The Beatles didn’t always get it right first time. When writing or recording songs, they quite often used working titles instead of the ones now familiar to millions of listeners. (Beatlesbible)
When the Beatles recorded there, it was the EMI London Recording Studio. The name was changed (and a zebra crossing logo developed) after the album was released, Abbey Road suddenly became the most famous recording studio in the world. Staff members became celebrities when people found out they worked there.
These titles were often closely related to the final version. Several times, however – particularly with George Harrison’s songs – a simple ‘Untitled’ was used, and occasionally the working titles were far removed from the final version.
Here is a list, in the order in which they were used between 1963 and 1969, of the working titles used by The Beatles in the studio. The first titles listed were those noted on the studio notes and tape boxes at the time, followed by the titles as eventually used on the single and album releases.
Some of the entries – notably ‘Scrambled Eggs’, ‘That’s A Nice Hat’ and ‘Miss Daisy Hawkins’ – were never used in the studio, but were the names by which the songs were known during the songwriting process.
Working title / Published title
Songs
‘Seventeen’: ‘I Saw Her Standing There’
‘Thank You Little Girl’: ‘Thank You Girl’
‘Get You In The End’: ‘I’ll Get You’
‘Auntie Jin’s Theme’: ‘I’ve Just Seen A Face’
YouTube
‘Scrambled Eggs’: ‘Yesterday’
‘That’s A Nice Hat’: ‘It’s Only Love’ ’YouTube
‘This Bird Has Flown’: ‘Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)’
‘Won’t Be There With You’: ‘Think For Yourself’
‘Mark I’: ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’
‘Granny Smith’: ‘Love You To’
‘You Don’t Get Me’: ‘And Your Bird Can Sing’
‘Miss Daisy Hawkins’: ‘Eleanor Rigby’ ’YouTube
‘Why Did It Die?’: ‘For No One’YouTube
‘Laxton’s Superb’: ‘I Want To Tell You’
‘I Don’t Know’: I Want To Tell You YouTube
‘A Good Day’s Sunshine’: ‘Good Day Sunshine’
‘He Said He Said’: ‘She Said She Said’ YouTube
‘It’s Not Too Bad’: ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’
‘Untitled’: ‘Penny Lane’YouTube
‘In The Life Of…’: ‘A Day In The Life’
‘Not Known’: ‘Only A Northern Song’YouTube
‘Untitled’: ‘Within You Without You’
‘Bad Finger Boogie’: ‘With A Little Help From My Friends’
‘Too Much’: ‘It’s All Too Much’
‘Aerial Tour Instrumental’: ‘Flying’
‘Hello Hello’: ‘Hello, Goodbye’
‘Untitled’: ‘The Inner Light’
‘Revolution’: ‘Revolution 1’
‘Ringo’s Tune (Untitled)’: ‘Don’t Pass Me By’
‘This Is Some Friendly’: Don’t Pass Me By
‘Untitled’: ‘Everybody’s Got Something To Hide Except Me And My Monkey’
‘Untitled’: ‘Good Night’
‘Happiness Is A Warm Gun In Your Hand’: ‘Happiness Is A Warm Gun’
‘It’s Been A Long Long Long Time’: ‘Long, Long, Long’
‘Everyone Had A Hard Year’: ‘I’ve Got A Feeling’YouTube
‘All I Want Is You’: ‘Dig A Pony’
‘I Want You’: ‘I Want You (She’s So Heavy)’
‘Bathroom Window’: ‘She Came In Through The Bathroom Window’
‘On Our Way Home’: ‘Two Of Us’YouTube
‘George’s Blues (Because You’re Sweet And Lovely)’: ‘For You Blue’YouTube
‘The Ballad Of John And Yoko (They’re Gonna Crucify Me)’: ‘The Ballad Of John And Yoko’
‘Oh Darling (I’ll Never Do You No Harm)’: ‘Oh! Darling’
‘Golden Slumbers’: ‘Golden Slumbers’/‘Carry That Weight’
‘Ending’: ‘The End’YouTube
‘Here Comes The Sun-King’: ‘Sun King’
‘The Long One/Huge Melody’: the Abbey Road medley
