Anna (Go to Him)

"Anna (Go to Him)"
Single by Arthur Alexander
B-side "I Hang My Head and Cry"
Released September 17, 1962
Genre Soul
Length 2:48
Label Dot Records
Songwriter(s) Arthur Alexander
Producer(s) Noel Ball[1]
Arthur Alexander singles chronology
"Soldier of Love (Lay Down Your Arms)"
(1962)		 "Anna (Go to Him)"
(1962)		 "Go Home Girl"
(1962)

"Anna (Go to Him)", or simply "Anna", is a song written and originally recorded by Arthur Alexander. His version was released as a single by Dot Records on September 17, 1962. A cover version was performed by English rock group The Beatles and included on their 1963 debut album Please Please Me.

Background

According to Richie Unterberger, music critic for AllMusic:

'Anna' was one of the great early soul ballads, even if its loping groove was closer to a mid-tempo song than a slow ballad. Like several of Alexander's songs, it would come to be more famous in its cover version than through its original release. And it was actually a small hit when it first came out in 1962, getting to #68 in the pop charts and #10 in the R&B listings.[2][3]

Critic Dave Marsh rates Alexander's "Anna (Go to Him)" as one of the top 1001 singles of all time.[1] He praises the "gently swinging rhythm," the tough, syncopated drumming, and Alexander's vocal, particularly at the beginning of the refrain, suggesting that John Lennon may have learned to sing ballads like "In My Life" by listening to Alexander's performance.[1]

Despite the title, throughout the song the lyric is "go with him" rather than "go to him".

The Beatles' version

"Anna (Go to Him)"
Cover of Japanese EP
Song by the Beatles
from the album Please Please Me
Released March 22, 1963
Recorded February 11, 1963
Length 2:54
Label Parlophone
Songwriter(s) Arthur Alexander
Producer(s) George Martin

A personal favourite of John Lennon,[4] it became part of the Beatles' early repertoire and was consequently recorded by them for their 1963 debut album, Please Please Me.[5] It is the first song released by the group which specifically names a girl. In the U.S., Vee Jay Records released it on Introducing... The Beatles (January 10, 1964) and Capitol Records re-released it on The Early Beatles (March 22, 1965).[6] Vee Jay also released "Anna (Go to Him)" on the EP Souvenir of Their Visit: The Beatles in the US[7]

The band recorded the song on February 11, 1963 in three takes; Take 3 was the master. It was remixed on February 25.[8] George Harrison played the distinctive phrase on guitar; Floyd Cramer played it on piano for the original.[9]

Unterberger praised the Beatles' version in his review, saying:

Ringo Starr faithfully [replicates] the unusual drum rhythm and hi-hat crunches. Lennon's vocal, however, added a tortured pain not present in Alexander's model, particularly when he wailed in his upper register at the conclusion of the bridges. The Beatles' backup harmony vocals, in addition, were superb, and more effective [than on Alexander's version].[2]

Music critic Ian MacDonald had a different view of Lennon's vocal delivery, saying it sounded like "a passionate youth grappling with a man's song".[9] As noted in many references including Mark Lewisohn's The Beatles Recording Sessions, Lennon had a bad cold on the day of recording which had an effect on his voice.

They recorded "Anna (Go to Him)" on June 17, 1963 for the BBC radio show Pop Go the Beatles. The show was broadcast on June 25. They recorded it once again on August 1, 1963 for the show broadcast on August 27.[10]

Personnel

Engineered by Norman Smith

Personnel for studio album version per Ian MacDonald[9][11]

Humble Pie's version

On their 1974 album, Thunderbox, Humble Pie also covered the song, it was their seventh studio album. Their version is more in a rhythm and blues style, with chorists The Blackberries, Carlena Williams, Venetta Fields and Billie Barnum. And instead of singing Go to him, Marriott preferred to sing Go with him.

Personnel

- The Blackberries :

  • Carlena Williams, Venetta Fields and Billie Barnum : Back vocals.

In the 1991 episode "Oldies But Young 'Uns" (S5E17) of the TV show Married... with Children, the plot revolves around Al Bundy's struggle to recall the name of the song.[12] The original version is played over the credits at the end of the episode.[12]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Marsh, D. (1999). The Heart of Rock and Soul. Da Capo Press. p. 320. ISBN 9780306809019.
  2. 1 2 Unterberger, Richie. "Review of "Anna (Go to Him)"". AllMusic. Retrieved October 14, 2018.
  3. ↑ "Arthur Alexander Billboard Singles". AllMusic. Retrieved March 18, 2007.
  4. ↑ Harry, Bill (2000). The Beatles Encyclopedia: Revised and Updated. London: Virgin Publishing. pp. 28–29. ISBN 0-7535-0481-2.
  5. ↑ Lewisohn, Mark (1988). The Beatles Recording Sessions. New York: Harmony Books. p. 200. ISBN 0-517-57066-1.
  6. ↑ Lewisohn, Mark (1988). The Beatles Recording Sessions. p. 201.
  7. ↑ Cross, Craig (2005). The Beatles: Day-by-Day, Song-by-Song, Record-by-Record. Lincoln, NE: iUniverse, Inc. p. 544. ISBN 0-595-34663-4.
  8. ↑ Lewisohn, Mark (1988). The Beatles Recording Sessions. pp. 24, 26.
  9. 1 2 3 MacDonald, Ian (2005). Revolution in the Head: The Beatles' Records and the Sixties (Second Revised ed.). London: Pimlico (Rand). pp. 72–73. ISBN 1-84413-828-3.
  10. ↑ Harry, Bill (2000). The Beatles Encyclopedia: Revised and Updated. pp. 877–878.
  11. ↑ "Anna (Go To Him)". The Beatles Bible. Retrieved 2016-09-26.
  12. 1 2 Leszczak, Bob (2013). Who Did It First?: Great Rhythm and Blues Cover Songs and Their Original Artists. Scarecrow Press. p. 7. ISBN 978-0-8108-8866-1.
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