On May 28th, 1968, The Beatles gathered at George's 'Kinfauns' home in Esher, Surrey, to tape demo recordings of songs they wanted to officially record for the next album, which became the "White Album." Having recently spent a few weeks in Rishikesh, India, with the Maharishi, they wrote a bumper crop of new songs. Their first EMI recording session, occurring on May 30th of that year, required an earlier gathering to premier these new songs to the rest of the group.
In particular, John had used his quiet time in India to write a plethora of songs, most of which ended up on the “White Album.” However, a few didn't and remained undeveloped for the time being, the only tangible evidence of these few having been committed to tape on George's Ampex four-track tape machine on this day. One of these was “Mean Mr. Mustard.”
John alone performed this rough demo on acoustic guitar and vocals, using double-tracked by the author to fill up all four tracks of the tape. The song's arrangement at this point consisted of the two verses that ended up on the released version followed by an undeveloped bridge and then a repeat of the first verse, the song breaking down just before that final verse was complete. Other than the sister's name “Shirley” instead of “Pam,” the lyrics were already in place. With many of the demos he recorded this day, John's vocals ventured into gobbledygook in the places where he had yet to finalize the lyrics, occurring in the final moments of the bridge on this demo.
Having been omitted from the lineup for the “White Album,” John resurrected the song's song in the rehearsals for their next project, which eventually became the “Let It Be” film and soundtrack album. John rehearsed “Mean Mr. Mustard” with The Beatles four times during January, the first being the above detailed January 8th run-through at Twickenham Film Studios with John on electric piano, George on lead guitar Ringo on drums. This is followed by three lesser attempts on January 14th at Twickenham Studios, where George had temporarily quit The Beatles, and then on the 23rd and 25th at Apple Studios. The group apparently didn't feel inclined to perfect the song and put it on the shelf once again.
After John volunteered to use the first two verses of this unfinished song for inclusion in the proposed “Abbey Road” medley, he decided to pair it up with another unfinished song he had been conjuring up and bring them both into EMI Studios to record them in succession. And so, on July 24th, 1969, The Beatles started recording a composite John Lennon track with the working title of “Here Comes The Sun-King,” the first half of which was a mellow song we would eventually refer to as “Sun King” and the second half being the more up-tempo two verses of “Mean Mr. Mustard.”
They entered EMI Studio Two on this date at 3:30 pm to record the composite song's rhythm track. “John made the decision to play through both of them in one go,” engineer Geoff Emerick explains in his book “Here, There And Everywhere,” adding, “which made it a little more of a challenge to the band's musicianship. But they pulled it off – it was really a group effort, and all four Beatles played with energy and enthusiasm, each making his own unique contribution to the sound and arrangement.” One unique contribution decided upon on this day was for Paul to play his Fender Jazz Bass through a fuzz box for the “Mean Mr. Mustard” section of the track, him having to manually switch the sound from the soothing clean tone used in the “Sun King” section when that particular time came up. Likewise, Ringo had to quickly switch from using his timpani beaters on the “Sun King” section to his usual sticks in time for the opening drum fill on “Mean Mr. Mustard.”
A total of 35 takes were made of this rhythm track, the instrumentation being Paul on bass (track one), Ringo on drums (track two), John on rhythm guitar (track three), George on rhythm guitar (track four), and John's guide vocal (track six) With the atmosphere being at an unusual high during this otherwise dismal period of the group, and with John being “actually in a pretty good mood throughout the entire session,” as Geoff Emerick points out, 'take seven' actually comprised The Beatles running through various Gene Vincent songs. After a complete version of Vincent's version of "Ain't She Sweet," the result of which appears on the 1996 release, "Anthology 3," they also briefly touch on his songs "Who Slapped John?," "Up A Lazy River" and "Be Bop A Lula" before getting back to the business at hand.
'Take 20,' which is included in various "Abbey Road" 50th Anniversary releases, shows John stumbling through the lyrics during his guide vocal track, knowing these would eventually be wiped later. He interjects either "yes he does" or "yes he is" in-between most lines, still refers to Mr. Mustard's sister as "Shirley," and flubs the second lyric of verse two as "she's saving up to look at the Queen," which prompts his to repeat the phrase "God save the Queen" a couple of times. After the song abruptly ends, George and John laugh a bit before Lennon recites, "His sister Bernice works in the furnace." In the end, 'take 35' of "Here Comes The Sun-King" was deemed the best, this happy session ending at 10:30 pm that evening.
On the following day, July 25th, 1969, The Beatles resumed work on what is still titled “Here Comes The Sun-King” at 2:30 pm in EMI Studio Two. On the “Mean Mr. Mustard” segment of this track, John and Paul added their lead and harmony vocals on track six, erasing John's guide vocals in the process. Simultaneously, John also overdubbed some piano for the track, similar to what he led the group through on January 8th, 1969, on electric piano when the song was being rehearsed. After this was complete, they continued work on “Come Together” as well as started another composite section of the medley, this being “Polythene Pam / She Came In Through The Bathroom Window.” The session finally ended at 2:30 am the following morning.
Still feeling that the arrangement needed to be punched up a little more, they resumed work on the track once again on July 29th, 1969, the title of this track now appropriately being documented as “Sun King / Mean Mr. Mustard.” They entered EMI Studio Three at 2:30 pm and, after working a little more on “Come Together,” John and Paul double-tracked their vocals, and Ringo added tambourine onto “Mean Mr. Mustard.” The recording of “Mean Mr. Mustard” was now complete, this event ending this session at 10:45 pm.
With most of the medley being complete at this point, they were anxious to see how all of the component parts could be edited together sufficiently. Therefore, on the following day, July 30th, 1969, they prepared a trial run. In the early evening, they added some overdubs to other sections of the medley, and then at 10:30 pm, they all met in the control room of EMI Studio Two to start work on assembling the entire medley.
The first task was to create quick stereo mixes of all the tracks to be assembled, George Martin and engineers Geoff Emerick, Phil McDonald, and John Kurlander creating this mix for “Sun King / Mean Mr. Mustard” in one attempt. Then came the strategic editing, crossfading, and tape compiling to assembly the medley. Interestingly, at this stage, Paul's brief acoustic piece “Her Majesty” was to be inserted directly after “Mean Mr. Mustard” in the running order.
Upon listening to this trial run of the edited medley, as included in various "Abbey Road" 50th Anniversary editions, everything sounded fine except for one song. Engineer John Kurlander, in the book “The Beatles Recording Sessions,” explains: “We did all the remixes and crossfades to overlap the songs, Paul was there, and we heard it together for the first time. He said, 'I don't like 'Her Majesty,' throw it away,' so I cut it out – but I accidentally left in the last note. He said, 'It's only a rough mix; it doesn't matter,' in other words, don't bother about making a clean edit because it's only a rough mix. I said to Paul, 'What shall I do with it?' Throw it away,' he replied.”
With the song “Her Majesty” now removed from the running order, “Mean Mr. Mustard” needed to be followed immediately by “Polythene Pam” to keep the medley going. Therefore, when John Kurlander physically cut the tape in two places to remove the section that contained “Her Majesty,” he needed to somehow make a smooth transition between “Mean Mr. Mustard” and “Polythene Pam.” Regarding John Kurlander's editing job, Geoff Emerick explains: “John's editing skills weren't quite up to snuff at that point, and he accidentally cut it one beat too early, on the last crashing note of 'Mustard.' He was about to correct the problem when a tired Paul said, 'Never mind, it's only a rough mix.”
As detailed in the review for the track “Her Majesty,” the “last crashing note” of “Mean Mr. Mustard” can be heard as the first “crashing note” of “Her Majesty” on the released album. Upon inspection, and in John Kurlander's defense, removing that last note made a much smoother transition between the two songs than if it would have been left in. At any rate, for those who would like to hear how “Mean Mr. Mustard” sounded with its original full ending and final “crashing note,” it is included in various "Abbey Road" 50th Anniversary releases as well as in the interactive game “Rock Band.”
With the rough edit of the “Abbey Road” medley complete, the session ended at 2:30 am the following morning. However, further work needed to be done to some aspects of the medley, including how the track “You Never Give Me Your Money” would transition into “Sun King.” This would involve further attention to “Mean Mr. Mustard” since this track and “Sun King” were recorded together.
With the album nearing completion, The Beatles and the engineering staff took to officially assembling the “Abbey Road” medley on August 14th, 1969, everyone assembling in the control room of EMI Studio Two at 2:30 pm for a long 12-hour session. The first order of business was to create a more satisfactory stereo mix of “Sun King / Mean Mr. Mustard,” five attempts made by George Martin and engineers Geoff Emerick, Phil McDonald, and Alan Parsons. These attempts were numbered 20 through 24, remix 22 being deemed best for now.
After work on other recordings proved accomplished, assembling the finished medley got underway. Starting from the beginning, “You Never Give Me Your Money” was crossfaded into “Sun King / Mean Mr. Mustard” by way of sound effects tape-recorded and put together by Paul on August 5th, 1969. This having been done, “Polythene Pam / She Came In Through The Bathroom Window” needed to edited onto the conclusion of “Mean Mr. Mustard,” this being “joined together utilizing a hard edit, without the merest hint of a gap between the two,” as Mark Lewisohn relates in his book “The Beatles Recording Sessions.” Once again, the “last crashing note” of “Mean Mr. Mustard” was edited out to create this seamless transition.
Since orchestral overdubs were required for the medley's remaining segments, these were done later. However, the first half of the medley was deemed complete, and this session was over at 2:30 am the following morning.
On August 20th, 1969, the album was considered complete, which facilitated the master tape banding and tape copying of the album to be done on this day. However, Paul still wasn't happy with the sound effect transition between “You Never Give Me Your Money” and “Sun King,” so this needed to be redone. Therefore, on August 21st, 1969, Paul and the engineering mentioned above staff entered the control room of EMI Studio Two at 2:30 pm to create a new stereo mix of both tracks with a new stereo crossfade that incorporated Paul's sound effects tape. Only one attempt was needed to get it to everyone's approval, this having to be inserted into the finished master of the “Abbey Road” album that was done the previous day. Thus, the official version of “Mean Mr. Mustard” was complete.
Sometime in 1996, George Martin and Geoff Emerick created a mix of John Lennon's demo of the song recorded at George Harrison's 'Kinfauns' home on May 28th, 1968. This was included on the compilation album “Anthology 3." Then, in 2018, George Martin's son Giles Martin, along with engineer Sam Okell, created an even more clearer mix of the "Mean Mr. Mustard" for inclusion on various 50th Anniversary editions of the "White Album."
Giles Martin and Sam Okell then brought out the master tape of "Mean Mr. Mustard," sometime in 2019, along with all of the "Abbey Road" tapes, to create vibrant new stereo mixes for release in celebration of the album's 50th Anniversary. They also made a stereo mix of 'take 20' of the "Sun King / Mean Mr. Mustard" session from July 24th, 1969, and the trial edit and mix of the entire "Abbey Road" medley from July 30th of that year.
Song Structure and Style
The "Mean Mr. Mustard" segment of the "Abbey Road" medley consists of two verses (or aa), both of which are fourteen measures long. This entire track is in 4/4 time except for the second verse's final four measures, which Lennon decides to present in a Waltz-like 6/8, not unlike the instrumental verse of his "Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite!" from two years prior.
After the rolling introductory drum fill from Ringo, the instrumentation of the first verse consists of the following: John on double-tracked lead vocals, electric rhythm guitar and subtle piano, Paul on bass played through a fuzz box and double-tracked harmony vocals (which appear in measures eleven and thirteen), George on electric rhythm guitar and Ringo on drums and tambourine (which first appears in measure four and continues throughout). Ringo plays a straight 4/4 beat while riding on the mostly-closed hi-hat but then puts in cymbal crashes at the end of measures six and eight to anticipate the downbeat of the following measures along with the guitars and piano. Ringo then puts in an appropriate drum fill in the final measure as a segue into the second verse.
Verse two is virtually a repeat of the first verse instrumentally, one exception being that Paul's harmonies are heard throughout the entire verse this time around. The tambourine is heard throughout all the verse measures as well but appear lower in the mix throughout. Measures 11 through 14, as stated above, switch to 6/8 time while the build-up in the final measure seems to be in anticipation of the tempo change of “Polythene Pam,” which follows in the medley. However, this is an illusion since this build-up was actually leading to the beginning chord of “Her Majesty.”
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