Here Comes The Sun And Its Incredible Recording Process.

 

It may have been George's recent custom to sit down in EMI Studios and record demos for the compositions he offered The Beatles, but, in this case, he did not. However, a simple acoustic guitar instrumental demo has surfaced, apparently recorded in George's "Kinfauns" home. He hadn't quite perfected all of the intricate parts yet, which were played high up on the neck with a capo up on the seventh fret, but he was close. And it sounded beautiful!

Having decided to record one final Beatles album, the group began these sessions on July 1st, 1969. One week into these sessions, on July 7th, 1969, George brought in “Here Comes The Sun” as his second contribution for the album, his “Something” having already been started. They entered EMI Studio Two on this day at 2:30 pm, this being Ringo's 29th Birthday, to focus entirely on George's new song. However, only three Beatles were present because John recuperated from his recent car accident in Scotland.

Before recording commenced, much instruction needed to be given to George's bandmates, especially to the birthday boy, because of the tricky timing contained in the song. In the documentary “Living In The Material World,” Ringo relates: “He said, 'Oh, I've got this song. It's like seven-and-a-half time.' 'Yeah, so?' You know, he might as well have talked to me in Arabic, you know what I mean?... I had to find some way that I could physically do it and do it every time, so it came off on the time. That's one of those Indian tricks. I had no way of going, 'one, two, three, four, five, six, seven...' It's not in my brain. So as long as I go (demonstrates), 'OK, that's seven. Got it!'”

With that worked out, thirteen takes of the rhythm track were recorded onto an eight-track machine, with Paul on bass (track one), Ringo on drums (track two), George on acoustic guitar (track three), and George's guide vocals (track eight). Author Mark Lewisohn relates in his book “The Beatles Recording Sessions” that “the original tapes reveal a lighthearted atmosphere. When take one broke down, George exclaimed, sadly, 'One of me best beginnings, that!' And at the end of take four, Ringo...called up to the control room 'Turn me down a little bit, if you don't mind' – meaning, reduce the level of the drum sound in his headphones.”

'Take nine,' which is included in various "Abbey Road" 50th Anniversary editions, shows that there were still some bugs to be worked out, despite meeting George Martin's approval at the time. Although minor arrangement details were needed, the primary problem was Ringo's drum work. The song's bridge's timing tripped him up, leaving small gaps in his playing to keep his place. As if to allow for Ringo to practice, the guitarist directs his bandmates through four extra chord sequences in the bridge until Ringo clumsily lands on his feet just before the final verse begins. 'Take 13,' which was announced as "take 12 and a half" for superstitious reasons, was deemed the best, over which George decided to overdub his acoustic guitar part onto track four of the tape. Perfecting this overdub took up the last hour of the session, which ended at 11:45 that evening.

On the following day, July 8th, 1969, more attention was given to “Here Comes The Sun,” entering EMI Studio Two again at 2:30 pm. Onto track five of the tape, Ringo added extra drum fills (possibly to fill in drum gaps he left in the bridge of the song during the rhythm track) along with George playing electric guitar played through a Leslie speaker. George then recorded a new lead vocal performance onto track six, complete with "doot-n-doo-doo" accentuations reminiscent of the backing vocals on The Beatles' cover of "A Taste Of Honey" from their first album. George and Paul then supplied the harmonized backing vocals for "Here Comes The Sun" on track seven and then, since it was just the two of them without John, double-tracked them onto track eight to make the harmonies sound fuller. George's guide vocals from the rhythm track, therefore, were wiped from track eight.

This filled up all eight tracks of the tape, which meant that a reduction mix needed to be made to open up more tracks for future overdubs. Two attempts at the reduction mix were made, which resulted in the second attempt, signified as 'take 15,' to be the master thus far. This mix combined Ringo's added drum fills and George's electric guitar on track five with George's acoustic guitar on track three. The session was complete at 10:45 pm, but they spent the next half-hour in the control room. Simultaneously, the engineering team prepared a rough mono mix for George to take home and examine,  made by producer George Martin and engineers Phil McDonald and John Kurlander. This would help him determine what else he wanted to add to the song. At 11:15 pm, everyone had left for the night.

Just over a week later, on July 16th, 1969, The Beatles returned to “Here Comes The Sun” for more overdub work in EMI Studio Three, this session beginning at 2:30 pm. The first thing that George decided was needed in the song was a round of intricate hand-clapping, this being recorded onto the newly vacated track eight. George painstakingly took the necessary time to instruct Paul, Ringo, and producer Glyn Johns on the pattern he wanted the handclaps to be performed during the song's complicated bridge section. In an interview with author Andy Babiuk in 1998, Engineer Alan Parsons remembers how it took a long time for them to get it right. In the book “Beatles Gear” he relates: “Glyn Johns was out there trying to do it – and he dropped out because he kept screwing up.” Interestingly, even though John Lennon had recovered from his accident and had returned to recording sessions by this time, studio documentation intimates that he was either not present on this day or declined to participate.

Once this was complete to George's satisfaction, he sat down at a harmonium to add one further overdub onto the newly opened track five. By 7 pm, this session was complete, but they all ushered themselves immediately into EMI Studio Two for more work on George's other “Abbey Road” song, “Something.”

While work progressed on various other songs for the album, “Here Comes The Sun” took a back seat for over a couple weeks. George knew he wanted to add more to the song but wasn't sure what. Therefore, on August 4th, 1969, after the group recorded their beautiful three-part harmonies for the song “Because,” George ducked into the control room of EMI Studio Three at 7:15 pm with engineers Phil McDonald and Alan Parsons to create a stereo mix of the song, as well as “Something,” for him to examine and determine what could be added. At 8:45 pm, both stereo mixes were done, documentation shows Mr. Martin produced these mixes.

Within the next two days, George decided more guitar work was needed for “Here Comes The Sun.” Therefore, on August 6th, 1969, George entered EMI Studio Three at 2:30 pm to perform this overdub while, simultaneously in EMI Studio Two, Paul was adding overdubs to his song “Maxwell's Silver Hammer,” playing George's Moog synthesizer. Engineer Tony Clark, in the book “The Beatles Recording Sessions,” explains: “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.” With George playing his Rosewood Fender Telecaster through a rotating B3 speaker onto track six, this guitar overdub session ran from 2:30 to 11 pm.

Interestingly, this overdub included a lead guitar solo recorded onto the mostly-instrumental bridge section of the song. Not entirely satisfied with this performance, George decided he would add another guitar overdub to the song on August 11th, 1969, the deadline for the finished album getter ever closer. The Beatles entered EMI Studio Two at the usual 2:30 pm and, after putting more overdubs onto "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" and "Oh! Darling," George went to laying down this further "Here Comes The Sun" guitar overdub onto track seven. After more control room work was performed, this session ended at 11:30 pm.

However, George eventually decided that both of these later guitar overdubs were not suitable for the song's bridge. To make sure these guitar parts didn't get used in the final mix, George wrote this instruction on the actual tape box: "Don't use guitars for solo from 6 + 7." George later decided to fill this section with other instrumentation, as we'll see below, but this guitar solo was never recorded over and was left on the master eight-track tape on tracks six and seven. During a visit to what is now called "Abbey Road Studios" (formerly EMI) in 2012, producers George and Giles Martin, along with George Harrison's son Dhani Harrison, discovered this lost solo while listening to the original eight-track master of the song, this captured discovery occurred on camera during the making of a documentary segment.

George, however, was very proud of both of his contributions to “Abbey Road.” So much so, in fact, that he labored over the arrangement and production to perfect both songs, possibly with the knowledge that this was likely going to be The Beatles' final album and thereby wanting to make a good impression.

With this in mind, George decided to add an orchestral score to both songs. Three other songs on the album required an orchestra as well, so, for economic reasons, the classically-trained musicians recorded their performances on all of these songs on one day, August 15th, 1969. As outlined in the “Recording History” of the music “Something,” the orchestra was set up in the larger EMI Studio One. Simultaneously, the performance was being recorded onto the eight-track recording console in EMI Studio Two. Both studios were linked together via recording lines being run, closed-circuit television, and walkie-talkies.

Two sessions were needed to get this all done on this day, the first session accommodating the songs “Golden Slumbers,” “Carry That Weight” and “The End,” and the later session for recording both of George's songs, “Something” and then “Here Comes The Sun.” There was an hour-and-a-half break between the sessions to give the musicians a rest, the later session beginning at 7 pm. After “Something” was complete, “Here Comes The Sun” received its orchestral overdub. Eight woodwind plays recorded their parts on the open track four of the tape, which a nine-piece string section was recorded onto track five, thus erasing George's harmonium overdub from July 16th. Documentation and photographs show that George was busy shuttling between both studios during this session, playing a key role in making sure his songs were recorded to his liking, even acting as “producer” in Studio Two while George Martin was busy conducting the orchestra in Studio One. At 1:15 am the following morning, this overdub was complete, which finished off “Here Comes The Sun.”

Or so you would think. Four days later, on August 19th, 1969, George wanted to add one more overdub onto the song before the final mix was made. “I first heard about the Moog synthesizer in America,” George states in the book “Beatles Anthology,” recalling his purchasing the instrument in November of 1968 while producing Jackie Lomax's debut album in Los Angeles. The instrument appears on several of the tracks of this album, titled "Is This What You Want?", due to its sales representatives Paul Beaver and Bernie Krause bringing this cumbersome instrument to the sessions to spark George's interest. Former Beatles road manager Mal Evans, who was present in the studio at the time, predicted in the January edition of "The Beatles Book Monthly" fan magazine, "George couldn't resist the idea of ordering one. It will be installed at home. May well hear the results on 1969 Beatle records, folks."

“I had to have mine made specially because Mr. Moog had only just invented it. It was enormous, with hundreds of jack plugs and two keyboards. But it was one thing having one and another trying to make it work. There wasn't an instruction manual, and even if there had been, it would probably have been a couple of thousand pages long. I don't think even Mr. Moog knew how to get music out of it; it was more of a technical thing. When you listen to the sounds on songs like 'Here Comes The Sun,' it does do some good things, but they're all very kind of infant sounds.”

The book “Beatles Gear” specifies that “Here Comes The Sun” has a “lovely ribbon-assisted downward slide on the intro, and glorious synth sounds filling the 'sun, sun, sun' middle section.” As mentioned above, the ribbon controller is described 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...like a violin and having to find every note." This synthesizer overdub was recorded onto track four of the tape, thus recording over the woodwind performance allocated to that track wherever the synthesizer playing occurred. During this overdub, one trick was sticking some editing tape on the tape machine's capstan used to create delay echo. This gave the synthesizer a slightly 'wobbled' sound.

This synthesizer overdub was performed in EMI Studio Two on this day, the session beginning at 2 pm. This was primarily intended as a stereo mixing session for the album. However, since George insisted on adding this final overdub, it was done in the following day's early morning hours. This session was a rather long one to facilitate the deadline for the finished album being very near. After the synthesizer overdubs were complete, George Martin and engineers Geoff Emerick, Phil McDonald, and Alan Parsons performed the one and only stereo mix. This mix was made with the tape played back slightly faster than normal speed, raising the song's pitch by roughly a quarter-tone in the process. The orchestral overdub was mixed at a somewhat low volume, and George's guitar solo in the bridge, per his instructions on the tape box, was omitted entirely from the mix.

Sometime between 2004 and 2006, George and Giles Martin returned to the master recording of the song to create an innovative mash-up entitled “Here Comes The Sun (with 'The Inner Light' transition)” for the Cirque du Soleil production as well as the resulting album “Love.” The entire “Here Comes The Sun” is heard in an amazing digitally remixed state, including the small phrase “and I say” from the final verse, which was mixed out of the original version, with elements of “The Inner Light,” “Oh! Darling,” “Within You Without You” and “I Want You (She's So Heavy)” mixed in as well.

Giles Martin, along with engineer Sam Okell, returned to the master tapes of "Here Comes The Sun" sometime in 2019 to create a vibrant new stereo mix of the song for inclusion on various 50th Anniversary editions of "Abbey Road." In paying close attention to detail, the final "and I say" from George's lead vocal track was faded down to keep consistent with the originally released mix. While they were at it, they also created a mix of 'take nine' of the rhythm track recorded on July 7th, 1969.

Two live versions of George's song have been recorded, the first being a lovely acoustic guitar duet he performed with Pete Ham of the Apple band Badfinger on August 1st, 1971 at Madison Square Garden in New York City for “The Concert For Bangla Desh." The second live version was recorded sometime between December 1st and 17th, 1991, during George's brief tour of Japan, the results appearing on the release “Live In Japan.” His band featured Eric Clapton, Ray Cooper, and various other musicians and vocalists.

Song Structure and Style

The structure of "Here Comes The Sun" consists of 'verse (instrumental)/ refrain/ verse/ refrain/ verse/ refrain/ bridge/ verse/ refrain/ refrain/ conclusion' (or abababcabbd). The first instrumental verse acts as an introduciton while the final conclusion is an acoustic guitar instrumental sub-section of the bridge.

The instrumental verse is first heard, this being eight measures long as all of the verses are. George's double-tracked acoustic guitar comprises the first four measures, the downbeat to the first measure not being heard but only implied. The first actual beat of the song heard on the recording is the second beat of the first measure. George's overdubbed synthesizer appears in measures five through eight, this instrument playing a single-note melody line as heard within the acoustic guitar intro. The final note of the synthesizer descends, accomplished by George using the ribbon controller as mentioned above, in the eighth measure as the guitars momentarily disappear for good effect. Gentle tapping from George on his acoustic guitar rounds out the rest of the eighth measure beats.

The first refrain is then heard, which, when listened to carefully, can actually be measured out to be seven full measures in 4/4 time even though measures six and seven are laid out as four triplets followed by a straight measure of 2/4. Instrumentally, George's vocals and double-tracked acoustic guitars fill the first five measures and the first appearance of the string section. The second “here comes the sun” phrase, as well as “it's all right,” is joined by George and Paul's double-tracked backing vocals, this appearing in measures three through five. When the intricate triplet guitar figure appears in the sixth measure, the vocals disappear while the drums and bass kick in for the first time to round out the verse while the strings accentuate the melody line played by the guitars. Ringo's strategically played drum fill during this section ends with a cymbal crash on the first vocal verse's downbeat that appears next.

This is actually the second verse, which continues George's lead vocal work that Paul and himself harmonized when the phrase “little darling” is heard in the first and fifth measures. In contrast, George continues his beautiful acoustic guitar playing. Ringo plods away nicely with a simple drum pattern focused on the closed hi-hat while Paul plays a simple but appropriate figure on bass. The strings follow along nicely and act as a windfall to fill out the sound.

Then comes the second refrain, which, this time, includes the full instrumentation as heard in the verse that precedes it. Both “here comes the sun” phrases, as well as “it's all right,” are now sung with backing harmonies. A briefly heard injection of the synthesizer appears in measure two during the “doot-n-doo-doo” vocal line. One difference with this refrain is that it contains an extra measure that acts as a transition to the verse that follows it, making this refrain a full eight measures long. This extra measure continues the same instrumentation but allows Ringo to inject an additional drum fill in measure eight to lead into the next verse.

The third verse and fourth refrain come next, both of which essentially consists of the same instrumentation and vocal elements as heard previously. However, one addition is the synthesizer playing along with George's vocal melody line, this trailing off in a descending fashion in the eighth measure, not unlike what was heard in the instrumental first verse. The synthesizer also continues to be heard playing the intricate triplet melody line in the latter refrain measures that follow. The second addition was an electric guitar being played on top of the “doot-n-doo-doo” in the second measure of the refrain, which trailed off into the third measure thereafter.

One interesting feature of this third refrain is how it concludes. Considering what George described to Ringo as a “seven-and-a-half time” song, as mentioned above, the guitar figure that encompasses the bridge that follows this refrain begins this strange time signature. Therefore, half of the eighth measure of this refrain's final beat appears chopped off,  making the final measure of this refrain play in 7/8 time. However, first to be heard are two accent beats from all of the instruments in that 7/8 measure. These accent beats are then followed by the first three notes of George's complicated guitar figure that continue into the bridge that follows.

This bridge consists of twenty-one measures, which construes six sets of three measures played in odd times, followed by three measures in a standard 4/4 time. American musicologist Alan W. Pollock, in his online “Notes On...Series,” explains this inventive three-measure set this way: “The meters of these three measures are 11/8, 4/4, and 7/8, respectively. The special effect of running even eighth notes accented as if triplets against the grain of the underlying backbeat are carried to a point more reminiscent of Stravinsky than The Beatles. Compared to the refrain section of this song, no attempt is made at all here to make the arithmetic balance out in the end; quite the opposite.”

The first of the three-measure sets have George on double-tracked acoustic guitar, Paul on bass, and Ringo on drums, playing a little drum fill at the end followed by three beats on top of the repeat of George's first three guitar notes in anticipation of the second three-measure set. This second set is then joined by double-tracked harmonies from George and Paul singing “sun, sun, sun, here it comes,” this appearing during the second 11/8 measure of the bridge. The 7/8 measure of this second set's 7/8 measure brings in a low-toned synthesizer sound that continues for the rest of the bridge while raising by an octave with each successive three-measure set. This third three-measure set brings in the intricate hand-clapping overdub mentioned above and the somewhat low in the mix orchestra.

As this bridge reaches a crescendo during its sixth three-measure set, the final three 4/4 measures continue the same instrumentation, including a tricky hand-clapping pattern. High-pitched synthesizer notes mimic George's ending guitar phrases that act as a transition to the verse that follows. Possibly somewhat confused by the whole process, Ringo adds drum fills at the end of measures eighteen and twenty and not in the final twenty-first measure where it would be expected to appear. Nonetheless, it all worked together very impressively!

After the dust settles from this climactic bridge, we settle down nicely into the final verse, which is essentially identical to previous verses with the addition of a gentle and soothing counter-melody from George on synthesizer. This is followed by a twice repeated refrain to end the song, the synthesizer counter-melody line continuing nicely as the orchestra provides a beautiful backdrop. The last refrain is actually extended to ten measures due to a repeat of the refrain's final two measures that contain George's guitar figure. This happens just after all vocalists repeat one last “it's all right” in the eighth measure, with George appropriately dipping the final word in anticipation of the repeated guitar phrase. As Ringo's final cymbal crash rings out and most of the other instruments fade away, George repeatedly repeats the 11/8 measure guitar phrase from the bridge to act as the song's conclusion with only a simple synthesizer note accompanying the final gorgeous guitar strum. Thus ends the George Harrison songwriting era within The Beatles.

This brilliant composition and production were due to George Harrison finally given free rein and studio time to fully articulate his thoughts and present himself satisfactorily. Paul did well in taking a backseat as an instrumentalist and arranger to let George take the lead, instructing Paul and Ringo in the intricacies of what he had in mind, undoubtedly allowing George Martin to put his two cents in at times to turn his song into a magnificent presentation. Harrison's guitar work is stellar and well-thought-out, along with his finishing touches on the Moog synthesizer. Ringo's predominantly flawless performance was due to his painstaking study of what George wanted, and Paul cooperated appropriately on backing vocals and suitable bass playing that wasn't too gaudy.

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I Want You (She's So Heavy) And Its Increadible Recording Process.

 

January 28th, 1969 was the first day that John brought "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" to The Beatles in Apple Studio, 3 Savile Row, London. The group was then ending their month-long set of rehearsals for what eventually became the "Let It Be" album and film.

Four rehearsed versions of the song took place on this day,  merely a jam that consisted of the “I want you” verses only. One version features John on lead vocals mimicking the notes played on a distorted electric guitar, not unlike what ended up on the released version, Billy Preston on piano and response vocals, and Ringo on drums. This enjoyable funky version lasted nearly six minutes long. Later that day, they rehearsed the song again with John alternating the lyrics from “I want you” to “I need you,” Billy Preston moving to organ and this time refraining from providing vocals. At the same time, someone joined in with a shaker (possibly George). Yet another rehearsal that day consisted of John and George jamming the song on guitar.

On January 29th, 1969, they rehearsed “I Want You (She's So Heavy)” twice more at Apple Studio, one of which was a mostly instrumental jam with John again on distorted guitar but only singing briefly off microphone. Billy Preston, however, played keyboards and added some improvised lyrics inspired by Martin Luther King, Jr's famous “I had a dream” speech: "Black or white, we all deserve equal rights - I had a good dream, a very good dream..." etc. On this day, incidentally, the decision was made to perform a few of their newly written and rehearsed songs on the Apple building roof the next day. However, “I Want You (She's So Heavy)” was nowhere near ready at this point and was held off to be worked out more fully at a later time. However, this didn't stop John from briefly playing the “I Want You” guitar riff between songs during the rooftop performance on January 30th, 1969.

On the following day, January 31st, 1969, when they recorded and filmed the remainder of their new material as promo performances for what would eventually be the released “Let It Be” movie, they once again ran through what they had of “I Want You (She's So Heavy)” so far. Once they were done with the main songs they wanted to set in stone, they ran through many other compositions, such as “Lady Madonna,” “Oh! Darling,” The Foundations hit “Build Me Up Buttercup” and “I Want You (She's So Heavy).” The instrumentation had John and George on guitar, Paul and Billy Preston on keyboards, and Ringo on drums, Paul occasionally chiming in with some vocals.

About three weeks later, on February 22nd, 1969, The Beatles entered Trident Studios in central London to start officially recording the song, which was simply titled “I Want You” at this point. John had fleshed out the arrangement to its finished state within the previous three weeks and was now confident enough in the song to officially set it to tape. George Martin returned as producer for this session, although Glyn Johns, who had been hired to oversee the January "Get Back / Let It Be" sessions, was present on this day as well.

In their minds, “Get Back / Let It Be” sessions needed more material to get it to a finished state for release as an album. This was the first recording session they booked, supplying additional material for the project. Ringo being busy filming the movie “The Magic Christian,” George being hospitalized to remove his tonsils. Glyn Johns recorded The Steve Miller Band in Los Angeles earlier in February. This was the first chance they had to continue work on the album, Trident Studios being booked undoubtedly because of the borrowed recording equipment at Apple Studio being returned to EMI by this time, new electronics being installed at Savile Row by electronics whiz Alexis Mardas (affectionately referred to as "Magic Alex") during February. Likewise, EMI Studios may well have been previously booked for this day.

The Beatles arrived at 8 pm for this session, determined to play loudly, or 'heavier' than usual, to match John's feel for this song. They ran through 35 'takes' of "I Want You (She's So Heavy)," many of them breaking down midway through, which filled up three reels of eight-track tape in the process. The instrumentation comprised John on guitar (track one), Ringo on drums (tracks two and three), George on guitar (track four), Paul on bass (track five), and John's lead vocals on (track seven). Mark Lewisohn's book "The Beatles Recording Sessions" stipulates that Billy Preston contributed to this session but, as witnessed by a segment of one of these takes as included on various editions of the 50th Anniversary of "Abbey Road," the keyboardist appears to have not been present on this day. Notice that The Beatles decide to make fair use of the eight-track recording equipment by allocating different elements of Ringo's drums to two tracks, thereby presenting his playing in stereo on the finished product to create a fuller sound. Although John sang lead on most of the takes, Paul experimented as lead vocalist on one takes.

As witnessed on the segment mentioned above, included with the 50th Anniversary of "Abbey Road," we hear one of these takes falling apart, prompting John to suggest piecing multiple takes together to create a definitive rhythm track. "It's a case of half of one and two in the other," Lennon remarks. He then asks his producer, "What's it a case of, Mr. Martin?" "Take four was very good up to the breakdown," George Martin answers. "Which was take four?" John interrupts. Martin continues: "...and it was very good up to the very end there when Paul did his little bit that wasn't all that right." Lennon then shouts, "My boys are ready to go!"

Associate producer Glyn John shyly injects "John?" Lennon replies, "Yes, what?" Glyn diplomatically asks, "John, is it possible without affecting yourselves too much to turn down a little? Apparently, there's been a complaint." John: "From who?" Glyn: "From somebody outside the building." John: "What are they doing here at this time of night? What guy?" Paul: "It's his own fault for getting a house in such a lousy district." John: "Well, we'll try it once more very loud, and then if we don't get it, we'll try it quiet, like it might do it the other way. Ok. The loud one, last go. Last chance to be loud." Paul: "Who says?" John, referring to focusing on the lyrics through his glasses: "Can't quite see through these now. I just can't quite see 'em; they keep merging." He then counts off yet a different take of the song, which sounds coherent enough musically, without John's voice sounded quite rough by that time of the evening. By 5 am the following morning, they were happy enough with the results to call it a night.

At 6:30 pm the following day, February 23rd, 1969, they returned to Trident Studios to listen to what they had recorded the previous day and decide what to use. A decision was made to edit segments of three different takes to form one official 'master take.' 'Take nine' had the best Lennon vocal for the early part of the song, 'take 20' had the best middle section, or 'bridge,' and 'take 32' was deemed best for the remainder of the track. George Martin, Glyn Johns, and engineer Barry Sheffield edited those 'takes' together appropriately and then prepared a rough mono mix for John to take home and listen to. At midnight, all left for the night, possibly thinking they had a finished song.

On the next day, February 24th, 1969, time unknown, The Beatles returned to Trident Studios to attempt recording overdubs on "I Want You." Two piano parts were recorded, along with more guitars, a tambourine, and some "backward cymbal," this being recorded with the tape reversed. While engineer Barry Sheffield made an eight-track safety copy of the song's edited rhythm track as assembled for future overdubs on the song in EMI Studios., these overdubs were inevitably scrapped

Interestingly, a reel of tape has been unearthed in the EMI library that contains a "New Mixer Tape" of The Beatles performing a faster version of "I Want You," which has been documented to have been recorded on this same day, February 24th, 1969. With clicks, tones, and hums permeating the tracks, this 6:23 recording appears to be an impromptu jam by the group for new equipment to be tested, possibly at Apple Studios under the guidance of "Magic Alex."

The recording of “I Want You” was put on hold for the next month and a half. Only sporadic recording followed with such tunes as “The Ballad Of John And Yoko” and “Old Brown Shoe.” In the early morning hours of April 19th, 1969, after the final touches on “Old Brown Shoe inside studio 3,” John and George, along with producer Chris Thomas and the engineering staff, entered EMI Studio Two at 1 am to perform overdubs on the Trident master tape of “I Want You.” “John and George went into the far left-hand corner of number two to overdub those guitars,” engineer Jeff Jarratt recalls. “They wanted a massive sound, so they kept tracking and tracking, over and over...I was getting a bit of pick-up, so I asked George to turn it down a little. He looked at me and said, dryly, 'You don't talk to a Beatle like that.'”

Having filled up all of the open tracks on the eight-track safety copy of the Trident master with overdubbed guitars during the song's final hypnotic minutes, the engineering staff needed to make a reduction mix of the tape, called 'take one,' to open additional tracks for overdubbing. At this point, John's original guitar from the rhythm track was combined together with his lead vocal on track eight of the tape. This being done, John and George, on their Epiphone Casino and Gibson Les Paul respectively, once again huddled in the corner of the studio to overdub more guitars onto this final section of the song. After they were sufficiently happy with the results, or they were tired enough, they called it for the night, allowing the engineering staff to make a stereo mix of the song as it stood thus far. Possibly thinking that the song was now complete, the studio finally closed its doors at 4:30 am.

It was determined that more was still needed to finish off “I Want You,” so the April 20th, 1969 session utilized some time for this purpose. The Beatles arrived in EMI Studio Three at around 7 pm, along with roadie Mal Evans with a set of conga drums, to be played as an overdub onto the song, undoubtedly by Ringo. Also overdubbed onto the piece was Billy Preston on Hammond organ, his keyboard work being combined with Ringo's conga drums and other percussions onto track six of the tape. Billy's organ work actually continues to permeate the soundscape throughout the song's final minutes, although this was eventually omitted from the final mix. This was accomplished by approximately 8 pm. The assumption probably being made yet again that the song was complete, attention turned to recording the basic tracks to Paul's song “Oh! Darling,” this taking up the remainder of the sessions ending at 12:45 am the following morning.

Just prior to July 1st, 1969, The Beatles agreed to record and release one final album that would encompass songs they had been recording early that year, “I Want You” stood as a prime candidate. After John had introduced various other songs for inclusion on this final album, as well as tunes from the other band members, John thought that more touching up needed to be done on “I Want You.” Therefore, with a deadline looming, a decision was made to add more overdubs onto the song's dramatic ending on August 8th, 1969.

After they took the famous “Abbey Road” album cover in the morning hours of the day, they entered EMI Studio Two at 2:30 pm and began by adding some overdubs to the song “The End” before giving attention to “I Want You.” “Later that day, we continued the work at hand,” engineer Geoff Emerick recalls. “George set up the Moog synthesizer at John's request and twiddled the knobs as the great behemoth spit out white noise, tacked onto the end of 'I Want You (She's So Heavy).'” John explained in 1969: "It's pretty heavy at the ending, you know, because we used the Moog synthesizers on it, and the range of the sound is from minus whatever to way over...Well, you can't hear it. That instrument, the Moog synthesizer, can do all the sounds, you know, all ranges of sounds, and we did that on the end. If you're a dog, you can hear a lot more." Ringo also added some spectacular cymbal crashes, among other things, to the dramatic ending of the song, while Paul escaped to Studio Three to add some overdubs on his song “Oh! Darling.”

Curiously, these “I Want You” overdubs were performed onto the original composite rhythm track recording from Trident Studios in February, not the version that included the organ, conga drums, and percussion overdubbed in April in EMI Studio Three. Nonetheless, the sessions on this day were over by approximately 9:45 pm. “We ended the session fairly early,” Geoff Emerick continues. “There was a summer weekend ahead, and we all had plans. I was going fishing.”

After the summer weekend was over, The Beatles met again in EMI Studio Two on August 11th, 1969, at 2:30 pm to work on what became their “Abbey Road” album. They arrived at EMI Studio Two around 2:30 pm and began with overdubs on the song that only now was called “I Want You (She's So Heavy)” instead of just “I Want You.”

One of the overdubs performed on this day was John, Paul, and George's harmony vocals of the phrase “she's so heavy,” which were recorded onto tracks four and seven of the April 18th 'take one' reduction mixdown. With the addition of these harmonies, John appropriately decided that these words should actually be added to the title of the song on the record sleeve. This was then overdubbed to become what Mark Lewisohn's book “The Beatles Recording Sessions” calls “tremendous harmony vocals.” This basically completed the recording of the song, which resulted in creating a tape copy. As noted above, the "white noise" Moog synthesizer effect was included only on the composite rhythm track recorded at Trident Studios back in February. Since John couldn't decide which version of the song should appear on the album, or if an edit should be performed to combine the two, he had the “she's so heavy” harmony vocals edited into the other version as well. After overdubs on other recently recorded songs were accomplished, the session ended around 11:30 pm.

By August 20th, 1969, John decided what to do about the different versions of “I Want You (She's So Heavy)” that existed at that time. Since he liked elements of both, his decision was to edit segments of them together. “In the end, Lennon had me edit together two of them,” Geoff Emerick explains in his book “Here, There And Everywhere.” “The splice comes right after his last 'She's so...' It was like working on “Strawberry Fields Forever” all over again, but this time around, thankfully, both takes were in the same key and at the same tempo.”

The Beatles met in the control room of EMI Studio Three at 2:30 pm with producer George Martin and engineers Geoff Emerick, Phil McDonald, and Alan Parsons to get this done. This entailed creating a stereo mix of 'take one' (eight attempts being made) plus the Trident Studio master (two attempts being made) and then editing them together at the proper place.

Another overdub was recorded on this song as well onto the original Trident master tape, as outlined in Geoff Emerick's book “Here, There And Everywhere.” “The remainder of the week was spent doing final mixing and sequencing. Despite most of The Beatles' presence most of the time, everything went uneventfully, until the day it came to tackling John's 'I Want You (She's So Heavy).' Lennon was so enamored of the white noise that George Harrison had overdubbed from his Moog synthesizer that he actually had Ringo supplement it by spinning the wind machine secreted in the Studio Two percussion cupboard. As we sat in the control room mixing the track, he became almost obsessed with the sound. 'Louder! Louder!!' he kept imploring me. 'I want the track to build and build and build,' he explained, 'and then I want the white noise to completely take over and blot out the music altogether.'”

Emerick continues: “I looked over at John as though he were crazy, but he paid me no mind. Over one shoulder, I could see Yoko smiling a taut little smile, her tiny teeth gleaming in the light. Over the other, I could see a dejected Paul, sitting slumped over, head down, staring at the floor. He didn't say a word, but his body language made it clear that he was very unhappy, not only with the song itself but with the idea that the music – Beatles music, which he considered almost sacred – was being obliterated with noise. In the past, he would have said something – perhaps just a diplomatic 'Don't you think that's a bit too much, John?' - but now Paul seemed beaten down to argue the point with a gleeful Lennon, who took an almost perverse pleasure at his bandmates' obvious discomfort.”

“To Paul, it must have been like 'Revolution 9' all over again. John was deliberately distorting Beatles music, trying to turn the group into an avant-garde ensemble instead of a pop band. I looked around the room. Ringo and George Harrison seemed to be into what John was doing – they had their eyes closed and were swaying to the beat. It was just Paul looking miserable, staring down at the floor. His isolation from the others never seemed more apparent.”

“The white noise was a great effect, though the way that it just kept building and building rubbed me up the wrong way, both sonically and aesthetically. But it was John's song, and it was going to be done John's way, no matter what Paul or I – or anyone, for that matter – thought.” The book “The Beatles Recording Sessions” explains: “It was to cause EMI engineers great concern in 1987 when they were digitally remastering 'Abbey Road' for release on compact disc. The noise was tolerable on record, but with the increased dynamic range of CD, it posed a real problem.”

The song's mixing and editing were complete by 6 pm on this day,  becoming the finished stereo master that appeared on the “Abbey Road” album. They all immediately relocated to EMI Studio Two's control room to band together the songs in the right order and create tape copies of the released album. Once again, John's instructions concerning “I Want You (She's So Heavy)” was groundbreaking.

“And then there was the matter of how the song would end,” Emerick continues. “When they recorded the backing track, The Beatles had just played on and on, with no definitive conclusion, so I assumed I would be doing a fade-out. John had other ideas, though. He let the tape play until just twenty seconds or so before the take broke down, and then all of a sudden, he barked out an order: 'Cut the tape here.'”

“'Cut the tape?' I asked, astonished. We had never ended a song that way, and an abrupt ending like that didn't make any sense unless the track was going to run directly into another one. But that wasn't the case here, because it had already been decided that 'I Want You' would close side one of the album. My protestations had no impact on John: his decision was absolute. 'You heard what I said, Geoff; cut the tape.' I glanced over at George Martin, who simply shrugged his shoulders, so I got out the scissors and sliced the tape at precisely the point John indicated...and that's the wayside one of 'Abbey Road' ends. At the time, I thought he was out of his mind, but due to the shock factor, it ended up being incredibly effective, a Lennon concept that really worked.”

So, to recap, according to the book “The Beatles Recording Sessions”: “The finished article has 'take one' for the first 4:37 and the original Trident tape for the remaining 3:07, the break occurring after the vocal line 'she's so...'...Actually, the tape would have run out at 8:04, but the suddenness of the ending was powerful." From listening to the unedited version of the song contained in various 50th Anniversary editions of "Abbey Road," the tape was cut precisely when Ringo plays his last beat on the drums, Billy Preston's organ, and John and George's mountainous guitar overdubs continuing on for a few more seconds until someone shouts "Woooh!”

In fact, at this point, there were two variations of the running order of the album, sides one and two simply reversed presented one order. If this ended up as the case, the abrupt ending of “I Want You (She's So Heavy)” would have been the final ending of not only the “Abbey Road” album, but the entire Beatles recording career as we know it.

Another matter concerning the song is John's scream “Yeeaahhh!” at 4:32, which is the loudest point of the entire album and which audibly distorts, something that EMI engineers usually work hard to avoid. The book “The Beatles Recording Sessions” explains: “There remains to this day a myth about 'I Want You (She's So Heavy)': that one can hear a muffled shout of disapproval from the control room after John Lennon, all but tearing his larynx to pieces, shouts...during the recording...the inference being that someone was instructing John to keep his voice down. Never, never, would anyone have issued such an instruction about a vocal in such a fashion! Close scrutiny of the original Trident tape reveals the indecipherable shout to belong to a fellow Beatle, off-microphone, taped on 22 February, and that it was certainly not one of disapproval.” So much for the rumor of my teenage years that someone was yelling for John to “Shut Up!”

Sometime between 2004 and 2006, George Martin and his son Giles Martin returned to the master tapes of “I Want You (She's So Heavy)” for inclusion in two mash-ups that would be included on the compilation album “Love.” First, the song “Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite! / I Want You (She's So Heavy) / Helter Skelter” feature the heavy guitars of the original track, while Paul's bass line on the song is heard on the track “Here Comes The Sun."

Giles Martin and engineer Sam Okell returned to the master tapes of "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" once again sometime in 2019 to create a vibrant new stereo mix of the song for inclusion in the various editions of "Abbey Road" for its 50th Anniversary. Along with this newly created mix, which corrected the above-mentioned distorted scream from John, they worked at making a composite mix of an outtake from the rhythm track The Beatles made at Trident Studios on February 22nd, 1969, with the concluding segment of the eight-track reduction mix, revealing Billy Preston's orgasmic organ playing for the first time.

Song Structure and Style

While "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" stretches to nearly eight minutes in length, its structure is actually quite simple. It comes out to 'verse/ verse/ refrain/ verse (instrumental)/ refrain/ verse/ refrain' (or aababab). A shortened version of the refrain acts as an introduction, while the final refrain indicated above is highly elongated to act as a conclusion.

The shortened refrain introduction is five measures long and is in 6/8 time as all of the refrains are. John's double-tracked rhythm guitar plays a winding single-note pattern, while Ringo plays a simple drum pattern with two triple-beat cymbal crash accents that coincide with Paul's concise bass pattern. George comes in with a lead guitar passage in the second measure that continues through the introduction, this being double-tracked as well, which then spreads out in the fifth measure to create an impressive harmony with itself. The fifth measure ends with a dramatic pause that hangs in the air, the song's meter momentarily disappearing in anticipation of John leading the group into his first verse.

As with all of the verses, the first verse is (count them) 26 measures long. Since these verses are considered the main framework of the song and these verses are mostly in 4/4 time instead of refrains in 6/8 time, we can say that “I Want You (She's So Heavy)” is primarily in 4/4 time. And if that isn't tricky enough, there are two measures of each verse in 2/4 time, measures nine and twenty. Consistent with how John composes songs in his head with structural oddities, which George mentions above as being “very original to a John-type song,” the band undoubtedly had to work quite hard to understand and perfect what he wanted. This awkwardness can be detected right from the early attempts at working out the song in January with Ringo and Billy Preston, as can be heard on bootleg recordings.

This first verse is unique in that it is the only one that utilizes the band accent feature that answers John's lead guitar/vocal phrases. This encompasses the first six measures, John singing and playing a lyrical phrase simultaneously (not unlike what is done by various blues and jazz players and later became a trademark for George Benson) followed by staccato accents from the rest of the players. After the first Lennon phrase, three accents are played in the first measure. In the second phrase, four accents are heard in the fourth measure. With the third phrase, three more accents are heard in the sixth measure. Because of the silence between these phrases, tape hiss is quite noticeable, something that any engineering staff tries to avoid at all cost, especially on a Beatles recording that will be heard by the masses. However, this is unavoidable and noticeable even after digital remastering due to the arrangement's circumstances.

After this, the full band kicks in, Ringo plodding along with a subdued beat while riding on the bell of the cymbal as George and Billy Preston take on the rhythm chords on their instruments, and Paul follows along appropriately through to the eleventh measure. This measure contains a nice snare drum fill from Ringo in anticipation of the second part of the verse while John hits a couple guitar chords to fill out the measure.

Measures twelve through twenty act as a repeat of the first section of the verse but in a higher key, John ultimately playing and singing the same passages as before but in a higher register for emotional effect. The rest of the players shift gears as well, Ringo switching from hitting the ride cymbal on quarter-beats to eighth-beats as Paul gets a lot more adventurous on bass and Billy Preston plays some descending organ chords for a nice effect. The twentieth measure is unique here, this not only being in 2/4 time but played as a triplet by all involved on the ascending phrase “driving me.”

This takes us into the third of the three-part verse, which falls on measures 21 through 26. This startling section can also be broken down into three repeated sections, measures 21 and 22 primarily featuring John, George, and Billy Preston pounding out a discordant chord in a broken sequence of seven followed by a 'Beatles break' that is taken over by some fancy bass footwork from Paul. This is then repeated in measures 23 and 24, and then an altered version of the same is heard in measures 25 and 26. This final section has the seven startling chords played equally in a row this time and is followed by another 'Beatles break' where only a simple open hi-hat tap from Ringo is heard. This finally ends the intricate first verse.

Then the entire process is repeated for verse two. However, this time around, the first six measures are played by the entire band instead of the accented answering, Ringo riding on the cymbal with eighth-beats throughout and performing his eleventh-measure drum fill on toms this time around. John excitedly adds extraneous guitar phrases during the open spaces without vocal lines, and Paul gets even more adventurous on bass along the way. In the final measure, John, Paul, and George sing “She's so...” in the final break in anticipation of the refrain that comes next.

The refrain is actually a twice repeated version of the introduction as we had already heard, making the refrain ten measures long and switching the song into 6/8 time once again. The arrangement is virtually the same as in the introduction minus George's lead guitar work but with a few additional elements. Billy Preston goes to town on the organ in measures one through three and again in measures six through eight (you can almost see him throwing his head back while listening to this section of the song). Also, starting in measure four, John, Paul, and George finish their phrase from the end of the second verse, harmonizing the word “heavyyyyyy” and then repeating the word in measures six through eight in a layered fashion, not unlike what is heard in “Twist And Shout.” First heard is John, then George, and then Paul on the highest note, which then falls slightly with the chord change in measure eight. During the break at the end of measure ten, we hear John alter the tone switch on his guitar in preparation for the lead guitar work he'll be performing on the instrumental verse that follows.

This instrumental verse is essentially similar to the second verse but played mostly in a more subdued manner without John's vocal. His soulful lead guitar work is the primary focus as Ringo alters from tom to snare in a jazz-like rhythm while still riding on the cymbal, playing his eleventh-measure drum fill on the toms. Once again, the final measure includes the incomplete phrase “She's so...” as heard at the second verse's conclusion. The refrain that follows is a virtual repeat of the first refrain, except the word “heavyyyyy” coming in on the third measure this time instead of the fourth, this still extending into the fifth measure as before. The vocalists then repeat the entire phrase "She's so heavyyyy" instead of just the last word they had done in the previous refrain, repeating the layered vocals as before.

The fourth and final verse comes next, which is somewhat identical to the second verse. Some exceptions include Ringo continuing his jazz-like altering from toms to snare throughout until the final section begins on measure 21. Paul's bass hijinks go even further in this verse, such as his fast-moving descending notes in measure eleven. Also, John's vocal/guitar interplay gets even fancier as he even adds a few added words this time around, such as “babe,” “you know,” and a final “...mad” to complete the “driving me...” phrase in measure 20. He also adds the blood-curdling “YEAAAAAHHHH!” scream in measures 21 and 22, signifying the high point of John's emotional plea to Yoko in the song, followed by the indecipherable voice heard during the break in measure 24.

After John, Paul, and George's introductory phrase “She's so...” as heard in the final measure of the last verse, we plunge head-first into the final refrain of the song, which is also used as its conclusion. The five measure pattern of the chorus runs a total of fifteen times, which comes to 75 measures, including the final chopped off ending of the song. John's double-tracked rhythm guitar pattern is slightly off beat in the first measure, but he quickly gets in step by the second measure. At the end of the third measure, the multiple-overdubbed guitars of John and George hone in on Paul's original bass melody line to add an immediate thickness to the sound, which permeates the remainder of the song.

A rumbling backdrop of sound, undoubtedly coming from George's Moog synthesizer, becomes apparent around measure twenty while the “white noise” effect from the instrument begins to be detected by measure 25. Ringo thrashes around unabashedly on cymbals and with drum fills by measure 40. At the same time, Paul goes tastefully off the rails on bass, possibly the most adventurous he's ever been on the instrument during his entire career. As the “white noise” and Ringo's manually manipulated “wind machine” continue to swell in volume and totally envelop the sound of the main instruments, the tape is cut at the beginning of the 75th measure, which brings the entire song to an abrupt halt,  causing the listener's heart to skip a beat even after decades aware what's to come.

A lot can be said about John, Paul, and Ringo's stellar performances on this song. John's incredible simultaneous vocal/lead guitar work on the piece, while not as flawlessly performed as George Benson, shows that he was no slouch as a musician and performer. As stated above, this song was the perfect vehicle for Paul to shine as a bass guitarist. This is arguably the best example of his inventiveness on the instrument in his entire career. While his main melody lines had been worked out in advance, his ad-lib canoodling throughout the song is incredible. And as for Ringo, there are other songs in The Beatles canon that point to examples of his talent, such as “A Day In The Life,” “Rain,” and “The End.” Still, the final minutes of “I Want You (She's So Heavy)” displays Ringo as unhinged and imaginative on the drum kit, feeling the groove perfectly and expressing himself like the pro that he had become.

Billy Preston was definitely feeling the groove as well, infusing the gospel-tinged expressions and rhythm pads that added an authentic element that The Beatles wouldn't have been able to inject into the song on their own. George may have taken more of a backseat on this song, but his opening lead guitar melody lines and his cooperation with John on adding the army of guitar overdubs for the end of the song are commendable.

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GET BACK AND ITS INCREDIBLE RECORDING PROCESS

 

Paul began with the spark of an idea that resulted in the song “Get Back” on January 7th, 1969, the fourth day of rehearsal for the Beatle's latest project at Twickenham Film Studios. This session began around 11 am with Paul, George, and Ringo present, John arriving a little later. While waiting alone, Paul sat at the piano and ran through newer compositions such as “Golden Slumbers,” “Carry That Weight,” “The Long And Winding Road,” and, after George and Ringo arrived, “She Came In Through The Bathroom Window.”

After an impromptu played version of “Lady Madonna,” as well as the Isley's Brothers' “Shout,” Paul improvised an exercise on bass guitar. While he ad-libbed vocalizations and chord changes, George joined in and strummed some open chords on his electric guitar. The song started developing in Paul's mind while the cameras were rolling until three more versions of this embryonic version of “Get Back” took shape with George and Ringo on this day.

The second run-through featured Paul on bass and mumbled vocals, George on electric guitar, and Ringo singing with Paul on the newly invented chorus that comprised the words, “Get back, get back, get back to where you once belonged.” Apparently, Jackie Lomax's recently released single “Sour Milk Sea” was on Paul's mind, resulting in these lyrics popping into his mind. Paul added more lyrics about someone being “a woman, but she was another man,” and someone having “it coming, but she gets it while she can,” eventually remaining in the finished song.

With George moving to electric guitar with wah-wah pedal and Ringo on drums, the song started to develop further. Ringo played a standard rock beat while Paul acknowledged Jackie Lomax's inspiration by exclaiming “C'mon Jackie” and attempting to imitate this English vocalist during the second chorus of this rough rehearsal. The “she was another man” and “gets it while she can” lyrics are retained here, these words now being solidified in Paul's mind. Surprisingly, although inspiration was high with this new composition and rehearsal, they instead worked extensively on songs like “I've Got A Feeling” and “Maxwell's Silver Hammer” once John arrived on that day.

Two days later, January 9th, 1969, at Twickenham Studios, The Beatles returned to hash out four renditions of the unfinished “Get Back.” After all four Beatles put in a lot of work on the songs “Let It Be” and “For You Blue,” among others, they began rough jams based around the “get back” theme, which introduced the first time Lennon became acquainted with it.

The verse lyrics were still ad-libbed at this point. Still, bits of a rough storyline started to emerge,  such as references to California and Arizona sung here and there in the first couple of renditions performed this day. Incidentally, local news items concerning Parliament member Enoch Powell's beliefs that too many nonwhite citizens of the British Empire were immigrating to England and taking away limited jobs had been discussed by The Beatles in depth. Since Paul struggled to piece together coherent lyrics to this song, John humorously proposed this subject matter's infusion into the lyrics to create a political satire.

“Don't want no black man...!” Lennon demonstrates, which Paul countered with “Don't dig no Pakistanis taking all the people's jobs.” Paul then directs his band-mates into another rendition of the song, screaming “Get Back!” repeatedly in a voice that mocks the hatred behind Enoch Powell's public statements. Verses of this version include Paul singing “lots of Puerto Ricans,” “All the folks around sit by, he a Mohican living in the USA,” and singing his earlier idea “Don't dig no Pakistanis taking all the people's jobs.” The song finishes with Paul screaming out maniacally in a way that reminds one of how John concluded the final moments of his hit “Cold Turkey” to simulate his withdrawal from heroin. Since John's song was recorded later that same year, it's easy to conclude that this early rendition of “Get Back” may have been remembered and thereby his inspiration, if only subliminally.

After this was out of their systems, they returned to a more serious rehearsal of “Get Back,” with the principal characters Joe and Theresa being introduced for the first time. A little later that day, however, Enoch Powell's beliefs were once again the subject of an ad-libbed song, this being referred to in bootleg releases as “Commonwealth.” With Harold Wilson and Edward Heath once again referenced in the lyrics of a Beatles song (see “Taxman”), Paul begins by mimicking the recent British hit “Israelites” by Desmond Dekker with its reggae beat and distinctive vocalization. As the song transcends into a more typical 12-bar pattern as heard in early Elvis recordings, John adds to the fun of the occasion by suggesting to end each chorus with the line “The commonwealth is much too common for me.”

The following day at Twickenham, January 10th, 1969, saw the most substantial work on “Get Back” yet. Paul rehearsed the song himself on a piano before the others arrived and were ready for work, as was his habit during these sessions, but then he showed himself eager to solidify a band arrangement for the tune. He instructed them to begin the song with a crashing chord (not unlike “A Hard Day's Night”) followed by a drum fill from Ringo before the first verse began. This intro's practice is featured on the “Fly On The Wall” bonus disc contained with the 2003 released “Let It Be...Naked” album.

“Get Back” was practiced a total of 22 times on this day, three vocal verses being sketched out preliminarily at this point but not solidified. George was delegated to perform one guitar solo, to which another chorus was performed immediately afterward. Ringo then adding in another two measure drum solo before the third verse takes place. Lyrically, the “Sweet Lorreta...but was another man” verse was in place at this point, although it appeared as the first verse. The second verse wasn't complete yet but did include the line about “California grass,” as we've become familiar with in the first verse. The third verse about “Pakistanis living in a council flat,” as detailed above, was in place at this time.

It is clear that they were narrowing down what the final arrangement would be, this being a fast-moving rocker at this point with a standard 4/4 drum beat from Ringo and a wah-wah guitar solo from George. One version performed on this day has John singing lead vocals in unison with Paul, suitably recapturing their early rock'n'roll days with apparent enthusiasm from all involved.

However, it appears that George was not sharing the camaraderie of the others on this day because, sometime during their lunch break, George announced that he was leaving The Beatles for good and walked out. The others continued with the rehearsal after his lunchtime departure, Yoko Ono sitting in George's seat screaming out vocals at one point. However, no other noteworthy progress was made on this day.

January 13th, 1969 was another rehearsal day for The Beatles at Twickenham, but without George. They spent most of the time talking instead of rehearsing, John not particularly enthused about George continuing with the group and suggesting that they should all pursue solo careers. Paul took the position of rallying everyone together, promoting the idea of concentrating less on details and more on doing the best they can as musicians, George included. They did 15 Get Back run-throughs on this day as a trio, John taking on the role of lead guitarist in George's absence. More refinements were made lyrically, like discussions about Loretta's last name being batted around. John suggested “Meatball,” but Paul favored either “Marsh” or “Marvin.” The timing of Ringo's drum breaks habitually disoriented his band-mates, while John added guitar fills in the open spaces where no vocals were present and provided solos that were not very coherent, borrowing from Dale Hawkins's version of “Suzie Q.” Obviously, George Harrison was missed.

After negotiations with George, he decided to rejoin The Beatles, continuing the rehearsals for the current project but with some conditions. One condition was changing the cold Twickenham Studios' rehearsal location to their newly acquired Apple Studios on Savile Row, London. Another was Billy Preston's inclusion for the remainder of the project, a keyboardist that they had met back in 1962 during their shared appearance with Little Richard and whom George had recently gotten reacquainted with.

During the session on January 23rd, 1969, at Apple Studios, The Beatles with Billy Preston solidified Ringo's galloping drum pattern for the arrangement of “Get Back,” George's chopping guitar pattern John's guitar solo work and backing vocals also taking shape considerably. The third verse about “Pakistanis” was omitted at this point, this being replaced by a keyboard solo from Billy Preston and a second guitar solo from John. Although a "Beatles break" and coda was yet to materialize, the final arrangement as we know it was getting close.

Forty-three rehearsals of “Get Back” were performed on this day, at least ten attempted as official recordings with George Martin as producer. “What are you calling this," the producer called out before the first official take; Paul answered, "Sh*t.” “'Sh*t' take one,” George Martin designated before the tapes started rolling. A young Alan Parsons made his debut as tape operator on this day. His long-standing career as engineer, producer, and musician began by witnessing The Beatles formalize the song “Get Back” before his eyes.

On the following day at Apple Studios, January 24th, 1969, The Beatles ran through “Get Back” a total of 21 times, some performed before Billy Preston's mid-afternoon arrival. Thereafter, they ran through a rendition where John missed his cue to begin his first guitar solo, which prompted Paul to exclaim, “Yeah...or should I say 'No.'” Another version started off at a very rapid pace and developed into a medley with “Little Demon” by Screamin' Jay Hawkins and three Chuck Berry songs, namely “Maybelline,” “You Can't Catch Me,” and “Brown Eyed Handsome Man.”

One new development in the arrangement is the experimented inclusion of a coda after the song's conclusion, with different lengths reprises. In fact, some of the renditions rehearsed on this day show them going into back-to-back versions of the song with many spirited vocal improvisations from Paul. The final version of the day has Paul exclaiming, “Go Home!... It's Passed Seven!... Go Home!...I've Got An Appointment!... Get A Job!... Go Home, Yank!”

Thirty-two renditions of “Get Back” were recorded on January 27th, 1969, at Apple Studios, most of them being officially recorded by George Martin and engineers Glyn Johns and Alan Parsons. Before the tapes began rolling, The Beatles and Billy Preston ran through the song a few times for rehearsal purposes, eventually becoming confident that they were ready to record the definitive version. One fast tempo rendition was done with Paul singing the first verse in mock Japanese but including the phrase “sock it to me,” a residual from their current obsession with the American TV show “Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In,” which had been referenced many times in the January 1969 rehearsals and recording sessions.

The tapes then began rolling, many good takes being recorded. After a roughly estimated "take 9,” which may in actuality have been "take 18,” Paul's exclamation “nearly” is caught on tape, suggesting that they were getting close. McCartney's vocal hijinks on this day may be an indication of his being under the influence of some substance or another. Still, the knowledge that a releasable take was recorded on this day indicates that this ended up being a good idea in the long run.

After varying guitar solos from John and slight tempo alterations from Ringo, this was a suitable atmosphere for an acceptable master take. On the coda of one rendition, Paul sang, “it's five o'clock, your mother's got your tea on, take your cap off, sit down, you're bloody not coming in.” On another take, the coda included Paul's ad-lib “one, two, three o'clock, four o'clock rock” from Bill Haley's 'Rock Around The Clock.” Nonetheless, the definitive single and album version was eventually recorded on this day.

Just before this performance began, John humorously remarked, “Sweet Loretta Fart (pronounced in a Liverpudlian accent) she thought she was a cleaner, but she was a frying pan...picks with his fingers.” This vocal segment, along with extraneous studio sounds, was included on the released soundtrack album. The take that followed this statement ended up becoming the basis for both the single and album, although the rehearsed coda was not played due to Ringo forgetting to come back in after the break near the song's conclusion. After Paul sings his iconic “oooh,” George states, “We missed that end, didn't we?”

Although this flubbed ending propelled them into multiple new recorded versions of the song, the take mentioned above was ultimately deemed the best. One of the later recordings included a rendition donning pseudo-German lyrics throughout, acknowledging the Jackie Lomax influence with the phrase, “Yeah, that's good, Jackie,” with a final verse in mock French. While very entertaining and eventually gracing various bootleg releases, it was evident that they had previously recorded the definitive version of the song on this day and celebrated that event in a rather unconventional way.

The next day, January 28th, 1969, was the 17th day of rehearsals for the entire "Let It Be" project, along with George Martin present on this day as well as Glyn Johns and Alan Parsons. The Beatles further refined many of their new songs on this day at Apple Studios and spent time on a newly written Harrison composition entitled “Something,” its composer asking for lyrical suggestions from his band-mates but to no avail. However, this turned out to be a productive session, recording the released rendition of “Don't Let Me Down” on this day minus some simple overdubs incorporated into the mix later.

One other accomplishment of this day was the coda of “Get Back,” which was mistakenly omitted from the previous day's best take. The Beatles ran through this song seven more times, Lennon's guitar solos and Preston's piano solo being fully solidified at this point. One of these takes was deemed unsuitable because of Paul's flubbed line in the first verse (“Jojo was at home in Tucson, Arizona”) and Ringo's continuing slow tempo. “Slow it down, Loretta,” Paul sings during the final solo as a reaction to the drummer's playing. We hear Paul's clever rhyme “low neck sweater / get back Loretta” repeatedly during this version's coda, the singer obviously fixated on the lyrical flow of these lines.

A later rendition recorded on this day scored a good tempo and was instrumentally performed exceptionally well, except for a sour note from an open string ringing out on John's guitar as he began his first solo. This by itself may have prompted Paul to become vocally playful for the remainder of the song, his exaggerated exclamations being evidence that he didn't think this take would be suitable for a finished version.

He was half right and half wrong. It was decided that, while the rendition mentioned above from the previous day would be used for the body of the song, the first 35 seconds of the coda from this day's version would be edited on and faded out to form the released single a couple of months or so later. In fact, a further 41-second segment of this coda would be used as the track “Get Back (reprise)” on both aborted versions of the proposed “Get Back” album (as we'll discuss below) as well as the closing segment of the “Let It Be” movie.

This entire coda was 1:22 in length, Paul excitedly ad-libbing lines such as “get back / get together...we gotta get together...ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah...put on your high heel sweater!” John also jumps in on the fun by singing “get back” and other assorted vocal sounds before ending the coda with the chilling rhyme “Shoot me when I'm evil / shoot me when I'm good / shoot me when I'm hungry / shoot me when I'm...”

One final rendition on this day was particularly unfruitful, first because of Paul coming in late vocally on the first verse. John's second guitar solo labored almost entirely on the first note being repeated endlessly, breaking away eventually but obviously not something that would grace any released version. Ringo didn't come back in for a coda to this version, understandably reasoning that this take wasn't worth the effort to do so.

On January 29th, 1969, The Beatles decided that their proposed live performance would be on the roof of their Apple building on Savile Row in London during lunchtime the next day, January 30th. That being the case, the group convened once again at Apple Studios, which was in the basement of that very building, for the primary purpose of rehearsing the songs that they would be performing live on the rooftop the following day. After this was accomplished, Billy Preston not arriving until later that day, they ran through other songs that needed to be rehearsed for inclusion in what eventually became the “Let It Be” film. Since a firm decision on which Harrison song would be included in this project, various George songs were rehearsed on this day, “For You Blue” and eventually “I Me Mine” fitting the bill.

The one quick rehearsal of “Get Back” without Billy Preston was done, which was very loose but suitable to solidify that it was ready for the live performance. John sang Billy Preston's keyboard solo (“get-ang, get-ang, get-ang...”), and Paul encourages John's proficiency as lead guitarist by exclaiming “yeah” midway through his first solo. They apparently felt confident that they would nail it just fine the next day.

On January 30th, 1969, the following day was the eventful day of The Beatles' final live performance, Billy Preston on electric piano complimenting the musical landscape. “Get Back” was touched on and/or performed a total of five times during this 42-minute performance. The first was a rehearsal that began with John playing his solo, the others joining in for the following chorus with both Paul and John harmonizing. This version was simply a test for the recording equipment, adjustments being made thereafter to ensure everything was in order.

The second version of “Get Back,” the first complete song of this day, ended with Paul stating, “Looks like Ted Dexter has scored another!” This was in response to the polite applause that followed this song's conclusion, which was much more subdued than what they had become accustomed to in the stadiums and concert halls of 1965 and 1966. Instead, it reminded McCartney of the reaction to cricket matches, Ted Dexter being a celebrated English cricketer of the early 1960s. John then retorted, “Thank you very much...another request from Martin and Luther,” revisiting their BBC radio performances from 1963 where they would play requests from listeners. Producer/engineer Glyn John then asks, “Any more voice from the Fenders?” This inquiry is concerning whether they need to turn up their amplifiers or not. “Yeah, we'll cut,” he then instructs to regroup in preparation for their next song, which turns out to be a third rendition of “Get Back.” The “Let It Be” film includes a strategically edited version of the second and third versions of the song performed on this day.

This third version was complete, the intention being to create the perfect performance. Paul chuckles slightly, however, after John flubs his lead guitar flourish during the second verse. After the break, Paul ad-libs, “Aaaah, get back home, never more to roam” and, after the final awkward conclusion and subsequent applause from those nearby, John states, “Oh, brother...had a request for Daisy, Morris, and Tommy,” continuing the early BBC radio joke from the previous performance.

After multiple takes of four other performed Beatles songs, John mistakenly counted off a fourth take of “Get Back,” Ringo immediately joined. However, this was halted because a second live rendition of “Don't Let Me Down” required another attempt. This brief snippet can be considered the fourth appearance of the song "Get Back" on the rooftop that day.

After they finished "Don't Let Me Down," the show's 40-minute mark, uniformed constables arrived at the Apple building, so the Beatles began their fifth and final attempt at the song “Get Back.” The policemen entered the premises and made their way to the roof, convincing Beatles assistant Mal Evans to shut off both John and George's amplifiers at the beginning of the first chorus. George turned his amp back on by the start of the first solo section of the song, Mal relenting to turn John's back on by the solo's fourth measure. They all must have known that this rendition would not be the definitive version. Still, they carry on regardless, knowing that they may very well be making music history, the authorities attempting to squelch their impromptu performance.

Paul excitedly repeats his “high heel shoes / low neck sweater / get back Loretta” line with their enthusiasm high during John's second guitar solo. When the coda kicked in, with the police still milling about and the downbeat of the song temporarily lost, Paul exclaims, “you've been out too long, Loretta, you've been playing on the roofs again, and that's no good, 'cause you know your mommy doesn't like that, ah, she get's angry, she's gonna have you arrested, get back.”

With that, their 42-minute concert was now over; Paul reacts with “Thanks Mo,” in recognition of Maureen Starkey's loud “yeah-ee-yeah” cheer at its conclusion. Off microphone, John then quips, “I'd like to say 'thank you' on behalf of the group and ourselves, and I hoped we passed the audition.” The above comments from both Paul and John appear on both the released “Let It Be” soundtrack album and film. As it happened, this was the very last song of the very last concert performance by The Beatles.

Six days later, on February 5th, 1969, engineers Glyn Johns and Alan Parsons (and possibly George Martin) gathered at Apple Studios to create stereo mixes of the five songs that the group performed for the city. Two stereo mixes of different performances of “Get Back” occurred, yet neither has ever been released. It appears that at this point, The Beatles didn't quite know what to do with this performance, as legendary as it was.

“Remember that idea you had about putting together an album? There are the tapes. Go and do it!” In early March of 1969, it is reported that John and Paul had instructed engineer Glyn Johns to forage through the plethora of tapes they had recorded in January of 1969 to construct a new Beatles album. Glyn Johns took this request seriously and, on March 10th, 1969, transported these tapes to Olympic Sound Studios in London to begin assembling the next Beatles LP.

Thirteen stereo mixes of January 1969 Beatles songs were prepared on this day. Two of these were of the song “Get Back,” one being the full version minus the coda they neglected to play (as detailed above) recorded on January 27th,1969, at Apple Studios. The second mix of “Get Back” created on this day is presumably of a section of the coda that was recorded on January 28th to be used as “Get Back (reprise)” on Glyn Johns' proposed “Get Back” album. No mono mixes took place due to mono records phased out of the marketplace by 1969.

Glyn Johns continued to create stereo mixes for this proposed album for the next three days. However, since it had been a long seven-and-a-half month since “Hey Jude,” The Beatles' last single, had been released, there was a dire need for a follow-up. Therefore, engineer Jeff Jarratt was commissioned to EMI Studios to create a mix of the song that was decided to be the next Beatles single, “Get Back.” It has been suggested that producer George Martin oversaw the proceedings on this day, but this has not been verified. Four mono mixes were created on this day, the fourth undoubtedly being deemed the best, acetate discs being cut directly afterward.

One of these acetate discs got in the hands of British disc jockeys John Peel and Alan Freeman, who proceeded to play the song on the air on April 6th, 1969. They had also received official information that this new Beatles single would be rush-released five days later on April 11th, this also being announced on their program. Paul McCartney had become aware of this broadcast and expressed concern that the mix of “Get Back” on this acetate disc wasn't good enough for official release. The edit of the main body of the song from January 27th and the coda from January 28th may not have been contained on this acetate disc as we've come to know it. To remedy this situation, Paul quickly booked studio time with Glyn Johns at Olympic Sound Studios the day after this radio broadcast, April 7th, 1969. Engineer Jerry Boys was present at the control board on this day, producer George Martin's presence not confirmed but possible.

“Only Paul came along,” Jerry Boys recalls about which Beatles were present on that day. He continues: “They'd already done a mono mix of 'Get Back' and had acetates cut and didn't like it. We tried it again, but it wasn't really happening any better, and when we went to compare the two, we hit a problem because Paul didn't have a tape of that first mix with him, just an acetate. He and Glyn were very concerned with how the new mix would sound like on a cheap record player. Purely by chance, I happened to have a cheap record player in the back of my car, which I'd brought along to Olympic to have someone repair. We had an acetate cut from the new mix, and then, using my record player, we were able to decide which of the two mixes was better. So the very first playing of the 'Get Back' single, which sold millions, was on my little player!”

Also done on this day was a new mono mix of “Don't Let Me Down,” which would be used as the new single B-side. Also created during this session were stereo mixes of both songs provided to Capitol in the US then issued as the second Beatles Apple single, the first issued in stereo. The mono mixes of these two songs were contained on the UK single, christened as the final mono single in their home country.

On May 28th, 1969, George Martin was recruited to oversee the master tape banding and compilation of the proposed “Get Back” album as an accompaniment to the recently released “Get Back” single. Glyn Johns, who was primarily responsible for creating the mixes for most of the tracks on this album, was also present and acting as engineer along with Steve Vaughan as 2nd engineer. George Harrison was also present on this day, being the only Beatle in the country at the time. This session, which began with creating a stereo mix of the song “Let It Be,” occurred in Studio One of Olympic Sound Studios.

The single version of “Get Back,” released about a month-and-a-half earlier, was included on this album as the final song of side one. In addition to this, the above mentioned “Get Back (reprise)” mix that was prepared by Glyn Johns on March 10th, 1969, was included as the final track of side two. As history reveals, this album was never released in this configuration because, despite George Harrison's approval, the other Beatles rejected it as too rough and unpolished.

With the filmed footage being prepared for release as a feature film in January of 1970, Glyn Johns was once again commissioned to assemble a new version of the “Get Back” album on January 5th, 1970, in Studio One of Olympic Sound Studios. The intention this time was to release this LP as a soundtrack album to accompany the movie, two additional songs being included therein because of their inclusion in the film, these being “Across The Universe” and the recently recorded “I Me Mine.” As before, however, the released single version of the song “Get Back” was in the running order as well as the previously mixed “Get Back (reprise),” the latter rounding outside two once again.

With the movie's release further delayed, an executive decision was made to recruit legendary American producer Phil Spector to assemble the soundtrack album for the “Let It Be” film (as it was now re-titled) in any way that he chose to. On his third day of mixing for the album, March 26th, 1970, he and engineers Peter Bown and Roger Ferris entered Room 4 of EMI Studios to create new mixes to four Beatles songs, “Get Back” one of them.

Going back to the original take from the January 27th, 1969 Apple Studios session tape from the released single, Spector decided to include John's ad-lib “Sweet Loretta Fart...” vocalizations, as well as other brief dialog and instrument sounds that preceded the perfected take, as the introduction to his new mix of “Get Back.” In the spirit of the overall impromptu feel of the project that he was instructed to include, Spector crossfaded this spontaneous chatter and sounds that were caught on tape with the beginning measures of the actual song. Since the coda was mistakenly omitted from this actual performance, Spector felt obliged to leave it as it was and not edit in a coda from the January 18th session as fans were used to hearing from the released single. Five Get Back stereo mixes developed, mixes three and five edited together to create “remix stereo 3,” which appeared on the released soundtrack album.

On March 27th, 1970, the following day saw Phil Spector back in Room 4 of EMI Studios for further work on the soundtrack album, this time with engineers Mike Sheady and Roger Ferris. After creating a stereo mix for the track that had become known as “Dig It,” they took to assembling eight bits of recorded dialog for random insertion into the album. One of these miscellaneous bits was chosen to be crossfaded with the ending of the song “Get Back,” thus closing the entire album. As the song concluded, Spector decided to crossfade this with the closing moments of the rooftop performance, this including the applause from onlookers, Paul thanking Maureen Starkey for her cheering John's comedic “...hope we passed the audition” phrase.

George Martin and engineer Geoff Emerick pulled out the master tape of the rooftop concert of January 30th, 1969, sometime in 1996 to prepare a new mix of “Get Back” to be included on the compilation album “Anthology 3.” They decided to create a mix of the final rooftop performance of the song, this being the last song The Beatles ever performed live, complete with evidence of police presence and Paul's lyrical ad-lib about being “arrested” for “playing on the roofs again.”

Then, sometime in 2003, the engineering team of Paul Hicks, Guy Massey, and Allan Rouse pulled out the master tape of “Get Back” from January 27th, 1969, to create a vibrant new mix of the same take that appeared on the single and soundtrack album. This unique mix appeared on the album “Let It Be...Naked” released that year. As Phil Spector had done for the soundtrack album, this new 2003 mix ended just as the actual performance did back then, minus the coda with Paul's ad-lib "your momma's waiting for you..." vocal line. Many Beatles fans believed the engineering team cut this performance short because its coda was missing. Still, in actuality, they presented the ultimate “Get Back” performance precisely how the musicians played it on that day.

An additional CD was contained in the “Let It Be...Naked” package entitled “Fly On The Wall,” which had candid dialog and musical excerpts from their January 1969 rehearsals for the project. Two bits of “Get Back” rehearsals were included therein, the first being a 15-second segment of the group rehearsing the proposed crashing introduction to the song from January 10th, an eventually dropped idea. The second excerpt of “Get Back” was of Paul singing through a verse and chorus of the song while playing acoustic guitar in a more subdued tempo while John fiddled around on slide guitar. This 32-second segment may very well have been performed at Apple Studios on January 25th, the same day that The Beatles recorded “For You Blue,” with John playing the Hofner lap-steel guitar already present in the studio.

George Martin returned to the master tape of "Get Back" once more sometime between 2004 and 2006 with his son Giles Martin to create a new mash-up version for inclusion on the album "Love." The intro of the song was extended to incorporate various elements of other Beatles tracks, such as the introductory chord of "A Hard Day's Night" and multiple sounds from "Sgt. Pepper (Reprise)," "A Day In The Life," and "The End" throughout the track, while the second verse is removed entirely.

Surprisingly, George Harrison was the first Beatle to re-record the song "Get Back." In actuality, during recording sessions in London sometime between September 1969 and May 1970 for R&B singer Doris Troy, producer George Harrison vocally ran through the song "Get Back" as a demonstration for the artist to hear. This song was chosen by Doris Troy for inclusion on her self-titled Apple album, the result ending up as the b-side of her second single from the album "Jacob's Ladder" in September of 1970. With a star-studded backing band that possibly included Ringo, Billy Preston, Eric Clapton, Steven Stills, Jim Gordon, and many others, George ad-libbed a vocal demo that has appeared in later years on various bootleg releases. Harrison pushes his way through the chorus a few times as well as the third verse, adding in whatever popped into his head at the moment. Prompted by assistant Mal Evans being present on that day in his usual gopher role, George states, "Mal got a mop and another glass of orange juice." Since George was in the habit of adding in lyrics of other songs (see "It's All Too Much"), he ends his vocal performance here with "Now we're not saying that we're all the best / and we're not trying to say that we're like the rest...make the load a little lighter."  

The first live Paul McCartney recording of “Get Back” was done on March 13th, 1990, at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan, the results being released on both the “Tripping The Live Fantastic” and “Tripping The Live Fantastic: Highlights!” albums of that year. Next came his June 27th, 2007 performance of the song at Amoeba Music in Hollywood, California, available on both his albums “Amoeba Gig” and a British and Irish release entitled “Live In Los Angeles,” the latter produced in conjunction with “The Mail On Sunday” newspaper. Then came his performance at New York City's Citi Field in July of 2009, included on his “Good Evening New York City” album.

Song Structure and Style:

There are two main versions of “Get Back” that have become popular during The Beatles' career; the single release of 1969 and the album release of 1970. Both of them are known and cherished by music fans for different reasons but, however, the original single version contains the coda, which had been edited onto their raw recording. This being the case, the structure is longer than the album version and is more popular due to it topping the singles charts worldwide that year and also remaining a staple on classic radio stations up until today.

For this reason, our analysis will concentrate on the original single rendition, which follows the structure 'verse/ chorus/ solo verse/ chorus/ solo verse/ verse/ chorus/ solo verse/ chorus/ outro verse/ outro chorus' (or ababaababab). An instrumental intro is contained in both versions as well as two “Beatles breaks,” the first appearing after the second chorus and the second one after the fourth chorus, this second break ending the entire song on the album version. Random chatter and sounds begin and conclude the album version, not on the single version and therefore not stipulated in our analysis structure.

The four-measure introduction showcases Ringo's galloping snare beat as it and all the other live instruments fade up in volume to good effect. John and George's electric rhythm guitars chunk away in a style that accents the off beats while Paul thumps out eighth beats on one solitary note and Billy Preston quietly plays chords on electric piano. As the volume swells to the fourth measure, two crashing chords are played by everyone, Ringo's cymbals ringing out to usher in the first verse that follows.

A third cymbal crash appears on the downbeat of the first measure of the eight-measure first verse, Paul's lead vocal also beginning on this beat. Ringo's galloping snare beat continues here as it does throughout the entire song. Paul sings solo in this verse but is accentuated by John playing a rising-and-falling guitar lick in the two gaps left in between Paul's vocal phrases. Both George and Billy continue playing their instruments in a subdued fashion throughout the verse, while Paul keeps it simple on bass.

The following chorus is also eight measures in length, Paul still being the only vocalist throughout. John replaces his chunking rhythm guitar with an interesting lead guitar riff that he repeats eight times, one for each measure, altering his playing in the third and seventh measure with the changing of the song's chords. Ringo keeps his galloping snare beat going in the chorus but crashes his cymbals accordingly in the fourth measure to repeat what we heard in the fourth measure of the song's introduction. Paul, George, and Billy Preston also reprise the introduction with identical crashing chords. Then in measures five and six, everyone except John performs crashing chords on the “two-and” offbeat, Lennon continuing his guitar riff as if he doesn't even notice the jarring changes in the rhythm of the song. The final part of John's guitar riff in the eighth measure of the chorus is omitted here, only because he needs to properly position his fingers for the guitar solo he is about to perform immediately afterward. Just before he starts it, Paul encourages him by saying, “Get back, JoJo!”

Next comes a second verse devoted entirely to John's guitar solo; this verse also has eight measures in length. As a backdrop to his excellently performed solo is a subdued display from the other four musicians throughout except for what occurs in the fourth measure. The two jarring crashing chords heard in the fourth measure of the previously heard chorus are repeated here in this instrumental verse in both the fourth and eighth measures. Ringo's cymbals ring out appropriately each time. Paul is quite happy with how John performs his solo, exemplified with his exclamation “Go home!” in the sixth measure. This phrase is similar to the musical expression “bring it home,” as heard in popular 50's and 60's recordings.

Next comes a second chorus, ten measures in length because of the addition of a “Beatles break” as described below. However, the first eight measures are quite similar to the first chorus, the crashing chord accents appearing here as well. John's focus this time is not on any guitar riffs as in the previous chorus but instead on lower harmony vocals to Paul's lead vocal, falling back to playing rhythm guitar during this chorus. I'd like to point out that Lennon is obviously thriving as an artist during their performance of this song, changing from rhythm to lead guitarist, playing intricate guitar riffs during some choruses, and throwing in a harmony vocal as well. During these sessions, he had been caught on tape saying that he thought of The Beatles as a durable rock'n'roll band that performed best during their formative years at the Cavern Club and in Hamburg. With “Get Back,” he was recapturing their celebrated past.

The added ninth and tenth measures consist of the first of two “Beatles breaks” in the song, this one keeping within the flow of the performance (unlike the second). With the crashing chord and ringing cymbal on the ninth measure's anticipated downbeat, Billy Preston's presence is felt for the first time, slow descending chords being the primary focus of these two measures. With the song's volume decreasing at this point, Ringo and Paul bring it back in the second half of the tenth measure. Ringo performs an innovative left-handed drum fill while Paul spurs Billy on for his upcoming solo by calling out, “Get back, Joe!”

Another instrumental verse then appears, eight measures in length and dominated by Billy Preston's excellent self-composed solo. The Beatles play energetically but as a rhythmic backdrop to allow their guest keyboardist shine bright. They add in the jarring chords from the fourth measure of the second chorus, both in the fourth and eighth measures. In the eighth measure, they all hit it a little harder due to it being a segue into the next verse, this one being the second and final vocal verse of the entire song.

This verse, also being eight measures in length, is nearly identical to the first vocal verse, John's guitar riffs and all. Other than different lyrics, the only other alteration from the first vocal verse is George mistakenly playing the two jarring chords in the eighth measure. This appears as a juxtaposition with John's intricate but ad-libbed lead guitar flourish. This is followed by another chorus, which is nearly identical to the first chorus instrumentally, ending with Paul's ad-lib "Get back, Loretta!" as encouragement for John's upcoming solo.

Another instrumental verse comes next, handled by John once again. Interestingly, Paul injects a high-pitched vocal “ooh” on the “two-and” offbeat of the first measure of this instrumental verse. His vocal hijinks are at an all-time high during the numerous takes of this song during these sessions. John's previous guitar solo is repeated here again but with various ad-libs to differentiate it from the previous one, the fourth, seventh, and eighth measures being substantially different. The other four musicians' instrumental backing is primarily a duplicate to John's first solo verse except for Ringo's crashing cymbals in measure eight bangs louder to bring in the climactic chorus that follows. Paul rallies everyone in for that chorus by exclaiming, “Go home!” in measure eight.

This fourth chorus brings everyone's playing to a fever pitch, the entire group performing at their loudest and with dynamic energy. This in itself may be why this take was chosen as "best" for release as the next Beatles single and thereafter for the soundtrack album. Paul's vocalization in this chorus is with fervor and intensity, mimicking all five musicians' power, Ringo's energetic drum work spurring everyone on. The accented crashing chords and cymbals of previous choruses are heard here, not only in measures five and six as before but in measures one and two as well. The two iconic power chords that were heard in the introduction of the song and in the fourth measure of the previous choruses are here replaced by a syncopated crashing chord on the “two-and” beat of measure four.

It can arguably be said that this fourth chorus is also ten measures in length as the second chorus was, complete with an abbreviated version of Billy Preston's descending electric piano riff as heard the first time around. However, due to this being the conclusion of this actual performance on January 27th, 1969, the song's meter is here lost for this second “Beatles break,” the only elements filling this gap unleash some indecipherable studio sounds and Paul's “Oooooh!”

Just when one would think that the performance was now complete (as it was in reality), Ringo brings it back in with another innovative left-handed drum fill directly from the song's January 28th, 1969 performance. We now hear a repeat of the final verse and chorus, which is primarily an identical performance but less intense. What does become the primary focus is Paul's vocal work, the verse comprising his now-iconic “high heel shoes...low neck sweater” improvisation, and a very dynamic ad-lib of the final chorus as the song fades out. Of note here is Paul adding the word “home” to his otherwise usual phrase “get back Loretta” during all other documented takes of the song during these late-January sessions. As the music begins to extend to another chorus on the single version, Paul's final vocalization is “JoJo,” this exact utterance also being heard during the fade-in on “Get Back (reprise)” from both proposed “Get Back" albums.

"I played solo on that," Lennon had stated in an interview when asked about the song "Get Back." "When Paul was feeling kindly, he would give me a solo. Maybe if he was feeling guilty that he had most of the A-sides or something, he'd give me a solo. I think George produces some beautiful guitar playing, but I think he's too hung up to really let go."

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