Since The Beatles’ breakup, fans have been desperately hoping to hear new music from the band. Although both John Lennon and George Harrison have not been among the living for years now, the internal chemistry between the Fab Four has led to millions of fans trying to scour the internet for any semblance of a lost track recorded during their prime. Although most of the band’s odds and ends would turn up on their Anthology project, Paul McCartney was hesitant for people to hear some of the material.
Then again, Anthology was not meant to be a long-awaited lost Beatles album by any stretch. In light of Lennon’s induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, though, Yoko Ono decided that it would be a good idea to hand over some of Lennon’s unfinished songs to the rest of the band, working alongside Jeff Lynne to produce songs like ‘Free As a Bird’ and ‘Real Love’.
Featuring a documentary-style series that told the group’s story, the three-disc set ultimately included bits and pieces of dialogue and songs that never got to see the light of day. While much of the band’s later material tended to feature rough mixes of masterpieces like ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’ and ‘Hey Jude’, the first half of their career featured a multitude of covers from their live set as well as tracks that didn’t make the final cut for their albums.
Among the new releases were tapes from their failed Decca audition as well. Before Ringo Starr joined the group, the band played a talent showcase with Pete Best, only for manager Brian Epstein to be told that any chance of a guitar group succeeding in the modern age was unrealistic.
Although the band were comfortable airing some dirty laundry, McCartney had reservations about including the song ‘Besame Mucho’ on the final track. Featuring a melodramatic approach compared to their traditional sound, McCartney didn’t think the song would help his reputation compared to the other Beatles.
Since Macca had been known as the balladeer behind the band’s finest moments, he didn’t like the idea of feeding into the stereotype, telling Club Sandwich, “In Volume One, there are a few songs that I would have preferred not being there, like ‘Besame Mucho’, which portrays me as a cabaret artist, whereas in my soul, I am a rock and roller – although, of course, I have done ‘Till There Was You’, ‘Yesterday’, ‘A Taste Of Honey’ and all these other things”.
McCartney eventually reconsidered at the insistence of the rest of the band, including the song among the fierce rockers in the group’s early catalogue like Chuck Berry’s ‘Rock and Roll Music’ and ‘Roll Over Beethoven’. While Macca may have had issues with being a balladeer, he didn’t have a problem showing his caustic side in the back half of their career.
During their time as a studio band, McCartney would turn in some of the sharpest rock and roll the band would ever make, including the heavy metal prototype ‘Helter Skelter’. That’s not to say that he ever fell out of love with his show-tune side, even performing a half-hearted version of the tune in between takes for the Get Back project. ‘Besame Mucho’ may not be the most emblematic song of the band’s early days, but it helps tell the story of the four lads from Liverpool who went on to conquer the world.
