Words of Love

(Buddy Holly)

Quick Facts

Lead Vocal	John Lennon & Paul McCartney
Recorded	Oct 1964
Length	2:13
Key	A
Noted Takes	3
Producer	George Martin
Engineer	Norman Smith

Originally released on

Beatles for Sale

Beatles for Sale (No. 2)

Parlophone — PMC 1240

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Story

“Words of Love” is a song written by Buddy Holly and originally released by him as a single in 1957. The Beatles’ version, with John and Paul harmonising, was recorded on 18 October 1964 and released on Beatles for Sale. It is “the first and only time the Beatles — Holly lovers to the man — performed one of his songs on record.”

Words of Love is a song by The Beatles, written by Buddy Holly and led on vocal by John Lennon and Paul McCartney in harmony. The only Buddy Holly cover the band recorded officially, it represents the group’s deep reverence for Holly’s songwriting and vocal approach. Within the catalogue, its cover thread connects it to Anna (Go to Him), Chains, Boys; its duet thread connects it to From Me to You, I’ll Get You. The Lennon–McCartney harmony vocal reflects Holly’s own close-miked singing style, and the spare arrangement — rhythm guitar, bass, drums — keeps the vocal interplay at the centre of the recording.

What’s distinctive

At 2:13 it sits in the lower third by length. A non-original — one of 23 cover versions in the canon. Carries the unique tag ‘buddy-holly’ — no other song shares it. Take count: 3 — takes 1–3 were attempted, of which only two were complete; take three, with overdubs added onto take two, was selected as the master. The released recording features double-tracked guitar solos, a technique Holly himself pioneered.^1,2

Recording

Words of Love was recorded on 18 October 1964 at EMI Studios, Abbey Road, Studio Two, during the same marathon session (2.30–11.30pm) that produced Eight Days a Week edit pieces, Kansas City / Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey!, the Mr. Moonlight re-make, I Feel Fine, Everybody’s Trying to Be My Baby, Rock and Roll Music, and Every Little Thing. P: George Martin. E: Norman Smith. 2E: Geoff Emerick. Three takes were attempted, of which only two were complete. “Take three — with overdubs added onto take two — was the ‘best’.” The song is “the first and only time the Beatles — Holly lovers to the man — performed one of his songs on record.”¹
The take-numbering anomaly — “take three — with overdubs added onto take two” — indicates that the released master is a composite: the basic performance on tape is take 2, with additional overdubs logged under take 3. This is a common Lewisohn-era notation for superimposition onto an existing take: the overdub pass gets a new take number even though the underlying performance does not change. The released master is therefore the take-2 basic track plus take-3 overdubs, not a separate third attempt from scratch.¹
The recording features double-tracked guitar solos, noted by Ryan and Kehew as a technique borrowed directly from Holly’s original. Holly had pioneered the layered-guitar approach on his 1957 recording at Norman Petty’s studio in Clovis, New Mexico; the Beatles’ version replicates the effect using the Studer J37 four-track’s overdub capability rather than Holly’s bouncing method. John and Paul harmonise on the vocal in the close-miked Lennon–McCartney duet style, producing a blend that echoes Holly’s own multi-tracked vocal layering.²

Equipment

Studio	EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road (recording, 18 Oct 1964); Studio Two control room (mono mixing, 26 Oct; stereo mixing, 4 Nov)
Tape machine	Telefunken M10 four-track (recording); Telefunken M10 (mixing)²
Console	REDD.51²
Microphones	AKG D19c (drum overhead), AKG D20 (bass drum, bass amp), Neumann U47/U48 (vocals, guitar amps)²
Outboard / effects	EMI RS124 compressor, Fairchild 660²
Guitars	Rickenbacker 325 (Lennon), Gretsch Country Gentleman / Tennessean (Harrison), Höfner 500/1 (McCartney), Ludwig Oyster Black Pearl kit (Starr)
Amplifiers	Vox AC100²

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: Words of Love (takes 1–3). Three takes attempted; only two complete. The released master combines the take-2 basic track with take-3 overdubs. Recorded during the same marathon session that produced seven other songs including Everybody’s Trying to Be My Baby and Rock and Roll Music (both captured in single takes).¹
26 October 1964 (Mon) — mono mixing, EMI Studios, Studio Two control room — P: George Martin. E: Norman Smith. 2E: Tony Clark. Mono mix from take 3.¹
4 November 1964 (Wed) — stereo mixing, EMI Studios, Studio Two control room — P: George Martin. E: Norman Smith. 2E: Mike Stone. Stereo mix from take 3. Prepared without the band present, as was standard for 1964 stereo remixes.¹

“The first and only time the Beatles — Holly lovers to the man — performed one of his songs on record.”— Mark Lewisohn¹

Studio Notes

Double-tracked guitar solos — Ryan and Kehew note that Words of Love features double-tracked guitar solos, replicating the technique that Holly had pioneered on his 1957 original at Norman Petty’s Clovis studio. On the Beatles’ version the double-tracking was achieved using the Studer J37 four-track’s overdub capability — the guitarist (Harrison) played the solo once on the basic track and then overdubbed a second pass onto a separate track, creating the layered effect. Holly had achieved the same result by bouncing between tape machines; the Beatles’ four-track method gave them greater control over the blend of the two passes.²
Buddy Holly’s influence on the Beatles — Lewisohn frames the recording as the band’s sole official Holly cover, though Holly’s influence permeates the Beatles’ catalogue far more deeply: the group’s name was partly inspired by Holly’s Crickets, and Holly’s vocal harmonies and guitar-based song structures shaped Lennon and McCartney’s early compositional style. Words of Love is the only instance where this acknowledged debt took the form of a recorded cover; the band’s other Holly tributes remained confined to their live set and BBC performances.¹
Take-2/take-3 composite master — The released master’s status as a composite (take-2 backing with take-3 overdubs) places it in the same category as other Lewisohn-documented composites from the Beatles for Sale sessions, where superimposition onto a retained backing track was logged with a new take number. The practice distinguishes the Beatles for Sale sessions from the earlier A Hard Day’s Night approach, where most masters were single complete takes selected from a sequence of attempts rather than composites built across take numbers.¹
Marathon session context — Words of Love was one of eight songs recorded or worked on during the 18 October 1964 marathon session (2.30–11.30pm). The session log reads: “Recording: ‘Eight Days A Week’ (takes 14–15); ‘Kansas City’/‘Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey!’ (takes 1–2); ‘Mr. Moonlight’ [re-make] (takes 5–8); ‘I Feel Fine’ (takes…); ‘Everybody’s Trying to Be My Baby’ (take I); ‘Rock and Roll Music’ (take I); ‘Words of Love’ (takes 1–3); ‘Every Little Thing’ (takes 1–3).” The three takes of Words of Love required more work than the single-take covers (Everybody’s Trying to Be My Baby, Rock and Roll Music) but far less than the extended Eight Days a Week and Mr. Moonlight sessions.¹

Releases

1964 UK mono LP Beatles for Sale (4 December 1964, Parlophone PMC 1240, side B track 2) — Released mono master mixed at Studio Two control room, EMI Studios, on 26 October 1964 (from take 3). P: George Martin. E: Norman Smith. 2E: Tony Clark. The mono mix folds the double-tracked guitar solos to centre, concentrating the layered guitar effect into a tighter image than the stereo version.¹
1964 UK stereo LP Beatles for Sale (4 December 1964, Parlophone PCS 3062, side B track 2) — Stereo master mixed at Studio Two control room on 4 November 1964 (from take 3). 2E: Mike Stone. The stereo mix spreads the double-tracked guitar solos across the stereo field. Prepared without the band present, as was standard for 1964 stereo remixes.¹
1965 UK EP Beatles for Sale (No. 2) (4 June 1965, Parlophone GEP 8938) — Mono master from the same 26 October mono mix. One of four tracks on the second Beatles for Sale EP.
1965 US Capitol LP Beatles VI (14 June 1965, Capitol ST 2358) — US release from the same stereo master, with Capitol’s standard mastering-chain EQ adjustments. No documented Capitol-specific remix.
2009 Stereo Remasters — Beatles for Sale (9 September 2009, Apple/EMI) — Allan Rouse / Guy Massey / Steve Rooke 24-bit flat transfer of the 1964 stereo master. The double-tracked guitar solos are preserved unchanged. Mono Masters companion carries the 1964 mono master.

Sources

Mark Lewisohn, The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions (New York: Harmony Books, 1988), 50–51.
Kevin Ryan and Brian Kehew, Recording the Beatles: The Studio Equipment and Techniques Used to Create Their Classic Albums (Houston: Curvebender Publishing, 2006), 370, 385.

Frequently asked

Who wrote Words of Love?

“Words of Love” was written by Buddy Holly.

Who sings lead on Words of Love?

The lead vocal on “Words of Love” is by John Lennon and Paul McCartney in harmony.

When was Words of Love recorded?

“Words of Love” was recorded on 18 October 1964 at EMI Studios, Abbey Road, Studio Two.¹

How many takes did Words of Love require?

Three — takes 1–3 were attempted, only two complete. The released master combines the take-2 basic track with take-3 overdubs.¹

On this page

Story

What’s distinctive

Recording

Equipment

Recording Timeline

Studio Notes

Releases

Sources

Frequently asked