"Leave Me Be" (also recorded as "You'd Better Leave Me Be") is a song written by British bassist Chris White and recorded by his band the Zombies. Following the release of their debut single "She's Not There" in July 1964, White wrote a handful of songs in between performances during the band's heavy schedule. Most of the work on the song occurred in August 1964, when the Zombies recorded both a demo and the backing track for it. The instrumentation largely differs from both earlier and later Zombies records; it features electric organ played by Rod Argent, compared to his previous usage of the electric piano. Together with record producer Ken Jones, they returned in September to finish the vocal track, which was disliked by most band members for its similarity to "She's Not There"; the vocals would eventually be re-recorded a few months later.
Decca Records released the song as the follow-up to "She's Not There". Characterized by its usage of minor chords and chord progression, the song lyrically deals with loneliness, a theme previously present in the band's music. The United States release was cancelled and instead, the song appeared as the B-side of "Tell Her No" in the US. The song received mixed reviews upon release, with some critics deeming it inferior to "She's Not There". Unlike its predecessor, which was a top-20 hit in the United Kingdom, "Leave Me Be" became a commercial failure due to flopping worldwide, only gracing the lower regions of the Australian charts. First appearing on the compilation album I Love You in 1966, the song has since been re-released on several occasions. Although largely ignored and forgotten after release, the song has received retrospective praise, becoming a cult song among fans. It has been covered by several notable artists, including Ola & the Janglers, Sonny & Cher and the Posies.
Background and composition
Background and recording
On 24 July 1964, the Zombies released their debut single "She's Not There" in the United Kingdom. It proved to be a relatively large hit there, reaching number 12 on the Record Retailer chart. Being among the first songs written by keyboardist Rod Argent, the track largely established him as a songwriter. Chris White had composed the B-side "You Make Me Feel Good", which despite being positively reviewed sparsely, was largely ignored. This was due to it being a B-side, a side that contained songs that the British press and record-buying public oftentimes ignored. This meant that Argent, who wrote the A-side, received the majority of the acclaim from both fans and critics alike. During this time, as their popularity was growing, the Zombies managed to gain more bookings and as a result, less and less time could be wasted writing songs as the hectic schedule proved to be time-consuming. This largely led to White starting to write songs as a substitute to Argent. In July–August 1964 during the chart success of "She's Not There", he wrote an entire batch of songs intended for single and album release.
"Leave Me Be" was initially recorded as a demo at Ryemuse studios in Primrose Hill, London on 13 August 1964, together with Argent's "Kind of Girl" and "Woman". This version wasn't released for over 30 years, and instead the group entered Decca Studios in West Hampstead, London on 31 August 1964 to professionally lay down the backing track to the song. Producer Ken Jones who had previously collaborated with them was also present during the session. Both "Kind of Girl" and "Woman" were also recorded during this session, along with another of Argent's compositions "Sometimes". The group performed eight takes of the song during that session. They then didn't finish the song for another 6 days, until 5 September 1964, once again returning to Decca for recording the vocal track. This continued the Zombies style of recording, which included recording several takes of the backing track on a prior date sometime prior, before choosing the best to overdub and add the vocal track over. Jones, who liked the "whispery" singing on "She's Not There", wanted singer Colin Blunstone to have a similar vocal performance on "Leave Me Be", much to Blunstone's and the Zombies' disappointment. This led to the group re-recording the vocals during a chapter of their first United States tour.