Paul first brought "Golden Slumbers" to The Beatles during the filmed rehearsals in Twickenham Film Studios for what became the "Let It Be" project. He first performed a piano rendition of the song and its companion piece, "Carry That Weight," on January 7th, 1969. He repeated the verse and refrain of the song three times during this rough rehearsal, the first lyric line being sung as "Once there was a way to travel homeward" each time.
In his book “Many Years From Now,” Paul explains his intentions for his song's vocal performance. “I remember trying to get a very strong vocal on it because it was such a gentle theme, so I worked on the strength of the vocal on it, and ended up quite pleased with it.” This first premier of the song on January 7th, 1969, shows Paul already experimenting with this forceful delivery.
Paul next runs through the song on piano at Twickenham Film Studios during their January 9th, 1969 rehearsal. The lyric “once there was a way to get back homeward” now being in place, this impromptu rehearsal was done while conversing with Ringo. Paul made comments in between lyric lines, such as “Should be ready for a 'Songs For Swinging Lovers' album," about Frank Sinatra's similarly titled album from 1956, and 'It's an old English love song.” Paul then playfully suggests, “I really should write a fairy tale,” and then changes the first line to “Once upon a time, there lived a king...”
Apparently, Paul didn't feel comfortable enough yet to include the song among those in consideration for the “Let It Be” project, so this second run-through was the last time he performed it in these January rehearsals. It was shelved for the time being, along with other underdeveloped ideas like “She Came In Through The Bathroom Window,” only to be resurrected at a later time.
It wasn't until they decided to make one final Beatles album that Paul dusted off “Golden Slumbers” and brought it to EMI Studio Two to record. In the second session, on July 2nd, 1969, Paul, George, and Ringo laid down the rhythm track for the song, John, however, remained hospitalized because of a road accident during a vacation in Scotland.
Paul entered the studio by himself earlier in the day and recorded his short song “Her Majesty” toward consideration for the “Abbey Road” medley. In his book “Here, There And Everywhere,” Emerick recounts the rest of the day, starting at approximately 5 pm. “Later that same day, after Ringo and George Harrison arrived, the three Beatles recorded the backing track for 'Golden Slumbers / Carry That Weight.' The two songs were joined together even at that early stage because Paul had already come up with the idea of linking up several short snippets into a medley of sorts. No one was sure how John would react, but we got on with the work anyway. There seemed to be an assumption that he would go along with it, and that this time around, in contrast to the 'White Album,' he wouldn't be calling all the shots." In actuality, John was indeed on board with "a kind of song montage that we might do as one piece on one side," as he stated in a May 1969 interview.
Fifteen takes of the rhythm track were recorded on this day, the instrumentation being Ringo on drums (track one), George on Fender Bass VI (track two) and Paul on piano (track three), and guide vocal (track eight). Interestingly, even though “Golden Slumbers” and “Carry That Weight” were stipulated as two individual songs on the finished album, the documentation at this point indicated that the title of this entire rhythm track was “Golden Slumbers.”
After engineer Phil McDonald called out "'Golden Slumbers,' take one," we hear Paul continuing a conversation with George about an unidentified recent release, possibly The Who's "Tommy" that The Beatles had referenced at other sessions at the time. "Yeah, there's a couple on the album a bit like that," Paul states, thereby starting his piano intro to "Golden Slumbers." However, this reminded him of his 1967 composition "The Fool On The Hill," which prompts him to change keys on his piano introduction to demonstrate "Day after day..." vocally before chuckling and concluding what was designated as 'take one.' After the engineer names the next take by saying "two" on the talkback microphone, they get through the entire "Golden Slumbers" song before falling apart midway through the first "Carry That Weight" refrain.
After "three" is called out by Phil McDonald, Paul begins his piano intro a little too heavy and then, realizing his mistake, stops and quietly says to himself, "lighter." He then begins 'take three' in good form but then calls it quits just after he belts out the word "golden..." for the first time. After he collects himself by saying "ok," the engineer identifies the next take by saying "four." McCartney thought he was calling his name but, when Phil McDonald specifies that he was saying "four" and not "Paul," he replies, "Ah, the number we're on. OK. You know my number," this being a sly reference to a yet-to-be-released Beatles track entitled "You Know My Name (Look Up The Number)." After 'take 15,' The Beatles were convinced that they had nailed down a good rhythm track, the session then concluding at 9:30 pm.
On July 3rd, 1969, the following day was devoted entirely to additional work to “Golden Slumbers.” As the session began at 3 pm in EMI Studio Two, the first order of business was editing together 'take 13' and 'take 15' to create a tighter rhythm track for overdubbing purposes. Once this was edited together, the result still being called 'take 13,' the three Beatles took to adding various elements (John still being hospitalized) to the composite "Golden Slumbers / Carry That Weight" track. The first section of the song saw Paul adding vocals onto track four, while various other elements were added to the later section. With this complete, it was seen that all eight tracks of the tape were full. Therefore, a reduction mix was needed to open up more tracks for further overdubbing. Two attempts of the reduction mix were made, documented as takes 16 and 17, 'take 17' being deemed best. The session was complete by 8:30 pm.
One unidentified overdub was recorded onto the newly reduced recording of “Golden Slumbers” on the following day, July 4th, 1969. However, the identity of this overdub is not documented anywhere. This session ran from 2:45 to 5:30 pm in EMI Studio Two, but something more pressed on everyone's mind that day. The Wimbledon Ladies tennis match between Britain's Ann Jones and America's Billie-Jean King broadcast on BBC Radio 2. Technical engineer Dave Harries explains in the book “The Beatles Recording Sessions” the events of this session: “We were sitting there listening to the final before The Beatles came in. We had it coming through the mixing console. Then they came in, and we thought, 'Oh blimey, that's it,' especially when they pulled faces and went 'Uggghhh.' But they said we could carry on listening for a while and then, a few minutes later, one of them asked how Ann Jones was getting on, so we put it through on the studio speakers so that they could listen too!” As it turned out, a good portion of the tennis match was committed to tape in the studio on this day, Ann Jones winning the match! On the session tape, former Wimbledon champion Fred Perry is heard describing the match as a "nervous Nelly game!"
“Golden Slumbers” was then shelved for about a month so that work on many other “Abbey Road” tracks could be worked on, John being released from the hospital during this time. Work did resume on the composite track, which was now documented as “Golden Slumbers / Carry That Weight,” on July 30th, 1969, in EMI Studio Three. The Beatles entered the studio at 3:30 pm for overdubs on various “Abbey Road” tracks. Paul added yet another vocal track to "Golden Slumbers" in his attempt to nail down a perfect performance.
With this accomplished, they moved into the control room of EMI Studio Two at 10:30 pm to put together a mock-up of what the long side-two medley would sound like, to see if all the song fragments could be edited together seamlessly. However, the first order of business was to treat all of these recordings to a stereo mix, the “Golden Slumbers” segment being mixed by George Martin and engineers Geoff Emerick, Phil McDonald, and John Kurlander. All preliminary stereo mixes were then edited together, and, with some discussion tweaking some of the other tracks, the medley was seen to be workable. As heard on various 50th Anniversary releases of "Abbey Road," this mix reveals that Paul's lead vocal was yet to be improved upon, and including the string arrangement that we're used to hearing on the finished album. This session then ended at 2:30 am the following morning.
The next day, July 31st, 1969, saw The Beatles entering EMI Studio Two at 2:30 pm for another overdub session. After working on “You Never Give Me Your Money,” attention turned back to “Golden Slumbers” with another vocal attempt from Paul, noted on the tape box by engineer Chris Blair as "Best vocal - Track 6," and extra drum hits by Ringo (track seven). This ended the Beatles' contributions to the song, an orchestra still being needed on the track, which would be recorded later. This session ended at 1:15 am the next morning.
The orchestral overdub occurred on August 15th, 1969, in EMI Studio One, the session beginning at 2:30 pm. There was a snag regarding this session, however, as Geoff Emerick explains: “EMI had still not installed an eight-track tape recorder or large-scale console into the Studio One control room, so we were forced to set up a complicated system of audio tie-lines and closed-circuit television that allowed the musicians to be seated in the larger Studio One while we recorded them in the control room of Studio Two.”
This session focused on segments of the long medley that were primarily Paul's compositions, namely “Golden Slumbers / Carry That Weight” and “The End.” Emerick continues: “Following the pattern that had been established for much of the album, the only Beatle at (this) session was Paul...(Engineer) Phil McDonald, however, was there with me – working in two studios at once really complicated things, and we needed the extra pair of hands. George Martin did the conducting while (Paul) essentially produced his own session. Thankfully, there were no major technical mishaps, and everything worked smoothly.” Engineer Alan Brown remembers, as interviewed for the book “The Beatles Recording Sessions”: “It was a mammoth session. We had a large number of lines linking the studios, and we were all walking around the building with walkie-talkies trying to communicate with each other...It cost a lot of money: all the musicians have to be paid, fed, and watered; I screw every pound note out of it whenever I play the record!”
As mentioned above concerning John's opinions of the proceedings, he voiced them in a 1969 interview. Referring to Paul and his intentions for “Golden Slumbers,” he stated: “He laid the strings on after we had finished most of the basic tracks. I personally can't be bothered with strings and things. I like to do it with the group, or electronics, you know. I can't be bothered with the hassles of the musicians and all that bit, you know. It's such a drag trying to get them together, but Paul digs that. So, that's his scene, and it was up to him where he went with the violins, really, and what he did with them. I think he just wanted a straight kind of backing, you know, nothing freaky.”
This orchestral session, the actual musicians undocumented, ended the recording of “Golden Slumbers.” It only took three hours to record the orchestra for both “Golden Slumbers / Carry That Weight” and “The End,” all of which were recorded onto track eight of the eight-track tape, thereby recording over Paul's guide vocal from the rhythm track. George Martin's orchestral score was followed to the tee by professional studio musicians, this isolated orchestral session being heard on various 50th Anniversary "Abbey Road" editions. This afternoon session ended at 5:30 pm, all personnel not leaving until 7 pm when the orchestral overdubs for George Harrison's “Something” and “Here Comes The Sun” were recorded for the evening session.
August 18th, 1969, was when the official stereo mix of “Golden Slumbers” took place. The session began at 2:30 pm in the control room of EMI Studio Two. Before the mix occurred, the orchestral overdub on track eight was treated with ADT ("Automatic Double Tracking"), which was recorded onto an open track of the eight-track tape. During the mix, track eight, which contained the straight orchestral overdub, was positioned on one channel of the stereo landscape. In contrast, the orchestra with slightly delayed ADT was positioned on the other side, thus creating a lush orchestral backdrop to the released recording. Two attempts at a stereo mix were made by George Martin and engineers Geoff Emerick, Phil McDonald, and Alan Parsons, the second remix was deemed acceptable for release. This session ended at 10:30 pm.
On the next day, August 19th, 1969, the same engineering team assembled in EMI Studio Two's control room at 2 pm. Among the work done on this day was performing the cross-fade/edit between “Golden Slumbers / Carry That Weight” and “The End.” After more stereo mixing and overdubbing was accomplished on other “Abbey Road” songs, this session was complete at 4 pm.
Sometime in 2019, George Martin's son Giles Martin, along with engineer Sam Okell, returned to the master tapes of "Golden Slumbers" to create a vibrant new stereo mix for inclusion on various 50th Anniversary releases of "Abbey Road." While they were at it, they also created stereo mixes of takes one through three of the rhythm track as recorded on July 2nd, 1969, the trial edit and mix of the entire "Abbey Road" medley of July 30th, 1969, and the orchestral overdub of August 15th of that year.
On December 9th, 1989, Paul and his touring band recorded a live version of “Golden Slumbers,” along with “Carry That Weight” and “The End,” that was released on both his albums “Tripping The Live Fantastic” and “Tripping The Live Fantastic: Highlights!”
Song Structure and Style
The structure of "Golden Slumbers," a short section of the long "Abbey Road" medley, consists of 'verse/ refrain/ verse' (or aba). This piece leads into "Carry That Weight," which consists of various movements that flow into the medley's final selection, "The End," which also consists of many changing segments.
A small single-measure introduction with Paul on piano sets the stage for the first ten-measure verse. These measures are in 4/4 time except for measure seven, which is in 6/4 time, this measure containing the lyric “sleep little darling, do not cry.” Paul continues the piano figure as played in the introduction as the verse begins, coming in on the downbeat with the lyrics “once there was a way.” The second measure's downbeat introduces George on bass, playing a resounding scooping note while the strings come in at the same time. Paul's piano and the orchestra continue on into measures three and four, George adds another bass note on the fourth measure's downbeat. Paul on piano and lead vocals, the orchestra, and George's periodic gentle bass notes continue to finish the verse. Ringo comes in with a strident drum fill in the tenth measure to introduce the refrain that follows.
This refrain is nine-measures long and continues with the same instrumentation as in the first verse. With Ringo flailing away with drum fills and crashing cymbals for the first five measures, Paul delivers his vocals with masked intensity to contrast with the softness of the “lullaby” lyrics that follow in measures eight and nine. These final measures, six through nine, are actually a repeat of measures seven through ten of the first verse, measure six this time being the one in 6/4 time. Ringo drops off completely on the seventh measure's downbeat, allowing the elements of the final measures to be a virtual repeat of the verse that preceded it.
Next comes a repeat of the first verse in its entirety. The only differences are Ringo's subtle cymbal accents on the downbeats during measures one, three, and five, before pounding out some drum beats in the 6/4 time signature seventh measure. George Martin's string arrangement adds a fluent melody line in measures three and four, while George Harrison is continued to be trusted by Paul to contribute simple but effective bass notes to this final verse. Ringo once again adds a vibrant drum fill in the tenth measure to introduce the brash “Carry That Weight” that follows, thus ending “Golden Slumbers” in the process.
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