Ticket to Ride

"Ticket to Ride" is a song by The Beatles, featured on their album Help!. It was released as a single in 1965, with "Yes It Is" as its b-side.

About
The new year saw a change in the Beatles and George Martin's recording technique. They would rehearse new songs in the studio with the tapes running. Once they felt they had reached perfection, the tapes would be spooled back and proper takes would be recorded over the rehearsals, resulting in longer studio sessions but more economical in terms of tape since take numbers remained relatively low. Rhythm tracks would be recorded first with unnumbered overdubs "dropped in" at will, whereas before every overdub would have been allotted a new number.

"Ticket To Ride" was the first song tackled on Monday, February 15, during the afternoon. Although this session lasted all afternoon, because of the new recording procedure, the song was captured in just two takes, with the first having an immediate false start. Track one consisted of drums and bass. Track two had the rhythm and lead guitars. John's lead vocal on track three and tambourine, backing vocals and some additional guitar on track four.

Americans concluded the 'ticket' was from British Railways, and 'ride' was the town of 'Ryde' on the Isle of Wight. McCartney confessed to his biographer (Barry Miles) that they were partly right. Paul had a cousin who ran a bar in Ryde and he and John had visited them there. Paul later mentioned that although the song was primarily about a girl riding out of the life of the narrator, they were conscious of the potential for a double meaning. Although the song was entirely a John Lennon composition, Paul played both bass and lead guitar on "Ticket To Ride." Ringo's distinctive drum pattern was also suggested by Paul.

Don Short, who traveled with the Beatles in the '60s, recalled that John coined the phrase "Ticket to Ride" for another meaning - The girls who worked the streets in Hamburg had to have a clean bill of health and the authorities would give them a card saying they were clean. Don later said that although he specifically recalls John telling him that, John could have been joking - you had to be careful with him like that.

"Ticket To Ride" was the first choice for the songs to be included in their yet-untitled second feature film. It was used during their sequence in Obertauern, Austria in mid-March 1965 where the band tried their hand at skiing. When the single was released in America, the Capitol "swirl" label included the remark "From The United Artists Release 'Eight Arms To Hold You'," which was the original discarded title of their second film which, of course, later became Help!.

Credits
John Lennon – double tracked lead vocal and rhythm guitar Paul McCartney – harmony vocal, bass and lead guitar George Harrison – harmony vocal, 12 string electric lead guitar (including intro) Ringo Starr – drums and tambourine. Above credits according to Ian MacDonald[7]