I Don't Want to Spoil the Party
| "I Don't Want to Spoil the Party" | |
|---|---|
| Song by the Beatles from the album Beatles for Sale | |
| Released | 4 December 1964 |
| Recorded | 29 September 1964 EMI Studios, London |
| Genre | |
| Length | 2:33 |
| Label | Parlophone |
| Writer(s) | Lennon–McCartney |
| Producer(s) | George Martin |
| "I Don't Want to Spoil the Party" | ||||
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single cover
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| Single by the Beatles | ||||
| A-side | "Eight Days a Week" | |||
| Released | 15 February 1965 (US) | |||
| Label | Capitol | |||
| Writer(s) | Lennon–McCartney | |||
| The Beatles US singles chronology | ||||
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| "I Don't Want to Spoil the Party" | ||||
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| Single by Rosanne Cash | ||||
| from the album Hits 1979-1989 | ||||
| Released | 1989 | |||
| Format | 7" single | |||
| Genre | Country | |||
| Length | 2:36 | |||
| Label | Columbia | |||
| Writer(s) | Lennon–McCartney | |||
| Producer(s) | Rodney Crowell, Rosanne Cash | |||
| Rosanne Cash singles chronology | ||||
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"I Don't Want to Spoil the Party" is a song by the Beatles, written by John Lennon and credited to Lennon–McCartney. It was released on the album Beatles for Sale in the United Kingdom in 1964. "I Don't Want to Spoil the Party" was also released on the Beatles for Sale (No. 2) EP. In the United States, Capitol released the song as the B-side of the single "Eight Days a Week", and later on the Beatles VI album, both in 1965. The single peaked at number 1 in the US (it was not released in the UK); "I Don't Want to Spoil the Party" charted as a B-side, reaching number 39 on the Billboard Hot 100.
The lyrics anticipate themes that were to become familiar in Lennon's songwriting – alienation and inner pain. In this song, the narrator is at a party, waiting for his girl to show up. When it becomes clear that she has stood him up, he decides to leave, rather than spoil the party for everyone else. Both the lyrics and melody share a melancholy sound and theme with songs that precede it on Beatles for Sale, such as "No Reply" and "I'm a Loser". Author Ian MacDonald views the song as a return to the subject matter introduced by Lennon on "I'll Cry Instead", from the Beatles' A Hard Day's Night album, and a "preview" of "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away", from Help!
The Beatles recorded "I Don't Want to Spoil the Party" on 29 September 1964 in 19 takes, the last of which was released.George Harrison's guitar solo, played on his new Gretsch Tennessean in the style of Carl Perkins, was enhanced by midrange resonance boost, giving it an especially bright sound. According to The Encyclopedia of Country Music, the song is an early example of country rock, anticipating the Byrds' work in that style. MacDonald describes it as the "most overt" country track on Beatles for Sale, an album that is "dominated by the idiom".
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