Birthday (The Beatles song)
| "Birthday" | |
|---|---|
"Birthday" 45
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| Song by the Beatles | |
| from the album The Beatles | |
| Released | 22 November 1968 |
| Recorded | 18 September 1968 |
| Genre | Hard rock,rock and roll |
| Length | 2:42 |
| Label | Apple Records |
| Songwriter(s) | Lennon–McCartney |
| Producer(s) | Chris Thomas |
| "Birthday" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
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| Single by Paul McCartney | ||||
| B-side | "Good Day Sunshine" | |||
| Released | 8 October 1990 (UK) 16 October 1990 (US) |
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| Genre | Rock | |||
| Label |
Parlophone (UK) Capitol (US) |
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| Songwriter(s) | Lennon–McCartney | |||
| Paul McCartney singles chronology | ||||
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"Birthday" is a song written by Lennon–McCartney and performed by the Beatles on their double album The Beatles (often known as "the White Album"). It is the opening track on the third side of the LP (or the second disc in CD versions of the record). The song is an example of the Beatles' return to more traditional rock and roll form, although their music had increased in complexity and it had developed more of its own characteristic style by this point. Surviving Beatles McCartney and Ringo Starr performed it for Starr's 70th birthday at Radio City Music Hall on 7 July 2010.
The song was largely written during a recording session at Abbey Road Studios on 18 September 1968 by John Lennon and Paul McCartney. McCartney: "We thought, 'Why not make something up?' So we got a riff going and arranged it around this riff. So that is 50-50 John and me, made up on the spot and recorded all in the same evening." During the session, the Beatles and the recording crew made a short trip around the corner to McCartney's house to watch the 1956 rock & roll movie The Girl Can't Help It which was being shown for the first time on British television. After the movie they returned to record "Birthday".
George Martin was away so his assistant Chris Thomas produced the session. His memory is that the song was mostly Paul's: "Paul was the first one in, and he was playing the 'Birthday' riff. Eventually the others arrived, by which time Paul had literally written the song, right there in the studio." Everyone in the studio sang in the chorus and it was 5 am by the time the final mono mix was completed.
John Lennon said in his Playboy interview in 1980: "'Birthday' was written in the studio. Just made up on the spot. I think Paul wanted to write a song like 'Happy Birthday Baby' [sic], the old fifties hit. But it was sort of made up in the studio. It was a piece of garbage."
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Wikipedia