1969
She Came In Through the Bathroom Window
ALBUM
RELEASED
Great Britain: September 26, 1969 / No. 1 on May 23, 1970, for 3 weeks
United States: October 1, 1969 / No. 1 for 11 weeks
Although Let It Be is the final original album released by the Beatles, Abbey Road is the final album they recorded. It was a triumph. Thanks to an expert advertising campaign by Allen Klein, the Beatles new manager, more than five million copies of Abbey Road were sold worldwide during the first year, nearly two million more than Sgt. Pepper. We can well understand why the managers at EMI decided to change the name of their studio to Abbey Road Studios! Since then the façade of the studio has been resurfaced innumerable times to erase the daily graffiti of fans from all over the world. The building, located at 3 Abbey Road in the heart of St. John’s Wood, was registered as a historical monument on February 23, 2010.
The recording of Get Back, later known as Let It Be, started at the beginning of January 1969 and quickly turned into a nightmare. The bulk of the album was recorded at Twickenham Film Studios while the Beatles were being filmed for a planned documentary on the making of the album. George Martin’s involvement is unclear. The documentation shows that Paul was in charge of most of the production. Tension, animosity, and fatigue led to a disaster. The results of the working session were unimpressive, despite the superb performance of the Beatles on the roof of Apple on January 30. The recording was set aside.
Paul was not deterred by failure. In early April, he re-motivated the team. George Martin wrote, “I was quite surprised when Paul rang me up and said, ‘We’re going to make another record—would you like to produce it?’ My immediate answer was: ‘Only if you let me produce it the way we used to.’ He said, ‘We will, we want to.’—‘John included?’—‘Yes, honestly.’ So I said, ‘Well, if you really want to, let’s do it. Let’s get together again.’”1 Geoff Emerick, who had quit after the tense and frustrating sessions for the White Album, agreed, at Paul’s request, to be the sound engineer.
All knew, consciously or not, that the journey was at an end. All the Beatles were in top form for recording, composition, interpretation, instrumental parts, and backing vocals. Yet they rarely played together in the same studio. They avoided each other most of the time. John was even voluntarily absent for titles such as “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer.” The first week of the Abbey Road session, John could not attend the sessions in the studio because he had been in a car accident on July 1 in Scotland, along with Yoko and their respective children, Julian and Kyoko. He returned on July 9, but Yoko, more seriously injured and also pregnant, was ordered to stay in bed. John, wanting to keep an eye on her, had a bed delivered to the studio and suspended a microphone above it so that Yoko could comment on the recording sessions. The atmosphere became extremely tense. On the musical side, the Beatles delivered the best of their art, even if the old camaraderie and solidarity were gone. George Martin tried to lead them to a production in the style of Sgt. Pepper. He encouraged them to “think in symphonic terms.” Paul thought this was a great idea, but John was a rock ’n’ roller. As a result, side 1 leaned toward rock while side 2 was more symphonic. In 1970 John commented, “I liked the A side. I never liked that sort of pop opera on the other side. I think it’s junk. It was just bits of song thrown together.”2
John opened the album with a great rock song, “Come Together,” and gave us one of the most beautiful melodies on the record with the sublime “Because.” With “Here Comes the Sun” and “Something,” George Harrison confirmed that he was the equal of LennonMcCartney as a songwriter—both titles topped the charts and marked the first and last time one of his singles was featured on a Beatles A-side in the history of the group. For his part, Ringo brought his best song, “Octopus’s Garden,” and Paul concluded the record with a unique medley of his own compositions.
Even though some titles such as “Oh! Darling” were worked on in January 1969, the album was mostly recorded in July and August 1969. At its release, it quickly jumped to the top of the charts and became the Beatles’ most successful album ever. Paul was continually harassed by enthusiastic fans. He preferred to escape from the sudden media pressure to his country house without telling anyone. This secret escape prompted the rumor of his death on October 12, 1969, and his replacement by a look-alike. Fans looked for clues everywhere, and the cover of the album provided a considerable number of them. The idea for the cover was born, according to some, in one of Ringo’s jokes. Among the names suggested for the album was Billy’s Left Boot and Everest, after the brand of cigarettes smoked by Geoff Emerick, and to go with a cover photo in the foothills of Mount Everest. But, except for Paul, the idea appealed to no one, and Ringo joked, “Why don’t we call it Abbey Road?” and “take the photo there.” Other versions attribute the name and the idea to Paul. We do know that Paul gave the photographer, Iain MacMillan, a detailed cover sketch.
On August 8, at 11:30 A.M., McMillan had about ten minutes to take the picture from a stepladder while a police officer stopped traffic. The fifth picture was selected and features the four Beatles walking away from EMI studios. An omen? Ever since, this crosswalk has been a popular destination for Beatles fans from around the world. The crosswalk was registered as a historical landmark in 2010 because of its “cultural and historical value,” but the famous crosswalk was actually moved a few yards away some thirty years later. Even today, the government can offer no reason for this relocation! The photo on the back of the album, taken by MacMillan just after the session with the group, shows the corner of Alexandra Road. When MacMillan took the picture, a girl in a blue dress ran in front of his camera. Although he thought the shot had been ruined, that was the one the Beatles selected! After Abbey Road, John and Paul did not play together again until 1974. Then, they met at the Record Plant Studios for an improvised recording session involving other celebrities, including Stevie Wonder and Harry Nilsson.
It is difficult to identify the instruments used in Abbey Road because few pictures were taken during recording sessions. Nevertheless, we can assume that they were nearly identical to those of the White Album or Let It Be, with the exception of the first synthesizer ever used by the Beatles, the Moog IIIP Synthesizer, and the Electric Solid-Body Baldwin harpsichord, the keyboard used in “Because.”
FOR BEATLES FANATICS
The French version of Abbey Road has some funny misspellings. On the A-side: “Oh! Darling” is spelled “Oh Darlin” and “Octopus’s Garden,” normally credited to Richard Starkey, is credited to Ringo Starr. On the B-side: “She Came in Through the Bathroom Window” is listed as “She Came Through the Bathroom Window.” And finally, “The End” became “Ending.”
Lennon-McCartney / 4:20
1969
SONGWRITER
John
MUSICIANS
John: vocal, rhythm guitar, electric Fender Rhodes piano, backing vocal, hand claps, tambourine
Paul: bass
George: guitar
Ringo: drums, maracas
RECORDED
Abbey Road: July 21, 1969 (Studios Two and Three) / July 22 and 23, 1969 (Studio Three) / July 25, 1969 (Studio Two) / July 29–30,1969 (Studio Three)
NUMBER OF TAKES: 9
MIXING
Abbey Road: August 7, 1969 (Studio Two)
TECHNICAL TEAM
Producer: George Martin
Sound Engineers: Geoff Emerick, Phil McDonald
Assistant Engineer: John Kurlander
RELEASED AS A SINGLE
“Something” / “Come Together”
Great Britain: October 31, 1969 / No. 4
United States: October 6, 1969 / No. 1 for 1 week beginning on October 18, 1969
The inspiration for this song was multifaceted and controversial: Timothy Leary on one side and Chuck Berry on the other. “Come Together” was conceived as a political rallying cry for Timothy Leary, the psychologist, writer, philosopher, and apostle of LSD. In 1969, the herald or messenger of the counterculture of the 1960s ran for governor of California against the Republican incumbent Ronald Reagan. His campaign slogan was Come together, join the party, with a double meaning for the word party: political “party” and “party” as a reference to the drug culture. On May 30, he visited John and Yoko in their Montreal bed-in, where he asked John to write a song for his political campaign. John, who admired Leary, agreed. However, despite numerous attempts, he was uninspired. He finally wrote a song with little connection to the original idea besides the title. Leary’s campaign ended when the candidate was arrested for possession of marijuana at the same time as Lennon was writing the song. Leary’s incarceration released John from any commitment, and he gave the song to the Beatles. He said he wrote most of the lyrics in the studio with the help of other group members, including George, who confirmed that he had suggested a few words—words he called “gibberish,” totally removed from Leary’s original message, but reflecting Lennon’s taste for nonsense. Interestingly, the song has some similarity to “You Can’t Catch Me,” Chuck Berry’s 1956 song. The two songs contain related lines. Berry wrote Here come old flat top / He was movin’ up with me, while Lennon’s lyrics included Here come old flat top / He come groovin’ up slowly. After the release of the single, Morris Levy, the former owner of the New York club Birdland, and publisher and copyright holder of “You Can’t Catch Me,” sued Lennon for copyright infringement. He contended that Lennon’s song sounded similar to Berry’s song and that similarities to the lyrics were obvious. They settled on October 12, 1973, with Lennon agreeing to record three songs from Levy’s catalog for his next album Rock ’n’ Roll. The completion of that album took longer than expected. John began work on the album, but the sessions dissolved into chaos. He was separated from Yoko, and from 1973 to 1975 he lived the legendary “lost weekend.” Levy was impatient and eventually sold rehearsal tapes received from Lennon under the title Roots (released in early February 1975). Since this record is poor in quality and was not intended for release, only 1,270 copies were sold. Lennon sued Levy to stop him from selling Roots, and won.
A few years later, Leary reproached Lennon for “stealing the idea” and was formally challenged by John, saying that he owed Leary nothing. Despite all these difficulties, John confessed to David Sheff in 1980 that “Come Together” was one of his favorite songs: “It’s funky, it’s bluesy, and I’m singing it pretty well. I like the sound of the record. You can dance to it. I’d buy it!”1
After his automobile accident, John returned to Abbey Road on July 9. Since “The Ballad of John and Yoko,” he had not written anything new, but on July 21, he proposed “Come Together,” which became one of his best songs. The first time John played it to Paul on his acoustic guitar, Paul immediately pointed out the obvious similarity to Chuck Berry’s “You Can’t Catch Me.” He suggested modifying it as much as possible to give it a “swampy” sound and a slower tempo. The result was the huge, deep bass riff and Ringo’s superb drums, which transformed the character of the piece.
On the basic track, John recorded a guide vocal, hand claps in the intro, and tambourine; George, Paul, and Ringo played rhythm guitar, bass, and drums, respectively. The sound is awesome. George said in 1969, “[‘Come Together’] is one of the nicest things we’ve done musically. Ringo’s drumming is great.”2 “Come Together” was recorded on a four-track tape recorder. Take 6, judged the best, was then transferred to eight-track.
July 21 also marked Geoff Emerick’s return to Abbey Road as the first full-time, freelance sound engineer working for EMI. He had left during the recording sessions for the White Album, exasperated by the unpleasant atmosphere among the Beatles. Although things had gotten a little better, tensions were still high. The next day, John overdubbed his vocal with a short delay in the intro. At shoot me you can only hear shoot. The bass line falls where the me was. (These words took on a tragic prescience on December 8, 1980, when Mark David Chapman killed John Lennon with five bullets). According to Emerick, Paul then showed John an electric piano part. John liked it, but preferred to play it himself. Maracas and another rhythm guitar were added. When Paul suggested singing harmony with John, John replied, “Don’t worry, I’ll do the over-dubs on this.”3 Paul said, “On ‘Come Together’ I would have liked to sing harmony with John and I think he would have liked me to but I was too embarrassed to ask him and I don’t work to the best of my abilities in that situation.”4 John claimed that he did ask his three colleagues for arrangements. He realized that, with their experience, they knew what he wanted: “I think that’s partly because we’ve played together a long time. So I said, ‘Give me something funky.’”5
The sessions continued. Several guitar parts were recorded, including George’s magnificent solo. Paul recorded a lot of heavy breathing at the end, which is partially buried and inaudible in the final stereo mix made on August 7.
FOR BEATLES FANATICS
Listen carefully at 2:30. Someone yells “Look out!” We assume it is John.
George Harrison / 3:01
1969
MUSICIANS
George: vocal, hand claps, guitar
Paul: bass, backing vocal, hand claps
John: rhythm guitar
Ringo: drums, hand claps
Billy Preston: piano, organ
Orchestra: 12 violins, 4 violas, 4 cellos, 1 double bass
RECORDED
Abbey Road: February 25, 1969 (Studio Three) / April 16, 1969 (Studio Three) / May 2, 1969 (Studio Three) / July 11, 1969 (Studio Two) / July 16, 1969 (Studio Three) / August 4, 1969 (Studio Two) / August 15, 1969 (Studios One and Two)
Olympic Sound Studios: May 5, 1969 (Studio One)
NUMBER OF TAKES: 39
MIXING
Abbey Road: February 25, 1969 (Studio Three) / July 11, 1969 (Studio Two) / August 19, 1969 (Studio Two)
Olympic Sound Studios: May 6, 1969 (Studio One)
TECHNICAL TEAM
Producers: George Martin, Chris Thomas, George Harrison
Sound Engineers: Ken Scott, Phil McDonald, Jeff Jaratt, Glyn Johns, Geoff Emerick
Assistant Engineers: Richard Lush, Nick Webb, Steve Vaughan, John Kurlander, Alan Parsons
RELEASED AS A SINGLE
“Something” / “Come Together”
Great Britain: October 31, 1969 / No. 4
United States: October 6, 1969 / No. 1 for 1 week beginning October 18, 1969
George composed “Something” at the piano during the recording sessions for the White Album in 1968. He wrote it quickly in Studio One, the only one available since Paul was working in Studio Two. The song came to him so easily that he thought it was too obvious. To record the tune he did not think about the Beatles, but rather about Ray Charles, who later included the song on his 1971 album Volcanic Action of My Soul.
George did not really have any ideas for the lyrics, even if Pattie Boyd, his first wife, claimed in her autobiography that “Something” was written for her.1 The first line came from “Something in the Way She Moves,” the title of a song by James Taylor, who had just signed with Apple for his debut album released in 1968. Taylor’s line stuck. Only the bridge required more work. In 1969, George told journalist David Wigg that John had given him some handy tips, “Once you start to write a song, try to finish it straight away while you’re still in the same mood.’ Sometimes you go back to it and you’re in a whole different state of mind. So now, I do try to finish them straight away.”2
On September 19, 1968, George worked on “Piggies.” Between two takes, he played “Something” for Chris Thomas, who was standing in for George Martin that day. Thomas said, “That’s great! Why don’t we do that one instead?” George replied, “Do you like it, do you really think it’s good?” When Thomas said Yes! George said, “Oh, maybe I’ll give it to Jackie Lomax then, he can do it as a single!”3 “Something” was released on Abbey Road and as the A-side of the Beatles’ next single. It was George’s first A-side in the history of the group. “Something” is currently among the top twenty songs most performed in the world.
George thought, before changing his mind, that his song would better suit Joe Cocker or even Jackie Lomax, who had a contract with Apple, rather than the Beatles. Joe Cocker recorded a version for his album Joe Cocker!, released in November 1969. Years later, “Something” was part of Frank Sinatra’s live set and for years he presented the song as his favorite Lennon-McCartney composition! He also called “Something” “the greatest love song ever written.” James Brown’s version (the B-side of the single released in 1973, “Think” / “Something”) was George’s favorite. Harrison loved it so much that he had it on his personal jukebox.
For John, “Something” is the best track on the album. George Martin was surprised that George was able to compose a piece of such quality—at the level of Lennon-McCartney’s songwriting. It was with a sense of guilt that he regretted he had never treated George on the same level as his two pals, “‘Something’ is a wonderful song. But we didn’t give him credit for it, and we never really thought, ‘He’s going to be a great songwriter.’”4 Ringo concluded, “It is interesting that George was coming to the fore and we were just breaking up.”5
On February 25, 1969, his twenty-sixth birthday, George went alone to Abbey Road to record elaborate eight-track demos for three of his new compositions: “Old Brown Shoe,” “All Things Must Pass,” and “Something.” “Old Brown Shoe” became the B-side of “The Ballad of John and Yoko.” “All Things Must Pass” appeared on George’s first solo triple album in 1970, while “Something” was the second most covered Beatles song after “Yesterday.” George was solo on guitar, piano, and vocal with Ken Scott in the control room. He recorded the first version particularly softly. At this point it was just a countermelody and lyrics, which eventually disappeared, to be replaced by the guitar solo from the final version. On April 16, the Beatles began to work together on the song, but it was only on May 2 that they recorded take 36 as the best basic track. George was on guitar through a Leslie speaker, Paul on bass, John on acoustic guitar, Billy Preston at the piano, and Ringo on drums. Take 36 lasted 7:48 and was characterized by a coda lasting more than four minutes, due entirely to John’s long piano-led four-note instrumental fade-out. He later sped up the chord pattern to shorten the coda to 2:32 and used it as the basis for his song “Remember” (John Lennon / Plastic Ono Band, 1970).
Other sessions followed. On May 5, Paul rerecorded his bass part at the Olympic Sound Studios (with Glyn Johns at the console). The sound resulted from a new technique, increasingly used by sound engineers, consisting of combining the sound of the instrument plugged directly into the console with the sound coming back out of the amplifier. George, more self-assured, criticized Paul’s bass line and asked him to simplify it. George later recorded a lead guitar part via a Leslie speaker.
On July 11, George attempted his first lead vocal with Preston at the organ. On July 16, he finally recorded his lead vocal. To help his concentration, the studio was given a cozy atmosphere with soft lighting and incense. Paul added backing vocals and, with George and Ringo, some hand clapping. On August 15, different orchestral tracks were recorded for “Golden Slumbers,” “Carry That Weight,” “The End,” “Here Comes the Sun” and “Something.” George Martin orchestrated the songs and conducted the orchestra in Studio One. There remained only one track to record the guitar and the orchestra. In Studio Two, connected by video, George had to perform along with the orchestra and, without hesitating, in one take, he delivered an inspired and dazzling solo. “Something” was finally completed. The stereo mix was made on August 19, and the long coda deleted.
FOR BEATLES FANATICS
Allen Klein insisted on releasing “Something” as a single to encourage George as a songwriter, but also to get a not inconsiderable sum of money.
Lennon-McCartney / 3:27
1969
SONGWRITER
Paul
MUSICIANS
Paul: vocal, bass, piano, Moog IIIP synthesizer
George: guitar, backing vocal
Ringo: drums, backing vocal, anvil (?)
George Martin: organ
Mal Evans: anvil (?)
RECORDED
Abbey Road: July 9–11, 1969 (Studio Two) / August 6 and 25, 1969 (Studio Two)
NUMBER OF TAKES: 27
MIXING
Abbey Road: July 10, 1969 (Studio Two) / August 6, 12, and 14, 1969 (Studio Two)
TECHNICAL TEAM
Producer: George Martin
Sound Engineers: Phil McDonald, Tony Clark, Geoff Emerick
Assistant Engineers: John Kurlander, Alan Parsons
Paul wrote “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer” in 1968 during the recording sessions for the White Album. During the previous two years he had become interested in Alfred Jarry, author of Ubu the King, and his concept of pataphysics, philosophy of the absurd and surrealism. Paul, with amusement, referred to the concept, knowing that few people would understand: “I am the only person who ever put the name of pataphysics into the record charts, c’mon! It was great. I love those surreal little touches.”1 The theme of his song “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer” was a way to deal with unexpected problems when everything goes well. It is a metaphor related to the plight of the Beatles. Why did he make the hammer silver? He said, “I don’t know why it was silver, it just sounded better than Maxwell’s hammer.”2
The Beatles rehearsed the song in January 1969 at Twickenham Film Studios as part of the Get Back sessions. On July 9, they started the recording session for “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer,” the same day that John returned to the studio after his car accident in Scotland. John did not like the song and dismissed it as “just more of Paul’s granny music.”3 The basic rhythm track was completed after twenty-one takes, with Paul at the piano, George on bass, and Ringo on drums. On July 10, various overdubs to “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer” were done—George on electric and acoustic guitar, Paul doubling his lead vocals, and George Martin at the Hammond organ. The session was highlighted by an unusual instrument. Paul asked Ringo to emphasize the “Bang! Bang!” in the choruses by hitting a blacksmith’s anvil. Mal Evans rented it from a theatrical agency. According to Geoff Emerick, Mal Evans hit the anvil, as can be seen in the film Let It Be: “Ringo simply didn’t have the strength to lift the hammer, so Mal ended up playing the part, but he didn’t have a drummer’s sense of timing, so it took a while to get a successful take.”4 After thirteen mixes were made, Paul was still dissatisfied. He nicely asked John to help with the backing vocals, but John refused, preferring to stay next to Yoko. Arms crossed, he sat in the back for a while before leaving for home. Tony Clark: “I got involved in the last three weeks of Abbey Road. They kept two studios running and I would be asked to sit in Studio Two or Three—usually Three—just to be there, at the Beatles’ beck and call whenever someone wanted to come in and do an overdub. At this stage of the album I don’t think I saw the four of them together.”5 John: “I believe he really ground George and Ringo into the ground recording it. We spent more money on that song than any of them on the whole album, I think.”6 Paul wanted the bass on “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer” “to sound like a tuba to make the recording sound old-fashioned.”7 He accomplished this by slurring the notes rather than articulating them. The following day, more guitar and vocal overdubs were added. On August 6, Paul recorded his Moog synthesizer part. This was the first Beatles song where this instrument was used.
Various mixes were made, first on August 14. On August 25, various sound effects were added but not used. The mix of August 14 became final.
FOR BEATLES FANATICS
In 1972, Paul’s song “Hi, Hi, Hi” referred again to Jarry and his play Ubu Roi with the word polyhedron, which became polygon (get you ready for my polygon). In the UK, the BBC banned the song because they heard get you ready for my body gun, and took it to be an explicit sexual reference.
Lennon-McCartney / 3:27
1969
SONGWRITER
Paul
MUSICIANS
Paul: vocal, piano (?), bass (?)
John: piano (?), bass (?), backing vocal
George: guitar, backing vocal
Ringo: drums
Billy Preston: electric piano
RECORDED
Abbey Road: January 27, 1969
Abbey Road: April 20, 1969 (Studio Three) / April 26, 1969 (Studio Two) / May 1, 1969 (Studio Three) / July 17–18 and 22–23, 1969 (Studio Three) / August 8, 1969 (Studio Three) / August 11, 1969 (Studio Two)
NUMBER OF TAKES: 26
MIXING
Abbey Road: April 20, 1969 (Studio Three) / May 1, 1969 (Studio Three) / August 12, 1969 (Studio Two)
TECHNICAL TEAM
Producers: George Martin, Chris Thomas
Sound Engineers: Glyn Johns, Jeff Jarratt, Phil McDonald, Geoff Emerick, Tony Clark
Assistant Engineers: John Kurlander, Nick Webb, Alan Parsons
In a tribute to the 1950s, Paul wrote a great rock ’n’ roll ballad, demonstrating once again his immense talent as a singer. “Oh! Darling (I’ll Never Do You No Harm),” as a working title, was already rehearsed and recorded during a Get Back session on January 27, 1969, at the Apple studio, under the shadow of the eccentric “Magic Alex.” At that time, “Oh! Darling” was recorded with Paul on vocals and bass, George on guitar, John on second vocal and second guitar, and Ringo on drums, while Billy Preston played electric piano. Also during this recording, John learned that the divorce between Yoko and Anthony Cox, her second husband, had gone through and was to be finalized on February 2, 1969. He announced at the end of the song, as can be heard on Anthology 3, “I just heard that Yoko’s divorce has just gone through. Free at last! I’m free.…” He showed his joy by singing the song!
FOR BEATLES FANATICS
Along with the other Beatles, John recorded backing vocals on August 11. This was his last recording session with the group. Afterwards, he was only present in the studio for mixing, but never to record.
The Beatles did not return to Abbey Road Studios until April 20 to record the song properly. Twenty-six takes were needed. It has often been stated that Paul was on bass and John at the piano. But after listening, and especially by analyzing the sound of each instrument, it seems to be the opposite. George without any doubt was on rhythm guitar via a Leslie speaker and Ringo on drums. They sought to create the feel of a live recording. During this first session, Billy Preston played the Hammond organ, replacing the electric piano, but this was definitively erased on April 26.
Paul, who lived just a few blocks from Abbey Road, regularly arrived one hour before the other Beatles to rehearse, warm up, and record his voice. He kept rerecording the song, against the advice of George Martin, who said the best version was already in hand. Paul: “I came into the studios early every day for a week to sing it by myself because at first my voice was too clear. I wanted it to sound as though I’d been performing it onstage all week.”2
I Can Do Better!
In 1980 John confessed to David Sheff for the Playboy interview, “‘Oh! Darling’ was a great one of Paul’s that he didn’t sing too well. I always thought that I could’ve done it better—it was more my style than his. He wrote it, so what the hell, he’s going to sing it. If he’d had any sense, he should have let me sing it. [Laughing]1
The interpretation was difficult. Paul sang the lead vocal with a head tone but failed to get the “scratchy” sound that he wanted. Alan Parsons, an assistant engineer, recalled, “Perhaps my main memory of the Abbey Road sessions is of Paul coming into Studio Three at two o’clock or 2:30 each afternoon, on his own, to do the vocal on ‘Oh Darling.’ … He’d come in, sing it and say ‘No, that’s not it, I’ll try it tomorrow.’ He only tried it once per day, I suppose he wanted to capture a certain rawness which could only be done once before the voice changed. I remember him saying ‘Five years ago I could have done this in a flash,’ referring, I suppose, to the days of ‘Long Tall Sally’ and ‘Kansas City.’”3 John Kurlander also witnessed these overdubs: “I think Paul wanted this ‘first thing in the morning’ quality, or maybe it was ‘last thing at night.’ Whatever it was, he came in early each day, an hour before anybody else, to do this piece, always replacing the previous one until he got the one he liked.”4 His final attempt was recorded on July 23. Paul had enough different takes to combine parts of each into a single good track.
August 8 was memorable: the Beatles were photographed crossing Abbey Road by Iain MacMillan. In the afternoon, Paul went alone into Studio Three to record a lead guitar solo and a tambourine part. These recordings were omitted from the final mix. Finally, during the recording session of August 11 backing vocals were overdubbed. The second vocal sung by John on January 27 disappeared in favor of backing vocals (see Anthology 3).
Paul’s vocal performance, contrary to what John said later, was absolutely stunning. Ringo’s drumming was sublime.
Paul, anxious to create a “live” atmosphere did not use a headset for singing in order to get feedback directly from the speakers, as the Beatles had done until 1966.
Richard Starkey / 2:51
1969
MUSICIANS
Ringo: vocal, drums
George: guitar solo, backing vocal
Paul: bass, piano, backing vocal
John: rhythm guitar
RECORDED
Abbey Road: April 26, 1969 (Studio Two) / April 29, 1969 (Studio Three) / July 17, 1969 (Studio Two) / July 18, 1969 (Studio Three)
NUMBER OF TAKES: 32
MIXING
Abbey Road: July 18, 1969 (Studio Two)
TECHNICAL TEAM
Producers: Chris Thomas, the Beatles, George Martin
Sound Engineers: Jeff Jarratt, Phil McDonald
Assistant Engineers: Richard Langham, Nick Webb, Alan Parsons
On August 22, 1968, Ringo walked out of the sessions for the White Album. He could no longer bear the increasing tensions within the group or Paul’s critical remarks, which made him doubt his abilities as a drummer. Disillusioned, bitter, and exhausted, he took his wife and children on vacation to Sardinia on a yacht lent to him by his friend, the actor Peter Sellers. A story from this vacation is the source of the name of the song. At lunch Ringo was served octopus instead of the fish and chips he expected. He asked the captain what this strange animal (which he had evidently never eaten) was. The captain told him about the habits of the octopus, his custom of accumulating objects and shellfish around his cave like a small garden. Ringo, amused, immediately wrote a song inspired by the story of the octopus’s garden. It was his second composition after the White Album’s “Don’t Pass Me By.”
Upon his return from Sardinia, he offered the song to the group, but it was not used for the White Album. “Octopus’s Garden” was first worked on in January 1969 during the Get Back sessions at Twickenham Film Studios. In the film Let It Be, we see George help Ringo write the bridge of the song at the piano, suggesting he start with a major chord instead of a minor, under the watchful eye of George Martin and John on drums!
In addition to being amusing, the lyrics implicitly evoked the band’s difficulties at the time. Verses such as We would be warm, below the storm and We would be so happy you and me / No one there to tell us what to do may refer unconsciously to Ringo and George and the stress felt at the time just before the band broke up.
Curiously, five stereo mixes and seven mono mixes were made. The reason is still unknown, especially because Abbey Road was the first Beatles record to appear only in stereo. “Octopus’s Garden” was the only song on this album to have a mono version, apparently unreleased to this day.
Ringo, who did not have any lead vocals during the Get Back sessions, took the microphone for one of his own compositions, “Octopus’s Garden.” Geoff Emerick remembers both Paul and George as being in a good mood during the sessions while John was moping around, saying little and contributing next to nothing. More than usual, “They chipped in, putting as much effort into it as if it were one of their own songs.”1
April 26 was the first day devoted to the song. They recorded no fewer than thirty-two takes. Paul was on bass, George on guitar solo—proving once again what a formidable guitarist he had become in the end—John on rhythm guitar and Ringo on drums and simultaneously lead vocal. On Anthology 3, we hear him ironically mocking himself after take 8: “Well, that was superb!” Paul added a piano part played on the slightly out of tune “Mrs. Mills” Steinway piano. Since the structure of the song was simple, the recording was relatively close to the final version at this stage. George Martin was not available. Curiously, the first day is credited to Chris Thomas and also to the Beatles as the producers. The role of each is unclear, especially because the Beatles were at this point able to produce themselves. On April 29, Ringo, dissatisfied, overdubbed his lead vocal again. The song was then put on the shelf until mid-July when it was revived on July 17 for more over-dubs and mixing. Paul and George contributed backing vocals, singing in falsetto; Paul added piano notes, and George played guitar. Ringo blew bubbles into a glass of water, the same technique that had been used for the song “Yellow Submarine.” “That was miced very closely to capture all the little bubbles and sounds,”2 recalled Alan Brown, technical engineer on the session. Finally, the next day, Ringo recorded his final lead vocal and added tomtom beats before each chorus. The mix was made on July 18.
Ringo asked Geoff Emerick if he could make the vocals in the middle section sound as if they were being sung underwater. Emerick came up with a new effect: “After some experimentation I discovered that feeding the vocals into a compressor and triggering it from a pulsing tone (which I derived from George Harrison’s Moog synthesizer) imparted a distinctive wobbly sound, almost like gargling.”3
Lennon-McCartney / 7:44
1969
SONGWRITER
John
MUSICIANS
John: vocal, rhythm guitar, lead guitar
Paul: bass, piano, backing vocal
George: rhythm guitar, lead guitar, backing vocal
Ringo: drums, congas
Billy Preston: Hammond organ RT-3
RECORDED
Apple Studios: January 29, 1969
Trident Studios: February 22, 1969
Abbey Road: April 18, 1969 (Studio Two) / April 20, 1969 (Studio Three) / August 8 and 11, 1969 (Studio Two) / August 20, 1969 (Studio Three)
NUMBER OF TAKES: 35
MIXING:
Trident Studios: February 23–24, 1969
Abbey Road: April 18, 1969 (Studio Two) / August 11, 1969 (Studio Two) / August 20, 1969 (Studio Three)
TECHNICAL TEAM
Producers: George Martin, Glyn Johns, Chris Thomas
Sound Engineers: Glyn Johns, Barry Sheffield (Trident), Jeff Jarratt, Geoff Emerick, Chris Thomas
Assistant Engineers: Alan Parsons, John Kurlander
“‘I Want You,’ that’s me about Yoko.”1 That’s how John described the song during his last interview with David Sheff in 1980. As simple as that. There are only about a dozen words in the song, no more. This economy is what gives John’s work its effectiveness and authenticity. He bared his soul, without compromise, as he always did.
John wrote the song about his passionate love for Yoko, his inspiration for both the lyrics and the music. “I Want You” was influenced by Mel Tormé’s 1962 song “Comin’ Home, Baby.” John has structured it into two parts: singing and instrumental. The first part is based on a minor blues scale with the voice superimposed on a solo guitar. The second, completely independent from the verses, is based on a harmonic progression played in arpeggios by multitracked guitars for the song’s coda. John increases the tension to express his obsession with Yoko.
On January 29, the eve of their memorable concert on the Apple roof, the Beatles rehearsed “I Want You” (“She’s So Heavy” was only added to the title on August 11). The first serious take was on February 22 at Trident Studios. The Apple studio was an acoustic disaster. “Magic Alex” had not quite worked the miracle that he had promised. The Beatles were forced to take some of the equipment installed at Apple back to Abbey Road and waited for Glyn Johns, chief sound engineer since the time of Get Back, and Billy Preston, both of whom were in the United States at the time. In the meantime, on February 22 thirty-five takes were recorded at Trident. John provided a great vocal and shared the guitar part with George. Paul delivered an inspired bass part balanced between glissandos, bluesy riffs, and Latino flair. Billy Preston performed a flamboyant organ accompaniment while Ringo kept the rhythm with brio. Note that John performed the main guitar solo, but was not as good as George. The next day, John was not happy with any one take and insisted that three different takes be edited into one: take 9 for John’s vocal at the beginning, take 20 for the middle eight, and take 32 for the rest. The total length of the resulting combination exceeds eight minutes. On February 24, a backup copy of the edited master was made. It was the end of the Trident recording.
Just after John’s shout, yeaahhhhh, at 4:32, we can hear a muffled cry from the back of the studio. Some hear it as Turn it down man / Mal; others think it a technician telling John to keep his voice down. According to Mark Lewisohn, however, it is some sort of conversation between the Beatles, recorded on February 22 during the first takes at Trident Studios.
Back at Abbey Road on April 18, John and George overdubbed a long series of guitar parts for the intro and the coda to the song. Jeff Jarratt recalled, “They wanted a massive sound, so they kept tracking and tracking, over and over.”2 The guitar arpeggios were played in unison. Both John and George had their guitars connected to a Fender Twin Reverb with the volume close to the maximum providing a massive sound. But the result of adding layers of guitars was that some of Billy Preston’s Hammond organ parts were drowned out. After more reduction, on April 20 another Hammond organ was added (Paul?) with Ringo playing a set of conga drums.
On August 8 the sessions resumed. John added “white noise” from the Moog synthesizer. John was enamored of the “white noise,” which was the scary and haunting synthetic sound used at the end of the song. Ringo added an additional snare drum part. Surprisingly, these final additions are not on the tape dated April 18, but on a recording dated February 22 at Trident Studios. Is this a labeling error? We do not know. On August 11, John, Paul, and George met in Studio Two, rerecorded the tremendous backing vocals, and sang She’s so heavy onto the master of April 18. The choruses are impressive and the result striking. The song was completed, although John hesitated between the versions of April 18 and February 23. In both he had inserted She’s so Heavy. Since the time of “Strawberry Fields Forever,” John had acquired some production expertise. More than six months later on August 20, he made his final decision: he asked for a remix of both versions and then had the two edited together. The master is the Abbey Road version for the first 4:37 and then the original Trident tape for the rest of the song. The junction is at exactly 4:37, just after She’s so heavy. John was becoming obsessed with the “white noise” and constantly implored Geoff Emerick to make it “Louder! louder!! … I want the track to build and build and build, … and then I want the white noise to completely take over and blot out the music together.”3 According to Emerick, Paul sat in a corner with his head down; he couldn’t understand John’s delirium. Emerick recalled, “I could see a dejected Paul, sitting slumped over, head down, staring at the floor. He didn’t say a word, but his body language made it clear that he was very unhappy, not only with the song itself, but with the idea that the music … was being obliterated with noise.”4 Then, suddenly, twenty seconds before the track broke down, John said, “There! Cut the tape there.” Surprised, Emerick “glanced over at George Martin who simply shrugged his shoulders” and executed the order. To everyone’s surprise, the abrupt ending is incredibly effective, “a Lennon concept that really worked,”5 Emerick said. It was certainly a very effective way to end the second side of the album. However, John wanted to reverse the two sides of the album, so that his song would end the Abbey Road album. “I Want You” is the last song on which the four Beatles were together inside the recording studio. After August 20, they never worked together again.
To strengthen the sound in the coda, the Moog synthesizer, snare drum, and guitars were treated with ADT, which gives the feeling of a “wall of sound.” During the quiet moments, it is possible to hear quite clearly the various sounds created by the transfers to and from the tape recorders of the day. Recording on an eight-track tape recorder was very limited, and required reductions to save tracks for recording new sounds. This limited technology did not prevent the Beatles from recording most of their work, including Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, on a four-track tape recorder, even if they had to continuously synchronize the tape recorders.
George Harrison / 3:06
1969
MUSICIANS
George: vocal, guitar, Moog synthesizer, harmonium, hand claps
Paul: bass, backing vocal, hand claps
Ringo: drums
Orchestra: 4 violas, 4 cellos, 1 double bass, 2 piccolos, 2 flutes, 2 alto flutes, 2 clarinets
RECORDED
Abbey Road: July 7–8, 1969 (Studio Two) / July 16, 1969 (Studio Three) / August 6, 1969 (Studio Three) / August 11, 1969 (Studio Two) / August 15, 1969 (Studios One and Two) / August 19, 1969 (Studio Two)
NUMBER OF TAKES: 15
MIXING:
Abbey Road: July 8, 1969 (Studio Two) / August 4, 1969 (Studio Two)
TECHNICAL TEAM
Producer: George Martin
Sound Engineers: Phil McDonald, Geoff Emerick
Assistant Engineers: Alan Parsons, John Kurlander
The year 1969 was difficult for the Beatles. Legal and business disagreements, the breakdown of the Get Back project, and an omnipresent Yoko Ono were all serious threats to the overwhelmed, tired group. Each member was seeking more independence. George, in particular, was overwhelmed with accountants, attorneys, lawyers, bankers …
On a beautiful spring morning, George Harrison wrote “Here Comes the Sun” while visiting Eric Clapton at his house in Huntwood Edge, Surrey. “We were sitting at the top of a big field at the bottom of the garden. We had our guitars and we were just strumming away when he started singing ‘de da de de, it’s been a long cold lonely winter,’ and bit by bit he fleshed it out, until it was time for lunch.”1
In October 1969, George said to David Wigg, “The story behind that was, like Paul sung ‘You Never Give Me Your Money.’ I think, because whatever you’re involved with rubs off and influences you. ‘You Never Give Me Your Money’ is, I think, during all these business things that we had to go through to sort out the past, so it came out in Paul’s song. ‘Here Comes the Sun’ was the same period. We had meetings and meetings and with all this, you know, banks, bankers and lawyers and all sorts of things. And contracts and shares. And it was really awful, ’cuz it’s not the sort of thing we enjoy. And one day I didn’t come in to the office. I just sort of, it was like sagging off school. And I went to a friend’s house in the country. And it was just sunny and it was all just the release of that tension that had been building up on me. And it was just a really nice sunny day. And I picked up the guitar, which was the first time I’d played the guitar for a couple of weeks because I’d been so busy. And the first thing that came out was that song. It just came. And I finished it later when I was on holiday in Sardinia.”2 He finished the song soon after June 1 while on vacation in Sardinia with Terry Doran, the press officer of the group, and his wife Pattie. Klaus Voormann joined them soon after. He recalled that one day at the pool he heard George repeat the same sentence several times, accompanied by his guitar, “‘Here comes the sun, Here comes the sun.’ I thought it sounded rather well.”3
“Here Comes the Sun” was another of George’s masterpieces. Both words and music are luminous, radiant. Like “Something,” it proved that Harrison could write songs on the same level as John and Paul.
At 2:23 George sang something like, It seels like years, which could be a contraction of It seems like years and It feels like years. Probably just a slight hesitation, an unfortunate slip.
July 7 was Ringo’s twenty-ninth birthday and the first recording session for “Here Comes the Sun.” John was still recovering from his car accident in Scotland. The three Beatles started recording the rhythm track—Paul on bass, Ringo on drums, and George on acoustic guitar and singing the guide vocal. The interpretation was dazzling. Ringo had no trouble mastering the unusual rhythm of the song, which switches between 11/8, 4/4, and 7/8 on the bridge. His ability to master any rhythm, often underestimated, allowed him to perform this task without difficulty. It was proof that he could keep to any tempo before there was an electronic metronome. Take 13 was the best basic track. George perfected his part on the Gibson J-200 for the last hour of the session. The following day he overdubbed his lead vocal, erasing his previous vocal, and overdubbing the superb backing vocals, Sun, Sun, Sun, that he shared and double-tracked with Paul. Paul also added the electric guitar parts, run through a Leslie speaker, while Ringo reinforced his snare. Take 13 was given a reduction using a second eight-track tape recorder. On track 16, George added the harmonium, hand claps that required a lot of practice to perfect, and overdubbed other backing vocals with Paul. On August 6 and 11, George added more guitar to the song. Then, on August 15, they had a nine-hour marathon session to record George Martin’s orchestral arrangement. Surprisingly, even though the Beatles sold the most records in the history of rock, EMI still demanded rigorous adherence to the recording budget. Then, on the same day, George Martin recorded the orchestral parts of “Golden Slumbers,” “Carry That Weight,” “The End,” “Something,” and “Here Comes the Sun.”
George’s harmonium virtually disappeared in favor of strings. On August 19, he added a Moog synthesizer overdub onto take 15, his final touch to the song, in Room 43. The Moog masked the sound of woodwind and percussion instruments. The stereo mix, slightly varispeeded, was made the same day. The Gibson J-200 was reinforced with ADT, except in the introduction. Paul made a few sound loops especially for the song, but they were not selected for the final version.
American astronomer Carl Sagan developed the “Voyager Golden Record,” which was included aboard both Voyager spacecraft in 1977. The record was a collection of sounds and images characterizing the diversity of life and culture on Earth and intended to be heard by extraterrestrial life or a future population finding the records. “Here Comes the Sun” was selected as part of that collection, but, unfortunately, EMI refused to release the copyright. Instead “Voya ger Golden Record” spread the good vibes of rock ’n’ roll with “Johnny B. Goode” by Chuck Berry.
Lennon-McCartney / 2:46
1969
SONGWRITER
John
MUSICIANS
John: vocal, guitar
Paul: vocal, bass
George: vocal, Moog synthesizer
Ringo: guide rhythm
George Martin: harpsichord
RECORDED
Abbey Road: August 1 and 4, 1969 (Studio Two) / August 5, 1969 (Studios Two and Three, and Room 43)
NUMBER OF TAKES: 23
MIXING:
Abbey Road: August 12, 1969 (Studio Two)
TECHNICAL TEAM
Producer: George Martin
Sound Engineer: Geoff Emerick, Phil McDonald
Assistant Engineer: John Kurlander
Yoko, who as a child was trained as a classical pianist, played Beethoven’s “Moonlight Piano Sonata No. 14 in C sharp minor, Opus 27, No. 2” for John. John, lying on the couch listening, asked her to play the chords backwards. Later he said he was inspired by them to write “Because.” Although it contains some similarities to Beethoven, even reversed, the relationship is not obvious. It seems instead that he combined the general feeling of the piece with memories of their recent visit to the Netherlands. Indeed, on the Wedding Album, the couple’s solo album released on November 7, 1969, Yoko sang a song, apparently titled “Stay in Bed” with an arpeggio chord accompaniment performed by John that is very close to “Because.” This recording is part of the experimental piece “Amsterdam” (at about 22:10), the second song on the record taped between March 25 and 31, 1969, during John and Yoko’s bed-in in the presidential suite, room 902, at the Amsterdam Hilton Hotel. This hotel was immortalized in the song “The Ballad of John and Yoko”: drove from Paris to the Amsterdam Hilton …”
According to Paul, Yoko had a strong influence on John’s words: wind, sky, and earth are recurring themes in the work of the young woman. It was straight out of her book Grapefruit (1964). John, himself, found the words clear, speaking for themselves, “no bullshit, no imagery, no obscure references.”1 George thought “Because” was the best song on the record simply because he loved the three-part backing vocals. In October 1969, he said to David Wigg, “We’ve never done something like that for years, I think, since a B-side. [sings] If you wear red tonight, and what I said tonight [lyrics from ‘Yes It Is’ —ed.]. So I like that. I like lots of them. I like ‘You Never Give Me Your Money’ and ‘Golden Slumbers’ and things.”2 Paul also shared this opinion. He thought it one of the best songs on the Abbey Road album.
Paul ultimately bought the electric harpsichord used in “Because” from EMI. It is the same harpsichord that was reused for “Free As a Bird,” John’s posthumous song completed by Paul, George, and Ringo for The Beatles Anthology in 1995. Apparently, it was only used for these two Beatles songs, twenty-six years apart!
On August 1, when George Martin listened to John’s beautiful song “Because,” he immediately saw that his experience would once again be useful, just as it had been in the past. Harmonizing vocal lines was still one of his great strengths. The first recording session consisted of John playing arpeggiated chords on his electric guitar and, as George Martin suggested, doubled-tracking the arpeggios on the Baldwin solid-body electric harpsichord recently acquired earlier that year by EMI (a kind of electric spinet harpsichord played by Martin himself). Ringo tapped out a steady tempo on a hi-hat cymbal for reference only. It was only for the musicians’ headphones—it was not recorded on tape. George and Paul were in the control room. Paul was acting as producer; dissatisfied, he kept asking the three musicians to do take after take. Totally exhausted after twenty-three takes, the trio went to the control room to listen to the result. They soon found an excellent take (take 16) recorded an hour earlier. Geoff: “John didn’t say anything, but he shot an embarrassed Paul a dirty look.”3 Paul then recorded his bass, and Martin asked them, with the exception of Ringo, to rehearse the three-part backing vocal track that he had just written. Each diligently learned his part, then recorded the first take after three hours of intense work. On August 4, they decided to double and triple this first vocal track to enrich the backing vocals. John, Paul, and George recorded two additional takes of this magnificent three-part harmony. The lights were dimmed for atmosphere, the Beatles were sitting in a semicircle, and, despite their fatigue, no one gave up. It took more than five hours to record good takes. On August 5, George Harrison brought a final touch to the song in Room 43 by recording two synthesizer overdubs. The Moog synthesizer was a recent invention, and he was one of the first to use it in the UK. He bought the instrument on November 15, 1968, during his stay in California. He used it for Electronic Sounds, his CD released by Zapple, the experimental Apple label, on May 9. Emerick tried something new as well to keep the purity of the sound: “I had decided to use no signal processor whatsoever, no compressor or limiters.”4 Fully satisfied with the effect, he decided to mix the entire track without them on August 12. The final stereo mix was made the same date.
Lennon-McCartney / 4:03
1969
SONGWRITER
Paul
MUSICIANS
Paul: piano, vocal, bass, chimes, guitar
John: guitar, backing vocal
George: guitar, bass, backing vocal
Ringo: drums, tambourine
RECORDED
Olympic Sound Studio: May 6, 1969 (Studio One)
Abbey Road: July 1 and 11, 1969 (Studio Two) / July 15, 1969 (Studio Three) / July 30, 1969 (Studios Two and Three) / July 31, 1969 (Studio Two) / August 5, 1969 (Studio Three)
NUMBER OF TAKES: 42
MIXING
Abbey Road: July 15, 1969 (Studio Three) / July 30, 1969 (Studios Two and Three) / August 13–14 and 21, 1969 (Studio Two)
TECHNICAL TEAM
Producer: George Martin
Sound Engineers: Glyn Johns, Phil McDonald, Geoff Emerick
Assistant Engineers: Steve Vaughan, Chris Blair, John Kurlander, Alan Parsons
The opening of the famous Abbey Road medley, “You Never Give Me Your Money” resulted from a mix of five or six different song fragments. The idea was probably born at the time of the first recording session at Olympic Sound Studios in early May. George Martin suggested that Paul think “symphonically.” This was an excellent idea, and immediately Paul and John started to put together pieces of unfinished songs. Paul said, “I think it was my idea to put all the spare bits together, but I’m a bit wary of claiming these things. I’m happy for it to be everyone’s idea.”1 Ringo recalled that John and Paul recorded various pieces together as a medley: “A lot of work went into it, but they weren’t writing together.”2 John said, “I’ve got stuff that I wrote around Sgt. Pepper … It was a good way of getting rid of bits of songs.”3
Everything took shape under the leadership of Paul and George Martin, with George and Ringo helping with vocals and instrumental parts. John: “We’ve got twelve bars here—fill it in. And we’d fill it in on the spot.”4 However, Martin recalled that in the end John did not like the medley. He did not think it rocked enough. The medley was very difficult to record. Afterward, George said, “We did actually perform more like musicians again.”5
“You Never Give Me Your Money,” written in New York in October 1968, was about the Beatles’ administrative and management difficulties, difficulties that were particularly hard on Paul. The phrase But oh, that magic feeling, nowhere to go referred to aimless walks he took with his wife Linda in the countryside near London. He admitted, “This was me lambasting Allen Klein’s attitude to us: no money, just funny paper, all promises and it never works out.”6
Paul’s Bells
Chimes used for Paul’s bell sounds were previously used on “Penny Lane” for the sound of the fire truck. Today, these Premier Orchestral Chimes are in Paul’s home recording studio.
On May 6, 1969, the Beatles began work on “You Never Give Me Your Money” at Olympic Sound Studios in London, where they had recorded several times before. The basic rhythm track included Paul at the piano and guide vocal, John on distorted guitar, George on his Fender six-string bass and on a second guitar fed through a Leslie speaker, and Ringo on drums. After thirty-six takes, take 30 was judged the best. At this point, the song ended abruptly and the transition to “Sun King” was not clearly defined.
The Beatles resumed work on July 1, at Abbey Road. In fact, Paul was the only Beatle in the studio when he overdubbed a lead vocal. John was absent because of a car accident with his family in Scotland. This recording session marked the beginning of the sessions for the album. Ten days later, Paul added a bass line, then on July 15, all the Beatles got back together, and vocals, tambourine, and chimes were recorded. They tried backing vocals on the out of college section, but soon quit. For the session on July 30, the Beatles were in the control room to verify the sequence in “The Long One / Huge Melody,” as the medley was called then. The songs all fit together perfectly, except for two small problems: Paul decided to eliminate “Her Majesty” permanently, and he was not happy with the transition from “You Never Give Me Your Money” to “Sun King,” which was only a single long organ note at the time. The following day, other bass lines and honky-tonk piano were recorded for the out of college section (1:10 to 1:31). The piano part was played an octave lower on a Steinway B Grand Piano and recorded with the playback slowed down to half normal speed, which created the characteristic honky-tonk piano sound as heard in “Rocky Raccoon.” It is likely Paul played the piano track, not George Martin. Paul was confident enough and he played the piano in the introduction to the song.
The Influence of the Who
Paul recognized that the medley was influenced by Keith West’s song “Excerpt from a Teenage Opera” (1967). But we can also assume that the Who’s mini-opera, “A Quick One While He’s Away” (on the Quick One album, 1966), and John’s song “Happiness Is A Warm Gun” also played a significant role.
On August 5, Paul found the solution for the transition between the two songs. As he had done for “Tomorrow Never Knows,” “Paul took a plastic bag containing a dozen loose strands of mono tape into Abbey Road.” The loops he chose sounded like “bells, birds, bubbles and crickets chirping.” These helped create an effective transition, creating the atmosphere for the Sun King’s entrance.6 On August 13, a number of stereo mixes were made. The twenty-third mix was selected. The following day, eleven attempts were made to cross-fade “You Never Give Me Your Money” with “Sun King” via Paul’s tape loops. The cross-fading was redone on August 21 to make the final.
FOR BEATLES FANATICS
Small funny detail: toward 3:50, the Beatles begin to laugh.
Lennon-McCartney / 2:26
1969
SONGWRITER
John
MUSICIANS
John: vocal, rhythm guitar
Paul: bass, piano, organ, backing vocal
George: guitar, backing vocal
Ringo: drums, maracas
RECORDED
Abbey Road: July 24–25, 1969 (Studio Two) / July 29, 1969 (Studio Three)
NUMBER OF TAKES: 35
MIXING
Abbey Road: July 30, 1969 (Studio Two) / August 14 and 21, 1969 (Studio Two)
TECHNICAL TEAM
Producer: George Martin
Sound Engineers: Geoff Emerick, Phil McDonald
Assistant Engineers: John Kurlander, Alan Parsons
Although John Lennon most likely got the title “Sun King” from the British author Nancy Mitford’s 1966 biography of Louis XIV, he alleged in 1971 that the song came to him in a dream. On the musical level, the major influence for the piece came from the guitar-based instrumental “Albatross,” by Fleetwood Mac, released in January 1969. In 1987, George said, “At the time, ‘Albatross’ was out, with all the reverb on guitar. So we said, ‘Let’s be Fleetwood Mac doing ‘Albatross,’ just to get going.’ It never really sounded like Fleetwood Mac … but [that] was the point of origin.”1 In 1969, John said, “When we came to sing it, to make them different we started joking, saying ‘Cuando para mucho’ … Paul knew a few Spanish words from school, so we just strung any Spanish words that sounded vaguely like something. And of course we got ‘chicka ferdi’—that a Liverpool expression, it doesn’t mean anything, just like ‘ha ha ha.’”2 He added, “We could have had ‘paranoia,’ but we forgot all about it. We used to call ourselves Los Para Noias.”3
“Sun King” does not mean anything, with its strange lyrics in three languages! In 1980, in his interview with David Sheff, John said, “That’s a piece of garbage I had around.”4
FOR BEATLES FANATICS
George Harrison’s Leslie cabinet model 147RV was a present from Eric Clapton.
“Sun King,” the working title of which was “Here Comes the Sun King” until July 29, took its final name that day to avoid confusion with George’s “Here Comes the Sun.” Two songs for the medley, “Sun King” and “Mean Mr. Mustard,” were recorded in a single session on July 24. This was a challenge. The instrumental arrangement is identical—John on rhythm guitar and guide vocal, Paul on bass, George on a second guitar fed through a Leslie speaker, and Ringo on drums. Both songs were John’s compositions—provocative, surreal, and humorous. The following day was devoted to overdubs of vocals, piano, and organ. The atmosphere was friendly; John and Paul sang together. Geoff Emerick recalled, “They disappeared behind the screens at one point for a puff on a joint, just the two of them, and when they came out they had a fit of giggles as they sang the pseudo-Spanish gibberish at the end of ‘Here Comes the Sun King’; in fact, they found it impossible to get through a take without dissolving into laughter.”5 On July 29, other vocals, organ, percussion, and piano were added. On the July 30, Paul was in the control room to listen to the sequence in the medley. Paul was not happy with the long organ note transition between “You Never Give Me Your Money” and “Sun King.” It was only on August 5 that Paul found the solution, using tape loop sound effects to provide an atmospheric cross-fade link. On August 14, several remixes were made as well as a number of attempts to link “You Never Give Me Your Money” and “Sun King.” The master was created on August 21.
George’s guitar, fed through a Leslie speaker, is particularly obvious in the introduction of “Sun King.” The spinning sound was used frequently in 1969. Geoff Emerick recalled that Ringo came up with the idea of “draping his tom-toms with heavy tea towels and playing them with timpani beaters in order to give John the ‘jungle drum’ sound he was after.”6
Lennon-McCartney / 1:07
1969
SONGWRITER
John
MUSICIANS
John: vocal, rhythm guitar, piano (?)
Paul: bass, organ (?), backing vocal
George: guitar, backing vocal
Ringo: drums, maracas
RECORDED
Abbey Road: July 24–25, 1969 (Studio Two) / July 29, 1969 (Studio Three)
NUMBER OF TAKES: 35
MIXING
Abbey Road: July 30, 1969 (Studio Two) / August 14 and 21, 1969 (Studio Two)
TECHNICAL TEAM
Producer: George Martin
Sound Engineers: Geoff Emerick, Phil McDonald
Assistant Engineers: John Kurlander, Alan Parsons
It was spring 1968, and the Beatles were just back from Rishikesh. They met at George’s home at Kinfauns to record demos of the songs intended for the White Album. Among these were “Mean Mr. Mustard” and “Polythene Pam.” In 1980, John told a story to David Sheff: “I’d read somewhere in the newspaper about this mean guy who hid five-pound notes, not up his nose but somewhere else.” He added, “No, it had nothing to do with cocaine,”1 removing all doubt about his source of inspiration. Typical Lennon humor.
Mr. Mustard’s sister was originally his sister Shirley (see Anthology 3), but John changed the name to Pam to create a connection with the next song, the famous and eccentric “Polythene Pam.”
John described “Mean Mr. Mustard” “as a bit of crap that I wrote in India.”2 Paul judged it as “a nice fun song, typical of John.” And he added, “I do not know what he was talking about.” This comment proves that at the time the communication between them was not the best.
“Mean Mr. Mustard” was taped right after “Sun King.” The composition originally was over three minutes in length with a clear final chord. For the medley, John shortened the song to 1:10, keeping the same ending. On July 30, Paul did not like the transition between “Mean Mr. Mustard” and “Her Majesty.” He asked John Kurlander to permanently eliminate “Her Majesty.” Kurlander cut the track too short and deleted the last chord of “Mean Mr. Mustard.” Although the transition to the next song, “Polythene Pam,” was effective, the song nevertheless lacks the last chord. It can be heard in the introduction of “Her Majesty,” which was intended to follow “Mean Mr. Mustard.”
FOR BEATLES FANATICS
An amusing detail: Every time Paul’s vocal enters, the sound of the tambourine disappears from the recording. Possibly his voice and the tambourine were kept on the same track to save space. Or the use of a compressor-limiter reduced the sound of the tambourine in favor of the vocal. As soon as the vocal disappears, the tambourine comes back.
John sang a lead vocal treated with ADT during mixing. Paul played a fuzz pedal on the bass, which produced a distorted and distinctive sound. As “Mean Mr. Mustard” and “Sun King” were recorded as one continuous piece, Paul probably switched on his Tone Bender fuzzbox. The identical volume pedal was used in “Think for Yourself” on the Rubber Soul album.
Lennon-McCartney / 1:13
1969
SONGWRITER
John
MUSICIANS
John: vocal, guitar, piano (?)
Paul: bass, guitar, piano (?), backing vocal
George: lead guitar, backing vocal
Ringo: drums, percussion, tambourine
RECORDED
Abbey Road: July 25, 1969 (Studio Two) / July 28, 1969 (Studios Two and Three) / July 30, 1969 (Studio Two)
NUMBER OF TAKES: 40
MIXING
Abbey Road: July 30, 1969 (Studio Two) / August 14, 1969 (Studio Two)
TECHNICAL TEAM
Producer: George Martin
Sound Engineers: Geoff Emerick, Phil McDonald
Assistant Engineers: John Kurlander, Alan Parsons
The song referred to two encounters where polythene played an important role. The first was with a girl called Pat Hodgett, a diehard fan at the Cavern Club, who ate plastic and was nicknamed “Polythene Pat.” The second encounter took place on August 8, 1963, when the Beatles played at the auditorium of Candie Gardens in Guernsey, the Channel Islands. But there are different versions of this story. According to John, the Beatles met the poet Royston Ellis (England’s answer to Allen Ginsberg), in Liverpool in 1960 at a poetry reading at the university. At the time, he was working as a ferryboat engineer on the island for the summer. John claimed that Ellis proposed that John meet a girl dressed up in polyethylene. “He said, she dressed up in polythene, which she did. She didn’t wear jack boots and kilts, I just sort of elaborated. Perverted sex in a polythene bag. Just looking for something to write about.”2
Ellis, however, told Steve Turner in 1994, that he was with his girlfriend Stephanie and that they brought John to their apartment without any implied or perverse sex: “We’d read all these things about leather and we didn’t have any leather but I had my oilskins and we had some polythene bags from somewhere. We all dressed up in them and wore them in bed. John stayed the night with us in the same bed. I don’t think anything very exciting happened and we all wondered what the fun was in being ‘kinky.’”3 Paul’s recollection accords with John’s version. He remembered that “John went out to dinner with Royston and they ended up back at his apartment with a girl who dressed herself in polythene for John’s amusement, so it was a kinky scene. She became Polythene Pam. She was a real character.”4 When John recorded the song he “used a thick Liverpool accent, because it was supposed to be about a mythical Liverpool scrubber dressed up in her jackboots and kilt.”5
FOR BEATLES FANATICS
At 0:45 Paul overshot the note on one of his glissandos. He wanted to correct it, but all overruled him saying, “No, it’s great! Leave it in”1
Just as “Sun King” and “Mean Mr. Mustard” were recorded as one continuous piece, so were “Polythene Pam” and “She Came In Through the Bathroom Window.” The first recording session was on July 25 and a total of thirty-nine takes were necessary. John provided rhythm guitar and guide vocal, Paul was on bass and provided another guide vocal, George was on guitar solo, and Ringo was on drums. John was very unhappy with Ringo’s drumming. Geoff Emerick described “John commenting acidly at one point that it ‘sounded like Dave Clark,’”6 drummer of the group Dave Clark Five also known as The DC5. The DC5 was the second English pop rock group of the British Invasion and had knocked “I Want to Hold Your Hand” off the top of the UK singles charts in January 1964 with their single “Glad All Over.” Annoyed by Ringo’s inability to come up with a suitable part, he finally said, “Sod it, let’s just put one down anyway.”7 Ringo, desperate, spent a good deal of time reworking his part with Paul. He joined John when he finally felt ready. Exhausted, John lost his temper, “I’m not playing this bloody song again, Ring. If you want to redo the drums, go ahead and overdub them.”8
With the help of Geoff Emerick, Ringo did just that. He recorded the new part using his previous drum track as a guide. On July 28, new guitar over-dubs, percussion, and acoustic and electric pianos were added, as well as a new vocal. July 30 was devoted to overdubs of vocals, percussion, and guitars. Then after some finishing touches, they listened to the tape for the first time to check the transitions in the medley. Both songs passed the test. Finally, August 14 was the date of the final stereo mix: “Polythene Pam” and “She Came In Through the Bathroom Window” were completed and integrated into the medley.
Mark Lewisohn reported in The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions that John would have played a twelve-string acoustic guitar in the intro to “Polythene Pam.” It is probably true, but it is difficult to distinguish among the series of overdubs of acoustic and electric guitars.
Lennon-McCartney / 1:59
1969
SONGWRITER
Paul
MUSICIANS
Paul: vocal, bass, guitar, piano (?)
John: guitar, backing vocal, piano (?)
George: lead guitar, backing vocal
Ringo: drums, percussion, tambourine
RECORDED
Apple Studio: January 22, 1969
Abbey Road: July 25, 1969 (Studio Two) / July 28, 1969 (Studios Two and Three) / July 30, 1969 (Studio Two)
NUMBER OF TAKES: 40
MIXING
Abbey Road: July 30, 1969 (Studio Two) / August 14, 1969 (Studio Two)
TECHNICAL TEAM
Producer: George Martin
Sound Engineers: Geoff Emerick, Phil McDonald, Glyn Johns (Apple)
Assistant Engineers: John Kurlander, Alan Parsons
“She Came In Through the Bathroom Window” was released as part of the medley, and is its only “classical” song, including an introduction, verses, and choruses. Paul’s inspiration came on May 11, 1968, when he and John were in New York to officially launch Apple Corp. There are two stories about the source of the words. According to the first, the song was about the “Apple Scruffs,” the Beatles’ most extreme fans. Living near Abbey Road Studios, Paul was often their target. One of the fans, Diane Ashley, entered Paul’s house, along with other girls, using a ladder in the garden to reach an open bathroom window. Margo Bird, a former “Apple Scruff” herself, confirmed this version. Margo had the honor of taking Martha, Paul’s English Sheepdog, for a walk, before she was hired by the promotion department at Apple. Some items were stolen by Diane and her friends, including a photo to which Paul was particularly attached. Margo found it and returned it.
In a 2006 documentary, Mike Pinder, the former Moody Blues’ keyboard player, offered another version. He told Paul that a groupie had entered the house of Ray Thomas, a vocalist and flutist with the Moody Blues, through an open bathroom window. When Paul heard about the incident, he began strumming on his guitar and improvising She came in through the bathroom window. Paul said that the end of the song, And so I quit the police department, came to him on October 31, 1968, in a taxi going to the airport in New York, when he saw the driver’s medallion with his name, Eugene Quits, along with New York Police Department.1 Paul had just spent two weeks with Linda and her daughter Heather in New York City.
In 1969 George said he thought it was a very good song with good lyrics, “but it’s really hard to explain what it’s about,” he added. John thought perhaps it was about Linda, whom Paul had just met, “Maybe she’s the one that came in the window.”2
FOR BEATLES FANATICS
At 0:48 there is a “goof” by an acoustic guitar—a note that falls clearly offbeat. Whose fault?
The Beatles first worked on this song, which originally had the title “Bathroom Window,” in the chaotic Apple studios on January 22, 1969 with Billy Preston, who played electric piano. Although the song was recorded, the day was more like a rehearsal session. The version was slower than the one on Abbey Road. Moreover, at this stage, the song was not yet intended for the medley because the idea of a medley only came up later in Paul’s mind. On July 25 at Abbey Road Studios, the Beatles began working on Paul’s composition, along with “Sun King,” “Mean Mr. Mustard,” and “Polythene Pam.” George Martin was in charge of production.
Lennon-McCartney / 1:32
1969
SONGWRITER
Paul
MUSICIANS
Paul: vocal, piano, rhythm guitar, backing vocal, timpani (?)
George: bass, lead guitar, backing vocal
Ringo: drums, timpani (?), percussion, backing vocal
Orchestra: 12 violins, 4 violas, 4 cellos, 1 double bass, 4 French horns, 3 trumpets, 1 trombone, 1 bass trombone
RECORDED
Abbey Road: July 2–4, 1969 (Studio Two) / July 30, 1969 (Studio Three) / July 31, 1969 (Studio Two) / August 15, 1969 (Studios One and Two)
NUMBER OF TAKES: 17
MIXING
Abbey Road: July 3, 1969 (Studio Two) / July 30, 1969 (Studio Three) / August 18–19, 1969 (Studio Two)
TECHNICAL TEAM
Producer: George Martin
Sound Engineers: Phil McDonald, Geoff Emerick
Assistant Engineers: Chris Blair, John Kurlander, Alan Parsons
Ruth McCartney, née Williams in 1960, is Paul’s half-sister. Paul’s father, Jim McCartney, adopted her after his marriage to Angela Williams on November 24, 1964. While Paul was at Rembrandt, his father’s house in Liverpool, he found a very old lullaby from 1603 in Ruth’s piano book. It was an extract from The Pleasant Comedy of Pleasant Grissil, adapted by Henry Chettle, William Haughton, and Thomas Dekker, the latter the author of the text. Seduced by the words, but unable to read the music, Paul moved to the piano and composed his own melody. He said to David Wigg, “I was just flicking through my sister Ruth’s piano book, she was learning the piano and I came to Golden Slumbers, you know. So I just started … ’cuz I can’t read music so I didn’t know the tune, and I can’t remember the old tune, you know.… So I started just playing my tune to it. And then I liked the words so I just kept that, you know.”1 Although he was inspired by Dekker’s lullaby, Paul only kept four lines to which he made some changes: Golden Slumbers kiss your eyes / Smiles awake you when you rise / Sleep, pretty wanton, do not cry / and I will sing a lullaby (Dekker).
“Golden Slumbers” was designed from the beginning to be connected to “Carry That Weight.” Paul played both songs joined together during rehearsals for Get Back, even before thinking of the medley. It then became the third of his compositions to be recorded for the medley after “You Never Give Me Your Money” and “Her Majesty.” At the first recording session on July 2, everyone wondered how John, still recovering from his car accident, would react to the medley. Although, according to Geoff Emerick, “there seemed to be an assumption that he would go along with it, and that this time around, in contrast to the White Album, he wouldn’t be calling all the shots.”2 The Beatles, without John, recorded the basic rhythm track of “Golden Slumbers,” the working title of “Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight.” Fifteen takes were recorded, Paul at the piano and guide vocal, George on his Fender bass six-string, and Ringo on drums. In the bonus Anthology DVD, George Martin pointed out to George Harrison that he probably played bass. Bass and piano were recorded together on the same track. Since Paul was at the piano, George was probably on bass. George Harrison did not remember, “OK? It might be me then, or John.” But John was still recovering, so no doubt George played bass.
The following day, takes 13 and 15 were edited together. Overdubs were made on the edit take. Paul rerecorded two new vocals and added a rhythm guitar, and George played a guitar solo. Later on during the session, Paul, George, and Ringo were chanting in unison the chorus carry that weight. A reduction was made and new overdubs were recorded the following day. On July 30, Paul retaped another lead vocal, but the final is dated July 3. Paul said to Barry Miles, “I remember trying to get a very strong vocal on it, because it was such a gentle theme, so I worked on the strength of the vocal on it, and ended up quite pleased with it.”3 The session was also devoted to joining together all the songs for the medley. “Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight” passed the test. On August 4, Ringo overdubbed drums and timpani, along with Paul. We do not know exactly who played which part. On August 15, George Martin’s orchestral arrangements were recorded. For economic reasons, all the Abbey Road orchestral overdubs were recorded the last day of the recording sessions in one go for “Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight,” “Something,” “Here Comes the Sun,” and “The End.” On August 18, the final mix was made. The following day the transition to “The End” was made, finishing the album.
“Golden Slumbers” was one of the few songs on the Abbey Road album treated with ADT to enhance the orchestral sound recorded in mono on the eighth track. The orchestra is slightly off on one side of the stereo mix, while the ADT signal was installed on the opposite side.
Lennon-McCartney / 1:36
1969
SONGWRITER
Paul
MUSICIANS
Paul: vocal, piano, rhythm guitar, backing vocals, timpani (?)
George: bass, lead guitar, backing vocal
Ringo: drums, percussion, backing vocal, timpani (?)
John: backing vocal
Orchestra: 12 violins, 4 violas, 4 cellos, 1 double bass, 4 French horns, 3 trumpets, 1 trombone, 1 bass trombone
RECORDED
Abbey Road: July 2–4, 1969 (Studio Two) / July 30, 1969 (Studio Three) / July 31, 1969 (Studio Two) / August 15, 1969 (Studios One and Two)
NUMBER OF TAKES: 17
MIXING
Abbey Road: July 3, 1969 (Studio Two) / July 30, 1969 (Studio Three) / August 18–19, 1969 (Studio Two)
TECHNICAL TEAM
Producer: George Martin
Sound Engineers: Phil McDonald, Geoff Emerick
Assistant Engineers: Chris Blair, John Kurlander, Alan Parsons
“Carry That Weight” was another song about the financial difficulties the Beatles had at the time. Paul later said to Barry Miles, “I’m generally quite upbeat but at certain times things get to me so much that I just can’t be upbeat any more and that was one of the times.”1 Drug problems, LSD, Klein, Apple—they all influenced “Carry That Weight.” The atmosphere was tense. Friends, technicians, staff from Apple—all felt the tension. Paul: “It was heavy. ‘Heavy’ was a very operative word at that time. That’s what ‘Carry That Weight’ was about.… In this heaviness there was no place to be. It was serious, paranoid heaviness and it was just very uncomfortable.”2 In 1980, in the interview with David Sheff, John merely commented, “I think he was under strain at that period.”3
“Carry That Weight” was a combination of three pieces: first, the chorus, Boy, you’re gonna carry that weight, which is the only new McCartney composition; then a reprise of “You Never Give Me Your Money” (with new lyrics); and finally the ending repeats of the arpeggiated guitar motif derived from the One two three … all good children go to heaven section of “You Never Give Me Your Money.” John contributed to the recording session on July 30 with some backing vocals.
Ringo added and overdubbed the snare hits and bass drum hits. This is particularly obvious in Boy, you’re gonna carry that weight. The drum is on the left channel and overdubs are on the right channel. Furthermore, the Leslie speaker sound effect is very pronounced on George’s guitar during the final arpeggio (after 1:27).
In the last chorus, Boy, you’re gonna carry that weight (at about 1:18), it sounds as if someone sings Paul instead of Boy. A joke or our imagination?
Lennon-McCartney / 2:19 (2:05 without the long pause preceding “Her Majesty”)
1969
SONGWRITER
Paul
MUSICIANS
Paul: vocal, bass, piano, guitar solo
John: backing vocal, guitar solo, rhythm guitar
George: backing vocal, guitar solo, rhythm guitar
Ringo: drums, percussion
Orchestra: 12 violins, 4 violas, 4 cellos, 1 double bass, 4 French horns, 3 trumpets, 1 trombone, 1 bass trombone
RECORDED
Abbey Road: July 23, 1969 (Studio Three) / August 5, 1969 (Studio Two) / August 7, 1969 (Studio Three) / August 8, 1969 (Studio Two) / August 15, 1969 (Studios One and Two) / August 18, 1969 (Studio Two)
NUMBER OF TAKES: 7
MIXING
Abbey Road: July 30, 1969 (Studio Two) / August 18–19 and 21, 1969 (Studio Two and Room 4)
TECHNICAL TEAM
Producer: George Martin
Sound Engineers: Geoff Emerick, Phil McDonald
Assistant Engineers: John Kurlander, Alan Parsons
First titled “Ending,” this song has a particular importance because it was the last complete song on Abbey Road. Did the Beatles already know during the summer of 1969 that their extraordinary adventure was coming to an end? This one song, by itself, embodies three important aspects of the band’s career: first, it was the last track on their last album (excluding “Her Majesty,” which was just an afterthought—see “Her Majesty”); it contains the only extended drum solo in Ringo’s entire career; and, finally, it is the only time that Paul, George, and John together play a guitar solo. Ringo never wanted to play a drum solo, and to persuade him to do so was not an easy task. Paul recalled in an interview in 1988 that Ringo hated drum solos as much as the rest of the group: “When he joined the Beatles, we asked him, ‘And what do you think of drum solos?’ He replied, ‘I hate them!’ We shouted, ‘Great! We love you!’ So it was never done before the medley. I said, ‘Uh, what do you think of a little solo?’ He was upset and did not want to do it. But with a little persuasion and kindness he did.” Ringo said, “Solos have never interested me. That drum solo is still the only one I’ve done.… I was opposed to it: ‘I don’t want to do no bloody solo!’ George Martin convinced me.… Anyway, I did it, and it’s out of the way.”1
FOR BEATLES FANATICS
Ringo’s drum solo was inspired by the one Ron Bushy, drummer of the Iron Butterfly group, played on their great seventeen-minute hit, “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida,” released in June 1968.
After this famous solo, Paul left quite a few measures to fill just as they had with the middle section of “A Day in the Life.” After long discussions, George suggested a guitar solo. According to Geoff Emerick, John half-jokingly told him, “Yes, but this time you should let me play it.”2 Everyone laughed, including John. He did not drop the case, and said mischievously, “Why don’t we all play the solo? We can take turns and trade licks.”3 Paul embraced the idea and immediately suggested that they play the solos live. John loved the idea; George was initially reluctant before finally agreeing. Paul announced that he wanted to begin the solo, since it was his song. John, who did not want to be the last to decide, said he wanted to do the end because he had a great idea for it. George, as usual, got the middle spot by default. Yoko who was in the control room next to John while they were having this discussion, wanted to join John in the studio. He told her, “Wait here, luv; I won’t be a minute.” This unique three-part solo was a private affair, and she was denied access to the studio. It was decided that each, in the order agreed, would play a two-bar solo. First Paul, then George, and finally John. To the astonishment of all, they recorded it in a single take. Paul and John played on their Epiphone Casinos and George on his Gibson Les Paul “Lucy.” Geoff Emerick was blown away by their performance and said: “For me, that session was undoubtedly the high point of the summer 1969, and listening to those guitar solos still never fails to bring a smile to my face.”4 About the lyrics, Paul explained: “I wanted it to end with a little meaningful couplet, so, I followed the Bard and wrote a couplet.”5 And in the end / The love you take / Is equal to the love you make. These inspired words were the last verses sung by the Beatles on the last song of their last album. Whether premonition or not, this song is called “The End.” John willingly recognized the value of Paul’s couplet, saying, “Very cosmic philosophical line,” before adding, “Which again proves that if he wants to, he can think.”6
George’s Cookie
While they were working on “The End,” the famous dispute between George and John took place. Yoko had just gotten out of bed and was slowly padding across the studio floor. She began opening a package of cookies that belonged to George and delicately removed one. Just as it reached her mouth, George could contain himself no longer and yelled, “That Bitch!!!” from the control room window.
The production for “The End” was very difficult. After a period of rehearsal, the Beatles started recording the basic rhythm track on July 23 with John and George on guitar, Paul on bass, and Ringo on drums. Seven takes were necessary and for each one Ringo played a solo in a different style. The last attempt, take 7, was the best and 1:20 in length. Paul added piano and the group recorded the final part. After editing on the same day, the song was 2:05 in length. On July 30, they put all the songs together to mold the album medley. “The End” passed the test, even if the song was unfinished and required vocals. Paul double-tracked the song’s first vocal, backed by John and George on backing vocals on August 5. On August 7, they overdubbed the choruses—the love you’s—over the instrumental part just after Ringo’s drum solo. Apparently, some of these choruses were recorded at slow speed to acquire a higher pitch at normal speed. Then they recorded dual guitars. Originally, the long guitar solo started just after Ringo’s solo. It was shortened for the final version to leave only the drum solo without any accompaniment. The following day, Paul added bass and Ringo added drums. On August 15, George Martin conducted the orchestra in Studio One for his orchestral arrangements (see also “Golden Slumbers,” “Carry That Weight,” “Something,” and “Here Comes the Sun”).
On August 18, the session was devoted to stereo mixes, and Paul overdubbed a very brief piano track preceding his wonderfully philosophical line And in the end / The love you take / Is equal to the love you make. New mixes were done on August 19 and 21. However, Phil McDonald had to re-edit in Room 4 the orchestral part of the previous day because of some numbering confusions between orchestra and playback, including the final chord. The final mix was still not done. In the control room, they decided to extend the instrumental part immediately following Ringo’s solo so that the whole piece would be lighter. To that effect, McDonald and Emerick remixed a number of bars without guitar chorus and inserted the result at the desired location. These lengthy instrumental and vocal parts increased the length form 2:05 to 2:41. Four days later, on August 25, the team re-edited the song and brought it back down again to 2:05. The song was then completed and inserted into the finished master.
“The End” is the only Beatles song where Ringo’s drums were recorded in stereo. Even when Glyn Johns used two tracks on Get Back, one track was reserved for the bass drum and the second track for other elements. Geoff Emerick recorded “The End” using two stereo tracks only. Another technical detail about Ringo’s drum sound, “just a personal thing of mine,” as he himself said: “The drum sound on the record was the result of having new calf-heads. (And we know that Paul refused to use any animal products!) There’s a lot of tom-tom work on that record. I got the new heads on the drum and I naturally used them a lot—they were so great. The magic of real records is that they showed tom-toms were so good.”7
Lennon-McCartney / 0:23
1969
SONGWRITER
Paul
MUSICIAN
Paul: vocal, guitar
RECORDED
Abbey Road: July 2, 1969 (Studio Two)
NUMBER OF TAKES: 3
MIXING
Abbey Road: July 2 and 30, 1969 (Studio Two)
TECHNICAL TEAM
Producer: George Martin
Sound Engineer: Phil McDonald
Assistant Engineer: Chris Blair
The 0:23 “Her Majesty” has the dual distinction of being the shortest Beatles song and the dubious honor of being the last song on the last record, even though its placement was not intentional. In fact, the song was originally placed between “Mean Mr. Mustard” and “Polythene Pam.” The sequence of songs was as follows: “You Never Give Me Your Money,” “Sun King / Mean Mr. Mustard,” “Her Majesty,” “Polythene Pam / She Came In Through the Bathroom Window,” “Golden Slumbers / Carry That Weight,” and “The End.” But on July 30, when the Beatles were together in the control room of Studio Two, to listen to how the songs fit together and detect any faults in the first version of “The Long One / Huge Melody” (the working title of the medley), Paul, on hearing “Her Majesty,” asked John Kurlander, assistant engineer, to eliminate the song. He cut it awkwardly, one beat too early, on the last crashing note of “Mean Mr. Mustard.” Kurlander tried to fix the mistake, when Paul stopped him: “Never mind, it’s only a rough mix, it doesn’t matter. ‘What shall I do with it?’ Throw it away.”1 But EMI had strict rules about never throwing anything away. After Paul left, Kurlander, following normal studio practice, picked it up off the floor, put about twenty seconds of red leader tape before it, and stuck it onto the end of the edit tape. Red leader tape was used to mark the end of a song. The following day, at the request of the group, his colleague Malcolm Davis made an acetate of the medley, but ignored the warning left by Kurlander on the box that “Her Majesty” was unwanted. Respecting the rule to never throw anything away, he included “Her Majesty” at the end after twenty seconds of silence. When Paul listened to the acetate, he liked hearing “Her Majesty” in its new position. It came as a nice surprise, and he decided to keep the song as a “hidden bonus” with the same twenty-second silence preceding it and the decaying chord with which it opens, which was actually the original final chord of “Mean Mr. Mustard.” The long silence varies in length depending on the CD version.
FOR BEATLES FANATICS
On the original jacket of Abbey Road, “Her Majesty” was not mentioned to make the song a hidden bonus, although it is listed on the B-side label for the record. This was corrected, alas, on the CD version.
On July 2, Paul arrived first at the studio. He decided to record another of his short compositions before the arrival of George and Ringo. John was still recovering from his car accident. Paul said to David Wiggs in 1969, “I was in Scotland and I was just writing this little tune, you know. I can never tell, like, how tunes come out. I just wrote it as a joke, you know.”2 Paul wrote this little song in honor of Queen Elizabeth II, just before John returned his Medal of the British Empire (MBE) to the Queen in protest against the Vietnam War, the British involvement in Nigeria, and the fact that the Plastic Ono Band’s first single, “Cold Turkey,” did not climb in the charts (Lennon’s idea of a joke!). Paul said, “It was quite funny because it’s basically monarchist, with a mildly disrespectful tone, but it’s very tongue in cheek. It’s almost like a love song to the Queen.”3
Just three takes, only two of which were complete, were necessary to record the song. The third, recorded live using just two eight-track tape recorders, was the best. The song had the shortest recording time of any Beatles song—another record. After hearing the song, Paul decided to keep it and “Her Majesty” joined the list of songs under consideration for the medley.
“Her Majesty” begins with the final chord of “Mean Mr. Mustard,” but ends without a chord, just a note without resolution. As Geoff Emerick explained, it was Paul who made this decision, probably to balance the song: “Since ‘Her Majesty’ was starting with the last note of ‘Mean Mr. Mustard,’ she might as well not have a last note of her own.”4 More fun details: Both sides of the album end abruptly, “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” on side 1, “Her Majesty” on side 2. The last chord of “Her Majesty” is still at the beginning of “Polythene Pam,” left from an early arrangement of the song, which originally followed “Her Majesty” in the “Huge Medley.”