Written by: Lennon-McCartney
Recorded: 29, 30 March 1967
Producer: George Martin
Engineer: Geoff Emerick
Released: 1 June 1967 (UK), 2 June 1967 (US)
Ringo Starr: vocals, drums, tambourine
John Lennon: backing vocals, cowbell
Paul McCartney: backing vocals, piano, bass
George Harrison: lead guitar
George Martin: Hammond organ
Available on:
Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Yellow Submarine Songtrack
Written collaboratively by Lennon and McCartney during the final stages of the Sgt Pepper project, With A Little Help From My Friends was sung by Ringo Starr.
Hunter Davies' authorised biography of The Beatles contains a passage recounting the genesis of the song. He observed Lennon and McCartney beginning with a chorus line and segment of melody.
From there they played around with words, performed rock 'n' roll songs whenever they got stuck, and spent much time laughing, idly leafing through magazines or chatting about anything that took their fancy.
This was written out at John's house in Weybridge for Ringo; we always liked to do one for him and it had to be not too much like our style. I think that was probably the best of the songs we wrote for Ringo actually...It was pretty much co-written, John and I doing a work song for Ringo, a little craft job. I always saw those as the equivalent of writing a James Bond film theme. It was a challenge, it was something out of the ordinary for us because we actually had to write in a key for Ringo and you had to be a little tongue in cheek. Ringo liked kids a lot, he was very good with kids so we knew Yellow Submarine would be a good thing for Ringo to sing. In this case, it was a slightly more mature song, which I always liked very much. I remember giggling with John as we wrote the lines 'What do you see when you turn out the light? I can't tell you but I know it's mine.' It could have been him playing with his willie under the covers, or it could have been taken on a deeper level; this was what it meant but it was a nice way to say it, a very non-specific way to say it. I always liked that.
Many Years From Now, Barry Miles
The song was initially recorded with the working title Bad Finger Boogie, after Lennon tried to play the melody on a piano having hurt his forefinger. Starr had misgivings about singing the final sustained high note in the song, and refused to sing a certain line.
The song With A Little Help From My Friends was written specifically for me, but they had one line that I wouldn't sing. It was 'What would you do if I sang out of tune? Would you stand up and throw tomatoes at me?' I said, 'There's not a chance in hell am I going to sing this line,' because we still had lots of really deep memories of the kids throwing jelly beans and toys on stage; and I thought that if we ever did get out there again, I was not going to be bombarded with tomatoes.
Anthology
In the studio
From the start The Beatles knew that the song would be adjoined to Sgt Pepper's title track. From take one it included the "Billy Shears" introduction.
He was to be a character in this operetta, this whole thing that we were doing, so this gave him a good intro, wherever he came in the album; in fact it was the second track. It was a nice place for him, but wherever it came, it gave us an intro. Again, because it was the pot era, we had to slip in a little reference: 'I get high!'
Many Years From Now, Barry Miles
The Beatles recorded 10 takes of the song on 29 March 1967, with Paul on piano, John beating a cowbell, George playing lead guitar and Ringo on drums. Following the final take Ringo overdubbed his lead vocals.
The following day - on the morning of which they posed for the Sgt Pepper cover shoot - they added guitar, tambourine, bass and harmony vocals.
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Playboy: "With a Little Help From My Friends"?
John: That's 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.
Look at this:
"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."
--John Lennon, 1970
You see, ten years are a long time.
wait. doesn't george sing in this song at all?
Nop. Only John & Paul as backing low and high vocals.
Ringo as lead vocal.
George...only in the guitar.
Unfortunately, this also is not a song singed by the 4.
Fantastic bass by Paul on this one....
Fantastic Bass indeed. What a genius Paul is on the bass!!!
Anyway, this might be the best "friendship" songs ever written... I think it's a LOVE (L.O.V.E. like Michael Jackson said before dying) song written by John and Paul to Ringo. It almost makes me weep. Very profound. I can't think of any better song written about friendship. Astonishing lyrics!
Certainly one of the aspects I liked most about the Beatles was their friendship and solidarity (in the earlier years). John and Paul could have decided early on that they alone would write and sing every Beatle song. Instead, they decided from the outset that George and Ringo would get their "moment in the spotlight" on each album with at least one lead vocal. Lennon and McCartney might have thought the songs they wrote for George and Ringo were just fillers or work-songs, but they turned out even better as fans of George and Ringo looked to these songs on each LP. Do You Want To Know A Secret for George and With A Little Help From My Friends for Ringo (as well as Good Night for Ringo) are perhaps the best examples. Ringo's vocal on WALHFMF is probably his best with the Beatles, or perhaps his entire singing career.
Am I the only person to hear a strong resemblance between the main melody line of "With a Little Help" and the "Ode to Joy" from Beethoven's 9th Symphony? I wonder if the Beatles consciously "borrowed" the melody or if it was just a coincidence. Either way, it's a wonderful song!
(Btw, the drum kit the Beatles used in their concerts has Beethoven's first name on it!)
It is a coincidence, but the rise and fall of the notes (but not the rhythm) will fit, slightly, if you replace "Freude, schöner Götterfunken, Tochter aus Elysium" with "What would you do if I sang out of tune, would you stand up and walk out on me-ee-ee?".
It's mere coincidence. The Beatles were never big classical fans (to my knowledge), and they'd never knowingly borrow from a piece around 160 years old. I could be wrong; never sure.
Well, Blackbird was partly inspired by Bach, so it could be more than coincidence.
Rolling over with laughter at those Beethoven comments (see what I did there?)
"Because" on Abbey Road was inspired by Beethoven.
I don't hear any Hammond organ in this, even after listening to the multitracks. Where is it?
Was this the last song they wrote for Ringo?
No, John gave his ballad "Good Night" to Ringo in '68. That lovely little tune closed out the double White Album. Ringo began to offer his own compositions in '68, but I wish John and Paul (or even George, as he did for Ringo's solo work)had continued to use Ringo lead vocal for some of their self-composed tracks. Some of my fondest Beatles' songs are those written by Lennon-McCartney, but sang by Ringo.
"Good Night" wasn't really written for Ringo, so "...Friends" essentially was the last.
Listening last night & I just realized something: In the final refrain, Ringo switches the order of the "I get high..." and "Gonna try..." lines. Wonder if it was written that way or was it a legitimate Desmond/Molly-style switcheroo-mistake?