‘I’ve Just Seen A Face’: The Beatles song Joe Elliott struggled to sing properly
Rock and roll, renowned for its raw energy and vocal acrobatics, can be unforgiving to ageing singers. While seasoned professionals may adeptly navigate the changes in their vocal capabilities over time, the demands of the genre remain formidable. Joe Elliott, of Def Leppard fame, has showcased remarkable vocal endurance throughout his career. Yet, even for him, tackling The Beatles’ ‘I’ve Just Seen a Face’ presents a formidable challenge, a testament to the enduring complexity of the genre’s vocal repertoire.
But even from childhood, Elliott had already dreamed of being a rock star. Spending his youth “playing” different broomsticks and trying to sing, Elliott would start writing different songs as soon as he learned to put chords together. Although his musical taste was suited to the early glam rock of David Bowie and Mott the Hoople, The Beatles were responsible for paving the way for all of them.
Ushering in the British invasion, the Fab Four had spent their first few years as the good-natured boys of rock and roll, playing the kind of lovestruck music that made every girl fawn over them. Since the band had become a sensation thanks to A Hard Day’s Night, 1965 had one goal in mind…do the same thing over again.
With the help of their old director, Richard Lester, Help! became their second box office smash, featuring another madcap soundtrack to go along with the film. As opposed to part two of A Hard Day’s Night, though, the group had started to let their other influences show, including Paul McCartney’s fascination with country music.
Although Ringo Starr was one of the biggest country aficionados of the Fab Four, every member of the band embraced the acoustic approach to rock music, with McCartney writing ‘I’ve Just Seen a Face’ for the B-side of the soundtrack album. Set at a fast tempo, part of the charm of the song is hearing McCartney go from one line to the next, nearly tripping over his words as he tries to tell the world about the girl of his dreams.
Even though Elliott had put himself through the same vocal acrobatics that artists like Bon Scott and Robert Plant were used to, he admitted to never grasping this track, saying, “I took it upon myself to try and play ‘I’ve Just Seen A Face’ by The Beatles, and I completely bollocked it up. I couldn’t remember the words. I forgot the chords. I wouldn’t have passed the audition for America’s Got Talent, put it that way.”
Then again, what Elliott struggled with vocally is only a small portion of what McCartney could do on an average day in the studio. When working on the finished album, McCartney put his vocal cords through the wringer, eventually working on songs like the Little Richard pastiche ‘I’m Down’ and the heartbreaking ballad ‘Yesterday’ in the same session.
Although Elliott may not have been able to keep up with McCartney’s track record, his influence can still be heard whenever the members of Leppard sing together. They may wear their favourite Queen and AC/DC records on their sleeves a lot of the time, but whenever you hear the multi-layered harmonies behind songs like ‘Love Bites’, it’s only a small sample of what The Beatles did effortlessly.
