Recording "I Want You (She's So Heavy)", "Oh! Darling", "Here Comes The Sun"

The recording of “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” and “Oh! Darling” was completed on this day. Time was also spent working on “Here Comes The Sun” during the session, which ran from 2:30 pm to 11:30 pm.

Before that, from 1 pm to 2 pm, engineer Phil McDonald prepared mono tape copies of “Dig It” and “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer“:

Neither Lewisohn nor Winn can provide any validation regarding this session. The stereo remix of Dig It is noted to have been from a session that is not among any of the dates Glyn Johns worked on the song and there is no entry in tape log from Barrett of it, or the copy of Maxwell’s Silver Hammer.

From “The Beatles Recording Reference Manual – Volume 5” by Jerry Hammack

On August 8, “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” received some overdubs, added onto the master take recorded at Trident Studios on February 23, discarding the overdubs recorded on April 20, 1969.

On this day, John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison recorded harmony vocals, singing “She’s so heavy“. Those overdubs were added onto Take 1 from April 20 and were also edited into the original Trident Studios master.

The final released version would be made on August 20, combining and editing the Trident Studios master and Take 1.

Until then, the working title of the track had simply been “I Want You.” The addition of the “She’s so heavy” harmony vocals prompted John to rename the song to “I Want You (She’s So Heavy).”

John, Paul, George then recorded double-tracked backing vocals onto Take 26 of “Oh! Darling“. Notably, John’s harmony vocals on this song marked his final performance on any Beatles recording.

“Oh Darling” would be mixed on the following day.

To end the session, George returned to “Here Comes The Sun“, recording two electric guitar parts onto tracks six and seven of the eight-track tape. However, those additions would not be used in the final released version. The track would next receive orchestral overdubs on August 15.

Session activities

1. Dig It

   Written by Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, John Lennon, George Harrison

   Tape copying • Mono tape copying of 13 March stereo mix

2. Maxwell's Silver Hammer

   Written by Lennon - McCartney

   Tape copying • Tape copying of remix stereo 18

3. I Want You (She's So Heavy)

   Written by Lennon - McCartney

   Recording • SI onto take 1

4. Oh! Darling

   Written by Lennon - McCartney

   Recording • SI onto take 26

5. Here Comes The Sun

   Written by George Harrison

   Recording • SI onto take 15

6. I Want You (She's So Heavy)

   Written by Lennon - McCartney

   Tape copying • Tape copying of take 1

7. I Want You (She's So Heavy)

   Written by Lennon - McCartney

   Editing • Editing from take 1 into unnumbered Trident master

Staff

Musicians on "Oh! Darling"

Musicians on "I Want You (She's So Heavy)"

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