You have to remember that music videos really weren't a "thing" for another 15 or 16 years. The fact that they actually did a video at all in 1966 is ahead of time.

Paperback Writer was an A side song that went to number one on the charts and was considered (along with the B side Rain) to be groundbreaking. Nothing quite like both these songs had ever been recorded before. I was around when they came out in 1966 and we were blown away by them. This new sound was a precursor to Revolver. Looking back from 2024, you are not able to put this music in context and therefore underestimate it. Just so you can understand context, here are some of the hits on the charts in 1966: "What Becomes of the Brokenhearted" Jimmy Ruffin "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'" Nancy Sinatra "Cherish" The Association "Strangers in the Night" Frank Sinatra "The Ballad of the Green Berets" SSgt Barry Saddler "Born Free" Roger Williams

Number one song in America and in the U.K.

This "filler, side b" charted at #1. This isn't a "video" in the modern sense - they didn't exist then. It's just a promotional film

These guys simply don't know enough about the history of popular culture.😄 By the mid-1960s, the Beatles were no longer interested in promoting songs on TV shows, for this song they went for the last time to the chart-show "Top of the Pops" (only for the worldwide TV-Show "Our world" for All you need is love and Hey Jude/Revolution they made a exception in 1967 and 1968), so they came up with the idea of producing promo clips and sending them to TV stations around the world. Since no one had ever done it like this before, one could say, that the Beatles laid the groundwork for MTV. Plus, they were never particularly interested in faking lip-sync stuff and always included gags on such occasions. And maybe no one wanted to drag Ringo Starr's drums into this well-known location in England, the Chiswick House in London. Paperback writer presents a relatively new, very compact and dynamic guitar sound for 1966. And was another global hit for the Beatles.

This is an important Beatles song in so far as it was their first single which wasn’t written as an ‘I love you, you love me’ type song. There’s no mention in the lyrics of any requited love (good or bad), just a song that told a story of a budding writer who had written a novel and wanted desperately to have it published, even going to the lengths of being prepared to make the novel longer or, if need be, change things around, simply to get their foot in the publishing door. ‘Paperback Writer’ showed listeners that Beatle songs didn’t have to be fluffy love stories to get fans around the world to still buy their songs after 4 years of pop star success. And what a killer base line. The B side to this, ‘Rain,’ (written by John Lennon) has early psychedelic lyrics (well, that’s how I hear it), with fantastic drumming by Ringo! Anyone who says Ringo wasn’t a good drummer should listen to his performance on this B side. Phenomenal IMO.

This is one of the best pop songs ever made.

What are the chances of these 4 boys living near each other, becoming friends, starting a band ......... creating history?

KZfaq has got me back into the Beatles!

Records were shorter back then because “American radio” wanted to play more commercials. Definitely a great song A side number 1 all over the world including the USA

One of their really good ones, up there with 'Tax Man'.

It was a nice song that I haven't heard for ages, but I am an old sod!

Beatles don't have any fillers

Paul McCartney had a moped accident before this promo video was made and you can see him trying not to show his chipped front tooth when he sings.

They actually sing Frere Jacques as the back up vocal. 5:05 Want some weird stuff, try I am the walrus or the B sided to this single Rain

I absolutely smiled so big when I see how excited you are about John

Here’s what David Crosby of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young had to say about the Beatles and the song Paperback Writer - "You couldn't help but have the Beatles change your whole world. How could it not? Think about where we were coming from, man - the kind of things you expected from bands before them was . . . dim. And then here was this blazing, glorious panoply of color and sounds - it was fantastic. No one had done an album where the songs felt so right together. We just were in awe of them. They were SO good. They’d put out a song like 'Paperback Writer' and I’d wanna just give up. ‘Cause I could never do that, I could never get close to that. And by the time they got to Sgt Pepper, man, they were so far ahead of everybody . . . they hadn't stretched the envelope, they’d thrown the envelope away. But it was inspiring - all I wanted to do was approach my music with the same freedom." --#DavidCrosby

Amazing song recorded on April 13 & 14, 1966 during the Revolver sessions! Please react Rain also by The Beatles!

Although Paul said they felt Yoko was an interference and initially felt threatened by it because they had a way they did things in the recording studio but its something they dealt with. I've not seen anything anywhere that any of the rest of the band disliked Yoko. Paul has said that it was John that said "I want to leave the band" and Paul felt he had been wanting to for some time even before Yoko was on the scene. A lot of people feel they need to find someone to blame and therefore blame Yoko as she was the easy target and not wanting to pick out and blame any one specific member of the band. She comes from a different culture so her speech the way she would have spoke her music etc so would have been seen to be very different and possibly derided because of this and her being assumed by Beatles "fans" for their split. Also if you go on line you will see a lot of pictures of Paul and Yoko where they have been at different events having cordial fun interactions.

Great vid, guys. In the book, "100 Best Beatles Songs", by Spignesi & Lewis, they've got Paperback Writer ranked at 23. So it is in the top 25, which is a lot higher than you said "middle of the road" stuff. At 50? Personally, for its unusual vocals, really cool arrangement, and story line, as a musician myself, I would put it in the top 15.

Not in my top 100 Beatles songs but it’s still a good song. Out of 230+ Beatles, there are probably 20-30 that are ok, another 50 that are good, 100 that are great and another fifty songs that are top tier.

Beatles,compared to rap? Outta here.

This is one of my favorite videos. It's the Beatles, looking cool.

I was a wanna be writer myself at the time this came out. I loved this song!

The Beatles promo for Lady Madonna was all just clips from the promo for Hey Bulldog.

It was made in London at the 18th century Chiswick House and gardens, built by the 3rd Earl of Burlington by 1729. The B side of the record "Rain" I think that you would like better. KZfaq has 2 versions of Rain on video, one is filmed at Chiswick House and the other is a filmed performance in a studio. In a lot of Beatles TV shows and videos they're lip syncing and the guitars don't have leads plugged in, mainly due to the quality of audio recording on TV shows. The BBC were still doing it on shows like Top of the Pops into the 1980s.

One of my top ten Beatles. Bass is great and Paul is also playing lead.

TOP song. Number 1 song in USA and UK and it is a story. You could make a movie out of it. It was not about love between two people. It was a story. Perhaps you prefer songs about love? The Beatles did not break up over Yoko although her presence at first was difficult. They broke up because Brian Epstein died and the 4 Beatles had to take over the business side and disagreements took place. Also George Harrison was growing as a composer and he was held down by John and Paul. There were personal conflicts that thankfully got resolved before death. Watch Get Back and Beatles Anthology so you can learn.

RINGO was just sitting back knowing he is the best "bar none" behind the kit

The French song "Frere Jacques"..is being sung in the background .

Just love the bass on this

Think they hastily put this video together & also the video for Rain & they were sent to the US as promotional videos for those 2 songs.. beginnings of MTV perhaps! The videos premiered on the Ed Sullivan Show in June 1966. I believe I saw something where The Beatles noticed Elvis wasn't touring anymore because of the movies he was doing so would send his Limo out on promotional tours. Someone correct me if I'm wrong. Gabe is definitely coming around.

Hey what do you know, I've got a couple of Friends in San Diego too! :P lol I've always loved how you can really hear Lennon's voice at each Chorus echo and yet it's not too much, just the sound of his distinct voice coming through at the Writer word a little over the others. One of my faves too, I did a home writing course back in the 90s for creative writing and my mum used to sometimes play this whilst I was studying as joke lol

Gabe, songs of around 2-3 minutes were normal in that period. After hearing this, you shoudl also listen to The Monkees, "The Last Train to Clarksville".

I'd put it in the top 30-notice in the bridge how they sing "frere jaque." The B side Rain is the better of the two sides IMO. The promotional video for Rain has the same setting but a bit more movement but back then videos were more about the music and seeing the artists-NOT about a story. The videos were used as a replacement on TV shows instead of a personal appearance-it's one of those deals where you had to be there-not knowing of MTV or videos with stories-there were no such things then.

This song was released as a single in (I think) April of 1966, as the A-side. The B-side "Rain" is also a really good track, and I think it's better when you know how it was recorded. In my opinion, the mono version of this track is better. The guitar and drums are louder and the fade out lasts longer. Good song, I like it, but I like most things The Beatles do.

They wrote about almost every subject you can think of

I know nothing about you guys, I assume you’re good friends, you’re really good and fun together. One of the unique things about the Beatles is that most of their B-sides were also great : Rain, Walrus, Don’t Let Me Down, Come Together, Revolution, …

This may not be one of their most complicated songs, but like a Musician said , A song doesn't have to be What other most outstanding song to be one of their best To be a huge hit. Another one of my favorite groups was Elo. And I have to admit My favorite song was don't bring me down. Like the man who wrote the song said it was him pounding on the piano playing the same Key over and over again. In other words a very simple song Can be one of their biggest hits.

Filler? Singles aren’t filler. If you want the other side watch Rain. Same setting. They were exhausted and Paul just chipped a tooth.

Revolution the single!!!

This is a perfectly flushed out rock tune, end of.

It's hard to rank Beatles' songs against all of the other Beatles' songs. It is not a bell curve. There are too many that are great. But, against all rock songs, this is pretty good.

in my top 5 beatles songs

Ringo is a monster.

that's a cool song but if you really want him to appreciate beatles, let him hear: Strawberry fields, oh darling, abbey road medley, day in the life, here there and everywhere...

The B-side on this single is Lennon's "Rain" and is far superior to this song. John thought it should have been the A-side and I agree 1,000% with him. Check it out, the first Beatles recording after John and George started taking LSD and many firsts ever in the recording studio techniques used by anyone. Also, maybe Ringo's best drumming ever on a Beatles track. Peace ❤

The Beatles were very political. They refused to play a concert in Jacksonville Florida because the promoters at first did not allow the audience to be integrated. The Beatles however won out and had the first integrated audience in Jacksonville.

This was not an album track it was a stand alone single, a massive hit and the only albums it ever appeared on were compilation albums. I don't think they wanted to do the promotional video, they look bored.

You might find this kind of fun: There's a group of session musicians who do bluegrass versions of specific musicians. BLUEGRASS. I happen to like a lot of different genres of music, which includes bluegrass. So, this group puts out a 'Pickin' On' series of albums. They have a "Pickin' on Dylan" album of bluegrass instrumentals of Bob Dylan songs. They also have a "Pickin' on the Beatles" album that you can call up by typing into the KZfaq search bar. So, my point is that, until I heard this album, I didn't know "Paperback Writer" is a perfect bluegrass tune. I hope you look it up and get to enjoy it. Even just the once. Hey, Gabe; you want to talk about the Beatles being political? When the Beatles first toured the US in 1964, Congress had not yet passed any civil rights legislation. In Virginia and a few other states, whites were not allowed BY STATE LAW to marry non-whites; it took until 1967 for the Supreme Court to strike down such laws nationwide. Meanwhile, the Beatles required IN THEIR CONTRACTS no discrimination or segregation of blacks at any venue where they were performing. Basically, the Beatles were working class kids; in the UK, pretty much every working-class kid is political. Actually, pretty much every UK resident is politically aware. In 1970, John released a new song, "Working Class Hero". You want political, here you go. As far as John getting deported goes, John was not a citizen. The head of the FBI, J Edgar Hoover, personally did not like John, and John's opposition on the Vietnam War made John even MORE unpopular with Hoover and with Nixon. Well, when John was still living in England, he got arrested for possession of marijuana. It was the marijuana possession that Hoover was using as an excuse to deport John, but the real issue was being anti-Vietnam War.

well it is a #1 hit song, it's maybe more of a mainstream song maybe that's what you mean, it's produced to be a bit more commercial I feel

too short?.... at this time AM radio wouldn't play songs more than 2 or 3 minutes long, so everyone made songs that length hoping to have AM hits.... the two mould breakers were Dylan's Like A Rolling Stone, and the Beatles' Hey Jude.... videos weren't a thing then and usually made to be shown on a TV show once and never seen again... this was before you could record what was on your TV. Fun Fact: Paperback Writer was Frank Zappa's favourite Beatles song

Just react to “A Brief History of The Beatles” on the channel, it’s 30 minutes long and will educate you BOTH. Instead of speculating why not actually learn what you are talking about so you can critique it properly? Take it from me, a lot of people are fed up with it. They come to see people enjoy their favourite band for the first time like they wish they could do themselves again, it comes across as ignorant that you aren’t willing to fully embrace everything.

It sounds like someone asked to hear Taxman.

Drummers in every band should do what Ringo did in their videos. Great running bit.

NICK and GABE. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do a REACTION to this video mini documentary "HOW THE BEATLES CHANGED MUSIC" BOTH of you NEED it, especially GABE!! kzfaq.info/get/bejne/i6udhs112rrcqZc.html You DESPARATELY NEED some background on their HISTORY (there ARE a few minor inaccuracies, but it's still a good base line for people like Gabe

Oh dear. The video generation. Guys, forget the f***ing video. For me, this was the first time they produced something of any real worth The lyrics were very different. No more "moon, June" but a tale of some seedy bloke who wants a job and is prepared to do anything to become a paperback writer. Very different. The instrumentation was in your face (especially the bass) and the sound was much harsher. And "Rain" was on the flip side!! I still didn't buy it as I was buying US soul artists, The Who, The Kinks and The Spencer Davis Group but it set me up for "Revolver" and "Strawberry Fields Forever" which was the first Beatle record I bought.

A decent rock song with some good vocals but hardly ground breaking . Not in my top Beatle songs but never mind hearing it .

I didn't rate this song highly at all for years - mainly cos I (still) find the lyrics so very boring - until I heard a tribute band play it live. Suddenly everything that's great about the song got me past the words 🙂

In all beatles videos, he never has his drum kit...he is bummed. Everyone has instruments except him...beatles inside joke...a drummer who doesn't have drums. Beatles sense of humor.

YOKO was NOT the reason the Beatles broke up, you are very misinformed. It was a LOT of things that contributed to their break up, and it wasn't Yoko or Linda. I hate to tell you that I do listen to every track on their albums and I love everyone of them, because they are different. They also filmed "RAIN" in that same place on the same day, which is also a good one. These films were made for one a new song came out INSTEAD of touring to promote them. You are too used to videos today where there is so much going on with a lot of scantily clad women gyrating around. WE fans back then LOVED these films, we just wanted to LOOK at them, because these films were the ONLY TIME we saw them on TV, they weren't on TV all the time like a lot of music stars today are. They were on TV more in the UK.

Look closely at Paul McCartney's lip, he had recently been in a motorbike accident back home in Liverpool where he suffered facial injuries, it started a conspiracy theory he had been killed and been replaced, mad theories are not a new thing.

Is this the Beatles Channel I love there music , but it's time for other 60tys Artists , see how music today has been influenced them all

From this point on things got serious. Bad take on the video tho guys, this was about 10 years ahead of any music video in the modern sense.

Gabe takes a classic and says, Meh. Can t connect with these guys. Yeah Ringo couldnt do much, otherwise they would have to set up drum set.

COKE STUDIO SEASON 15

Maybe you should stick to talking about cricket ? 😂

I think the video hurt the experience of hearing the song for the first time. The band looked bored and I think that affected the response.

Beatles,filler?! Oh dear.

Unsophisticated review. The complexity and innovation of this song has spawned serious academic analyses. Stick to your day jobs, it's like listening to a 5 yr old critique Tiger Woods' golf swing. Embarrassing.

Regarding where you mentioned something about some politician wanting John Lennon deported in the early 70's. That politician just so happened to be the President of the United States, Richard Nixon. So they had giant files on Lennon at the FBI and the CIA. It was no small thing.