DESCRIPTION:
From '' Love My Soul ''
Label: UNI Records -- 73077
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album
Country: US
Released: 1970

Tracklist
A1 The Big Show
A2 He Was My Friend
A3 Where Will You Be?
A4 Three Deep In A Feeling
A5 Sweet Soul Music/Can't Be So Bad
A6 Back In The U.S.S.R.
B1 Where's Everybody Going
B2 Open Doors
B3 Candy's Candy Kisses
B4 Love My Soul
B5 Leo Our Hero
B6 Sadie Trout

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"Back in the U.S.S.R." is a 1968 song by the Beatles.
It is credited to the songwriting partnership Lennon–McCartney, but written by Paul McCartney.
The song opens the double-disc album The Beatles, also known as The White Album, and then segues into "Dear Prudence".

Writing and composition

Paul McCartney wrote the song while the Beatles were in Rishikesh, India, studying Transcendental Meditation.
The title is a tribute to Chuck Berry's "Back in the U.S.A." while the chorus and background vocals pay homage to the Beach Boys' "California Girls".
Mike Love of the Beach Boys also attended the retreat in Rishikesh at the same time and he has stated in interviews that, in order to make the song sound more like a Beach Boys number, he encouraged McCartney to "talk about the girls all around Russia, the Ukraine and Georgia" in the lyrics.
In 2013, Love noted, "I was at the breakfast table when Paul McCartney came down with his acoustic guitar playing "Back in the U.S.S.R.". I said, "You ought to put something in about all the girls around Russia," and he did."

The song also contains an allusion to Hoagy Carmichael's and Stuart Gorrell's "Georgia on My Mind". McCartney sings about the female population of the Soviet Republic of Georgia ("and Georgia's always on my mi-mi-mi-mi-mi-mi-mi-mi-mind") right after "the Ukraine girls" and "Moscow girls." McCartney thought that when he listened to the Beach Boys, it sounded like California, so he decided to write a song that "sounded" like the U.S.S.R.

Controversy

During the 1960s, the Beatles were officially derided in the USSR as the "belch of Western culture" and in the 1980s McCartney was refused permission to play there.
According to The Moscow Times, when McCartney finally got to play the song at his Back in the World tour in Moscow's Red Square in May 2003 at the age of 60, "the crowd went wild".
When asked about the song before the concert McCartney said he had known little about the Soviet Union when he wrote it. "It was a mystical land then," he said. "It's nice to see the reality. I always suspected that people had big hearts. Now I know that's true." "Finally we got to do that one here," he said after the song.

Political reception

Like "Revolution" and "Piggies", "Back in the U.S.S.R." prompted immediate responses from the New Left and Far Right, who claimed the group were "pro-Soviet".
As further evidence of the Beatles' supposed "pro-Soviet" sentiments, the John Birch Society magazine cited the song.
The line "You don't know how lucky you are, boys" left many anti-communist groups speechless.

Cover versions

In 1968, Ramsey Lewis covered "Back in the U.S.S.R." on his album Mother Nature's Son.

In 1969, Chubby Checker's cover version charted on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, the only version to do so. He reached #82.

Also in 1969, John Fred & His Playboy Band released it as a single and on their 1970 album Love My Soul.

In 1979 Dead Kennedys recorded a live version of the song that was released in 2004 on Live at the Deaf Club.

In 1979, Elton John sang the song in the opening credits of To Russia with Elton, a film about a concert given in Moscow, Russia, by the rock singer.

In 1982, the song was recorded and released by Jan & Dean on their album One Summer Night/Live.

In 1984, actress Su Pollard performed the song on the BBC series The Laughter Show.

In 1986, The King's Singers on their album Beatles' Collection.

In 1987, Billy Joel covered the song on his live-in-the-Soviet Union album KOHЦEPT.

In 1987, Dutch producers Jochem Fluitsma and Eric van Tijn released a reworked cover version as B-Mania.

In 1992, the Russian band Baba Yaga released a cover of the song on their album Baba Yaga.

In 1993 Finnish band Leningrad Cowboys performed a live version on their album Live in Prowinzz.

In the 2001 film Heartbreakers, Sigourney Weaver performed the song.

In 2006, Lemmy of Motörhead recorded a version for the Butchering The Beatles compilation.

Parody band Beatallica recorded a mashup of the song and Metallica's "Blackened" entitled "Blackened the U.S.S.R.", on their 2007 album Sgt. Hetfield's Motorbreath Pub Band.

Tomoyasu Hotei covered it on his 2009 cover album Modern Times Rock'N'Roll.

Amanda Overmyer performed the song on American Idol and released a studio version.

The Rutles' song "We've Arrived (and to Prove It, We're Here)" is a pastiche of this song.

Type O Negative performed the song live, numerous times, throughout their 20-year career.

In 2012, Molly Hatchet recorded the song for the tribute album Top Musicians Play The Beatles