"It Don't Come Easy" is a song by English rock musician Ringo Starr that was released as a non-album single in April 1971. It was produced by Starr's former Beatles bandmate George Harrison, who also helped write the song, although only Starr is credited. Recording for the track took place in March 1970 at Trident Studios in London, with overdubs added in October. Starr and Harrison performed the song together in August 1971 at Harrison's Concert for Bangladesh shows in New York City, a recording from which was released on the live album of the same name. Starr has continued to perform it in subsequent decades with his All-Starr Band. Apart from in North America, where "Beaucoups of Blues" had been a single in October 1970, "It Don't Come Easy" was Starr's first single release since the break-up of the Beatles. Heavily promoted by Apple Records, the song was a commercial success, peaking at number 1 in Canada and number 4 on singles charts in the UK and the US. It was critically well received on release and remains one of his most popular hits as a solo artist. Background and composition Ringo Starr began writing "It Don't Come Easy" in late 1968, having recently completed his first composition, "Don't Pass Me By". When referring to his early songwriting efforts in a 2003 interview, he described himself as "great at writing two verses and a chorus" but often unable to develop the ideas further. Although Starr received sole writing credit for "It Don't Come Easy", Beatles historian Bruce Spizer writes that he had "substantial, but uncredited, assistance" from his bandmate George Harrison. In author Robert Rodriguez's description, the official songwriting credit was long thought to be "bogus" and, notwithstanding Starr's involvement, a sign of Harrison's "great generosity" in wanting to help the drummer establish himself independently of the Beatles. The song's original title was "You Gotta Pay Your Dues". Starr completed it as the Beatles were heading towards disbandment in early 1970, following John Lennon's unpublicised decision to leave the group in September 1969. Starr said that in trying to find a song that would establish his identity at this time, he had to "combat... the original image of me as the downtrodden drummer", adding, "You don't know how hard it is to fight that." In journalist Bob Woffinden's view, as "It Don't Come Easy", the title alone "[betrayed] a