Get It

Song facts

“Get It” is a song from 1982 album “Tug Of War“, featuring Carl Perkins, one of McCartney & The Beatles’ idols, on guitar. From an interview with Guitar Player Magazine:

You played with Carl Perkins on “Get It” [from the album Tug of War]. How did you two get together?

Paul McCartney: I rang him up, and he was in the States playing clubs. We met him in the very early days with the Beatles, and he was a good old friend, such a down-home boy. I love Carl — he’s so great. I’ll tell you a story about Carl; I don’t think he’ll mind me telling this. We were recording at Montserrat, and a musician friend was sailing around the world on a yacht — a bit of a tax dodge, I think [laughs] — and he sailed into Montserrat, and came to see us. He invited us to his boat. There was this British naval crew piping us aboard this spotless yacht. Carl was really impressed with the buffet and the champagne, and the way it was all laid out. He came over to me and said, “Paul, where I come from they call this shittin’ in high cotton.” It’s one of my favorite expressions. After that, we recorded “Get It.” At the end of the song, you can hear both of us laughing — and that’s the joke we’re laughing at. We had to cut the joke out, though, because we’d have never gotten it played on the radio.

Did you both play guitar on that song?

Paul McCartney: Yeah, I just played a little bit, and Carl played a rhythm part. The fun tended to come when we had a free moment. He and I sat on the floor of the studio, and we were talking, and there was a mic on. I was just telling him about some of his old songs that we loved, like “Lend me Your Comb” and “Your True Love.” I told him we were big fans of his and we used to do “Your True Love.” Then we’d sing together. Then we’d stop, and he’d say, “Well, you know, Paul, I used to do this,” and he’d show me some fingerpicking thing he used to do.

Carl (Perkins) and I had a joke at the end of ‘Get It’ and he started laughing. It was a nice way to end the track. It was genuine laughing but I wanted the laughing to go on into something more mystical

Paul McCartney talking about “Be What You See (link)“, from Badman, Keith. The Beatles: The Dream Is Over – Off The Record 2 (p. 303).

We were in the studio and [Carl Perkins] came down and said, ‘My, it’s real pretty round here, Paul.’ He went to bed, got up the next morning and he obviously hadn’t seen the island. So he came back later that day and said, ‘Paul, believe me. This morning, I thought I’d died and gone to heaven when I woke up. It’s so pretty here and so beautiful.’ So while he was there, I wrote the track ‘Get It’. We had a bit of fun recording it. I can always see Laurel & Hardy dancing to this track.

Paul McCartney, from Badman, Keith. The Beatles: The Dream Is Over – Off The Record 2 (p. 303).

Last updated on May 9, 2020

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