Paul McCartney Loved This Ballad That Became a Beatles B-Side

Some of The Beatles‘ best songs are ignored by fans and the public. Paul McCartney said one of the band’s B-sides was “very fine.” In his opinion, the song contradicted a stereotype about John Lennon’s songwriting. In contrast, John said the tune was a poor rewrite of one of the Fab Four’s earlier tracks.

Paul McCartney said a great Beatles B-side was born out of John Lennon’s ‘inspiration’

In the 1997 book Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now, Paul recalled the origin of The Beatles’ “Yes It Is.” “I was there writing it with John, but it was his inspiration that I helped him finish off,” Paul said. “Yes It Is” is most known for serving as the B-side to “Ticket to Ride.”

“‘Yes It Is’ is a very fine song of John’s, a ballad, unusual for John,” he said. “He wrote some beautiful ballads but I’m known generally as the balladeer.” Other ballads John primarily wrote for The Beatles include “If I Fell,” “Julia,” “Good Night,” “In My Life, and “Across the Universe.”

Paul McCartney discussed the internal politics of The Beatles at that time

Paul remembered the state of the Lennon-McCartney songwriting partnership around the time they wrote “Yes It Is.” “The interesting thing is that we actually come out rather equal, the more you analyze it, the more you get to the feeling that both of us always had, which was one of equality,” he said. “I don’t think John ever felt he was better than me and I don’t think I ever felt I was better than John.

“Certainly, when we worked it would have been fatal in a collaboration for either of us to ever think that,” he continued. “It was just that I brought a certain 50% and John brought a certain 50%.”

John Lennon felt that the song was a remake of another B-side

While Paul praised “Yes It Is,” John didn’t. The book All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono features an interview from 1980. “That’s me trying a rewrite of ‘This Boy,’ but it didn’t work,” he said.

“This Boy” was the B-side to “I Want to Hold Your Hand.” It’s one of The Beatles’ rare doo-wop songs. It’s mid-tempo, but it’s far from slow. The band released an instrumental version of the track called “Ringo’s Theme (This Boy).”

On the other hand, “Yes it Is” is more of a soft-rock ballad than a doo-wop song. It’s a lot slower than “This Boy.” “Yes It Is” is the sort of song that would have worked swimmingly in the hands of a crooner like Elvis Presley or Frank Sinatra. While John saw “Yes It Is” as a rewrite of “This Boy,” it’s doubtful else anyone would have made that connection. The “Whatever Gets You Through the Night” singer dismissed “Yes It Is,” but it’s an interesting song partially because it’s so far removed from his usual style.

John dismissed “Yes It Is” but it remains one of the Fab Four’s many hidden gems.