Whatever Gets You thru the Night contributor to the creative work or subject Elton John
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The recording featured Elton John on harmony vocals and piano. While in the studio, Elton bet Lennon that the song would top the charts, and such was Lennon's scepticism that Elton secured from him a promise to appear on stage at one of his performances, should the record indeed hit No. 1. When the record did achieve that feat, Lennon appeared at John's Thanksgiving performance at Madison Square Garden on 28 November 1974. It was Lennon's last major concert appearance.
"Whatever Gets You thru the Night" was not Lennon's first choice for a single. It was chosen by Capitol Records vice-president Al Coury, who had recently worked his singles 'magic' with Paul McCartney's album Band on the Run. Lennon created a promotional film for the song, in which he lip-synced the first verse while walking through Manhattan. Yoko Ono later created an alternate video for the song, featuring animations of Lennon's drawings.
In 2007, Yoko Ono granted Amnesty International the opportunity to have a number of bands cover Lennon's solo songbook, which included this song. Los Lonely Boys and Les Trois Accords performed it as the second single from the Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur album.
The live recording with the Elton John Band was released in 1981 on the EP 28 November 1974. The recording is also available on the box set Lennon (1990) and the 1996 expanded/remastered edition of Elton's album Here and There (1976).
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