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Released in 1995

Ain't She Sweet

Written by Milton AgerJack Yellen

Last updated on May 20, 2017


Album This song officially appears on the Anthology 1 Official album.

Timeline This song was officially released in 1995

Related sessions

This song was recorded during the following studio sessions:

From Wikipedia:

Ain’t She Sweet” is a song composed by Milton Ager (music) and Jack Yellen (lyrics) and published in 1927 by Edwin H. Morris & Co., Inc./Warner Bros., Inc. It became popular in the first half of the 20th century, one of the hit songs that typified the Roaring Twenties. Like “Happy Days Are Here Again” (1929), it became a Tin Pan Alley standard. Both Ager and Yellen were elected to membership in the Songwriters Hall of Fame. […]

Ain’t She Sweet” was also performed by the Beatles with John Lennon on lead vocals. It was recorded on June 23, 1961 at the Friedrich-Ebert-Halle, Hamburg, Germany with Pete Best on drums, and produced by Bert Kaempfert, released as a single in 1964, May 29 on Polydor NH 52-317 (UK)., and included on the Anthology 1 album in 1995. A different rendition, recorded during a jam session in 1969 with Ringo Starr on drums, was released on the Beatles’ Anthology 3 – it is the only song which appears on two of the Anthology records. A solo version of the song was also included in the John Lennon Anthology box set.

Paul McCartney, in the “Anthology” book:

A lot of our tracks may not have been ‘cool’. I think if we’d just been cool, we wouldn’t have made it how we did… The fact that we weren’t ashamed of those [cabaret] leanings meant that the band could be a bit more varied. And there was a need for that, because we played cabaret a lot. Songs like Till There Was You and Ain’t She Sweet would be the late-night cabaret material. They showed that we weren’t just another rock ‘n’ roll group.

From Anthology 3 liner notes:

[…] Later in the day [July 24, 1969], during the recording of the Abbey Road song Sun King, the Beatles ambled into a lighthearted jam that encompassed three Gene Vincent songs – Be-Pop-A-Lula, Who Slapped John? and, most enticingly, Ain’t She Sweet, the standard from 1927 that Vincent had covered in 1956 and the Beatles themselves recorded in 1961 (issued on Anthology 1). Then they had performed an arrangement that vocalist John Lennon described as “a march”, but in this 1969 jam they duplicated the softened style of Vincent’s recording.


Lyrics

Oh ain't she sweet

Well see her walking down that street

Yes I ask you very confidentially

Ain't she sweet?


Oh ain't she nice

Well look her over once or twice

Yes I ask you very confidentially

Ain't she nice?


Just cast an eye

In her direction

Oh me oh my

Ain't that perfection?


Oh I repeat

Well don't you think that's kind of neat?

Yes I ask you very confidentially

Ain't she sweet?


Oh ain't she sweet

Well see her walking down that street

Well I ask you very confidentially

Ain't she sweet?


Oh ain't that nice

Well look it over once or twice

Yes I ask you very confidentially

Ain't she nice?


Just cast an eye

In her direction

Oh me oh my

Ain't that perfection?


Oh I repeat

Well don't you think that's kind of neat?

Yes I ask you very confidentially

Ain't she sweet?


Oh ain't she sweet

Well see her walking down that street

Well I ask you very confidentially

Ain't she sweet?

Well I ask you very confidentially

Ain't she sweet?

Officially appears on

  • Anthology 1

    Official album • Released in 1995

    2:13 • OuttakeA

    Paul McCartney : Bass John Lennon : Rhythm guitar, Vocals George Harrison : Lead guitar Pete Best : Drums Bert Kaempfert : Producer Karl Hinze : Recording engineer

    Session Recording: Jun 24, 1961 • Studio Studio Rahlstedt, Wandsbek, Hamburg

  • Anthology 3

    Official album • Released in 1996

    2:09 • OuttakeB • Stereo • Later in the day, during the recording of the Abbey Road song Sun King, the Beatles ambled into a lighthearted jam that encompassed three Gene Vincent songs - Be-Pop-A-Lula, Who Slapped John? and, most enticingly, Ain't She Sweet, the standard from 1927 that Vincent had covered in 1956 and the Beatles themselves recorded in 1961 (issued on Anthology 1). Then they had performed an arrangement that vocalist John Lennon described as "a march", but in this 1969 jam they duplicated the softened style of Vincent's recording.

    Paul McCartney : Bass Ringo Starr : Drums John Lennon : Rhythm guitar, Vocals George Harrison : Lead guitar George Martin : Producer Geoff Emerick : Recording engineer Phil McDonald : Recording engineer

    Session Recording: Jul 24, 1969 • Studio EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road

  • Anthology 1 (2016 remaster)

    Streaming • Released in 2016

    2:13 • OuttakeA2016

    Paul McCartney : Bass John Lennon : Rhythm guitar, Vocals George Harrison : Lead guitar Pete Best : Drums Bert Kaempfert : Producer Karl Hinze : Recording engineer

    Session Recording: Jun 24, 1961 • Studio Studio Rahlstedt, Wandsbek, Hamburg

  • Anthology 3 (2016 remaster)

    Official album • Released in 2016

    2:09 • OuttakeB2016 • Stereo • Later in the day, during the recording of the Abbey Road song Sun King, the Beatles ambled into a lighthearted jam that encompassed three Gene Vincent songs - Be-Pop-A-Lula, Who Slapped John? and, most enticingly, Ain't She Sweet, the standard from 1927 that Vincent had covered in 1956 and the Beatles themselves recorded in 1961 (issued on Anthology 1). Then they had performed an arrangement that vocalist John Lennon described as "a march", but in this 1969 jam they duplicated the softened style of Vincent's recording.

    Paul McCartney : Bass Ringo Starr : Drums John Lennon : Rhythm guitar, Vocals George Harrison : Lead guitar George Martin : Producer Geoff Emerick : Recording engineer Phil McDonald : Recording engineer

    Session Recording: Jul 24, 1969 • Studio EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road

Bootlegs

Live performances

Paul McCartney has never played this song in concert.

Paul McCartney writing

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