Act Naturally

The song deals in the motifs of self deprecation, movies and storytelling. There is irony in the writing (boasts of stardom while admitting he plays a fool), most common in the Beatles' 1967 songs. The language is tonally neutral. As it happens, the line "All I have to do is" turns up in one other Beatles song, 'Something'.

'Act Naturally' runs near 93 BPM in G major, and it is a country rock piece all the way. The tune carries an ostinato, a pattern that keeps coming back (a bluesy lead-guitar figure, played as the solo in the intro and break and behind every verse), 1965 being the year the Beatles used it most. You will notice the defining riff, a drop-D low-string country lick over intro/outro. A small coincidence, but the chords run D7 → G → D7 → G → D7 → G → A7, the same move 'Good Morning Good Morning' makes as A → D → A → D → A → D → E.

Cut at EMI Studio 2 in 13 takes on June 17, 1965, with Ringo's vocal, Paul's bridge harmony, and George's drop-D lead guitar overdubbed onto the basic track in the same session. Harrison used the Gretsch 6119 Tennessean here, his electric, Drop D tuning, most common in their 1964 songs. They worked with the Ludwig Super Classic, Starr's own kit since 1964. The Beatles put two songs on tape that day, the 86th and 87th of their career.

Johnny Russell and Voni Morrison wrote it, and Starr sings lead. It exists to give Ringo something to sing. McCartney is credited with harmony on the bridges. The drums are mostly rim and stick taps and brushed backbeat, 1965 being the year they used it most.

This track was released on the Help! LP (Aug 6, 1965), and it was issued in the US as the B-side of 'Yesterday' (Sep 13, 1965), where it charted in its own right at #47, and later collected on Yesterday and Today (Jun 20, 1966). That was ten months later. This song was the 11th of the 33 records the Beatles released in 1965, and the 80th counting from the start.