It Don't Come Easy

"It Don't Come Easy" is credited to Richard Starkey alone on its release, but George Harrison gave what Bruce Spizer calls substantial, but uncredited, assistance, and on VH1 Storytellers in 1998 Starr said he wrote it with the one and only George Harrison. It was begun in late 1968 as "You Gotta Pay Your Dues" and finished in early 1970. He said he needed to combat the original image of me as the downtrodden drummer, and told Melody Maker in 1971 that he wrote 12-bar songs and Harrison added chords. Harrison suggested a last verse about God, then Hare Krishna; Starr resisted and they settled on peace.

The first attempt was on February 18, 1970 at Abbey Road with George Martin producing and Geoff Emerick engineering, with Harrison on acoustic guitar, Klaus Voormann on bass and Stephen Stills on piano; twenty takes that day and ten more on the next. The released basis is the Trident Studios version of March 8, 1970 with Mal Evans on tambourine, with overdubs on March 11, a lead vocal in October 1970, Pete Ham and Tom Evans of Badfinger on backing vocals, Gary Wright on piano, and Jim Keltner on maracas in February 1971. Sources differ on where the October vocal was cut and on the first sessions' dates.

The single came out in the UK on April 9, 1971 (Apple R5898) and in the US on April 16 (Apple 1831), with "Early 1970" on the B-side, produced by Harrison. It reached 4 in the UK, 4 on the US Hot 100, 1 in Canada and 3 in Australia, and went gold in the US on August 3, 1971. NME's Alan Smith called it undoubtedly one of the best, thumpin'est things the Starr man has ever done. An Apple promo aired on Top of the Pops on April 22, 1971 and a second was filmed in Geilo, Norway.

He played it at the Concert for Bangladesh at Madison Square Garden on August 1, 1971, right after Billy Preston, and forgot some lyrics in the first show; it opens side three of the live album. It has been an All-Starr Band staple, usually second in the set after "Matchbox" or "Honey Don't", as at the Greek Theatre on September 8, 2024 and the Ryman on January 14, 2025. Covers include Bettye LaVette (2010), the Smithereens and Peter Frampton (2020). We could not get a setlist.fm count, and our upload is titled as the official music video.