I'm Happy Just to Dance with You

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“I'm Happy Just to Dance with You”
“I'm Happy Just to Dance with You” cover
Single by The Beatles
from the album A Hard Day's Night
A-side "I'll Cry Instead"
Released 20 August 1964
Format 7"
Recorded Abbey Road Studios
1 March 1964
Genre Rock and roll
Length 01:58
Label Capitol (US)
Writer(s) Lennon/McCartney
Producer George Martin
The Beatles singles chronology
"A Hard Day's Night"
(1964)		 "I'll Cry Instead"
(US-1965)		 "And I Love Her"
(US-1964)
A Hard Day's Night track listing
Side one
  1. "A Hard Day's Night"
  2. "I Should Have Known Better"
  3. "If I Fell"
  4. "I'm Happy Just to Dance with You"
  5. "And I Love Her"
  6. "Tell Me Why"
  7. "Can't Buy Me Love"
Side two
  1. "Any Time at All"
  2. "I'll Cry Instead"
  3. "Things We Said Today"
  4. "When I Get Home"
  5. "You Can't Do That"
  6. "I'll Be Back"

"I'm Happy Just to Dance with You" is a John Lennon and Paul McCartney composition recorded by The Beatles for the film soundtrack to A Hard Day's Night. Though the track only reached #95 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1964, it is an airplay favorite to this day on oldies-based radio stations.

Contents

[edit] Beatles original

It 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",[1] and Lennon said, "I would never have sung it myself".[2]

Structurally, it features hectic Bo Diddley rhythm and busy banjo style guitar playing in juxtaposition with Harrison's vocal. Its composers give it an unpredictable choice of chord (augmenting the B7th on "I'm happy just to dance with you") right at the crux of its title, jarring the chorus.[3]

The Beatles recorded "I'm Happy Just to Dance with You" on a Sunday, the first time they had used Abbey Road Studios on other than a normal work day.[2]

[edit] Anne Murray version

"I'm Happy Just to Dance with You" was covered in 1980 by Canadian country-pop singer Anne Murray, who 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, Anne Murray's version of "I'm Happy Just to Dance with You" is an adult-contemporary ballad.

Murray's record reached #64 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #23 on the Billboard country chart in 1980.

[edit] Personnel

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Miles, Barry (1997). Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now. New York: Henry Holt & Company, 163. ISBN 0-8050-5249-6. 
  2. ^ a b Harry, Bill (2000). The Beatles Encyclopedia: Revised and Updated. London: Virgin Publishing, 546. ISBN 0-7535-0481-2. 
  3. ^ Hal Leonard Publishing Corporation (1993). The Beatles - Complete Scores. Milwaukee: Hal Leanord, 492. ISBN 0-7935-1832-6. 
v • d • e
The Beatles' singles discography
UK:
(Parlophone,
Apple Records)
1962: "Love Me Do" • 1963: "Please Please Me", "From Me to You", "She Loves You", "I Want to Hold Your Hand" • 1964: "Can't Buy Me Love", "A Hard Day's Night", "I Feel Fine" • 1965: "Ticket to Ride", "Help!", "Day Tripper" / "We Can Work It Out" • 1966: "Paperback Writer", "Eleanor Rigby" / "Yellow Submarine" • 1967: "Strawberry Fields Forever" / "Penny Lane", "All You Need Is Love", "Hello Goodbye" • 1968: "Lady Madonna", "Hey Jude" • 1969: "Get Back" / "Don't Let Me Down", "Ballad of John and Yoko", "Something" / "Come Together" • 1970: "Let It Be" • 1976: "Yesterday", "Back in the U.S.S.R." • 1978: "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" / "A Day in the Life" • 1982: "The Beatles Movie Medley", "Love Me Do" (reissue) • 1995: "Baby It's You", "Free as a Bird" • 1996: "Real Love"
B-sides
1962: "P.S. I Love You" • 1963: "Ask Me Why", "Thank You Girl", "I'll Get You", "This Boy" • 1964: "You Can't Do That", "Things We Said Today", "She's a Woman" • 1965: "Yes It Is", "I'm Down" • 1966: "Rain" • 1967: "Baby, You're a Rich Man", "I Am the Walrus" • 1968: "The Inner Light", "Revolution" • 1969: "Old Brown Shoe" • 1970: "You Know My Name (Look Up the Number)" • 1976: "I Should Have Known Better", "Twist and Shout" • 1982: "I'm Happy Just to Dance with You", "P.S. I Love You" (reissue) • 1995: "I'll Follow the Sun" / "Devil in Her Heart" / "Boys", "Christmas Time (Is Here Again)" • 1996: "Baby's in Black"
U.S.:
(Vee-Jay,
Swan,
Tollie,
Capitol,
Apple Records)
1963: "Please Please Me" (VJ), "From Me to You" (VJ), "She Loves You" (Swan), "I Want to Hold Your Hand" • 1964: "Twist and Shout" (Tollie), "Can't Buy Me Love", "Do You Want to Know a Secret" (VJ), "Love Me Do" (Tollie), "Sie Liebt Dich (She Loves You)" (Swan), "A Hard Day's Night", "I'll Cry Instead", "And I Love Her", "Matchbox", "I Feel Fine" • 1965: "Eight Days a Week", "Ticket to Ride", "Help!", "Yesterday", "We Can Work It Out" / "Day Tripper" • 1966: "Nowhere Man", "Paperback Writer", "Eleanor Rigby" / "Yellow Submarine" • 1967: "Penny Lane" / "Strawberry Fields Forever", "All You Need Is Love", "Hello, Goodbye" • 1968: "Lady Madonna", "Hey Jude" • 1969: "Get Back" / "Don't Let Me Down", "Ballad of John and Yoko", "Something" / "Come Together" • 1970: "Let It Be", "The Long and Winding Road" • 1976: "Got to Get You into My Life", "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" • 1978: "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" / "A Day in the Life" • 1982: "The Beatles Movie Medley" • 1986: "Twist and Shout" • 1995: "Baby It's You", "Free as a Bird" • 1996: "Real Love"
B-sides
1963: "Ask Me Why", "Thank You Girl", "I'll Get You", "I Saw Her Standing There" • 1964: "From Me to You", "There's a Place", "You Can't Do That", "I Should Have Known Better", "I'm Happy Just to Dance with You", "If I Fell", "Slow Down", "She's a Woman" • 1965: "I Don't Want to Spoil the Party", "Yes It Is", "I'm Down", "Act Naturally" • 1966: "What Goes On", "Rain" • 1967: "Baby You're a Rich Man", "I Am the Walrus" • 1968: "The Inner Light", "Revolution" • 1969: "Old Brown Shoe" • 1970: "You Know My Name (Look Up the Number)", "For You Blue" • 1976: "Helter Skelter" • 1982: "I'm Happy Just to Dance with You" • 1986: "There's a Place" • 1995: "I'll Follow the Sun" / "Devil in Her Heart" / "Boys", "I Saw Her Standing There" / "This Boy" / "Christmas Time (Is Here Again)" • 1996: "Baby's in Black" / "Yellow Submarine" / "Here, There and Everywhere"
v • d • e
The Beatles
George Harrison · John Lennon · Paul McCartney · Ringo Starr
Pete Best · Stuart Sutcliffe
Management
Production
Studio albums (U.K.)
Studio albums (U.S.)
EPs
Post-breakup albums
Compilations
Filmography
Videography
Discography
Related persons
See also
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