Sun King And Its Incredible Recording Process

 

The first actual recordings of what eventually became the song “Sun King” took place during the January 1969 rehearsals at Twickenham Film Studios. All of these rehearsals were recorded, and what was considered by director Michael Lindsay-Hogg to be the best footage was eventually released as the “Let It Be” film. Five run-throughs of the song happened on the first day of rehearsals, January 2nd, four versions occurred on January 3rd, and then one short version on January 10th, which was the day that George Harrison temporarily quit The Beatles.

 

Six-and-a-half months later, on July 24th, 1969, John brought in a more complete version of the song, entitled “Here Comes The Sun-King” at this point, for inclusion on the proposed long medley for their next album “Abbey Road.” In fact, in the spirit of assembling this medley, John also brought in another unfinished composition called “Mean Mr. Mustard,” which would also be recorded on this day in tandem with "Here Comes The Sun-King." The intention of this day's recording being part of the medley was quite clear, the tape box indicating the song as "Part Two...Here Comes The Sun-King." They were all present at EMI Studio Two at 3:30 pm to begin this session, Paul arriving an hour earlier to record his song “Come And Get It” by himself. This solo recording was to be used as a demo and given to the Apple band The Iveys (soon to be re-named Badfinger) for inclusion in Ringo's soon-to-be-released movie “The Magic Christian.”

 

In his book “Here, There And Everywhere,” Emerick relates how these two songs were recorded together in a single pass. “There is a slight gap between the two songs, so they could have easily been recorded separately, but knowing in advance that they would be sequenced in that order, John made the decision to play through both of them in one go, which made it a little more of a challenge to the band's musicianship. But they pulled it off.”

 

About John's recent automobile accident he and Yoko had earlier that month in Scotland, as well as Yoko's having a bed brought into the studio to facilitate her recovery, Emerick continues: “John was actually in a pretty good mood throughout the entire session. I could see that he was a bit looser, a little more recovered from his injuries, and a lot less worried about Yoko, who was no longer lying in bed. However, it remained, unmade, in a corner of the studio, a mute reminder of the weirdness we'd had to deal with over the past weeks.”

 

However, before the recording began, much had to be decided about how “Here Comes The Sun-King” would be arranged musically. In 1987, George explained how they approached the song: “At the time, 'Albatross' (by Fleetwood Mac) was out, with all the reverb on guitar. So we said, 'Let's be Fleetwood Mac doing “Albatross,” just to get going.' It never really sounded like Fleetwood Mac, but that was the point of origin.”

 

“Albatross” was a huge instrumental hit by a new British band called Fleetwood Mac, this single being released in November of 1968 and making its way up to #1 in Britain in 1969. Written by their guitarist Peter Green, it was then re-released in 1973 and made it all the way up to #2 in Britain that year, selling a total of over 900,000 copies in the UK. Having made such a huge impact in Britain, it was admired by The Beatles and called to mind when recording “Sun King,” George Harrison later taking an acetate of the song around to play to friends, impressing on them how much they sounded like Fleetwood Mac.

 

“That's where we pretend to be Fleetwood Mac for a few minutes,” John related to a DJ in 1969 shortly after the album's release. “We did the introductions, we call it the 'Sun riff,' the little instrumental bit that's like Fleetwood Mac before we start singing, and we did it again at the end, so we are able to sing it to make them different, you know, so it wasn't just the same riff.”

 

The singing that John mentioned here refers to the Spanish-like lyrics that were also concocted on this day. Geoff Emerick relates: “The vibe was so good that, this time around, Paul was invited by John to participate in both songs, which seemed to lift his spirits greatly. They even disappeared behind the screens at one point for a puff on a joint, just the two of them, and when they came out, they had a fit of giggles as they sang the pseudo-Spanish gibberish at the end of “Here Comes The Sun-King”; in fact, they found it impossible to get through a take without dissolving into laughter.”

 

The Fleetwood Mac arrangement included George mimicking the "Albatross" lead guitar riffs, among other things. Emerick continues: “It really was a group effort, and all four Beatles played with energy and enthusiasm, each making his own unique contribution to the sound and arrangement. Even Ringo came up with a strong idea, draping his tom-toms with heavy tea towels and playing them with timpani beaters in order to give John the 'jungle drum' sound he was after.” Not so coincidentally, this is exactly how Mick Fleetwood from Fleetwood Mac played “Albatross,” Ringo having to quickly switch to regular drumsticks when the “Mean Mr. Mustand” segment of the recording came up.

 

After all the writing, arranging, and rehearsals were over, The Beatles recorded a total of 35 takes of the rhythm track for "Here Comes The Sun-King" on this day. The eight-track tape consisted of Paul on bass (track one), Ringo on drums (track two), John on rhythm guitar played through a rotating Leslie speaker (track three), George on lead guitar with a tremolo echo from his amplifier (track four) and John's guide vocal (track six). John sometimes used the Travis-picking style taught to him by Donovan in India in the spring of 1968. This composite track totaled 3:37 (2:30 for “Sun King” and 1:06 for “Mean Mr. Mustard”), the majority of the takes being complete performances.

 

Author Mark Lewisohn, who was privileged to hear all of these takes in preparation for his book “The Beatles Recording Sessions,” relates the following: “This original tape displays the cohesion of The Beatles as a musical unit, with a thorough understanding between the four. All the basic ideas were there right from Ringo's delicately brushed cymbal, which signaled the start. Even when the session suddenly slipped into a jam session – John singing a complete version of 'Ain't She Sweet' and then, clearly in Gene Vincent mood, following with 'Who Slapped John?' and 'Be-Bop-A-Lula' – the sound, though busked and impromptu, was also good and precise.”

 

This version of “Ain't She Sweet” was good enough to be included on the 1996 compilation album “Anthology 3.” Lewisohn, who was commissioned to supply the liner notes on this release, further explained that this song was a “standard from 1927 that (Gene) Vincent had covered in 1956 and The Beatles themselves recorded in 1961 (in Hamburg, Germany). Then they had performed an arrangement that vocalist John Lennon described as a march,' but in this 1969 jam they duplicated the softened style of Vincent's recording (from his album 'Bluejean Bop!)." This "Ain't She Sweet" recording actually comprised 'take seven' of the proceedings for this day, followed by John's quip, "I hope you liked that trip, boys." While they were in the mood, as mentioned above, they also touched on two other songs from Vincent's "Bluejean Bop!" album, namely "Who Slapped John?" and "Up A Lazy River," and then his biggest hit "Be Bop A Lula" before they got back to business with the task at hand. Comradery was indeed at an all-time high.

 

After 'take 10,' the group decided to go on a break for "coffee, tea, and biscuits," as Kevin Howlett described in the 50th Anniversary "Abbey Road" book. After the break, they got back to perfecting their performance, which inevitably displayed how much of a 'well-oiled machine' The Beatles had become. 'Take 20' was included among the bonus tracks on various editions of "Abbey Road" for its 50th Anniversary. Just before the take starts, as George continued practicing his highly echoed opening guitar passage, John joked, "Now this won't keep the Apple staff in work for the next ten years, lads! We have all those families to look after, you know. A lot of people to keep."

 

John then tries to reel in his bandmates for the next take by saying, "OK, Fab, Gear!" while the ongoing commotion continues for a few moments. John humorously reports to his producer in the control room, "George is getting silly, George, sir, George is getting silly." The opening guitar riff reminds them of the 1960 British instrumental hit "Man Of Mystery" by The Shadows, which George was trying to remember. "Can't find it," George exclaims, which prompts laughter and then a vocal demonstration from John of how the guitar riff went. After George then attempts to copy it, John counts "one, two, three, four" to begin the serious attempt at the next take of "Here Comes The Sun-King." While this rendition is slightly faster in tempo than the final take ended up, this take was nearly perfect.

 

At the end of this productive session, the band was satisfied with 'take 35' of “Here Comes The Sun-King,” and they called it for the night at 10:30 pm.

 

On the following day, July 25th, 1969, they arrived in EMI Studio Two at 2:30 pm for more work on “Here Comes The Sun-King.” The first thing on the agenda was to start adding the lush vocal harmonies onto the song, George Martin undoubtedly working these harmonies out with John, Paul, and George. George Martin then performed an organ overdub for the song, attention then being given to adding overdubs to “Come Together” and then starting another segment of the long medley, this being “Polythene Pam / She Came In Through The Bathroom Window.” At 2:30 am the following morning, this twelve-hour recording session finally came to a conclusion.

 

Then, on July 29th, 1969, The Beatles added the final overdubs onto what was now simply re-titled “Sun King” and “Mean Mr. Mustard.”  They entered EMI Studio Three at 2:30 pm on this day and, after adding a guitar overdub onto “Come Together,” they added yet more vocal harmonies onto “Sun King.” After this was complete, George Martin re-recorded his organ overdub to the song's chorus, while Ringo added maracas to the final verse. With all eight tracks of the tape filled, all that was left was to take the song to the mixing stage and then edit this segment into the long medley. This session ended at 10:45 pm.

 

This editing work, however, proved to be more problematic than they thought. Three sessions were booked for the next day, July 30th, 1969, the third being dedicated to performing a 'test run' of editing all the medley segments together into one long track. The group entered the control room of EMI Studio Two at 10:30 pm for this purpose. Rough stereo mixes of all of the medley segments needed to be made first, even though some weren't complete yet. Only one attempt at stereo mixing “Sun King / Mean Mr. Mustard” was necessary at this stage, made by George Martin and engineers Geoff Emerick, Phil McDonald, and John Kurlander.

 

The main concern about “Sun King” was how a crossfade would be made from the song that appears before it, this being "You Never Give Me Your Money." “This was tried several times during the session,” Mark Lewisohn explains, “the best idea, so far, being to merge the songs on an organ note.” Geoff Emerick relates: “John didn't like the idea of there being such a long gap between the two songs, but Paul felt strongly that the mood needed to be set for the listener before 'Sun King' started. In the end, Paul got his way – John merely shrugged his shoulders and feigned disinterest.” In any event, this preliminary edit job gave them a good idea of how things would sound, and the session ended at 2:30 am the following morning.

 

In the next few days, Paul came up with a better idea for creating a segue between “You Never Give Me Your Money” and “Sun King.” “Paul arrived with a plastic bag of tape loops,” Geoff Emerick recalls about their August 5th, 1969 session, “and we used several of them – including recordings of crickets and bells – instead.” Paul had recorded various sound effects at home on his Brennell tape machine and brought a bag of a dozen or so loose tape loops into the control room of EMI Studio Three. Later that afternoon, they properly recorded his loops onto a four-track tape. It took them from 2:30 to 6:30 pm to fill all four tracks of the tape, which was then shelved until the medley's actual assembling took place.

 

The assembling of the first portion of the medley took place on August 14th, 1969, in EMI Studio Two's control room, beginning at 2:30 pm. First off, however, “Sun King / Mean Mr. Mustard” needed a proper stereo mix, five attempts being made at the beginning of this session (remixes 20 – 24) by George Martin and engineers Geoff Emerick, Phil McDonald, and Alan Parsons, remix 22 deemed the best. This engineering staff made excellent use of stereo panning the instruments to create an interesting effect, this idea quite possibly coming from The Beatles themselves.

 

With this accomplished, and with other stereo mixes and recordings being done, it was time for editing the segments together. Eleven attempts were made at editing together “You Never Give Me Your Money” and “Sun King / Mean Mr. Mustard” utilizing Paul's sound effects tape, the final attempt undoubtedly being deemed the best at this point. The first half of the medley appeared to be finalized on this day, taking the song from “You Never Give Me Your Money” through to “She Came In Through The Bathroom Window.” By 2:30 am the next morning, this session came to a close.

 

Thinking the album was complete on August 20th, 1969, the finished master of the entire album was created on this day in EMI Studio Two's control room. However, someone (undoubtedly Paul) thought to have one final go at segueing “You Never Give Me Your Money” with “Sun King / Mean Mr. Mustard” using the sound effects tape. This was done on the following day, August 21st, 1969, also done in the control room of EMI Studio Two, by the same engineering team, this session beginning at 2:30 pm. Everyone was finally happy with this edit, which now had to be inserted into the already finished master tape of the “Abbey Road” album. The session ended at midnight after a new stereo mix of the song “The End” was also made.

 

Sometime between 2004 and 2006, George Martin and his son Giles Martin returned to the master tapes of “Sun King” in putting together tracks for the Cirque du Soleil production of “Beatles Love” and its associated soundtrack album. The track “Gnik Nus” was put together by this production team, which, as the title suggests, comprises the lush vocal arrangement of “Sun King” played backward along with the Tambora drone from "Within You Without You" heard in the background. This album's newly created mix of  “Octopus's Garden” features the opening segment of "Sun King" as the song's conclusion.

 

Giles Martin and engineer Sam Okell returned to the master tape of "Sun King" sometime in 2019 to create a new stereo mix for inclusion on the 50th Anniversary editions of "Abbey Road." While they were at it, they created a mix of 'take 20' as recorded on July 24th, 1969, as well as the trial edit and mix of the entire "Abbey Road" medley from July 30th, 1969, both of these mixes being included in various 50th Anniversary releases.

 

Song Structure and Style

 

The simple structure of “Sun King” construes out to 'verse (instrumental)/ chorus/ verse' (or aba) with a moody instrumental introduction thrown in.

 

The song's opening moments, which are actually a transition from the track “You Never Give Me Your Money” that proceeds it, comprise the sound-effects tape compiled by Paul, which sounds like bells and crickets. Along with this, we hear Ringo's effective cymbal roll, done with timpani beaters, that slowly build in volume until George actually signals the song's introduction on lead guitar.

 

This instrumental introduction is only four measures long. It features only three Beatles: George on lead guitar, Paul on bass, and Ringo on drums, with the backdrop of the sound effects continuing throughout. George plays three four-note passages on guitar that are nearly a direct lift from Fleetwood Mac's “Albatross,” leaving large openings filled by Paul's subtle bass notes on his Fender Jazz Bass between higher and lower octaves of the same note. Ringo stays primarily on the heavily dampened toms and subtle beats on cymbals, played with timpani beaters instead of sticks.

 

After George plays a four-note segue, we move directly into the instrumental verse, fourteen measures long, a three-times repeated alternation between two chords followed by a two-measure segue. The instrumentation is the same as the introduction with the addition of John's tender Travis-picking guitar work through the first eight measures, gaps in his playing appearing in measures four and eight. Ringo continues his same drum pattern as in the introduction but adds his hi-hat beats, played with its foot pedal, on the two- and four-beats of the first twelve measures. George only plays his guitar riffs in the gaps left by John's guitar, which are in measures 3 and 4, 7 and 8, 11 and 12, and finally in measure fourteen as a higher-pitched segue into the chorus that follows it. To add some variance to the arrangement, John replaces his Travis-picking with slow strums in measures nine through twelve, ending on a high bar chord. Paul adds in some nice bass runs here and there, his sound-effects gradually diminishing and finally disappearing by the end of the twelfth measure.

 

This verse's final two measures are taken up by a lush chord of harmonies by John, Paul, and George, sung in a hushed tone and overdubbed for added thickness. All instrumentation falls away to highlight these harmonies, which dissipate in the second half of the final measure. This measure's remainder taken up with George's guitar mentioned above riff and a simple tom fill from Ringo.

 

The one and only chorus of the song comes next, which is sixteen measures in length. The same instrumentation continues with the inclusion of lush harmonies from John, Paul, and George singing “here come the sun king” three times, in measures 1 through 4, 5 through 8, and then 13 through 16. John sings the phrases “everybody's laughing / everybody's happy” in measures 9 through 12, double-tracked for extra thickness. Also present in the chorus is George Martin's twice overdubbed organ, which mostly plays simple chords as a lovely backdrop to the arrangement but adds some interesting runs in measures 7, 8, 10, and 12. Paul's overdubbed harmonies in measure 15 take on a higher tone than before and are sung in quarter-notes to add a nice change in the vocal arrangement.

 

Next comes the second and final verse, which is twelve measures in length. The same instrumentation as the first verse is heard here, John continually plays his Travis-picking style throughout this time around but also adds his high guitar strum again in the twelfth measure. Other additions here include Ringo playing quiet maracas and, most noteworthy, John, Paul, and George harmonizing the pseudo-Spanish lyrics throughout the verse. John's final high guitar strum signals the conclusion of the song, which actually signals Ringo to quickly switch to regular drumsticks for the opening fill that leads directly into “Mean Mr. Mustand.”

 

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