Ain’t She Sweet

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AIN’T SHE SWEET
 
 
“Ain’t She Sweet”  is a song composed by Milton Ager (music) and Jack Yellen (lyrics) and published in 1927 by Edwin H. Morris & Co., Inc. / Warner Bros., Inc.  It became popular in the first half of the 20th century, one of the hit songs that typified the Roaring Twenties.  Like “Happy Days Are Here Again” (1929), it became a Tin Pan Alley standard.  The Beatles’ rock and roll arrangement of “Ain’t She Sweet” was recorded by the group with John Lennon on lead vocals, while recording as Tony Sheridan’s backup band on June 22, 1961, at the Friedrich-Ebert-Halle, Hamburg, Germany with Pete Best on drums, produced by Bert Kaempfert.  The recording was released as a single on May 29, 1964, on Polydor NH 52-317 (UK), and was included on the Anthology 1 album in 1995.  A different rendition, recorded during a jam session in 1969 with Ringo Starr on drums, was released on the Beatles’ Anthology 3 – it is the only song which appears on two of the Anthology records.  (More from Wikipedia)
 
 

 

 

My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean” is a traditional Scottish folk song that remains popular to this day.  Several other songs by the Beatles were recorded at that time; Anthology 1 includes “My Bonnie (but not “The Saints) plus “Ain’t She Sweet” and “Cry for a Shadow” that were made at the same recording session but without Tony Sheridan.  On “Ain’t She SweetJohn Lennon sings lead; this song was a staple in their shows back in 1961.  “Cry for a Shadow is a rare instrumental by the Beatles and the only recording ever credited to George Harrison and John Lennon as songwriters.

 

The flip side of this first Beatles single, “When the Saints Go Marching In” could be described as the signature song of New Orleans.  The origin of this gospel song is unknown, but it started being played by jazz bands beginning with Louis Armstrong in 1938.  

 

(June 2015)

 

Last edited: March 22, 2021