"I'm Happy Just to Dance with You"
US picture sleeve (reverse)
Single by the Beatles
from the album A Hard Day's Night
A-side"I'll Cry Instead"
Released20 July 1964 (1964-07-20)[1]
Recorded1 March 1964
StudioEMI, London
GenreRock
Length1:58
LabelCapitol (US)
Songwriter(s)Lennon–McCartney
Producer(s)George Martin
The Beatles US singles chronology
"And I Love Her"
(1964)		 "I'll Cry Instead" / "I'm Happy Just to Dance with You"
(1964)		 "Matchbox"
(1964)

"I'm Happy Just to Dance with You" is a song written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney[2] and recorded in 1964 by the English rock band the Beatles for the film soundtrack to A Hard Day's Night. Lead vocals are by George Harrison, whose performance in the film marked the first mass media depiction of Harrison singing lead.

Composition

The song was written specifically for George Harrison to sing at a time when he lacked the confidence to compose his own material. Years later, McCartney described it as a "formula song",[2] and Lennon said, "I would never have sung it myself."[3]

The song features a hectic style rhythm guitar in juxtaposition with Harrison's placid vocal. Its composers give it an unexpected choice of chord at the crux of its chorus, augmenting the B7th on "I'm happy just to dance with you". The song is also distinctive in that it begins not with a verse or chorus but with the last four bars of the bridge.[4] According to musicologist Ian MacDonald, its guitar part derives its inspiration from the Rolling Stones' cover of Buddy Holly's song, "Not Fade Away".

Cash Box described it as "a stomp-a-rhythmic delight."[5]

Recording

The Beatles recorded "I'm Happy Just to Dance with You" on a Sunday, the first time they had used Abbey Road Studios on a day other than a normal work day.[3] United Artists released the song on the album A Hard Day's Night on 26 June. It was also included on the album Something New, released by Capitol Records on 20 July.[1] It hit #95 on the Billboard Top 100 chart on 1 August 1964, its only appearance on that chart.[6][7] It is one of only two Lennon–McCartney songs sung by Harrison during the group's career, the other song being "Do You Want to Know a Secret".

The group also recorded a version for the BBC's From Us to You radio show. The session took place on 17 July 1964 at the BBC Paris Studio in London, and was first broadcast on 3 August that year.[8] An instrumental piano-only version is heard in the A Hard Day's Night film, during rehearsals for a musical television broadcast.

Personnel

According to Ian MacDonald:[9]

Anne Murray cover

"I'm Happy Just to Dance with You"
Single by Anne Murray
from the album Somebody's Waiting
B-side"What's Forever For"
ReleasedJune 1980 (1980-06)
GenreEasy listening, adult contemporary
LabelCapitol (US)
Songwriter(s)Lennon–McCartney

Anne Murray included a cover of "I'm Happy Just to Dance with You" on her 1980 album Somebody's Waiting. Murray had had some success in previous years covering other Beatles songs such as "You Won't See Me" and "Day Tripper." Unlike the Beatles' original, Murray's version of "I'm Happy Just to Dance with You" is an adult-contemporary ballad. Murray's version of the song was released as a single in mid-1980, reaching No. 64 on the Billboard Hot 100, No. 23 on the Billboard country chart, and No. 13 Adult Contemporary.

Chart performance

The Beatles
Chart (1964) Peak
position
US Billboard Hot 100[6][7] 95
US Cash Box Top 100[10] 91
Anne Murray
Chart (1980) Peak
position
Canada RPM Adult Contemporary[11] 1
Canada RPM Country 10
Canada RPM Top Singles 74
US Billboard Hot 100[12] 64
US Billboard Hot Country Songs[13] 23
US Billboard Adult Contemporary 13

Other cover versions

Later uses

Tori Kelly sang the song as the character Millie Pede in Beat Bugs, an Australian-Canadian animated children's television series.

References

Notes

  1. 1 2 "I'm Happy Just to Dance With You". Beatlesebooks.com. Retrieved May 15, 2016.
  2. 1 2 Miles 1997, p. 163.
  3. 1 2 Harry 2000, p. 546.
  4. ↑ Hal Leonard 1993, p. 492.
  5. ↑ "CashBox Record Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. July 18, 1964. p. 12. Retrieved 2022-01-12.
  6. 1 2 "The Hot 100 - August 1, 1964". Billboard. Retrieved May 15, 2016.
  7. 1 2 "The Beatles - Chart History". Billboard. August 1, 1964. Retrieved May 15, 2016.
  8. ↑ The Beatles Bible 2008.
  9. ↑ MacDonald 2005, p. 112.
  10. ↑ "Cash Box Top 100 Singles, August 8, 1964". Archived from the original on March 14, 2018. Retrieved February 15, 2019.
  11. ↑ "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. 1980-08-23. Retrieved 2019-02-13.
  12. ↑ Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–1990 - ISBN 0-89820-089-X
  13. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 242.
  14. ↑ The Cyrkle, Neon Retrieved January 10, 2016
  15. ↑ Deming, Mark. B-Sides the Beatles at AllMusic. Retrieved December 27, 2016.

Bibliography

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