ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE

On this day in music history: August 19, 1967 - “All You Need Is Love” by The Beatles hits #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for 1 week. Written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, it is the fourteenth US chart topper for “The Fab Four”. The Beatles are asked to represent England as part of the first worldwide satellite broadcast “Our World”. The only request that the organizers will make, is that the band come up with a song containing a simple message that the worldwide audience watching can understand. Having just released the landmark “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Band” two weeks before, the band quickly begin work on the song. John Lennon comes up with and writes the majority of what becomes “All You Need Is Love”, with Paul McCartney helping him complete it. The basic track is recorded at Olympic Studios in Barnes, London on June 14, 1967. The band performs the song on the live television broadcast from Studio One at Abbey Road Studios on June 25, 1967. Lennon sings his lead vocal live on the program, but also records it again following the broadcast. The program is seen by over 400 million people in twenty six countries. The song is rush released as a single on July 7, 1967. Entering the Hot 100 at #71 on July 22, 1967, it leaps to the top of the chart just four weeks later. “All You Need Is Love” and its B-side “Baby You’re A Rich Man” (#34 Pop), (recorded on May 11, 1967) are both included on the US LP release of “Magical Mystery Tour” when it is released in late November of 1967. The song is also included in the animated feature “Yellow Submarine” and on its soundtrack album. The Our World footage of The Beatles performing “All You Need Is Love”, originally transmitted in black and white, is restored and digitally colorized when it is included in “The Beatles Anthology” series in November of 1995. “All You Need Is Love” is certified Gold in the US by the RIAA.