On this day in Beatles History...February 17, 1967

49 years ago today on February 17, 1967, The Beatles recorded the majority of the song Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite for the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album.  Throughout February and March, additional overdubs were also recorded, including numerous recordings of various pianos and organs played by The Beatles' producer, George Martin.  However, it was on February 17 that the bulk of the song was put down on tape.  The recording took place at EMI Studio Two.

The song's strange lyrics are very unusual, even for The Beatles later works!  The song was written based on a circus poster from 1843 that John Lennon purchased from an antique shop a few weeks earlier in Kent when the band was making a film for Strawberry Fields Forever.  Although it was generally assumed that the song was written primarily or entirely by John, Paul McCartney stated in a 2013 interview with Rolling Stone magazine that the pair co-wrote the song while looking at the poster in John's home.  The song title and many of the lyrics were taken directly from the poster.  One lyric that was changes was the name of the horse.  In the song, the horse is called Henry, but on the poster the horse is named Zanthus.  This change led to the song being banned from radio play by the BBC because the words Henry and Horse were both slang for heroin.

The Beatles never performed the song live as a group and it wasn't until Paul McCartney played it at a show in Brazil on May 4, 2013 that any member of the band performed the song live.  After this performance in Brazil, Paul continued to perform the song at concerts through 2015 and even live on The Colbert Report on June 12, 2013, a few weeks after the first live performance!