Ain't She Sweet
| "Ain't She Sweet?" | |
|---|---|
| Song | |
| Written | 1927 |
| Writer(s) | Composer: Milton Ager Lyricist: Jack Yellen |
| Language | English |
"Ain't She Sweet" is a song composed by Milton Ager (music) and Jack Yellen (lyrics) and published in 1927 by Edwin H. Morris & Co., Inc./Warner Bros., Inc. It became popular in the first half of the 20th century, one of the hit songs that typified the Roaring Twenties. Like "Happy Days Are Here Again" (1929), it became a Tin Pan Alley standard. Both Ager and Yellen were elected to membership in the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Milton Ager wrote "Ain't She Sweet" for his daughter Shana Ager, who in her adult life was known as the political commentator Shana Alexander.
"Ain't She Sweet" was also recorded by Fabian Forte; Hoosier Hot Shots; Ray Anthony; Nat King Cole; Tiny Hill & the Hilltoppers; the Playboys; the Viscounts; Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers; and many others. The song was also covered in 1990 on the album Funk of Ages, by Bernie Worrell and several former members of Parliament-Funkadelic.
According to eminent author Mark Lewisohn in "The Complete Beatles Chronicles" (p. 361, 365) The Beatles performed it live from 1957 till 1962, in Lewisohn's words "the version most likely to have prompted the Beatles performance of this song would be Gene Vincent's...1956 recording". However on pg. 365 of that book Lewisohn added "but since John Lennon's vocal rendition was different from Vincent's, it would seem that he arranged his own unique version", he concluded by saying "He may have also been influenced by Duffy Power's 1959 version" (also pg. 365). The Beatles rock and roll arrangement of "Ain't She Sweet" was recorded by the group with John Lennon on lead vocals, while recording as Tony Sheridan's backup band on June 22, 1961 at the Friedrich-Ebert-Halle, Hamburg, Germany with Pete Best on drums, produced by Bert Kaempfert. The recording was released as a single on May 29, 1964, on Polydor NH 52-317 (UK), and was included on the Anthology 1 album in 1995. A different rendition, recorded during a jam session in 1969 with Ringo Starr on drums, was released on the Beatles' Anthology 3 - it is the only song which appears on two of the Anthology records. A solo version of the song was also included in the John Lennon Anthology box set.
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