Welcome back for yet another Beatles Rarity Of The Week. “Something” was a song written by George Harrison in January 1969 and later featured, not only on the Abbey Road album later in the year, but also on the A-side of a single coupled with John Lennon’s “Come Together” on the B-side. This was George’s first composition (and last) to be issued on the top side of a Beatles single. It was a good pick too because it topped the U.S. charts (Billboard) and reached number 4 on the U.K (Melody Maker) charts. It is second only to Yesterday as being the most covered Beatles song of all time. Both John Lennon and Paul McCartney praised “Something” as among the best songs written by George, or that the group had to offer.

For this week’s BROW, I’m sharing a recording of the song while still a work in progress. This is a mono mix of “Something” that’s basic track was laid down on May 2, 1969. Billy Preston, who had recently worked with The Beatles during the Get Back/Let It Be sessions, played organ, while Paul played bass. George Harrison played rhythm guitar through a Leslie speaker and John played a second rhythm guitar. Ringo Starr, of course, manned the drum kit. At this point the song was 7:48 due to a extended jam at the conclusion (some of which I’ve included here) and labeled as take 36.

On May 5th, The Beatles upgraded take 36 with the following changes: Paul redid his bass track and George added the lead guitar parts, including his fantastic solo. Billy Preston added more organ overdubs sometime before July 11th, which was the date George recorded his first lead vocal for the track. The extended jam at the end was also shortened. The end result, take 37, would receive further improvements later in the week, when George would return to the studio to redo the vocal track, with some assistance from Paul. With the new vocal track, a stereo mix was created for the master we hear on Abbey Road.

Here now, with the original vocal track, is take 37, complete with sound engineer Phil McDonald’s take announcement.

The Beatles have a break on the set of the Abbey Road photo shoot, 1969

Links to Amazon.com items in The Beatles catalog related to this post are listed below. Click for further info or, if you like, to purchase the music:

1) Abbey Road (Remastered) 2009 remaster of original 1969 smash album tat was to be the last recorded by The Beatles. Includes the finalized master of “Something”.

2) Anthology 3 1996 2-CD set containing out-takes and special versions of Beatles recordings from the final 2 years before the broke up. Includes a demo version of “Something” recorded on George Harrison’s 26th birthday (Feb. 25, 1969).

3) Find more Beatles-related music on Amazon: The Beatles, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr.

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