The first time "Carry That Weight" spun to tape occurred on January 6th, 1969 (at precisely 11 am, according to the slate announcement heard on the tape), at Twickenham Film Studios. The Beatles were rehearsing material for what became the "Let It Be" project. Paul's concept for the song at this stage of the rehearsal points to a country-and-western-style song for Ringo to sing while he instructs George on what chords to play. Four attempts at playing the song materialized, with Paul on organ and vocals, John on electric guitar and periodic backing vocals, and George making attempts at joining in on piano.
On the next day, January 7th, 1969, Paul rehearsed the song again, but this time in a medley form with “Golden Slumbers” as we all have come to know it. This was performed by Paul alone on piano. This apparently was the day that Paul decided to pair the two songs together, only using the chorus of “Carry That Weight” and scrapping the country-and-western song idea.
Then on January 9th, 1969, as detailed above, Paul sat at the piano with Ringo and rehearsed the “Golden Slumbers / Carry That Weight” medley for him, explaining the origins of both compositions. Since this medley was dropped entirely for the remainder of the month-long rehearsals and sessions that became the “Let It Be” film and album, this composition was apparently viewed as less of a priority and was shelved for the time being.
It wasn't until the decision to make one final Beatles album that Paul dusted off the “Golden Slumbers / Carry That Weight” medley and brought it to EMI Studio Two to record. It was the second session for their last LP, on July 2nd, 1969, that Paul, George, and Ringo laid down the rhythm track for the song, John hospitalized at the time because of a road accident he was in during a vacation in Scotland.
Paul entered the studio by himself earlier in the day and recorded his short song “Her Majesty” for consideration for the “Abbey Road” medley. Engineer Geoff Emerick, in his book “Here, There And Everywhere,” recounts the events of the rest of the day, starting at approximately 5 pm. “Later that same day, after Ringo and George Harrison arrived, the three Beatles recorded the backing track for 'Golden Slumbers / Carry That Weight.' The two songs were joined together even at that early stage because Paul had already come up with the idea of linking up several short snippets into a medley of sorts. No one was sure how John would react, but we got on with the work anyway. 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.”
Fifteen takes of the rhythm track were recorded on this day, the instrumentation being Paul on piano and guide vocal, George on Fender Bass VI, and Ringo on drums. Interestingly, even though “Golden Slumbers” and “Carry That Weight” were stipulated as two individual songs on the finished album, the documentation at this point indicated that the title of this entire rhythm track was “Golden Slumbers.” The Beatles were satisfied with the rhythm track at this point, the session ending at 9:30 pm.
The following day, July 3rd, 1969, was devoted entirely to additional work to the “Golden Slumbers / Carry That Weight” medley. As the session began at 3 pm in EMI Studio Two, the first order of business was editing together 'take 13' and 'take 15' to create a satisfactory rhythm track for overdubbing purposes. Once this was edited together, the result still being called 'take 13,' the group took to adding various elements (John still being hospitalized). After Paul added two proper lead vocal tracks to replace the guide vocals from the rhythm track, he, George and Ringo chanted unison vocals for the “Carry That Weight” choruses. Paul also overdubbed a rhythm guitar part for this section of the medley while George performed a guitar solo as well as a winding guitar part similar to the end of “You Never Give Me Your Money” for the conclusion of this recording. With this complete, all eight tracks of the tape had filled. Therefore, a reduction mix was needed to open up more tracks for further overdubbing. Two attempts at the reduction mix were made, documented as takes 16 and 17, 'take 17' being deemed best. The session was complete by 8:30 pm.
There was one unidentified overdub that was recorded onto the newly reduced recording of the song on the following day, July 4th, 1969, although the identity of this overdub is not documented anywhere. This session ran from 2:45 to 5:30 pm in EMI Studio Two, but attention turned to the Wimbledon Ladies' tennis match between Britain's Ann Jones and America's Billie-Jean King during the proceedings of this day.
“Golden Slumbers / Carry That Weight” was then shelved for about a month so that work on many other “Abbey Road” tracks could move forward, and since John recovered, the doctor released him from the hospital made things better in the studio. Work did resume on the composite track, which was now finally documented as “Golden Slumbers / Carry That Weight,” on July 30th, 1969 in EMI Studio Three. The Beatles entered the studio at 3:30 pm for overdubs on various “Abbey Road” tracks, such as adding more group vocals to the “Carry That Weight” choruses at this time.
With this accomplished, they moved into the control room of EMI Studio Two at 10:30 pm to put together a mock-up of what the long side-two medley would sound like, to see if all the song fragments could be edited together seamlessly. The first order of business, however, was to treat all of these recordings to a stereo mix, the “Golden Slumbers / Carry That Weight” segment done by George Martin and engineers Geoff Emerick, Phil McDonald, and John Kurlander. All of these preliminary stereo mixes were then edited together and, with some discussion about tweaking some of the other tracks, the medley was seen to be workable. The proper mixing and editing would happen at a later time. This session then ended at 2:30 am the following morning.
On the next day, July 31st, 1969, The Beatles entered EMI Studio Two at 2:30 pm for yet another overdub session. After working on “You Never Give Me Your Money,” attention turned back to the “Carry That Weight” section of the medley. More vocals were overdubbed, as well as Ringo adding a bit more drums. The playing of timpani drums were also recorded on this day and, while both Ringo and Paul attempted to achieve the right timpani sound, the documentation doesn't reveal whose performance actually made it onto the finished recording. Photographic evidence shows Ringo's attempt on this day, so this seems most likely. This session ended at 1:15 am the next morning.
The orchestral overdub occurred on August 15th, 1969 in EMI Studio One, the session beginning at 2:30 pm. There was a snag regarding this session, however, as Geoff Emerick explains: “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.”
This session focused on segments of the long medley that were primarily Paul's compositions, namely “Golden Slumbers / Carry That Weight” and “The End.” Emerick continues: “Following the pattern that had been established for much of the album, the only Beatle at (this) session was Paul...(Engineer) Phil McDonald, however, was there with me – working in two studios at once really complicated things, and we needed the extra pair of hands. George Martin did the conducting while (Paul) essentially produced his own session. Thankfully, there were no major technical mishaps, and everything worked smoothly.” Engineer Alan Brown remembers, as interviewed for the book “The Beatles Recording Sessions”: “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!”
This orchestral session, the actual musicians not being documented, ended the recording of “Golden Slumbers / Carry That Weight.” It only took a total of three hours to record the orchestra for both this track and “The End,” George Martin's orchestral score being followed to the tee by professional studio musicians. This afternoon session ended at 5:30 pm, all personnel leaving until 7 pm when the orchestral overdubs for George Harrison's “Something” and “Here Comes The Sun” was recorded for the evening session.
August 18th, 1969, ushered in the official stereo mix of “Golden Slumbers / Carry That Weight” to take place. The session began at 2:30 pm in the control room of EMI Studio Two, two attempts at a stereo mix ran the gamut by George Martin and engineers Geoff Emerick, Phil McDonald, and Alan Parsons. The second remix favored more suitable, after which they turned their attention to the song “The End.” This session ended at 10:30 pm.
On the next day, August 19th, 1969, the same engineering team assembled in the control room of EMI Studio Two at 2 pm. Among the work done on this day was performing the cross-fade/edit between “Carry That Weight” and “The End.” After more stereo mixing and overdubbing was accomplished on other “Abbey Road” songs, this session was complete at 4 pm.
On December 9th, 1989, in Montreal, Canada, Paul, and his touring band recorded a live version of “Carry That Weight” in medley with “Golden Slumbers” and “The End” as heard on the “Abbey Road” album. This recording was released on both his albums “Tripping The Live Fantastic” and “Tripping The Live Fantastic: Highlights!”
Song Structure and Style
The "Carry That Weight" section of the "Abbey Road" medley consists of two elements repeated twice, namely 'chorus/ verse (instrumental)/ verse/ chorus' (or abba) with a brief conclusion tack on at the end. The verse is actually a reprise of the verses heard in the very first section of the medley, "You Never Give Me Your Money," which acts as a suitable tie-in for the closing minutes of the entire medley.
After a brief introductory drum fill from Ringo, which is actually a continuation of the final measure of the previous track “Golden Slumbers,” an eight-measure chorus is heard first. The instrumentation consists of Paul on piano and rhythm guitar, George on bass, Ringo on drums and timpani beats, and a vibrant vocal chorus of Paul, George, and Ringo singing in unison the lyric line “Boy, you're gonna carry that weight / carry that weight a long time” repeated twice. In fact, Ringo's voice is the one most prominently heard, which carries forward Paul's original idea of this song being a Ringo vocal as intended. Also heard prominently is the orchestra playing a simple George Martin score that acts as a backdrop to the vocals as the focal point. Ringo puts in three drum fills during this chorus, in measures two, four, and then eight as a transition to the verse that follows.
Next comes the first of two consecutive verses, the first being entirely instrumental and only seven measures long. The first four measures are highlighted by the orchestra which plays the “You Never Give Me Your Money” melody line in the score with Paul on piano and rhythm guitar, George on bass and Ringo on drums. Starting with a crashing cymbal on the downbeat, Ringo accentuates prominent beats of the melody line, adding a drum fill in measures two, three and four for good measure. The remaining three measures of the verse have Ringo playing a straight 4/4 drum beat using the hi-hat while the orchestra lays down a lush backing to highlight a masterful lead guitar line from George. Paul's piano and rhythm guitar, as well as George's bass, are still there to fill out the arrangement.
The second verse heard runs eight measures long and is a vocal verse. While Ringo plays virtually identically to his playing in the previous instrumental verse for the first seven measures, accents and all, Paul sings lead vocals using lyrics similar to, but not identical to, the second verse of “You Never Give Me Your Money.” For instance, “number” is now “pillow,” and “situations” is now “invitations.” Once again the orchestra provides a simple backdrop for the vocals while Paul continues on piano and rhythm guitar and George on bass. Both Paul and George are also heard singing harmony vocals as well. The eighth measure then acts as a segue into the repeat of the chorus that follows, the trumpets of the orchestra heralding in the change with accenting drum beats from Ringo and piano chords from Paul also playing their part.
The final part of this medley section emergences the second chorus. Instrumentally and vocally, it is identical to the first chorus, although it can be said to be seven measures long this time instead of eight. After the seventh measure completes, which is midway through the phrase “long time,” the arrangement transcends into yet another reprise of “You Never Give Me Your Money,” this being the final segment of the previous selection with the winding guitar riff and lyric “all good children go to heaven.” These vocals fade away here, but the winding guitar riff is repeated twice during this four-measure conclusion. Although John played the winding guitar riff on the previously mentioned track, he appears not to have participated in “Carry That Weight” at all. George apparently takes on John's role suitably this time around.
Ringo plays similarly to what he did in the previous track while Paul and George finish out the arrangement here appropriately and the orchestra plods on as well. While the recorded track ends on the final note of the winding guitar riff, which is the anticipated three-beat of the fourth measure, the engineers performed their edit just before this beat, replacing it with the first note of the song “The End,” which appropriately ends the long “Abbey Road” medley.
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