You Like Me Too Much
Written by: George Harrison (100%)Recorded: February 17, 1965 (Studio 2, Abbey Road Studios, London, England)
Mixed: February 18 and 23, 1965
Length: 2:34
Takes: 8
Musicians:
John Lennon: acoustic rhythm guitar (1964 Gibson J160E), electric piano (1964 Hohner Pianet)
Paul McCartney: bass guitar (1961 Hofner 500/1), piano (1905 Steinway Vertegrand "Mrs. Mills")
George Harrison: lead vocal, harmony vocal, lead guitar (1962 Gretsch 6119 "Tennessean")
Ringo Starr: drums (Ludwig), tambourine
George Martin: piano (1905 Steinway Vertegrand "Mrs. Mills")
Available on: (CDs in bold)
Help! (UK: Parlophone PMC 1255; PCS 3071; Parlophone CDP 7 46439 2)
Beatles VI, (US: Capitol (S)T 2358, Capitol CDP 0946 3 57499 2 2) Yesterday (EP) (UK: Parlophone GEP 8948)
History:
- This song of George's was composed during the Help! sessions and was almost certainly written about his then-girlfriend, model Pattie Boyd. It's assumed that John Lennon helped George with the song, as was the wont in those days; though the melody, tonality, and lyrical stance are indicative of George's later work, the structure of the song itself bears several hallmarks of John's early compositional style. The fact that John plays electric piano throughout the track may also mean he had some input.
- "You Like Me Too Much" was recorded in seven takes over four hours at the third session for Help!, just after work was completed on "The Night Before." (Note that the Hohner pianet was also used on that song, as well as the following day's "Tell Me What You See.") Take 7 was kept, with an unusual intro and outro added later: Paul and George Martin playing a boogie-woogie riff on the same Steinway at once. (For some reason, Paul's bass was also added later, unusual for those days.) Also of note is George, single-tracked, overdubbing his own harmony.
- In one of the earliest examples of this technique, the Beatles run the Steinway through a Hammond B-3's rotating Leslie speaker, a trick they would come back to over and over again. When the intro ends, you can actually hear the Leslie being switched off!
