Written by: Lennon-McCartney
Recorded: 21-23, 25, 29, 30 July 1969
Producer: George Martin
Engineers: Geoff Emerick, Phil McDonald
Released: 26 September 1969 (UK), 1 October 1969 (US)
John Lennon: vocals, rhythm guitar, handclaps, tambourine
Paul McCartney: harmony vocals, bass, electric piano
George Harrison: lead guitar
Ringo Starr: drums, maracas
Available on:
Abbey Road
1
Anthology 3
Love
Come Together, the lead song on The Beatles' Abbey Road album, was conceived by John Lennon as a political rallying cry for the writer, psychologist and pro-drugs activist Timothy Leary.
It's a funky record. It's one of my favorite Beatle tracks or one of my favourite Lennon tracks, I'd say. It's funky, it's bluesy and I'm singing pretty well. I like the sound of the record. You can dance to it. I'd buy it.
Playboy, 1980
The song was composed for Timothy Leary's campaign to stand against Ronald Reagan as governor of California. Leary and his wife Rosemary had traveled to Montreal for John and Yoko's bed-in for peace, which took place on 1 June 1969. The Learys participated in the recording of Lennon's Give Peace A Chance, and were both namechecked in the lyrics.
Everybody's talking about:
John and Yoko, Timmy Leary, Rosemary,
Tommy Smothers, Bobby Dylan, Tommy Cooper,
Derek Taylor, Norman Mailer, Alan Ginsberg, Hare Krishna
Hare Hare Krishna
The following day Lennon offered to help Leary's campaign. His slogan was 'Come together, join the party'. Lennon sent Leary a demo tape of song ideas. However, when Leary was imprisoned for cannabis possession the campaign ended, enabling Lennon to record the song with The Beatles.
The thing was created in the studio. The lyrics are gobbledygook and Come Together was an expression that Leary had come up with when he was running for president. They'd asked me to write them a campaign song. I tried and tried and tried and couldn't come up with it. But I came up with this Come Together, which would have been no good for them. They couldn't have had a campaign song like that, right? But Leary attacked me years later, saying I ripped him off. Well, I had written another little thing called [singing] "Come together and join the party..." It never got further than that. And they never came back to ask for the song. I didn't rip him off. I had the song there waiting for him.
Playboy, 1980
Leary was bemused when he came to hear The Beatles' recording of the song.
Although the new version was certainly a musical and lyrical improvement on my campaign song, I was a bit miffed that Lennon had passed me over this way... When I sent a mild protest to John, he replied with typical Lennon charm and wit that he was a tailor and I was a customer who had ordered a suit and never returned. So he sold it to someone else.
A Hard Day's Write, Steve Turner
Come Together was Lennon's last politicised stance in The Beatles, although much of it was shrouded in imagery: the song lampooned the hippy figureheads who would seek followers among the dropouts of society.
Musically, Come Together took its cue from Chuck Berry's 1956 song You Can't Catch Me; both songs contain the lines "Here come old flat-top". Lennon was later sued by Berry's publisher Morris Levy. They settled out of court, and Lennon agreed to record more songs owned by Levy.
Come Together is me, writing obscurely around an old Chuck Berry thing. I left the line in 'Here coes old flat-top.' It is nothing like the Chuck Berry song, but they took me to court because I admitted the influence once years ago. I could have changed it to 'Here comes old iron face,' but the song remains independent of Chuck Berry or anybody else on earth.
All We Are Saying, David Sheff
The result was his 1975 album Rock 'N' Roll, which contained Berry's Sweet Little Sixteen and You Can't Catch Me, along with Lee Dorsey's Ya Ya (also recorded with the 11-year-old Julian Lennon on drums for 1974's Walls And Bridges).
A version of Come Together was included on The Beatles' Love album. Its lengthy fade-out is augmented with elements from Dear Prudence. After the song, the "Can you take me back" snippet that followed Cry Baby Cry on the White Album can be heard.
Related articles:
- Memphis, Tennessee
- John Lennon buys Timothy Leary's The Psychedelic Experience
- Don't Let Me Down
- Man We Was Lonely
- The Night Before
Paul did not sing on this track, as he himself complains about on the next page. Also, according to Emerick, while Paul composed the electric piano bit, John learned it and performed it on the record.
The harmony vocals certainly sound a lot like McCartney. I took the quote to mean that he wasn't singing a duet with Lennon - ie at the same time, as they did on The Ballad Of John And Yoko. The version of Come Together on Anthology 3 shows how it was recorded at first with just Lennon on vocals.
However, it may be that Lennon double-tracked his vocals. Can anyone shed any light on this?
I'm fairly certain it is, in fact, Lennon's voice slowed down on the vocals, an effect which usually makes him sound more similar to Paul than usual.
Aha - according to Geoff Emerick, John did his own backing vocals: http://www.musicradar.com/news/guitars/beatles-engineer-geoff-emerick-on-abbey-road-219542/4
Wow, I always always thought it was Paul doing the low harmony backup vocals on "Come Together." But Paul himself says he didn't sing on it.
That puts the song in a whole new light for me now...
Anyone with a decent ear for music can tell that Paul is singing the lower backing vocal during the verses. The Beatles used to always record harmony vocals together in the booth live and Paul'a was an overdub... meaning it was added at a different time since he and Lennon were rarely in the studio together during the recording of Abbey Road.
In terms of what Emerick was saying, Lennon's chorus vocals were double-tracked and both were his. Perhaps McCartney wanted in on the songs biggest hook
Paul is definitely in there in places.
I have to agree. This is my favorite song of all time and I was amazed when it was bandied about that Paul hadn't contributed vocals at all. I thought I had a good ear for differentiating their voices and it does sound very much like Paul singing very much like he did on 'Hey Bulldog'. Then there are places where it is only John double-tracked. But the verses sound like Paul. It is true that Paul did not sing in tandem with John. As Paul tells it, and was even well-known back in the '70s when I first learned it, their relationship was at a point where they couldn't even relate to each other. Pins and needles. Thus, Paul was really not confident to approach John and ask, 'Can I sing with you?' Very sad.
it sounded like Paul...but I read many times that the relation between them was so tense at that time that Paul was embarrassed to add harmonny...
even though, Paul piano and specially great Bass line makes a distinctive mark in the track
Who plays the solo? The guitar's tone sounds like John's Epiphone Casino, but is it him playing?
Again a display of the genius John Lennon.
To me, those four verses are basically a description of the four Beatles, with a John-twist.
First verse: George (Holy roller, his Indian influence, hair down to his knees..)
Second verse: Paul (No shoeshine, Abby Road-cover, toe-jam football, rugby, monkey finger, how you hold your hand when you play bass)
Third verse John himself (Ono sideboard)
Last verse, Ringo (Got to be goodlookin' cause he's so hard to see(awesome line) as Ringo was standing behind the three Beatles)
How did John Know Paul wasn't going to wear shoes on the cover?
Naah. "Monkey finger" is something entirely different from the way somebody might hold their hand when they play the bass.
After you put your finger somewhere, the way it is, is called "monkey finger".
It's the place you can do on your own, male or female. The person probably needed to pull his finger out. Enough said.
It's more likely it is unintentional. No doubt John was influenced by those around him but I doubt this song was intended to define the four in verses. When you flesh out the lyrics entirely it quits holding up to scrutiny. For the first verse the actual line is 'hair down to his knee' (singular) - which I've always found to be peculiar, then the last part about being a joker and doing what he please doesn't sound necessarily like George. The Abbey Road cover doesn't support the 'no shoeshine' argument as numer9 notes. However, Paul did have a habit of being barefoot in the studio during those sessions. The rest of the second verse bears little resemblance to Paul IMO. The third going to John? Sure! In fact, they are probably all John in some fashion along with his usual flair for insane nonsense (read his books). The same with the last verse. John and George's hair were both longer than Ringo's and, in fact, John was practically unrecognizable frequently with his wild beard.
In final summation, John had this unique way with the English language to start with and this song is simply an extension of this gift. It's actually hilarious if one doesn't get too serious about it. Like many song writers John would try to search for words to put in a song and would frequently not have any particular worthwhile subject - thus gobbledygook.
I think John does a bit of a disservice to the contributions of the other Beatles when he says "Lennon song" ... Paul's bass in particular really makes the song. And George's guitar leads are great too.
Totally agree!. Paul was the ultimate Beatle giving it 100% to all songs whether his or not. I don't believe there was a Beatle song he didn't play on. With the possible exception of the rubbishy Revolution 9.
Paul did not play on She Said She Said.
Yes, and he didn´t play on "Not a second time", "Within you Without you", "Julia", "Revolution 9" nor "Good Night".
I'm pretty sure Paul played bass on She Said She Said.
He didn't.
"Revolution 9" rubbishy? Just because is not a pop song?
When making these comments neither John, Paul, or George were given the time necessary for an elobarate explanation.
John made contributions to songs that are described as a"McCartney Song" or a "Harrisong Song".
To suggest that his opinion is a disservice to the other Beatles is a disservice to Lennon.
It was the task of everyone in the group to flesh out the vision of the author's song with their contribution. Without the vision, all of the bass parts and guitar parts don't mean a thing.
Does anyone know which kind of electric piano was used on the Abbey Road track?
It was a Fender Rhodes.
In reply to Arthur, I agree the 4 verses are about each Beatle but you mixed up Paul and Ringo. The second verse is Ringo(monkey fingers being drum sticks) and verse 4 being Paul who John called a mojo filter, roller-coaster(helter-skelter) and hard to see (understand) because he is good looking - which Paul is and Ringo is not in most opinions. Also, the positioning of the first 3 verses prior to the instrumental break was deliberate by John because it showed Paul that the others were with John(on Allen Klein) and that Paul was separate. That is why in the last verse John sings "One and one and one is 3" meaning Paul you can count that it is 3 against one so "come together over me".Paul eventually responds on Ram with the song 3 legs. Pretty interesting play between them as they fought for control of the Beatles.
The Cute One is not good-looking?
During the guitar licks, I read somewhere that John is saying "Shoot Me" but the Me portion is buried in the hand claps.
I think it's slightly easier to hear on the remastered version. A couple of times it's very clear that he says "Shoot me".
It's most definitely "Shoot me", according to the lyric track in The Beatles Rock Band. But I agree with Mark; it's very hard to notice if you don't know it's there.
Most covers I've heard, including Michael Jackson's and Aerosmith's, replace the "shoot me" with a generic "shoop" sound.
Oddly enough though, when John sang it LIVE in 1972 he does not sound or appear to be singing 'Shoot me'. But he messed up the rest of the words anyway.
It's Paul playing the electric piano bit, and it's defenitly him doing harmony vocals (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nr5nDAZ0p3E) and the verses are like this:
1. George (Holy roller = indian influence, Hair down to his knees)
2. Paul (No shoeshine = Abbey road cover, Toe-jam football = Rugby, Monkey finger = Bass finger positioning)
3. John (Ono-sideboard = Do I need to explain this one?)
4. Ringo (Got to be goodlookin' cause he's so hard to see = People focusing mor on the other 3)
Who's narrating that YouTube clip? Because unless it's someone who was actually there, or who knows definitively that it was Paul on electric piano, it may just be supposition. The same with the vocals - they were recorded on different tracks, so it could still have been Lennon doing both. It's hard to tell. Great clip though - thanks for sharing.
EDIT: I've found out it's from this: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00mc0cc
The hosts were Richard Allinson and Steve Levine.
Wow! Thanks Jacob! It IS Paul singing background vocals! Had me for a loop there for a couple of weeks.
Your welcome!
According to Geoff Emerick (studio engineer on the last 5 Beatles albums) john did all of the vocals. He slowed down the backing vocals which made them sound a lot like paul.
I'm pretty sure Paul plays the EP part too. In Beatles Rock Band it shows him playing it, and I know it isn't a reliable source, but if Lennon played it don't you think they would show him playing it?
I remember reading in a Beatles biography years ago that the song was about the Maharishi. It's not hard to construe that from some of the lyrics, but apparently it was a false assumption.
No; Sexy Sadie is the Maharishi song.
Another interesting thing about this song: when John brought it in it was an uptempo 12-bar piece. Paul suggested slowing it down and making it "swampy." All the difference, and a great example of how their polar differences created musical alchemy.
And another bit of trivia: The first takes of Come Together were recorded the same day Neil Armstrong walked on the moon.
On the note about Epi Casino riff:
All the Beatles (Save Ringo) had purchased Casinos. It could be either John or George.
So...people doubt Geoff Emerick when he says that Lennon sang his own backing vocals? Odd...
Because Geoff Emerick is full of shite, that's why.
On paper, the idea of an insider penning a memoir describing how the Beatles made their magic would be irresistible. But Here, There, and Everywhere is not that book: it is a gossipy, self-serving, spiteful tome, filled with egregious errors of fact throughout - sort of a companion volume to Peter Brown's The Love You Make.
It has been reported extensively that once Emerick secured a publishing deal, he frantically called up his colleagues, seeking anecdotes as his own memory was faulty and he really couldn't remember much. It's hard to doubt this because the book is filled with fanciful nonsense throughout. I leave it to engineer Ken Scott, who has openly called bullshit on this book, to give the particulars:
http://www.komosproductions.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=19&Itemid=37
Then there's the "Come Together" gem, since debunked.
It seems the more this man talks, the more senile he gets.
Ultimately as a fan, I think most Beatle fans would prefer the truth over an interesting new lie.
After listening to the following YouTube clip:
http://www.youtube.com/user/197DMG2#p/u/3/nr5nDAZ0p3E
it is obvious Paul is singing backup. Mr. Emerick was either mistaken, or trying to spice up his book by giving an example of the stressful situation that existed between John and Paul. In light of this, I vote Paul's vocal is properly credited.
Geoff is neither correct nor incorrect. John did do his own --- at first. Paul overdubbed his later. Geoff does seem to be trying to give himself more of a role in the Beatles process as the years move forward. After all, it sells books, doesn't it?
I wouldn't say that Paul "composed" the piano part of the song. Maybe he had something to do with it but he just played the notes from the beginning of the song. And these were composed by Lennon.
It's very clear to me: John double tracked his vocals in the refrain (choruses): "Come together, / right now, over me." Paul didn't sing harmony on those lines, is John himself. But Paul indeed overdub his harmony parts for the verses.
The electric piano part es interesting. Every source has stated it was Paul, and that John was very proud of Paul's playing. And now we find this Emerick's quote saying it was lennon instead.
I've been listening to the Beatles for 40 + years. I have never doubted it was Paul's voice doing backup. When Emerick alleged in his book Lennon did ALL the vocals on "Come Together" I thought he was surely mistaken (daft). The aforementioned YouTube video confirms what I've known (heard) all along.
With regard to the electric piano part...it's hard to say. It most certainly could have been Paul (the YouTube video states it's Paul) however, the 2 to 3 (maybe 4) note chords are more indicative of John's simplified piano playing style.
I thought it was Lennon who played the piano bit, I recall reading that Lennon got the piano idea from McCartney and later recorded it by himself
Yes, the idea came from Mcca but he took it from the material that John developed.
I've encountered that "Each verse describes one Beatle" premise before, and it's never made any sense to me at all. If a guy is introduced in the first line, and every subsequent lyric begins with the pronoun "He...", it's pretty hard not to conclude that the song's about ONE individual, and nobody else: "Old Flat-Top", whoever THAT is.
This is from Chuck Berry's 'You Can't Catch Me'.
In this video you can hear the isolated vocal track. Even though the harmony sounds like McCartney due to the low register, John could also reach those low registers, for example in the song "(just like) starting over" or when he says "shoot me" in CT.
Also, in the chorus, the "come together" is in the low register but the "right now" emulates the lead vocal, clearly sounding like lennon.
Paul in "Many Years From Now" said he noticed a resemblance to "You Can't Catch Me" when he first heard it and suggested slowing it down to obscure it a bit. But I agree with John that there's very little similarity. Granted if you speed up "Come Together" to the same tempo, the first few bars sound a bit similar. But the key sections of each songs diverge after that. Hell, Chuck used the same musical formula for a lot of his songs, but despite the similarity, each song is a distinct classic. The same with this song, or Lennon's "Ballad of John and Yoko" or "New York City" for that matter.
Any legs to the theory that "Come Together" is a sexual reference? Thought I read that somewhere, thought maybe even John himself alluded to that
It was used in a porno way back when in the 70's. There was lots of winking and grins when this was first heard and appreciated.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXXeM3g98mo
Thats paul
I think you should change the performance credits to include John on electric piano and harmony vocal due the fact that there is a lot of evidence to support it (I also firmly believe that the vocals are all lennon). When in doubt put both. Paul actaully says he did not sing harmony on this.
Well, you know, it sounds like Paul using the same kind of harmonic approach that he used on 'Hey Bulldog', but the session notes really do not indicate Paul singing on this song. Meanwhile, let us consider the oddity of the song. No one had that certain quirk like John. 'Come Together' has this very strange percussion from clear out of left field. Very original - but what is it? After decades of reverence pondering this song I have determined that it is a 'rotary telephone'. Only John could take something so mundane and turn it into a total head trip. Genius, man!!
I think this percussion you're talking about is simply John clapping his hands. As he clapped them and sang at the same time, voice was echoed, so it was natural for a microphone to make the claps echoed, too. Simple as that.
I'm not isolated on the hand clap alone. The whole 'shoot --' followed by the hand clap echo and then Ringo's rolling drum comes out sounding like an old rotary phone. Then John's voice has this tinny compression which even resembles a voice over a phone. Perhaps unintentional - but I remain amazed that anyone would walk into a studio and intentionally manifest this. When this first came out I was instantly captured by the sound - it was like, what's all this then? The Beatles always took the concept of what could be accepted as music and pushed it over the edge.
I wrote a play for the Marion County Library, Ocala, Florida competition based on "Come Together" by The Beatles. And I won! The winning play was to be a "red carpet" event, with the performance being at the library. But sadly they were not able to follow through due to lack of auditions. The play featured Paul McCartney meeting Johnn Lennon at the library.
Well, that'll teach me to take the title literally, as I'm pretty sure it was the Roy Thomas Carr book that stated it was a celebration of the simultaneous orgasm...