Saturday, February 16, 2013

100 DAYS OF THE BEATLES – TOP 100 SONGS – 54



From GoogleImages

NUMBER 54: "Two of Us" (McCartney  May 18, 1970)
Let It Be  Side 2, Track 2

YouTube Video 

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (sans footnotes/references) 


"Two of Us" is a 1969 song by The Beatles, written by Paul McCartney (credited to Lennon–McCartney).

"Two of Us" was originally released on Let It Be and was later released on Anthology 3 and Let It Be... Naked. Its title was used for a film Two of Us about a fictional 1976 reunion between McCartney and Lennon.

History

The song was originally titled "On Our Way Home". McCartney claimed it was dedicated to his wife-to-be Linda Eastman, though the lyrics (e.g.: "you and I have memories/longer than the road that stretches out ahead" or "you and me chasing paper/getting nowhere") sounded to author Ian MacDonald like they were actually addressing Lennon.

An early performance of the song, in a guitar-driven rock style, can be seen in the Let It Be film. Unsatisfied with this style, which McCartney described as "chunky", the band reworked the song around acoustic guitars. The Beatles performed a finished version of the song live at Apple Studios on 31 January 1969; this performance was included in both the Let It Be film and album.

In May 1969, McCartney produced a recording of the song using this title by the group Mortimer, a New York City trio that briefly recorded for Apple, but this recording was never released.


Personnel

Paul McCartney – lead vocal, lead acoustic guitar – Martin D-28
John Lennon – harmony vocal, whistling, rhythm acoustic guitar – Martin D-28
George Harrison – bassline on electric guitar – Fender Telecaster
Ringo Starr – drums

Cultural references

Two of Us is the title of a 2000 VH1 television drama which offers a fictionalized account of 24 April 1976, the day Lorne Michaels ofSaturday Night Live offered the Beatles $3,000 to appear on the program, when by coincidence McCartney was visiting Lennon at his New York apartment and watching the program.

The song was part of the soundtrack for the 2011 film Restless by Gus Van Sant.


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