McCartney's 'Yesterday' a cover of a 19th century Neapolitan song?

[ghugle]

Roma (ANTARA News) - An Italian producer claims the Beatles' hit
Yesterday is in fact a cover of a 19th century Neapolitan song.

Lilli Greco, a song-writer famous during the 1960s and 1970s, played a
version of Piccere' Che Vene a Dicere' on Italian television late
Tuesday.

The song, composed in Naples in 1895, appeared remarkably similar to
Paul McCartney's composition.

McCartney and fellow band-member John Lennon had an "encyclopaedic
knowledge" of world music and were particularly fond of Neapolitan
songs, Greco was quoted by DPA as saying.

Recorded in 1965, Yesterday is one of the Beatles' best-known songs.
According to the Guinness Book of Records, it has the most cover
versions of any song ever written.

McCartney once said he dreamt of the ballad while staying over at his
girlfriend's house in a London flat.

Beatles biographies say McCartney was initially concerned that he had
subconsciously plagiarised the song.

"For about a month I went round to people in the music business and
asked them whether they had ever heard it before.

"Eventually it became like handing something in to the police. I
thought if no one claimed it after a few weeks then I could have it," a
book by Craig Cross quotes McCartney as saying.

This is not the first time that music experts have noted similarities
between Yesterday and other songs.

Three years ago, British musicologist Spencer Leigh told the BBC the
song appeared to have been inspired by Nat King Cole's Answer Me.

McCartney's publicists later denied any resemblance between Answer Me
and Yesterday

[donz5]

ghugle wrote:
> Roma (ANTARA News) - An Italian producer claims the Beatles' hit
> Yesterday is in fact a cover of a 19th century Neapolitan song.
>
> Lilli Greco, a song-writer famous during the 1960s and 1970s, played a
> version of Piccere' Che Vene a Dicere' on Italian television late
> Tuesday.
>
> The song, composed in Naples in 1895, appeared remarkably similar to
> Paul McCartney's composition.
>
> McCartney and fellow band-member John Lennon had an "encyclopaedic
> knowledge" of world music and were particularly fond of Neapolitan
> songs, Greco was quoted by DPA as saying.

Greco knows this how? John and Paul knew their rock 'n' roll and some
MOR numbers, but "world music?" Highly doubtful.

Greco has to establish that a recording of the song ever existed by
1965, that Paul had access to the song's sheet music (which he couldn't
read anyway), or that someone had played or sung for him the song.

And before any of that, Greco has to prove that the songs are
melodically related.

In other words, there's nothing here so far.

[tima...@hotmail.com]

It's all of mild importance, since dozens of Paul's songs are as good.

voice from the past

[fatt...@yahoo.com]

Can someone give us a link to the Italian song so we can hear it for
ourselves? Can someone translate the lyrics?

[fatt...@yahoo.com]

Can someone give us a link to the Italian song so we can hear it for

[JVE]

Ah well, how many notes are there anyhow? Not that much! The change that
someone will write something that's written before is quit big, really...
It's a wonder that every now and then someone finds an order of notes that's
never ever been used before! Its almost impossible...

"ghugle" <johnw...@aol.com> schreef in bericht
news:1153424906....@b28g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...

[iarwain]

> The song, composed in Naples in 1895, appeared remarkably similar to
> Paul McCartney's composition.

Even if it is similar, if it's that old I imagine it's in the public
domain anyway, so who cares? Like JVE says, there are only so many
notes.

Now if you want to see some examples of blatantly stealing songs, check
out Led Zeppelin.

[Art Harris]

ghugle wrote:
> Roma (ANTARA News) - An Italian producer claims the Beatles' hit
> Yesterday is in fact a cover of a 19th century Neapolitan song.

There you go. Paul always said he thought it was a song he heard
somewhere. Perhaps in another life in Italy.

Art

[Lizz Holmans]

It looks as if the Silly Season is running a little early this year,
like our weather.

Lizz 'Newspapers, August, Usenet, September ad infinitum' Holmans
--
Rumpeta, rumpeta, rumpeta

[Manfred Noland]

Well, it wouldn't surprise me in the least if YESTERDAY was somehow the
same as some old Neopoltan song.
Paul lifted the lyrics for Golden Slumbers and basically admits it.
I was shocked when in a magazine I read they claimed John stole the
lyrics for IN MY LIFE from a poem. I read it. It was almost ver batum.
Does anyone know the poem or writer..I forget ?
Anyway, as a previous poster pointed out Led Zep stole virtually
everything.
And what about Elvis ? It's Now Or Never is the melody from O Solo Mio .
Surrender is from some other Italian song.
Fats Domino's Blueberry Hill obviously took it's verse melody from On
Top Of Old Smokey.
Is all thievery really flattery ?

[mla...@yahoo.com]

But, for years we've heard that Paul asked all sorts of people if they
had ever heard the melody before, so even it's not like he was trying
to be sneaky or something. Who knows, maybe he heard the old tune in a
restaurant or something one night and it just got stuck in his head.
And anyway, people with a gift for melody are bound to bump into other
tunes without realizing it.

[Mr.Fire]

I bet you're thinking of the circus poster where he wrote Mr' Kite
from.

[Manfred Noland]

No, I'm not thinking of the circus poster that inspired Mr. Kite.

[Capt Zdq]

Le lundi 24 juillet 2006 à 09:25:55 UTC-4, Manfred Noland a écrit :
> No, I'm not thinking of the circus poster that inspired Mr. Kite.

Lennon and McCartney certainly did not know any Neapolitan songs. Yesterday is identical to Piccere. McCartney told Playboy in '84, the early Beatles ''were the biggest nickers in town--plagiarists extraordinaires.'' At the LA press conference in '66 he said that they pinch from other people.

I wasn't able to find what Piccere means but 'che vene dice' means 'that comes to say', and I wasn't able to find the lyric.

The original Italian song can be heard in part at Did the Beatles write all their own music? by Sage of Quay on You Tube.

[lindam...@yahoo.co.uk]

That song does not exist. Music scholars have not been able to find it. It is not in the archives, therefore this is a lie.. In Mike's presentation he plays it. The musician playing the piano sings Piccere but he was making it up. There is another Piccere which does not sound the same at all. Paul said in an interview that people pinch from them and he didn't mind as they pinched from others. Not very much because most of their early songs were original. He was saying that this was the way it was in the music industry. Yesterday is NOT from an old Neapolitan tune. Try to find it. You won't.

[curtis...@gmail.com]

On Thursday, July 20, 2006 at 3:48:26 PM UTC-4, ghugle wrote:
> Roma (ANTARA News) - An Italian producer claims the Beatles' hit
> Yesterday is in fact a cover of a 19th century Neapolitan song.
> Lilli Greco, a song-writer famous during the 1960s and 1970s, played a
> version of Piccere' Che Vene a Dicere' on Italian television late

I don't dismiss the idea out of hand, but how come no one has named or provided a link to this supposedly plagiarized song?

[geoff]

Search it. Not even slightly similar, except for the picking pattern of
the first bars or two, which could apply to hundreds of songs.

geoff

[Norbert K]

On Thursday, July 20, 2006 at 3:48:26 PM UTC-4, ghugle wrote:

When are Lennon & McCartney supposed to have had the *time* to acquire "encyclopedic knowledge of world music"? Not to mention the desire.

[RJKe...@yahoo.com]

On Thursday, July 20, 2006 at 3:48:26 PM UTC-4, ghugle wrote:

I finally found the song. The accusation that McCartney based "Yesterday" on it is ridiculous!