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| "I Will" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Song by The Beatles
from the album The Beatles |
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| Released | 22 November 1968 | |||
| Recorded | 16 September 1968 | |||
| Genre | Pop, Acoustic rock | |||
| Length | 1:48 | |||
| Label | Apple Records | |||
| Writer | Lennon/McCartney | |||
| Producer | George Martin | |||
| The Beatles track listing | ||||
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"I Will" is a song by The Beatles that was released on The Beatles. It was written by Paul McCartney (credited to Lennon/McCartney) and features him on lead vocal, guitar, and "vocal bass".
Contents |
Recording
The recording session turned into a jam session, producing the short "Can you take me back" segment that ends "Cry Baby Cry" on most versions of the album, as well as "Los Paranoias" (released on Anthology 3). This quiet song required 67 takes. George Harrison did not play on this. During The Beatles sessions, the Beatles often recorded in separate studios.[1] The 'vocal bass' comes in during the second verse of the song in the monaural version, but is featured from the beginning in the stereo version.
A love song for McCartney's future wife Linda Eastman, "I Will" was one of the songs worked on by The Beatles and their associates while in Rishikesh, India. Although the music came together fairly easily, the words were worked on in India, and remained unfinished even as recording began back in London.[2]
Anthology
In the televised documentary The Beatles Anthology, McCartney, Harrison, and Starr are shown relaxing on a blanket outside. Starr asks McCartney what he wrote in India and McCartney answers, "I Will." Then Harrison begins playing this on his ukulele while he and McCartney harmonize with it.
An alternate version of "I Will" was released in October 1996 on the Anthology 3 album. The alternate version was the first take of the song.
Personnel
- Paul McCartney – vocal, acoustic guitar, "vocal bass"
- John Lennon – percussion
- Ringo Starr – cymbals, bongos, maracas
- Personnel per Ian MacDonald.[1]
Cover versions
- The song was covered as a reggae style number by actor/singer Tim Curry on his 1978 debut album Read My Lips.
- Broadway actress/singer Maureen McGovern included a cover on her 1992 album Baby I'm Yours.
- South African music artist Hugh Masekela covered the song on his 1994 album Reconstruction.
- Bluegrass-country singer/violinist Alison Krauss recorded a cover for her 1995 album Now That I've Found You: A Collection.
- Art Garfunkel covered this song on his 1997 album Songs from a Parent to a Child
- Rose Melberg covered this song on her 1998 album Portola.
- Argentine musician Andres Calamaro covered this song his 2000 album El Salmón Dedo 3.
- Jamaican reggae artist John Holt covered the song for the 2005 compilation Trojan Beatles Tribute Box Set.
- Diana Ross included a rendition of the song on her 2007 album I Love You.
- Daniel Johnston covered the song on his 1983 release More Songs of Pain.
- Indie artist Jonathan Coulton did a cover of the song as part of his Thing A Week.
- Ben Taylor (son of James Taylor and Carly Simon) recorded a cover of the song for the movie Bye Bye Love
- MoccA, Indonesian Story-Telling Pop Band covered this song on album OST Untuk Rena (2005). Reissued by Beatball Records Korea at 2008
Sampling
The trumpet intro from John Holt's cover is the sample used throughout Jay-Z's "Encore" on his 2003 album The Black Album.
Jay-Z's "Encore" would become a mashup on The Grey Album by Danger Mouse in 2004. Ironically, Danger Mouse's mashup of "Encore" did not sample "I Will" even though his album combined various a capella parts of Jay-Z's tracks with instrumental sections from different songs by the Beatles.
Appearances in other media
- The song was sung in the 1994 romantic movie Love Affair, starring Annette Bening and Warren Beatty.
- Garrison Keillor sang the song in an episode of the radio show A Prairie Home Companion.
Notes
- ^ a b MacDonald, Ian (2005). Revolution in the Head: The Beatles' Records and the Sixties (Second Revised Edition ed.). London: Pimlico (Rand). p. 315. ISBN 1-844-13828-3.
- ^ http://www.beatlesbible.com/songs/i-will/
External links
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