On This Day in 1989, Rosanne Cash Took a Beatles B-Side to the Top of the Country Charts

On this day (June 24) in 1989, Rosanne Cash topped the Hot Country Songs chart with “I Don’t Want to Spoil the Party.” It was her final No. 1 single to date. More than two decades earlier, the Beatles released it as the B-side to their February 1965 single “Eight Days a Week.” It also appeared on their album Beatles for Sale.

Cash released her self-titled debut album in 1978. Three years later, she released her breakthrough album, Seven Year Ache. It reached No. 1 on the Top Country Albums chart and No. 25 on the Billboard 200. All three of the album’s singles topped the Hot Country Songs chart.

Cash rode a wave of success through the rest of the 1980s. She notched 14 top 10 hits. Ten of those went to No. 1. However, her commercial success began to wane in the early 1990s. As a result, “I Don’t Want to Spoil the Party” was her final country hit to date. It was the fifth in a string of five consecutive No. 1 singles.

Cash has since won three Grammy Awards and has been inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, proving that chart success isn’t everything.

Rosanne Cash Picked the Perfect Beatles Song

Roseanne Cash didn’t have to change much to make “I Don’t Want to Spoil the Party” a country hit. According to Beatles Bible, John Lennon and Paul McCartney wrote it as a country song with Ringo Starr, a lifelong country music fan, in mind. In the end, though, Lennon sang lead on the song.

“We went after a real country and western flavor when we wrote this one,” McCartney said. “John and I do the singing in that style, and George takes a real country solo on guitar,” he added.

“That was me,” Lennon said of the song. Like “Help!” and “I’m a Loser,” this was Lennon sharing his thoughts on dealing with fame.

Featured Image by Mark Baker/Sony Music Archive via Getty Images

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