# Crediting the right Beatle **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [December 23, 2021, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crediting-the-right-beatle/956557 "2021-12-23T21:06:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2021, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crediting-the-right-beatle/956557/1 "2021-12-23T21:06:38Z")
I thought of an amusing (to me) parallel. There was a story of Frank Sinatra, for years, in his concerts saying _ **Something** _ was his favorite Lennon-McCartney song. He eventually corrected it. Reminded me of accounts of Lennon going into clubs, and having the band strike up _ **Yesterday** _. That would get annoying. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2021, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crediting-the-right-beatle/956557/2 "2021-12-23T22:44:54Z")
Speaking of the wrong Beatle on Beatles songs, I always find it amusing to hear ex-Beatles singing Beatles songs they didn’t originally sing. Like John singing “I Saw Her Standing There.” [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/8WgG6bTX6k0/maxresdefault.jpg "John Lennon Elton John - I Saw Her Standing There MSG 1974") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WgG6bTX6k0) Or Ringo singing “Love Me Do.” (Hell he wasn’t even drumming on the original recording of this one.) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/0b1cQL5nQko/hqdefault.jpg "Ringo Starr - Live in Moscow 25/8/1998 - 9. Love Me Do") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0b1cQL5nQko) Or Paul singing “Something” or “For You Blue” or “A Day in the Life.” [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/5b_kvE_DsCU/hqdefault.jpg "Paul McCartney Something Live at Anfield, Liverpool 1st June 2008") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5b_kvE_DsCU) [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/TPO1zwuAe0g/hqdefault.jpg "Paul McCartney - For You Blue at the Concert For George") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPO1zwuAe0g) [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rdv2dGoMZAw) ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2021, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crediting-the-right-beatle/956557/3 "2021-12-24T01:17:06Z")
A recycled joke on SNL and elsewhere is an elder pop singer like Sinatra or Dean Martin calling Paul McCartney (or any other British rocker) “Ringo” since that’s the only name a non-Beatles fan could remember. Tom Hanks as Dean Martin did it in a sketch re-aired this past Saturday. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2021, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crediting-the-right-beatle/956557/4 "2021-12-24T01:23:06Z")
I vaguely remember a TV movie about Jan and Dean where Jan is annoyed whenever someone tells him their favorite song of his, since it’s inevitably actually a Beach Boys song. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2021, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crediting-the-right-beatle/956557/5 "2021-12-24T01:35:32Z")
I remember two scenes from a J&D movie. In one scene they’re lip-syncing at a concert when the playback fails. In another memorable scene they’re in a cafe (?) and one of them reaches under the table to caress an amputee’s stump. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2021, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crediting-the-right-beatle/956557/6 "2021-12-24T02:55:45Z")
Pink Floyd recorded the live album _Pulse_, including the entire _Dark Side of the Moon_ without Roger Waters, who had left the group acrimoniously at the time. ---
**Author:** ![Kedikat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed655f/32.png) [@Kedikat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kedikat)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2021, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crediting-the-right-beatle/956557/7 "2021-12-24T03:33:33Z")
I had a band crashing in my house and recording/practicing in my basement. Never got famous. But I imagine I got a glimpse into the dynamics of it, for them at least. They were friends. Of like mind of many things. But also there own selves. Two of them were twins. No not those ones. I often went here and there with them to mundane things and performances. Sometimes doing sound/lights. In very simple situations. I am not a sound/light man. To say a particular piece was attributable wholly to any one of them seemed ridiculous. The band was a constantly varying balance. Even I put forward a thought or two that would appear in performance of a song. Lennon, McCartney and Harrison, were a joining of minds and experiences past and present that I suspect permeated all that they produced. Then toss in the producer. Yes there are major and minor influences in a band. Some are very much a solo core. But looking at the outcomes of the Beatles music and their members, I don’t give too much majority to any one member. Lennon and McCartney were the core. I feel most of the music was a result of them, not one. Harrison added and attuned a lot. If a writer/performer has a core group that they stay with for multiple releases. Those other members are likely contributing a lot to the final product. ---
**Author:** ![caligulathegod](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/caligulathegod/32/9685_2.png) [@caligulathegod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caligulathegod)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2021, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crediting-the-right-beatle/956557/8 "2021-12-24T05:06:39Z")
Not the Beatles, but it reminds me of a story a friend told me. It’s been so long I can’t remember if he was actually there, but it was at a party and Peter Criss was there. Peter had a guitar (or someone there had) and sang an impromptu Hard Luck Woman. My friend’s girlfriend then turned to him and in earshot of Peter exclaimed how that was her favorite Rod Stewart song. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2021, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crediting-the-right-beatle/956557/9 "2021-12-24T11:10:07Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Pink Floyd recorded the live album _Pulse_ , including the entire _Dark Side of the Moon_ without Roger Waters, who had left the group acrimoniously at the time. Well, he wrote the lyrics. All melody was colab. And Waters only sang lead on two tracks. OTOH, he’s been touring with The Wall as a solo act. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2021, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crediting-the-right-beatle/956557/10 "2021-12-24T11:39:33Z")
In the documentary Imagine, we see a scruffy young man trespass on the Lennon-Ono estate (I think in England, not New York, so probably early 70s). John kindly has a conversation and invites him in for tea. The man quotes a Beatles song (maybe “The End”? not sure), thanking John for it, and John corrects him — “That was Paul.” ---
**Author:** ![Chad\_Sudan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chad_sudan/32/4509_2.png) [@Chad\_Sudan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chad_Sudan)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2021, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crediting-the-right-beatle/956557/11 "2021-12-24T12:18:16Z")
Regarding Beatle-credit intrigue… As I understand it, there’s only one song in the Lennon-McCartney catalog in which one partner wrote (the vast majority of) the song and the other sang lead. That song is [“Every Little Thing”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrDikOz8YSU) (1964). It’s written almost entirely by Paul but sung by John. I wonder why that track was the exception to the rule. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2021, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crediting-the-right-beatle/956557/12 "2021-12-24T13:43:51Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > I thought of an amusing (to me) parallel. There was a story of Frank Sinatra, for years, in his concerts saying _ **Something** _ was his favorite Lennon-McCartney song. He eventually corrected it. Reminded me of accounts of Lennon going into clubs, and having the band strike up _ **Yesterday** _ . That would get annoying. In those bands’ defense, it wasn’t always widely known which collaborations were written by Lennon versus McCartney. I remember a local DJ tearfully dedicating “Yesterday” a day or so after Lennon’s death. Sinatra’s error was a little more blatant. It’s always been a matter of record who wrote “Something”, and I’m sure Sinatra’s record company knew who got the royalties. IIRC Sinatra said further that “Something” was his favorite romantic song, period (Casey Casem claimed this in a late 1970s broadcast). ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2021, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crediting-the-right-beatle/956557/13 "2021-12-24T13:48:50Z")
Probably not what the OP is looking for, but for years I thought it was Ringo, not John, who screamed “I’ve got blisters on my fingers!” at the end of Helter Skelter. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2021, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crediting-the-right-beatle/956557/14 "2021-12-24T13:49:36Z")
That’s what I always thought, too. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2021, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crediting-the-right-beatle/956557/15 "2021-12-24T13:57:27Z")
Really? I’ve only ever heard it credited to Ringo. Who says it was John? ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2021, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crediting-the-right-beatle/956557/16 "2021-12-24T14:05:22Z")
There was a thread here several years ago where I said something about Ringo screaming “I’ve got blisters on my fingers” and promptly got piled on by a number of posters correcting me that it was John, not Ringo. Including comments like “why would Ringo even have blisters on his fingers?” (As if drummers never get blisters…) ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2021, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crediting-the-right-beatle/956557/17 "2021-12-24T14:10:48Z")
[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/E0x978oZa3Y/maxresdefault.jpg "Ringo Starr's blisters") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0x978oZa3Y) ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2021, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crediting-the-right-beatle/956557/18 "2021-12-24T14:19:14Z")
Jeez memory sure is a funny thing. I did a search and found the thread. What I actually posted was _John_ and got jumped on because it was _Ringo_. So I completely remembered it backwards. Yeesh! 🤦🏻‍♂️ ---
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2021, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crediting-the-right-beatle/956557/19 "2021-12-24T14:27:33Z")
Without checking, I’m thinking there are several songs that were (mostly) written by Paul, but John sings lead. The reason is that Paul could sing the high harmonies. ---
**Author:** ![damarp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/damarp/32/9770_2.png) [@damarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/damarp)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2021, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crediting-the-right-beatle/956557/20 "2021-12-24T14:38:52Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > _ **Something** _ was his favorite Lennon-McCartney song. **Something** was written by George\_Harrison. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crediting-the-right-beatle/956557.md?page=2)