A-side "I'll Cry Instead" Format 7-inch single Length 1:58 | Released 26 June 1964 Genre Rock | |
Recorded 1 March 1964
Abbey Road Studios, London | ||
"I'm Happy Just to Dance with You" is a song written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney and recorded by the Beatles for the film soundtrack to A Hard Day's Night. Lead vocals are by George Harrison, whose performance in the film marked the first mass media depiction of Harrison singing lead.
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Composition
It was written specifically for George Harrison to sing at a time when he lacked the confidence to compose his own material. Years later, McCartney described it as a "formula song", and Lennon said, "I would never have sung it myself."
Featuring a hectic Bo Diddley style rhythm guitar in juxtaposition with Harrison's placid vocal, its composers give it an unexpected choice of chord at the crux of its chorus, augmenting the B7th on "I'm happy just to dance with you". The song is also distinctive in that it begins not with a verse or chorus but with the last four bars of the bridge.
Recording
The Beatles recorded "I'm Happy Just to Dance with You" on a Sunday, the first time they had used Abbey Road Studios on a day other than a normal work day. On June 26, United Artists released the song on the album, A Hard Day's Night. July 20 is when the Something New album was released by Capitol Records with the song on it. It hit #95 on the Billboard Top 100 chart on August 1, 1964, its only appearance on that chart.
The group also recorded a version for the BBC's From Us to You radio show. The session took place on 17 July 1964 at the BBC Paris Studio in London, and was first broadcast on 3 August that year.
Personnel
Covers
The Cyrkle released a version of the song on their 1967 album, Neon. Anne Murray included a cover of "I'm Happy Just to Dance with You" on her 1980 album Somebody's Waiting. Murray had had some success in previous years covering other Beatles songs such as "You Won't See Me" and "Day Tripper." Unlike the Beatles' original, Murray's version of "I'm Happy Just to Dance with You" is an adult-contemporary ballad. Murray's version of the song was released as a single in mid-1980, reaching No. 64 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 23 on the Billboard country chart. Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings included a cover of the song on their 2007 album Jukebox. The Smithereens also released a cover on their 2008 album, B-Sides The Beatles.