The Beatles A-Z: Birthday

The Beatles' extensive catalog just wouldn't be complete without its own birthday song. Quite appropriately then, "Birthday" was the Fab Four's take on the standard tune, written by Paul McCartney with some help from John Lennon. "'Birthday' was written in the studio. Just made up on the spot," Lennon said in a 1980 Playboy interview. "I think Paul wanted to write a song like 'Happy Birthday Baby,' the old '50s hit."

However, other sources close to the band reported that the tune was written in India for Patti Harrison who celebrated a birthday during The Beatles' time in the country with the Maharishi. Whether it was conceived there or back in Britain, Chris Thomas, who served as producer for the session, revealed that it was Paul who provided the lion's share of the track. "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."

Nevertheless, Lennon told Hit Parader in 1972 that "both of us" wrote the song, which, given the pair's nature of collaboration, would make sense even if McCartney came up with it primarily by himself. The instrumentation proved to be more balanced, as McCartney and Lennon shared lead vocals on the track. Elsewhere, Paul played piano, an upright which was worked out to sound like an electric harpsichord, while Lennon took lead guitar duties. George Harrison stepped into the bass role, while Ringo served in his usual role behind the drumkit. Finally, providing background harmonies were Patti Harrison and Yoko Ono, who stood in as the chorus.

The upbeat song, which opens the third side of the Beatles' White Album, still managed to irk Lennon long after the fact. In the same Playboy interview in which he discussed the song's recording, he dismissed the effort, saying "it was a piece of garbage." Sounds like John just had a case of the birthday blues.

Justin Starling for Citadel Digital © 2010

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