He saw the movie A Hard Day’s Night fifteen times. He was just eleven years old, a kid in Lee's Summit, Missouri, obsessed with the way those four guys from Liverpool changed the air in the room. Most people think of Pat Metheny as this hyper-intellectual jazz alien with the 42-string Pikasso guitar and a brain like a supercomputer. But at his core? He's a Beatles fan.
When he finally sat down to record And I Love Her, it wasn't just another cover. It was a full-circle moment.
Honestly, the 2011 album What’s It All About took everyone by surprise. It was a stark, quiet departure from his massive Orchestrion project. No robot drums. No wall of sound. Just Pat, a baritone guitar, and the songs he grew up with. His version of "And I Love Her" became the immediate standout, a "Discover" feed favorite that still pops up on every "chill jazz" playlist today. But there's a lot more going on in those six minutes than just pretty background music.
The Secret Weapon: That Custom Nylon-String Baritone
You can’t talk about And I Love Her Pat Metheny without talking about the instrument. It’s not a standard guitar. It’s not even a standard baritone.
Metheny worked with his long-time collaborator, the legendary Canadian luthier Linda Manzer, to create a custom nylon-string baritone guitar. This is basically the "Holy Grail" of acoustic textures. Most baritone guitars use heavy steel strings to handle the lower tuning, which can sound a bit metallic or "twangy." By using nylon strings, Metheny got this deep, chocolatey, thumb-driven resonance that sounds more like a cello than a guitar.
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It’s tuned a perfect fourth or fifth lower than a normal guitar. This changes everything.
The chords feel heavier. The melody of "And I Love Her" takes on a world-weary, nostalgic quality that Paul McCartney’s original (recorded when he was just 21) didn't quite have. When Pat hits those low notes in the opening riff, you aren't just hearing a string vibrate; you're hearing the wood of the instrument breathing. He also uses a heavy dose of reverb, which some critics called "excessive," but let's be real—it's what makes the track feel like a dream you're having at 2 AM.
Why This Version Actually Works
Jazz guys cover the Beatles all the time. Usually, they overcomplicate it. They add "fancy" chords or 16th-note runs that bury the melody. Metheny didn't do that.
He stays incredibly faithful to the original George Harrison riff, but he messes with the timing. He plays with "rubato"—that's a fancy way of saying he speeds up and slows down based on the emotion of the phrase. It feels human.
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- The Intro: He starts with that iconic minor-key hook, but he lets the notes ring into each other.
- The "Come-Hither" Solo: About halfway through, he starts improvising. It’s subtle. He isn't "shredding." He’s basically singing through the fretboard.
- The Touch: Metheny is known for his "touch." He uses the meat of his thumb for a lot of these lines, which softens the attack.
Some people find his solo work a bit "New Agey." I get it. If you’re looking for the fire of Song X, you won't find it here. But if you want to hear a master of the instrument show absolute restraint, this is the track.
The Beatles Connection
Metheny has said in interviews that without the Beatles, he might never have picked up the guitar. That’s a wild thought considering he’s now one of the most decorated jazz musicians in history with 20 Grammys.
He didn't include a Beatles track on his first solo acoustic record, One Quiet Night. He waited. He needed the right arrangement. He told Nonesuch Records that it was "impossible to imagine" doing a covers album without them.
The choice of "And I Love Her" is interesting because it’s one of the few early Beatles songs that fits the "jazz ballad" mold perfectly. It has a natural "bossa nova" feel—something Pat has explored his entire career since his days playing with Gary Burton and Toninho Horta.
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How to Play Like Pat (Or At Least Try)
If you're a guitar player trying to figure out And I Love Her Pat Metheny, you're going to need more than just the chords.
- Tuning: Don't try this on a standard guitar. It won't sound right. If you don't have a baritone, try tuning your guitar down to C or B standard (if your strings can handle the slack).
- The "Manzer" Sound: Pat uses a mix of an internal microphone and a piezo pickup. To get that "What's It All About" vibe, you need a lot of "wet" reverb. Think Lexicon or a high-end plate reverb plugin.
- The Arrangement: He plays in F major (well, the baritone equivalent). The key is the shift to the major chord at the very end of the phrase. It’s that "Picardy Third" feel that the Beatles loved, and Pat leans into it with a very soft, shimmering vibrato.
Actionable Steps for Your Next Listen
Don't just put this on while you're doing the dishes. To actually appreciate what Metheny is doing here, try this:
- Listen with open-back headphones. You can hear his fingers sliding across the nylon strings. That "squeak" isn't a mistake; it's part of the intimacy.
- Compare it to the 1964 original. Notice how Pat replaces the percussion (the claves in the original) with his own internal rhythm. He’s playing the bass, the chords, and the melody simultaneously.
- Check out "Alfie" and "Cherish" next. They are on the same album and use similar baritone techniques. If you like the mood of "And I Love Her," these are the natural siblings to that track.
The beauty of this recording is its simplicity. It’s a man in a room, 50 years after seeing a movie that changed his life, finally saying "thank you" to his heroes. It’s not about jazz theory or 42-string monstrosities. It's just a great song, played by someone who really, truly loves it.