In Spite of All the Danger
"In Spite of All the Danger" is the first song recorded by the Quarrymen, then consisting of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, pianist John Lowe, and drummer Colin Hanton. McCartney wrote the song and Harrison provided the guitar solo, and so the song is credited to McCartney–Harrison. Recording took place sometime between May and July 1958 at Percy Phillips' home studio in Liverpool. Composition and structure Paul McCartney wrote the song on his own, likely around January 1958 and possibly at George Harrison's family home in Upton Green. The song uses the B7 chord, which McCartney discovered with Harrison after a multi-bus trip across Liverpool to the home of a stranger who knew the chord. Harrison wrote both of the song's guitar solos, and so McCartney gave him a joint credit. In The Beatles Anthology, McCartney describes it as, "a self-penned little song very influenced by Elvis [Presley]." In an interview with Beatles historian Mark Lewisohn, McCartney goes further and explains that the song is very similar to a specific Elvis song, though he avoids mentioning which particular one. Lewisohn writes that, though McCartney wrote the track on his own, it is heavily based on the melody of Elvis's