“Lady Madonna” by The Beatles

"Lady Madonna" came out in March 1968 as a mono single that sat on no album, backed with "The Inner Light", and it was the Beatles snapping back to earth. Paul McCartney wrote most of it and drives it from the piano with a rolling boogie-woogie, a plainer, punchier approach after two years of psychedelic adventures. The band cut it on 3 and 6 February 1968, just before they left for India.

McCartney sings lead and plays bass too, John Lennon and George Harrison add electric guitars and backing vocals, Ringo Starr thumps the drums, and a four-man sax section including Ronnie Scott honks along underneath. George Martin produced. It went to number one in Britain, and it was their last release on Parlophone and Capitol before "Hey Jude" launched Apple Records.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.