Ooh! My Soul

Ooh! My Soul was composed and performed by Richard ("Little Richard") Penniman in 1957 and released as an R&B hit in June of 1958. (The b-side was True Fine Mama.) The song went as high as number 22 in the UK and 31 in the US. The Beatles sang Ooh! My Soul in much the way that Little Richard did, starting in about 1960. Paul McCartney always sang the lead vocals, using his raspy, screaming "Little Richard" voice. When BBC started working with the Beatles in 1963 to record a number of performances for several radio programs, the Beatles sang most of their favorite songs from their performance repertoire. Ooh! My Soul was recorded on August 1, 1963 at the Playhouse Theater in Manchester. It aired on August 27, 1963 in the 11th edition of Pop! Go The Beatles. In 1994 this recording was released as part of the collection, Live at the BBC. The Little Richard original was only 1:57 long, and the Beatles' more frenetic cover lasted only 1:37.