You're Sixteen

"You're Sixteen" is a song written by the Sherman Brothers (Robert B. Sherman and Richard M. Sherman). It was first performed by American rockabilly singer Johnny Burnette, whose version peaked at number eight on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in December 1960 and number 3 in the U.K. in 1961. The original 1960 version of "You're Sixteen" by Johnny Burnette is featured prominently on the 1973 motion picture soundtrack of the film American Graffiti.

Personnel
The personnel on the Johnny Burnette version included:


 * Johnny Burnette - vocal
 * Bobby Gibbons - guitar
 * Vincent Terri - guitar
 * Red Callender - bass
 * Ernie Freeman - piano
 * Jerry Allison - drums
 * Alvin Dinkin - viola
 * Stanley Harris - viola
 * Dave Berman - violin


 * Herman Clebanoff - violin
 * Harold Dicterow - violin
 * Ben "Benny" Gill - violin
 * Irma Newman - violin
 * Joe Stepansky - violin
 * Darrel Terwilliger - violin
 * Gerald Vinci - violin
 * unknown - backing vocals

Ringo Starr version
Ringo Starr's version was released as a single in the US, on 3 December 1973, and in the UK, on 8 February 1974. In January 1974, the song, taken from the album Ringo, hit number one. The latter performance reunited Ringo Starr with his former Beatles bandmate Paul McCartney. McCartney is credited on the liner notes of the album Ringo as having played the solo on a kazoo. But reviewer Michael Verity has quoted the song's producer, Richard Perry, as revealing it wasn't actually a kazoo. “In fact, the solo on ‘You’re Sixteen,’ which sounds like a kazoo or something, was Paul singing very spontaneously as we played that track back, so he’s singing the solo on that.” In any case, Starr's version remains one of the few #1 singles to feature a 'kazoo-sound' solo. Harry Nilsson sang backing vocals on Starr's version. Nicky Hopkins is heard playing the piano, including his going up and down the scale in the instrumental fade of the song. In Ringo's version, the melody and the chords were different, in the Bridge Section, which led to a minor key, while the original version used all major keys.

The 1978 video of Starr's version features Carrie Fisher as Starr's love interest, though at the time Carrie Fisher was 22 years old (born 1956).

In 2017, the song was connected to the Roy Moore controversy when Breitbart editor Joel Pollak, during an interview on CNN, said: "You know, in 1973, Ringo Starr hit No. 1 on the billboard charts with the song 'You're 16, You're Beautiful and You're Mine,'" Pollak said. "(Starr) was 30-something at the time, singing about a 16-year-old. You want to take away Ringo Starr's achievement?"

Other covers
The song title has been the subject of musical parody by various performers, from Australian punk rock band Frenzal Rhomb's "She's Sixty, She's Beautiful and She's Mine" to Australian singer-songwriter Paul Kelly's "You're 39, You're Beautiful and You're Mine". A reference to "You're Sixteen" is made in the title of Cold Chisel's EP You're Thirteen, You're Beautiful, and You're Mine.

An instrumental version of the song was used in the film "some Kind of Wonderful", (1987), where the older generation was dancing to the tune, until a group of motorcyclists arrive interrupting the reception with their own younger generation tune.