“Dizzy Miss Lizzy” – Episode 102

Dizzy Miss Lizzy closes Help! by going back to the Beatles’ roots. It was an old stage favorite, a Larry Williams rocker they had known for years, and the last cover they would ever record. For this episode of our Beatles podcast, it also gives us our first official "Beatles last" as we work our way through the catalog.

We talk about why the recording feels so relentless, and how the song comes across differently when they play it live. And this episode storytime is John Lennon’s second book, A Spaniard in the Works.

We cover:

-Larry Williams' version and René Hall’s original guitar riff
-King Size Taylor and the Dominoes and the Beatles’ early stage repertoire
-Capitol’s request for more material and the May 10, 1965 “Larry Williams session”
-George Harrison’s doubled, repeating guitar line and our "axe to grind" theory
-The Beatles’ 1965 Atlanta performance
-The Beatles’ final BBC session, The Beatles Invite You to Take a Ticket to Ride
-The two-night Hollywood Bowl composite and John Lennon’s later Toronto performance with Eric Clapton
-Would another song have been a better closer for Help!
-John Lennon’s second book, A Spaniard in the Works

Listen to full episode :