“Yes It Is”

• Published on (1962 – 1965)
• Author: Lennon/McCartney
• Track 17 on “Past Masters Volume 1“

Beatles quotes about “Yes It Is”

JOHN 1980: “That’s me trying a rewrite of ‘This Boy,’ but it didn’t quite work.”

PAUL circa-1994: “I was there writing it with John, but it was his inspiration that I helped him finish off. ‘Yes It Is’ is a very fine song of John’s.”

About “Yes It Is”

Written by John Lennon (credited to Lennon–McCartney), it was first released in 1965 as the B-side to “Ticket to Ride“. It features some of the Beatles’ most complex and dissonant three-part vocal harmonies and showcases George Harrison’s early use of volume pedal guitar. Ian MacDonald describes the song as having “rich and unusual harmonic motion.”

Over the course of a five-hour recording session, the Beatles attempted 14 takes of the basic track before perfecting it. “Yes It Is” was recorded on 16 February 1965, the same day that they completed Harrison’s “I Need You“. After completing the rhythm track, Lennon, McCartney and Harrison recorded their vocal harmonies in three hours, singing live together using the suggestion of George Martin that they sing their three part harmony in the style of a barber shop quartet.

“Yes It Is” was released as the B-side of the “Ticket to Ride” single in both the US and the UK. American pressings of the single erroneously show “Yes It Is” as being from the film Eight Arms to Hold You (the original title for the film, Help!), in which it did not appear. It reached number 46 in the Billboard Hot 100.