“With a Little Help from My Friends” by The Beatles

"With a Little Help from My Friends" steps out of the applause at the end of the title track as the second song on Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, and it's the moment the Beatles hand the microphone to their drummer. John Lennon and Paul McCartney wrote it, and Ringo Starr sings it in character as Billy Shears, the fictional band's singer, with the other three answering him on backing vocals.

It's a warm, shambling singalong with nothing to prove. Starr drums and shakes a tambourine, McCartney plays piano and bass, Lennon and George Harrison play guitar with Lennon on cowbell too, and George Martin, who produced, adds Hammond organ. Starr still plays it regularly in his own concerts, a 1978 reissue paired with the title track reached 63 in Britain and 71 in America, and Rolling Stone later placed it at 311 among the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

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