The lyrics to the Beatles Being for the benefit of Mr Kite were inspired upon a Victorian poster for Pablo Fanque's Circus Royal that John Lennon bought from an antique shop in Kent in 1967. It described the production as being for the “benefit of Mr kite” and mentioned the somersault artists the Hendersons. John Lennon thought of the song as being an album filler at the time that he wrote it, but when looking back on the song realised that he had created one of his most fun and beautiful songs.

John Lennon took all of the characters and some of the expressions used on the poster such as “over garters and lastly through a hogshead of real fire” and “having been some days in preparation” in the lyrics of being for the benefit of Mr Kite. John was greatly inspired by the colloquial use of the English language in the poster and the names of the characters.

He mainly composed the song while tinkering on the piano and trying to rhyme some of the lines on the poster; this resulted in a few changes to names and places in the final version of being for the benefit of Mr. Kite such as the circus becoming a fayre, and moving from Rochdale to Bishopsgate., and of course it was Zanthus the horse who danced the waltz and not Henry!

Being for the benefit of Mr. Kite has an eclectric feel, this was acheived by cutting snippets of a stem organ and looping them forwards and backwards. John takes lead vocals and other members of the Beatles and their roadies play many types of harmonica.

Individual Beatles role on Being for the benefit of Mr. Kite

John Lennon: Vocals, hammond Organ

Paul McCartney: Lead guitar, Bass guitar.

George Harrison: Harmoniaca

Ringo Starr: Harmonica

Mal evans/ Neil Aspinall: Harmonica

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