Something

Listen on Spotify

Overview

Background

Pattern analysis

Recording

Mix variants & recording techniques

Documented mix variants

• 1969 UK stereo LP Abbey Road (26 September 1969, Apple [Parlophone] PCS 7088, stereo only) — Released master = remix stereo from Tuesday 19 August 1969, Studio Two: “Stereo mixing: ‘Something’ (remixes 1–10, from take 39)” (Lewisohn 1988, p. 190, quoted directly). P: George Martin. E: Geoff Emerick / Phil McDonald. 2E: Alan Parsons. These remixes “finally discarded any remnant of the instrumental jam which was tacked onto the end of the original recording, but which had been gradually whittled away during interim reduction mixdowns” (Lewisohn p. 190, quoted directly). The earlier rough stereo remixes 1–4 from take 36 (11 July 1969, Lewisohn p. 180) were superseded once take 39 became the canonical reduction. Abbey Road was issued stereo-only worldwide; no dedicated mono LP master was prepared.
• 1969 UK single Apple [Parlophone] R 5814 (31 October 1969, double A-side Something / Come Together) — The same 19 August 1969 stereo remix was used; no dedicated single mix exists. The single release post-dates the LP by five weeks and was instigated by Allen Klein, Apple’s new business manager: “It was Allen Klein, the new business manager at Apple, who instigated the release of ‘Something’, to spur George’s career in giving him his first A-side, to bring in extra money and — Klein being an American — simply to do things the American way” (Lewisohn p. 193, quoted directly). Chart peak per Lewisohn p. 193: #3 UK / #1 US (the single sold over two million copies worldwide). Harrison’s first A-side as a Beatle.
• 1969 US stereo LP Abbey Road (1 October 1969, Apple / Capitol SO 383, stereo only) — The same 19 August 1969 stereo master was forwarded to Capitol for US pressing.
• 4 August 1969 rough stereo remix — acetate cut for George Martin’s orchestral scoring (unreleased) — Lewisohn p. 184 documents an “unnumbered rough remix, from take 39” of Something made in Studio Three control room on Monday 4 August 1969, 7.15–8.45pm (shared booking with the parallel Here Comes The Sun rough remix from take 15). P: George Harrison. E: Phil McDonald. 2E: Alan Parsons. Per Lewisohn p. 184 verbatim: “an acetate of the ‘Something’ mix was given to George Martin so that he could arrange an orchestral score” — i.e. cut as a working reference for the 15 August orchestral session, not for personal listening. Not a commercial release; recorded here for source completeness. (Earlier resume.json drafts mis-dated this as Saturday 23 August; Lewisohn p. 184’s canonical session header is Monday 4 August 1969.)
• Anthology 3 (28 October 1996, Apple) — Post-Lewisohn release. Lewisohn p. 171 explicitly attests that the 25 February 1969 Harrison eight-track solo demo of Something had “the additional bonus of an extra four-line verse not included on the finished recording” (Lewisohn 1988, p. 171, quoted directly). The Anthology 3 compilation is the natural release vehicle for that demo material; per §1 less-specific-when-uncertain, the page flags the variant without making claims beyond the primary-source attestation, since Anthology 3’s own liner notes (1996) post-date Lewisohn’s 1988 catalogue.
• 2019 Abbey Road 50th-anniversary remix (27 September 2019, Apple) — Giles Martin and Sam Okell stereo remix from the multitracks. Post-Lewisohn; documented in the album’s 50th-anniversary liner notes rather than in the primary-source canon; flagged here for completeness rather than independently characterised.

Recording techniques

• 25 February 1969 — Harrison solo eight-track demo (Lewisohn p. 171) — Abbey Road, studio unknown, time unknown. E and 2E: Ken Scott. “Perhaps as a 26th birthday present to himself, George Harrison went to Abbey Road alone on this day and, with just Ken Scott in the control room, recorded elaborate eight-track demos of three of his latest compositions, presumably for the other Beatles to learn their parts for future, proper recording” (Lewisohn p. 171, quoted directly). Songs taped: Old Brown Shoe (takes 1–2), All Things Must Pass (takes 1–2), Something (take 1). “George recording several vocal parts, guitar and piano. (There were no drums on any of the three songs.) ‘All Things Must Pass’ and ‘Something’ were especially beautiful, and ‘Something’ had the additional bonus of an extra four-line verse not included on the finished recording” (Lewisohn p. 171, quoted directly). This demo predates any band recording by seven weeks.
• 16 April 1969 — first proper recording, Studio Three (Lewisohn p. 173) — Studio Three, 7.00pm–2.45am (shared booking with Old Brown Shoe). P: George Martin. E: Jeff Jarratt. 2E: Richard Lush. Recording: Old Brown Shoe (takes 1–4); Something (takes 1–13). Lewisohn p. 173 line-up paragraph quoted directly: “Work on ‘Something’ was restricted to basic track recordings: bass (Paul), drums (Ringo), guitar (George) and piano (George Martin). John Lennon was present but did not contribute and there were no vocals at this stage.” The 16 April basic was effectively shelved in favour of the 2 May re-make — Lewisohn p. 173 prose: “with a 25 February demo, takes one through to 13 taped on this day, and then, takes one to 14 of a re-make done on 2 May” (note: p. 173 prose says “1 to 14” for the re-make, but Lewisohn’s own canonical session sheet on p. 175 records the re-make as “takes 1–36”; the session sheet is authoritative, per §1 internal-source-conflict discipline).
• Source conflict per §1 — whether work “began” on 16 April or 2 May. Kehew & Ryan p. 517 writes: “Work on the song began on 2 May, with the band recording 36 takes of the backing track in Abbey Road’s Studio Three” (K/R p. 517, quoted directly) — making no mention of the 16 April session at all. Lewisohn p. 173 logs the 16 April Studio Three session in detail under its own session header. The two are not contradictory in fact (K/R’s “began” defensibly means the start of work toward the released take) but they differ on whether to record the 16 April basic as part of the song’s history. The page records both per §1 and follows Lewisohn p. 173 as the tier-1 authority on session history.
• 2 May 1969 — re-make basic, Studio Three (Lewisohn p. 175 + K/R p. 517) — Studio Three, 7.00pm–3.40am (with a two-hour break 11.00pm–1.00am). P: Chris Thomas (Martin on holiday). E: Jeff Jarratt. 2E: Nick Webb. Recording: Something [re-make] (takes 1–36). Lineup: bass (Paul), drums (Ringo), guitar (John), piano (Billy Preston), guitar via a Leslie speaker (George) — per Lewisohn p. 175. K/R p. 517 confirms: “The lineup consisted of Paul on bass, Ringo on drums, George and John on electric guitars and Billy Preston on piano.” Take 36 = “best”, 7′48″ long. Lewisohn p. 175 quoted directly: “The main difference between these early versions of ‘Something’ and the finished master was that these were much longer in duration. Take 36, the ‘best’ basic track, was 7′48″, compared to the final timing of 3′00″. The difference was due entirely to a long, repetitious and somewhat rambling, piano-led four-note instrumental fade-out.”
• 5 May 1969 — Olympic Sound Studios SI (Lewisohn p. 176 + K/R p. 517) — Studio One, Olympic Sound Studios, 117 Church Road, Barnes: 7.30pm–4.00am. P: George Martin. E: Glyn Johns. 2E: Steve Vaughan. Recording: Something (SI onto take 36). Lewisohn p. 176 quoted directly: “In this session the group recorded overdubs for ‘Something’, with Paul improving on his bass track and George doing likewise with his ‘Leslie’d’ guitar track”. K/R p. 517: “Paul re-recorded his bass part at Olympic with Glyn Johns engineering. George also added lead guitar during the same session.” (NB: the 2 May 1969 session header is on Lewisohn p. 175; the 5 May Olympic session begins overleaf, p. 176.)
• 11 July 1969 — vocal SI + reduction take 36 → take 37 (Lewisohn p. 180 + K/R p. 517) — Studio Two, 2.30pm–midnight. P: George Martin. E: Phil McDonald. 2E: John Kurlander. Lewisohn p. 180 quoted directly: “‘Something’ received a new George Harrison lead vocal, rough stereo remixes and then a reduction mixdown for further superimpositions (at this point the song was cut from 7′48″ to 5′32″: 3′00″ of the main song and 2′32″ of the instrumental coda).” K/R p. 517 adds: George recorded his first lead vocal in Studio Two, “double-tracking it in places”, and “Billy Preston also contributed organ to the song at some point” (K/R p. 517, quoted directly — the Preston organ overdub is not enumerated in Lewisohn p. 180’s prose; per §1 the page records K/R’s additional attribution alongside Lewisohn’s session-sheet header). With the eight-track tape now full, the take 36 master was reduced to take 37 to free space for further overdubs.
• 16 July 1969 — further vocal SI + reduction take 36 → takes 38 and 39 (Lewisohn p. 180 + K/R p. 517) — Studio Three 2.30–7.00pm, then Studio Two 7.00pm–12.30am. P: George Martin. E: Phil McDonald. 2E: Alan Parsons. Recording: Something (SI onto take 36, tape reduction take 36 into takes 38 and 39). Lewisohn p. 180: SI on this day comprised “lead vocal (George), backing vocals (Paul) and handclapping (George, Paul and Ringo) being added to take 36 of ‘Something’, even though a reduction of this take had previously been made. Now, with the new overdubs, the reduction was done again, into takes 38 and 39, the latter being ‘best’” (Lewisohn p. 180, quoted directly). George Harrison was in the Studio Two control room for the mixdowns and reminded Phil McDonald that the latter reduction model should be numbered 39 (Lewisohn p. 180). K/R p. 517 adds that “Ringo also overdubbed toms and hi-hat onto the middle-eight of the song” on this day (K/R p. 517, quoted directly — the Ringo middle-eight overdub is not in Lewisohn p. 180’s prose; per §1 the page records K/R’s additional detail alongside Lewisohn’s session sheet).
• Take 39 eight-track layout (K/R p. 517) — Per the K/R take-39 diagram (printed p. 517): T1 = George’s lead guitar combined with brief portions of the piano; T2 = drums combined with the percussion + handclaps overdub; T3 and T4 = empty (later used for the orchestral overdub); T7 = both vocal tracks combined into one. K/R p. 517 quoted directly: “This reduction combined George’s lead guitar and brief portions of the piano onto Track 1 and mixed both vocal tracks together onto Track 7. It also combined the percussion and handclaps overdub onto the drums track. The reduction freed up two tracks onto which George Martin could record his orchestral arrangement.”
• 15 August 1969 — orchestral overdub via cross-studio CCTV (Lewisohn p. 190 + K/R p. 517) — Studio One into Studio Two, 7.00pm–1.15am. P: George Martin. E: Geoff Emerick / Phil McDonald. 2E: Alan Parsons. Recording: Something (SI onto take 39). Orchestra per Lewisohn p. 190: 12 violins, 4 violas, 4 cellos, 1 string bass. (The same booking covered orchestral overdubs for Golden Slumbers / Carry That Weight, The End, and Here Comes The Sun — “It made sound economic sense — in time as well as money — to save all the Abbey Road orchestral overdubs until the closing days of the LP and do them in one go,” Lewisohn p. 190, quoted directly.) Lewisohn p. 190 documents the cross-studio CCTV setup verbatim: “For the first time on a Beatles session, close-circuit television was employed to link two studios. (Previously, as Phil McDonald humorously recounts, the linking was subject to the vagaries of voice: ‘All right, Bert? Are you ready?’) While George Martin was conducting the recruited musicians through his own immaculate scores in the huge studio one, the remainder of the production team — Geoff Emerick, Phil McDonald and Alan Parsons — were [...] monitoring the proceedings, sound and vision, in the control room of studio two.” K/R p. 517 quoted directly explains the reason: “The orchestral session took place on 15 August in Studio One. However because Studio Two was the only one equipped with the new TG console, the mics in Studio One were patched through to Studio Two’s Control Room. Phil McDonald and Geoff Emerick maintained visual contact with Studio One via closed-circuit television, watching the session on a black and white monitor in the Control Room.” Alan Brown via Lewisohn p. 190 (quoted directly): “It was a mammoth session. We had a large number of lines linking the studios and we were all walking around the building with walkie-talkies trying to communicate with each other.”
• 15 August 1969 — George re-records the middle-eight guitar solo on the Studio Two floor (Lewisohn p. 190 + K/R p. 517) — After the orchestral overdub onto T3 and T4 was complete, George Harrison “shuttled back and forth between studio one, where he shared the conductor’s podium with George Martin for a time, and studio two, where he oversaw the sound recording, virtually as ‘producer’, and where — on the floor of the studio — he taped a new memorable lead guitar solo for the song’s middle eight (actually, barely different from the song’s previous best guitar track)” (Lewisohn p. 190, quoted directly). K/R p. 517 explicitly rebuts a popular misattribution: “Contrary to another account, it was most definitely not recorded live onto a single track along with the orchestra, as the tape box clearly shows.” (K/R p. 517, quoted directly.) K/R p. 517 also adds: “Upon mixing, the new guitar solo was slightly thickened with ADT” — the canonical Townsend ADT system, plausibly via the routings detailed in K/R Ch 8.
• 19 August 1969 — released stereo master, Studio Two (Lewisohn p. 190) — Studio Two, 2.00pm–4.00am (shared booking with the medley crossfade/edit work). P: George Martin. E: Geoff Emerick / Phil McDonald. 2E: Alan Parsons. Stereo mixing: Something (remixes 1–10, from take 39). Lewisohn p. 190 quoted directly: “for ‘Something’ this was the second set of stereo remixes, numbers one to four having been made on 11 July. (One other numbering confusion this day was for ‘The End’...) These new mixes of ‘Something’ finally discarded any remnant of the instrumental jam which was tacked onto the end of the original recording, but which had been gradually whittled away during interim reduction mixdowns.” The released master (LP + single) is one of these 19 August stereo remixes from take 39.
• TG12345 console arrival, late 1968 (K/R p. 514) — The new console enabling the 15 August cross-studio CCTV session was a recent installation: “at the tail end of 1968, EMI’s new TG12345 solid-state mixing console had been installed in Studio Two, replacing the REDD.51 desk that had occupied the room since January [...]” (K/R p. 514, quoted directly). Alongside the desk, Studio Manager Alan Stagg had “the faithful Altec 605A monitors replaced with Tannoy Gold speakers in Lockwood enclosures” (K/R p. 514) — the same monitoring change implicated in the parallel Hey Jude Tannoy/Altec mix-calibration discrepancies but at a later point in the year. The TG12345 had broader routing flexibility than the four-track REDD.51, which is what made the 15 August cross-studio multi-track patch-through technically possible.
• Four-generation tape stack on the released master — The 19 August stereo remix from take 39 sits on top of: (1) the 2 May 1969 J37 eight-track basic (take 36); (2) the 5 May Olympic SI generation (Paul bass + George Leslie’d guitar improvements); (3) the 11 July reduction take 36 → take 37 (after first vocal SI, song trimmed 7′48″ → 5′32″); (4) the 16 July second reduction take 36 → takes 38 and 39 (after second vocal SI + handclaps + K/R-documented Ringo middle-eight toms/hi-hat). Plus the 15 August orchestral SI onto T3–T4 of take 39, and the same-day George middle-eight guitar solo on the Studio Two floor. That tape-generation count makes Something a peer of Come Together for tape-generation depth on a 1969 Beatles A-side, although the J37→M23 cross-machine transfer that defines Come Together does not apply here (Something stayed on the eight-track throughout).
• Stereo only — no mono LP master — Abbey Road was issued stereo-only worldwide; the EMI stereo-mandate that had been softening through 1968 was fully in force by mid-1969. No dedicated mono Something mix exists in the primary-source canon. Period mono airplay copies (radio promos, jukebox singles) are stereo-fold-down mixes rather than separately created mono masters.

Legacy & release history

Mono & stereo

• Stereo only on UK release — the band's last three LPs were mixed for stereo; no UK mono LPs were issued.

Documented alternate versions

• Anthology 3 (1996) — alternate take or demo
• 2009 Stereo Remasters — Allan Rouse / Guy Massey remaster
• Abbey Road 50th Anniversary (2019) — Giles Martin stereo remix

Released on

• Abbey Road — LP, 26 September 1969
• Something / Come Together — Single, 31 October 1969

Cross-references

Other songs sharing themes (george-classic, sinatra-praise, first-george-a-side, much-covered, love)

Other songs led by the same vocalist

Other songs from this era

george-classicsinatra-praisefirst-george-a-sidemuch-coveredlove

On screen with the same title

Related songs