The Rolling Stones’ Mick Jagger May Have Sung on a Beatles Song
A typical Beatles song doesn’t sound like a typical Rolling Stones song. Despite this, there is reason to believe Mick Jagger and the other Rolling Stones performed vocals on a Beatles track. Paul McCartney revealed how newspapers inspired the song.
Paul McCartney and John Lennon combined 2 incomplete songs to make The Beatles’ ‘Baby, You’re a Rich Man’
The 1997 book Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now discusses the origin of “Baby, You’re a Rich Man.” John Lennon started writing a song about hippies titled “One of the Beautiful People.” Meanwhile, McCartney had a chorus that went “Baby, you’re a rich man.” Lennon and McCartney combined their incomplete songs to craft “Baby, You’re a Rich Man.”
McCartney discussed his memories of creating the song in the book.
“Baby, You’re a Rich Man’ was co-written by John and me at Cavendish Avenue,” he recalled. “‘Tuned to a natural E’ is a line that I remember us writing, a slight pun on the word ‘naturally’ — ‘natural E.'”
McCartney said one question led to the creation of “Baby, You’re a Rich Man.”
“There was a lot of talk in the newspapers then about the beautiful people,” he remembered. “That was what they called them, so we figured, well, the question was, how does it feel to be one of the beautiful people?”
Why it’s possible Mick Jagger and the other Rolling Stones performed on the song
McCartney revealed why he liked the mix of “Baby, You’re a Rich Man” so much.
“We recorded it at a rather exciting recording session at Olympic, in Barnes, we’re Keith Grant mixed it, instantly, right there,” he recalled. “He stood up at the console as he mixed it, so it was a very exciting mix, we were really quite buzzed. I always liked that track.”
“Baby, You’re a Rich Man” was recorded during a late-night session on May 11, 1967. The Rolling Stones were at the session, which lasted from 9 p.m. to 3 a.m. One of the tape boxes which came from that session has “+Mick Jagger?” written on it.
According to Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now, this might mean Jagger and the other Rolling Stones performed on the song’s final chorus.
How The Beatles’ ‘Baby, You’re a Rich Man’ performed on the charts
“Baby, You’re a Rich Man” became a minor hit in the United States. The song peaked at No. 34 on the Billboard Hot 100, staying on the chart for five weeks. “Baby, You’re a Rich Man” appeared on the album Magical Mystery Tour. The album peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 for eight weeks and stayed on the chart for 93 weeks altogether.
The Official Charts Company reports “Baby, You’re a Rich Man” did not chart in the United Kingdom. Meanwhile, Magical Mystery Tour became a bigger hit in the U.K. It peaked at No. 31 and stayed on the chart for 10 weeks.
“Baby, You’re a Rich Man” wasn’t one of The Beatles’ biggest hits, but it has an interesting connection to newspapers.
