I Don't Want to Spoil the Party

"I Don't Want to Spoil the Party" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, written by John Lennon and credited to Lennon–McCartney.^[3] It was featured as the twelfth track on the 1964 album Beatles for Sale. "I Don't Want to Spoil the Party" was also released on the Beatles for Sale (No. 2) EP.^[4] It was later released as the B-side of the US single "Eight Days a Week", and then as the fifth track on the North America-only album Beatles VI. The song reached number 39 on the Billboard Hot 100.^[5]

"I Don't Want to Spoil the Party"
US picture sleeve (reverse)
Single by the Beatles
A-side	"Eight Days a Week"
Released	4 December 1964 (1964-12-04) (UK Beatles for Sale album) 15 February 1965 (US single)
Recorded	29 September 1964
Studio	EMI, London
Genre	Country rock,[1] pop rock[2]
Length	2:33
Label	Capitol
Songwriter(s)	Lennon–McCartney
Producer(s)	George Martin
The Beatles US singles chronology
"I Feel Fine" (1964) "Eight Days a Week" / "I Don't Want to Spoil the Party" (1965) "Ticket to Ride" (1965)

Lyrics

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".^[4] 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!^[6]

Recording

The Beatles recorded "I Don't Want to Spoil the Party" on 29 September 1964 in 19 takes, the last of which was released.^[7] George Harrison's guitar solo, played on his new Gretsch Tennessean in the style of Carl Perkins,^[6] was enhanced by midrange resonance boost, giving it an especially bright sound.^[8] According to The Encyclopedia of Country Music, the song is an early example of country rock, anticipating the Byrds' work in that style.^[1] MacDonald describes it as the "most overt" country track on Beatles for Sale, an album that is "dominated by the idiom".^[6]

Among the band's biographers, opinions differ on which Beatle sings the low harmony part during the verses, below Lennon's lead vocal. MacDonald lists Harrison as the second vocalist on the track,^[6] while John Winn credits McCartney, saying that he sounds "deceptively like a second Lennon".^[9] According to musicologist Walter Everett, the harmony part is Lennon "self-duetting".^[8]

Reception

Cash Box described it as "a funky, country-bluesish teen-angled tear-jerker."^[10]

Personnel

According to Walter Everett:^[8] except where noted

• John Lennon – lead vocals (verses) and harmony vocals (chorus), acoustic rhythm guitar
• Paul McCartney – bass, harmony vocals, lead vocals (chorus)
• George Harrison – lead guitar, backing vocals^[11][12]
• Ringo Starr – drums, tambourine

Chart positions

Chart (1964)	Peak position
US Billboard Hot 100[13]	39

Rosanne Cash version

"I Don't Want to Spoil the Party"
Single by Rosanne Cash
from the album Hits 1979-1989
B-side	"Look What Our Love Is Coming To"
Released	1989
Genre	Country
Length	2:36
Label	Columbia
Songwriter(s)	Lennon–McCartney
Producer(s)	Rodney Crowell, Rosanne Cash
Rosanne Cash singles chronology
"Runaway Train" (1988) "I Don't Want to Spoil the Party" (1989) "Black and White" (1989)

Rosanne Cash covered the song for her Hits 1979-1989 compilation. Her version went to number one on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart in 1989. It was also Cash's last number one hit to date, and is the only Lennon-McCartney song to top the country chart.

Chart positions

Chart (1989)	Peak position
Canada Country Tracks (RPM)[14]	1
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[15]	1

Year-end charts

Chart (1989)	Position
Canada Country Tracks (RPM)[16]	23
US Country Songs (Billboard)[17]	16

Notes

1. Kingsbury, McCall & Rumble 2012, p. 106.
2. Terence J. O'Grady (1 May 1983). The Beatles, a musical evolution. Twayne. p. 58. ISBN 978-0-8057-9453-3.
3. Miles 1997, p. 175.
4. Ruhlmann 2009.
5. Wallgren 1982, p. 40.
6. MacDonald 2005, p. 129.
7. Lewisohn 1988, p. 49.
8. Everett 2001, p. 258.
9. Winn 2008, p. 273.
10. "CashBox Record Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. 13 February 1965. p. 12. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
11. "I Don't Want to Spoil the Party (Song)".
12. "The Beatles, "I Don't Want to Spoil the Party" from 'Beatles for Sale' (1964): Deep Beatles". 14 February 2016.
13. "The Beatles Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
14. "Top RPM Country Tracks: Issue 6373." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. 26 June 1989. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
15. "Rosanne Cash Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard.
16. "RPM Top 100 Country Tracks of 1989". RPM. 23 December 1989. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
17. "Best of 1989: Country Songs". Billboard. 1989. Retrieved 28 August 2013.

References

• "Hits 1979–1989 > Charts and Awards". AllMusic. 2009. Retrieved 18 November 2009.
• Everett, Walter (2001). The Beatles as Musicians: The Quarry Men through Rubber Soul. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-514105-9.
• Kingsbury, Paul; McCall, Michael; Rumble, John W., eds. (2012). The Encyclopedia of Country Music (2nd edn). New York, NY: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-539563-1.
• Lewisohn, Mark (1988). The Beatles Recording Sessions. New York: Harmony Books. ISBN 0-517-57066-1.
• MacDonald, Ian (2005). Revolution in the Head: The Beatles' Records and the Sixties (Second Revised ed.). London: Pimlico (Rand). ISBN 1-84413-828-3.
• Miles, Barry (1997). Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now. New York: Henry Holt and Company. ISBN 0-8050-5249-6.
• Ruhlmann, William (2009). "Review of "I Don't Want to Spoil the Party"". AllMusic. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
• Wallgren, Mark (1982). The Beatles on Record. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-671-45682-2.
• Winn, John C. (2008). Way Beyond Compare: The Beatles' Recorded Legacy, Volume One, 1962–1965. New York, NY: Three Rivers Press. ISBN 978-0-307-45239-9.

External links

• Alan W. Pollack's Notes on "I Don't Want to Spoil the Party"