The Beatles released the EP Long Tall Sally in the UK in 1964. It had one Lennon-McCartney original, “I Call Your Name,” and three covers, Little Richard’s “Long Tall Sally” from 1956, Larry Williams’s “Slow Down” from 1958, and Carl Perkins’s “Matchbox” from 1957. Capitol Records, who was the distributor for Beatles music in the US and Canada, took “Long Tall Sally” and “I Call Your Name” and put them on The Beatles’ Second Album, then took “Matchbox” and “Slow Down” and put them on the album Something New with the songs from A Hard Day’s Night and a couple of other songs. Capitol issued “Matchbox” and “Slow Down” as a single in late August 1964.
The single didn’t do as well as most Beatles singles that year: “Matchbox” (which appeared as “Match Box” on the single and its sleeve) only reached #17 in the US and Canada, while “Slow Down” came in at #24. It’s really a lost single, issued when music from A Hard Day’s Night was on everyone’s mind. Naturally, it was my favorite record for a very long time.
“Match Box” was the A side of the record. The Beatles were great fans of Carl Perkins, particularly George Harrison, who learned many of Perkins’s solos while he learned the guitar, and Ringo Starr, who sang two of the three Perkins songs the Fab Four covered (“Honey Don’t” was the other). Coming in at just under two minutes, it was rock ‘n’ roll, Fab Four style.
What I especially like about this:
- That opening. You have two bars of George doing that figure around the A chord before everyone else comes in. That gets your toes tappin’ and your butt shakin’…
- The utter simplicity. Three chords: A7, D7, E7, all played in first position. It doesn’t get much simpler than that.
- The solo. Like so many of George’s solos, simple and to the point, played on his Gretsch Country Gentleman.
- George Martin’s piano. Just enough that you know it’s there. He added it several days after The Beatles recorded the song, but it sounds like he was in the studio with them.
- Ringo’s vocal. Don’t ever tell me that Ringo can’t sing. He has a little trouble with the lyrics, but who cares?
- The end. That last chord, an A 6/9, wraps everything up perfectly.
The flip side, “Slow Down,” is just as noteworthy. Larry Williams was an R&B singer and pianist whose songs The Beatles often covered, including this song, “Dizzy Miss Lizzie,” and “Bad Boy.”
Could I say the same things about this song as I did about “Match Box”? Almost. John did the vocal on this track, but the opening of the song, highlighted by George Martin’s piano, is just as memorable, it’s another three-chord song, George’s solo is, again, to the point, and you have that same 6/9 chord ending this one. Two solid sides of rock ‘n’ roll, Fab Four style.
Maybe the most perfect thing about these sides is that they aren’t perfect. George’s pick hand gets ahead of his fret hand on both solos, and the double-tracked vocal by John on “Slow Down” seems to have a few extra voices in it. They don’t make the record a bad one. If anything, hearing them screw up just underlines how much they’re enjoying themselves. That’s what makes this such a great record.
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These were fun. I don’t know when I would have last heard either of them, if ever. The production and arrangements are just right, and really show off their talents, imo.
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That was the key to them: they were fun, and yes, they showed off the talent that these guys had.
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Pretty good for early works, I can’t say for sure I’d heard either before.
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Yea….some of the highest views have been earlier works…which surprise me in a way.
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They didn’t get a lot of attention when they came out. People were still focused on “A Hard Day’s Night” and waiting on “Beatles ’65” here.
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Sam Cook used the line, “I’m just sittin’ here wonderin’ if a matchbox’d hold my clothes”, in his song Somebody Have Mercy.
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I like when lines are reused like that.
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In the Canned Heat song Going Up the Country they sing “water tastes like wine” and that also appears in the Grateful Dead song Goin’ Down the Road Feeling Bad, which was written by Delaney Bramlett.
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I’ll listen for that… I like Delaney Bramlett
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Two of my favorites for sure. Matchbox comes up in my submission in a day or two.
I love the Beatles version of Slow down better than Williams’ as I feel it has more “meat” to it. I felt the same about their covers of Bad Boy, Dizzy Miss Lizzy, Rock and Roll Music, and so many more…..
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Dizzy Miss Lizzy was one of my first favorites by them.
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John, I like the way you wrote this up, pulling the song apart into your favorite bits. Having the songs be less than flawless is what makes them so precious. I’m reminded of a quote on the album cover of the Woodstock album about the scarring on leather (the imperfect recording of it) is what gives it its character and think it fits here. I feel the same way about The Concert for Bangla Desh.
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Thanks John for the article…and I really like the two songs you picked…songs that don’t get much pub.
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Great breakdown on those songs in a way only a guitar player could. I love these covers, I agree with your assessment the result gives the songs a rawness that I like .
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Good point about not keeping everything perfect! That’s what good rock n roll is supposed to be about. Great read!
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Always impressed when someone knows enough about music to break down the chords and what the guitarist is doing.
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John is really good at that. I’m terrible at breaking stuff down…I just play lol.
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Excellent article, John.
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I like your characterization of “lost single” – while I knew “Matchbox” right away, I’m not sure I had heard “Slow Down” – I probably had but honestly can’t recall.
Both tune are great illustrations what a great rock & roll band The Beatles were. Those gruesome Hamburg days paid off handsomely!
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Slow Down is a great song I have to say…so is Matchbox also…but what a single…and it flew under the radar.
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