Although sung by John Lennon, ‘I Don’t Want To Spoil The Party’ had been written by Lennon and Paul McCartney with Ringo Starr in mind.
Ringo had a great style and great delivery. He had a lot of fans, so we liked to write something for him on each album. ‘I Don’t Want To Spoil The Party’ is quite a nice little song, co-written by John and I. It sounds more like John than me so 80-20 to him, sitting down doing a job. Certain songs were inspirational and certain songs were work, it didn’t mean they were any less fun to write, it was just a craft, and this was a job to order really, which Ringo did a good job on.
Paul McCartney
Many Years From Now, Barry Miles
Many Years From Now, Barry Miles
Despite McCartney’s recollection, Starr didn’t sing the song. Why Lennon took the lead instead is uncertain, although he claimed the song was written from the heart.
That was me. You see they’re all personal, mine, when you get down to it. I didn’t write much material early on, less than Paul, because he was quite competent on guitar. He taught me quite a lot of guitar really.
John Lennon, 1970
The Ray Connolly Beatles Archive, Ray Connolly
The Ray Connolly Beatles Archive, Ray Connolly
‘I Don’t Want To Spoil The Party’ was composed as a country and western song. Starr was an aficionado of country songs, and the song followed on from ‘I’ll Cry Instead’ as one of The Beatles’ first songs in that style.
We went after a real country and western flavour when we wrote this one. John and I do the singing in that style, and George takes a real country solo on guitar.
Paul McCartney
Disc, 14 November 1964
Disc, 14 November 1964
In the studio
The Beatles recorded ‘I Don’t Want To Spoil The Party’ on 29 September 1964. They taped in 19 takes, although just five of those were complete.
The final attempt, take 19, was the one which appeared on the Beatles For Sale album.
Published: |
George is on backing vocals only. John’s lead is double-tracked (Everett writes: “The fact that John chooses to duet with himself in the verses here and in ‘Eight Days A Week’, rather than harmonize with Paul, was brought to my attention by Tom Hartman in May 1999 correspondence.”
But Paul sings the high harmony in the middle part.
To my ears it sounds as if Paul sings the high LEAD during the middle eight, while John does the low harmony.
Almost the same thing happened with If I Fell; with John singing the intro all by himself, but for the remainder of the song he’s “relegated” to low harmony.
Sometimes it’s hard to determine what’s the lead and what’s the harmony.
Baby’s In Black springs to mind.
The ” though tonight she’s made me sad” lyric, Paul’s voice is more dominant than John’s, which then seems to dominate the next line. George’s country and western playing and licks serve the song especially well, which is definetly his musical strength.
Yes o totally agree it’s Paul on top of the bridge
Everett:
Recorded in nineteen takes (only five of which were complete),
the texture includes drums, bass, and Jumbo on one track, one Lennon vocal
part on a second, the bright round sound of Harrison’s MRB-enhanced Tennessean
on a third, and Lennon’s self-duetting vocal, tambourine (in bridge, C
[0:50–1:04]), and backing vocals by McCartney and Harrison for the SRDC
verse’s D-gesture (B+1–4 [0:20–0:24]) on the fourth.
+1. This is the way I hear it too.
Love this song. This and “I’m a Loser” are my favorite BFS tracks–both kind of depressed, country-inflected John songs.
Wrong !
John is singing the melody on the verses ,and Paul is singing the LOW harmony.
When it gets to the bridge ( middle eight ) Paul takes the melody ( very high ) ,and John sings the low harmony.
So it switches in respect to who is singing the melody,and who is singing the harmony …
People should learn the difference between a melody, and harmony.
John is singing the MELODY a on the verses ,and Paul is singing the low HARMONY . That’s FACT .
On the bridge ( middle eight ) they switch . John is singing the LOW HARMONY ,and Paul is singing the HIGH MELODY !
There is so much information here I can’t believe it . Who’s EVERETT ?
The Beatles Bible have deleted many of my posts when I call them out on inaccuracies .
Hopefully they will not write me ,and say , “ Someone already wrote the same thing “ NO THEY DIDNT ! until people understand what a MELODY is ,and a HARMONY is it’s impossible to have a discussion.
If it’s any help to anyone here is an easy way to differentiate the MELODY ( lead vocal ) from the HARMONY .
Try singing of humming along with any given song. You will by default sing the MELODY . That’s what you hear foremost in your mind.
Use this song as an example. When you get to the bridge
“ Tho tonight she’s made me sad, I still love her.
If I find her I’ll be glad ,I still love her “
You’ll naturally sing the melody. Of course it will be out of the vocal range of 99% of men trying to sing it, but if you drop the key or just sing a song while you’re walking or whatever it will be in your key, even if you can’t hit the notes.
Just warble it out even off key.
That will define what a melody is.
In respect to harmony it would not be appropriate to on this site to delve into it.
In I DON’T WANT TO SPOIL THE PARTY
John sings the melody ONLY ON THE VERSES? Paul low harmony
Paul sings the melody ONLY ON THE BRIDGE? John low harmony
Most sources I’ve seen say Paul harmonized with John on this sing. At least one also stated that they sswi6ched their normal roles on this one, with John singing high and Paul singing low.
“THE BEATLES” IN 1960s I WENT TO SEE THEM AS I WAS ADDICTED TO THERE SONGS.I HAVE LOTS OF BEATLES ORIGIONAL ITEMS AND I STILL LIKE TO HERE THEM AS THEY ARE STILL THE BEST FOR SINGING THERE SONGS.I MISS JOHN & GEORGE.
I’d appreciate this comment a lot more if it was not all capitalized.
that is not john singing with himself. that is john singing with paul who is doing a lower harmony in the verse, but then switches to the higher in the middle eight. there is no doubling of the ‘nasal’ twang of john which would be very noticeable. the voice is either George or Paul, but after listening very carefully, i have concluded its most likely Paul. whoever is saying it is john is wrong.
This is one of my favorites songs, i think it’s John in lead vocals, and Paul the backing vocals of John. Paul & George shares the ”aaaaaaah…”, and Ringo, and his excellent drumming.
I feel so much sad and happiness in this song.
I think you’re right.
Mike Brown (https://wgo.signal11.org.uk/html/content/i.htm#idwtstp):
1:04
John comes in late on “want”. He had sung the full line like Paul prior to “I don’t want to”.
2:15
John inserts a spurious “If I” after “I’ve waited far too long”. Maybe he thought the next line was going to be “If she turns up while I’m gone” and converted to “I think I’ll take a walk”.
I always thought John was slipping in a fast “In fact” – as in “In fact, I think I’ll take a walk and look for her.” Since this single first came out, I’ve heard it that way. I never once thought he was saying “If I” by mistake.
John is clearly harmonizing with himself, double-tracked, in the verse. Paul sings the high harmony in the chorus.
No question.
Yeah, not many people notice that John double-tracks his harmony in the verses. I only noticed it myself after a few listenings. Kind of unexpected.
He did this on several early tracks. Man he really dominated the band in those days, had two perfectly competent singers next to him (one great!) but decided, “Nah, I’ll sound best with just me”. I’m sure if he could hit those high notes in the AWESOME bridge (fave part) he would’ve kept on harmonizing with himself. “Little Child” is another example of this, and I always thought “You Really Got A Hold On Me” was John-and-John again, but this site informs me that’s George on the lower register.
Btw, that quote was fascinating in two respects from the main article at the top – one that John admitted Paul showed him a lot on guitar, which I believe, but that he also says Paul wrote more stuff in the early days – obviously not true. I think John had an overall inferiority-complex about the Beatles after the fact, thinking it was mostly “Paul’s band”, whilst I think Paul kind of thought it was always John’s band. I wish someone could have explained how brilliant, melodically and in really every way, John’s compositions were in the Beatles, at least a match for Paul’s, on ballads as well as rockers. Another tragedy of his death is he never got to fully accept how much people loved him probably the most of all the Beatles, “Yesterday” or not. As time went into the 80’s and especially the ’90s the cult of Lennon just grew and grew, whereas Paul got diminished as people got tired of some of his standards and starting digging on John’s more emotional/intellectual/unusual stuff.
Back to this song, I think it’s highly underrated. Having listening to all Beatles constantly since I was about 8 (on my own, surely heard it much earlier via parents), this song always stuck out as one of my very favorites.
I don’t wish to be maudlin, but you cannot discount that some of the reason “the cult of Lennon just grew and grew” was precisely because of his tragic death.
Teddy Salad is exactly right… that’s what martyrdom does. And I don’t see why John harmonizing with himself is a big deal… Paul did the same thing on All My Loving the year before. Also, Little Child is not John double-tracked… it was co-written so it’s Paul and John singing in union. And one last thing– Travis may be the only person on the planet that believes John Lennon had an inferiority complex.
John wrote his fair share of standards too. Ringo, Paul, George and John are all loved, dead or alive. It’s unnecessary to deify the last two over the first two.
Thank you! Agreed. I don’t know how anyone hears it otherwise.
How could Everett be wrong and you be right. He listened to the 4-track session and has the notes.
I have this song as well on the “French E.P.” in supposedly mono. After listening to this song, it’s apparently the stereo recording dropped down to mono. Does anyone else here this?
In accordance with your Discography page, it was released in US on 15 Feb 65 as the B side of the Eight Days A Week single.
Good point – thanks, I’ve amended the release date here. I forgot the single came out before Beatles VI in June 1965.
I have the original vinyl mono version of “Beatles for sale”. I’m hearing the Fab Four since 1964 and I’m pretty sure that the notes on the original cover are right. It says that John& Paul are the singers, but I’m pretty sure that John sings lead and Paul harmonizes, not George. George appears on the middle eight and on the ooooohs.
I too have noticed that there are clearly two backup singers singing “oooh” behind John singing “there’s nothing for me here, so I will disappear”, and so clearly, Paul and George are singing together.
In “Many Years From Now” Paul calls the composition of this song 80/20 John. Interesting to speculate what Paul’s 20 percent might have consisted of. If you suppose that gorgeous middle “Though tonight she’s made me sad…” was mostly Paul, wouldn’t it be more like 60/40? Especially given that Paul didn’t hesitate to claim 60/40 for less clear-cut songs, this would seem to be largely a John composition.
It might not have been a particular section, just a few lines or words here and there which helped complete the song. It wasn’t uncommon for either of them to bring a song scrap to the studio which was finished off there and then. I agree, though, that this seems to be mostly a John song.
I’ve wondered this for years…
Does anyone detect “I still love her” and “I do love her” being sung simultaneously?
Yes! Thank you for reminding me.
Pretty sure it’s John double-tracked on the verses (although there is a slight George sound on the lower harmony in my opinion).
Paul definitely comes in during the middle six bars.
George’s guitar solo is spot-on. I always class this as one of the Beatles’ Hidden Gems.
This was one of many 45’s that i love the B side better than the A side.
I’ve been playing, singing and listening to the song quite a bit over the past several weeks. I’ve been singing the lead for years but wanted to learn the other parts. I am still not certain who sings in the verses. Clearly John is singing the high lead. Some believe it is double tracked John. While it is unusual for Paul to take a low harmony, it’s also unusual for them not to use Paul’s harmonic talents. I tend to believe it is Paul on low harmony in the verses and on high harmony for the bridge. According to John C. Winn in “Way Beyond Compare-The Beatles Recorded Legacy, Volume One, 1957-1965” – “For the verses, Paul sings the lower harmony (sounding deceptively like a second Lennon), and on the bridges Paul takes the high part.”
John C. Winn is incorrect about the verses. Just listen carefully. It’s not obvious, but it’s clear.
I hear the influence of Don Rich from Buck Owens’ band in Paul’s vocals here (and on Act Naturally, of course). Rich did that high harmony quite well, and it was a hallmark of the Buckaroos’ sound.
Okay, I’ve got another theory:
(Paul on top, John on bottom):
I don’t want to spoil the party so I’ll go
I would hate my disappointment to show
(John solo, Paul and George on “oohs”:)
There’s nothing for me here, so I will disappear
(John on top, Paul on bottom):
If she turns up while I’m gone, please let me know
Repeat this lineup throughout the song.
The middle part (“Though tonight she’s made me sad”) is clearly Paul on top, John on bottom.
I don’t believe there’s any double-tracking whatsoever. It must also be said that Paul’s singing is very Lennon-esque here, for the sake of blend. But listen to how much more the top part sounds unmistakably like John where I’ve indicated it as him, as opposed to the other parts. In essence, I’m just proposing that Paul sings lead on the first two lines, John on the second two.
has anyone ever found live footage of the fab four playing this song in concert? youtube link? the harmony on the verses would have to be shared on a live version. on the studio version the high parts sound like john and george, the low parts john and paul. yes, four lead vocal tracks blended to sound like two, all likely originally intended to be backing for a ringo lead vocal that never panned out.
that’s brilliant. listen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6D1apwd0Yk8
Unfortunately, that video is private. ??
The song was never played in concert.
John on top and bottom .no doubt …the middle 8 (traditional ‘we can work it out’ style bridge) is obvious, with John on bottom paul on top
I can clearly remember walking out of a department store onto the parking lot on a hot day with this picture sleeved single in my hot little hands and I could not wait to get home and start playing Eight Days a Week, having no clue as to what I Dont Want to Spoil the Party was going to be about. Turns out after hearing it a few times I loved it just as much as the A side.
There is no possible way that Ringo could ever sing this due to the complicated vocal structure of the song. What was Paul thinking? Maybe the original arrangement was a cross between Honey Don’t and Act Naturally .
Yes, I remember reading recently that this song was written for Ringo. I had never thought of this before but it does make sense. The song is mediocre.
Upsidtius, it is most certainly NOT mediocre. About 15 years ago I was going through a terrible, terrible time and wanted to kill myself. What kept me from doing it, literally, was the thought that if I jumped off that bridge as per my plan, I would never get to hear “I don’t want to spoil the party” ever again. Just because you can’t relate to the gorgeous harmony, beautifully crafted lyrics, groovy twangy guitar and the great feel of this song doesn’t mean it’s mediocre. And they wrote Ringo some unbelievable songs, not throwaways.
Lennon sings the melody and harmony vocal in the verses. Lennon and McCartney harmonize in the chorus.
I saw a Beatle “cover band” in Pittsburgh, several years ago, and they played that number-with John on melody, and George (impersonators) on the lower harmony..VERY effective. On the middle section, like the recording, Paul has the melody, an John sings the harmony below. Long into adulthood, it’s much easier, naturally, to pick out the individual voices. I’ve read, as well, that Ringo actually does a rare “back-up” vocal on the “Hey-hey-hey-hey” half on Kansas City. The melody chant on “Flying”(from MMT) and “Carry that Weight” (Ab. Rd.) are quite possibly the only other ones,maybe something else I didn’t think of. Back to I Don’t ….Party, it’s absolutely John on both voices, except for “Tho’ tonite..” Bobby Darin and Bobby Vee did this pretty regularly-also Steve Lawrence on “Go Away Little Girl”..and even Andy Williams on “Can’t Get Used To Losing You”
Again another example of Paul being under estimated here. As earlier mentioned, he provides a lower harmony to his own song Things We Said today. That in itself fooled me because I always thought it was John. Clearly its him singing with John in the verses in this song. Some tribute bands use George but this song goes to show how versatile Paul’s range is. Jumping from a lower harmony to something out of this world.
John is definitely doing both the lead and lower harmony on the verses. John’s voice is raspier, it sounds very different from Paul’s lower registry – e.g. when Paul backs himself on “Thing We Said Today” or when he does the lower harmony when John joins him on the verses of “Day Tripper”
You are absolutely wrong. It’s Paul jumping from lower harmony then to high harmony on the bridge. But it’s okay, not everyone is good at hearing who’s singing what.
Speak for yourself, it’s obviously John singing with himself on the verses and Paul joining in the middle eight.
John and George sings in verses, undoubtely and John and Paul in the middle section.
lol not George on anything but “oohs”
No its John and Paul in the verses.
john and john in verses. and he did it because he heard it that way and it’s beautiful. paul in the high part of the refrain with john on lower harmony. I’d say Paul wrote the chorus, as it’s more upbeat, sort of like how john write the darker “life is very short” part of we can work it out.
Just going to be a bit controversial here and suggest that the part in question has John on top and George below.
George’s voice was blended so well with the others that when he sings with Paul it sounds like two Pauls (eg the end of “All My Lovin'” “Please Don’t Ever Change”) and when he sings with John it sounds like two Johns (eg “You Really got a Hold on Me” “Words of Love”)
My two cents…
George only sings on the end of “All My Loving” LIVE….not on the record!!
All this talk about who sings what, and nobody seems to have noticed (or documented anywhere) that apparently there’s another one of Ringo’s “suitcase” percussion performances during the bridges. Or it could be one of the boys slapping the body of an acoustic guitar.
Rest assured, Paul is singing one part or the other during the verses, choruses, and bridges. Please see the following link for a COMPLETE breakdown of who sings what and where. Thanks.
You couldn’t be more wrong. That’s John on both in the verses. He does the same thing …sing with himself despite Paul being right there…on the chorus sections in ‘RAIN”….
Its John and Paul singing the verse. I am not sure where this whole business of John double tracking on this song came from?
He did a self harmony on Rain, which was the first for John. One day, I am sure some more outakes of this will come out.
If you must hear the lower verse then see this LINK
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ul4yY2JGWQk
Just replay the “there’s no fun in what I do” over and over in a loop. See also, Anthology I’m Only Sleeping,
Paul does the low part in the verse then switches to the higher notes, and sounds much like Lennon in the verse.
I see what you mean though … it really could be John singing both parts … For now, I defer to Galeazzo!
Rosanne Cash covered the SONG for her Hits 1979-1989 compilation. Her version went to number one on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart in 1989. The only Lennon-McCartney song to top the country chart.
i tend to think it’s a great effort by the boys…whomever thinks it’s “mediocre” doesn’t have a clue…
This song far excedes mediocre. Its one of many singles the Beatles released that i loved the B side more than the A side 🙂
Love this album and this song. Along with “Baby’s In Black”, two of their most unique, under-rated tracks. Very adept at mixing emotions, the joyful with the melancholy, and great harmonies. This whole album has a bittersweet feel and texture like no other, with the possible exception of the White Album (though that’s more like outright depression)
Great track off “Beatles For Sale”. This is definitely more of a John Lennon song.Thematically it fits in with “No Reply”, “I’m a Loser”, it is him singing lead, (even though it was originally written for Ringo). I am glad John Lennon sung this himself and that is nothing against Ringo. Just as many years later he did the same with “Nobody Told Me” and that was a great out come as well. Songs like “I Don’t Want To Spoil The Party” show why “Beatles For Sale” is underrated. As good as the”A Hard Days Night” album was, John Lennon in particular was moving forward under the influence of Bob Dylan and the greater candidness that was to ultimately to become his hallmark post 1968.So what if they used covers on “Beatles For Sale”. I love those songs and less than 6 months earlier had produced an album entirely made up of Lennon-McCartney songs, “A Hard Days Night”.
Definitely more of a John Lennon song and thematically fits a long side”No Reply” and “I’m a Loser”, both also off “Beatles For Sale”. “I Don’t Want To Spoil The Party” is a great song and another example of why this album is so underrated. As great as the “A Hard Days Night” album was, John Lennon in particular had moved on under the influence of Bob Dylan and the greater candidness that would become his hallmark post 1968. So what if a number of the songs on “Beatles For Sale” are covers. I love those songs and less than 6 months earlier The Beatles had released “A Hard Days Night” an album totally made up of Lennon-McCartney songs. I am pleased John Lennon took the lead on this, that is nothing against Ringo. Just as many years later Lennon did the same with “Nobody Told Me” and the results were fantastic. Originally this was also intended for Ringo.
i think listening again and again:
VERSES: firts part: john: high voice – paul: low voice (there no john´s double tracking)
OOOOOH: john: vocals – paul & george: oooohhh
CHORUS: john: low voice – paul: high voice
This song is one of the really high highlights of Beatles for Sale, in my opinion. I love the way the guitar intro seems to sort of tumble forward with such energy, like someone suddenly pushing you down a fairground slide. The rest of the song is great, but the bridge has more energy, angst, and authenticity than anything else… it’s as though John is sort of the song’s protagonist trying to express his disappointment without completely losing face, and then Paul is the song’s protagonist just letting all the pain and true feelings out. Perhaps John’s vocal represents the face that we see at the party, and Paul’s vocal represents the face we’d see when he’s gone out for the walk that is alluded to, angry tears stinging at his eyes as he stalks down dark sidewalks.
One of the greatest of their middle eights, and man – that is some great company to be in.
George using the Rickenbacker 12 on this one? Listen to it
I can’t imagine Ringo singing this- the melody would be too much for his vocal range. So I imagine that is why he didn’t sing it.
John sings with himself, a self-duet on the verses (listen to the first “I think I’ll take a walk…”); John and Paul sing the “though tonight she’s made me sad…” bits; John, Paul, & George sing on the “ooohhhs”. Interesting way to utilize their voices on this track!
Has anyone ever asked Paul?
“Has anyone ever asked Paul?”
Not certain how useful that would be…he seems to recall that “I Don’t Want To Spoil The Party” was written for Ringo and that Ringo sang lead on the track.
Clearly, Ringo isn’t involved in any way (that I can hear) on the vocals for the song.
The details here have faded into obscurity, although…it’s clearly a (mostly) Lennon composition with Lennon dominant on the vocals.
Whatever…it’s yet another example of Lennon’s amazing songwriting skills and particular brilliance in crafting impressive bridges (or “middle eights” if you prefer) in so many of his early originals.
Yes, I also read it was initially meant for RIngo to sing…. But Paul’s memory might be not too bad, (my speculation) maybe they first recorded it like that and afterwards changed it. After years of recording tons of songs, you might forget one or the other detail.
One of my all time favorites! It’s a great record. George’s lead guitar is exceptional, the melody is lovely and the lyrics heart felt. The vocals, as in all Beatle songs are superb. I love the way Rings overdubbed the tamborine on the part where he went to the toms. It makes that section, IMO. Roseann Cash did a really good version of this song.
This and I’ll Follow The Sun are the 2 great songs on Beatles For Sale. No Reply, I’m A Loser, Every Little Thing and What You’re Doing are good but the rest are so so.
What’s the reference for the Lennon quote?
It first appeared in The Beatles Illustrated Lyrics by Alan Aldridge: “That was a very personal one of mine. In the early days I wrote less material than Paul because he was more competent on the guitar than I. He taught me quite a lot of guitar really.”
The interview was done in 1970 by Ray Connolly, who in 2016 published it in The Ray Conolly Beatles Archive>. The transcript is slightly different from the Aldridge book: “That was me. You see they’re all personal…mine, when you get down to it. I didn’t write much material early on, less than Paul, because he was quite competent on guitar. He taught me quite a lot of guitar really.”
In the interests of accuracy, I’ve put the Connolly version in the article.