Which rock band do you think is the most iconic and influential? I am sure everyone has their own opinion of which rock band is the most iconic however, I am also sure that many people would take the name of the fab four, The Beatles. According to Insider, the Beatles are the most popular band ever.
Formed back in the 1960s, the Beatles still are the UK Albums Chart record holder for most No.1 albums. Not to mention, they are the only band to sell more than 600 million records globally, which again proves that the Beatles are the most influential band ever.
Looking at it now we might think that the band was flawless and could do any kind of music and sing any song, however, if you also think the same then you have never been so wrong because there is a song that even the greatest band could not sing. So what song could they not sing? we will find out as we discuss further in the article.
What is the song that the Beatles just couldn’t sing?
It is pure talent and hard work that they are in the position they are now because they did not take any music classes, they all learned to play instruments and music on their own. This is the reason none of them couldn’t read music nor could they write, which the co-lead vocalist of the band John Lennon revealed in an interview with Playboy back in 1980.
Lennon said, “None of us could read music… None of us can write it, but as pure musicians, as inspired humans to make the noise, they [Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr] are as good as anybody.”
Back in 1965, the song “That Means A Lot” was released and it was written in partnership with Lennon and McCartney however, they could not sing the song, or rather they did not like their version so they let P.J. Proby sing it which was placed on number 24 on the NME chart.
Originally this song was supposed to be part of their album Help! however, when they recorded the song they were not pleased. Furthermore, talking about the song John Lennon said, “This song is a ballad which Paul and I wrote for the film but we found we just couldn’t sing it. In fact, we made a hash of it, so we thought we’d better give it to someone who could do it well.”
Back then McCartney thought that they will never release their version of the song, however, in 1996 after decades the Beatles released a new album Anthology 2 after their reunion as they had split up and in the album they included their version of That Means A Lot.
So few of you may be wondering why did they give P.J. Proby to sing? well, according to McCartney, there were many artists who wanted to sing their songs and they would ask McCartney if they have anything. In his book “Paul McCartney: Many Years from Now,” McCartney talked to Barry Miles and said, “Normally I’d try and bury these songs and not put them out, but there was so much pressure from people, they’d say, ‘Have you got anything? I’d say, ‘I have, but you really don’t want to see them.’ They’d say, ‘I do! Believe me, I think I can make a good job of it, and your name on it would be a big plus.’ So PJ Proby, a friend of ours that we met during the Jack Good television show that we did, Round The Beatles, wanted to do it, so I gave it to him. He had a minor hit with it.”
Well, whatever it was, I think that the fans would have rather loved to hear the song from the Beatles and finally, they got to after many years. You can listen to the song below.
