 | With a Little Help from My FriendsThe Beatles |
Writer(s): John Lennon, Paul McCartney (see lyrics here) Released: June 2, 1967 (album cut) First Charted: September 9, 1978 Peak: 71 US, 92 CB, 2 CL, 63 UK (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): -- US, -- UK, -- world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 1.0 radio, 22.9 video, -- streaming |
 | With a Little Help from My FriendsJoe Cocker |
First Charted: October 2, 1968 Peak: 68 US, 54 CB, 46 HR, 3 CL, 11 UK (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): -- US, -- UK, -- world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 1.0 radio, -- video, 156.50 streaming |
Awards (The Beatles):Click on award for more details. 
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Awards Joe Cocker):Click on award for more details. 
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About the Song:When the Beatles released Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, they decided to not release any singles to promote it. However, “With a Little Help from My Friends” became one of the album favorites. The song is “about togetherness, friendship, the importance of not being lonely.” FT Although written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, they gave it to Ringo Starr. “He’s not very good at singing” FT but in his hands, it becomes an almost nursery-rhyme-like singalong, a la “Yellow Submarine.” When British blue-eyed soul singer Joe Cocker covered the song, it took on a new life. “Everything about the song is massive.” FT “He stumbles and howls convincingly,” FT “the track gets quite a lot longer, and a great deal louder, and you can feel the charm being steamrollered out: who needs charm when you have force on your side?” FT In his book Revolution in the Head, Ian Macdonald calls it “the song [that] became an anthem for ‘Woodstock Nation,’” FT referring to the “historic four-day extravaganza of peace, love, and tie-dye…the concert of its time.” KL “With his unique raspy blues voice and distinctive stage presence, which involved him swinging his arms around like a flailing human windmill” KL the 25-year-old Cocker sang it “in a New York field in front of a half a million people” KL adorned in “a tie-dyed T-shirt and was drenched in sweat throughout the performance, securing his reputation as an entertainer who would give his all on stage.” SF What did the Beatles think? They congratulated him via telegram and took out an ad in the music papers in praise of his rendition. When Cocker died at age 70, Paul McCartney said, “It was just mind-blowing, totally turning the song into a soul anthem, and I was forever grateful for him for having done that.” SF
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First posted 7/1/2022; last updated 7/13/2023. |
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