Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!

Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite! is the name of a song from the album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. The song, which was written by John Lennon, was inspired by a 19th century poster (about 1843) which he had found in an antique store in Surrey. Many of the things in the song are based off of the poster. It was commonly believed that the line "And of course Henry the Horse dances the waltz" was a reference to the drug heroin (as both "henry" and "horse" are slang names for it), but this is probably incorrect as the horse in the song was taken from the aforementioned poster.

The real Mr Kite was an all-round performer who worked with Panquo Fanque and Mr J Henderson, who was employed as a wire walker, trampolinist (Somerset thrower, according to the poster) and clown.

Credits

 * John Lennon - double-tracked lead vocal, harmony vocal, hammond organ; tape loops and harmonica


 * Paul McCartney - bass and guitar


 * George Harrison - harmonica and tambourine


 * Ringo Starr - drums, tambourine; and harmonica


 * George Martin - piano, harmonium, Lowrey organ, glockenspiel and tape loops


 * Mal Evans - harmonica


 * Neil Aspinall - harmonica


 * Geoff Emerick - tape loops