Uploaded November 2023 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
FLAC DOWNLOAD: drive.google.com/file/d/1SzRiCsLf2PwnWIrFniYzcQeYVqlENJ88/view?usp=sharing
New DES (Digitally-Extracted Stereo) mix, remastered.
"Soldier of Love (Lay Down Your Arms)," also known as "Soldiers of Love," is a 1962 song written by Buzz Cason and Tony Moon. It was originally recorded by soul artist Arthur Alexander and released as a B-side of the single "Where Have You Been (All My Life)", which reached #58 in the Billboard Hot 100 in June 1962. The song was later covered by The Beatles during a 1963 session at the BBC, released on the 1994 album Live at the BBC
As early as 1962, The Beatles had been playing live versions of the songs on both sides of Alexander's single, with "Where Have You Been (All My Life)" being unofficially recorded at the Star-Club in December that year. They recorded a cover of "Soldier of Love" on July 2, 1963, the day after recording the "She Loves You"/"I'll Get You" single. Unterberger rates the Beatles' performance of the song as "fabulous," calling it probably "the greatest gem" on Live at the BBC. Unterberger enumerates a number of ways in which the Beatles' recording differs from the original, such as the Beatles playing the main riff on guitar, while on Alexander's recording the riff was played on piano. The Beatles also add vocal harmonies, which Unterberger describes as "excellent," and eliminate Alexander's "somber" violins.
Unterberger states that the cumulative effect of the differences is to make the Beatles' version "exuberant," compared to Alexander's sad version, claiming that it sounds "as if the Beatles expected to win over the woman as a matter of course, whereas there was a sense of desperate last-hope begging in Alexander's vocal." Critic Robert Christgau calls it one of the Beatles greatest covers. Rolling Stone critic Anthony DeCurtis uses John Lennon's "crooning" on the song as an example of why Lennon was a great rock 'n' roll singer. Author Ian MacDonald describes it as an "ideal vehicle for Lennon," who sings the lead vocal. MacDonald also suggests that three songs from the Beatles 1963 album With the Beatles—"Not a Second Time", "It Won't Be Long" and "All I've Got to Do"—were influenced by "Soldier of Love (Lay Down Your Arms)."
FLAC DOWNLOAD: drive.google.com/file/d/1SzRiCsLf2PwnWIrFniYzcQeYVqlENJ88/view?usp=sharing
New DES (Digitally-Extracted Stereo) mix, remastered.
"Soldier of Love (Lay Down Your Arms)," also known as "Soldiers of Love," is a 1962 song written by Buzz Cason and Tony Moon. It was originally recorded by soul artist Arthur Alexander and released as a B-side of the single "Where Have You Been (All My Life)", which reached #58 in the Billboard Hot 100 in June 1962. The song was later covered by The Beatles during a 1963 session at the BBC, released on the 1994 album Live at the BBC
As early as 1962, The Beatles had been playing live versions of the songs on both sides of Alexander's single, with "Where Have You Been (All My Life)" being unofficially recorded at the Star-Club in December that year. They recorded a cover of "Soldier of Love" on July 2, 1963, the day after recording the "She Loves You"/"I'll Get You" single. Unterberger rates the Beatles' performance of the song as "fabulous," calling it probably "the greatest gem" on Live at the BBC. Unterberger enumerates a number of ways in which the Beatles' recording differs from the original, such as the Beatles playing the main riff on guitar, while on Alexander's recording the riff was played on piano. The Beatles also add vocal harmonies, which Unterberger describes as "excellent," and eliminate Alexander's "somber" violins.
Unterberger states that the cumulative effect of the differences is to make the Beatles' version "exuberant," compared to Alexander's sad version, claiming that it sounds "as if the Beatles expected to win over the woman as a matter of course, whereas there was a sense of desperate last-hope begging in Alexander's vocal." Critic Robert Christgau calls it one of the Beatles greatest covers. Rolling Stone critic Anthony DeCurtis uses John Lennon's "crooning" on the song as an example of why Lennon was a great rock 'n' roll singer. Author Ian MacDonald describes it as an "ideal vehicle for Lennon," who sings the lead vocal. MacDonald also suggests that three songs from the Beatles 1963 album With the Beatles—"Not a Second Time", "It Won't Be Long" and "All I've Got to Do"—were influenced by "Soldier of Love (Lay Down Your Arms)."










