The Beatles’ ‘With a Little Help From My Friends’ Didn’t Hit No. 1 But a Cover From the Next Year Did

Paul McCartney said The Beatles‘ “With a Little Help From My Friends” has been “used a lot.” For example, a cover of the song from 1968 became a No. 1 hit in the U.K. Paul revealed what he thought of the recording.

Paul McCartney thought a cover of The Beatles’ ‘With a Little Help From My Friends’ was ‘fantastic’

In the 1997 book Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now, Paul discussed a cover of “With a Little Help From My Friends.” “[Record producer] Denny Cordell gave me a ring and said, ‘We love that song that Ringo sings but we’ve got this treatment of it that we really think would be great, singing it very bluesy, very crazy, slow it right down,'” the singer recalled.

Paul revealed what he thought about another artist changing “With a Little Help From My Friends.” “I said, ‘Well, great, try it, and let me hear what you do with it.’ He came over to see us at Apple Studios at Savile Row and played it and I said, ‘Wow, fantastic!'” Paul was discussing Joe Cocker’s 1968 cover “With a Little Help From My Friends.” The cover was released the year after the original song.

The Beatles’ Paul McCartney said there’s lots of ‘good memories’ associated with the song

Paul elaborated on his feelings about the cover. “They’d done a really radical treatment of it and it’s been Joe’s staple diet for many a year,” he said. “Then it was taken on by John Belushi, who used to do a Cocker impression, and so taken even further by Belushi, so it has good memories, that song.”

Paul ruminated on the impact of “With a Little Help From My Friends.” “It became the theme tune to the very good American series about growing up in the ’60s called The Wonder Years, so it’s been picked up and used a lot, that song,” Paul added.

How ‘With a Little Help From My Friends’ and Joe Cocker’s version performed

The Official Charts Company reports “With a Little Help From My Friends” was released in the United Kingdom as a double A-side with “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.” The tracks reached No. 63, staying on the charts for three weeks. The tunes appeared on The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. The album reached No. 1 in the U.K. for 28 weeks, staying on the charts for 277 weeks in total.

The Official Charts Company reports Cocker’s cover became his first top 10 single in the U.K. It was No. 1 for one week, staying on the chart for 13 weeks altogether. The cover appeared on the album With a Little Help From My Friends. The album hit No. 29 in the U.K. and remained on the charts for four weeks.

The Beatles’ “With a Little Help From My Friends” is a classic song — and so is Cocker’s.