I Dig A Pony And Its Incredible Recording Process Revealed

The first day of rehearsals at Twickenham Film Studios for what became the “Let It Be” movie was on January 2nd, 1969. John and George were the first Beatles to get there at around 11 am. Before the others arrived, John introduced his new song “Don't Let Me Down” to George, which progressed into 15 renditions of the song being rehearsed by the two guitarists before Harrison introduced his song “All Things Must Pass” to John in return.

After two run-throughs of this song, John then performed a solo rendition of “Dig A Pony,” which was titled “All I Want Is You,” at this point, on electric guitar. It was during this debut of the song, which practically made it through to the end with much of the lyrics already in place, that Ringo arrived. At one point during this rehearsal, George wanted clarification of John's odd lyric, asking, “dig a pony?”, to which John answered, “yeah, dig A pony.” Interestingly, John's lyric included the line “I kill a hound dog” at the beginning of one of the verses, this lyric being held over to later rehearsals as well. George did join in a little with some lead guitar contributions that prompted John to reply, “that's right.” The song dropped thereafter because Paul's arrival prompted them to work extensively on “I've Got A Feeling” and “Two Of Us” instead.

John didn't bring “Dig A Pony” out for consideration again until the fourth rehearsal day at Twickenham Studios, which was on January 7th, 1969. This was a lackluster rehearsal of the song with all four Beatles participating to a degree, although this was the first time Paul heard it. McCartney attempted singing some high harmonies to John's vocal and started playing a bit of bass, but Lennon viewed his half-hearted contributions as disinterest. As John related about this day just after the "Let It Be" movie came out, "Paul yawned and plays boogie, and I immediately say, 'Oh, does anybody want to do a fast one?' That's how I am. So year after year, that begins to wear you down." They immediately delved into more work on the old unreleased Beatles song “One After 909,” which they had recently resurrected into consideration for the project. A small segment of this day's “Dig A Pony” rehearsal eventually got included in the “Let It Be” film.

During the absence of George Harrison, who announced that he had quit The Beatles on January 10th, John played bits of “Dig A Pony” during their final rehearsal at Twickenham Studios on January 13th, 1969. This was not a serious attempt at rehearsing the song, most of this day's activities consisting of discussions about how to proceed with the project at hand and with The Beatles as a group.

After the others coaxed George back into The Beatles, they resumed work on the “Get Back” project in their basement studios at Apple headquarters on Savile Row in London on January 21st, 1969. “Dig A Pony” received the most attention on this day, spending much time working out the full arrangement of the song as we know it, right down to finishing off all of the lyrics and George perfecting his guitar solo. One of the takes recorded on this day begins with John humorously introducing, “'I Dig A Pygmy' by Charles Hawtrey And The Deaf-Aids...Phase One in which Doris gets her oats,” this statement made it onto the released “Let It Be” album as an introduction to the track “Two Of Us.”

One noteworthy part of the arrangement they worked out on this day is the vocal “all I want is...” section that appears toward the beginning and then at the conclusion of the song, both of these segments eventually deleted off of the released version. Lennon was happy enough with the results on this day that he asked producer Glyn Johns to officially record two attempts at getting a releasable version of “Dig A Pony.” They listened back to the first take, which prompted them to continue rehearsing the song, but the group only managed a few false starts before they went on to other things.

On the following day, January 22nd, 1969, The Beatles again worked extensively on “Dig A Pony,” running through 24 versions of the song, some of which were recorded by Glyn Johns. The group was in good spirits on this day with much goofing around heard on the tapes, John singing a verse on one of these takes in a humorous staccato fashion. John also took some time on this day instructing Ringo on his drum work for the song, focusing on where to emphasize his cymbals.

One of the recorded takes of “Dig A Pony” on this day appear on the 1996 compilation album “Anthology 3,” which end with the following dialog:

John: “Shalavat.”

Paul: “Shalom” (which is Hebrew for “peace”). “Ah, you see, you see? We improve with time, like a fine wine, really. I'll put us down as Beaujolais '62!”

John: “You're not talking to 'Ricky And The Red Streaks,' y'know!” (this being a pseudonym suggested by Paul for when they were to proposing to go back on-the-road).

Another of the takes recorded on this day, January 22nd, was chosen by Glyn Johns for a proposed “Get Back” album for mid-1969 release, bootleg recordings of this leaking out illegally later that year. With Billy Preston present on this day, his keyboard contribution blossoms on this take, which adds some musical depth to the recording. A decision to lop off some awkward introductory measures in the opening and closing segments of the song followed, allowing the song to flow noticeably better.

This version begins with John instructing Ringo as follows: “Ok, so you, you're doing the, you never change drumming now...yeah, that's ok.” While Paul and George practice their simultaneous “all I want is you” singing and playing, John then instructs the producer, “Ok, alright Glynnis, we're off again, yeah...ok, one, two, three...” This count-off reveals that Ringo wasn't ready, so John counts it down again to begin the take. John's lead vocals in the fifth verse drift off-key, which prompts Paul to laugh, Lennon also realizing that this wouldn't become the perfect take. John himself chuckles during the sixth verse as he decides to see this take through to the end regardless not making the grade. After it concludes, John answers the phrase “all I want is you” with “YES I DO” in an exaggerated voice. One can easily see why the band rejected this take of the song for official release.

The following day, January 23rd, 1969, was primarily used to perfect the song “Get Back” at Apple Studios, but they did touch on “Dig A Pony” once. They ran through it once again in Apple Studios on January 26th, The Beatles feeling pleased enough with the work they had done on it so far that they basically put it aside to work on other material that needed attention.

Of the twelve run-throughs of “Dig A Pony” performed by The Beatles at Apple Studios on January 28th, 1969, before lunch, eight of them were recorded by George Martin, only two of these making it all the way through to the end of the song. At the end of the final version, 'take eight,' John sings in falsetto, “I think the other one was much better, let's do 'Get Back.'”

On January 29th, 1969, the band decided they would perform their proposed concert the following day on the roof of their Apple headquarters building and thought it wise to run through each of the five songs they planned to do on the roof at least once. George Martin put these rehearsals down on tape in case he decided to use any of these renditions for record release, an impromptu version of Buddy Holly's “Mailman, Bring Me No More Blues” feature the only performances eventually released on the 1996 compilation album “Anthology 3.” The rehearsal of “Dig A Pony” on this day, introduced by John as “I Frig A Pony,” was sung by its composer with a somewhat subdued voice in order not to strain his vocal cords. Paul joined in on harmony during the verses at times, even singing along with George's guitar solo. The song was now ready for its legendary live performance the next day.

Around midday on January 30th, 1969, strategically timed to coincide with passers-by being on their lunch hour, The Beatles began their 42-minute rooftop concert atop their Apple headquarters in Savile Row, London. While their most noteworthy new songs, “Get Back” and “Don't Let Me Down,” were played more than once, “Dig A Pony” emerged one time. They did quietly rehearse specific segments of the song beforehand while the engineers and crew were getting ready for recording and filming, this rehearsal inadvertently was preserved on the eight-track tape. George reviewed his guitar solo at this time, for instance, while John is heard requesting for someone to hold the lyrics out in front of him on a clipboard. A few seconds of guitars fumbling and tuning at this time actually found their way onto the released "Let It Be" album, heard just before and during the beginning moments of "Get Back." When they received the go-ahead, John counts off the song only to be stopped by Ringo calling out "hold it," the drummer than proceeding quickly to use an inhalant for his runny nose, given that this was a cold and windy day. After Paul mimics Ringo's "hold it" shout, John counts-off the song a second time, which begins the recording of the song as we know it. At its conclusion, John states, “Thank you, brothers...My hands are getting too cold to play the chords.”

On February 5th, 1969, engineers Glyn Johns and Alan Parsons, and possibly George Martin, met at Apple Studios to create stereo mixes of the five songs played on the rooftop in preparation for future release. One mix of “Dig A Pony” was all that was needed, although this mix never saw the light of day.

Given the opportunity by John and Paul to assemble the next Beatles album from the January sessions, Glyn Johns began digging through the big pile of eight-track tapes from Olympic Sound Studios on March 10th, 1969. Glyn decided that the January 22nd recording of “Dig A Pony” described above sounded suitable for release, so he, and possibly George Martin, created a stereo mix of this version on this day. The Beatles, however, rejected the release of this album and shelved the project. The same mix of “Dig A Pony” also ranked for inclusion on a January 1970 edition of the album, but once again got rejected by the band.

On March 23rd, 1970, however, Phil Spector arrived to prepare a soundtrack album for the soon-to-be-released “Let It Be” film. Spector met with engineers Peter Bown and Roger Ferris in Room 4 of Abbey Road Studios on this day to create stereo mixes for this album, choosing the excellent rooftop performance of “Dig A Pony” for inclusion. Because of the somewhat awkward feel of the twice repeated “all I want is” introductory and concluding segments of the song, Spector decided to edit them out entirely. He did, however, include some of the commotion and chatter before and after the performance, including Ringo's nose-blowing and John's concluding statement about his hands being cold.

Sometime in 1996, George Martin and engineer Geoff Emerick returned to the master tapes of “Dig A Pony” recorded at Apple Studios on January 22nd, 1969, to chose a rendition for inclusion on the compilation album “Anthology 3.” As described above, this vibrant stereo mix, including Beatles chatter, shows how well the group had worked out the arrangement thus far.

The engineering team of Paul Hicks, Guy Massey, and Allan Rouse pulled out the master tape of the rooftop performance of “Dig A Pony” sometime in 2003 to create a new stereo mix for inclusion on the album “Let It Be...Naked.” While omitting the Beatles chatter before and after the performance, and also following Phil Spector's lead in editing out the awkward “all I want is” segments of the recording, this bright stereo mix is viewed by most as the best available version of the song.

Song Structure and Style

“Dig A Pony” shadows the structure of 'verse/ verse/ chorus/ verse/ verse/ chorus/ verse (instrumental) / verse/ verse/ chorus' (or aabaabaaab) with an identical intro and conclusion thrown in as well. The song is primarily in 6/8 time, but, as is usual for a later-Beatles Lennon song, delivers surprises along the way.

After the commotion and false start heard on the released recording, the four-measure intro flows. Both John and George play the identical winding guitar lick on their electric guitars while Paul mimics this on bass. Ringo plays a triplet pattern in measures one through three consisting of a cymbal crash followed by two pounds on his toms, repeated twice per measure. The fourth measure contains only a cymbal crash on the downbeat while his bandmates continue the guitar lick until the end of the final measure.

On the actual performance, before the first verse begins, there is a fifth measure of the intro that had been edited out by Phil Spector. This measure comprises a drum fill by Ringo, a somewhat awkward ascending guitar/bass figure, and Paul and George singing “all I want is...” as a vocal segway to John's lead vocal, which comes directly on the downbeat of the first verse that follows. This extra measure, undoubtedly from the mind of Lennon himself, broke up the flow of the song and was, understandably, omitted. It can, however, see the light of day on the “Let It Be” film as well as the 1996 “Anthology 3” release.

The first verse, like all of them, is seven measures long, all of them being in 6/8 time except for measure four, which is in 3/4 time. John's rhythm guitar acts as a time-keeper in this verse, Ringo only accenting the one- and four-beats of each measure with cymbal hits and snare beats, alternatively. Interestingly, Ringo does not account for the 3/4 measure and continues to alternate his cymbal and snare beats as if all measures were of the same time signature. The drummer does, however, add a subdued drum fill in the final measure to usher in the second verse that follows. Also, in the first verse is John's lead vocal, Paul's plodding bass lines, and George's lead guitar fills whenever there was a gap in John's singing and then as a lead-in for the second verse in measure seven. Paul's higher harmony backing vocals are also first heard in measure seven above John's “ooohhh” vocal line.

The second verse is identical instrumentally, the only additions being Paul's higher harmony in the first two measures on top of John's “I, ha-hi-hi, ha-hi-hi” vocal and Ringo's drum fills in measures three, five and seven. John's final vocal line this time is “I told you so!” which he belts out at a higher register to create anticipation for the first chorus that follows.

The chorus is four measures long, the first three runs in 6/8 while the fourth measure is without a defined time signature. This measure comprises a 'Beatles break,' and a purposely labored vocal harmony from John and Paul on the words “dooooooo / be – cause,” which provides a satisfying decrease in tension that the chorus otherwise builds upon. Structurally, the chorus is practically a repeat of the intro, the winding guitar riff by George and Paul in measures two and three, and by John in measure two.

Ringo allows for a 'Beatles break' in both measures two and four, the first break allowing for the guitar riff to be the focal point as we witnessed in the fourth measure of the intro, the second break displaying the above mentioned vocal harmonies from John and Paul. Otherwise, Ringo thrashes away on his drums in measures one and three, his performance played in an especially heavy-handed way in the third measure. John and Paul's harmonies throughout the chorus are both sung with great enthusiasm, popping in and out of falsetto to significant effect when necessary, although not usually at the same time. With the tempo lost during the acapella harmonies in the fourth measure, Ringo brings the band back in with an appropriate drum fill.

Next, we hear a near-identical repeat of the 'verse/ verse/ chorus' pattern, all instrumentation and vocalization being the same except for one notable exception. Ringo continues his cymbal/snare accents on the one- and four-beats of the measures in the third verse but then progresses to a standard 6/8 drumbeat in the fourth verse, riding on his hi-hat throughout and adding additional drum breaks when the mood strikes him. Interestingly, in the first measure of the third verse, he begins riding on his hi-hat but then apparently realizes that he was doing this too soon and goes back to just accenting the one- and four-beats for the remaining measures of this verse. This seems to reveal that he was instructed by someone, probably John, to wait until the fourth measure to play the straight beat, and he momentarily forgot.

The second chorus concludes somewhat differently this time. Paul appears to have run out of breath on the word “because,” resulting in him taking a quick breath and delivering an “oooh” during Ringo's drum fill, John answering him with an improvised “aaah!”

Three verses follow immediately afterward, the first featuring an impressive and well-rehearsed guitar solo from George, who delivers it masterfully. Ringo plays his straight 6/8 drum pattern while riding on his hi-hat throughout all three verses, adding appropriate drum fills in each verse. John begins singing at the end of the fifth verse with Paul adding harmony vocals on “ooooh, now,” which they continue into the sixth verse. The seventh verse is noteworthy for John's improvised “boat you row-ooh-ow!” and “Yeah!” in the fifth measure, which seems to indicate that he's enjoying the performance. His voice does crack slightly on the line “I told you so” in the seventh measure, this adding to the flavor of the performance, not unlike his vocal delivery on “Twist And Shout” six years prior.

This is followed by a third chorus, which is identical to the others. The intro then repeats as the song's conclusion, the extra “all I want is...” measure also edited out with the word “...you” heard on the released version as sung in falsetto by Paul. As the final chord and cymbal crash rings out, John flicks a fret on his guitar repeatedly to offer up the final word.

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