For No One

Hey guys, I decided to write a little bit about a Beatles song, but how does one decide which song to write about, when there are so many great songs to pick from? Well I turned on my IPod, opened The Beatles, shuffle all, and clicked next song six times (Because it is the sixth of September) and ended on For No One. I’m just going to walk a bit over some facts related to the song, so yea, here goes.

For No One is a McCartney song (Credited to Lennon/McCartney, of course), it is the tenth track (or third on the b-side) on the 1966 album Revolver.

McCartney wrote the song in March 1966, on a skiing holiday, with his girlfriend Jane Asher, in the Swiss Alps. The song is melancholic song about a breakup, with the original title “Why Did It Die?” It is very likely that an argument between Paul and Jane was the inspiration for this song.

The recording sessions for the song took place during the first half of May, 1966. Paul and Ringo recorded it on their own, with Paul playing bass, clavichord and piano, Ringo on drums and tambourine.

The horn solo of the song is what makes for the most interesting part of this story, as well as gives the song the perfect feel. George Martin asked Paul to hum out the melody, Martin writing out the score. When it was finished, Martin pointed out that the higher notes were beyond the range of the horn, but remarked that “these good players, they can play above the range”, so they gave it a shot.
Dennis Brian, the best horn player in all of Britain, was originally assigned for the task. However he died, unfortunately, in a car crash before the session and was replaced by Alan Civil.
George excitingly joining them in the studio, for the day of horn session. Before they started, Alan Civil looked skeptically at Paul and George and asked “Eh, George? I think there's a mistake here - you've got a high F written down”, they just smiled back and replied “yeah” and he knew what they were up to and played it.

After Civil had played it, Paul didn't realized how brilliant it was and asked him if he could do it better, Civil nearly exploded in rage, because it was the best he could do and it is how it sounds today.

Thank you for reading, stay tuned for more.

Cheers.

References:
Miles, Barry: Many Years From Now (1998) pp. 288-289
Macdonald, Ian: Revolution In the Head (2002) p. 195
http://www.beatlesbible.com/songs/for-no-one/