I'm Happy Just to Dance with You

George Harrison did not have a songwriting partner.  He had been given credit for co-writing one of the group's very earliest numbers In Spite of All the Danger with Paul McCartney, though they both later learned that one should not be credited for merely coming up with a guitar solo.  A few years later, Harrison was rightfully credited with co-writing the instrumental Cry for a Shadow with John Lennon.  But once the group's official recording career began, George found himself on his own.

It must have been extremely daunting to even attempt songwriting while living in the shadow of the rapidly-developing genius of the Lennon-McCartney juggernaut, but Harrison was encouraged by others around the Beatles, and his first solo effort Don't Bother Me sat quite nicely on the group's second album.  Still, composing did not come easily to him - it took time - and with a deadline looming for a new batch of songs for the band's first feature film, Lennon and McCartney were forced to quickly write a song to order for their lead guitarist to sing.

March 1st, 1964 was the last day of recording that batch of songs, with filming scheduled to begin the very next day.  I'm Happy Just to Dance with You was first up on this date, and it was completed in only one hour.  Lennon was the primary composer of the number, and he proved to be the driving force on the recording, as well, playing an aggressive rhythm guitar part throughout.  The fourth take was the first to feature a live vocal from George, and it turned out to be the master.  He then double-tracked his vocal, John and Paul overdubbed strong backing vocals, and Ringo played a loose-skinned Arabian bongo - an item he had also used on Harrison's Don't Bother Me.

The number is one of the last new songs to be heard in the film A Hard Day's Night.  As the boys return to the stage, we hear its melody being played on a piano while some dancers rehearse a routine in front of some large photos of beetles - yes, really.  John joins the dancers, half-playfully, half-mockingly.  Sadly, we do not get to see George leap about as pictured above.  Ringo hops over to his drum kit and plays along with the piano before the boys all grab their instruments and perform the number in a small circle at the front of the stage.

The song was only available on the album A Hard Day's Night in the UK during the group's career.  American fans had a few more options.  It first appeared on the United Artists official soundtrack album A Hard Day's Night.  One month later, Capitol Records released it twice on the same day, both on the album Something New and as the B-side of the single I'll Cry Instead.  Its only other release was again as a B-side to the novelty single The Beatles' Movie Medley in 1982.

The boys performed I'm Happy Just to Dance with You for their BBC radio program From Us to You to promote the film's release.  The song joined the band's live repertoire for one brief month during the British tour in the fall of 1964.