I'll Be On My Way

Song facts

From Wikipedia:

“I’ll Be on My Way” is a song written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, which was first released on 26 April 1963 by Billy J. Kramer with the Dakotas as the b-side of their single “Do You Want to Know a Secret“, a song also written by Lennon–McCartney. The single reached number two in the UK charts while “From Me to You” by the Beatles was occupying the number 1 position. According to Lennon, the song was written by McCartney: “This was early Paul.” The Beatles, featuring Lennon and McCartney, recorded a version of the song, first released in 1995 on the Live at the BBC compilation.

In 1980 Lennon said “that’s Paul on the voids of driving through the country.”

“I’ll Be on My Way” is considered to be the first song that Lennon and McCartney “gave away”, and the Billy J. Kramer with the Dakotas’ version of the song is included on the EMI album The Songs Lennon and McCartney Gave Away.

In 1963, the Beatles and Billy J. Kramer with the Dakotas were both acts managed by Brian Epstein, with George Martin as their producer.

The song may have been influenced by the musical and lyrical style of Buddy Holly. The persona forces a happy-go-lucky view on his break-up to make himself feel better, similar in character to Holly’s 1959 song “It Doesn’t Matter Anymore”. The Song was recorded at BBC Paris Theatre, London

This song was recorded by the Beatles on 4 April 1963 at the BBC Paris Theatre, London, and broadcast on the BBC radio show Side by Side on 24 June 1963. This is the only known recording of “I’ll Be on My Way” by the Beatles; it features joint lead vocals by McCartney and Lennon, and can be heard on the Beatles’ album Live at the BBC, where it is the only previously unreleased original song.

From earlybeatlessongs:

Another of McCartney’s compositions dating to the first half of 1959. Originally it was a gentle guitar ballad, and it seems it was performed live during 1961 – but in the autumn of 1962, the group roughed it up and filled it out with a stronger arrangement. Lennon though never warmed to it, accounting for its not finding a place in the Beatles’ official EMI discography.

Apparently a decision was made to give it to Billy J Kramer and the Dakotas in early-1963, and an acetate is believed to exist containing a demo by McCartney (and possibly the rest of the group), which was given to Dakota, Mike Maxwell. The Dakotas recorded their version on March 14, but then on April 4, the Beatles themselves performed it for BBC radio, in a recording now available on Live At The BBC. 

On April 26, the Billy J Kramer version came out on the B-side of their “Do You Want To Know A Secret”, which climbed up to number 2 in the UK charts. Nevertheless, we should view the Beatles’ own BBC recording as the definitive document.

John and I were a song writing team and what song writing teams did in those days was write for everyone – unless you couldn’t come up with something or wanted to keep a song for yourself and it was a bit too good to give away. John and I would get together, ‘Oh we gotta write one for Billy J, OK’… and we just knocked them out. In our minds there was a very vague formula and we could do it quite easily.

Paul McCartney – From a late eighties interview – From “Northern Songs: The True Story of the Beatles Song Publishing Empire”, by Rupert Perry

Last updated on November 8, 2021

Lyrics