"Maxwell's Silver Hammer’s" first recorded attempt occurred on January 3rd, 1969, in Twickenham Film Studios during their filmed rehearsals for what became the "Let It Be" album and movie.
This marked their second day of rehearsals at Twickenham and, with John late in arriving, Paul ran through a number of work-in-progress songs on piano for the others to hear, which included“Maxwell's Silver Hammer.” Lyrically, Paul only had the first verse, the chorus, and the first half of the second verse written at this time, and the arrangement still needed refining. Later that day, after John arrived, Paul led them through a total of ten rehearsals of the song, which he was referring to as “the corny one.” A small segment of one of these rehearsals, with Paul on bass and calling out the chords for John and George, made it into the released “Let It Be” movie. Paul then switched to piano at George's suggestion and, with George on a Fender Bass VI, they rehearsed a little more before leaving it for another day.
The next day they worked on the song was January 7th, 1969, Paul instructing Mal Evans to bring in an anvil and hammer for him to “play” during these rehearsals. They went through the song eighteen times, working on the arrangement as they went along. They came up with an idea to whistle during certain segments of the song, such as just before the verses, and George worked out a vocal harmony for the choruses. A portion of one of these rehearsals, with Mal struggling to hit the anvil on the proper beats, appears in the “Let It Be” movie as well.
The next day, January 8th, 1969, The Beatles were generally in good spirits and, among many other things, went through thirteen rehearsals of “Maxwell's Silver Hammer.” John joined George in singing harmony during these rehearsals as Mal Evans began to improve in his anvil-hammering technique. Paul here began adlibbing lyrics in the third verse about a judge and courtroom scene, although he had yet to take the time to write these lyrics formally.
The atmosphere became much tenser the next day they rehearsed the song, which was on January 10th, 1969. After a disagreement between Paul and George in the earlier part of the day, George decided to quit the group during their lunch break, exclaiming “See you 'round the clubs” just before he walked out the door. The other three, with Yoko sitting in George's spot, let off some steam with some incoherent jamming along with Yoko wailing into George's microphone. Determined to get back to business, they then went through some of the songs they had previously been working on, along with “Maxwell's Silver Hammer.” They ran through portions of the song four times, Paul singing one rendition as if he were drunk and John humorously singing lead on another with an exaggerated German accent, which appeared to display his distaste for the song. And with that, the song was dropped for consideration for the “Let It Be” project.
Nearly six months later, on July 9th, 1969, the song was resurrected by Paul for inclusion on what was to be their final recorded album “Abbey Road.” They met in EMI Studio Two at 2:30 pm to start work on officially recording the song for the first time, this day going down in Beatles history as a somewhat historic day.
Eight days earlier, on July 1st, 1969, John and Yoko had been in a serious automobile accident while on vacation in North Scotland. They both ended up in the hospital, John receiving seventeen stitches and Yoko being monitored more closely because she was pregnant at the time. The Beatles had been busy in the recording studio without him working on the album, but this day, July 9th, was the first day that John joined them after the accident. Yoko, while in a fragile condition, was present as well.
Phil McDonald, engineer on this session, recalls: “We were all waiting for him and Yoko to arrive. Paul, George, Ringo downstairs (on the studio floor) and us upstairs (in the control room). They didn't know what state he would be in. There was a definite 'vibe'; they were almost afraid of Lennon before he arrived because they didn't know what he would be like. I got the feeling that the three of them were a little bit scared of him. When he did come in it was a relief, and they got together fairly well. John was a powerful figure, especially with Yoko – a double strength.”
Engineer Geoff Emerick, who claims to be present on this day although not engineering this session, explains what occurred just after John and Yoko's arrival. “The door burst open again, and four men in brown coats began wheeling in a large, heavy object,” Emerick relates in his book “Here, There And Everywhere.” “For a moment, I thought it was a piano coming in from one of the other studios, but it soon dawned on me that these were proper deliverymen: the brown coats they were wearing had the word 'Harrods' inscribed on the back. The delivered object was, in fact, a bed. Jaws dropping, we all watched as it was brought into the studio and carefully positioned by the stairs, across from the tea-and-toast setup. More brown coats appeared with sheets and pillows and somberly made the bed up.”
Technician Martin Benge relates: “We were setting up the microphones for the session and this huge double-bed arrived. An ambulance brought Yoko in, and she was lowered down onto the bed, we set up a microphone over her in case she wanted to participate, and then we all carried on as before! We were saying, 'Now we've seen it all, folks!'”
Geoff Emerick continues about the events of that day and the next few weeks: “It wasn't as if Yoko was just lying in that bed resting quietly, either – there was a long line of visitors there by her bedside paying supplication, almost all the time. Various Beatles would be recording in one end of the room, and she would be lying there at the other end, chatting with friends, making her presence all the more obvious – and aggravating – to the rest of the band. George Martin had returned on the premise that it was going to be like the good old days, but we had never had a Beatle wife in bed in the studio with us in the old days. That probably explained why he seemed so depressed and frustrated during those weeks.” Producer Ron Richards explains, regarding the activities during that period, that “the bed was wheeled around between studios two and three, depending on where John was working.”
“I was ill after the accident when they did most of that track,” John explained in an interview about "Maxwell's Silver Hammer," “and it really ground George and Ringo into the ground recording it, you know. I wasn't on 'Maxwell.'” Emerick continues: “There was a distinct change in the atmosphere after John and Yoko arrived, although personally I felt it had more to do with Lennon being there than his bedridden wife. He was grouchy and moody, and he flatly refused to participate at all in the making of 'Maxwell's Silver Hammer,' which he derisively dismissed as 'just more of Paul's granny music.'”
The first order of business was recording a basic rhythm track, which consisted of Paul on piano and guide vocal, George on his Fender Jazz Bass, and Ringo on drums. Sixteen takes were recorded and the final take, designated 'take 21' because there were no 'takes' 6 through 10 for some reason. 'Take 5' ended up on the 1996 released “Anthology 3” album which shows George playing very proficient bass work, yet recorded over by Paul at a later date. We also witness on this recording Paul vocalizing what the future solos might sound like as well as him flubbing some of the lyrics in the third verse. After this take, he states: “One more. It was good, you know, it had nice bits in it. It would be nice to have the nice bits and the other bits.”
The rhythm track was deemed complete by approximately 8 pm, the rest of the session lingered for guitar passage overdubs, photographic evidence indicating these being played by both Paul and George, possibly being played simultaneously harmonizing the lead work as heard in various places in the song. By 10:15 pm, the session ended as The Beatles, and the bed-ridden Yoko left for the night.
The following day, July 10th, 1969, major overdubs were performed on “Maxwell's Silver Hammer” in EMI Studio Two, everyone arriving, including John and Yoko, around 2:30 pm. Paul added more piano, George Martin added Hammond organ, George Harrison added guitar run through a Leslie speaker, and Mal Evans solidified his role at hammering an anvil.
“There was no thought given to finding a way to approximate the effect,” Emerick explains. “Paul wanted the sound of an anvil being struck, so Mal (Evans) was dispatched to track one down...There was a proper blacksmith's anvil brought to the studio for Ringo to hit. They had it rented from a theatrical agency...I have a clear memory of him dragging it into the studio, struggling under its weight as the rest of us laughed our heads off. Both he and Ringo had a go at hitting it. 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.”
Another overdub recorded on this day was the backing vocals. “The group were recording the backing vocals for the song,” Emerick relates, “with both George Harrison and Ringo joining Paul at the mic as an impassive John simply sat in the back of the studio and watched them. After a few uncomfortable moments, Paul strode over and invited his old friend and collaborator to join in. I thought it was a nice gesture, an olive branch. But an expressionless Lennon simply said, 'No, I don't think so.' A few minutes later, he and Yoko got up and went home. With nothing to contribute, John just didn't want to be there.”
Emerick continues: “During the first few days they were back, John and Yoko spent most of their time huddled in a corner whispering to each other, or they would go down the hall to the producer's office – the 'green room' – and make phone calls. It didn't come as a huge surprise to me; I just took it as par for the course. At one point George Martin said to me, 'I wish John would get more involved,' but to my knowledge, he never did or said anything to try to get the recalcitrant Beatle to participate more. John was definitely very odd by this point, and his involvement in the 'Abbey Road' sessions would be sporadic. For the most part, if we weren't working on one of his songs, he just didn't seem interested.”
It was possibly on this day that Paul overdubbed himself on bass on this song, wiping out George's contribution on bass from the previous day. Geoff Emerick recalls: "There was a good deal of discussion about Paul wanting the bass on 'Maxwell's Silver Hammer' to sound like a tuba, to make the recording sound old-fashioned. We accomplished that by having him articulate the bass like a tuba by sliding into the notes instead of hitting them spot on. A fair amount of time was expended on getting that sound, but Ringo and George Harrison made a point of absenting themselves, so there was no one to raise an objection. At this late stage of the Beatles' career, it seemed that the best way for them to approach making a record - perhaps the only way - was for each band member to work on his own."
After all of the overdubs recorded on this day were complete, George Martin, along with engineers Phil McDonald and John Kurlander, made thirteen attempts at creating a stereo mix of the song, as if they were done recording the song at this point. This was not to be the case, however. At 11:30 pm this session was over.
The next day, July 11th, 1969, The Beatles took to recording some further overdubs onto “Maxwell's Silver Hammer” in EMI Studio Two, the session beginning around 2:30 pm. Paul double-tracked his lead vocals during the choruses, and George added another guitar overdub, quite possibly the acoustic guitar heard in the second and third choruses. Attention then went to other “Abbey Road” songs, “Something” and “You Never Give Me Your Money.” This session ended around midnight.
However, with regards to the other band members, tensions started to mount regarding Paul's intense interest in perfecting “Maxwell's Silver Hammer.” "The worst session ever was 'Maxwell's Silver Hammer,'" Ringo complained to Rolling Stone Magazine in 2008, adding: "It was the worst track we ever had to record. It went on for f*cking weeks. I thought it was mad!" “We'd spend a hell of a lot of time on (it),” George complained, adding: “Paul would always help along when you had done his ten songs. Then, when he got 'round to doing one of my songs, he would help. It was silly. It was very selfish, actually. Sometimes, Paul would make us do these really fruity songs. I mean, my God, 'Maxwell's Silver Hammer' was so fruity.”
Geoff Emerick relates in his book that Paul "did spend a lot of time working on 'Maxwell,' which irritated George Harrison a bit. One afternoon, they got into a heated argument about it, and I started to think, 'Uh-oh, here we go again.' But it died down relatively quickly." Regarding the “Abbey Road” album, Paul relates in the “Anthology” book: “We put together quite a nice album, and the only arguments were about things like me spending too long on a track: I spent three days on 'Maxwell's Silver Hammer.' I remember George saying, 'You've taken three days, it's only a song.' - 'Yeah, but I want to get it right. I've got some thoughts on this one.'...They got annoyed because 'Maxwell's Silver Hammer' took three days to record. Big deal!”
Geoff Emerick, in the book “The Beatles Recording Sessions,” relates: “It's a question of having patience. Paul had it, and John didn't. John was always a bit fidgety and restless, wanting to get on, 'yeah, that's good enough, a couple of takes, yeah, that's fine.' But Paul could hear certain refinements in his head which John couldn't." As John stated in 1969, "We spent more money on that song than any of them on the whole album, I think.”
With this tension mounting, attention pointed to various other “Abbey Road” songs for nearly a month, August 6th, 1969 being the final recording session to complete “Maxwell's Silver Hammer,” this session beginning at 2:30 and completed by 11 pm. George Harrison's newly acquired Moog synthesizer, a very large and complicated device for its time, was set up in Room 43 at the studios in Abbey Road. The Moog synthesizer overdub onto the song was performed on this day from this room but fed into EMI Studio Two. This overdub was achieved simultaneously with a reduction mix from 'take 21,' six reduction mixes being made with the synthesizer played for each mix, 'take 27' won the final reduction mix.
There is some discrepancy in interviews as to who actually played the synthesizer on "Maxwell's Silver Hammer." Describing this song, George related in an interview: “It's good because I have this synthesizer and 'Maxwell's Silver Hammer' was one of the things I used the synthesizer on, which is pretty effective.” However, engineer Alan Parsons, as interviewed in Andy Babiuk's book "Beatles Gear," especially remembers McCartney's work on the Moog Synthesizer from Room 43 for this song. Also, documentation reveals that simultaneous to this synthesizer overdub, George was busy in EMI Studio Three overdubbing guitar onto his song "Something." George's statement above was undoubtedly an expression of his recently purchased instrument being used to good effect on this song.
"Paul did 'Maxwell' using the ribbon," Parsons explains, which was a controller described in the book "Beatles Gear" as "a long strip which induces changes in the sound being played depending on where it is touched and how the player's finger is then moved." Parsons then continues that Paul was "playing it like a violin and having to find every note - which is a credit to Paul's musical ability." In the book "The Beatles Recording Sessions," Parsons also adds: "It's very difficult to find the right notes, rather like a violin, but Paul picked it up straight away. He can pick up anything musical in a couple of days."
This is especially interesting since, according to the book "Beatles Gear," "you could only sound one note at a time, which was a disadvantage." Upon listening to the Moog playing on "Maxwell's Silver Hammer," one easily notices that multiple notes are heard at the same time forming chords, such as during the interlude between the first chorus and second verse. Since only one note could play at a time, George Martin and the engineering staff must have found a way for Paul to overdub multiple performances on the synthesizer during the various reduction mixes that were simultaneously done.
After this was accomplished, stereo mixes of the song were made in the control room of EMI Studio Two by George Martin and engineers Tony Clark, Phil McDonald, and John Kurlander. Ten attempts were made at creating this stereo mix, numbered 14 through 26 (there were no mixes numbered 19 – 21), remix number 18 apparently being deemed the best at the time. “I got involved in the last three weeks of 'Abbey Road,' states engineer Tony Clark in the book “The Beatles Recording History.” “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.”.
On August 11th, 1969, a mono tape copy of “Maxwell's Silver Hammer” was made of stereo remix 18 for some reason, then taken away by Mal Evans and given to Malcolm Davies at Apple for cutting of acetate discs. Paul undoubtedly listened to this mix and deemed it unsuitable. Therefore, another needed remix took place.
More attempts at a stereo mix of the song occurred on August 12th, 1969 by George Martin, Geoff Emerick, Phil McDonald and John Kurlander in the control room of EMI Studio Two, this session beginning at 7 pm with Paul undoubtedly in attendance. Ten more attempts were made, numbered 27 through 36, Paul approving of 'take 27' for now. After two other album tracks were stereo mixed as well, this session ended at approximately 2 am the following morning.
Two days later, on August 14th, 1969, Paul oversaw yet another mixing session to finalize “Maxwell's Silver Hammer” once and for all. This session, which began at 2:30 pm in the control room of EMI Studio Two, consisted of adding an unknown edit piece to the song, which was incorporated from the previous best 'take 27' into what was now deemed 'stereo remix 37.' After this was done, among other things, 'take 34' from August 12th and 'take 37' from this day was edited together to form the released version of the song as we know it. This session ended at 2:30 am the following morning after many other tracks were worked on as well.
At this point, the song had a seven-second instrumental introduction which, according to Paul, needed to throw away. This was done on August 25th, 1969, in the control room of EMI Studio Two between 2:30 and 8 pm. “Maxwell's Silver Hammer” now began when Paul started singing on the first verse. However, Paul had the idea of adding various sound effects to the beginning of the song, recording them on this day. These sound effects were later decided against on this day as well; Paul apparently felt this was unnecessary after all. Soon after, the master of the entire album tape got copied and taken away by Geoff Emerick for cutting and release in Britain a month later.
The original 'take five,' as recorded on July 9th, 1969, was mixed sometime in 1996 by George Martin and Geoff Emerick for release on the compilation album “Anthology 3.” This charming rendition of the song gives a good indication of how it transformed into the released version as we know it.
Sometime between 2004 and 2006, George Martin and his son Giles Martin returned to the master tapes of “Maxwell's Silver Hammer” to isolate Ringo's drums for inclusion in their newly created mash-up mix of “The Fool On The Hill.” This song was not included in the resulting album “Love,” created for use with the Cirque du Soleil production of the same name, but released through iTunes as a bonus track for this collection.
The structure of "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" falls to the following format: 'verse/ pre-chorus/ chorus/ interlude/ verse/ pre-chorus/ chorus/ chorus (instrumental)/ interlude/ verse/ pre-chorus/ chorus/ chorus (instrumental)/ interlude (ending),' or (abcdabccdabccd).
With an originally recorded “interlude” being edited off at the mixing stage, the song begins with a sixteen-measure verse. The elements of the rhythm track that are present are Paul's piano and Ringo's drums, Paul's overdubbed bass and single-tracked lead vocal added in to complete the picture, only two Beatles being present thus far. Ringo is relegated to only kick drum and closed hi-hat so far in the song.
Next comes the four measure pre-chorus, which consists of the same instrumentation as the first verse. Ringo is limited to a crashing cymbal and kick drum beat on the downbeat of measures one and three with hi-hat closes on the two- and four-beat on measures one through three while providing accents along with Paul's three piano chords in the fourth measure. Paul provides anticipatory chords on the downbeat of measures two and three otherwise, along with his hushed vocals that segue perfectly into the chorus that follows.
The instrumentation of the eight-measure chorus that follows has both George Harrison and Mal Evans joining the band, George providing guitar passages, presumably along with Paul, that suit the arrangement and Mal strategically hitting the anvil with a hammer on the first and second beats of the first and fifth measure. Paul's vocal is now double-tracked, and Ringo plays a standard four/four time on the drums. They all stop dramatically on the fourth beat of the eighth measure. A four-measure interlude then occurs which focuses attention on the multiple Moog synthesizer overdubs Paul performed on August 6th, 1969, providing various notes that form chords during this section of the song. Instead of whistling, as they performed during the rehearsals in January, Paul plays half-note chords on the piano for the first two measures while Ringo hits the cymbal and kick drum on the same beats. For measures three and four, Paul lays off the piano and instead plays a tuba-like bass guitar run while Ringo plays a complimentary tom fill to round off this section of the song.
The second verse and pre-chorus then appears, which repeats the same instrumentation as heard the first time along with a single note Moog synthesizer melody line from Paul as a backdrop throughout the verse as well as a simple guitar figure from George (and Paul?) in measures eight and nine. Notice, also, Paul's laughing sniffle in the thirteenth measure between the lyric “writing (sniff) fifty times,” which indicates either a humorous incident in the studio at the time or a realization of the absurdity of the lyrics he is singing. The pre-chorus that appears next is identical instrumentally to the one heard previous with the exception of different lyrics.
Next comes the second chorus which is somewhat identical to the first with the addition of Ringo's triplet-like drum fill in the fourth measure, George's acoustic guitar, and Paul, George and Ringo's “doo-doo-doo-doo-doo” background vocals in the fourth measure. The eighth measure does not stop suddenly as in the first chorus but continues with another triplet-like drum fill from Ringo and moves directly into an instrumental verse with similar guitar figures from George and “doo-doo-doo-doo-doo” background vocals from the three participating Beatles. Next comes another interlude, which highlights ascending triplet-like piano figures from Paul in measures one and two and an isolated bass and drum instrumentation in measures three and four, Ringo focusing on the toms, no synthesizers in sight this time around.
The third verse comes next, which consists of the drums and piano of the rhythm track along with Paul's overdubbed lead vocal and bass, his subtle single-note synthesizer, and the guitar figure in measures eight and nine. One other addition is Paul, George and Ringo's background vocal overdub “Maxwell must go free” in measures twelve and thirteen, which appears strategically as if sung through a megaphone. The pre-chorus that appears next is identical to the previous ones with the addition of a startling synthesizer sound in the fourth measure that accentuates the lyrics “noise comes from behind” which is treated with delay, as this instrument appears for the rest of the song.
A final repeat of the chorus and then instrumental chorus appears next, both similar to the ones heard previously with the addition of an effective synthesizer melody line in the instrumental chorus which is treated to delay. This is followed by another four-measure interlude which works as a conclusion to the song. The elements heard here are identical to the previous interlude with some additions, the first being background vocals from Paul, George and, predominantly, Ringo, singing “silver hammer, yeah” in measure one through three. A synthesizer line from Paul, also treated with delay, is heard in measures three and four with the addition of two hammer hits on the anvil in measure four to end the song.
Paul brings the song to fruition as intended, playing suitable parts on the piano, bass, and synthesizer as well as vocals. Three cheers to George and Ringo for putting in accommodating performances on guitar and drums, even though their heart apparently wasn't in it. George Martin's contribution on the organ was more subtle than noticeable in the mix, but Mal Evans eventually perfected his timing on the anvil to supply the icing on the cake for the arrangement.
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