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- Album Songs recorded during this session officially appear on the Abbey Road LP.
- Studio:
- EMI Studios, Studio Three, Abbey Road
Timeline
More from year 1969
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About
On April 16, 1969, The Beatles had recorded 13 instrumental takes of the backing track of George Harrison’s “Something“. On this day, they decided to restart from scratch.
They recorded 36 takes (numbered from take 1) with George on electric guitar (track three), Paul McCartney on bass (track one), John Lennon on piano (track four) and Ringo Starr on drums (track two).
From take nine onwards, two outputs were taken from George’s guitar; the new one, recorded on track six of the eight-track tape, was the sound of it coming through a rotating Leslie speaker. In take 27, once the song had ended, John led the group into a coda based on a repetitive riff he played on piano. Each time The Beatles fell into that jam, the tape was stopped after a few seconds – except for take 36, the final one used for the master, when it continued rolling for nearly five minutes.
From “Abbey Road” Super Deluxe edition book (2019)
Take 36 was deemed the best take and was 7’48” long (to be compared with the version of “Something” released on “Abbey Road” lasting 3’00”). The instrumental coda would be dropped in stages and finally disappeared when “Something” was mixed on August 19, 1969.
The first overdubs would be added onto take 36 on May 5.
Last updated on December 28, 2021
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Staff
Musicians on "Something"
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!
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 like to think, in all modesty, that the Paul McCartney Project is the best online ressource for everything Paul McCartney, The Beatles Bible is for sure the definitive online site focused on the Beatles. There are obviously some overlap in terms of content between the two sites, but also some major differences in terms of approach.
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