"If I Fell" is a pop ballad written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, credited to Lennon-McCartney. The Beatles recorded it on 27 February 1964 at EMI studios (Abbey Road) in London, produced by George Martin. It was first released on 26 June 1964 on the album A Hard Day's Night in the UK and US, and on the North American album Something New. Lennon called it his first attempt at a ballad proper and said it showed that he wrote sentimental love ballads early on. McCartney said that the two of them wrote it together. Lennon and McCartney shared one microphone to achieve close harmonies in the manner of the Everly Brothers. Lennon double-tracked his vocal and acoustic rhythm guitar, McCartney double-tracked his vocal and bass, George Harrison played twelve-string lead guitar and Ringo Starr played drums. The song runs 2:22. In the US it was the B-side of "And I Love Her" (Capitol 5235) and reached number 53 on the Billboard Hot 100. It reached number 28 in Canada, number one in Norway, number 3 in the Netherlands and number 25 in West Germany. It was not a UK chart single. The song has been widely covered by other artists, including Keely Smith, Reba McEntire and Maroon 5.
