Come Together

Story

Recording

Equipment

Recording Timeline

• 21 July 1969 — first session, basic track to takes 1–8 on a Studer J-37 four-track — Studio Three, 2.30–9.30pm. P: George Martin. E: Geoff Emerick / Phil McDonald. 2E: John Kurlander. Recording: ‘Come Together’ (takes 1–8). Then Studio Two control room, 9.30–10.00pm: Tape copying: ‘Come Together’ (of take 6, called take 9). The backing track was recorded on “one of the older Studer J-37 four-track machines, the only other multi-track machine available at the studio” — the studio’s two 3M M23 eight-tracks were both already in use on other sessions — after which “the four-track tape was transferred to the 3M eight-track machine for more work” in the Studio Two control room.^1,2
• Source conflict per §1 — which take was the “best”? Lewisohn’s 21 July session log records the tape-copy as “of take 6, called take 9.” Kehew & Ryan instead state: “After determining that Take 8 had been the best, the session moved to the Control Room of Studio Two, where the four-track tape was transferred to the 3M eight-track machine.” The two sources disagree on which J-37 take fed take 9; the page records both and does not pick a side. Lewisohn’s number is from his direct examination of the EMI session paperwork.^1,2
• J-37 four-track basic-track layout (21 July) — Track 1 = Paul’s distinctive bass-line; Track 2 = George’s electric guitar (a single rhythm guitar at this stage); Track 3 = Ringo’s drums; Track 4 = John’s guide vocal, handclaps and sporadic tambourine. Lewisohn corroborates: “There was only one guitar on the tape at this stage and that was George’s, Paul played bass and Ringo played drums. John tapped a tambourine part-way through, too.” Take 1, before any tape echo, “was a magnificent version, marked by a supreme Lennon vocal free of the massive tape echo which was applied later. Freed too from the restrictions of a guitar, John was able to sing while simultaneously clapping his hands … immediately after each time he sang the line ‘Shoot me!’”^1,2
• 22 July 1969 — lead vocal + electric piano + maracas + guitar SI — Studio Three, 2.30–9.30pm. P: George Martin. E: Geoff Emerick / Phil McDonald. 2E: John Kurlander. Recording: ‘Come Together’ (SI onto take 9) — “a new lead vocal, electric piano, rhythm guitar and maraca.” Paul’s electric piano went onto Track 5: “he wanted a piano lick to be very swampy and smoky, and I played it that way and he liked that a lot,” McCartney recalled in 1984. John requested that his voice be treated with repeat echo, the handclaps at the intro highlighting the effect.^1,2
• 23 July 1969 — further guitar SI — Studio Three, 2.30–11.30pm (shared with the opening session for ‘The End’). P: George Martin. E: Geoff Emerick / Phil McDonald. 2E: John Kurlander. Recording: ‘Come Together’ (SI onto take 9). “The following day, Track 7 would receive yet more guitar” — the tracks were filling up quickly under the three-tape generation count.^1,2
• 25 July 1969 — vocal harmonies SI — Studio Two, 2.30pm–2.30am (shared with the Sun King / Mean Mr Mustard organ session and the first Polythene Pam takes). P: George Martin. E: Geoff Emerick / Phil McDonald. 2E: John Kurlander. Recording: ‘Come Together’ (SI onto take 9) — specifically “vocal harmonies.” The backing vocal “does indeed sound very much like McCartney”, likely overdubbed alone rather than sung live around one microphone in the old way.^1,2
• 29–30 July 1969 — middle-eight + further guitar SI — Studio Three. P: George Martin. E: Geoff Emerick / Phil McDonald. 2E: John Kurlander. Recording: ‘Come Together’ (SI onto take 9) — “a guitar overdub for the middle part of ‘Come Together’” on 29 July, with “still more guitar work … recorded on 29 and 30 July.” The 30 July guitar was logged inside the same booking as the marathon medley stereo-mixing/editing pass.^1,2
• 7 August 1969 — stereo remix (the released master) — Studio Two control room, 2.30–6.00pm. P: George Martin. E: Geoff Emerick / Phil McDonald. 2E: John Kurlander. Stereo mixing: ‘Come Together’ (remixes 1–10, from take 9). The first attempt was marked “best” and became the released master: “Stereo remixing of ‘Come Together’ in studio two (ten versions, the first being ‘best’).” The single (R 5814) and the LP (PCS 7088) both carry this same remix stereo 1.¹

Studio Notes

• The “Shoot me” / bass-drop arrangement — The audible “shoot” sits where the “me” falls, but Paul’s bass note hits on the same beat: “On the finished record you can really only hear the word ‘shoot’,” Emerick recalled, “the bass guitar note falls where the ‘me’ is.” The repeat-echo treatment on John’s voice was added at mix; the take 1 dry vocal preserved on the multitrack is unprocessed, and the intro handclaps “highlighted the effect quite nicely.”^1,2
• Tape echo & the “swampy” sound — The released master’s defining sonic character — the close, blurred, slightly echoey ambience around Lennon’s vocal and Paul’s electric piano — comes from the repeat-echo applied to John’s lead vocal during the 22 July overdub and reinforced at the 7 August mix. Per §1, no specific outboard chain is attributed beyond what the primary sources document — the “Leslie’d bass” lore that circulates in some secondary sources is not supported by either primary text and is not asserted here. K/R note only that “subjective listening suggests a combination of direct and mic’d sound” for Paul’s bass.²
• Microphone complement (21 July basic track) — Ringo’s Ludwig drums were “mic’d in the same way they have been since Sgt. Pepper: D19c overhead, KM56 below the snare, D19c on hi-hat, D19c under each tom, and D20 on bass drum.” The Fender Twin Reverb amps were mic’d with Neumann U67s, “and the U48 is the preferred microphone for vocals.” Paul’s bass mic chain is not documented in either source. Tape operator John Kurlander recalled Yoko’s recovery bed still being in place in the corner of Studio Three during this session (Lennon had moved it in during his 1 July car-accident convalescence).²
• Three-tape generation count on the released master — The final stereo single carries: (1) the J-37 four-track basic from 21 July; (2) the M23 eight-track tape-copy as take 9, recorded the same night in the Studio Two control room; (3) the 7 August stereo remix from take 9 — plus the intervening overdub generations on 22, 23, 25 and 29–30 July. Compared with the single-tape-throughout discipline of, e.g., I Am the Walrus (whose released master sits on take 17 throughout), Come Together’s released master is unusually multi-generational for a 1969 Beatles single.^1,2

Releases

• 1969 UK stereo LP Abbey Road (26 September 1969, Apple [Parlophone] PCS 7088, stereo only) — Released master = remix stereo 1 of 7 August 1969, made in the Studio Two control room by P: George Martin, E: Geoff Emerick / Phil McDonald, 2E: John Kurlander. Ten stereo remixes were attempted from take 9; the FIRST was marked “best.” Abbey Road was issued stereo-only — the post-Pepper EMI stereo-mandate had hardened by 1969 and no dedicated mono LP master was prepared.¹
• 1969 UK single Apple [Parlophone] R 5814 (31 October 1969, double A-side Something / Come Together) — The same remix stereo 1 of 7 August 1969 was used; no dedicated single mix exists. The single post-dated the LP by five weeks and was instigated by Allen Klein, Apple’s new business manager. Chart peak: #3 UK / #1 US (the single sold over two million copies worldwide).¹
• 1969 US stereo LP Abbey Road (1 October 1969, Apple / Capitol SO 383) — Stereo only; the US LP was pressed from the same 7 August stereo master forwarded to Capitol.
• Anthology 3 (28 October 1996, Apple) — Post-Lewisohn release. Anthology 3’s Come Together is take 1 from 21 July 1969, with slightly different lyrics; per §1 less-specific-when-uncertain (Lewisohn 1988 predates the compilation by eight years), this entry flags the variant without claims beyond what the compilation’s own documentation establishes.
• 2009 Stereo Remasters (9 September 2009, Apple) — Allan Rouse / Guy Massey remaster of the 1969 stereo master. Post-Lewisohn; documented in the remaster project’s liner notes rather than in the primary-source canon; flagged here for completeness.
• 2019 Abbey Road 50th-anniversary remix (27 September 2019, Apple) — Giles Martin and Sam Okell stereo remix from the multitracks (take 5 of the song also surfaced on this edition). Post-Lewisohn; documented in album liner notes rather than in the primary-source canon; flagged here for completeness.