The Big Song!
Released on this day in 1969 was The Beatles final recorded (not released) album Abbey Road. With the anniversary of the release being today, here is track #6 "I Want You (She's So Heavy)".
The song was rehearsed many times during the earlier Get Back/Let It Be sessions and was even briefly played during their famous rooftop concert whiles tapes were being changed. The song was first recorded at Trident studios on February 22, 1969 with the traditional lineup of musicians. On April 18, Lennon and Harrison recorded more guitar parts and congas and Hammond organ were added by Ringo and Billy Preston two days later. Recording of the song took a break until August 11 with the addition the "She's so Heavy" vocals bringing the song to it's released title. Three takes of February recordings were edited into a master and went through a few mix downs while overdubs were added. On August 8, Lennon added while nose played from a Moog synthesizer and Ringo added additional drums as well. The final overdub, mixing and editing session happened on August 20 (the same day "Here Comes The Sun" was mixed) marked the last time all four Beatles worked together in the studio. What a way to go out!
This was fun to play, but also took a long time to learn. I listened to the isolated drum track many times to learn each fill in the outro and I had to write notes of what each fill was and what repetition they occurred. You can see the notes in the background on the desk. They are the two pieces of paper that are standing up. I rehearsed the song a couple of times and when I went to record it, it only took four attempts. Two attempts were complete while the other two were incomplete. It was not as hard as I thought it would be. As seen in the video, I have the three cymbals setup similar to how Ringo had his placed while recording the album. I think this setup is interesting but I'm not that big a fan of it as the middle cymbal seems too far away to reach and it obscures the camera. But I wanted to try it and will (maybe) use this setup for the rest of the Abbey Road covers.
The song starts out in 6/8 times and switches to 4/4 in the verses while the final "driving me mad" lyrics can be counted as 2/4. The 6/8 returns in the "She's So Heavy" sections as well as the outro. The solo, which takes the song into a Latin style is in 4/4 as well. This Latin style is heard once again in the final verse as at 3:52 where the tempo picks up just slightly. The outro guitar riff is repeated 15 times with an abrupt ending at 7:44 bringing the song and side 1 of Abbey Road to an end. You can say this is the longest released Beatles song, excluding "Revolution 9" as I do not that as a song, but rather as a sound collage though that really is the longest released Beatles track. Though in reality, the longest Beatles song is the 27 minute version of "Helter Skelter" which, unfortunately, we may never see/ Maybe some day. But back to "I Want You". Listen to those fills in the outro! They are superb! My favorite fill is at 6:33. It's fantastic. The whole song is really. Probably my favorite off the album.
Of course what more is there to say about this song? Every part is fantastic. John and George's dual lead guitar playing, Paul's phenomenal bass performance, Ringo with all of his signature fills, the vocals, Lennon's scream, Billy Preston's organ? It's all excellent. The only critique I have of the song is that Preston's organ should have been kept in the outro rather than being erased. You can hear it in the Trident outtake in the deluxe edition of the album.
This is my longest video, so far. I hope you enjoy it. Thank you to everybody who likes and supports this channel. Greatly appreciated! If you are new here and like what you see/hear, please subscribe so you do not miss out on the more covers in the future! More Abbey Road is on the way!