4 Beatles Songs That Could Pass as Country Music

Wednesday, January 21, 2026

The Beatles drew from a wide variety of influences when making their music. While they borrowed from Elvis, Buddy Holly, and Chuck Berry, they had their ears open to many different genres. Don’t forget that the four men grew up in an era when rock and roll didn’t exist.

Even country music made an impact on them, enough so that they released their share of songs that could pass for country. Here are four original Beatles songs that sound as much like Nashville as they do Liverpool. “I Don’t Want To Spoil The Party”

The Beatles’ fourth album, Beatles For Sale, came at a point in their career when they were run a bit ragged by demands on their time. That’s why it’s not so surprising that some of the songs came out sounding a bit bluesy and introspective. “I Don’t Want To Spoil The Party”, written primarily by John Lennon, comes from the perspective of a jilted lover. This guy would rather abandon the scene than see the source of his pain. It comes replete with George Harrison’s Carl Perkins-style rockabilly riffs and close vocal harmonies borrowed from the Everly Brothers. It’s the first time that the group nodded to country music so overtly. The fact that Roseanne Cash released a hit cover version of the song only enhances its country cred.
“I’ve Just Seen A Face”

As had been the case with A Hard Day’s Night, The Beatles recorded a full album’s worth of songs for Help!. But not all of them would be used in the film. For the ones that didn’t make the film cut, they often tried out some different ideas that might have been a tad off the beaten path compared to their normal approach. In the case of “I’ve Just Seen A Face”, Paul McCartney wrote the song as a clear-cut country and western number. When the band recorded it in the studio, they sped up the pace and relied on acoustic guitars. That took the song more in the direction of one of country’s direct offshoots, bluegrass. In any case, there’s more than a little twang involved here.

Source: Jim Beviglia/americansongwriter.com