How a classic rock ‘n’ roll movie gave birth to a classic Beatles song
The Beatles rose earlier than usual on September 18th, 1968. John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr were in the midst of the White Album sessions, their most sprawling and eclectic release so far, and they were working like dogs to finish the thing.
A couple of days before the session, Chris Thomas, who was standing in for George Martin at the time, was chatting to Paul McCartney and happened to mention that the 1956 rock ‘n’ roll film The Girl Can’t Help It would be showing on BBC Two the first time at 9:05pm on September 18th.
Responsible for introducing Fats Domino, Little Richard, Julie London, Gene Vincent and Eddie Cochran to the big screen, this technicolour jukebox extravaganza remade the film musical in its own rock ‘n’ rolling image. Loud, proud and uniquely American, for Lennon and the like, it was an explosion of colour in a drab world still in the grip of postwar austerity.
Keen to catch the showing, The Beatles decided to start the day’s session at the earlier time of 5pm. “The idea was to start the session earlier than usual, about five o’clock in the afternoon, and then all nip around the corner to Paul’s house in Cavendish Avenue, watch the film and go back to work,” Chris Thomas recalls in Mark Lewisohn’s The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions.
“So on the day Paul was the first one in, and he was playing the ‘Birthday’ riff,” Thomas continues. “Eventually, the others arrived, by which time Paul had literally written the song, right there in the studio. We had the backing track down by about 8.30, popped around to watch the film as arranged and then came back and actually finished the whole song. It was all done in a day!
According to Paul, however, the song was co-written by John Lennon.”We thought, ‘Why not make something up?’ So we got a riff going and arranged it around this riff,” Paul told Barry Miles, author of Many Years From Now. “We said, ‘We’ll go to there for a few bars, then we’ll do this for a few bars.’ We added some lyrics, then we got the friends who were there to join in on the chorus. So that is 50-50 John and me, made up on the spot and recorded all on the same evening. I don’t recall it being anybody’s birthday in particular.”
Never Miss A Beat
The Far Out Beatles Newsletter
All the latest stories about The Beatles from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.