Apart from the studio time used for writing and rehearsing the newest song written for Pattie Harrison, George's song "Something" was purposely put down on tape in the studio first happened on February 25th, 1969.
The future of The Beatles loomed somewhat uncertain at this point. The tapes from the month-long “Get Back / Let It Be” sessions laid in a stack waiting for someone to go through and put in a releasable state, something that would be toiled over and then shelved because they were deemed unsuitable for public consumption. Legal problems were mounting regarding their Apple enterprise as well as managerial decisions. John's primary focus sat on promoting his and Yoko Ono's artistic and demonstrative exploits, his attention to The Beatles largely pushed way in the back of his mind.
In the meantime, George had a small backlog of songs which he felt somewhat strongly about, possibly wondering if he even had a band to record them. Therefore, on his 26th birthday, February 25th, 1969, George brought producer Glyn Johns, who The Beatles had been working with during the “Get Back” sessions, and engineer Ken Scott into one of the EMI Studios to record demos for three of his recently written compositions, no doubt as kind of a birthday present to himself. “George's material wasn't really paid all that much attention to,” Glyn Johns relates in Rolling Stones' “The Beatles: 100 Greatest Songs” special edition, “to such an extent that he asked me to stay behind...He was terribly nice as if he was imposing on me.”
These demos were somewhat elaborate recordings using the studio's eight-track recording equipment, George laying down multiple guitar parts, vocals, and even piano at times. The first demo recorded on this day was “Old Brown Shoe,” which did get officially recorded by The Beatles in April and ended up as the B-side to “The Ballad Of John And Yoko.” The second demo of the day was the pretty “All Things Must Pass,” which the group did indeed pass on altogether, George recording it himself the following year for his first official solo album.
The third demo recorded during this February session, however, was the gorgeous “Something,” which was a very simple but effective version that does very well in bringing out the beauty of the melody. This was the least elaborate of the demos he recorded, just a simple electric guitar and lead vocal. During the bridge, George simply sings “doo, doo, doo” to simulate the descending notes he wanted to appear there. And during the solo verse, George vocally ad libs what some consider a lost verse which consists of the following lyrics: “You know I love that woman of mine / and I need her all of the time / you know I'm telling you / that woman, that woman don't make me blue.” All of the other lyrics have been written at this point and are in their proper place on this demo. George, however, had not worked out the dramatic conclusion of the song yet, this being figured out in the studio in later months. This demo ended with another verse played instrumentally with George adding in a final “you know I believe and how” just before he concludes the song with his final riff with a subtle raised chord as a nice touch. Beauty at its finest!
By mid-April, in the midst of business meetings and flared tempers, John and Paul did return to the studio to record a brand-new composition of John's that he was excited about titled “The Ballad Of John And Yoko.” With this as a catalyst, George thought to get the four of them together a couple days later, on April 16th, 1969, to officially start work on a couple of his demos from February. They entered EMI Studio Three at 7 pm to start work on “Old Brown Shoe,” which was George's primary focus on this day. After some extensive work on this song, George turned their attention once again to “Something.”
They recorded thirteen takes of “Something” on this day, these consisting of George on guitar, George Martin on piano, Paul on bass and Ringo on drums, yet no vocals at this point. John was still present but did not contribute to the song as he had done on “Old Brown Shoe” in the earlier portion of this session. All of the work they had done on "Something" on this day was for naught, unfortunately, because none of these takes were deemed worthy enough for overdubs, the session ending at 2:45 am the following morning after stereo mixes of “Old Brown Shoe” met approval. George's beautiful ballad was put on the back-burner once again for another two weeks or so.
The Beatles, however, were back on a roll. With the possible thought of recording new songs to spruce up the yet-to-be-released “Get Back / Let It Be” album, they started working on new material. This being the case, George thought to try again with “Something,” starting from scratch in EMI Studio Three on May 2nd, 1969, the session beginning around 7 pm.
Totally disregarding the thirteen takes of the song they attempted two weeks prior, the takes of this remake of “Something” began at 'take one' again, a total of 36 recorded takes occurred this time around. The instrumentation played on the official rhythm track, also recorded on this day, has been debated by different sources, but all the evidence, audio as well as documentation, suggests the following: George on electric guitar, Paul on bass, John on piano, Ringo on drums and Billy Preston on Hammond organ. No vocals were present on the recording as of yet.
The group took a two-hour break between 11 pm and 1 am, they resuming the rhythm track takes until 'take 36' was decided upon as the best. However, at the conclusion of this take, as with at least some others of these takes, John led the group through what Mark Lewisohn describes in his book “The Beatles Recording Sessions” as “a long, repetitious and somewhat rambling, piano-led four-note instrumental fade-out,” which extends 'take 36' from 3:00 to 7:48. This piano doodling from John eventually became the four-chord riff that permeates his solo song “Remember” from his highly renowned 1970 album “Plastic Ono Band.” This, as well as the somewhat simplistic piano work, heard on “Something,” reveals that it was indeed John on the piano during these rhythm track takes and not Billy Preston as Mark Lewisohn suggests in his writings.
It is audibly obvious, also, that an actual Hammond organ played with much finesse is heard on this rhythm track and not George on guitar “via a Leslie speaker” as documented by Lewisohn. George is indeed present, however, on lead guitar. In any event, the session finally completed at 3:40 am the following morning, overdubs therefor left for another day.
Apparently, EMI Studios was not available the following week because The Beatles booked their next few sessions at London's Olympic Sound Studios. They arrived in Studio One at these facilities on May 5th, 1969 at 7:30 for the sole purpose of recording overdubs onto 'take 36' of “Something,” the master tape brought along with them from EMI Studios. Although this session is documented to have stretched from 7:30 pm to 4 am the following morning, not very much was accomplished. Paul improved on his bass track, and George did the same on his guitar track, which “The Beatles Recording Sessions” book indicates as being played through a Leslie speaker.
Although Geoff Emerick was not documented as having been an engineer on this session, he gives a firsthand account of some of the proceedings, indicating that he may very well have been present as he had been three weeks earlier during the recording of “The Ballad Of John And Yoko.” In his book “Here, There And Everywhere,” he recalls: “George was clearly still holding a grudge against Paul, and it seemed that he got some degree of revenge during the recording of 'Something.' I couldn't help but notice that Harrison was actually giving Paul direction on how to play the bass, telling him repeatedly that he wanted the part greatly simplified. It was a first in all my years of working with The Beatles: George had never dared tell Paul what to do; he'd simply never asserted himself that way.” In the “Beatles Anthology” book, Paul concurs. “I think George thought my bass-playing was a little bit busy. Again, from my side, I was trying to contribute the best I could, but maybe it was his turn to tell me I was too busy. But that was fun; that went off well.”
After one additional recording session the following day, which began the recording of Paul's “You Never Give Me Your Money,” The Beatles began a hiatus from the recording studio that lasted nearly two months, the exact future of the group still up in the air.
During this two-month hiatus, all decided that The Beatles would record one final album which would include the few newer songs they had been working on since February. These songs would not be included on any “Get Back / Let It Be” album, after all, those January sessions needed more oomph before release at a future time. Starting on July 1st, 1969, The Beatles would concentrate on creating one final masterpiece album, later titled“Abbey Road.”
The Beatles then began working in earnest completing the songs they recently started to record as well as introducing new compositions. George even introduced a brand-new song to the group entitled “Here Comes The Sun” which they began work on even before they returned their attention to “Something.”
On July 11th, 1969, the group did turn their attention back on to “Something,” the group entering EMI Studio Two at around 2:30 pm on that day. After some slight work on Paul's song “Maxwell's Silver Hammer,” George recorded his first lead vocal onto “Something.” Next, producer George Martin and engineers Phil McDonald and John Kurlander created four rough stereo remixes of the song as it stood at that moment. A reduction mix was then made which turned 'take 36' into 'take 37.' After a little more work on Paul's “You Never Give Me Your Money,” they called it a day at around midnight.
A noteworthy point here is that "Something" still contained 2:32 of the “rambling” piano-led fade-out of the song, the complete track lasting a total of 5:32 after the reduction mix was made. This would seem to indicate that they were considering leaving in a sizable portion of this aimless noodling at the end of the song, fading it out after a while. Luckily for us, a decision was made to cut it off entirely at a later stage in the recording process.
Attention went to “Something” yet again during the second recording session held on July 16th, 1969, in EMI Studio Three. This session began at 7 pm with full attention on George's song; he improved his lead vocal while Paul added backing vocals and the two of them along with Ringo provided handclaps. Interestingly, these overdubs were recorded onto 'take 36,' which totally disregarded the 'take 37' reduction mix made on July 11th.
Geoff Emerick was present on this day as well, recounting the following: “George was once again very nervous when it came time to do the vocal. No matter what we did to create a vibe – turning the lights down low, lighting incense – he just couldn't get comfortable. It was a difficult song to sing, but in the end, he did a magnificent job...It was interesting: George never seemed to get cold feet doing backing vocals, but whenever he had to do a lead vocal, he'd lose his confidence.”
All eight tracks of the tape were definitely filled now, which meant that another tape reduction was needed. George Martin, Phil McDonald, and young engineer Alan Parsons created this reduction mix with two attempts. George Harrison was indeed present when the reduction mixes were made; his voice is heard on the tape reminding Phil McDonald that the latter mix should be numbered 'take 39.'
With the deadline for completion of the “Abbey Road” album looming, George was concerned as to whether his two songs on the album were acceptable for inclusion on the album or not. With this in mind, he ducked into the control room of EMI Studio Three on August 4th, 1969 at around 7:15 pm, just after the vocal harmony work on John's “Because” had been completed, to have engineers Phil McDonald and Alan Parsons make rough stereo mixes of both “Here Comes The Sun” and “Something.” These mixes revealed to George that more work was required for both songs, an acetate of “Something” being made to give George Martin for him to write an orchestral score for the song. At 8:45 pm, he possibly popped back into EMI Studio Two to give George Martin this acetate disc, that session ending at 9 pm.
A week-and-a-half later, on August 15th, 1969, George Martin had the orchestral score ready for, not only “Something,” but for three other “Abbey Road” songs that required an orchestra. “So far, every instrument on 'Abbey Road' had been played by one of the four Beatles,” Geoff Emerick relates, not realizing that Billy Preston did appear on some earlier tracks, including "Something," that he wasn't present for. "That was fine with John, but not with Paul or George Harrison, both of whom wanted orchestral instruments added to a few of their songs. Accordingly, George Martin wrote some arrangements and booked London's top players for a single marathon session.” Because the deadline for finishing the album was close, and in order to save money, one day was set aside to record the orchestral arrangements for all four of these songs, these being “Golden Slumbers / Carry That Weight,” “The End,” “Something” and “Here Comes The Sun.” The day chosen was August 15th, 1969.
“Unfortunately,” Geoff Emerick continues, “EMI had still not installed an eight-track tape recorder or large-scale console into the Studio One control room, so we were forced to set up a complicated system of audio tie-lines and closed-circuit television that allowed the musicians to be seated in the larger Studio One while we recorded them in the control room of Studio Two.” Engineer Phil McDonald, in the book “The Beatles Recording Sessions,” explains how primitively these studios were linked together for similar situations prior to this one, where “the linking was subject to the vagaries of voice: 'All right, Bert? Are you ready?'”
Technician Alan Brown also recalls the events of this day. “It was a mammoth session. We had a large number of lines linking the studios, and we were all walking around the building with walkie-talkies trying to communicate with each other...It cost a lot of money: all the musicians have to be paid, fed and watered; I screw every pound note out of it whenever I play the record!”
The orchestra was recorded in two sessions on this day, the afternoon session being used to record Paul's two compositions and, after an hour-and-a-half break, the evening session for recording both of George's songs, “Something” being the first to be tackled starting at 7 pm. “A lot of time and effort went into 'Something,' which was very unusual for a Harrison song,” Geoff Emerick remembers, “but everyone seemed aware of just how good a song it was, even though nobody went out of his way to say so. That's just the way The Beatles were: compliments were few and far between – you could always tell more about the way they were thinking by the expressions on their faces.”
While Paul was the only Beatle in attendance for this afternoon session, George was the only group member present for the evening session when his songs were attended to. Geoff Emerick continues: “Phil McDonald, however, was there with me for the entire day – working in two studios at once really complicated things, and we needed the extra pair of hands. George Martin did the conducting while each Beatle essentially produced his own session. Thankfully, there were no major technical mishaps, and everything worked smoothly.”
“The only hitch came when George Harrison announced that he wanted to redo the guitar solo on 'Something.' We were perfectly willing to accommodate him, but the problem was that there was only one track available, and we needed to use that for the orchestra. The only solution was for him to play it live, right along with the orchestra, so we could record them simultaneously on the same track. I was enormously impressed when he nonchalantly said, 'Okay, let's do that' – it took a lot of nerve and self-confidence to be willing to put himself under that kind of pressure. George had to play the solo correctly all the way through, without punch-ins, because the sound coming from his guitar amp would leak onto the other mics, and he wouldn't get a lot of whacks at it, because it was costing quite a lot to have that orchestra there. But he managed to play the intricate solo with ease, and by the end of the long night both his songs were completed and ready to be mixed.”
Mark Lewisohn, in “The Beatles Recording Sessions,” gives even more detail as to George Harrison's role on this day. “For 'Something,' George Harrison shuttled back and forth between studio one, where he shared the conductor's podium with George Martin for a time, and studio two, where he oversaw the sound recording, virtually as 'producer,' and where – on the floor of (studio one) – he taped a new and memorable lead guitar solo for the song's middle eighth – actually, barely different from the song's previous best guitar track.” After this elaborate overdub onto 'take 39' of “Something” was complete, they accomplished the same for “Here Comes The Sun” and ended the session by 1:15 am the following morning.
The stereo mix for “Something” was done on August 19th, 1969 in the control room of EMI Studio Two by George Martin and engineers Geoff Emerick, Phil McDonald, and Alan Parsons. Ten attempts occurred at this stereo mix; undoubtedly the tenth attempt reigned the keeper. With the addition of the orchestral arrangement, out went any trace of the rambling instrumental jam from the rhythm track that they apparently intended to end the song with up to this point, the recording staff omitting it from every one of these stereo mixes.
Two live versions of the song were also recorded and released during George's solo career. On August 1st, 1971, George and his band of celebrities (including Ringo) recorded a live version of “Something” during his groundbreaking “Concert For Bangladesh” at Madison Square Garden in New York City, this being released on the 1971 triple-album of the same name. Then, sometime between December 1st and 17th, 1991, George and his new group (including Eric Clapton) recorded another live version of the song during his brief Japanese tour, the result appearing on his 1992 album “Live In Japan.”
George Martin and Geoff Emerick created a mix of the original demo that George Harrison made on February 25th, 1969 for inclusion on the 1996 Beatles compilation album “Anthology 3.” Then, sometime between 2004 and 2006, George Martin and his son Giles Martin returned to the master tape of “Something” to create a mash-up version for inclusion in the Cirque du Soleil production of “Love,” this being released on the companion album of the same name. This unique version was titled “Something (with 'Blue Jay Way' transition)" and also features elements of “Hey Bulldog,” “Nowhere Man” and, rumor has it, their 1967 sound experiment “Carnival Of Light."
Paul recorded three versions of his rendition of George's "Something," the first of these live performances being sometime between April 1st, 2002 and May 18th, 2002, this appearing on his albums "Back In The U.S." and "Back In The World," the second being on November 29th, 2002 at London's Royal Albert Hall which appears on the album "Concert For George," the third being sometime between July 17th and 21st, 2009 at Citi Field in New York City which appears on the album "Good Evening New York City."
Song Structure and Style
Beautifully written songs don't need to be complicated in structure. This is definitely the case with "Something," its format consisting of 'verse/ verse/ bridge/ verse (instrumental)/ verse' (or aabaa) with a simple introduction and a couple extra concluding measures added on at the end.
After a triplet-like drum fill from Ringo, the identifiable one-measure riff of the song, which is usually heard at the end of each verse, is used as the introduction to the song. This follows the pattern set by George Martin early in The Beatles career where he would suggest starting off the song with the most identifiable segment, such as with “She Loves You” and “Can't Buy Me Love,” instead of just plunging head-first into the first verse as presented by the composers.
This quick but suitable introduction consists of George on both lead and rhythm guitar, Paul on bass and Ringo on drums playing accents on the three main beats of the riff, an overdubbed cymbal swell being heard at the end which crescendos at the downbeat of the first verse that follows. This is a delicate touch in an arrangement that suits the song very nicely, probably a George Martin suggestion recorded during the orchestral performance.
The first verse then appears, which is nine measures long with the final measure consisting of a repeat of the introductory riff. George sings single-tracked throughout the verse except for the seventh and eighth measures on the lines “I don't want to leave her now / you know I believe and how,” which is double-tracked. George's rhythm guitar and Paul's melodic bass line propel the verse while Billy Preston's organ works as a suitable pad to fill out the sound. John's piano, which was heard so prominently in the rhythm track, is panned completely out of the picture here, apparently deemed unnecessary for the arrangement.
Ringo plods along simply and appropriately on drums, adding a sixteenth-note drum fill in the second measure and delicate accents on the snare and cymbal in the ninth measure. Another slight cymbal swell can be quietly detected that crescendos on the downbeat of the ninth measure. George kicks in with some lead guitar in the seventh through ninth measures, climaxing with the iconic guitar riff in the final measure. Billy Preston comes to the fore in the seventh and eighth measures with eighth-note chord stabs and then playing the guitar riff with George in the ninth measure, this transcending into the second verse that follows. The orchestra subtly appears for the first time in measures seven through nine, playing lushly but quietly as a backdrop as it moves into a more prominent role for the second verse.
Verse two is similar in the number of measures and in arrangement, but with the orchestra being more to the fore. Ringo does contribute an additional drum fill at the very end of measure six, this one being in triplet form again. The most notable difference in this verse, however, is the final note of the iconic guitar riff in the ninth measure that changes the last chord dramatically to A major instead of the usual C major. This acts as a climactic transition to the high energy bridge that follows. The ninth measure of this verse highlights Paul's less-than-subtle “lead bass” playing to get us to the bridge, a swirling organ sound from Billy at the very end taking us there as well.
The bridge is a standard eight measures in length. George's lead vocals are double-tracked throughout, Paul providing a higher harmony to help elevate the emotional impact of the bridge. Ringo plays an alternating hi-hat and tom triplet beat in measures one, two and three, and then five, six and seven. In both measures four and eight, Ringo plays accents along with the rest of the instrumentation which descends the scale per George's vocal instruction in his demo, measure four in the key of A major and measure eight going back to the home key of C major. The strings get quite lush for effect throughout the bridge, as does Billy's organ. George's rhythm guitar carries things along and, for the first time in the song, John's piano helps to fill the elaborate sound landscape, especially heard in the final measure as the song settles back into the home key.
The instrumental verse is next which, of course, features George's fluid guitar solo which was played simultaneously with the lush string backdrop that is heard with it. The rhythm instruments, namely the guitar, organ, and piano, are more in the background to allow George's solo to shine, Paul's bass work slightly competing for attention but low enough in the mix so as not to distract. Ringo rides on the cymbal throughout this verse, performing fills in measures two and four, the latter one as an impressive fast roll on the toms. As the guitar solo evolves into the guitar riff in the ninth measure, Bill's organ chops swell into a dramatic conclusion of this section of the song.
The final verse is then heard, which is twelve measures long to include the stellar conclusion. The instrumentation is identical to the second verse with its backdrop of orchestra; the most noticeable difference lifts Paul's effective higher vocal harmony throughout the first six measures. During the buildup of measures seven and eight, we hear an early lead guitar flourish in measure eight which resulted in George accidentally missing the first two notes of his iconic guitar riff in measure nine. Not to worry, though, because the orchestral score and Billy's organ hits these notes for him.
As a conclusion to the song, this riff takes us back up momentarily to A major as we heard at the end of verse two, but after a noteworthy high descending guitar flourish from George, we hear the riff played again with great volume and a feeling of finality, this time satisfactorily landing in the home key of C major with a final crashing cymbal and pulled guitar chord from George to ring out with the orchestra. Simply breathtaking!
With full participation from all four Beatles as well as George Martin, George Harrison's beautiful ballad had won the well-deserved attention that the song deserved. George's masterful lead guitar work shone brilliantly alongside his producer's unobtrusive but lush backdrop of strings. Paul's bass contribution weaves a counter-melody of sorts that works nicely to fill in the lyrical gaps while also putting in his usual talents as harmony vocalist. Ringo worked hard to play what would fit in perfectly within the arrangement, performing in top form. John's piano also works nicely in the bridge and, while not particularly essential to the arrangement, shows him cooperative on a “Harrisong” this time around unlike past times where he just feigned interest. Billy Preston also put in an appropriate gospel-tinged element to the recording which did become an essential ingredient in the mix. Although a recorded hand-clapping overdub is documented to have taken place, it apparently sounded inappropriate for the arrangement and either removed or recorded over.
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