Thursday, July 24, 1969
Recording and mixing "Come And Get It", "Sun King", "Mean Mr Mustard"
For The Beatles
Last updated on April 27, 2025
Thursday, July 24, 1969
For The Beatles
Last updated on April 27, 2025
Feb 22 - Aug 25, 1969 • Songs recorded during this session appear on Abbey Road
Recording studio: EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road • London • UK
Session Jul 22, 1969 • Recording "Oh! Darling", "Come Together"
Session Jul 23, 1969 • Recording "Oh! Darling", "Come Together", "The End"
Session Jul 24, 1969 • Recording and mixing "Come And Get It", "Sun King", "Mean Mr Mustard"
Session Jul 28, 1969 • Recording "Polythene Pam", "She Came In Through The Bathroom Window"
AlbumSome of the songs worked on during this session were first released on the "Abbey Road" LP
The Iveys (to be renamed to Badfinger in late 1969) were a Welsh-English rock band who, in July 1968, became the first non-Beatle recording artists signed to Apple. They released a couple of singles with limited chart success, and soon began work on their debut LP, “Maybe Tomorrow.” However, Apple delayed the release, and the album eventually saw the light of day only in Italy, Germany, and Japan in August 1969.
The Iveys voiced their frustration in the July 5, 1969 issue of Disc and Music Echo:
“We do feel a bit neglected,” said Ron Griffiths. “We keep writing songs for a new single and submitting them to Apple, but the Beatles keep sending them back saying they’re not good enough.”
“Mind you,” adds Tom Evans, “we’ve had a lot of things most groups could not expect. The Beatles bought all our gear for us, all the equipment and a group van, and we’ve had all kinds of concessions… all we need now is a hit single, or even just a new single, hit or not, and we’ll be happy!
“We’re going to keep on writing, and we’re determined to come up with something the Beatles like. At first we were adamant about not recording anything but one of our own songs, but now we’d record anything, so long as it was good…“From interview with Disc and Music Echo, July 5, 1969
Paul McCartney had read the article in Disc and Music Echo. On July 23, 1969, the Iveys received a letter from him inviting them on July 29 to discuss business matters.
On this day, July 24, the session began with Paul recording a demo of a new song, “Come And Get It,” which he intended to give to the Iveys. He would play them this demo on the 29th.
The basic track featured Paul singing while accompanying himself on piano. He then overdubbed drums, bass, maracas, and double-tracked vocals — all performed by himself. A Remix Stereo 1 was then created.
This demo was first released on “Anthology 3” in 1996, using a fake stereo mix prepared by Geoff Emerick in the 1980s for the aborted “Sessions” album. It was later re-released on the “Abbey Road (50th anniversary boxset)” in 2019, this time using the original mix created on the day of the recording.
This session, which started at 2:30 pm and was attended by John Lennon, ended at 3:30 pm.
I did a demo of ‘” Come And Get It” for Badfinger which took about 20 minutes, it was before a Beatles session. Phil McDonald was there and I got in – I always used to get in early because I lived just around the corner – and all the equipment was set up from the day before so I ran in and said, “Just do this, Phil, go on, it’ll only take twenty minutes” and I threw it away. I mean it’s really nice.
Paul McCartney – From “The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions” by Mark Lewisohn, 1988
[The day before], just before leaving, Paul sat down at the piano and started playing a new song. He explained that it wasn’t one he wanted to do for the album. Instead, he planned on giving the song to a new group that Apple had recently signed, a band called Badfinger. It was quite late and Paul was tired, so he asked me to set up all the sounds for him so that he could come in fresh first thing the next morning and record it straight away. I knew that I’d be a little late coming in the next day because I had a meeting scheduled at Apple, so Phil ended up doing the actual recording. The song turned out to be the million-seller “Come And Get It,” and Phil told me afterwards that Paul knocked off the demo in under an hour, while John and Yoko sat quietly in the control room, offering no input or assistance.
Geoff Emerick – From “Here, There and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of The Beatles“, 2006
Ahead of the Beatles’ latest session for Abbey Road, Paul McCartney arrived at EMI early this July afternoon and assembled a solo demo of a new composition, Come And Get It, that he was offering exclusively to be Apple label group the Iveys. First he sang and played the piano, then he double-tracked his vocal and shook maracas, then added drums and, finally, overlaid bass guitar. The process took less than an hour, and nine days later Paul produced the Iveys’ version, almost identical to his, which – released after they changed their name to Badfinger – became a Top Five single and the main theme for the Peter Sellers/Ringo Starr movie The Magic Christian.
From Anthology 3 liner notes
The Beatles’ session on this day began at 3:30 pm and concluded at 10:30 pm. It focused on the recording of two John Lennon compositions for the long medley: “Sun King” and “Mean Mr. Mustard.” Both songs had previously been rehearsed during the “Get Back” sessions in January 1969. On this occasion, they were recorded as a single continuous piece — not joined later in editing — under the working title “Here Comes The Sun King.”
The band recorded 35 takes of the rhythm track. John played rhythm guitar through a Leslie speaker (track three of the eight-track tape) and provided guide vocals (track six); Paul McCartney played bass (track one); George Harrison contributed lead guitar with a tremolo echo effect (track four); and Ringo Starr was on drums (track two).
Take 7 was a spontaneous cover of “Ain’t She Sweet“, led by John and performed in the style of Gene Vincent. This was followed by playful renditions of other Gene Vincent songs, including “Who Slapped John?“, “Up A Lazy River” and “Be Bop A Lula“. The “Ain’t She Sweet” cover was released on “Anthology 3” in 1996.
Take 20 was issued on the “Abbey Road (50th anniversary boxset)” in 2019.
Take 35, the final take of the day, was deemed the best. Work on “Sun King / Mean Mr. Mustard“ would continue the following day.
A few days later we recorded the backing tracks to Lennon’s “Here Comes The Sun King” and “Mean Mr. Mustard,” both 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 — 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.
Geoff Emerick – From “Here, There and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of The Beatles“, 2006
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.
Geoff Emerick – From “Here, There and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of The Beatles“, 2006
Later in the day, during the recording of the Abbey Road song Sun King, the Beatles ambled into a lighthearted jam that encompassed three Gene Vincent songs – Be-Bop-A-Lula, Who Slapped John? and, most enticingly, Ain’t She Sweet, the standard from 1927 that Vincent had covered in 1956 and the Beatles themselves recorded in 1961 (issued on Anthology 1). 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 Anthology 3 liner notes
In July 24th “Here comes the Sun” [sic – “Here comes the sun king] was recorded, Paul arrived at about 2pm in his pink suit and someone in the crowd handed him three pink rosebuds. He didn’t talk to anyone, rarely smiled that summer and would sign autographs without comment. One tall fellow from Germany pushed a microphone in his face and said “Say something”. Paul said, “something” quite tonelessly and pushed on past. He often looked unkempt, tired, saddened and burdened with a lot on his mind. There was determination and pride in his step, too, and you knew he’d keep on trying and pushing forward.
John arrived about 40 minutes later in his white Rolls, in his white suit coat, with his white tennis shoes arrogantly propped up on the seat ahead. His brown hair was almost golden when the sun shone on it, and his beard was just beginning to cover his face. Nearly 100 fans were waiting by this time – all trying to outrun each other for the best position on the EMI steps. When one of the Four arrived, the gates would be opened, and the fans could then rush in. Unlike Paul, who drove himself in his little green mini and always parked against the side wall, John would have his chauffeur pull right up to the steps and then he would leap out and bound in. He seemed so tall and so proud and he would always look straight ahead, arrogant almost. He barely noticed the hordes of fans jostling to get close to him, trying to take his picture, trying to hand him a present, just trying to see him at all. But if some fan seemed ot get too close to Yoko, he wouldn’t hesitate to tell them to “fuck off” in no uncertain terms.
Barbara Fenick – Beatle fan – From Meet the Beatles for Real: Summer of ’69 Remembered
Written by Paul McCartney
Recording • Take 1
AlbumOfficially released on Anthology 3
Written by Paul McCartney
Mixing • Stereo mixing - Remix 1 from take 1
Written by Paul McCartney
Tape copying • Tape copying of remix stereo 1
Recording • Take 1
Recording • Take 2
Recording • Take 3
Recording • Take 4
Recording • Take 5
Recording • Take 6
Written by Milton Ager, Jack Yellen
Recording • Jam session of four Gene Vincent songs. Documented as take 7 of "Here Comes The Sun King"
AlbumOfficially released on Anthology 3
Written by Gene Vincent, Tex Davis
Recording • Jam session of four Gene Vincent songs. Documented as take 7 of "Here Comes The Sun King"
Written by Hoagy Carmichael, Sidney Arodin
Recording • Jam session of four Gene Vincent songs. Documented as take 7 of "Here Comes The Sun King"
Written by Gene Vincent, Donald Graves, Bill Davis
Recording • Jam session of four Gene Vincent songs. Documented as take 7 of "Here Comes The Sun King"
Recording • Take 8
Recording • Take 9
Recording • Take 10
Recording • Take 11
Recording • Take 12
Recording • Take 13
Recording • Take 14
Recording • Take 15
Recording • Take 16
Recording • Take 17
Recording • Take 18
Recording • Take 19
Recording • Take 20
AlbumOfficially released on Abbey Road (50th anniversary boxset)
Recording • Take 21
Recording • Take 22
Recording • Take 23
Recording • Take 24
Recording • Take 25
Recording • Take 26
Recording • Take 27
Recording • Take 28
Recording • Take 29
Recording • Take 30
Recording • Take 31
Recording • Take 32
Recording • Take 33
Recording • Take 34
Recording • Take 35
Recording • Takes 1-35 (recorded along with "Sun King" as one track, under the working title "Here Comes The Sun King")
The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions • Mark Lewisohn
The definitive guide for every Beatles recording sessions from 1962 to 1970. We owe a lot to Mark Lewisohn for the creation of those session pages, but you really have to buy this book to get all the details - the number of takes for each song, who contributed what, a description of the context and how each session went, various photographies... And an introductory interview with Paul McCartney!
The Beatles Recording Reference Manual: Volume 5: Let It Be through Abbey Road (1969 - 1970)
The fifth and final book of this critically acclaimed series, "The Beatles Recording Reference Manual: Volume 5: Let It Be through Abbey Road (1969 - 1970)" follows The Beatles as they "get back to where they once belonged...". Not once, but twice. With "Let It Be", they attempted to recapture the spontaneity of their early years and recordings, while "Abbey Road" was a different kind of return - to the complexity, finish and polish that they had applied to their work beginning with "Revolver" and through to "The Beatles".
Solid State: The Story of "Abbey Road" and the End of the Beatles
Acclaimed Beatles historian Kenneth Womack offers the most definitive account yet of the writing, recording, mixing, and reception of Abbey Road. In February 1969, the Beatles began working on what became their final album together. Abbey Road introduced a number of new techniques and technologies to the Beatles' sound, and included "Come Together," "Something," and "Here Comes the Sun," which all emerged as classics.
If we modestly consider the Paul McCartney Project to be the premier online resource for all things Paul McCartney, it is undeniable that The Beatles Bible stands as the definitive online site dedicated to the Beatles. While there is some overlap in content between the two sites, they differ significantly in their approach.
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