Since the January rehearsals of the song Octopus’s Garden didn't
solidify it enough for inclusion in the "Let It Be" project, and
because Ringo did not have a vocal contribution for that album as of yet, The
Beatles decided to bring it to EMI Studios to work it out and record it
properly. A decision hadn't been made
yet to record one final album, which became the "Abbey Road" LP, so
the group was busying itself recording more songs to flesh out the January
sessions into what they felt would be a suitable "Let It Be"
album. This is where they intended
"Octopus's Garden," as well as several other songs they had been
recording in the spring of 1969, to fit in the new list of song tracks.
The Beatles entered EMI Studio Two on April 26th, 1969 at around
4:30 pm with the intention of working on Ringo's song. George Martin was just sporadically present
during these spring Beatles sessions, the documentation for this day indicating
“The Beatles” as the producer of this session.
Chris Thomas, who had been producing Beatles sessions since the “White
Album” days, does distinctly remember being present on this day in the control
room, so he undoubtedly contributed to the proceedings.
Engineer Jeff Jarratt, who was relatively new in working with the
band at this time, recalls the circumstances of working with them. In the book “The Beatles Recording Sessions”
he states: “I was really thrown in at
the deep end. George Martin informed me
that he wouldn't be available. I can't
remember word for word what he said to me, but it was something like, 'There
will be one Beatle there, fine. Two
Beatles, great. Three Beatles,
fantastic. But the minute the four of
them are there that is when the inexplicable charismatic thing happens, the
special magic no one has been able to explain.
It will be very friendly between you and them but you'll be aware of
this inexplicable presence.' Sure
enough, that's exactly the way it happened.
I've never felt it in any other circumstances. It was the special chemistry of the four of
them which nobody since has ever had.”
After Paul put in an attempt to overdub lead vocals onto the recently
recorded rhythm track of his song “Oh! Darling,” all four Beatles worked at
perfecting the arrangement of “Octopus's Garden.” When they felt confident enough to roll the
tapes, they recorded 32 takes of the rhythm track. The instrumentation consisted of George on
Fender Stratocaster played through a Leslie speaker, John on his Epiphone
Casino, Paul on his Rickenbacker bass, and Ringo on drums while singing a guide
vocal.
Mark Lewisohn, who's had the privilege of listening to the entire
original tape as research for his book “The Beatles Recording Sessions,”
describes this as “a fun and creative session,” all four Beatles cooperative
and on their best behavior. 'Take two,'
which is included in the 1996 compilation album “Anthology 3,” shows that they had
the arrangement nearly perfected at this stage, George even having his
intricate guitar introduction and conclusion pretty much down to a tee. Ringo keeps repeating the first verse vocally
knowing this element would be recorded as an overdub later, which meant that
the accented “can't be found” in the second verse hadn't been worked out as of
this early take. At the end of 'take
eight,' which didn't turn out so good, Ringo sarcastically states “Well, that
was superb!,” this remark also included on “Anthology 3.”
By 'take 32,' they had perfected the rhythm track for the song
that would be used on the finished recording, interjecting the “can't be found”
accents as a nice touch to the arrangement.
It was 4:15 am the following day by this point, this nearly being a
24-hour session, and they decided to finally call it a day.
On April 29th, 1969, The Beatles resumed work on the song in EMI
Studio Three. They first all congregated
in the control room at 2:30 pm for a four-hour playback of recently recorded songs
that they were considering for inclusion on the “Let It Be” album, this
listening session ending around 6:30 pm.
Then, after an hour break, they went out onto the studio floor at 7:30
pm, the sole purpose being the overdubbing of Ringo's lead vocals onto
"Octopus's Garden." They were
happy with the results and, therefore, took to work making a stereo mix of the
song, thinking it to be complete and also ready for the soon-to-be-released
“Let It Be” album. Producer Chris Thomas
and engineers Jeff Jarratt and Nick Webb made four attempts at creating this
stereo mix, undoubtedly the fourth being deemed the best. At 1 am the following morning, this session
was complete.
Then, a little over a month later, a decision was made to put
together one last Beatles album, leaving the January 1969 sessions for the time
being and concentrating on what they had been recording since for inclusion on
what eventually became the “Abbey Road” album.
Newer songs would also be started but, in the process, they decided to spruce
up production of the songs they had been recording in the spring, now with
George Martin at the helm. In the spirit
of “Yellow Submarine,” and because of George Martin's expertise at recording
comedy records for the likes of Peter Sellers and The Goons, various sound
effects were decided upon for Ringo's song.
The Beatles arrived in EMI Studio Two on July 17th, 1969 at 6:30
pm to focus on whatever was needed to complete “Octopus's Garden.” Still feeling that Ringo's lead vocal overdub
was suitable for the finished product, Paul and George (and possibly Ringo)
added backing harmonies sung in a high pitch and then Paul added a piano track
before the sound effects overdubs began.
John stated the following in a 1969 interview about these overdubs: “During the time I was away, they laid a few
harmony tracks on some of the harmony bits, so Ringo is doing a few harmony
bits.” This would seem to indicate that,
even though John had reunited with The Beatles after his automobile accident by
this time, he may not have been present on this day.
Engineer Geoff Emerick, in his book “Here, There And Everywhere,”
recalls the events of this day. “We had
great fun doing overdubs on 'Octopus's Garden.'
Paul and George were both in high spirits on the days we were working on
it, and together they chipped in, putting as much effort into it as if it were
one of their own songs. Ringo...even got
the inspiration – recycled from 'Yellow Submarine' – to blow bubbles into a
close-miked glass of water.” Concerning
this overdub, technical engineer Alan Brown adds: “That was miked very closely to capture all
the little bubbles and sounds.”
Emerick continues: “As the
songwriter, Ringo acted as the de facto producer for the track, and in one of
our rare conversations, he asked me if I could make the vocals in the middle
section sound as if they were being sung underwater. It was one the few times during the 'Abbey
Road' sessions that I was challenged to come up with a new kind of sound, and I
jumped at the opportunity. After some
experimentation, I discovered that feeding the vocals into a compressor and
triggering it from a pulsing tone (which I derived from George Harrison's Moog
Synthesizer) imparted a distinctive wobbly sound, almost like gargling. It was weird, almost like something out of a
cheesy science-fiction movie, but Ringo loved the result.” By 11:15 that evening, this fun session
finally came to a close.
The next day, July 18th, 1969, a decision was made to rerecord
Ringo's lead vocal on the song. Paul
and Ringo arrived sometime after 2:30 pm at EMI Studio Three on this day for
this purpose, Paul first putting in yet another attempt at nailing down his
lead vocals for “Oh! Darling.” Paul
wasn't happy with his vocal work on this day, but Ringo proceeded to capture
the perfect vocal performance for his song shortly thereafter, even
double-tracking it in spots, something he hadn't done on a lead vocal since
"Matchbox." “For once, Ringo
sang the lead vocal with confidence,” Geoff Emerick asserts. Ringo also overdubbed what Mark Lewisohn
describes in his “Recording Sessions” book as “sundry percussion” onto the
song, which appears to be light accents from his drum kit. By 8 pm, this recording session was complete,
which also completes the recording of “Octopus's Garden.”
This is not to say that they all went home for the day at this
point. They then immediately proceeded
into the control room of EMI Studio Two to create a releasable mix of the
song. George Martin and engineers Phil
McDonald and Alan Parsons first worked at creating a mono mix, which was
strange since albums were only released in stereo by this time. Nonetheless, they made seven attempts at a
mono mix and then five attempts (numbered 10 through 14) at a stereo mix, the
final mix being the one used on the released album.
Sometime in 1996, George Martin and Geoff Emerick returned to the
master tapes of the original rhythm track The Beatles made on April 26th, 1969
in order to create a mix of 'take two' for inclusion on the compilation album
“Anthology 3.” The entire take was
included on this release with Ringo's sarcastic comment “Well, that was
superb!” from the end of 'take eight' tacked on at the end. The listener can hear how fully formed the
arrangement was at this early stage, lead guitar work and all, with only new
lead vocals and minimal overdubs being added later to get it to its complete
state.
Then, sometime between 2004 and 2006, George Martin and his son
Giles Martin went back to the final master tape, as well as master tapes from
various other songs, to create a unique mash-up version of “Octopus's Garden”
for inclusion in the production of the Cirque du Soleil show “Beatles
Love.” This new stereo mix, which was
also featured on the resulting 2006 “Love” album, masterfully mixes elements of
“Yellow Submarine,” “Good Night,” “Lovely Rita,” “Helter Skelter” and “Sun
King” to create a quite innovative and enjoyable track.
Two live recordings were made by Ringo and his then current band,
The Roundheads, which saw release. The
first live recording was done on May 13th, 1998 at Sony Studios in New York
City in an intimate setting for broadcast on the popular VH1 cable show
“Storytellers.” Ringo told a charming
story of how “Octopus's Garden” was written and then, with his band that
included both Mark Hudson and Joe Walsh on guitar, ran through their rendition
on the song in front of a small audience.
The second live recording of the song, also by Ringo and The Roundheads,
was on June 24th, 2005, at the Genesse Theatre in Waukegan, Illinois. This version was eventually released on the
album “Ringo Starr: Live At Soundstage.”
Song Structure and Style
The structure chosen for "Octopus's Garden" couldn't be
any simpler, namely, 'verse/ verse/ solo/ verse' (or aaba) with a somewhat
intricate introduction that was, unmistakably, concocted by George Harrison
since his participation is integral to the arrangement.
The instrumental introduction is four measures in length and
primarily features George's lead guitar work.
George starts out the song with solo lead guitar, joined by Ringo, Paul
and John accenting two beats in the first measure, the second of these beats
being the fourth beat of this measure.
George then plays a somewhat similar melody line in the second measure
which Ringo, Paul and John joins in on at the end of the third measure and then
continues with throughout the end of the introduction as well as to the end of
the song. George continues an
interesting lead guitar passage for the remainder of this section while Ringo
plays a simple 4/4 drum beat focusing on the closed hi-hat, Paul plays a simple
bass pattern and John reprises his “Travis picking” style as he leaned in India
in 1968, this also being heard in “Dear Prudence” and “Julia,” among other
songs.
The first verse comes next, which is sixteen-measures long as all
of the verses are. Ringo sings
single-tracked lead vocals and plays a simple 4/4 pattern on the drums for the
first four measures while John continues his “Travis picking” in these same measures
throughout the chord changes. Paul plays
simple bass patterns while George doesn't appear at all during these first
eight measures.
Measures nine through twelve, however, feature Ringo singing
double-tracked lead vocals while delivering only “sundry” percussion on his
drum kit while Paul kicks in on his overdubbed piano which takes center
stage. John strums accented chords in
measures ten and twelve along with Paul and Ringo on their instruments,
allowing Ringo's vocal message to shine through with primary importance. He was here inviting his “friends to come and
see an octopus's garden,” these friends no doubt being his then-former band
members, remembering here that Ringo had quit The Beatles during the writing of
this song.
After a simple drum fill from Ringo, the band fills out the
remaining measures of the first verse as before but with some additional
elements. Paul and George's harmony
vocals kick in here for the first time, George adds a quaint lead guitar
passage in measure sixteen, and Paul continues his piano playing for the rest
of the verse.
The second verse then commences which is generally similar to the
first. Background harmony from Paul and George is heard throughout, singing
“ooh” in measures one through three and five through seven, and singing “aah”
in measures four and five and then eight and nine. George thinks to add some lead guitar
passages in measures five through seven in the open vocal spaces. Measures nine through sixteen are primarily
identical to the first verse, although George does attempt a guitar line after
the lyric “I'd like to be” in the thirteenth measure, it being embarrassingly
aborted after one pulled note. This
verse ends with one final high note on Paul's piano, a simple drum fill from
Ringo, and the beginning of George's guitar solo for the next section.
An eight-measure solo section comes next, which changes keys from
E major to A major for emotional impact.
George takes center stage here with his intricate lead guitar work while
Ringo stays away from any cymbals and focuses on his toms, adding a slight drum
fill in measures four and eight. John
continues his “Travis picking” and Paul plods away appropriately on bass while
Paul, George and Ringo sing background vocals aided by an effect created by
George's Moog synthesizer to create an underwater simulation. Ringo humorously blows bubbled into a glass
of water sporadically throughout this section of the song, primarily focusing
on the end of each even numbered measure.
The fourth verse comes next, which this time includes the
conclusion of the song and, thereby, is twenty measures long. The instrumentation is primarily identical to
the second verse although the backing vocals actually touch on repeating the
lyrics Ringo had just sung, such as “lies beneath the ocean waves” in measures
four and five and “happy and they're safe” in measures eight and nine. George again lays low in the arrangement
until measure thirteen and beyond, echoing the lead vocals with appropriate
phrases. Measures fifteen and sixteen
are repeated three times for emphasis this time around, with drum fills added
in measures sixteen and eighteen along with suitable lead guitar fills from
George. Measure twenty becomes a
'Beatles break,' all instruments coming to a halt except for George's final
lead guitar passage. The final moments
of the twentieth measure bring in two accents from John, Paul and Ringo on
their instruments, bringing the song to a campy but appropriate close.
Ringo's lyrics may not be as “cosmic” as George interpreted them
to be, but they do reveal touches of the drummer's disenchantment with being a
Beatle and wanting to escape it all.
While his old friends may be invited to “come and see” where he's going
to be residing “under the sea,” he revels at the thought of “no one there to
tell us what to do,” such as Paul being anal about how Ringo should play the
drums. He also would be experiencing the
“joy” of being “happy” and “safe” in this “hideaway.”
All Beatles should be commended for their participation on this track. They all, George Martin included, thought
enough of the song to put their all into it, instrumentally and
production-wise, to reveal Ringo as being more than capable of writing a song
worthy of attention, even though his audience may very well be in the single
digits age-wise this time around.
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Paul first played the song Oh! Darling to George and Ringo on
January 3rd, 1969 at Twickenham Film Studios while waiting for John to show up
for this filmed rehearsal for what became the "Let It Be" album and
movie. This was only the second day of
rehearsals, and Paul was previewing new songs that he was working on to the two
band members that were present, along with "The Long And Winding
Road" and "Let It Be."
Both Ringo and George also played half-written songs for consideration
for the album and then, when John arrived, they jammed on old Beatles classics
from the Hamburg days and goofed around musically before they got to work
perfecting John's "Don't Let Me Down" among others.
On January 6th, 1969, which was the third day of rehearsals, Paul
once again warmed up with a rendition of “Oh! Darling” on piano before everyone
had arrived and was ready to do full band rehearsals on other songs. It was during this day that tensions famously
came to a head between George and Paul, resulting in the “I'll play whatever
you want me to play” proclamation from George as seen in the released movie.
The next day, January 7th, 1969, the fourth day of rehearsals, The
Beatles as a band began to learn “Oh! Darling” for the first time with two
attempted run-throughs. These versions feature
Paul on piano and vocals, John on electric guitar, George on a Fender Bass VI
and Ringo on drums. These were quite
rough versions, the other Beatles just getting to know the song. The next day, January 8th, 1969, day five of
rehearsals, proved to be a high-spirited day for all involved. They did much work on many songs on this day
and did briefly touch on “Oh! Darling” once “during an equipment change,”
according to Bruce Spizer's book “The Beatles On Apple Records.” This quick version was performed mainly by
Paul, but John and Ringo did join in.
On day six of the rehearsals, January 9th, 1969, Paul once again
arrived first and ran through a number of songs on piano while waiting for his
band-mates to arrive, “Oh! Darling” being among them. Then on January 14th, 1969, day nine of
rehearsals, Paul ran through two versions of the song, among others, towards
the end of the session in order for engineer/producer Glyn Johns to test the
audio equipment. One element of this
audio equipment was a Binson echo unit, Paul singing the song in a style
similar to Elvis, with a sneering vocal and spoken passage in the bridge. A small bit of Paul performing the song made
it onto the released “Let It Be” film, quite possibly from this day. Only three Beatles attended this session,
George quitting the group on January 10th.
This was a very unproductive day because of George's absence as well as
John being high on heroin, evidenced in a filmed Canadian interview conducted during
the session.
Day eleven of rehearsals, January 22nd, 1969, now saw The Beatles
in the newly created Apple Studios in Saville Row, London, with George back in
the band. One of his stipulations for
returning to the group was that they abandoned the cold atmosphere of
Twickenham Film Studios and moved the rehearsals to Apple Studios instead. This was also the first day that keyboardist
friend Billy Preston was present, which created a high-spirited session that
focused on the songs they would eventually perform live at a then-undecided
location. A good amount of attention was
given to many songs, “Oh! Darling” only briefly touched on during this day.
Some time was spent on the song the next day, January 23rd, 1969,
this being the twelfth day of rehearsals.
Three run-throughs of the song were performed with Paul on bass and
vocals, both John and George on electric guitars, Ringo on drums and Billy
Preston on electric piano.
They put “Oh! Darling” on the back-burner for a few days in order
to perfect songs that they felt more confident about, but they did return to it
on January 27th, 1969, their sixteenth day of rehearsals. Knowing they had to complete the project by
the end of the month for Ringo to begin filming the movie “The Magic
Christian,” they had to solidify which songs they could perform live. Therefore, they rehearsed “Oh! Darling” four
times with the same five-piece lineup that included Billy Preston on electric
piano, this time trying out John harmonizing with Paul's lead vocals. One of these attempts was a
six-and-a-half-minute version which becomes extended when John announces some
news that Yoko's divorce has just gone through – Free at last!” he
exclaims. He then immediately starts the
song up again with new lyrics that begin, “I'm free this morning, the papers
told the lawyer it's okay.” A
four-minute edit of this rendition is included in the 1996 released compilation
album “Anthology 3.”
Then on the final day of the “Let It Be” sessions, which was day
twenty on January 31st, 1969, The Beatles ran through two more renditions of
“Oh! Darling.” They had just done their
now legendary roof-top performance the previous day; the following day intends
to film proper live performances of songs that were deemed unsuitable for the
roof show. In between takes of the song
“Let It Be,” Paul led the group through “Oh! Darling” to see if it was
perfected enough to be included on the resulting album and film. It was not. These versions comprised Paul on
piano and vocals, John on Fender Bass VI and some vocals, George on his Fender
Telecaster, Ringo on drums and Billy Preston on Hammond organ.
Although what is now known as the January 1969 “Let It Be”
sessions were over, The Beatles continued to sporadically record songs back in
EMI Studios for the next few months. The
intention, apparently, was to solidify arrangements of songs that were
premiered in January and then officially record them for inclusion on what
would eventually be the “Let It Be” album.
Newer compositions did get recorded during this period as well, such as
“The Ballad Of John And Yoko” which Lennon wanted released immediately as a
single, but songs they had already become somewhat familiar with from the
January rehearsals appeared to be the primary focus, “Oh! Darling” is a prime
candidate.
Therefore, on April 20th, 1969, with producer Chris Thomas at the
helm, the group took to officially recording the song in EMI Studio Three, the
session beginning at around 7 pm. After
a couple of overdubs were recorded onto the previously started song “I Want You
(She's So Heavy),” attention turned to “Oh! Darling” for the rest of the
day. Mark Lewisohn's book “The Beatles
Recording Sessions” describes the 26 takes recorded on this day as “more like a
well-planned rehearsal,” but the last of these takes did become the rhythm
track for the released recording. As was
their custom, however, they would break the tension in the studio by going into
the occasional “brief but wild musical jam,” John even leading the group into
an impromptu version of Joe South's recent hit “Games People Play” during the
recording of 'take seven.'
Nonetheless, the instrumentation on these takes consisted of Paul
on his Rickenbacker bass while providing a guide vocal, John on piano, George
on his Rosewood Fender Telecaster guitar, and Ringo on drums. A Hammond organ was overdubbed onto 'take
26,' undoubtedly played by Paul, and then a stereo mix was made at the end of
the session in the control room for Paul to review, this mix being created by
Chris Thomas and engineers Jeff Jarratt and John Kurlander. At 12:45 am, everyone was done for the day.
The main concern that Paul had for the song was getting his lead
vocal right, which proved to be a struggle for him while also being a labor of
love. “At first my voice was too clear,”
he stated in the book “Beatles Anthology,” adding: “I want it to sound as
though I'd been performing it on stage all week.” His first attempt at perfecting his vocal was
on April 26th, 1969, in EMI Studio Two at approximately 4:30 pm before the other
Beatles arrived, this being convenient for him since he lived just down the
street from EMI Studios. After the
others arrived on this day, they proceeded to spend the rest of the session on
Ringo's new composition “Octopus's Garden,” which took the session to 4:15 am
the next morning. Paul may have thought
at that point that he had nailed the perfect lead vocal, so on May 1st, 1969,
in the control room of EMI Studio Three, producer Chris Thomas and engineers
Jeff Jarratt and Nick Webb took to creating a usable stereo mix, three attempts
being made (labeled remixes 2 – 4).
Engineer Geoff Emerick, in his book “Here, There And Everywhere,”
relates the following about Paul's obsession at getting the perfect vocal
take: “It was at around this time that
Paul started getting in the habit of coming in early every afternoon, before
the others arrived, to have a go at singing the lead vocal to 'Oh!
Darling.' Not only did he have me record
it with fifties-style tape echo, he even monitored the backing track over
speakers instead of headphones because he wanted to feel as though he were
singing to a live audience. Every day
we'd be treated to a hell of a performance as McCartney put his all into
singing the song all the way through once and once only, nearly ripping his
vocal cords to shreds in the process.”
“I mainly remember wanting to get the vocal right, wanting to get
it good,” Paul relates in his book “Many Years From Now,” “and I ended up
trying each morning as I came into the recording session. I tried it with a hand mike, and I tried it
with a standing mike, I tried it every which way, and finally got the vocal I
was reasonably happy with. It's a bit of
a belter, and if it comes off a little bit lukewarm, then you've missed the
whole point. It was unusual for me; I
would normally try all the goes at a vocal in one day.” “This is more really just Paul singing,”
George Harrison explained just after the album was released, adding: “It's mainly Paul shouting.”
Geoff Emerick continues:
“George Martin would frequently announce triumphantly, 'That's it;
that's the one,' but Paul would overrule him, saying, 'No, it's not there yet;
let's try it again tomorrow.' For all
that – and he took many whacks at the song, over many days – I never sensed any
real frustration in Paul, even though he obviously had trouble getting the
vocal the way he wanted it in his head.
He knew what the ultimate goal was, and he knew that he was going to get
it eventually. Besides, ever the consummate
showman, he simply enjoyed singing it."
Part of Paul's aim, apparently, was to sing the bridges without
having to break into his falsetto, something he couldn't achieve every
day. Also, if he thought a certain day's
attempt could be acceptable, he would double-track himself during the bridges
to see if that would make it even better, sometimes even harmonizing with
himself a little.
“Frankly, I think the reason Paul did those vocals each day before
the other Beatles arrived was so he wouldn't have to face their disapproval or
withering remarks," Emerick continues.
"He wouldn't even play them each day's attempt to solicit their
opinion. Perhaps he had learned his
lesson from 'Ob-La-Di, Ob,La-Da,' when he had sung the vocal over and over
again in front of everybody, pissing his bandmates off mightily in the
process.”
One bandmate that apparently was pissed off, however, was
John. “I always thought I could have
sung it better,” he told Playboy Magazine in 1980. “It was more my style than his. But he wrote it, so what the hell, he was
going to sing it. If he had any sense, he
would have let me sing it. (Laughing)”
Geoff Emerick had the same opinion. “There was one other factor (with Paul
singing the song), and that was pride.
Paul's ego prevented him from ever giving John a stab at singing the
lead on 'Oh! Darling,' despite the fact that it was a song that was probably
better suited to Lennon's voice. Even
though John was standing by in the studio, apparently ready, willing, and able
– in later years, he admitted publicly that he would have loved to have sung
that lead – Paul was determined to give a Lennon performance all by
himself. To a great degree he
succeeded...but what a shame it was that, by the time The Beatles got to record
the song, they were unwilling to ask one another for help. Such was the vibe of the 'Abbey Road'
sessions.”
In July of 1969, it was decided that The Beatles would work
together to record one final album of new material, leaving the January
sessions for its own “Let It Be” soundtrack album to be released at a future
date in conjunction with the release of the filmed footage as a documentary
movie. This would mean that most of the
material that they had been recording after January would now be completed with
the intention of being on this new final album, which ultimately became “Abbey
Road.” Newer compositions would also be
needed to fill out this new album as well, these also being recorded well into
August.
Therefore, attention came back to “Oh! Darling” on July 17th,
1969, in EMI Studio Three. There really
wasn't much more Paul felt needed to add to the song other than nailing the
above-mentioned lead vocal, which is what Paul attempted again today. He apparently decided that his previous lead
vocal overdub on April 26th wasn't good enough, deeming the stereo mixes made
on May 1st now obsolete. What is
interesting about his attempt on this day, him arriving at 2:30 pm well before
the others got there and finishing by 6:30 pm, was that he recorded this vocal
attempt as an overdub onto 'take 16' of the rhythm track instead of 'take 26'
as was previously deemed best. Not that
it mattered much anyway since this vocal overdub didn't suit Paul in the end.
It's also noteworthy to hear what other engineers who were present
at these sessions had to say about Paul's dedication to getting the vocals right,
as included in the book “The Beatles Recording Sessions.” Alan Parsons relates: “Perhaps my main memory of the 'Abbey Road'
sessions is of Paul coming into Studio Three at two o'clock or 2:30 each
afternoon, on his own, to do the vocal on 'Oh! Darling.' That was a feature of the 'Abbey Road'
sessions: you very rarely saw all four Beatles together. It was either John or Paul or George working
on their various things, perhaps only getting together to hear something
back. But Paul came in several days
running to do the lead vocal on 'Oh! Darling.'
He'd come in, sing it and say, 'No, that's not it, I'll try it again
tomorrow.' He only tried it once per
day. I suppose he wanted to capture a certain rawness which could only be done
once before the voice changed. I
remember him saying 'five years ago I could have done this in a flash,'
referring, I suppose, to the days of 'Long Tall Sally' and 'Kansas City.'”
Engineer John Kurlander recalls:
“I think Paul wanted this 'first thing in the morning' quality, or maybe
it was 'last thing at night.' Whatever
it was, he came in early each day, an hour before anybody else, to do his
piece, always replacing the previous one until he got the one he liked.”
Paul tried again the next day, July 18th, 1969, arriving in EMI
Studio Three at 2:30 pm to overdub his lead vocals onto what was now finally
decided upon as the best rhythm track, this being 'take 26' with the overdubbed
Hammond organ. Showing up a little later
in the evening on this day was Ringo, himself trying to nail the perfect vocal
on his composition “Octopus's Garden.”
By 8 pm, they were done for the day.
Paul's next vocal attempt was on July 22nd, 1969, in EMI Studio
Three once again. He got there at 2:30
pm, gave the vocals another go, wasn't happy, and then later worked with the
others in recording overdubs onto John's “Come Together” until 9:30 pm.
Paul thought he'd try yet again for a suitable lead vocal for “Oh!
Darling” the next day, July 23rd, 1969, in EMI Studio Three at 2:30 pm. And this time, Paul was happy (that is to
say, “reasonably happy,” as he is quoted above as saying) with the
results. Therefore, this was the vocal
performance heard on the finished version of the song. He then double-tracked his high-pitched
vocals during the bridges of the song, thus completing his lead vocal
contribution for this track. After the
others arrived and they added overdubs onto “Come Together” and did extensive
work on a new composition eventually titled “The End,” they called it a day at
11:30 pm.
This is not to say that Paul felt “Oh! Darling” was complete
yet. More attention was given to the
song on August 8th, 1969, in EMI Studio Three. Early in the day, The Beatles
got together for a photo shoot for the front cover of the “Abbey Road” album,
and then two sessions ran concurrently in EMI Studios later in the day. After they recorded overdubs onto “The End”
in EMI Studio Two, Paul excused himself and entered EMI Studio Three between
5:30 and 9:45 pm to record overdubs onto “Oh! Darling” while John and Ringo
added overdubs to “I Want You (She's So Heavy)” in EMI Studio Two. Paul added lead guitar to his song as well as
tambourine, which put the song even closer to its finished state.
With a proposed deadline to finish the album looming, the group met
in EMI Studio Two at 2:30 pm on August 11th, 1969 to perform yet more overdubs
on three “Abbey Road” songs. After John,
Paul and George added harmony vocals to “I Want You (She's So Heavy),” the same
three did the same for “Oh! Darling” resulting in what Ian MacDonald describes
in his book “Revolution In The Head” as “exquisite backing parts.” It was most likely this harmony overdub that
wiped the Hammond organ overdub that was recorded way back on April 20th, possibly
because all eight tracks of the tape were taken up at this late stage of the
recording process. The song was now
complete and after George added some additional guitars to his “Here Comes The
Sun” as well as some editing and tape copying of other songs for the album,
they retired for the evening at 11:30 pm.
With “Oh! Darling” now complete, a proper stereo mix needed once
again to be made, deeming the previous ones unusable. The next day, August 12th, 1969, producer
George Martin and engineers Geoff Emerick, Phil McDonald, and John Kurlander
met in the control room of EMI Studio Two to try five attempts (labeled remixes
5 – 9) at creating this stereo mix, the final one undoubtedly being deemed the
best.
Sometime in 1996, George Martin and Geoff Emerick returned to the
rendition of the song that the group recorded on January 27th, 1969 during the
rehearsals for the “Let It Be” project.
This six-and-a-half minute performance was edited down to 4:07, just
after John's vocalized verse proclaiming his joy at Yoko's divorce. This was included on the compilation album
“Anthology 3” released in October of 1996.
And then, sometime between 2004 and 2008, George Martin and his
son Giles Martin went back to the master tapes of the finished song and
isolated the “exquisite” backing vocals from “Oh! Darling” for inclusion in a
mash-up mix for the track entitled “Here Comes The Sun (with 'The Inner Light'
transition).” This new track was created
for the “Beatles Love” show orchestrated by Cirque du Soleil and was included
on the 2006 album of the same name.
Song Structure and Style
Patterned after the tried-and-true early rock 'n' roll and blues
standards, the structure of "Oh! Darling" is of the simple 'verse/
verse/ bridge/ verse/ bridge/ verse' variety (or aababa). There isn't even a need for a complicated
introduction, conclusion or solo section to spruce up the format. It just doesn't need it!
A simple augmented E chord from John on piano begins the song,
played on what would be the third beat of an introductory measure, followed by
Paul singing the word “Oh” on the fourth beat.
From there we go directly into the first eight-measure verse. All four Beatles kick in immediately in the
first measure of this verse, Paul on single-tracked lead vocal and bass, John
playing Fats Domino-like triplet chords on piano, George playing heavy electric
guitar chops on the two- and four-beat of each measure, and Ringo on drums
accenting each one-beat with slightly open hi-hats. Measures four through six feature John, Paul and
George's “ahh” effective background vocals which follow the chord changes in a
typical 50's style.
When measure seven begins, triggered by the word “harm,” Ringo
takes center stage with his deliberately prearranged strong accented beats on
toms and kick drum, his open hi-hat accompanying them in the first half of the
seventh measure followed by a rollicking drum fill in the second half. Both John's piano and George's guitar
continues the pattern as they have been while Paul's bass follows Ringo's dramatic
lead on drums (although the drummer's playing has undoubtedly been arranged
beforehand by Paul). The first half of
the eighth measure shows Ringo playing hard triplet beats on the toms which
abruptly end during the second half of this final measure as do all the other
instruments. This allowed for a 'Beatles
break' on an augmented E chord as heard in the introduction while Paul once
again sings “Oh” as a transition to the second verse that follows.
Verse number two is generally the same in arrangement as the
first, one noticeable difference being the background vocals starting as early
as the second measure singing “ooh” but then reverting back to “aah” as before
in the fourth measure and then continuing as they did in the first verse. Also noteworthy is Paul adding a falsetto
“ooooh” at the end of the fifth measure.
The biggest difference with this second verse is its transition into the
bridge that follows it. Instead of the
'Beatles break,” Ringo goes into rapid-fire triplet fills on the toms and snare
throughout the eighth measure while John bangs heavily on piano in a similar
fashion. At the very end of the eighth
measure, Paul begins his climactic screaming vocal line “WHEN YOU...,” which
propels us urgently into the bridge.
The bridge is also eight measures in length, the primary focus
here being Paul's high-energy double-tracked lead vocal which is sung at the
very top of his vocal range. George's
guitar is now playing an effective falling and then rising line which
repeatedly adjusts with every chord change, this being placed high in the
mix. John keeps providing the bedrock of
the song on piano while both Paul and Ringo plod away perfectly on bass and
drums to keep the excellent rhythm groove going. Ringo adds three simple triplet drum fills in
this bridge, at the end of measures one, two and four.
The emotional high point of the bridge is when Paul's vocal hits
fever pitch on the downbeat of the second measure on the lyric “you didn't NEED
me anymore,” this moment appropriately described in Tim Riley's book “Tell Me
Why” as “unhinged.” The creative
tension, which depicts the singer's deep pain, keeps rising and rising in the
bridge until the eighth measure where the floor drops out with another 'Beatles
break.' Ringo partially reprises his
drum work at the end of the first verse until the downbeat of the eighth
measure where all instruments momentarily disappear to reveal Paul's final
highly reverberated lyric “die, I, I, I, I, I,” which gracefully descends in
scale as well as in volume. Paul then
gives his usual transitional “Oh” to bring us into another verse.
This third verse is nearly identical to the second verse except
for slightly different lyrics and the backing vocals not appearing until the
beginning of the third measure. These
vocals sing “ooh” during the third measure and then “aah” for measures four
through six. The eighth measure contains
a new ad-lib line from Paul, “Believe me, darling,” which creates a nice
wind-up for the second bridge that follows.
This second bridge could be described as a simple repeat of the
first bridge but, in reality, should be described as a trumped-up version of
the first bridge. Paul's amazing vocal
work brings you to the edge of your seat, and he's feeling that effect himself
as he injects an excited “Whoa-oo-ohhh” in the first measure. Where Ringo placed simple drum fills in the
first bridge, he now adds phenomenally inventive drum fills which, to my ears,
had to have been personal expressions of him feeling the emotional high that
was being achieved in this part of the song.
Both John and George continue their powerful contributions to this
bridge as well, George adding a final falling guitar note that can be heard
behind Paul's vocal during the 'Beatles break' in the eighth measure. This bridge is simply breathtaking!
Next comes the fourth and final verse which is substantially
similar to the others with, of course, some noteworthy changes. The backing vocals begin right at the first
measure this time, singing “ooh” until it changes to “aah” in the fourth
measure and stays there throughout the sixth measure. Paul celebrates the effectiveness of the song
by ending it with an unpredictable blood-curdling “DO YOU NO HARM,” this
propelling the song to conclude on an emotive high note. The final measure of this verse, which is the
final measure of the entire song, ends in a similar style to Elvis's “One
Night,” which this song appears to be primarily patterned after. A 'Beatles break' occurs on the downbeat of
the eighth measure, followed by two chords played by all instruments. The last chord rings out to end the song, but
then we hear a guitar playing each of its six strings in descending order,
presumably plucked behind the bridge of the instrument, which is a nice final
touch.
Lyrically, the singer is in anguish over the news that his girl
'doesn't need him anymore,' which devastates him nearly to the point of
death. Therefore he pleads with her to
reconsider, emphasizing his assurance that he would never 'do her any harm.' Paul's vocal delivery is the epitome of
convincing; his gut-wrenching pleas appropriate for the subject matter as well
as it fits for a pastiche of 50's rock 'n' roll.
Instrumentally, the group dynamic couldn't be any tighter and
cooperative, which is surprising due to the lateness in The Beatles career in which
it was recorded. Lennon always wanted to
play 'rockers' with the group, viewing their early Hamburg and Cavern years as
when they were at their peak. And he got
his wish with “Oh! Darling,” only this time his stellar performance was on
piano instead of his old Rickenbacker guitar as back in those early days. And you can almost hear Ringo smiling as he
puts in an impressive and emotional drum presentation for the song. George's sharp-edged guitar chops in the
verses and melodic lines in the bridges show that he was again acclimating
himself as lead guitarist of the group, putting aside the sitar to reprise his
true role in the band.
And, of course, Paul is the driving force of the song, his rolling
bass work from the rhythm track working very nicely in the arrangement. His vocals here are arguably the highlight of
his entire career. Never before had he
worked so hard to perfect a performance.
He may have figured that, once it was captured on the recording the way
that he heard it in his head, it probably would never be able to be duplicated.
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"Maxwell's Silver Hammer’s" first recorded attempt
occurred on January 3rd, 1969, in Twickenham Film Studios during their filmed
rehearsals for what became the "Let It Be" album and movie.
This marked their second day of rehearsals at Twickenham and, with
John late in arriving, Paul ran through a number of work-in-progress songs on
piano for the others to hear, which included“Maxwell's Silver Hammer.” Lyrically, Paul only had the first verse, the
chorus, and the first half of the second verse written at this time, and the
arrangement still needed refining. Later
that day, after John arrived, Paul led them through a total of ten rehearsals
of the song, which he was referring to as “the corny one.” A small segment of one of these rehearsals,
with Paul on bass and calling out the chords for John and George, made it into
the released “Let It Be” movie. Paul
then switched to piano at George's suggestion and, with George on a Fender Bass
VI, they rehearsed a little more before leaving it for another day.
The next day they worked on the song was January 7th, 1969, Paul
instructing Mal Evans to bring in an anvil and hammer for him to “play” during
these rehearsals. They went through the
song eighteen times, working on the arrangement as they went along. They came up with an idea to whistle during
certain segments of the song, such as just before the verses, and George worked
out a vocal harmony for the choruses. A
portion of one of these rehearsals, with Mal struggling to hit the anvil on the
proper beats, appears in the “Let It Be” movie as well.
The next day, January 8th, 1969, The Beatles were generally in
good spirits and, among many other things, went through thirteen rehearsals of
“Maxwell's Silver Hammer.” John joined
George in singing harmony during these rehearsals as Mal Evans began to improve
in his anvil-hammering technique. Paul
here began adlibbing lyrics in the third verse about a judge and courtroom
scene, although he had yet to take the time to write these lyrics formally.
The atmosphere became much tenser the next day they rehearsed the
song, which was on January 10th, 1969.
After a disagreement between Paul and George in the earlier part of the
day, George decided to quit the group during their lunch break, exclaiming “See
you 'round the clubs” just before he walked out the door. The other three, with Yoko sitting in
George's spot, let off some steam with some incoherent jamming along with Yoko
wailing into George's microphone.
Determined to get back to business, they then went through some of the
songs they had previously been working on, along with “Maxwell's Silver
Hammer.” They ran through portions of
the song four times, Paul singing one rendition as if he were drunk and John humorously
singing lead on another with an exaggerated German accent, which appeared to
display his distaste for the song. And
with that, the song was dropped for consideration for the “Let It Be” project.
Nearly six months later, on July 9th, 1969, the song was
resurrected by Paul for inclusion on what was to be their final recorded album
“Abbey Road.” They met in EMI Studio Two
at 2:30 pm to start work on officially recording the song for the first time,
this day going down in Beatles history as a somewhat historic day.
Eight days earlier, on July 1st, 1969, John and Yoko had been in a
serious automobile accident while on vacation in North Scotland. They both ended up in the hospital, John
receiving seventeen stitches and Yoko being monitored more closely because she
was pregnant at the time. The Beatles
had been busy in the recording studio without him working on the album, but
this day, July 9th, was the first day that John joined them after the
accident. Yoko, while in a fragile
condition, was present as well.
Phil McDonald, engineer on this session, recalls: “We were all waiting for him and Yoko to
arrive. Paul, George, Ringo downstairs (on the studio floor) and us upstairs
(in the control room). They didn't know
what state he would be in. There was a
definite 'vibe'; they were almost afraid of Lennon before he arrived because
they didn't know what he would be like.
I got the feeling that the three of them were a little bit scared of
him. When he did come in it was a
relief, and they got together fairly well.
John was a powerful figure, especially with Yoko – a double strength.”
Engineer Geoff Emerick, who claims to be present on this day
although not engineering this session, explains what occurred just after John
and Yoko's arrival. “The door burst open
again, and four men in brown coats began wheeling in a large, heavy object,”
Emerick relates in his book “Here, There And Everywhere.” “For a moment, I thought it was a piano
coming in from one of the other studios, but it soon dawned on me that these
were proper deliverymen: the brown coats
they were wearing had the word 'Harrods' inscribed on the back. The delivered object was, in fact, a
bed. Jaws dropping, we all watched as it
was brought into the studio and carefully positioned by the stairs, across from
the tea-and-toast setup. More brown
coats appeared with sheets and pillows and somberly made the bed up.”
Technician Martin Benge relates:
“We were setting up the microphones for the session and this huge
double-bed arrived. An ambulance brought
Yoko in, and she was lowered down onto the bed, we set up a microphone over her
in case she wanted to participate, and then we all carried on as before! We were saying, 'Now we've seen it all,
folks!'”
Geoff Emerick continues about the events of that day and the next
few weeks: “It wasn't as if Yoko was
just lying in that bed resting quietly, either – there was a long line of
visitors there by her bedside paying supplication, almost all the time. Various Beatles would be recording in one end
of the room, and she would be lying there at the other end, chatting with
friends, making her presence all the more obvious – and aggravating – to the
rest of the band. George Martin had
returned on the premise that it was going to be like the good old days, but we
had never had a Beatle wife in bed in the studio with us in the old days. That probably explained why he seemed so
depressed and frustrated during those weeks.”
Producer Ron Richards explains, regarding the activities during that
period, that “the bed was wheeled around between studios two and three,
depending on where John was working.”
“I was ill after the accident when they did most of that track,”
John explained in an interview about "Maxwell's Silver Hammer," “and
it really ground George and Ringo into the ground recording it, you know. I wasn't on 'Maxwell.'” Emerick continues: “There was a distinct change in the
atmosphere after John and Yoko arrived, although personally I felt it had more
to do with Lennon being there than his bedridden wife. He was grouchy and moody, and he flatly
refused to participate at all in the making of 'Maxwell's Silver Hammer,' which
he derisively dismissed as 'just more of Paul's granny music.'”
The first order of business was recording a basic rhythm track,
which consisted of Paul on piano and guide vocal, George on his Fender Jazz
Bass, and Ringo on drums. Sixteen takes
were recorded and the final take, designated 'take 21' because there were no
'takes' 6 through 10 for some reason.
'Take 5' ended up on the 1996 released “Anthology 3” album which shows
George playing very proficient bass work, yet recorded over by Paul at a later
date. We also witness on this recording
Paul vocalizing what the future solos might sound like as well as him flubbing
some of the lyrics in the third verse.
After this take, he states: “One
more. It was good, you know, it had nice
bits in it. It would be nice to have the
nice bits and the other bits.”
The rhythm track was deemed complete by approximately 8 pm, the
rest of the session lingered for guitar passage overdubs, photographic evidence
indicating these being played by both Paul and George, possibly being played
simultaneously harmonizing the lead work as heard in various places in the
song. By 10:15 pm, the session ended as
The Beatles, and the bed-ridden Yoko left for the night.
The following day, July 10th, 1969, major overdubs were performed
on “Maxwell's Silver Hammer” in EMI Studio Two, everyone arriving, including
John and Yoko, around 2:30 pm. Paul
added more piano, George Martin added Hammond organ, George Harrison added
guitar run through a Leslie speaker, and Mal Evans solidified his role at
hammering an anvil.
“There was no thought given to finding a way to approximate the
effect,” Emerick explains. “Paul wanted
the sound of an anvil being struck, so Mal (Evans) was dispatched to track one
down...There was a proper blacksmith's anvil brought to the studio for Ringo to
hit. They had it rented from a
theatrical agency...I have a clear memory of him dragging it into the studio,
struggling under its weight as the rest of us laughed our heads off. Both he and Ringo had a go at hitting
it. Ringo simply didn't have the
strength to lift the hammer, so Mal ended up playing the part, but he didn't
have a drummer's sense of timing, so it took a while to get a successful take.”
Another overdub recorded on this day was the backing vocals. “The group were recording the backing vocals
for the song,” Emerick relates, “with both George Harrison and Ringo joining
Paul at the mic as an impassive John simply sat in the back of the studio and
watched them. After a few uncomfortable
moments, Paul strode over and invited his old friend and collaborator to join
in. I thought it was a nice gesture, an olive branch. But an expressionless Lennon simply said,
'No, I don't think so.' A few minutes
later, he and Yoko got up and went home.
With nothing to contribute, John just didn't want to be there.”
Emerick continues: “During
the first few days they were back, John and Yoko spent most of their time
huddled in a corner whispering to each other, or they would go down the hall to
the producer's office – the 'green room' – and make phone calls. It didn't come as a huge surprise to me; I
just took it as par for the course. At
one point George Martin said to me, 'I wish John would get more involved,' but
to my knowledge, he never did or said anything to try to get the recalcitrant
Beatle to participate more. John was
definitely very odd by this point, and his involvement in the 'Abbey Road'
sessions would be sporadic. For the most
part, if we weren't working on one of his songs, he just didn't seem
interested.”
It was possibly on this day that Paul overdubbed himself on bass
on this song, wiping out George's contribution on bass from the previous
day. Geoff Emerick recalls: "There was a good deal of discussion
about Paul wanting the bass on 'Maxwell's Silver Hammer' to sound like a tuba,
to make the recording sound old-fashioned.
We accomplished that by having him articulate the bass like a tuba by
sliding into the notes instead of hitting them spot on. A fair amount of time was expended on getting
that sound, but Ringo and George Harrison made a point of absenting themselves,
so there was no one to raise an objection.
At this late stage of the Beatles' career, it seemed that the best way
for them to approach making a record - perhaps the only way - was for each band
member to work on his own."
After all of the overdubs recorded on this day were complete,
George Martin, along with engineers Phil McDonald and John Kurlander, made
thirteen attempts at creating a stereo mix of the song, as if they were done
recording the song at this point. This
was not to be the case, however. At
11:30 pm this session was over.
The next day, July 11th, 1969, The Beatles took to recording some
further overdubs onto “Maxwell's Silver Hammer” in EMI Studio Two, the session
beginning around 2:30 pm. Paul double-tracked his lead vocals during the
choruses, and George added another guitar overdub, quite possibly the acoustic
guitar heard in the second and third choruses.
Attention then went to other “Abbey Road” songs, “Something” and “You
Never Give Me Your Money.” This session
ended around midnight.
However, with regards to the other band members, tensions started
to mount regarding Paul's intense interest in perfecting “Maxwell's Silver
Hammer.” "The worst session ever
was 'Maxwell's Silver Hammer,'" Ringo complained to Rolling Stone Magazine
in 2008, adding: "It was the worst
track we ever had to record. It went on
for f*cking weeks. I thought it was
mad!" “We'd spend a hell of a lot
of time on (it),” George complained, adding:
“Paul would always help along when you had done his ten songs. Then, when he got 'round to doing one of my
songs, he would help. It was silly. It was very selfish, actually. Sometimes, Paul would make us do these really
fruity songs. I mean, my God, 'Maxwell's
Silver Hammer' was so fruity.”
Geoff Emerick relates in his book that Paul "did spend a lot
of time working on 'Maxwell,' which irritated George Harrison a bit. One afternoon, they got into a heated
argument about it, and I started to think, 'Uh-oh, here we go again.' But it died down relatively quickly." Regarding the “Abbey Road” album, Paul
relates in the “Anthology” book: “We put
together quite a nice album, and the only arguments were about things like me
spending too long on a track: I spent
three days on 'Maxwell's Silver Hammer.'
I remember George saying, 'You've taken three days, it's only a song.' -
'Yeah, but I want to get it right. I've
got some thoughts on this one.'...They got annoyed because 'Maxwell's Silver
Hammer' took three days to record. Big
deal!”
Geoff Emerick, in the book “The Beatles Recording Sessions,”
relates: “It's a question of having
patience. Paul had it, and John
didn't. John was always a bit fidgety
and restless, wanting to get on, 'yeah, that's good enough, a couple of takes,
yeah, that's fine.' But Paul could hear
certain refinements in his head which John couldn't." As John stated in 1969, "We spent more
money on that song than any of them on the whole album, I think.”
With this tension mounting, attention pointed to various other
“Abbey Road” songs for nearly a month, August 6th, 1969 being the final
recording session to complete “Maxwell's Silver Hammer,” this session beginning
at 2:30 and completed by 11 pm. George
Harrison's newly acquired Moog synthesizer, a very large and complicated device
for its time, was set up in Room 43 at the studios in Abbey Road. The Moog synthesizer overdub onto the song
was performed on this day from this room but fed into EMI Studio Two. This overdub was achieved simultaneously with
a reduction mix from 'take 21,' six reduction mixes being made with the
synthesizer played for each mix, 'take 27' won the final reduction mix.
There is some discrepancy in interviews as to who actually played
the synthesizer on "Maxwell's Silver Hammer." Describing this song, George related in an
interview: “It's good because I have
this synthesizer and 'Maxwell's Silver Hammer' was one of the things I used the
synthesizer on, which is pretty effective.”
However, engineer Alan Parsons, as interviewed in Andy Babiuk's book
"Beatles Gear," especially remembers McCartney's work on the Moog Synthesizer
from Room 43 for this song. Also, documentation
reveals that simultaneous to this synthesizer overdub, George was busy in EMI
Studio Three overdubbing guitar onto his song "Something." George's statement above was undoubtedly an
expression of his recently purchased instrument being used to good effect on
this song.
"Paul did 'Maxwell' using the ribbon," Parsons explains,
which was a controller described in the book "Beatles Gear" 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." Parsons then continues that Paul was
"playing it like a violin and having to find every note - which is a
credit to Paul's musical ability."
In the book "The Beatles Recording Sessions," Parsons also
adds: "It's very difficult to find
the right notes, rather like a violin, but Paul picked it up straight
away. He can pick up anything musical in
a couple of days."
This is especially interesting since, according to the book
"Beatles Gear," "you could only sound one note at a time, which
was a disadvantage." Upon listening
to the Moog playing on "Maxwell's Silver Hammer," one easily notices
that multiple notes are heard at the same time forming chords, such as during
the interlude between the first chorus and second verse. Since only one note could play at a time,
George Martin and the engineering staff must have found a way for Paul to
overdub multiple performances on the synthesizer during the various reduction
mixes that were simultaneously done.
After this was accomplished, stereo mixes of the song were made in
the control room of EMI Studio Two by George Martin and engineers Tony Clark,
Phil McDonald, and John Kurlander. Ten
attempts were made at creating this stereo mix, numbered 14 through 26 (there
were no mixes numbered 19 – 21), remix number 18 apparently being deemed the
best at the time. “I got involved in the
last three weeks of 'Abbey Road,' states engineer Tony Clark in the book “The
Beatles Recording History.” “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.”.
On August 11th, 1969, a mono tape copy of “Maxwell's Silver
Hammer” was made of stereo remix 18 for some reason, then taken away by Mal
Evans and given to Malcolm Davies at Apple for cutting of acetate discs. Paul undoubtedly listened to this mix and
deemed it unsuitable. Therefore, another needed remix took place.
More attempts at a stereo mix of the song occurred on August 12th,
1969 by George Martin, Geoff Emerick, Phil McDonald and John Kurlander in the
control room of EMI Studio Two, this session beginning at 7 pm with Paul
undoubtedly in attendance. Ten more
attempts were made, numbered 27 through 36, Paul approving of 'take 27' for
now. After two other album tracks were
stereo mixed as well, this session ended at approximately 2 am the following
morning.
Two days later, on August 14th, 1969, Paul oversaw yet another
mixing session to finalize “Maxwell's Silver Hammer” once and for all. This session, which began at 2:30 pm in the
control room of EMI Studio Two, consisted of adding an unknown edit piece to
the song, which was incorporated from the previous best 'take 27' into what was
now deemed 'stereo remix 37.' After this
was done, among other things, 'take 34' from August 12th and 'take 37' from
this day was edited together to form the released version of the song as we
know it. This session ended at 2:30 am
the following morning after many other tracks were worked on as well.
At this point, the song had a seven-second instrumental
introduction which, according to Paul, needed to throw away. This was done on August 25th, 1969, in the
control room of EMI Studio Two between 2:30 and 8 pm. “Maxwell's Silver Hammer”
now began when Paul started singing on the first verse. However, Paul had the idea of adding various
sound effects to the beginning of the song, recording them on this day. These sound effects were later decided
against on this day as well; Paul apparently felt this was unnecessary after
all. Soon after, the master of the entire album tape got copied and taken away
by Geoff Emerick for cutting and release in Britain a month later.
The original 'take five,' as recorded on July 9th, 1969, was mixed
sometime in 1996 by George Martin and Geoff Emerick for release on the
compilation album “Anthology 3.” This
charming rendition of the song gives a good indication of how it transformed
into the released version as we know it.
Sometime between 2004 and 2006, George Martin and his son Giles
Martin returned to the master tapes of “Maxwell's Silver Hammer” to isolate
Ringo's drums for inclusion in their newly created mash-up mix of “The Fool On
The Hill.” This song was not included in
the resulting album “Love,” created for use with the Cirque du Soleil
production of the same name, but released through iTunes as a bonus track for
this collection.
The structure of "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" falls to the
following format: 'verse/ pre-chorus/
chorus/ interlude/ verse/ pre-chorus/ chorus/ chorus (instrumental)/ interlude/
verse/ pre-chorus/ chorus/ chorus (instrumental)/ interlude (ending),' or
(abcdabccdabccd).
With an originally recorded “interlude” being edited off at the
mixing stage, the song begins with a sixteen-measure verse. The elements of the rhythm track that are
present are Paul's piano and Ringo's drums, Paul's overdubbed bass and
single-tracked lead vocal added in to complete the picture, only two Beatles
being present thus far. Ringo is
relegated to only kick drum and closed hi-hat so far in the song.
Next comes the four measure pre-chorus, which consists of the same
instrumentation as the first verse.
Ringo is limited to a crashing cymbal and kick drum beat on the downbeat
of measures one and three with hi-hat closes on the two- and four-beat on
measures one through three while providing accents along with Paul's three
piano chords in the fourth measure. Paul
provides anticipatory chords on the downbeat of measures two and three
otherwise, along with his hushed vocals that segue perfectly into the chorus
that follows.
The instrumentation of the eight-measure chorus that follows has
both George Harrison and Mal Evans joining the band, George providing guitar
passages, presumably along with Paul, that suit the arrangement and Mal
strategically hitting the anvil with a hammer on the first and second beats of
the first and fifth measure. Paul's
vocal is now double-tracked, and Ringo plays a standard four/four time on the
drums. They all stop dramatically on the
fourth beat of the eighth measure. A
four-measure interlude then occurs which focuses attention on the multiple Moog
synthesizer overdubs Paul performed on August 6th, 1969, providing various
notes that form chords during this section of the song. Instead of whistling, as they performed
during the rehearsals in January, Paul plays half-note chords on the piano for
the first two measures while Ringo hits the cymbal and kick drum on the same
beats. For measures three and four, Paul
lays off the piano and instead plays a tuba-like bass guitar run while Ringo
plays a complimentary tom fill to round off this section of the song.
The second verse and pre-chorus then appears, which repeats the
same instrumentation as heard the first time along with a single note Moog synthesizer
melody line from Paul as a backdrop throughout the verse as well as a simple
guitar figure from George (and Paul?) in measures eight and nine. Notice, also, Paul's laughing sniffle in the
thirteenth measure between the lyric “writing (sniff) fifty times,” which
indicates either a humorous incident in the studio at the time or a realization
of the absurdity of the lyrics he is singing.
The pre-chorus that appears next is identical instrumentally to the one heard
previous with the exception of different lyrics.
Next comes the second chorus which is somewhat identical to the
first with the addition of Ringo's triplet-like drum fill in the fourth
measure, George's acoustic guitar, and Paul, George and Ringo's
“doo-doo-doo-doo-doo” background vocals in the fourth measure. The eighth measure does not stop suddenly as
in the first chorus but continues with another triplet-like drum fill from
Ringo and moves directly into an instrumental verse with similar guitar figures
from George and “doo-doo-doo-doo-doo” background vocals from the three
participating Beatles. Next comes
another interlude, which highlights ascending triplet-like piano figures from
Paul in measures one and two and an isolated bass and drum instrumentation in
measures three and four, Ringo focusing on the toms, no synthesizers in sight
this time around.
The third verse comes next, which consists of the drums and piano
of the rhythm track along with Paul's overdubbed lead vocal and bass, his
subtle single-note synthesizer, and the guitar figure in measures eight and
nine. One other addition is Paul, George
and Ringo's background vocal overdub “Maxwell must go free” in measures twelve
and thirteen, which appears strategically as if sung through a megaphone. The pre-chorus that appears next is identical
to the previous ones with the addition of a startling synthesizer sound in the
fourth measure that accentuates the lyrics “noise comes from behind” which is
treated with delay, as this instrument appears for the rest of the song.
A final repeat of the chorus and then instrumental chorus appears
next, both similar to the ones heard previously with the addition of an
effective synthesizer melody line in the instrumental chorus which is treated
to delay. This is followed by another
four-measure interlude which works as a conclusion to the song. The elements heard here are identical to the
previous interlude with some additions, the first being background vocals from
Paul, George and, predominantly, Ringo, singing “silver hammer, yeah” in measure
one through three. A synthesizer line
from Paul, also treated with delay, is heard in measures three and four with
the addition of two hammer hits on the anvil in measure four to end the song.
Paul brings the song to fruition as intended, playing suitable
parts on the piano, bass, and synthesizer as well as vocals. Three cheers to George and Ringo for putting
in accommodating performances on guitar and drums, even though their heart
apparently wasn't in it. George Martin's
contribution on the organ was more subtle than noticeable in the mix, but Mal
Evans eventually perfected his timing on the anvil to supply the icing on the
cake for the arrangement.
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