“Don’t Let The Sun Catch You Crying” belongs in the Beatles story, but only with careful wording. This is not an officially released Beatles recording, and it should not be confused with the unrelated Gerry and the Pacemakers hit of the same title. In Beatles terms, it is a Joe Greene blues standard that surfaced in the studio in 1968 and again during the Get Back sessions in January 1969.
That is what makes the song worth covering. “Don’t Let The Sun Catch You Crying” shows the Beatles reaching back into the older American blues and rhythm-and-blues material that still sat inside their musical memory. It is not major canon, but it is a useful fragment because it links the White Album period, the Apple rehearsals, Ray Charles, and Paul McCartney’s later solo live catalogue.
Don’t Let The Sun Catch You Crying: Key Facts
- Writer: Joe Greene
- Early Known Version: Louis Jordan and His Tympany Five, 1946
- Major Influence: Ray Charles, 1959
- Beatles Studio Appearance: 30 July 1968, during the “Hey Jude” session
- Beatles Get Back Appearance: 26 January 1969, Apple Studios
- Session Reference: DDSI.26.22
- Beatles Release Status: No official Beatles version has been released
- Official McCartney Release: Tripping The Live Fantastic, 1990
- Why It Matters: A roots-music fragment that connects the Beatles’ studio instincts with McCartney’s later live repertoire
What The Beatles Version Actually Is
The first thing to get straight is that there is no official Beatles master of “Don’t Let The Sun Catch You Crying”. This is not like “Twist And Shout“, “Money“, or “Long Tall Sally“, where the Beatles turned a cover into a completed release. The Beatles’ connection to this song is based on documented studio and rehearsal appearances, not on a finished record issued under their name.
The song first appears in the Beatles’ late-1960s story during the 30 July 1968 session for “Hey Jude“. That same session produced a brief “St. Louis Blues” studio jam, later issued on the 2018 White Album anniversary set, but “Don’t Let The Sun Catch You Crying” itself remained unreleased officially by the Beatles.
That distinction matters. The song belongs on the page because it tells us something about what the band played in the room, not because it belongs in the official Beatles catalogue as a released recording.
The Joe Greene Song Behind The Beatles Fragment
“Don’t Let The Sun Catch You Crying” was written by Joe Greene and belongs to an older blues tradition than most of the rock and roll covers associated with the Beatles. Louis Jordan and His Tympany Five recorded it in the 1940s, and Ray Charles later gave the song a major afterlife through his 1959 recording.
That Ray Charles connection is probably the key to understanding why the song appealed to Paul McCartney. McCartney repeatedly showed a deep affection for Charles’s phrasing, piano feel, and emotional control. This was not just another old tune drifting through the room. It was the sort of song that sat close to the soulful, gospel-tinged side of McCartney’s musical imagination.
Not The Gerry And The Pacemakers Song
The title can cause confusion because Gerry and the Pacemakers also had a famous song called “Don’t Let The Sun Catch You Crying”. That is a different composition. The Beatles-related song covered here is the Joe Greene blues standard associated with Louis Jordan and Ray Charles, not the Gerry Marsden-led Merseybeat ballad.
That distinction is essential. Without it, the page becomes misleading. The Beatles’ documented run-throughs point back to the older American blues standard, which fits the pattern of the group’s late-session habit of slipping into half-remembered roots material.
The 1968 Hey Jude Session
The 30 July 1968 appearance is the first reason the song belongs on BeatlesFan.Club. The Beatles were working on “Hey Jude” at EMI Studios, Studio Two, during one of the key sessions for their biggest single of the year. Inside that same working day, they also drifted into older material, including “St. Louis Blues” and “Don’t Let The Sun Catch You Crying”.
That contrast gives the fragment its value. “Hey Jude” was new, deliberate, and built for massive public impact. “Don’t Let The Sun Catch You Crying” was the opposite: private, loose, old-fashioned, and not aimed at release. Together, they show the range of music moving through the room during the White Album period.
The Get Back Return In January 1969
The song returned on 26 January 1969 during the Apple phase of the Get Back sessions. This time it was logged as DDSI.26.22, running for 2:41 and performed by John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. That makes it more than a one-day studio accident.
The date is important. By 26 January, the Beatles were deep into the later Apple sessions, not the colder Twickenham stage. They were working around material such as “Let It Be“, “The Long And Winding Road“, and older rock and roll numbers, while also falling into the kind of blues, soul, and early rock references that had always fed them.
That is why the second appearance matters. A song that turns up once can be dismissed as a stray memory. A song that resurfaces across two different phases of Beatles work tells us more about what remained active in the band’s shared musical vocabulary.
Documented Beatles Performers
The 26 January 1969 Get Back documentation lists the performance by all four Beatles:
That is as far as the page should safely go. Unless a reliable source gives a settled instrument-by-instrument breakdown for this exact performance, it is better not to invent one. The important point is that the Get Back run-through was a group performance, not a solo McCartney fragment.
Paul McCartney Returned To It Officially
The song’s Beatles connection becomes stronger because McCartney did not leave it behind in the 1960s. He later released “Don’t Let The Sun Catch You Crying” on Tripping The Live Fantastic, his 1990 live album from the 1989-90 world tour. That version gives listeners an official McCartney performance of a song the Beatles had only touched informally.
This makes the track more useful than many unreleased Beatles fragments. It has a documented Beatles-session life and a later official McCartney life. The two are not the same thing, but together they show that this was not a random title McCartney forgot as soon as the tape stopped rolling.
Why Don’t Let The Sun Catch You Crying Still Matters
“Don’t Let The Sun Catch You Crying” still matters because it shows the Beatles’ roots working below the surface. Their late-1960s recordings are often discussed through experimentation, conflict, studio ambition, and breakup mythology. This fragment points somewhere simpler: four musicians still carrying old blues, rhythm and blues, and soul records in their heads.
It also matters because it helps explain McCartney’s musical range. The same artist who could write “Hey Jude” and push through the chaos of the White Album period could also reach naturally for a Joe Greene blues standard and later make it part of his official live catalogue. That range is not a side issue. It is part of why McCartney’s writing and performing vocabulary was so broad.
The song should not be oversold. There is no released Beatles master, and it does not belong beside the group’s major covers. But as a small roots-music clue, it earns its place. It shows how much older American music still lived inside the Beatles, even when they were making some of the most famous records of their career.
Where To Find Don’t Let The Sun Catch You Crying
- No official Beatles version has been released.
- Tripping The Live Fantastic – Paul McCartney’s official 1990 live version.
Take A Listen
The version below is Paul McCartney’s official solo live recording, not an official Beatles recording. Listen to it as a later McCartney link to a song The Beatles had already touched during their late-1960s sessions. Join the discussion in the Beatles Fan Club Forum.
If you’d rather not load the YouTube player on this page, open the video directly on YouTube instead.
Sources And References
- The Paul McCartney Project – song background.
- The Paul McCartney Project – 30 July 1968 session.
- The Paul McCartney Project – 26 January 1969 session.
- Paul McCartney – Tripping The Live Fantastic track list.
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