The Beatles and the Ukulele: An Ongoing Love Affair

As documented in The Beatles Anthology, originally aired as a brilliant TV mini-series, the three surviving Beatles-Paul, George, and Ringo-got together in 1994 at George Harrison’s palatial Friar Park estate to reminisce and play a little. In an especially moving and revelatory sequence, George and Paul jam on a handful of tunes playing ukuleles while Ringo lays down a groove with brushes and handclaps.
Even though the mood is relaxed and the music spontaneous, what becomes obvious is that George was a formidable uke player, and Paul is no slouch himself. They jam on the Jimmy Reed blues chestnut “Baby, What You Want Me to Do,” with George laying down guitar-like lead lines. They then play a snippet of the Beatles’ “I Will,” after which George struggles to recall the lyrics of an unrecorded song of his- “Dehradun”- written during the Beatles’ stay in Rishikesh, India in 1968. They then launch into the 1920s vaudeville tune “Ain’t She Sweet,” a perfect ukulele vehicle.
Enjoy!