Written by: Leiber-Stoller
Recorded: 1 January 1962
Producer: Mike Smith
Released: 21 November 1995
George Harrison: vocals, lead guitar
John Lennon: backing vocals, rhythm guitar
Paul McCartney: backing vocals, bass
Pete Best: drums
Available on:
Anthology 1
Three Cool Cats, originally recorded by US group The Coasters, was performed by The Beatles during their ill-fated audition for Decca Records on 1 January 1962.
The song was first recorded in 1958, and released as the b-side of The Coasters' hit single Charlie Brown.
Three Cool Cats became a part of The Beatles' live show in the early 1960s. George Harrison took lead vocals, with McCartney and Lennon providing comedy voices in the middle sections.
It was one of 15 songs recorded during the group's Decca audition. They performed two other Coasters songs on the day: their 1957 hit Searchin'; and Besame Mucho, based on the group's 1960 arrangement of the 1940s standard.
The Beatles recorded Three Cool Cats one more time: on 29 January 1969, during the Get Back sessions at Apple Studios in London. The day before the celebrated rooftop concert they ran through a number of rock 'n' roll oldies, including this song, although in a much slower arrangement than at the Decca audition.
Lyrics
Three cool cats
Three cool cats
Are up on the corner in a beat up car
Spitting up a lift of candy bar
Talking all about how sharp they are
Those three cool cats
Three cool chicks
Are walking down the street
Swinging their hips
Splitting up a bag of potato chips
And three cool cats did three big flips for
Three cool chicks
Yeah, three cool chicks
Well up popped that first cool cat
He said: man look at that
Man, do you see what I see?
Well I want that middle chick
I want that little chick
Hey man save once chick for me
Well three cool chicks
Three cool chicks
Well they look like angels from up above
And three cool cats really fell in love
But three cool chicks made three fools out of
Those three cool cats
Three cool cats
Well up popped that first cool cat
He said: man look at that
Man, do you see what I see?
Well, now I want that middle chick
I want that little chick
Hey man save once chick for me, yeah
Three cool chicks
Three cool chicks
They look like angels from up above
And three cool cats really fell in love
And three cool chicks made three fools out of
These three cool cats
Three cool cats
Three cool cats
Three cool cats
