50 years ago: The Beatles finish work on "Yesterday"

1965, Working at Abbey Road studios in London The Beatles completed work on the new Paul McCartney song ‘Yesterday’ with the overdubbing of an additional vocal track by McCartney and a string quartet.

"Yesterday" is a song by English rock band The Beatles written by Paul McCartney, first issued for their U.K. album "Help!" released August, 1965. "Yesterday" with B-side Act Naturally was released as a U.S. single September, 1965. While it topped the American chart in 1965 the song first hit the British top 10 three months after the release of "Help!" in a cover version by Matt Monro.

McCartney's vocal and acoustic guitar together with a string quartet essentially made for the first solo performance of the band. It remains popular today with more than 2,200 cover versions and is one of the most covered songs in the history of recorded music. "Yesterday" was voted the best song of the 20th century in a 1999 BBC Radio 2 poll of music experts and listeners and was also voted the No. 1 pop song of all time by MTV and Rolling Stone magazine the following year. In 1997, the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. 

"Yesterday" is a melancholy ballad about the break-up of a relationship. McCartney is the only member of the Beatles to appear on the recording.