Today’s classic song of the day is a classic Beatles track from their final (recorded) studio album, Abbey Road. While credited to the Lennon-McCartney team, this one was written exclusively by John Lennon.
“Come Together” was the first track on side one of Abbey Road and, when it was released as a single in October of 1969 (with George Harrison’s “Something” on the flip side), it went all the way to #1 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Cash Box Top 100. It was also a #1 hit in Australia, Belgium, New Zealand, and West Germany, and in the top ten in just about every other country in the world.
The origins of “Come Together” date back to early 1969, when LSD guru Timothy Leary was contemplating running for Governor of California. Mr. Leary asked Mr. Lennon if he could write him a campaign theme song based on the slogan, “Come Together—Join the Party!” John didn’t get too far on the assignment, eventually dropping it, but kept the slogan to use in another song he was writing.
“Come Together” was also inspired by Chuck Berry’s 1956 single, “You Can’t Catch Me,” which contained the lyric “Here come a flat-top, he was movin’ up with me.” Take a listen:
John appropriated that lyric, kind of, and came up with:
Here come old flat-top, he come grooving up slowly
He got ju-ju eyeball, he one holy roller
He got hair down to his knee
Got to be a joker, he just do what he pleaseHere come old flat-top, he come grooving up slowly
He got ju-ju eyeball, he one holy roller
He got hair down to his knee
Got to be a joker, he just do what he please
Combine that lyrical lifting with a similar blues structure and melody (deliberately slowed down by Misters Lennon and McCartney), and you have the basis for a lawsuit. No surprise, then, that Big Seven Music, the publisher of “You Can’t Catch Me,” sued Mr. Lennon for copyright infringement. That was in 1969, right after the single hit the streets. The case was eventually settled out of court in 1973, with the lawyers agreeing that Lennon would incorporate three songs published by Big Seven Music on his next solo album. Lennon sort of complied, releasing “You Can’t Catch Me” and “Ya Ya” on his 1975 album, Rock ‘n’ Roll. The agreement wasn’t completed until after the Beatle’s death, with the posthumous release of “Angel Baby.” (Because of that delayed release, Big Seven sued Lennon for breach of contract and was awarded a settlement of $6,795,000.)
“Come Together” is notable for its distinctive drum and bass licks. That drum part is notated like this:
It was an inspired beat that I’m not sure any drummer other than Ringo Starr could have thought of.
Recording of the basic tracks took place on July 21, 1969, at Abbey Road Studios with George Martin producing and Geoff Emerick and Phil McDonald behind the board. Those basic tracks consisted of John singing lead, George on rhythm guitar, Paul on bass, and Ringo on drums. He placed tea towels on his toms to get that distinctive “thud” sound. The boys spent the next few days doing overdubs and the final mix was completed on August 7.
George Martin said this about the track:
“If I had to pick one song that showed the four disparate talents of the boys and the ways they combined to make a great sound, I would choose ‘Come Together’. The original song is good, and with John’s voice it’s better. Then Paul has this idea for this great little riff. And Ringo hears that and does a drum thing that fits in, and that establishes a pattern that John leapt upon and did the [‘shoot me’] part. And then there’s George’s guitar at the end. The four of them became much, much better than the individual components.”
And, for your viewing pleasure, here’s the Beatles’ official music video for “Come Together,” produced in 2015. It’s today’s daily bonus video of the day.
