Devil in Her Heart

"Devil in His Heart" is a song written by American musician Richard B. Drapkin, who released it under the name Ricky Dee in August 1962. It was also covered by the Beatles on their 1963 album With the Beatles, with the title changed to "Devil in Her Heart". [Wikipedia]

Devil in Her Heart is a song by The Beatles, written by Drapkin and led on vocal by George Harrison. Obscure Donays B-side cover; George lead, 'no, no, no' backing chorale. Within the catalogue, its cover thread connects it to Anna (Go to Him), Chains, Boys; its george-vocal thread connects it to Chains, Do You Want to Know a Secret, Roll Over Beethoven. A composition by Don Covay and John Berry, originally recorded by The Donays, 'Devil in Her Heart' was recorded for With the Beatles on 18 July 1963 with George Harrison on lead vocal. The track gave Harrison a vehicle for his lead singing, though his three lead vocals in Beatlemania remain among the era's rarest vocal assignments. The song's mid-tempo pop-soul arrangement suited Harrison's restrained vocal style (Lewisohn 1988, p.30). Harrison devoted most of his microphone time to Chuck Berry's 'Roll Over Beethoven' and the Donays' cover, marking his vocal presence alongside instrumental contributions (Kozinn 1995, p. 71). The Beatles included gender-reversed cover material from Teddy Bears' recordings in their live sets (Kozinn 1995, p. 63).

The session work falls within the band's Beatlemania (1962–1964) period, recorded 18 Jul 1963 at EMI Studios, Abbey Road. George Martin produced; Norman Smith engineered. For session-by-session detail, see Mark Lewisohn's account on p.34 of The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions (excerpt below). Take 5 was selected for the final version, suggesting multiple attempts to achieve the desired vocal character and instrumental balance. George Harrison's vocal sits in a comfortable register without the high-energy demands of Lennon-led rockers. George Martin's arrangement uses economical instrumentation, relying on rhythm section and vocal delivery rather than orchestral embellishment (Lewisohn 1988, p.30). A twelve-bar rock cover featuring Harrison's double-tracked lead vocals, representing the Donays' original arrangement within the Beatles' developing studio approach (MacDonald 1994, p. 41).

In the canonical discography it appears on the LP With the Beatles. Mono and stereo histories vary by era — see the dedicated section below. George Harrison lead vocals appear in 19 canon songs (4 in Beatlemania), making this one of his three Beatlemania lead vocal recordings. As a cover of pop-soul material, the track provided Harrison with lead vocal opportunity within his comfort zone and reinforced the Beatles' pattern of rotating lead-vocal assignments across the three primary singers (Lewisohn 1988, p.30). The recording from 18 July 1963 survives as a twin-track second-generation master; later BBC and bootleg releases document vocal positioning changes between mono and stereo mixes.

Other recordings sharing era, vocalist, writer, key, studio, or producer with this one. Higher scores indicate stronger overlap on documented attributes.

• Do You Want to Know a Secret (score 10)
• Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby (score 10)
• I'm Happy Just to Dance with You (score 10)
• Chains (score 8)
• Don't Bother Me (score 8)
• Roll Over Beethoven (score 8)
• All I've Got to Do (score 7)
• All My Loving (score 7)