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TL;DR:

  • Paul McCartney showed The Beatles’ “Yesterday” to Ringo Starr, George Harrison, and John Lennon.
  • They decided the song shouldn’t be a single in the United Kingdom.
  • When it became a single there, it wasn’t as popular as it had been in the United States.
The Beatles in black-and-white
The Beatles | John Pratt / Stringer

Paul McCartney said Ringo Starr, George Harrison, and John Lennon didn’t want to add anything to his demo for The Beatles’ “Yesterday.” Subsequently, the band decided the song shouldn’t be a single in the United Kingdom. It eventually became a single there, 11 years after its release in the United States.

Paul McCartney was told he should work on The Beatles’ ‘Yesterday’ alone

In the 1997 book Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now, Paul discussed the way the other Beatles reacted to an early version of “Yesterday” with no string section. “Ringo said, ‘I don’t think I can really drum on that,'” he said. “George said, ‘Well, I’m not sure I can put much on it either.’ And John said, ‘I can’t think of anything, I think you should just do it yourself.'”

Subsequently, Paul explained part of why “Yesterday” was not initially a single in the U.K. “That would have been getting above yourself,” he said. “We were always watching each other for any signs of that.”

Paul McCartney didn’t want to elevate himself above the other Beatles with the song

In addition, the “Silly Love Songs” singer didn’t want to stand out from the other members of the group. “I remember showing up for a photo session once and I had a grey suit and the others had dark suits and they made fun of me,” he said. “I didn’t know what suits they were going to come in, but it was because I stood out from the group. It was such a democracy.

“So ‘Yesterday’ would have meant that the spotlight would goon me, so we never did that,” he added. “It wasn’t released here as a single. In America maybe. We would allow it there because we weren’t living there, we’d visit there, but that wasn’t the same. But here, no way on earth.”

Related

John Lennon Joked He’d Get an Award for The Beatles’ ‘Yesterday’ Even Though He Didn’t Write It

‘Yesterday’ performed differently in the United States and the United Kingdom

The Beatles was a single in the United States in 1965 but not in the United Kingdom. The tune topped the Billboard Hot 100 for four weeks, staying on the chart for 11 weeks in total. “Yesterday” appeared on the soundtrack of the film Help! That soundtrack album reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200 for nine weeks and remained on the chart for 46 weeks.

“Yesterday” finally became a single in the U.K. in 1976, a full 11 years after its single release in the U.S. The Official Charts Company says the tune peaked at No. 8 there and lasted on the chart for nine weeks. On the other hand, Help! reached No. 1 in the U.K. for nine weeks and lasted on the chart for 39 weeks altogether.

“Yesterday” is one of the band’s greatest triumphs even if it took awhile to get to British radio.

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