The last cover version recorded by The Beatles until the Get Back/Let It Be sessions in 1969, ‘Act Naturally’ was sung by Ringo Starr and appeared on the second side of the Help! album.
The country and western song, written by Johnny Russell and Voni Morrison, was first released by Buck Owens in 1963, and topped the US Billboard country singles chart that year. It was recorded by The Beatles as a replacement for the abandoned ‘If You’ve Got Trouble’.
I sang ‘Act Naturally’ in Help!. I found it on a Buck Owens record and I said, ‘This is the one I am going to be doing,’ and they said ‘OK’. We were listening to all kinds of things.
Anthology
In America the song was first released on 13 September 1965 on the ‘Yesterday’ single. On 15 June 1966 it appeared on the Yesterday… And Today album.
Although ‘Act Naturally’ was never a part of The Beatles’ live repertoire before they recorded it, they did perform it during their fourth and final appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, taped on 14 August 1965 and broadcast on 12 September.
In the studio
The Beatles recorded ‘Act Naturally’ on 17 June 1965. They recorded it in 13 takes – the first 12 were essentially rehearsals, with Starr’s vocals making their first and only appearance on the final attempt.
The arrangement was simple, and varied only slightly from the original. Paul McCartney sang backing vocals, and George Harrison performed some suitably country and western lead guitar licks.
Lyrics
They’re gonna put me in the movies
They’re gonna make a big star out of me
We’ll make a film about a man that’s sad and lonely
And all I gotta do is act naturally
Well, I’ll bet you I’m gonna be a big star
Might win an Oscar, you can never tell
The movie’s gonna make me a big star
’cause I can play the part so well
Well I hope you’ll come and see me in the movies
Then I’ll know that you will plainly see
The biggest fool that ever hit the big time
And all I gotta do is act naturally
We’ll make the scene about a man that’s sad and lonely
And begging down upon his bended knee
I’ll play the part and I won’t need rehearsing
All I have to do is act naturally
Well, I’ll bet you I’m gonna be a big star
Might win an Oscar, you can never tell
The movie’s gonna make me a big star
’cause I can play the part so well
Well I hope you’ll come and see me in the movies
Then I’ll know that you will plainly see
The biggest fool that ever hit the big time
And all I gotta do is act naturally
Can anyone tell me if “Act Naturally” is anywhere on the Beatles Rock Band or if it will be available to play on the game at a future date? Thank you, Jaelene (Daughter of co-owner of Act Naturally, Voni Morrison)
Hello Jaelene,
The song is not currently in the game, but more songs are added every now and again. I’m sure it will pop up eventually.
Hope this helps 🙂
Thank you so much for the info. You are confirming what I am hearing. Again, thanks a million, Jaelene
Your dad wrote the song? Awesome!
That is awesome.
Jaelene: That’s awesome………Johnny Russell was your dad’s co-writer of “Act Naturally”, right? Did you know Johnny?
My Dad Billy Dunn was a friend of Johnny Russell since childhood. My dad was Johnny Russell’s bass player for a time. Mu Dad and mom went to California with the band. My Dad was present when Buck Owens called Johnny and asked to record the song act naturally. I was born in Eureka California in 1962. Loved Johnny whenever my Dad would come to Tennessee we would go to Johnny’s show in Nashville and go back stage and visit with Johnny.
James, I’m writing the biography of Johnny Russell (he was my cousin). Please contact me, I’d like to talk to you about your dad.
Thanks
Act Naturally was to be on the B side of Apple’s version of Act Naturally but an error occurred and Act Naturally was, in fact, originally released on the A side and Yesterday on the B side. Daughter of co-writer Voni Morrison, Female vocalist Buck Owens band. My mom was Voni, Johnny’s composition partner. My dad was an elected official in the Teamsters.
That’s awesomeness.
Actually, ol’ Ringo did quite well on this one–NOT so hot on ED SULLIVAN though as
ringo stated himself: “nervous and out of tune”. Here’s one where I like the STEREO version as well as the MONO. The only major difference is the reverb at the breaks before the refrain- still, pretty listeneable !
I have to say that this is an improvement on ol’ Buck’s version. The boys seemed to swing it a little more; really dig George’s country licks, too.
I find it an interesting commentary on the current state of affairs, vis-à-vis concepts of “intellectual property”, that Voni Morrison is identified as “co-owner”, not co-writer, of Act Naturally. Apparently, authorship is now considered irrelevant, with ownership being all-important… (Of course, the controlling factor is the supreme primacy of the almighty dollar in today’s world. :P)
And Buck & the Buckaroos paid back the compliment by imitating The Beatles at their Carnegie Hall concert in 1966, which Capitol recorded.
Interesting Ringo sang on Ed Sullivan, but George never did 🙁
At least George sang co-lead on “All My Loving”. 🙁
I saw the Ed Sullivan show tape on YouTube. God he’s so adorable!
Ringo or Ed Sullivan? Lol.
Actually, it was the A Side of the single as many references say!
Actually, no. It was the b-side.
Your “many references” are incorrect.
Unnecessary mockery. Adrian is definitely right. Here are the sources:
https://www.discogs.com/release/3190085-The-Beatles-Act-Naturally
https://www.discogs.com/release/467896-The-Beatles-Act-Naturally-Yesterday
https://www.discogs.com/release/1243386-The-Beatles-Yesterday-Act-Naturally
https://www.discogs.com/release/12339033-The-Beatles-Act-Naturally-Yesterday
Any more doubts?
Looks like Ringo and the Beatles do he song in the key of G major……….but Buck and his Buckaroos did it live, at least, in the key of A major………………….Guess Ring has a lower voice than Buck…………………….
George tuned his low E string down to D for this song. Pretty obvious in the intro.
My eight-year-old son recently pronounced Act Naturally the Beatles’ greatest recording. Doubt he’ll find much company in this view – but I imagine Ringo will be chuffed!
At the time that this song was written, Johnny Russell and Voni Morrison were both relatively unknown songwriters. They had an agreement that they would each put both of their names on any song that they wrote to increase exposure for both of them. Johnny Russell explained that he wrote Act Naturally himself, but Voni’s name appears on the record because of that deal. In this context, it makes sense that she is listed as a “co-owner” of the song and not a “co-writer” of the song.
I remember Feb. 1972 coming back from VietNam and my Uncle Leo was singing this song in his dining room.
What good days they were and what a good man he was.
Listen to McCartney’s harmony on the 2 half of the song.. How would you like to have someone like singing and playing the bass for you?
I cant get enough.
BeatlesBible I one of the top 5 Beatle sites in existence.
Keep it up.
Moptop69
Interesting that Ringo chose “his” song for the album, and that there was never a question of him not having a song at all if L&M couldn’t write one
Research shows that George played the acoustic guitar on this then overdubbed the lead guitar. John did not play on this song