Today’s Beatles Song of the Day is “Anna {Go To Him} which is the third song on their debut album “Please Please Me” Eight of the fourteen songs on the album are Lennon-McCartney tunes this song is one of the six cover songs that they put on this album. “Anna” was written by a black singer from Alabama Arthur Alexander. John Lennon was a big fan of this song and he would sing the song on this album. Arthur Alexander was the same age as Lennon but his version sounds like a much older , mature  and more worldwise man singing it. Alexander’s original outshines The Beatles version. Which is  not to say that The Beatles didn’t make some outstanding covers. “Twist and Shout” would be the greatest Beatle song of them covering another artists song.

John Lennon:vocal, acoustic rhythm guitar/ Paul McCartney:backing vocal and bass/ George Harrison:backing vocal and lead guitar/ Ringo Starr: drums. The song was recorded on February 11th,1963 at Abbey Road. Produced by George Martin.

My ranking of “Anna {Go To Him} on my scale of 1 to 5 stars  **

• Anna {Go To Him} was never released by The Beatles as a single.
• The song clocked in a 2:56.
• Anna does not make the Top 100 Beatles Songs list by Rolling Stone Magazine or The 100 Best Beatles Songs by Spignesi and Lewis.
• Arthur Alexander had written and recorded this song a year earlier. John Lennon said that Arthur Alexander influenced his writing in the early days.

Arthur Alexander’s original version of “Anna” link below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihsfVEFvrxA

“Anna (Go To Him)” by Arthur Alexander