Recording: Hey Diddle and A Love for You by Paul McCartney – 26 October 1970

Monday 26 October 1970 | Recording | Studio B, CBS Studios, New York City

On 26 October 1970, Paul McCartney worked on “Hey Diddle” and “A Love for You” during the New York sessions that produced Ram. Neither song appeared on the original album.

Working with guitarist Hugh McCracken and drummer Denny Seiwell, Paul began the third week of the sessions with two recordings whose histories would extend well beyond 1970. One would later be heard in several distinct forms; the other would accumulate overdubs and mixes before its eventual official releases.

The session at a glance

Ram sessions, before Wings

The New York recordings belong to the period after Paul’s departure from the Beatles and before the formation of Wings. Although later Wings musicians and projects became involved in the songs’ subsequent histories, that does not turn this October date into a Wings session.

Ram was ultimately credited to Paul and Linda McCartney. The official Ram album page places the New York work within that transition between the Beatles and Wings.

Hey Diddle: the New York studio recording

The first song was the folk-country styled “Hey Diddle”, also known by the working title “She Can’t Be Found”. Paul and Hugh McCracken played acoustic guitars, with Denny Seiwell providing percussion.

Published accounts differ on the precise percussion used for the basic track, describing either a chicken pot or a light bass drum. The safe identification is percussion rather than an unquestioned claim about one instrument.

The session history also describes ocarina additions by the three musicians. However, the timing of every overdub is not firmly documented: Paul’s bass and vocals and Linda’s vocal contribution should not all be assigned automatically to 26 October.

The Wingspan performance is a different recording

“Hey Diddle” appeared on Wingspan: Hits and History in 2001 alongside a home performance of “Bip Bop”. That home recording was separate from the New York studio performance made during the Ram sessions.

This is the central distinction in the song’s release history. A listener who knows the intimate home version has not necessarily heard the recording begun at CBS on this date.

The 1970 studio recording was represented on the 2012 Ram Archive Collection by the Dixon Van Winkle mix. Later reworkings also belong to the song’s history, but they should not be collapsed into a single unchanged master.

After lunch: beginning A Love for You

The trio then turned to “A Love for You”. Paul played acoustic guitar, Hugh McCracken electric guitar and Denny Seiwell drums.

They devoted the afternoon to the song, but Paul was not satisfied with the basic track. Work continued on 27 October. The 26 October date therefore marks work on the recording, not the completion of the version eventually released decades later.

The instrumentation above refers to this stage of the work. Credits attached to a later release can include musicians and additions from subsequent years and should not be presented as the full attendance list for the original afternoon.

A Love for You: overdubs, Cold Cuts and later mixes

Paul revisited the recording during the long development of the unreleased Cold Cuts rarities project. Further work in the 1980s added layers beyond the initial New York session, and Jon Kelly mixed the track in 1986.

The song later appeared on the soundtrack of The In-Laws. That soundtrack version and the Jon Kelly mix are distinct presentations, not evidence that a finished 2012 release had been sitting untouched since October 1970.

The Jon Kelly mix was included in the 2012 Ram Archive Collection. The “2012” attached to the release or mastering should not be mistaken for the year in which Kelly originally created that mix.

Comparing the versions

The official Ram archive tracklisting announcement explicitly names “A Love for You (Jon Kelly Mix)” and “Hey Diddle (Dixon Van Winkle Mix)”. Those labels are useful guides when choosing which version to hear.

Outtakes and the original album

Being recorded during an album’s sessions does not guarantee inclusion in its first release. These two songs illustrate the difference between an album’s original programme and the larger body of recordings made while it was being developed.

Our US Ram release article for 17 May 1971 and UK release article for 21 May 1971 cover the finished album’s arrival. The later archive bonus material should not be retroactively inserted into its original track list.

Location map: CBS Studios, New York

The session took place at CBS Studios in New York, identified in the dated account as Studio B. This map gives the East 52nd Street location context, not a reconstruction of the studio’s 1970 interior.

Frequently asked questions

Continue exploring: Ram US release · Ram UK release · On This Day in Beatles History.