Australian singles chart:
It Don’t Come Easy entered the Kent charts on 17 May 1971 and peaked at #3. The song was #41 on the Top 100 of 1971.
Songwriter:
Richard Starkey (credit officially given to Ringo, although it was predominantly George’s work)
Producer:
George Harrison
Record label of Australian release:
Apple
BONUS TRACK BELOW: George Harrison’s scratch vocal track for Ringo
Songfacts:
Ringo is the only songwriter credited on It Don’t Come Easy, but he had a lot of help from George Harrison, who was very generous in giving his buddy full writing credit. The track (less Ringo’s vocal and horn parts) was already completed when Harrison gave it to him, and it included a scratch vocal by George (which you can hear below).
If you listen carefully during the guitar solo, the backup singers throw in a “Hare Krishna,” which was mixed way down. This is a nod to George Harrison’s 1970 hit My Sweet Lord, where he sings the mantra.
Peter Ham and Tom Evans of Badfinger sang on the intro to this song (“It don’t come easy, ya know it don’t come easy”). Badfinger was signed to The Beatles’ Apple Records, and helped out George Harrison’s first solo album.
Read more: www.songfacts.com/facts/ringo-starr/it-dont-come-easy
Lyrics:
It don′t come easy
You know it don’t come easy
It don′t come easy
You know it don’t come eas
Click for full lyrics
This song is also on our Spotify playlist Bang a Gong – the 70s
Find more songs to enjoy: Bang a Gong song finder
BONUS AUDIO:
George Harrison’s scratch vocal track for Ringo’s reference, with music already complete (see the notes above)
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