"I Will"

"I Will" is a song by The Beatles that was released on The Beatles. It was written by Paul McCartney (credited to Lennon/McCartney) and features him on lead vocal, guitar, and "vocal bass."

Recording

The recording session turned into a jam session, producing the short "Can you take me back" segment that ends "Cry Baby Cry" on most versions of the album, as well as "Los Paranoias" (released on Anthology 3). This quiet song required 67 takes. George Harrison did not play on this. During The Beatles sessions, the Beatles often recorded in separate studios.

Anthology

In the televised documentary The Beatles Anthology, McCartney, Harrison, and Starr are shown relaxing on a blanket outside. Starr asks McCartney what he wrote in India and McCartney answers, "I Will." Then Harrison begins playing this on his ukulele while he and McCartney harmonize with it.

An alternate version of "I Will" was released in October 1996 on the Anthology 3 album. The alternate version was the first take of the song.

Cover versions

* The song has been covered by many notable artists such as Alison Krauss (in Now That I've Found You: A Collection), Maureen McGovern (in her 1992 album Baby I'm Yours) and Ben Taylor.
* The song was sung in the romantic movie starring Annette Bening and Warren Beatty, The Love Affair.
* This song was covered as a reggae-like number by "Rocky Horror" lead Tim Curry on his album Read My Lips.
* A similar version of the guitar riff appears on the song "My Best Friend's Girl" by the group The Cars.
* Sharon, Lois, and Bram, who is a Children's singing group did a version for a children's album.
* Jonathan Coulton did a cover of the song as part of his Thing A Week.
* Hugh Masekela covered "I Will" on his 1994 album Reconstruction.
* Art Garfunkel covered this song on his 1997 album Songs from a Parent to a Child
* Diana Ross' version appears on her 2007 comeback album I Love You.
* Rose Melberg covered this song on her 1998 album Portola.
* Kevin Barnes covered this song live in Dallas, TX.
* John Holt covered this song, and the trumpet intro is the sample used throughout Jay-Z's "Encore" (coincidentally, The Beatles would be mashed up with the album that originally featured "Encore" as The Grey Album, ironically, that album's remix of "Encore" did not sample "I Will").
* Andres Calamaro Covered this song his 2000 album "El Salmón Dedo 3".

Credits

* Paul McCartney — vocal, acoustic guitar, "vocal bass"
* John Lennon — percussion
* Ringo Starr — cymbals, bongos, maracas

Album: The Beatles
Released: 22 November 1968
Recorded: 16 September 1968
Genre: Pop
Length: 1:48
Label: Apple Records
Writer: Lennon/McCartney
Producer: George Martin

Wikipedia