personnel ringo starr -- lead vocal , drums , tambourine paul mccartney -- backing vocal , bass , piano john lennon -- backing vocal , cowbell george harrison -- backing vocal , guitar george martin -- producer , hammond organ geoff emerick -- engineer cover versions there have been at least 50 cover versions of the song and it has achieved the number one position on the british singles charts three times : by joe cocker in 1968 , wet wet wet in 1988 and by sam & mark in 2004 .