Recording "You Never Give Me Your Money", "Golden Slumbers", "Carry That Weight"

On this day, in a 2:30 pm to 1:15 am session, The Beatles continued the work on three songs of the “Abbey Road” medley – “You Never Give Me Your Money” and “Golden Slumbers / Carry That Weight“.

The day before, several reduction mixes of take 30 of “You Never Give Me Your Money” had been made, and some overdubs were added onto the reduction mix labelled take 40.

On this day, Paul McCartney returned to take 30, discarding the overdubs recorded the previous day. He re-recorded his bass part while Ringo Starr added some snare drum. Paul also recorded a piano track at half-speed, which gave the honky-tonk effect when played back at normal speed.

At this stage, the remaining challenge was to find a way to segue “You Never Give Me Your Money” into the next track of the medley, “Sun King“. This would be resolved with further overdubs added on August 5, 1969.

“Golden Slumbers / Carry That Weight” had also last been worked on the previous day. On this session, Paul McCartney re-recorded portions of his lead vocals, while Ringo Starr added some additional drum hits.

Timpani were also overdubbed onto “Carry That Weight“. Although the studio documentation does not specify who played them, photographic evidence suggests that both Paul and Ringo experimented with the instrument.

George Harrison then contributed the guitar solo that appears just before the “I never give you my pillow…” section.

The final (orchestral) overdubs for “Golden Slumbers / Carry That Weight” would be recorded on August 15, 1969.

Session activities

1. You Never Give Me Your Money

   Written by Lennon - McCartney

   Recording • SI onto take 30

2. Golden Slumbers

   Written by Lennon - McCartney

   Recording • SI onto take 17

3. Carry That Weight

   Written by Lennon - McCartney

   Recording • SI onto take 17

Staff

Musicians on "Carry That Weight"

Musicians on "You Never Give Me Your Money"

Musicians on "Golden Slumbers"

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!

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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