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Tuesday, July 29, 1969

Recording "Come Together", "Sun King", "Mean Mr. Mustard"

For The Beatles

Last updated on April 27, 2025

On this day, from 2:30 pm to 10:45 pm, overdubs were added onto “Come Together” and “Sun King / Mean Mr. Mustard“.


Come Together“, recorded on July 21, 22, 23 and 25, received additional guitar overdubs by John Lennon, added to the instrumental section and the choruses of the track. The song would receive its final overdubs the following day, on July 30.


Sun King / Mean Mr. Mustard” was worked on during the sessions of July 24 and 25, 1969. On this day, the track received its final overdubs.

Paul McCartney and John Lennon improved their piano and organ parts recorded on the 25th, likely replacing parts of them. John then recorded lead vocals, while Paul added backing vocals — both were double-tracked.

Paul and Ringo Starr also contributed percussion overdubs, including maracas, congas, and tambourine.

By the end of the session, recording of “Sun King / Mean Mr. Mustard” was complete. Mixing would begin the following day.


In the afternoon, Paul McCartney took a break from the recording session to meet with The Iveys at EMI Studios.

The Iveys 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. This limited release strategy was believed to be the decision of Allen Klein, who had recently taken control of Apple. As Tony Bramwell recalled:

I think [Allen Klein] put the stops on it, because he was saying, ‘We’re not going to issue any more records until I sort out this mess.’ Apple really wasn’t a mess as far as we were concerned. But a lot of things stopped. I think a Billy Preston single got held up, along with a Mary Hopkin record.

Tony Bramwell – From “Without You: The Tragic Story of Badfinger” by Dan Matovina, 1997

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

On July 23, 1969, the Iveys received a letter from Paul McCartney inviting them to meet with him on the 29th to discuss business matters.

Paul McCartney had been asked to contribute three songs to the soundtrack of “The Magic Christian,” a new film starring Peter Sellers and Ringo Starr. During the meeting, Paul offered the group one of his own compositions, “Come and Get It.” He played them the demo he had recorded on July 24 and told them they could contribute the other two tracks for the project.

On August 2, 1969, The Iveys recorded “Come And Get It,” with Paul McCartney producing the session.


He told us he had seen the article in Disc & Music Echo and was surprised to read that we felt neglected at Apple. He said, ‘Look. I’ve been asked to do the score for this film, The Magic Christian, which I’m not particularly wanting to do. I’m quite prepared to let you have a song I’ve written as a single release.’

Ron Griffith – From The Iveys – From “Without You: The Tragic Story of Badfinger” by Dan Matovina, 1997

According to Bill Collins [the Ivey’s manager], Pete [Ham] stood up from his chair and said, “I thought we were supposed to do our own material? We’ve been told not to do covers!” McCartney raised his eyebrow and looked over at Bill. Collins took Pete off to the side and said, “Look, this is an opportunity here, Peter,” and Pete quickly acknowledged it.

Beverley [Pete’s girlfriend] recalls, “Pete had really psyched himself up for this meeting. It was a spontaneous reaction, I think. Part of him felt that it was a knock when Paul offered the song, after all the hours, but another part was flattered because this really great person obviously thought they were capable of doing one of his songs justice. McCartney was good in how he put it, that it would be a springboard for them.

From “Without You: The Tragic Story of Badfinger” by Dan Matovina, 1997


Session activities

  1. Come Together

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

    Recording • SI onto take 9

  2. Sun King

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

    Recording • SI onto take 35

  3. Mean Mr. Mustard

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

    Recording • SI onto take 35


Staff

Musicians on "Sun King"

Musicians on "Mean Mr. Mustard"

Production staff

Visitors


Going further

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!

Buy on Amazon

The Beatles Recording Reference Manual: Volume 5: Let It Be through Abbey Road (1969 - 1970)

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".

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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.

Buy on Amazon

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.

Read more on The Beatles Bible

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