Fact #53236
When:
Short story:
Helen Shapiro, Danny Williams, Kenny Lynch, The Honeys, The Kestrels, Dave Allen and The Red Price Orchestra and The Beatles play at The Granada, Shrewsbury, England, UK, Europe. On the tour bus from York to Shrewsbury, John Lennon and Paul McCartney write From Me To You.
Full article:
John Lennon : The night Paul and I wrote From Me To You, we were on the Helen Shapiro tour, on the coach, travelling from York to Shrewsbury. We weren't taking ourselves seriously – just fooling around on the guitar – when we began to get a good melody line, and we really started to work at it. Before that journey was over, we'd completed the lyric, everything. I think the first line was mine and we took it from there. What puzzled us was why we'd thought of a name like From Me To You. It had me thinking when I picked up the NME to see how we were doing in the charts. Then I realised – we'd got the inspiration from reading a copy on the coach. Paul and I had been talking about one of the letters in the From You To Us column.
(Source : not known)
John Lennon : John Lennon : I think the first line was mine. I mean, I know it was mine. And then after that we took it from there. It was far bluesier than that when we wrote it.
(Source : not known)
Paul McCartney : I personally felt that From Me To You was our first really great song. I can't speak for John. I felt that in From Me To You, something happened in the middle of it, when we go into the bit that starts 'I've got arms that long to hold you…' That change made me think, 'Ooh, God, we're getting all right here.' It was a change we hadn't used before, and it's not that spectacular, but I felt it then, at that point, that something was starting to happen.
(Source : not known)
John Lennon : Paul and I had decided not to do anything too complicated. That's why we always included words like 'me' and 'you' in the titles. It helps listeners to identify with the lyrics.
(Source : not known)
Roger Greenaway (The Kestrels) : The Beatles at this time had had their first number one, and John and Paul were writing songs at the back of the coach. Kenny Lynch, who, at this time, fancied himself as a songwriter, sauntered up to the back of the coach and decided he would help John and Paul write a song. After a period of about half an hour had elapsed and nothing seemed to be coming from the back, Kenny rushed to the front of the coach and shouted, 'Well, that's it. I am not going to write any more of that bloody rubbish with those idiots. They don't know the music from their backsides. That's it! No more help from me!' The song that John and Paul were writing at this time was a track called From Me To You.
(Source : The Beatles Anthology)
Vilma Liddell (The Honeys) : I remember the journey very well. Back in those days, there used to be tours when a number of acts would be put on a bus and we'd travel around the UK. I think the tour started in February and ended in March. We were on the road for a month, with a few days off in between. We started in Bradford and ended in Potteries, with York and Shrewsbury in between.
The Beatles weren't at the top of the bill. Helen Shapiro was a much bigger star. And when we started the tour we couldn't have imagined that they'd go on to achieve such success. They were very raw.
They were always passing lyrics around the coach. On the journey from York to Shrewsbury, they'd pass us scribbles on pieces of paper and ask us what we thought? They were writing songs and were getting the lyrics written down, so that they didn't forget them. Looking back now, I wish I'd kept those lyrics.
(Source : https://www.shropshirestar.com/news/2012/11/22/shrewsburys-link-to-first-no1-for-the-beatles/)
Helen Shapiro : Helen Shapiro : I remember John and Paul coming to me to ask if I'd like to listen to a couple of songs they'd written. They were looking for opinions because they were undecided about which should be the single. We all crowded round a piano and Paul played, while both of them sang the two songs. The one I liked best was From Me To You.
(Source : not known)
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(Source : not known)
John Lennon : John Lennon : I think the first line was mine. I mean, I know it was mine. And then after that we took it from there. It was far bluesier than that when we wrote it.
(Source : not known)
Paul McCartney : I personally felt that From Me To You was our first really great song. I can't speak for John. I felt that in From Me To You, something happened in the middle of it, when we go into the bit that starts 'I've got arms that long to hold you…' That change made me think, 'Ooh, God, we're getting all right here.' It was a change we hadn't used before, and it's not that spectacular, but I felt it then, at that point, that something was starting to happen.
(Source : not known)
John Lennon : Paul and I had decided not to do anything too complicated. That's why we always included words like 'me' and 'you' in the titles. It helps listeners to identify with the lyrics.
(Source : not known)
Roger Greenaway (The Kestrels) : The Beatles at this time had had their first number one, and John and Paul were writing songs at the back of the coach. Kenny Lynch, who, at this time, fancied himself as a songwriter, sauntered up to the back of the coach and decided he would help John and Paul write a song. After a period of about half an hour had elapsed and nothing seemed to be coming from the back, Kenny rushed to the front of the coach and shouted, 'Well, that's it. I am not going to write any more of that bloody rubbish with those idiots. They don't know the music from their backsides. That's it! No more help from me!' The song that John and Paul were writing at this time was a track called From Me To You.
(Source : The Beatles Anthology)
Vilma Liddell (The Honeys) : I remember the journey very well. Back in those days, there used to be tours when a number of acts would be put on a bus and we'd travel around the UK. I think the tour started in February and ended in March. We were on the road for a month, with a few days off in between. We started in Bradford and ended in Potteries, with York and Shrewsbury in between.
The Beatles weren't at the top of the bill. Helen Shapiro was a much bigger star. And when we started the tour we couldn't have imagined that they'd go on to achieve such success. They were very raw.
They were always passing lyrics around the coach. On the journey from York to Shrewsbury, they'd pass us scribbles on pieces of paper and ask us what we thought? They were writing songs and were getting the lyrics written down, so that they didn't forget them. Looking back now, I wish I'd kept those lyrics.
(Source : https://www.shropshirestar.com/news/2012/11/22/shrewsburys-link-to-first-no1-for-the-beatles/)
Helen Shapiro : Helen Shapiro : I remember John and Paul coming to me to ask if I'd like to listen to a couple of songs they'd written. They were looking for opinions because they were undecided about which should be the single. We all crowded round a piano and Paul played, while both of them sang the two songs. The one I liked best was From Me To You.
(Source : not known)