| "With a Little Help from My Friends" | |
|---|---|
 Sheet music cover | |
| Song bythe Beatles | |
| from the albumSgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band | |
| Released | 26 May 1967 (1967-05-26)[1] |
| Recorded | 29–30 March 1967 |
| Studio | EMI, London |
| Genre | Pop rock[2] |
| Length | 2:46 |
| Label |
|
| Songwriter | Lennon–McCartney |
| Producer | George Martin |
| Audio | |
| "With a Little Help from My Friends" by the Beatles onYouTube | |
"With a Little Help from My Friends" is a song recorded by Englishrock bandthe Beatles for their 1967 albumSgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. It was written byPaul McCartney andJohn Lennon, and is sung by drummerRingo Starr (as Sgt. Pepper singer Billy Shears), his lead vocal for the album. As the second track on the album, it segues from the applause onthe title track.
A subsequent recording of the track byJoe Cocker from hisalbum of the same name became a success in 1968—topping theUK Singles Chart—and an anthem for theWoodstock era.[3] In 1978, the Beatles' recording, paired with "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band", was reissued as a single, and peaked at number 63 in Britain and number 71 on the United StatesBillboard Hot 100. Starr has regularly performed the song in concert as a solo artist. The song was ranked number 311 onRolling Stone's list of the500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
John Lennon andPaul McCartney finished writing the song in mid-March 1967,[4] written specifically asRingo Starr's track for the Beatles albumSgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. McCartney said: "It was pretty much co-written, John and I doing a work song for Ringo, a little craft job."[5] In 1970 Lennon stated: "Paul had the line about 'a little help from my friends.' He had some kind of structure for it, and we wrote it pretty well fifty-fifty from his original idea", but in 1980 Lennon said: "This is Paul, with a little help from me. 'What do you see when you turn out the light/ I can't tell you, but I know it's mine...' is mine."[6] It was briefly called "Bad Finger Boogie" (later the inspiration for the band nameBadfinger),[7] supposedly because Lennon composed the melody on a piano using his middle finger after having hurt his forefinger.
Lennon and McCartney deliberately wrote a tune with a limited range – except for the last note, which McCartney worked closely with Starr to achieve. InThe Beatles Anthology, Starr explained that he insisted on changing the first line – which originally was "What would you think if I sang out of tune? Would you throw ripe tomatoes at me?" – so that fans would not throw tomatoes at him should he perform it live (in the early days, afterGeorge Harrison made a passing comment that he likedJelly Babies, the group was showered with them at all of their live performances).[8]
After it was released in the United States,MarylandGovernor and futureVice PresidentSpiro T. Agnew lobbied to have the song banned because he believed it was about drug use.[9]
In the 1967 summer a duo called The Young Idea made a commercial cover of the song.
In 1968Joe Cocker recorded a hard rock version of the song. He changed the initial line "What would you think if I sang out of tune?" to "What would you do if I sang out of tune?". The "do version" has since been the standard - even when Ringo Starr sings it live.
The Beatles began recording the song on 29 March 1967, the day before they posed for theSgt. Pepper album cover. They recorded 10 takes of the song, wrapping up sessions at 5:45 in the morning.[10] The backing track consisted of Starr on drums, McCartney playing piano, Harrison playing lead guitar and Lennon beating a cowbell. At dawn, Starr trudged up the stairs to head home – but the other Beatles cajoled him into doing his lead vocal then and there, standing around the microphone for moral support.[6] The following day they added tambourine, backing vocals, bass, and more electric guitar.[10] AmericanTeenSet editorJudith Sims interviewed each Beatle separately on the 29th as they became available. Others in the studio at various times included roadiesMal Evans andNeil Aspinall, publicistsTony Barrow andTerry Doran, photographers Leslie Bryce and Frank Herrmann, andCynthia Lennon.[11]
According toIan MacDonald:[12]
The Beatles
Additional musician
Harrison and Starr performed this song together for the first time at the Prince's Trust in London, 1986 with Eric Clapton.McCartney and Starr performed the song together for the first time since 1967 at theDavid Lynch Foundation Benefit Concert in theRadio City Music Hall, New York on 4 April 2009. McCartney and Starr also performed the song together onThe Night That Changed America: A Grammy Salute to The Beatles, a commemorative show on 27 January 2014, that marked 50 years since theband's first appearance onThe Ed Sullivan Show in 1964.[14]
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| New Zealand (RMNZ)[15] | Gold | 15,000‡ |
| United Kingdom (BPI)[16] | Silver | 200,000‡ |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. | ||
There have been at least 50 cover versions of the song and it has achieved the number one position on theUK Singles Chart three times: byJoe Cocker in 1968,[17] byWet Wet Wet in 1988,[18] and bySam & Mark in 2004.[19]
| "With a Little Help from My Friends" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Solid centre variant of the UK single | ||||
| Single byJoe Cocker | ||||
| from the albumWith a Little Help from My Friends | ||||
| B-side | "Something's Coming On" | |||
| Released | October 1968 (1968-10) (UK) | |||
| Recorded | 1968 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 5:12 | |||
| Label |
| |||
| Songwriter | Lennon–McCartney | |||
| Producer | Denny Cordell | |||
| Joe Cocker UK singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Audio | ||||
| "With a Little Help from My Friends" (studio) onYouTube | ||||
| "With a Little Help from My Friends" (live at Woodstock 1969) onYouTube | ||||
| Live video | ||||
| "With a Little Help from My Friends" (live atRockpalast) onYouTube | ||||
| Joe Cocker US singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
English singer Joe Cocker's 1968 version of "With a Little Help from My Friends" for hisalbum of the same name was a radical re-arrangement of the original, inspired by Cocker's influences ofAretha Franklin andRay Charles.[21] Recorded byDenny Cordell andTony Visconti and mixed byTony Visconti, it used a slower tempo than the original and deployed different chords in the middle eight while adding a lengthy instrumental introduction.[21] The recording featured drums byProcol Harum'sB.J. Wilson, guitar lines fromJimmy Page, and organ byTommy Eyre as well as prominent backing vocals.[21] After recording the song, Cocker and record producer Denny Cordell brought it to Paul McCartney, who later said of the recording, "it was just mind blowing, totally turned the song into asoul anthem and I was forever grateful for him for doing that."[22]
Cocker's version of the song reached number one on the UK Singles Chart on the week of 6–12 November 1968.[17] The version also peaked at number 68 on theBillboard Hot 100 (US) on the week of 14 December,[23] number two on theDutch Top 40 (Netherlands) on the week of 9 November,[24] and number one onSwiss Hitparade's top 100 singles chart on the week of 3 December.[25] In Belgium'sUltratop 50 singles charts, it also peaked at number one on the Wallonia chart on the weeks of 14[26] and 21 December[27] and number eight on the Flanders chart on the week of 7 December.[28]
Cocker performed the song atWoodstock in 1969 and that performance was included in thedocumentary film,Woodstock. Two weeks later he performed it at theIsle of Wight Festival 1969.[21] This version gained even more fame in 1988 when it was used as the openingtheme song for the television seriesThe Wonder Years.[29] In 2002 he would perform the song at theParty at the Palace held atBuckingham Palace Garden in commemoration of theGolden Jubilee ofQueen Elizabeth II.[30] In 2014, aBBC poll saw it voted the seventh best cover song ever.[31] In 2001, Cocker's version of the song was inducted into theGrammy Hall of Fame.[32]
| Chart (1968) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)[33] | 1 |
| Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[34] | 8 |
| Canada Top Singles (RPM)[35] | 36 |
| Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[36] | 2 |
| New Zealand (Listener)[37] | 12 |
| Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[38] | 1 |
| UK Singles (OCC)[17] | 1 |
| USBillboard Hot 100[39] | 68 |
| USCash Box Top 100[40] | 54 |
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom (BPI)[41] | Silver | 200,000‡ |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. | ||
| "With a Little Help from My Friends" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single byWet Wet Wet | ||||
| from the albumSgt. Pepper Knew My Father | ||||
| B-side | "She's Leaving Home" (performed byBilly Bragg andCara Tivey) | |||
| Released | 9 May 1988 | |||
| Studio | Park Lane (Scotland) | |||
| Genre | Pop rock | |||
| Length | 2:34 | |||
| Label | The Precious Organization | |||
| Songwriter | Lennon–McCartney | |||
| Producer | Wet Wet Wet | |||
| Wet Wet Wet singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Music video | ||||
| "With a Little Help from My Friends" onYouTube | ||||
In 1988, Scottishsoft rock band Wet Wet Wet covered the song for theSgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band tribute albumSgt. Pepper Knew My Father. The song was released as a single in May 1988 double-A-sided with another cover from the album, "She's Leaving Home" byBilly Bragg andCara Tivey. Wet Wet Wet's version debuted at number 5 on the UK Singles Chart on 14 May 1988. The song was released in aid of the charityChildLine.[42]
| Chart (1988) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK Singles (OCC)[18] | 1 |
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom (BPI)[43] | Silver | 250,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. | ||
| "With a Little Help from My Friends" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single bySam & Mark | ||||
| B-side | "Measure of a Man" | |||
| Released | 9 February 2004 (2004-02-09) | |||
| Recorded | 2003 | |||
| Genre | Pop rock | |||
| Label | 19 Recordings | |||
| Songwriter | Lennon–McCartney | |||
| Producer | David Eriksen | |||
| Sam & Mark singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
The UK duo Sam & Mark released a cover of the song in 2004 after coming third and second in thesecond and final series ofPop Idol. Their version topped the UK Singles Chart.[19]
| Chart (2004) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Ireland (IRMA)[44] | 22 |
| UK Singles (OCC)[19] | 1 |
Two versions of the song made the UK Singles Chart in 1967. The Young Idea's version from their album of the same name peaked at number ten and spent 6 weeks in the top 75, while a version byJoe Brown charted at the same time,[45] peaking at number 32 and remaining in the top 75 for 4 weeks.[46]
The Canadian bandKick Axe reached number 79 in Canada with their version from their albumWelcome to the Club on 18 January 1986.[47]
In 2018, the track was released as a charity benefit by the NHS Voices with all benefits going to the UKNational Health Service (NHS). The charity version reached only number 89 and stayed just 1 week on the UK charts.[46]
Apple's Neil Aspinall remembers, "(...) Badfinger just popped in my head. It was from an old Lennon thing. He was playing the piano and he had a bad finger so he called the piece he was playing 'Bad Finger Boogie' (which evolved into 'With A Little Help From My Friends')
Quotations related toSgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band at Wikiquote
