OCTOPUS’S GARDEN, AND ITS INCREDIBLE RECORDING PROCESS.

Since the January rehearsals of Octopus’s Garden didn't solidify enough for inclusion in the "Let It Be" project, and because Ringo did not have a vocal contribution for that album as of yet, The Beatles decided to bring it to EMI Studios to work it out and record it properly. A decision hadn't been made yet to record one final album, which became the "Abbey Road" LP, so the group was busying itself recording more songs to flesh out the January sessions into what they felt would be a suitable "Let It Be" album. This is where they intended "Octopus's Garden," as well as several other songs they had been recording in the spring of 1969, to fit in.

The Beatles entered EMI Studio Two on April 26th, 1969, at around 4:30 pm with the intention of working on Ringo's song. George Martin was just sporadically present during these spring Beatles sessions, the documentation for this day indicating “The Beatles” as the producer of this session. Chris Thomas, who had been producing Beatles sessions since the “White Album” days, does distinctly remember being present on this day in the control room, so he undoubtedly contributed to the proceedings.

Engineer Jeff Jarratt, who was relatively new in working with the band at this time, recalls the circumstances of working with them. In the book “The Beatles Recording Sessions,” he states: “I was really thrown in at the deep end. George Martin informed me that he wouldn't be available. I can't remember word for word what he said to me, but it was something like, 'There will be one Beatle there, fine. Two Beatles, great. Three Beatles, fantastic. But the minute the four of them are there, that is when the inexplicable charismatic thing happens, the special magic no one has been able to explain. It will be very friendly between you and them, but you'll be aware of this inexplicable presence.' Sure enough, that's exactly the way it happened. I've never felt it in any other circumstances. It was the special chemistry of the four of them which nobody since has ever had.”

After Paul put in an attempt to overdub lead vocals onto the recently recorded rhythm track of his song, “Oh! Darling,” all four Beatles worked at perfecting the arrangement of “Octopus's Garden.” When they felt confident enough to roll the tapes, they recorded 32 takes of the rhythm track on an eight-track machine. The instrumentation consisted of Paul on his Rickenbacker bass (track one), Ringo on drums (track two), George on Fender Stratocaster played through a Leslie speaker (track three) John playing finger-picking rhythm guitar using his Epiphone Casino (track four) and Ringo's lead vocals (track eight).

Mark Lewisohn, who's had the privilege of listening to the entire original tape as research for his book “The Beatles Recording Sessions,” describes this as “a fun and creative session,” all four Beatles cooperative and on their best behavior. 'Take two,' which appears on the 1996 compilation album “Anthology 3,” shows that they had the arrangement nearly perfected at this stage, George even having his intricate guitar introduction and conclusion pretty much down to a tee. Ringo keeps repeating the first verse vocally, undoubtedly assuming that this element would get re-recorded as an overdub later, which meant that the accented “can't be found” in the second verse hadn't been worked out yet. At the end of 'take eight,' which didn't turn out so good, Ringo sarcastically states, “Well, that was superb!,” this remark sounds out on “Anthology 3."

Ringo's "superb" remark appears in various 50th Anniversary editions of "Abbey Road" among the chatter heard before the incomplete 'take nine.’ "Right, George," Ringo instructs, as the engineer announces 'take nine' on the talkback microphone. George counts off "one, two, three, four" before hitting a bum note on his guitar, which prompts Ringo to laugh. This take then commences, which sounds fine throughout the first verse. Unfortunately, Ringo comes in a few measures early with his line "He'd let us in..." which throws the tempo off substantially and grinds it to a halt. "Sorry, did I went wrong, did I?" Ringo asks. "I thought I heard you singing, 'in an octopus's garden with John'" Lennon asserts, which makes Ringo laugh once again. "I think I went into 'I'd ask my friends' earlier, or you all came late," Ringo wonders out loud.

By 'take 32,' they had perfected the rhythm track for the song used on the finished recording, interjecting the “can't be found” accents as a nice touch to the arrangement. It was 4:15 am the following day by this point, nearly a 24-hour session, and they decided to call it a day finally.

On April 29th, 1969, The Beatles resumed work on the song in EMI Studio Three. They first all congregated in the control room at 2:30 pm for a four-hour playback of recently recorded songs that they were considering for inclusion on the “Let It Be” album, this listening session ending around 6:30 pm. Then, after an hour break, they went out onto the studio floor at 7:30 pm for Ringo to re-record the lead vocals on "Octopus's Garden," Paul overdubbing piano on one of the three open tracks. They were happy with the results and, therefore, took to work making a stereo mix of the song, thinking it to be complete and also ready for the soon-to-be-released “Let It Be” album. Producer Chris Thomas, along with engineers Jeff Jarratt and Nick Webb, made four attempts at creating this stereo mix, undoubtedly the fourth deemed as best. At 1 am the following morning, this session was complete.

Then, a little over a month later, a decision was made to put together one last Beatles album, leaving the January 1969 sessions for the time being and concentrating on what they had been recording since for inclusion on what eventually became the “Abbey Road” album. Newer songs would also start but, in the process, they decided to spruce up production of the songs they had been recording in the spring, now with George Martin at the helm. In the spirit of “Yellow Submarine,” and because of George Martin's expertise at recording comedy records for the likes of Peter Sellers and The Goons, various members of the band decided to add various sound effects for Ringo's song.

The Beatles arrived in EMI Studio Two on July 17th, 1969, at 6:30 pm to focus on whatever was needed to complete “Octopus's Garden.” Still feeling that Ringo's lead vocal overdub was suitable for the finished product, Paul and George (and possibly Ringo) added backing harmonies sung in a high pitch before the sound effects overdubs began. John stated the following in a 1969 interview about these overdubs: “During the time I was away, they laid a few harmony tracks on some of the harmony bits, so Ringo is doing a few harmony bits.” This would seem to indicate that, even though John had reunited with The Beatles after his automobile accident by this time, he may not have been present on this day.

Engineer Geoff Emerick, in his book “Here, There And Everywhere,” recalls the events of this day. “We had great fun doing overdubs on 'Octopus's Garden.' Paul and George were both in high spirits on the days we were working on it, and together they chipped in, putting as much effort into it as if it were one of their own songs. Ringo...even got the inspiration – recycled from 'Yellow Submarine' – to blow bubbles into a close-miked glass of water.” Concerning this overdub, technical engineer Alan Brown adds: “That was miked very closely to capture all the little bubbles and sounds.”

Emerick continues: “As the songwriter, Ringo acted as the de facto producer for the track, and in one of our rare conversations, he asked me if I could make the vocals in the middle section sound as if they were being sung underwater. It was one the few times during the 'Abbey Road' sessions that I was challenged to come up with a new kind of sound, and I jumped at the opportunity. 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. It was weird, almost like something out of a cheesy science-fiction movie, but Ringo loved the result.” By 11:15 that evening, this fun session finally came to a close.

The next day, July 18th, 1969, a decision was made to re-record Ringo's lead vocal on the song. Paul and Ringo arrived sometime after 2:30 pm at EMI Studio Three on this day for this purpose, Paul first putting in yet another attempt at nailing down his lead vocals for “Oh! Darling.” Paul wasn't happy with his vocal work on this day, but Ringo proceeded to capture the perfect vocal performance for his song shortly thereafter, even double-tracking it in spots, something he hadn't done on a lead vocal since "Matchbox." “For once, Ringo sang the lead vocal with confidence,” Geoff Emerick asserts. Ringo also overdubbed what Mark Lewisohn describes in his “Recording Sessions” book as “sundry percussion” onto the song, which appears to be tom-tom beats from his drum kit, recorded along with backing vocals from Paul and George. Also recorded on this day was Paul playing bass notes of a piano along with George doubling them on guitar. After an undocumented reduction mix, the end result on the final eight-track tape, according to Kevin Howlett's writing in the "Abbey Road" 50th Anniversary book, is "bass on track one, drums on two, bubbly sound effects and wobbled 'underwater vocals' on three, bass notes of a piano and a guitar doubling them on four, tom-tom beats and backing vocals by Paul and George on five; more backing vocals by Paul and George and a lead vocal overdubbed on six, piano and George's lead guitar on seven, John's guitar on eight." By 8 pm, this recording session was complete, which also completes the recording of “Octopus's Garden.”

This is not to say that they all went home for the day at this point. They then immediately proceeded into the control room of EMI Studio Two to create a releasable mix of the song. George Martin and engineers Phil McDonald and Alan Parsons first worked at creating a mono mix, which was strange since albums only released stereo copies by this time. Nonetheless, they made seven attempts at a mono mix and then five attempts (numbered 10 through 14) at a stereo mix, the final mix being the one used on the released album.

Sometime in 1996, George Martin and Geoff Emerick returned to the master tapes of the original rhythm track The Beatles made on April 26th, 1969, in order to create a mix of 'take two' for inclusion on the compilation album “Anthology 3.” The entire take was included on this release with Ringo's sarcastic comment “Well, that was superb!” from the end of 'take eight' tacked on at the end. The listener can hear how fully formed the arrangement was at this early stage, lead guitar work and all, with only new lead vocals and minimal overdubs being added later to get it to its complete state.

Then, sometime between 2004 and 2006, George Martin and his son Giles Martin went back to the final master tape, as well as master tapes from various other songs, to create a unique mash-up version of “Octopus's Garden” for inclusion in the production of the Cirque du Soleil show “Beatles Love.” This new stereo mix features a treat on the resulting 2006 “Love” album that masterfully mixes elements of “Yellow Submarine,” “Good Night,” “Lovely Rita,” “Helter Skelter” and “Sun King” to create a quite innovative and enjoyable track.

During the year 2019, Giles Martin and engineer Sam Okell returned once again to the master tapes of "Octopus's Garden" to create a vibrant new stereo mix of the song for inclusion on the 50th Anniversary releases of "Abbey Road." While they were at it, they created a stereo mix of the aborted 'take nine' of the rhythm track as recorded on April 26th, 1969, along with interesting chatter before and after the take.

Two live recordings made by Ringo and his then-current band, The Roundheads, first live recording took place on May 13th, 1998 at Sony Studios in New York City in an intimate setting for broadcast on the popular VH1 cable show “Storytellers.” Ringo told a charming story of how “Octopus's Garden” was written and then, with his band that included both Mark Hudson and Joe Walsh on guitar, ran through their rendition on the song in front of a small audience. The second live recording of the song, also by Ringo and The Roundheads, was on June 24th, 2005, at the Genesse Theatre in Waukegan, Illinois. This version was eventually released on the album “Ringo Starr: Live At Soundstage.”

Song Structure and Style

The structure chosen for "Octopus's Garden" couldn't be any simpler, namely, 'verse/ verse/ solo/ verse' (or aaba) with a somewhat intricate introduction that was, unmistakably, concocted by George Harrison since his participation is integral to the arrangement.

The instrumental introduction is four measures in length and primarily features George's lead guitar work. George starts out the song with solo lead guitar, joined by Ringo, Paul, and John, accenting two beats in the first measure, the second of these beats being the fourth beat of this measure. George then plays a somewhat similar melody line in the second measure, which Ringo, Paul, and John joins in on at the end of the third measure and then continues with throughout the end of the introduction as well as to the end of the song. George continues an interesting lead guitar passage for the remainder of this section while Ringo plays a simple 4/4 drum beat focusing on the closed hi-hat, Paul plays a simple bass pattern, and John reprises his “travis picking” style as he leaned in India in 1968, this also being heard in “Dear Prudence” and “Julia,” among other songs.

The first verse comes next, which is sixteen-measures long as all of the verses are. Ringo sings single-tracked lead vocals and plays a simple 4/4 pattern on the drums for the first four measures while John continues his “travis picking” in these same measures throughout the chord changes. Paul plays simple bass patterns while George doesn't appear at all during these first eight measures.

Measures nine through twelve, however, feature Ringo singing double-tracked lead vocals while Paul kicks in on his overdubbed piano, which takes center stage. John strums accented chords in measures ten and twelve, along with Paul and Ringo on their instruments, allowing Ringo's vocal message to shine through with primary importance. He was here inviting his “friends to come and see an octopus's garden,” these friends no doubt being his then-former band members, remembering here that Ringo had quit The Beatles during the writing of this song.

After a simple drum fill from Ringo, the band fills out the remaining measures of the first verse as before but with some additional elements. Paul and George's harmony vocals kick in here for the first time, George adds a quaint lead guitar passage in measure sixteen, and Paul continues his piano playing for the rest of the verse.

The second verse then commences, which is generally similar to the first. Background harmony from Paul and George is heard throughout, singing “ooh” in measures one through three and five through seven, and singing “aah” in measures four and five and then eight and nine. George thinks to add some lead guitar passages in measures five through seven in the open vocal spaces. Measures nine through sixteen are primarily identical to the first verse, although George does attempt a guitar line after the lyric “I'd like to be” in the thirteenth measure, it being embarrassingly aborted after one pulled note. This verse ends with one final high note on Paul's piano, a simple drum fill from Ringo, and the beginning of George's guitar solo for the next section.

An eight-measure solo section comes next, which changes keys from E major to A major for emotional impact. George takes center stage here with his intricate lead guitar work while Ringo stays away from any cymbals and focuses on his toms, adding a slight drum fill in measures four and eight. John continues his “travis picking” and Paul plods away appropriately on bass while Paul, George, and Ringo sing background vocals aided by an effect created by George's Moog synthesizer to create an underwater simulation. Ringo humorously blows bubbled into a glass of water sporadically throughout this section of the song, primarily focusing on the end of each even-numbered measure.

The fourth verse comes next, which this time includes the conclusion of the song and, thereby, is twenty measures long. The instrumentation is primarily identical to the second verse, although the backing vocals actually touch on repeating the lyrics Ringo had just sung, such as “lies beneath the ocean waves” in measures four and five and “happy and they're safe” in measures eight and nine. George again lays low in the arrangement until measure thirteen and beyond, echoing the lead vocals with appropriate phrases. Measures fifteen and sixteen are repeated three times for emphasis this time around, with drum fills added in measures sixteen and eighteen along with suitable lead guitar fills from George. Measure twenty becomes a 'Beatles break,' all instruments coming to a halt except for George's final lead guitar passage. The final moments of the twentieth measure bring in two accents from John, Paul, and Ringo on their instruments, bringing the song to a campy but appropriate close.

Ringo's lyrics may not be as “cosmic” as George interpreted them to be, but they do reveal touches of the drummer's disenchantment with being a Beatle and wanting to escape it all. While his old friends may be invited to “come and see” where he's going to be residing “under the sea,” he revels at the thought of “no one there to tell us what to do,” such as Paul being anal about how Ringo should play the drums. He also would be experiencing the “joy” of being “happy” and “safe” in this “hideaway.”

All Beatles should be commended for their participation on this track. They all, George Martin included, thought enough of the song to put their all into it, instrumentally and production-wise, to reveal Ringo as being more than capable of writing a song worthy of attention, even though his audience may very well be in the single digits age-wise this time around.

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OH! DARLING, AND ITS INCREDIBLE RECORDING PROCESS.

Paul first played the song “Oh! Darling” to George and Ringo on January 3rd, 1969 at Twickenham Film Studios while waiting for John to show up for this filmed rehearsal during the "Let It Be" album and movie project. This was only the second day of rehearsals, and Paul was previewing new songs that he was working on to the two band members that were present, along with "The Long And Winding Road" and "Let It Be." Both Ringo and George also played half-written songs for consideration for the album, and then, when John arrived, they jammed on old Beatles classics from the Hamburg days and goofed around musically before they got to work perfecting John's "Don't Let Me Down" among others.

On January 6th, 1969, which was the third day of rehearsals, Paul once again warmed up with a rendition of “Oh! Darling” on piano before everyone had arrived and was ready to do full band rehearsals on other songs. It was during this day that tensions famously came to a head between George and Paul, resulting in the “I'll play whatever you want me to play” proclamation from George, as seen in the released movie.

The next day, January 7th, 1969, the fourth day of rehearsals, The Beatles, as a band began to learn, “Oh! Darling” for the first time, the key chosen for these two run-throughs being a rather odd B flat. These versions feature Paul on piano and vocals, John on electric guitar, George on a Fender Bass VI, and Ringo on drums. These were quite rough versions, the other Beatles just getting to know the song. The next day, January 8th, 1969, day five of rehearsals, proved to be a high-spirited day for all involved. They did much work on many songs on this day and did briefly touch on “Oh! Darling” once “during an equipment change,” according to Bruce Spizer's book “The Beatles On Apple Records.” This quick version was performed mainly by Paul, but John and Ringo did join in.

On day six of the rehearsals, January 9th, 1969, Paul once again arrived first and ran through several songs on piano while waiting for his band-mates to arrive, “Oh! Darling” being among them. Then on January 14th, 1969, day nine of rehearsals, Paul ran through two versions of the song, among others, towards the end of the session in order for engineer/producer Glyn Johns to test the audio equipment. One element of this audio equipment was a Binson echo unit, Paul singing the song in a style similar to Elvis, with a sneering vocal and spoken passage in the bridge. A small bit of Paul performing the song made it onto the released “Let It Be” film, quite possibly from this day. Only three Beatles attended this session, George quitting the group on January 10th. This was a very unproductive day because of George's absence as well as John being high on heroin, evidenced in a filmed Canadian interview conducted during the session.

Day eleven of rehearsals, January 22nd, 1969, now saw The Beatles in the newly created Apple Studios in Saville Row, London, with George back in the band. One of his stipulations for returning to the group was that they abandoned the cold atmosphere of Twickenham Film Studios and moved the rehearsals to Apple Studios instead. This was also the first day that keyboardist friend Billy Preston was present, which created a high-spirited session that focused on the songs they would eventually be performing live at a then undecided location, this turning out to be roof of that building. A good amount of attention was given to many songs, “Oh! Darling” only being briefly touched on during this day.

Additional time still lingered on the song the next day, January 23rd, 1969, the twelfth day of rehearsals. Three run-throughs of the song in a much easier key, A major, were performed with Paul on bass and vocals, both John and George on electric guitars, Ringo on drums, and Billy Preston on electric piano.

They put “Oh! Darling” on the back-burner for a few days in order to perfect songs that they felt more confidently about, but they did return to it on January 27th, 1969, their sixteenth day of rehearsals. Knowing they had to complete the project by the end of the month for Ringo’s schedule filming the movie “The Magic Christian,” they had to solidify which songs could record live. Therefore, they rehearsed “Oh! Darling” four times with the same five-piece lineup that included Billy Preston on electric piano, this time trying out John harmonizing with Paul's lead vocals. One of these attempts was a six-and-a-half-minute version, which they extended when John announced some news he had been waiting to receive. “Just heard that Yoko's divorce has just gone through – Free at last!,” he exclaims. He then immediately starts the song up again with new lyrics that begin, “I'm free this morning; the papers told the lawyer it's okay.” A four-minute edit of this rendition appears on the 1996 released compilation album “Anthology 3.”

Then on the final day of the “Let It Be” sessions, which was day twenty on January 31st, 1969, The Beatles ran through two more renditions of “Oh! Darling.” They had just done their now-legendary roof-top performance the previous day, the intention of the following day being to film proper live performances of songs that were deemed unsuitable for the roof show. In between takes of the song “Let It Be,” Paul led the group through “Oh! Darling” to see if it had enough oomph to be included on the resulting album and film. It was not. These versions comprised Paul on piano and vocals, John on Fender Bass VI and some vocals, George on his Fender Telecaster, Ringo on drums, and Billy Preston on Hammond organ.

Although what is now known as the January 1969 “Let It Be” sessions were over, The Beatles continued to sporadically record songs back in EMI Studios for the next few months. The intention, apparently, was to solidify arrangements of songs that were premiered in January and then officially record them for inclusion on what would eventually be the “Let It Be” album. Newer compositions did get recorded during this period as well, such as “The Ballad Of John And Yoko,” which Lennon wanted released immediately as a single, but songs they had already become somewhat familiar with from the January rehearsals appeared to be the primary focus, “Oh! Darling” inched forward as a prime candidate.

Therefore, on April 20th, 1969, at around 7 pm, with producer Chris Thomas at the helm, The Beatles, along with Billy Preston, took to officially recording the song in EMI Studio Three. After a couple of overdubs were recorded onto the previously started song “I Want You (She's So Heavy),” including a Hammond organ part by Billy Preston, attention turned to “Oh! Darling” for the rest of the day. Mark Lewisohn's book “The Beatles Recording Sessions” describes the 26 takes recorded on this day as “more like a well-planned rehearsal,” but the last of these takes did become the rhythm track for the released recording.

Nonetheless, the instrumentation on these takes, according to Kevin Howlett's "Track By Track" liner notes in the 50th Anniversary "Abbey Road" book, consisted of George on bass (track one), Ringo on drums (track two), Billy Preston on organ on some of the takes (track three), Paul on piano (track four), John on guitar (track five) and Paul's guide vocals (track six). 'Take four' was included in the Super Deluxe 50th Anniversary edition of "Abbey Road," containing Billy Preston's organ in the last two minutes. As was their custom, they would break the tension in the studio by going into the occasional "brief but wild musical jam," 'take seven' consisting entirely of John leading the group through a rapid impromptu version of Joe South's recent hit "Games People Play." After 'take 23,' George asked the producer, "Chris, does this ever sound out of tune?" The guitarist then demonstrated a scale on bass guitar over a piano chord from Paul to make sure everything sounded acceptable. A stereo mix took place at the end of the session in the control room for Paul to review,  created by Chris Thomas and engineers Jeff Jarratt and John Kurlander. At 12:45 am, everyone departed for the day.

The main concern that Paul had for the song was getting his lead vocal right, which proved to be a struggle for him while also being a labor of love. “At first my voice was too clear,” he stated in the book “Beatles Anthology,” adding: “I want it to sound as though I'd been performing it on stage all week.” His first attempt at perfecting the lead vocal, wiping his guide vocal from track six of the tape in the process, was on April 26th, 1969 in EMI Studio Two at approximately 4:30 pm before the other Beatles arrived, this being convenient for him since he lived just down the street from EMI Studios. After the others arrived on this day, John and George laid down backing vocals for the song on tracks seven and eight, thereby filling all eight tracks of the eight-track tape. They then proceeded to spend the rest of the session on Ringo's new composition, “Octopus's Garden,” which extended the evening to 4:15 am the next morning. Paul may have thought at that point that he had nailed the perfect lead vocal on "Oh! Darling" so, on May 1st, 1969 in the control room of EMI Studio Three, producer Chris Thomas and engineers Jeff Jarratt and Nick Webb took to creating a usable stereo mix, three attempts occurred (labeled remixes 2 – 4).

Engineer Geoff Emerick, in his book “Here, There And Everywhere,” relates the following about Paul's obsession at getting the perfect vocal take: “It was at around this time that Paul started getting in the habit of coming in early every afternoon, before the others arrived, to have a go at singing the lead vocal to 'Oh! Darling.' Not only did he have me record it with fifties-style tape echo, he even monitored the backing track over speakers instead of headphones because he wanted to feel as though he were singing to a live audience. Every day we'd be treated to a hell of a performance as McCartney put his all into singing the song all the way through once and once only, nearly ripping his vocal cords to shreds in the process.”

“I mainly remember wanting to get the vocal right, wanting to get it good,” Paul relates in his book “Many Years From Now,” “and I ended up trying each morning as I came into the recording session. I tried it with a hand mike, and I tried it with a standing mike, I tried it every which way, and finally got the vocal I was reasonably happy with. It's a bit of a belter, and if it comes off a little bit lukewarm, then you've missed the whole point. It was unusual for me; I would normally try all the goes at a vocal in one day.” “This is more really just Paul singing,” George Harrison explained just after the album was released, adding: “It's mainly Paul shouting." He was possibly trying once again to emulate his hero, Little Richard, such as on his screaming ballad "Send Me Some Lovin'.”

Geoff Emerick continues: “George Martin would frequently announce triumphantly, 'That's it; that's the one,' but Paul would overrule him, saying, 'No, it's not there yet; let's try it again tomorrow.' For all that – and he took many whacks at the song, over many days – I never sensed any real frustration in Paul, even though he was obviously having trouble getting the vocal the way he wanted it in his head. He knew what the ultimate goal was, and he knew that he was going to get it eventually. Besides, ever the consummate showman, he simply enjoyed singing it."

Part of Paul's aim, apparently, was to sing the bridges without having to break into his falsetto, something he couldn't achieve every day. Also, if he thought a certain day's attempt could be acceptable, he would double-track himself during the bridges to see if that would make it even better, sometimes even harmonizing with himself a little.

“Frankly, I think the reason Paul did those vocals each day before the other Beatles arrived was so he wouldn't have to face their disapproval or withering remarks," Emerick continues. "He wouldn't even play them each day's attempt to solicit their opinion. Perhaps he had learned his lesson from 'Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da,' when he had sung the vocal over and over again in front of everybody, pissing his bandmates off mightily in the process.”

One bandmate that apparently was pissed off, however, was John. “I always thought I could have sung it better,” he told Playboy Magazine in 1980. “It was more my style than his. But he wrote it, so what the hell, he was going to sing it. If he had any sense, he would have let me sing it. (Laughing)”

Geoff Emerick had the same opinion. “There was one other factor (with Paul singing the song), and that was pride. Paul's ego prevented him from ever giving John a stab at singing the lead on 'Oh! Darling,' despite the fact that it was a song that was probably better suited to Lennon's voice. Even though John was standing by in the studio, apparently ready, willing, and able – in later years, he admitted publicly that he would have loved to have sung that lead – Paul was determined to give a Lennon performance all by himself. To a great degree, he succeeded...but what a shame it was that, by the time The Beatles got to record the song, they were unwilling to ask one another for help. Such was the vibe of the 'Abbey Road' sessions.”

In July of 1969, news spread The Beatles would work together to record one final album of new material, leaving the January sessions for its own “Let It Be” soundtrack album released at a future date in conjunction with the release of the filmed footage as a documentary movie. This would mean that most of the material that they had been recording after January would now be completed with the intention of being on this new final album, which ultimately became “Abbey Road.” Newer compositions would also be needed to fill out this new album as well, recorded well into August.

Therefore, attention came back to “Oh! Darling” on July 17th, 1969, in EMI Studio Three. There really wasn't much more that Paul the song needed other than nailing the above-mentioned lead vocal, which is what Paul attempted again today. He apparently decided that his previous lead vocal overdub on April 26th wasn't good enough, deeming the stereo mixes made on May 1st now obsolete. What is interesting about his attempt on this day, him arriving at 2:30 pm well before the others got there and finishing by 6:30 pm, was that the recording sheet indicated "SI on 16," stipulating that Paul's lead vocal attempt was recorded onto 'take 16' and not 'take 26' as before. However, since there is no evidence of an overdubbed vocal applied to 'take 16,' this must have been a clerical error by the engineer on that day, accidentally writing "16" instead of "26," the agreed-upon best rhythm track. Not that it mattered much anyway since this vocal overdub didn't suit Paul in the end.

It's also noteworthy to hear what other engineers who were present at these sessions had to say about Paul's dedication to getting the vocals right, as included in the book “The Beatles Recording Sessions.” Alan Parsons relates: “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.' That was a feature of the 'Abbey Road' sessions: you very rarely saw all four Beatles together. It was either John or Paul or George working on their various things, perhaps only getting together to hear something back. But Paul came in several days running to do the lead vocal on 'Oh! Darling.' He'd come in, sing it and say, 'No, that's not it, I'll try it again 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.'”

Engineer John Kurlander recalls: “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 his piece, always replacing the previous one until he got the one he liked.”

Paul tried again the next day, July 18th, 1969, arriving in EMI Studio Three at 2:30 pm. Showing up a little later in the evening on this day was Ringo, himself trying to nail the perfect vocal on his composition “Octopus's Garden.” By 8 pm, they left for the day.

Paul's next vocal attempt was on July 22nd, 1969, in EMI Studio Three, once again. He got there at 2:30 pm, gave the vocals another go, wasn't happy, and then later worked with the others in recording overdubs onto John's “Come Together” until 9:30 pm.

Paul thought he'd try yet again for a suitable lead vocal for “Oh! Darling” the next day, July 23rd, 1969, in EMI Studio Three at 2:30 pm. And this time, Paul was happy (that is to say, “reasonably happy,” as he is quoted above as saying) with the results. Therefore, this was the vocal performance heard on the finished version of the song. He then double-tracked his high-pitched vocals during the bridges of the song, thus completing his lead vocal contribution for this track. After the others arrived and they added overdubs onto “Come Together” and did extensive work on a new composition eventually titled “The End,” they called it a day at 11:30 pm.

This is not to say that Paul felt, “Oh! Darling” was complete yet. More attention returned to the song on August 8th, 1969, in EMI Studio Three. Early in the day The Beatles got together for a photoshoot for the front cover of the “Abbey Road” album, and then two sessions ran concurrently in EMI Studios later in the day. After they recorded overdubs onto “The End” in EMI Studio Two, Paul excused himself and entered EMI Studio Three between 5:30 and 9:45 pm to record overdubs onto “Oh! Darling” while John and Ringo added overdubs to “I Want You (She's So Heavy)” in EMI Studio Two. Paul added lead guitar to his song as well as tambourine, which put the song even closer to its finished state.

With a proposed deadline to finish the album looming, the group met in EMI Studio Two at 2:30 pm on August 11th, 1969, to perform yet more overdubs on three “Abbey Road” songs. After John, Paul, and George added harmony vocals to “I Want You (She's So Heavy),” the same three did the same for “Oh! Darling” resulting in what Ian MacDonald describes in his book “Revolution In The Head” as “exquisite backing parts.” These backing harmonies were recorded onto tracks seven and eight of the tape, thereby wiping their previous harmony attempts from April 26th. The song was now complete, and after George added some additional guitars to his “Here Comes The Sun,” as well as some editing and tape copying of other songs for the album, they retired for the evening at 11:30 pm.

With “Oh! Darling” now complete, a proper stereo mix needed once again to be made, deeming the previous ones unusable. The next day, August 12th, 1969, producer George Martin and engineers Geoff Emerick, Phil McDonald, and John Kurlander met in the control room of EMI Studio Two to try five attempts (labeled remixes 5 – 9) at creating this stereo mix, the final one undoubtedly being deemed the best. Curiously, when Paul and George Martin were working out the running order of the "Abbey Road" album on August 20th, 1969, an archive document shows a handwritten "OK voice?" next to the song "Oh! Darling." This appears to indicate that Paul was still unsure about his vocal contribution to the song. However, it was decided to leave it as it was.

Sometime in 1996, George Martin and Geoff Emerick returned to the rendition of the song that the group recorded on January 27th, 1969, during the rehearsals for the “Let It Be” project. This six-and-a-half minute performance was edited down to 4:07, just after John's vocalized verse proclaiming his joy at Yoko's divorce. This was included on the compilation album “Anthology 3” released in October of 1996.

And then, sometime between 2004 and 2008, George Martin and his son Giles Martin went back to the master tapes of the finished song and isolated the “exquisite” backing vocals from “Oh! Darling” for inclusion in a mash-up mix for the track entitled “Here Comes The Sun (with 'The Inner Light' transition).” This new track, created for the “Beatles Love” show orchestrated by Cirque du Soleil, appears on the 2006 album of the same name.

The master tapes were returned to again sometime in 2019 by Giles Martin and engineer Sam Okell. A vibrant new mix of "Oh! Darling" was created for inclusion on the various 50th Anniversary editions of "Abbey Road." While they were at it, they also created a stereo mix of 'take four' of the rhythm track as originally recorded on April 20th, 1969, this included on many editions of the new "Abbey Road" releases that year.

Song Structure and Style

Patterned after the tried-and-true early rock 'n' roll and blues standards, the structure of "Oh! Darling" is of the simple 'verse/ verse/ bridge/ verse/ bridge/ verse' variety (or aababa). There isn't even a need for a complicated introduction, conclusion, or solo section to spruce up the format. It just doesn't need it!

A simple augmented E chord from Paul on piano begins the song, played on what would be the third beat of an introductory measure, followed by the vocalist singing the word “Oh” on the fourth beat. From there, we go directly into the first eight-measure verse. All four Beatles kick in immediately in the first measure of this verse, Paul on single-tracked lead vocal and Fats Domino-like triplet chords on piano, John playing heavy electric guitar chops on the two- and four-beat of each measure, George playing very distinctive 50's-style bass work, Ringo on drums accenting each one-beat with slightly open hi-hats. Measures four through six feature John, Paul and George's “ahh” effective background vocals that follow the chord changes.

When measure seven begins, triggered by the word “harm,” Ringo takes center stage with his deliberately prearranged strong accented beats on toms and kick drum, his open hi-hat accompanying them in the first half of seventh measure followed by a rollicking drum fill in the second half. Both Paul's piano and John's guitar continues the pattern as they have been while George's bass follows Ringo's dramatic lead on drums. The first half of the eighth measure shows Ringo playing hard triplet beats on the toms, which abruptly ends during the second half of this final measure as do all the other instruments. This allows for a 'Beatles break' on an augmented E chord as heard in the introduction while Paul once again sings “Oh” as a transition to the second verse that follows.

Verse number two is generally the same in arrangement as the first, one noticeable difference being the background vocals starting as early as the second measure singing “ooh” but then reverting back to “aah” as before in the fourth measure and then continuing as they did in the first verse. Also noteworthy is Paul adding a falsetto “ooooh” at the end of the fifth measure. The biggest difference with this second verse is its transition into the bridge that follows it. Instead of the 'Beatles break,” Ringo goes into rapid-fire triplet fills on the toms and snare throughout the eighth measure while Paul bangs heavily on piano in a similar fashion. At the very end of the eighth measure, Paul begins his climactic screaming vocal line “WHEN YOU...,” which propels us urgently into the bridge.

The bridge is also eight measures in length, the primary focus here being Paul's high-energy double-tracked lead vocal, sung at the very top of his vocal range. John's guitar is now playing an effective falling and then rising line, which adjusts repeatedly with every chord change, this being placed high in the mix. Paul keeps providing the bedrock of the song on piano while both George and Ringo plod away perfectly on bass and drums to keep the excellent rhythm groove going. Ringo adds three simple triplet drum fills in this bridge, at the end of measures one, two and four.

The emotional high point of the bridge is when Paul's vocal hits fever pitch on the downbeat of the second measure on the lyric “you didn't NEED me anymore,” this moment appropriately described in Tim Riley's book “Tell Me Why” as “unhinged.” The creative tension, which depicts the singer's deep pain, keeps rising and rising in the bridge until the eighth measure where the floor drops out with another 'Beatles break.' Ringo partially reprises his drum work at the end of the first verse until the downbeat of the eighth measure where all instruments momentarily disappear to reveal Paul's final highly reverberated lyric “die, I, I, I, I, I,” which gracefully descends in scale as well as in volume. Paul then gives his usual transitional “Oh” to bring us into another verse.

This third verse is nearly identical to the second verse except for slightly different lyrics and the backing vocals not appearing until the beginning of the third measure. These vocals sing “ooh” during the third measure and then “aah” for measures four through six. The eighth measure contains a new ad-lib line from Paul, “Believe me, darling,” which creates a nice wind-up for the second bridge that follows.

This second bridge enters as a simple repeat of the first bridge but, in reality, should be described as a trumped-up version of the first bridge. Paul's amazing vocal work brings you to the edge of your seat, and he's feeling that effect himself as he injects an excited “Whoa-oo-ohhh” in the first measure. Where Ringo placed simple drum fills in the first bridge, he now adds phenomenally inventive drum fills which, to my ears, had to have been personal expressions of an emotional high he achieved in this part of the song. Both John and George continue their powerful contributions to this bridge as well, John adding a final falling guitar note heard behind Paul's vocal during the 'Beatles break' in the eighth measure. This bridge is simply breathtaking!

Next comes the fourth and final verse, which is substantially similar to the others with, of course, some noteworthy changes. The backing vocals begin right at the first measure this time, singing “ooh” until it changes to “aah” in the fourth measure and stays there throughout the sixth measure. Paul celebrates the effectiveness of the song by ending it with an unpredictable blood-curdling “DO YOU NO HARM,” this propelling the song to conclude on an emotive high note. The final measure of this verse, which is the final measure of the entire song, ends in a similar style to Elvis's “One Night,” which this song appears to be primarily patterned after. A 'Beatles break' occurs on the downbeat of the eighth measure, followed by two chords played by all instruments. The last chord rings out to end the song, but then we hear a guitar playing each of its six strings in descending order, presumably plucked behind the bridge of the instrument, which is a nice final touch.

Lyrically, the singer is in anguish over the news that his girl 'doesn't need him anymore,' which devastates him nearly to the point of death. Therefore he pleads with her to reconsider, emphasizing his assurance that he would never 'do her any harm.' Paul's vocal delivery is the epitome of convincing, his gut-wrenching pleas appropriate for the subject matter as well as fitting for a pastiche of 50's rock 'n' roll.

Instrumentally, the group dynamic couldn't be any tighter and cooperative, which is surprising due to the lateness in The Beatles studio-recorded career. Lennon always wanted to play 'rockers' with the group, viewing their early Hamburg and Cavern years as when they were at their peak. And he got his wish with “Oh! Darling,” only this time his stellar performance was on his Epiphone Casino instead of his old Rickenbacker from the early days. And you can almost hear Ringo smiling as he puts in an impressive and emotional drum presentation for the song. George's bass work, being mixed at a high volume, shows his skill on what was not his usual instrument, perfectly nailing the 50's rock 'n' roll style the band aimed to achieve. It appears that Billy Preston's organ and Paul's overdubbed tambourine were omitted from the final mix. 

And, of course, Paul is the driving force of the song, his simple but dynamic piano work tripped exactly what the song needed. His vocals here are arguably the highlight of his entire career. Never before had he worked so hard to perfect a performance. He may have figured that, once it was captured on the recording the way that he heard it in his head, it probably would never be able to be duplicated.

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MAXWELL’S SILVER HAMMER, AND ITS INCREDIBLE RECORDING PROCESS.

The first time "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" was recorded happened on January 3rd, 1969, in Twickenham Film Studios during their filmed rehearsals for what became the "Let It Be" album and movie.

This was their second day of rehearsals at Twickenham, and, with John late in arriving, Paul ran through several work-in-progress songs on piano for the others to hear, including “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 formally write these lyrics.

The atmosphere became much more tense 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, like “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 object being delivered 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 using the studio's eight-track equipment, this consisting of George on his Fender Jazz Bass (track one), Ringo on drums (track two), Paul on piano (track three) and Paul's lead vocal (track eight). Sixteen takes were captured on tape, these being numbered 1 through 5 and then 11 through 21. Takes 6 through 10 were either spooled back and recorded over, or the engineer accidentally lost track of his track counting.

The first complete take of the day, 'take 5,' is included in its entirety on the 1996 released “Anthology 3” album, which shows George playing very proficient bass work. We also witness Paul vocalizing what the future solos might sound like, this sounding quite similar to what singer Harry Nilsson demonstrates vocally on "Pandemonium Shadow Show," a favorite album of both McCartney and Lennon. Paul also bluffs his way through some of the lyrics in the third verse, since these hadn't been quite decided upon yet. As this rhythm track concludes on the "Anthology 3" album, we hear a bit of Paul's statements about "nice bits" from the end of 'take 12,' as detailed below.

The complete 'take 12,' as included on various editions of the "Abbey Road" 50th Anniversary releases, begin with Paul instructing his band-mates about how they should play the song's introduction, although this intro escaped the released recording. "Tell you what," Paul tells Ringo, "Do more, sort of a, 'dum dum pa dum a de dum,' you know, a bit..." After Ringo gives it a try, Paul acknowledges, "Yeah, it's just something a bit more, 'cause it does sound a bit dead when you hear it as just an intro." After Ringo demonstrates again, Paul is satisfied, but then moves on to George on bass. He instructs him on the notes he wants his guitarist to play and, after George shows him he has it down, 'take 12' begins. This take is nearly identical to 'take 5' described above, The Beatles doodling around on their instruments after its conclusion. This prompts George Martin to ask from the control room, "How do you feel about it?"

"One more," Paul answers. "It was good, you know, it had nice bits in it. It would be nice to have the nice bits and the other bits."  "And the bad bits," George Harrison adds, prompting McCartney to concur, "And the bad bits, yeah." As George relaxes after these multiple takes, Ringo announces, "George Harrison is resting his arm," Paul adding with a royal decree, "Let it tobe known unto the people..."  After Ringo laughs, George yells out, "KICK OUT THE JAMS..." in reference to the recently released controversial song by MC5. Instead of following this exclamation with "Motherf**ckers," as the original version of the song includes, Ringo replies by yelling the radio-friendly version "BROTHERS AND SISTERS" before performing a snare drum roll.

'Take 21' ended up as the rhythm track they deemed the best, then set to tape by approximately 8 pm. The rest of the session lingered for guitar passage overdubs onto tracks four and five of the eight-track tape, photographic evidence indicating these being played by both Paul and George simultaneously, possibly harmonizing the lead work as heard in various places of the song. By 10:15 pm, the session closed as The Beatles, and the bed-ridden Yoko left for the night.

On 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 still wanted an anvil struck at strategic places in each chorus, recorded on this day on track six (the first chorus) and track seven (the second and third chorus).

“There was no thought given to finding a way to approximate the effect,” Emerick explains. “Paul wanted the sound of an anvil, 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." While Geoff Emerick claims that he was an eyewitness to the events of this day, evidence referred to by Kevin Howlett in his "Track By Track" section of the Super Deluxe edition of "Abbey Road" suggests that Mal Evans was on vacation at the time and thereby couldn't have played the anvil on the recording. Ringo, undoubtedly, performed this task with no problem.

As well as Ringo's anvil playing on the first chorus, overdubs to track six on this day include piano arpeggios from Paul as well as "Maxwell must go free" harmonies from Paul and George in the third verse. Onto track seven, other than Ringo's anvil in the second and third chorus, was overdubbed George Martin on Hammond organ, vocal harmonies from Paul and, according to Mark Lewisohn's "The Beatles Recording Sessions," George Harrison on electric guitar run through a Leslie speaker. Onto track eight, Paul overdubbed his lead vocals for the third verse since he had just finalized what he wanted these to be, the original lead vocal from the rhythm track, this already being isolated on track eight, being used for the rest of the song.

Another overdub recorded on this day was the "silver hammer man" choral singing by Paul, George, and Ringo for the song's conclusion, the higher notes captured on track six, the lower notes on track seven, and a further combination of low and high notes on track eight. “The group were recording the backing vocals for the song,” Emerick relates about these particular overdubs, “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.”

Geoff Emerick insists that Paul overdubbed himself playing bass onto track one, wiping out George's bass performance from the rhythm track in the process. Although documentation doesn't indicate Emerick's presence in the studio on this day, he relates the following: "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 rolled 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." Upon listening to the later released 'take 5' and 'take 12' of the rhythm tracks, the performances appear identical to the released recording. While it is indeed possible that Paul re-recorded the bass on "Maxwell's Silver Hammer," the evidence seems to show otherwise. 

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. Onto track six, Paul double-tracked his lead vocals during the second and third choruses while playing acoustic guitar, adding "do-do-do-do" harmonies with George along the way. 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 about "Maxwell's Silver Hammer," "We spent more money on that song than any of them on the whole album, I think.”

With this tension mounting, attention shifted 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 completing 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. Moog synthesizer overdubs onto the song took place on this day from this room, which engineers fed into EMI Studio Two. These overdubs were performed simultaneously with reduction mixes from 'take 21,' six reduction mixes being made with the synthesizer for each mix. As Kevin Howlett explains in the "Track by Track" section of the 50th Anniversary "Abbey Road" book, after all of the elements of track six were combined with what they recorded on track seven during the reduction mixes, "three Moog overdubs were played by Paul on tracks four, five and six of take 27," this being 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 three 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 be played at a time, this was accomplished during reduction mixes onto another tape, as explained above. 

After the remixing and synthesizer performances were accomplished on this day, 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, this being taken away by Mal Evans to be given to Malcolm Davies at Apple for cutting of acetate discs. Paul undoubtedly listened to this mix and deemed it unsuitable.

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 received touch-ups as well.

At this point, the song had a seven-second instrumental introduction, which, according to Paul, needed omitting. 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 precisely when Paul started singing on the first verse. However, Paul had the idea of adding various sound effects to the beginning of the song, this recording being done on this day. These sound effects were decided against on this day as well, Paul apparently feeling this was unnecessary after all, the master of the entire album being tape copied and taken away by Geoff Emerick for cutting and release in Britain a month later.

As indicated above, 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 the Cirque du Soleil production of the same name, but was released through iTunes as a bonus track for this collection.

Then in 2019, Giles Martin and engineer Sam Okell returned once again to the master tapes of "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" to create a vibrant new stereo mix of the song for inclusion in the various editions of "Abbey Road" to celebrate the album's 50th Anniversary. While they were at it, they also created a mix of the complete 'take 12' to be featured in certain Deluxe editions of the "Abbey Road" album.

Song Structure and Style

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. Only the elements of the rhythm track are heard here, which are Paul's piano and single-tracked lead vocals, George's bass and Ringo's drums. 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 and Paul joining in with guitar passages that suit the arrangement and Ringo 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 while George 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 appear, 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, Paul's acoustic guitar, and Paul and George'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. 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, bass, and piano of the rhythm track along with Paul's subtle single-note synthesizer and the guitar figure in measures eight and nine. One other addition is Paul and George'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, man” 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 piano and synthesizer as well as vocals. Three cheers to George and Ringo for putting in accommodating performances on guitar, bass, and drums and anvil, even though their hearts appear to have not been in it. George Martin's contribution on organ was apparently more subtle than noticeable in the mix, but here is more evidence of the producer adding a nice touch to the arrangement without overwhelming The Beatles' performance. 

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