Running time
4.17
Studio sessions
21 July 1969
22 July 1969
23 July 1969
25 July 1969
29 July 1969
30 July 1969
7 August 1969
Maybe the funkiest of the Beatle tracks, this started as a campaign jingle for Timothy Leary (no, really) and wound up as the very soul of late-sixties Lennon. It's a manic collage of absurdities, but in a darker vein than ever before -- thanks to CD, John can now clearly be heard exhorting the audience to shoot him a full 11 years before some crazy bastard actually did. The one line copped from Chuck Berry's "You Can't Catch Me" ("Here come old flat-top") doesn't show nearly as much Berry influence as the chunky guitar riffs John's laying down.
Running time
3.00
Studio sessions
25 February 1969
16 April 1969
2 May 1969
5 May 1969
11 July 1969
16 July 1969
4 August 1969
15 August 1969
19 August 1969
A breath, a lover's sigh, a whispered secret. The Beatles may actually be able to claim the invention of soft-rock with this song, but if only all soft-rock sounded like this. Even more than other, more adventurous Beatle tracks, "Something" shows a perfect harmony of Beatle playing: Paul's famous bass runs, Ringo's passionate, heart-pounding fills, John's wah-wah-ish rhythm guitar, and George's crying lead. Not to mention Fifth Beatle George Martin's expert, ultra-tasteful string arrangement, a far cry from the aural Naugahyde Phil Spector would laminate onto Let It Be. This song has to make any Beatlemaniac's Top Ten: John himself thought it was the best song on Abbey Road. And I agree.
Studio sessions
9 July 1969
10 July 1969
11 July 1969
6 August 1969
11 August 1969
12 August 1969
14 August 1969
25 August 1969
Okay, so here comes Paul with more whimsy, but, in true late-Sixties style, things are off-kilter. For one thing, people are being killed by our little anti-hero. And what's with the moog? John didn' like this song at all but it's actually just as subversive as any John diatribe. In a Paulie way, that is.
Running time
3.26
Studio sessions
27 January 1969
20 April 1969
26 April 1969
1 May 1969
17 July 1969
18 July 1969
22 July 1969
23 July 1969
8 August 1969
11 August 1969
12 August 1969
Original Title: I'll Never Do You No Harm
Paul's direct tribute to New Orleans stroll-style R&B, with some Little Richardisms thrown in for good measure. (Note the bass line, which comes straight from that school.) Paul purposefully recorded the closely-miked vocal, over and over until he got the rough, one-take sound heard in New Orleans R&B, and he got it. A masterstroke. (Paul would finally get a chance to record a similar song in The Big Easy with local musicians, in 1975. "Call Me Back Again" was pleasant, but nowhere near as climactic.)
Running time
2.49
Studio sessions
26 April 1969
29 April 1969
17 July 1969
18 July 1969
2 December 1969
8 December 1969
Sort of a second cousin to Yellow Submarine (and somewhat subpar), this is nonetheless the best song Ringo's written alone. Inspired by a trip to Sardinia wherein he'd heard how Octopuses find shiny objects and build little underwater gardens with them. Ringo was so taken with the idea, he wrote the song.
Running time
7.44
Studio sessions
29 January 1969
22 February 1969
23 February 1969
24 February 1969
18 April 1969
20 April 1969
8 August 1969
11 August 1969
20 August 1969
John's magnum opus, clearly inspired by and dedicated to Yoko. It contained a lot of the avant-garde influence of his mate; check out the wall of noise that approaches at the end, courtesy of a white-noise generator. The primal scream therapy John indulged in on Plastic Ono Band is also evident here. Yet another case for Beatles as a bridge between blues and metal.
