4 Cool Songs That Members of The Beatles Wrote for Apple Artists

The Beatles’ timing in starting Apple Records wasn’t the best. Right about the time it was revving up, their own inner drama was demanding much more of their attention. Still, the short-lived label produced some outstanding records.

Members of the Fab Four did indeed help out with these artists on occasion. For example, here are four songs that they wrote that were recorded by Apple acts.

“Come And Get It” by Badfinger

Paul McCartney’s track record of writing and recording hit singles with The Beatles earned him a lot of credibility from Apple acts. In the case of “Come And Get It”, he essentially demanded respect from Badfinger. He wrote the song and then made a full demo of it for the group. He then told them to make the recording of the song sound as close as possible to his demo. Otherwise, he wouldn’t allow them to have the song. Members of Badfinger initially fought against this insistence. But they eventually decided to relent to Macca’s wishes. That turned out to be a smart move. Their recording of the song, faithful to the demo, turned into their first major hit in 1970.

“Goodbye” by Mary Hopkin

A good chunk of time passed between “Those Were The Days”, Mary Hopkin’s smash debut single, and the release of “Goodbye”, the song that delivered her second big hit in 1969. Paul McCartney produced the former and then got caught up with other business before returning his attention to Hopkin. He went one better with “Goodbye”, writing the song as well as producing it. Here was another case where he came in with a demo. Hopkin’s version added some slight embellishments around her piercing lead vocal. McCartney never quite worked with Hopkin again after he disagreed with her decision to move away from pop-oriented material towards a folk-based sound.

“Sour Milk Sea” by Jackie Lomax

Jackie Lomax had recorded with several bands in the 60s. He had gained the interest of Beatles manager Brian Epstein shortly before Epstein’s death in 1967. As a result, he was a natural to be considered as one of Apple’s first signings. In fact, “Sour Milk Sea” by Lomax was one of the first four singles released by the label in 1968. George Harrison wrote the song and recorded a demo with The Beatles during the run-up to the making of The White Album. He backed Lomax on his version of the song, which also included instrumental parts from fellow all-stars Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton, Ringo Starr, and Nicky Hopkins. It’s a churning rocker filled with tidbits of Harrison’s captivating worldview.

“Try Some, Buy Some” by Ronnie Spector

It’s a somewhat forgotten piece of musical history that Ronnie Spector, the legendary voice of The Ronettes, was briefly on the Apple roster. There was hope of a big comeback album for her at the label. Unfortunately, she and husband Phil’s marriage was falling apart at the time, and The Beatles were busy with their solo careers and their post-breakup legal squabbles. She ended up recording just one single, with “Try Some, Buy Some” acting as the A-side. George Harrison wrote the song. When the single failed, Harrison essentially mined it for parts and reused it. He basically sang his own lead over the original instrumental backing and included the mournful song on his 1973 album Living In The Material World.

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