''The Songs Lennon and McCartney Gave Away'' is a conceptual

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...

containing the original artist recordings of songs composed by John Lennon and Paul McCartney in the 1960s that they had elected not to release as Beatles songs. The album was released in the UK in 1979. With the exception of "

I'm the Greatest "I'm the Greatest" is a song written by English musician John Lennon that was released as the opening track of the 1973 album '' Ringo'' by Ringo Starr. With Starr, Lennon and George Harrison appearing on the track, it marks the only time th ...

", a

Ringo Starr Sir Richard Starkey (born 7 July 1940), known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, singer, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the ...

album track written for him by John Lennon in 1973, all songs were recorded and released as singles during the active Beatles years in the 1960s. There are three songs written by Paul McCartney when the Beatles were together that are not in this compilation: “ Thingumybob", recorded by

Black Dyke Mills Band Black Dyke Band, formerly John Foster & Son Black Dyke Mills Band, is one of the oldest and best-known brass bands in the world. It originated as multiple community bands founded by John Foster at his family's textile mill in Queensbury, West ...

, "

Goodbye Goodbye, Good bye, or Good-bye is a parting phrase and may refer to: Film * ''Goodbye'' (1918 film), a British drama directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Goodbye'' (1995 film) (''Tot Ziens!''), a Dutch film directed by Heddy Honigmann * ''Goodbye'' ...

", recorded by

Mary Hopkin Mary Hopkin (born 3 May 1950), credited on some recordings as Mary Visconti from her marriage to Tony Visconti, is a Welsh singer-songwriter best known for her 1968 UK number 1 single "Those Were the Days". She was one of the first artists ...

, and " Come and Get It", recorded by

Badfinger Badfinger were a Welsh rock band formed in Swansea, who were active from the 1960s to the 1980s. Their best-known lineup consisted of Pete Ham (vocals, guitar), Mike Gibbins (drums), Tom Evans (bass), and Joey Molland (guitar). They are recog ...

. A similar but less comprehensive compilation, ''The Stars Sing Lennon & McCartney'', had been released on EMI's mid-price Music for Pleasure label in 1971.

Background

Lennon and McCartney started writing songs together in the late 1950s and by 1963 were prolific composers who wrote songs for the Beatles and also for other artists.Spitz, Bob (2005). ''The Beatles: The Biography. Little, Brown and Company''. There were broadly three categories of Lennon–McCartney songs that were not released by the Beatles: *Recordings by the Beatles of Lennon–McCartney songs that the group ultimately decided not to release. *Lennon–McCartney songs that the Beatles deemed unsuitable for the group at the outset and did not even attempt to record themselves. *Songs that had been intentionally written for other artists. In the earliest days of their songwriting partnership, Lennon and McCartney expressed a desire to emulate the success of composing duos such as Goffin & King and

Leiber & Stoller Lyricist Jerome Leiber (April 25, 1933 – August 22, 2011) and composer Michael Stoller (born March 13, 1933) were American songwriting and record producing partners. They found success as the writers of such crossover hit songs as " Hound Dog" ( ...

in having their compositions recorded by other artists, so this was an aspect of the songwriting craft that they were interested in pursuing. With the encouragement of the Beatles' manager

Brian Epstein Brian Samuel Epstein (; 19 September 1934 – 27 August 1967) was a British music entrepreneur who managed the Beatles from 1962 until his death in 1967. Epstein was born into a family of successful retailers in Liverpool, who put him i ...

, they supplied some of their songs deemed unsuitable for the Beatles to fellow artists, several of whom were also managed by Epstein and were friends of the Beatles. Once the Beatles' initial success in early-mid 1963 mushroomed into a phenomenon, there was great interest in songs written by the Beatles "in-house" writing duo. Artists began clamouring to secure original Lennon–McCartney songs knowing that there would automatically be media and public interest in such songs. The quality of the songs and the subsequent commercial success of such songs added to the demand by artists for even more compositions.

Track listing

Notes:

Artwork

McCartney's profile in the artwork for the front cover reused a portion of the illustration from the Beatles' album ''

Revolver A revolver (also called a wheel gun) is a repeating handgun that has at least one barrel and uses a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartridge) for firing. Because most revolver models hold up to six roun ...

'', and Lennon's profile is a drawing that duplicated the back-cover photograph from his album ''

Imagine Imagine may refer to: * Imagination Music Albums * ''Imagine'' (Armin van Buuren album), 2008 * ''Imagine'' (Eva Cassidy album), 2002 * ''Imagine'' (Janice Vidal album), 2012 * ''Imagine'' (John Lennon album), 1971 ** ''Imagine: John Lennon' ...

''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Songs Lennon And Mccartney Gave Away, The 1979 compilation albums Pop compilation albums Rock compilation albums EMI Records compilation albums

Background

Track listing

Artwork

See also

References