Any Time at All

Any TIme at All is not one of the most widely-known Beatles hits of 1964. Yet, it provides some very interesting insights into their music. Lennon wrote this song in May of 1964, and McCartney collaborated on the middle 8. When recording time came, they still had not come up with lyrics for that section, so McCartney improvised some piano chords with lead guitar from George, and that is how the song remained. Lennon said it was essentially a rewrite of It Won't Be Long, as both songs vary between a tonic C and Am. The song sandwiches in two verses and a bridge between four rounds of the chorus. The chord progression of the bridge differs from the chords in the verses, something unusual for the Beatles and otherwise almost unheard of at the time in pop music. Lennon's voice on the verses is lyrical, but raises in the choruses to what he rightly called "a shout." The lyrics are reminiscent of Lennon's All I Have to Do. It is not known why Capitol records chose to keep this song as an "album filler" and not release it on a single, since it is clearly superior to a song like Matchbox, which Capitol did release. Beatles fans easily agree that Capitol missed the boat several times during this early period. The day after recording Any Time at All Ringo went into hospital because of tonsilitis.