We can work it out

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"According to Steve Turner’s book “A Hard Day’s Write,” “John had been principal writer of the Beatles’ last five singles and so it was generally agreed that it was Paul’s turn to come up with something"." I dont think The Beatles chose their singles by taking turns. They chose the most commercial songs.In fact, Paul already had his "turn" before Paperback Writer, because We can work it out ( it was released as double A side single with Day Tripper, but djs and the buying public "chose" we can work it out as the leading side) was mostly McCartney´s song, not Lennon. We can work it out is the start of McCartney´s dominace in writing the A sides of the group´s singles , Paperback writer was his second move.

Posted by Sebastian Mora on November 29, 2011 at 8:29 AM under

• 1 comment

Dave on November 30, 2011 at 6:57 AM said:

I basically agree with you. However, the above quote from Steve Turner's book is a recollection from British dj Jimmy Savile who claims to have been present the day Paul was inspired to write "Paperback Writer." Since he's giving an eyewitness account, either Savile's recollections were mistaken or John and Paul had a discussion in Saville's presence related to John giving Paul the responsibility to write the next hit. When Paul came into the studio shortly afterward proclaiming, "Gather 'round lads, and listen to our next single," this could easily have been the results of the earlier decision that Paul would write the next hit. Another case in point is that, although "djs and the buying public 'chose' we can work it out as the leading side" as you stated, this was primarily the result in the US, not Britain. In John and Paul's minds, "Day Tripper" may have been the primary track from the previous "double a-side" single. One can point to them continuing to perform "Day Tripper" live throughout the remainder of their concert career, not "We Can Work It Out." The "dominance" you mention is something that we all can look back on retrospectively and accept as true. How they viewed it in early 1966 may very well have been quite another story. So, basically I agree with you but, in order to be complete, I needed to include this interesting eyewitness account. Thanks for your input.

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