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Stories

John Lennon Wishes He Had Lead Vocals On One Beatles Song

by Lauren Novak

Published June 12, 2022

John Lennon wanted to sing this one Beatles song

John Lennon and Paul McCartney were the main vocalists for The Beatles and often traded off singing songs. They generally decided that whoever wrote the song would sing it as well. Before they decided this, things could get a little awkward when they both wanted to sing a particular song.

At times, they would both sing the song together, for example in “I Want To Hold Your Hand.” However, there was one song that John Lennon wishes he could have sung lead vocals on and he even thinks he could have performed it better.

Related:

  1. Listen To Haunting Isolated Vocals Of John Lennon And Paul McCartney In “If I Fell”
  2. John Lennon’s Least Favorite Beatles Song “Knocked Off” One Of Elvis’s Tunes

John Lennon thinks he could have sung “Oh! Darling” better than Paul McCartney

HELP!, from left: Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, John Lennon 1965
HELP!, from left: Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, John Lennon 1965 / Everett Collection

The song is their classic “Oh! Darling.” Paul wrote the song so naturally, he got to sing it. When the time came to record it, Paul had some trouble. John once recalled, “‘Oh! Darling’ was a great one of Paul’s that he didn’t sing too well. I always thought that I could’ve done it better – it was more my style than his. He wrote it, so what the hell, he’s going to sing it. If he’d had any sense, he should have let me sing it. [Laughs.]”

RELATED: The Beatles Had A Hard Time Recording One Of Their Most Iconic Songs

HELP!, from left: George Harrison, Paul McCartney, John Lennon, 1965
HELP!, from left: George Harrison, Paul McCartney, John Lennon, 1965 / Everett Collection

Engineer Alan Parsons who worked with The Beatles during recordings confirmed the story. He shared, “Paul came in several days running to do the lead vocal on ‘Oh! Darling.’ He’d come in, sing it and say, ‘No, that’s not it, I’ll try it again tomorrow.’ He only tried it once per day, I suppose he wanted to capture a certain rawness which could only be done once before the voice changed. I remember him saying, ‘Five years ago I could have done this in a flash,’ referring, I suppose, to the days of ‘Long Tall Sally’ and ‘Kansas City.'”

A HARD DAY'S NIGHT, from left: John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison (obscured), 1964
A HARD DAY’S NIGHT, from left: John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison (obscured), 1964 / Everett Collection

What do you think? Would the song sound better sung by Paul or John? Listen to Paul’s version below:

RELATED: The Beatles Loved Elvis Presley, But Not This One Song Of His

Next up: 50 Years Ago, Dolly Parton Wrote Two Legendary Songs On The Same Day

Previous article: 50 Years Ago, Dolly Parton Wrote Two Legendary Songs On The Same Day
Next Post: Why Is Freddy Fender Not In Country Music Hall Of Fame Even Though He Made Such An Impact?

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