Come And Get It

Song facts

I wrote this very late, one night at Cavendish Avenue. I left Linda in bed, saying, ‘I’ve got an idea for a song.’ I went downstairs and just whispered it into my tape recorder. I played it very quietly so as not to wake her.

Paul McCartney

From Wikipedia:

“Come and Get It” is a song composed by English singer-songwriter Paul McCartney for the 1969 film The Magic Christian. The song was performed by Badfinger, produced by McCartney and issued as a single 5 December 1969 in the UK, and 12 January 1970 in the US, on the Beatles’ Apple label. It was the band’s first release under the Badfinger name (having previously recorded as The Iveys) and was their international breakthrough, hitting the top 10 in both the UK and US singles charts.

The Beatles (Paul McCartney) version

Paul McCartney recorded a solo demo of the song on 24 July 1969, after arriving early for a Beatles recording session for their Abbey Road album. Singing the double-tracked lead vocal and playing all the instruments, he laid down the vocals and piano on the first take, sang again and played maracas on the first overdub, then added drums, and finally put in the bass guitar track. It took less than an hour to finish. The biggest differences between the McCartney and Badfinger versions are a slower tempo and slightly higher key on the demo, and the use of three-part harmonies on the Badfinger single. Though McCartney was the only Beatle performing on the track, it was officially released as a Beatles song on the 1996 Anthology 3 compilation album and the 2019 Abbey Road re-release, having already appeared on various bootlegs. The 2019 re-mix featured a significant improvement in the recording’s sonic quality.

In his book Revolution in the Head, Ian MacDonald described the song as “by far the best unreleased Beatles recording”.

Badfinger version

On 2 August 1969, McCartney produced the studio version at EMI (Abbey Road) Studios by the Apple band Badfinger (then called the Iveys) telling them, “Okay, it’s got to be exactly like this demo.” His “carrot” for the band was his offer to produce this song and two other Iveys’ originals for the movie The Magic Christian, since he had a contract to supply three songs for it. The band followed his instructions.

McCartney auditioned each of the four Iveys to sing lead on “Come and Get It”. Ultimately, he picked Tom Evans over the other three band members, Pete Ham, Ron Griffiths, and Mike Gibbins.

The single was released on Apple Records on 5 December 1969 in the UK, but not until 12 January 1970 in the US. “Come and Get It” was a hit single for the band, peaking at number 7 in the United States, and number 4 in the United Kingdom. It was the opening theme for the film The Magic Christian, starring Peter Sellers and Ringo Starr (it was also repeated during the movie’s closing credits, with an additional string arrangement added). The UK picture sleeve for the single shows a kaleidoscopic montage of all four members of Badfinger that appear on the song, although bassist Ron Griffiths left the band before the single was released.

In 1978 a re-formed version of Badfinger re-recorded “Come and Get It” for K-tel Records, with Evans again singing lead. This served to provide a demo recording to give to Elektra Records, and resulted in the Airwaves album in 1979. […]

On July 5, 1969, The Iveys were interviewed by UK music magazine, Disc And Music Echo, and explained they felt neglected by Apple and The Beatles. By chance, Paul McCartney read the article and decide to get involved to re-launch the Iveys. Earlier in 1969, he had been commissioned to write the theme song for the film “The Magic Christian” (featuring Ringo Starr) and convinced the producers of the film to have the Iveys performing a new composition of his, “Come And Get It“.

Paul was always the most interested in us. When he wrote ‘Come And Get It’, he offered it to us because he knew that we had nothing to do. He even produced it, and told us, ‘I’m not going to do this song … but don’t expect any more.’ When we originally did the single, it was too simple, because only piano, bass and drums are used. But now we’realise what a genius Paul is, he knew what he was doing. To begin with, we used to get very involved with our recording as much as possible. When we submitted our tape to Paul, he returned it, offering to take us into the studio to show us how it ought to be done. Now, he’s helped to bring us out more, and has built up a lot of enthusiasm by taking an interest. Perhaps, if he liked the song we choose for the next single, he’ll produce it for us.

Tom Evans of Badinger – From Badman, Keith. The Beatles: Off the Record . Music Sales. Kindle Edition.

I said, “You should copy this faithfully”. They said, “But we’d like to change it a little bit.” I said, “No, it’s absolutely the right arrangement. Please don’t change this. I can guarantee it’s a hit.

Paul McCartney, about the recording of “Come And Get It”, with Badfinger – quoted from “Abbey Road 2019” liner notes.

I’d written the song Come And Get It and I’d made a fairly decent demo. Because I lived locally, I could get in half an hour before a Beatles session at Abbey Road – knowing it would be empty and all the stuff would be set up – and I’d use Ringo’s equipment to put a drum track down, put some piano down, quickly put some bass down, do the vocal, and double-track it. I said to Badfinger, ‘OK, it’s got to be exactly like this demo,’ because it had a great feeling on it. They actually wanted to put their own variations on, but I said, ‘No, this really is the right way.’ They listened to me – I was producing, after all – and they were good. The song was a hit in 1970.

Paul McCartney, Anthology

Paul said, “I’ve got a lot on my plate at the minute. It’s yours if you do what I say. If you accept this as your next single, you can write the other two tracks they need for Ringo’s film”. It was too good an offer to refuse. […] That session went on forever. Around 30 takes, I think. Peter Ham, Tommy Evans and myself all had a shot at singing it. Tommy got the gig

Ron Griffiths, from Badfinger , about the recording of “Come And Get It” – quoted from “Abbey Road 2019” liner notes.

IVEYS FIND IT HARD TO PLEASE BEATLES

It’s difficult to tell whether the Iveys are happy or sad with life.

Launched with much acclaim and publicity last year by the Almighty Apple with a pleasant-enough single called “Maybe Tomorrow” and a nation-wide tour with house-packing Gene Pitney, they have since been forgotten by all.

Or almost all… until last week when a heart-warming registered letter arrived at Disc offices with a plea, signed by 143 Ivey fans, to know what’s going on!

“We do feel a bit neglected”, said Ron Griffiths, “especially as that record got as high as N°50 in America and nobody seems to know about it. We’ve had hoped someone might have blown a trumpet for us when that happened.”

In fact, the main reason nothing’s been happening for the Iveys is that The Beatles (who you may know are directors of Apple!) are very hard to please! “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. We’ve now come up with a song that Mal Evans (former Beatles road manager and now their personal assistant at Apple) says he likes, so perhaps we stand a chance at last”.

The Iveys (the rest of them are Peter Ham, Tom Evans and Mike Gibbins) are currently ensconced in their Golders Green flat with manager Bill Collins, alternately writing and rehearsing.

“We’ve had a sound-proof studio built in the flat, and seem to be sweating out all our time in there.”

“Mind you,” adds Tom Evans, “we’ve had a lot of things that most groups could not expect. The Beatles bought our gear for us, all the equipment and the group van, and we’ve had all sorts 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

“No, the Beatles haven’t offered us any of their songs, but then we’re not really expecting them to. Paul McCartney did suggest that a couple of tracks off our American LP might make a single… but not for England.’

Asked about the state of their morale, the Iveys reply they are up one data, down the next.

“But in general, we’re still optimistic – and whatever happens we’re determined to win.”

Paul McCartney performed the song live for the first time in Bologna, Italy on November 26, 2011. In 2015, Paul McCartney shared lead vocals with Alice Cooper in the cover of the song by supergroup Hollywood Vampires, which appears on their debut album Hollywood Vampires

Last updated on February 26, 2022

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