I Will (Beatles song)

"I Will" is a song by the Beatles that was released on The Beatles. It was written by Paul McCartney (credited to Lennon–McCartney) and features him on lead vocal, guitar, and "vocal bass".

Background

"I Will" was one of the songs worked on by the Beatles and their associates while in Rishikesh, India. Although the music came together fairly easily, the words were worked on in India, and remained unfinished even as recording began back in London.

Recording

This quiet song required 67 takes, and George Harrison did not play (during The Beatles sessions, the Beatles often recorded in separate studios). However, the reason for Harrison's absence from the session has never been clarified.

During take 19 of "I Will", McCartney ad-libbed an untitled and uncopyrighted song (referred to as "Can you take me back?" by author Ian MacDonald), a 28-second segment of which ended up on side 4 of the album The Beatles as what MacDonald described as “a sinister introduction to "Revolution 9"”. Also ad-libbed by McCartney was "Los Paranoias", released, together with take 1 of "I Will", in 1996 on Anthology 3.

The Beatles

The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960. With members John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, they became widely regarded as the foremost and most influential act of the rock era. Rooted in skiffle, beat, and 1950s rock and roll, the Beatles later experimented with several genres, ranging from pop ballads and Indian music to psychedelia and hard rock, often incorporating classical elements in innovative ways. In the early 1960s, their enormous popularity first emerged as "Beatlemania", but as the group's music grew in sophistication, led by primary songwriters Lennon and McCartney, they came to be perceived as an embodiment of the ideals shared by the counterculture of the 1960s.

The Beatles built their reputation playing clubs in Liverpool and Hamburg over a three-year period from 1960, with Stuart Sutcliffe initially serving as bass player. The core of Lennon, McCartney and Harrison went through a succession of drummers, most notably Pete Best, before asking Starr to join them. Manager Brian Epstein moulded them into a professional act and producer George Martin enhanced their musical potential. They gained popularity in the United Kingdom after their first hit, "Love Me Do", in late 1962. They acquired the nickname "the Fab Four" as Beatlemania grew in Britain over the following year, and by early 1964 they had become international stars, leading the "British Invasion" of the United States pop market. From 1965 onwards, the Beatles produced what many consider their finest material, including the innovative and widely influential albums Rubber Soul (1965), Revolver (1966), Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967), The Beatles (commonly known as the White Album, 1968) and Abbey Road (1969).

Citizen Way

Citizen Way, formerly known as The Least of These, is a contemporary Christian music and Christian rock band from Elgin, Illinois. The band is composed of Ben Blascoe, David Blascoe, Ben Calhoun and Josh Calhoun.

The band released their debut single "Should've Been Me" on the record label Fair Trade Services. The song was released on June 26, 2012, and it has charted on numerous Christian song charts. This song has reached as high as No. 8 on K-LOVE's Top Songs list for the weeks of October 14, October 21 and 28, 2012, and it debuted on that list the week of July 8, 2012 at the No. 15 position.

Their second single, "Nothing Ever (Could Separate Us)", was released in June 2013, and it has also charted on numerous Christian song charts. This song debuted at No. 17 on K-LOVE's Top Songs list for the week of June 9, 2013.

The band's third single, "How Sweet the Sound", was released on September 27, 2013, and has gone on to become their first No. 1 single. It has charted on Christian AC Indicator and Soft AC/Inspirational, reaching No. 1 on the Christian Soft AC/Inspirational chart on April 3, 2014. The single spent four weeks atop the Christian Soft AC/Inspirational chart.