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I'll Follow the Sun

(Lennon/McCartney)

Quick Facts

Lead Vocal	Paul
Recorded	18 Oct 1964
Length	1:48
Key	C
Noted Takes	8
Producer	George Martin
Engineer	Norman Smith

Originally released on

Beatles for Sale

Parlophone — PMC 1240

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Story

“I'll Follow the Sun” is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, written by Paul McCartney and released in December 1964 on the album Beatles for Sale. McCartney’s earliest canonical composition, it was written when he was just sixteen years old in the front parlour of 20 Forthlin Road, Liverpool. The song sat unrecorded for several years — not considered strong enough during the group’s early sessions — before being revived for the Beatles for Sale album.

The wistful acoustic ballad exemplifies McCartney’s precocious melodic gift. Within the Beatles catalogue, its acoustic thread connects it to later McCartney compositions such as “Things We Said Today,” “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away,” and “I’ve Just Seen a Face.” The spare arrangement — acoustic guitar, bass, a lead guitar solo, and leg-slapping in place of drums — distinguished it from most Beatles for Sale material and reflected George Martin’s recognition that the song’s inherent melodic quality needed minimal production.

What’s distinctive

McCartney’s earliest canonical composition, written aged 16. The recording is notable for Ringo’s unconventional percussion: he slapped the tops of his legs instead of playing his kit, which was too aggressive for the song’s intimate acoustic arrangement. A microphone was placed between his knees with the high-frequency EQ cranked to capture the percussive snap.¹²

Recording

Paul McCartney wrote “I'll Follow the Sun” at the age of sixteen in the front parlour of 20 Forthlin Road, Liverpool. It was one of the earliest songs in the Lennon–McCartney catalogue, but the group did not consider it strong enough to record during their initial sessions. The song was revived for the Beatles for Sale album in October 1964, by which point McCartney’s compositional confidence had grown considerably.¹
The song was recorded in a single session on 18 October 1964, a marathon Sunday at EMI Studios that also produced “Kansas City/Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey!,” “Eight Days a Week” edit pieces (takes 14–15), “I Feel Fine,” “She’s a Woman,” and five other recordings. Lewisohn documents eight takes, with take 8 marked ‘best.’¹
The arrangement evolved across the eight takes. Earlier takes featured acoustic guitar throughout, with no electric guitar solo. Take 8 was the first to incorporate the lead guitar solo that appears on the released version — a late addition that transformed the song’s middle section.¹
Ringo Starr did not play his drum kit on the recording. The standard kit was too aggressive for the song’s quiet acoustic arrangement, so instead he slapped the tops of his legs in time. A microphone was placed between his knees, and the signal’s high-frequency EQ was cranked to bring out the percussive snap of each slap.¹²
George Harrison played the lead guitar solo, overdubbed on track 4 of the four-track tape. The solo replaced the acoustic guitar that had accompanied earlier takes, giving the song its distinctive contrast between the spare acoustic verses and the brief electric interjection.²
Kehew and Ryan document the four-track layout as: Track 1 — acoustic guitar and drums (leg-slapping); Track 2 — electric guitar; Track 3 — vocals; Track 4 — guitar solo. This layout reflects the overdub sequence: the basic acoustic performance was captured first, with the electric guitar and solo added afterward.²
Like “Eight Days a Week,” the recording was made on the Telefunken M10 four-track. Kehew and Ryan specifically name “I'll Follow The Sun” among the songs recorded to the M10 in 1964.²
The mono mix was completed on 21 October 1964, three days after the recording session. The stereo mix followed on 4 November 1964. Both mixes were made from take 8.¹
The spare arrangement and absence of conventional drums made “I'll Follow the Sun” one of the most acoustically intimate tracks on Beatles for Sale — a counterpoint to the harder-edged rock and roll covers that dominated the album’s second side.¹

Equipment

Studio	EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road (recording, 18 Oct 1964); Room 65 (mono mixing, 21 Oct); Studio Two control room (stereo mixing, 4 Nov)
Tape machine	Telefunken M10 four-track (recording); EMI BTR2 ¼″ (mono mixdown); EMI BTR3 ¼″ (stereo mixdown)²
Console	REDD.51 (Studio Two)²
Microphones	AKG D19c (drum overhead position — not used conventionally; see leg-slap technique), AKG D20 (bass amp), Neumann U47/U48 (acoustic guitar, electric guitar, vocals)²
Outboard / effects	RS124 compressor (Altec 436B mod, Main Faders I–II), Fairchild 660 limiter (Main Faders III–IV)²
Guitars	Epiphone Texan FT-79 or similar flattop acoustic (McCartney), Höfner 500/1 violin bass (McCartney), Gretsch 6122 Country Gentleman (Harrison — solo)²
Amplifiers	Vox AC100 Super De-Luxe (Harrison, solo only); Vox AC100 bass rig (McCartney)²
Percussion	No drum kit — Ringo slapped the tops of his legs; mic between knees, high-frequency EQ boosted¹
Monitoring	RLS10 “White Elephant” speaker (studio overdub playback)²

Recording Timeline

18 October 1964 (Sun) — recording, EMI Studios, Studio Two — Studio Two: 2.30–11.30pm. P: George Martin. E: Norman Smith. 2E: Geoff Emerick. Recording: I'll Follow The Sun (takes 1–8). Take 8 marked ‘best.’ The marathon session also produced “Kansas City/Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey!,” “Eight Days a Week” edit pieces, “I Feel Fine,” “She’s a Woman,” and several others. Earlier takes featured acoustic guitar throughout; the electric guitar solo was introduced on take 8.¹
21 October 1964 (Wed) — mono mixing, EMI Studios, Room 65 — Room 65: 2.30–5.45pm. P: George Martin. E: Norman Smith. 2E: Ron Pender. Mono mixing: I'll Follow The Sun (from take 8).¹
4 November 1964 (Wed) — stereo mixing, EMI Studios, Studio Two (control room only) — P: George Martin. E: Norman Smith. 2E: Mike Stone. Stereo mixing: I'll Follow The Sun (from take 8).¹
4 December 1964 (Fri) — LP release: Beatles for Sale — Parlophone PMC 1240 (mono) / PCS 3062 (stereo). I'll Follow the Sun as track 4, side A (track 4 of 14).¹

“I wrote that in my front parlour in Forthlin Road. I was quite young, I think about 16. I remember writing it at my dad's house.”— Paul McCartney, in conversation with Mark Lewisohn¹

Studio Notes

Leg-slapping percussion — unconventional solution to an arrangement problem — Ringo’s standard Ludwig kit was too aggressive for the song’s acoustic character. Instead, he slapped the tops of his legs in time with the music. Norman Smith placed a microphone between Ringo’s knees and cranked the high-frequency EQ to capture the sharp, percussive crack of each slap. The resulting sound sits behind the acoustic guitar in the mix, providing rhythm without overwhelming the delicate arrangement.¹²
Take evolution — acoustic to electric — The eight takes document a progressive refinement of the arrangement. Takes 1 through 7 featured acoustic guitar throughout, with no electric solo section. Take 8 was the first to introduce George Harrison’s lead guitar solo on track 4, transforming the song’s middle section and providing the contrast between acoustic verses and the brief electric interjection that defines the released version.¹
M10 four-track — same machine, same era — Like “Eight Days a Week,” “A Hard Day’s Night,” and “I Feel Fine,” the recording was made on the Telefunken M10 four-track, the newer of Abbey Road’s two Telefunken machines. Kehew and Ryan specifically name “I'll Follow The Sun” in their catalogue of M10 recordings.²
REDD.51 routing — The same Main Fader / compressor-limiter assignment used for all Studio Two sessions in this period applied: RS124 Altec compressors on Main Faders I–II (backing tracks), Fairchild 660 limiters on Main Faders III–IV (vocals). The four-track layout — T1 acoustic guitar + leg percussion, T2 electric guitar, T3 vocals, T4 guitar solo — mapped directly to this routing.²
Minimal production philosophy — The absence of conventional drums, the single vocal track (no double-tracking), and the limited overdubbing made “I'll Follow the Sun” one of the most acoustically transparent recordings on Beatles for Sale. George Martin’s production approach recognised that the song’s inherent melodic quality needed no embellishment.¹
Echo chamber — dry-to-tape standard — As with all Studio Two sessions from early 1964 onward, the recording was made dry to tape; any chamber reverb was added during the mixing sessions. Norman Smith had stopped printing the chamber to tape during recording at the start of 1964, giving greater flexibility at the mix stage.²
Marathon session productivity — The 18 October session ran from 2.30pm to 11.30pm and produced an extraordinary volume of work. In addition to “I'll Follow the Sun,” the group recorded “Kansas City/Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey!,” edit pieces for “Eight Days a Week,” the complete backing track and vocals for “I Feel Fine” and “She’s a Woman,” and several other recordings. Geoff Emerick, working as second engineer, recalled the session as one of the most productive he witnessed.¹³

Releases

1964 UK mono LP Beatles for Sale (4 December 1964, Parlophone PMC 1240, side A track 4 / overall track 4) — Released mono master from take 8 (18 October 1964), mixed 21 October 1964.¹
1964 UK stereo LP Beatles for Sale (4 December 1964, Parlophone PCS 3062, side A track 4 / overall track 4) — Stereo master from take 8, mixed 4 November 1964.¹
1965 US LP Beatles ’65 (15 December 1964, Capitol T 2228 / ST 2228, side A track 4) — US album release preceding the UK by a few weeks in market terms.¹
2009 Stereo Remasters — Beatles for Sale (9 September 2009, Apple/EMI) — Allan Rouse / Guy Massey / Steve Rooke 24-bit flat transfer of the original stereo master.

Sources

Mark Lewisohn, The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions (New York: Harmony Books, 1988), 53–54.
Kevin Ryan and Brian Kehew, Recording the Beatles: The Studio Equipment and Techniques Used to Create Their Classic Albums (Houston: Curvebender Publishing, 2006), 370, 379–82.
Geoff Emerick and Howard Massey, Here, There and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of the Beatles (New York: Gotham Books, 2006), ch. 7 (the 18 October 1964 session).

Frequently asked

Who wrote I'll Follow the Sun?

Paul McCartney wrote “I'll Follow the Sun” at the age of 16 in the front parlour of 20 Forthlin Road, Liverpool. It carries the standard Lennon–McCartney credit.¹

How many takes did I'll Follow the Sun require?

Eight takes. Lewisohn documents takes 1–8 on 18 October 1964, with take 8 marked ‘best.’¹

Why doesn't Ringo play drums on I'll Follow the Sun?

Ringo’s standard kit was too aggressive for the song’s quiet acoustic arrangement. Instead, he slapped the tops of his legs in time, with a microphone placed between his knees and the signal’s high-frequency EQ cranked to bring out the percussive snap.¹²

Who plays the guitar solo on I'll Follow the Sun?

George Harrison plays the lead guitar solo, overdubbed on track 4. Earlier takes featured acoustic guitar throughout; the electric solo was a late addition to the arrangement.¹²

On this page

Story

What’s distinctive

Recording

Equipment

Recording Timeline

Studio Notes

Releases

Sources

Frequently asked