Recording "Here Comes The Sun"

On July 1, 1969, John Lennon was on holiday in Scotland when he was involved in a car accident along with his wife Yoko, his son Julian, and Yoko’s daughter, Kyoko. He was hospitalized on this day and would remain there until July 6, rejoining The Beatles’ sessions on July 9 — missing five days of work.

On this day, the three other Beatles recorded the backing track for a new George Harrison composition, “Here Comes The Sun“. The session began with George teaching the new song to Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr.

Once familiar with the arrangement, they recorded 13 takes of the backing track. George played acoustic guitar (on track three) and provided guide vocals (on track eight), Paul played bass (track one), and Ringo contributed drums (track two).

Take 9 was released in the “Abbey Road (50th anniversary boxset)” in 2019.

Take 13 — humorously announced as “take 12 and a half” to avoid the number 13 — was selected as the best. In the final hour of the session, George recorded an additional acoustic guitar part onto track four of the tape.

The session, which began at 2:30 pm, concluded at 11:45 pm. Work on “Here Comes The Sun” continued the following day.

[George] said, ‘Oh, I’ve got this song. It’s like seven-and-a-half time.’ ‘Yeah, so?’ You know, he might as well have talked to me in Arabic, you know what I mean?… I had to find some way that I could physically do it and do it every time so it came off on the time. That’s one of those Indian tricks. I had no way of going, ‘one, two, three, four, five, six, seven…’ It’s not in my brain. So as long as I go (demonstrates), ‘OK, that’s seven. Got it!’

Ringo Starr – From the “Living In The Material World” documentary – Quoted from beatlesebooks.com

The original tapes reveal a lighthearted atmosphere. When take one broke down, George exclaimed, sadly, “One of me best beginnings, that!” And at the end of take four, Ringo…called up to the control room “Turn me down a little bit, if you don’t mind” – meaning, reduce the level of the drum sound in his headphones.

From “The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions” by Mark Lewisohn, 1988

Session activities

1. Here Comes The Sun

   Written by George Harrison

   Recording • Take 1

2. Here Comes The Sun

   Written by George Harrison

   Recording • Take 2

3. Here Comes The Sun

   Written by George Harrison

   Recording • Take 3

4. Here Comes The Sun

   Written by George Harrison

   Recording • Take 4

5. Here Comes The Sun

   Written by George Harrison

   Recording • Take 5

6. Here Comes The Sun

   Written by George Harrison

   Recording • Take 6

7. Here Comes The Sun

   Written by George Harrison

   Recording • Take 7

8. Here Comes The Sun

   Written by George Harrison

   Recording • Take 8

9. Here Comes The Sun

   Written by George Harrison

   Recording • Take 9

   AlbumOfficially released on Abbey Road (50th anniversary boxset)

10. Here Comes The Sun

    Written by George Harrison

    Recording • Take 10

11. Here Comes The Sun

    Written by George Harrison

    Recording • Take 11

12. Here Comes The Sun

    Written by George Harrison

    Recording • Take 12

13. Here Comes The Sun

    Written by George Harrison

    Recording • Take 13

Staff

Musicians on "Here Comes The Sun"

Production staff

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 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".

Buy on Amazon

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