we’ll have some fun
Some fun tonight
John plays the first lead break, George the second.
Nope. This is a myth that’s been propagated for years, but it’s extremely silly and easy to debunk. We know from every available studio log that this song was recorded in one take with no edits or overdubs. The guitars are panned to opposite sides of the stereo mix. Very clear to hear with headphones. Both solos are from the guitar on the left. Both have the same tone. There’s zero truth to it being one solo from each of them.
To add to this and since I can’t edit, I believe when they played it *live* they would have John play the first one, but it’s physically impossible for him to have played it on the record above given the panning stuff and single take.
Thank You Ben!
I’ve been cracking my brain for years trying to figure that out myself. I was wondering if the guitar and piano on the right stereo channel were an undocumented overdub, and I can put that now to rest.
I can’t prove it but, I’m almost certain John plays the first guitar solo and George the second on Long Tall Sally. We all agree on George no doubt owning the second. The first being John makes sense for two reasons, he played it live and two, it absolutely sounds like him. Listen to the solo in You Can’t Do That, which John plays, he uses some of the same note combinations and sequences (riffs) which is evident because both songs are in the key of G.
As far as both solos coming from the same channel, that could just be how it was mixed.
Finally someone answers this myth i would stay up for hours trying to figure this out
Absolutely right, Ben!!! I always wondered about that! George is in the left channel, John in the right channel…but BOTH solos are on the LEFT channel!!
Sorry Ben but you are wrong. Watch any film of them performing this live and it’s Lennon first Harrison 2nd. John’s style is so totally different from George’s. As for the “panning” issue it was recorded in the studio was it not? In stereo on 4 track. Then mixed (I could point out that on the first 2 lps everything was panned to the left all guitars included but don’t want to sound patronising !)
John’s guitar never leaves the right side, not a mixing thing.
I agree im learning to play the drums and bass guitar to this song i was born in ‘85 and the beatles and many other musicians and bands were prominent in my childhood i hope many other people can discover just how great the music from 60 years ago including the beat Was
It’s a confusing topic. For one instance, John is seen playing the first lead part at every live performance (even at the Drop-In TV show filmed in 1963, months before the song was even recorded at EMI Studios), but the lead on the stereo mix always comes from the left.
But what’s even more strange is that from 0:50 onwards during the 3rd verse the guitar on the right starts doing the little lick from the start and the 2nd verse while the rest is just the exact same rhythm pattern that the left guitar was doing. The 2nd solo from the left doesn’t have the same tone as it had during the 1st one, sounds more clean and treble-y just like a Country Gentleman, while that first one sounded nasal with more mid-range, reminiscent of a Rick 325.
Considering they only had 4 tracks to work with, there had to be a guitar in the same track as the piano, but how could the two guitars each with different tone swtich places? Was it really recorded in one take? Was the piano an overdub or not?
Thanx mate, I was wondering that same thing!
The song is also performed on “Beatles at Hollywood Bowl”.
Elvis Presley also sang this song–but his interpretation has definitley not the same freshness nor charm as Little Richard’s or Paul McCartney’s.
The Beatles version of Long Tall Sally is simply amazing, from Paul’s vocal to George’s guitar solo. The piano playing in the background is nothing to sneeze at either. And in one take too!
Did George Martin play the piano part live during the single take, or did he dub it on later?
Most likely live. There’s no mention of it being overdubbed later.
I would love to have seen the suave, urbane George Martin hammering out 12-bar rock ‘n roll piano while Paul was shrieking away doing his Little Richard impersonation!
This song plays an important role in the early history of the Beatles: It was the opening song in their legendary breakthrough set at Litherland Town Hall, December 27, 1960. Everything Little Richard has accomplished is only augmented by his connection to the first incredible flash of Beatlemania.
I read somewhere that since they only had to transcribe the lyrics off the vinyl record, some of the lyrics didn’t match those of Little Richard’s, for example, Paul sang “Well, Long Tall Sally drew pretty pictures of Everything that Uncle John did”
I don’t hear that at all.
For what it’s worth, I agree with you. He’s certainly not singing “she’s built for speed.”
Something more along the lines of “L T S is pretty sweet, she’s got everything that Uncle John needs”.
Drew pretty pictures …….?
The Beatles version of this song is, to me, the greatest pure rock and roll performance of all time. The energy is flippin’ incredible, absolutely everything about it is perfect.
Ringo just rocks out on this tune. love his drums. if you ever get the chance and haven’t seen it, there is a video if them playiing this song live and he is having so much fun.
There’s one note in the beginning of George’s guitar solo that to me sounds sharp — I’m guessing that the take was otherwise so perfect and rocking that they didn’t want to go for another one.
Ringo Starr rocks the songs so well ! The way he plays drums here , is one of the best rock n roll performance i ever heard in my life .
I always wondered if that was really Ringo on drums. He’s never had that style of playing before, or since. The last 30 seconds or so sounds more like Keith Moon, than anything Ringo could pull off.
Did John Lennon really play a solo in this song? Pretty good solo, based on New Music Express Awards 1965. If so, he could play guitar after all.
He was a great rhythm player and took a lot of leads throughout the Beatles’ career. “You Can’t Do That” and “Get Back” are just two of many examples. There’s no “after all” to it.
If you want to know how good a rhythm guitarist John was, just listen to the Star-Club tapes. His rhythm guitar is much more to the forefront than any of their studio recordings. and he is spot-on in every song.
I only noticed that recently…..I was watching the awards and though they cut to George at the beginning of the break it’s obvious from his fingering that he’s not playing the solo until later.
Well done John.
Anybody who accuses the Beatles of being inferior instrumentally should be forced to listen to this song. Ringo turns in a performance equal to Rain or Tomorrow Never Knows, John plays a great guitar solo. And then there’s Paul McCartney. The man is just so extraordinary. Listen to “And I Love Her”, recorded not more than a few days before. He can go from sweetness and grace to screaming Little Richard at full volume. Later, in the Help sessions, he performed I’m Down and Yesterday back to back.
A blowout. A monster. The greatest rave up ever recorded.
And, for good measure, he did I’ve Just Seen a Face the same day as I’m Down and Yesterday… Not bad for one day’s work!
A brilliant Paul McCartney vocal and all round rave up by The Beatles. First got this on E.P. in 1982. As others have said no one does Little Richard like Macca!!
Did they really play Long Tall Sally in San Francisco for the 1966 final show??
Wasn’t this replaced by I’M Down for over a year as their last song??
It was the last song of the last ever (proper) concert.
I was also surprised to read that Long Tall Sally was performed live until the last show. I read somewhere else years ago that I’m Down was specifically written to replace it as the closing song and assumed LTS was not played after it’s inclusion.
I think there is even a recording of like half of Long Tall Sally, final song from their final concert, but the tape ran out. It used to be on youtube, don’t know if it’s still there.
This is my all-time favorite Beatles rave up song. There are so many amazing things about it. I stumbled on to this website because, after all the years of blasting this song at full volume, I wanted to find out if it was actually Ringo playing the drums. So glad to find out it was. For me, the epitome of the song comes at about 1:18 leading into the 2nd instrumental break. Ringo’s timing and the way the bass and drums complement each other here is phenomenal. Interesting, in reading all the comments above, that no one said anything about McCartney’s bass playing. He’s pretty much shredding it…WHILE singing! He’s definitely one of the best melodic bass players while singing, in the world.
I just saw Backbeat again, which once again I thoroughly enjoyed. You’d think that the director/producer/whomever could have gotten that point right. Easy enough to ask Paul during the making.
“Artistic license”.
Never look to films (Hollywood or otherwise) for your “history”. It won’t be there (Apollo13, JFK, and on and on…..)
“Backbeat” is accurate as far as looks, instruments, etc. are concerned, but as far as song selection, no way. They have John doing Little Richard songs, which all serious Beatles fans know was the exclusive domain of Paul McCartney. They also have the group rehearsing “Twist and Shout” during their first Hamburg residency, even though it hadn’t been written yet, let alone recorded. They also have them doing “I’ll Remember You” two years before Frank Ifield cut it. The boys didn’t start doing that song until late ‘62.