Something

(Harrison)

Quick Facts

Lead Vocal	George
Recorded	Apr–Aug 1969
Length	3:03
Key	C
Noted Takes	39
Producer	George Martin
Engineer	Geoff Emerick; Phil McDonald

Originally released on

Abbey Road (LP)

Something / Come Together (single)

Apple — PCS 7088 (LP) · R 5814 (single)

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Story

"Something" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1969 studio album Abbey Road. It was written by George Harrison, the band's lead guitarist. Together with his second contribution to Abbey Road, "Here Comes the Sun", it is widely viewed by music historians as having marked Harrison's ascendancy as a composer to the level of the Beatles' principal songwriters, John Lennon and Paul McCartney. [Wikipedia]

Harrison wrote it in summer 1968, the title and opening line drawn from James Taylor's song 'Something in the Way She Moves' — Taylor was then signed to Apple Records. George originally felt the song was 'too slushy' and considered offering it to Joe Cocker; only at McCartney's encouragement did it find its way onto Abbey Road. George Harrison's 'Something' emerged during the White Album period but was not formally recorded until 2 May 1969, when George demoed it solo on 25 February, later securing recording priority on Abbey Road. The song's sophisticated harmonic structure and introspective romantic content marked Harrison's most ambitious compositional achievement, capturing attention from established artists: Frank Sinatra, approached by Chris Thomas, praised the composition enthusiastically, and Joe Cocker subsequently recorded a version before the Beatles' release (Lewisohn 1988, p.156, 171). The song's structure evolved through Abbey Road's production process, with the extended fade and instrumental coda demonstrating the band's confidence in crafting longer, more ambitious arrangements. (Kozinn 1995)

First take 16 April 1969; basic track 2 May 1969; lead vocal 5 May; orchestra (24-piece, arranged by George Martin) on 15 August. Harrison's guitar solo went through multiple takes over several months and is cited by Eric Clapton as among the finest guitar solos in pop. The song was remade on 2 May with 36 takes, followed by extensive overdubbing of lead vocals by Harrison across multiple sessions through July, with reductions completed to manage multitrack complexity. A reduction mixdown shortened the recording from 7'48" to 5'32" (3'00" of main song plus 2'32" instrumental coda), demonstrating George Martin's editorial precision in balancing instrumental and harmonic material (Lewisohn 1988, p.175, 180).

That's great! Why don't we do that one instead?- Chris Thomas (to George Harrison), Lewisohn 1988, p.156

Emerick's engineering documented a remarkable shift in band dynamics: John learned Paul's electric piano part by watching over his shoulder—a collaborative moment that would have been unthinkable in earlier sessions. (Emerick 2006) Something represents Harrison's mature songwriting arriving at Abbey Road, with extended recording across multiple sessions allowing George Martin to sculpt the orchestral and harmonic architecture across its duration. (MacDonald 1994)

Something was for some while nearly eight minutes long, owing to extended fade.- Ian MacDonald, MacDonald 1994

What's distinctive

One of 28 songs led primarily by George. One of 22 solely Harrison-credited compositions in the canon. Recorded approximately 4 of 17 into the Abbey Road (1969) sessions. Carries the unique tag 'sinatra-praise' — no other song shares it. Take count: 39 — the 16 April first attempt ran to takes 1–13 (shelved); the 2 May re-make reached take 36 (the “best” basic, 7′48″ long), trimmed and reduced through takes 37, 38 and 39, the last being “best”; every overdub and the released 19 August stereo remix derive from take 39.¹

Recording

Something is the canonical Abbey Road example of a Beatles A-side built up across four distinct eight-track tape generations — each undertaken to free up tracks for the next layer of overdubs — and routed, in its final orchestral session, through a brand-new mixing desk in a different studio via closed-circuit television. The 15 August 1969 orchestral overdub was “the first time on a Beatles session [that] close-circuit television was employed to link two studios”: Studio One, where George Martin conducted, had to be patched through to Studio Two’s control room because Studio Two was the only room equipped with the new TG12345 solid-state mixing console.^1,2
Behind the new console is a second story: the song’s keyboard chair changed hands mid-project. The first proper recording on 16 April 1969 (Studio Three, takes 1–13) had George Martin himself on piano alongside Paul/Ringo/George — “John Lennon was present but did not contribute and there were no vocals at this stage.” That effort was shelved. The 2 May re-make in the same room used a different producer (Chris Thomas, with Martin on holiday) and a different pianist — Billy Preston. The take-36 basic was 7′48″ long; a long “repetitious and somewhat rambling, piano-led four-note instrumental fade-out” made up the back half, later reduced by three months of editing into the 3′03″ released master.^1,2
Source conflict per §1 — whether work “began” on 16 April or 2 May. Kehew & Ryan write “Work on the song began on 2 May” and make no mention of the 16 April Studio Three takes 1–13 with George Martin on piano; Lewisohn documents that 16 April session in detail under its own canonical session header. The two are not contradictory in fact — they differ only in editorial choice (K/R treat the 2 May re-make as the start of work because the 16 April basic was wiped) — but the page records both and follows Lewisohn as the tier-1 authority on session history.^1,2

Equipment

Studio	EMI Studios, Abbey Road — Studio Three (16 April + 2 May basic) and Studio One/Two (July reductions; 15 August orchestra; 19 August stereo remix); plus Olympic Sound Studios, Barnes (5 May bass/guitar SI)¹
Tape machine	3M M23 eight-track throughout — four tape generations: take 36 (2 May basic) → take 37 (11 July reduction) → takes 38 and 39 (16 July reduction, 39 “best”)^1,2
Console	EMI TG12345 transistor console (installed in Studio Two at the tail end of 1968, replacing the REDD.51 desk; the 15 August cross-studio overdub ran through it)²
Microphones	U47, U67, AKG C12, AKG D19/D20 (drums), STC 4038
Outboard / effects	EMI RS124, EMT 140, Fairchild 660, ADT (on the middle-eight solo), compression on every channel (TG)
Guitars	Gibson Les Paul Standard 'Lucy' (Harrison), Fender Rosewood Telecaster (Harrison), Epiphone Casino, Leslie’d guitar, electric piano / organ (Billy Preston)
Amplifiers	Fender Twin Reverb, Fender Bassman, Vox UL730, Leslie

Recording Timeline

25 February 1969 — Harrison solo eight-track demo — 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.” Songs taped: Old Brown Shoe (takes 1–2), All Things Must Pass (takes 1–2), Something (take 1) — “‘Something’ had the additional bonus of an extra four-line verse not included on the finished recording” (no drums on any of the three songs). The demo predates any band recording by seven weeks.¹
16 April 1969 — first proper recording, Studio Three (takes 1–13, George Martin on piano) — Studio Three, 7.00pm–2.45am (shared with Old Brown Shoe). P: George Martin. E: Jeff Jarratt. 2E: Richard Lush. “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’s prose says “1 to 14” for the re-make, but his own canonical session sheet records it as takes 1–36; the session sheet is authoritative per §1.)¹
2 May 1969 — re-make basic, Studio Three (takes 1–36; Billy Preston on piano) — Studio Three, 7.00pm–3.40am (with a two-hour break). P: Chris Thomas (Martin on holiday). E: Jeff Jarratt. 2E: Nick Webb. Lineup: bass (Paul), drums (Ringo), guitar (John), piano (Billy Preston), guitar via a Leslie speaker (George). Take 36 = “best”, 7′48″ long: “The difference was due entirely to a long, repetitious and somewhat rambling, piano-led four-note instrumental fade-out.”^1,2
5 May 1969 — Olympic Sound Studios SI — Studio One, Olympic Sound Studios, Barnes, 7.30pm–4.00am. P: George Martin. E: Glyn Johns. 2E: Steve Vaughan. Recording: Something (SI onto take 36) — “Paul improving on his bass track and George doing likewise with his ‘Leslie’d’ guitar track.”^1,2
11 July 1969 — vocal SI + reduction take 36 → take 37 — Studio Two, 2.30pm–midnight. P: George Martin. E: Phil McDonald. 2E: John Kurlander. “‘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).” George double-tracked the vocal in places, and Billy Preston added organ at some point; with the eight-track full, the take-36 master was reduced to take 37.^1,2
16 July 1969 — further vocal SI + reduction take 36 → takes 38 and 39 — Studio Three then Studio Two. P: George Martin. E: Phil McDonald. 2E: Alan Parsons. SI comprised “lead vocal (George), backing vocals (Paul) and handclapping (George, Paul and Ringo) being added to take 36 … Now, with the new overdubs, the reduction was done again, into takes 38 and 39, the latter being ‘best’.” Harrison reminded Phil McDonald that the latter model should be numbered 39. K/R add that Ringo also overdubbed toms and hi-hat onto the middle-eight on this day.^1,2
15 August 1969 — orchestral overdub via cross-studio CCTV — Studio One into Studio Two, 7.00pm–1.15am. P: George Martin. E: Geoff Emerick / Phil McDonald. 2E: Alan Parsons. Orchestra: 12 violins, 4 violas, 4 cellos, 1 string bass (the same booking covered Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight, The End and Here Comes The Sun). “For the first time on a Beatles session, close-circuit television was employed to link two studios”: Martin conducted in Studio One while Emerick, McDonald and Parsons monitored sound and vision in Studio Two’s control room, because Studio Two was the only room with the new TG console.^1,2
15 August 1969 — George re-records the middle-eight guitar solo on the Studio Two floor — After the orchestral overdub onto T3 and T4, Harrison “taped a new memorable lead guitar solo for the song’s middle eight (actually, barely different from the song’s previous best guitar track).” K/R rebut 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” — and note that “upon mixing, the new guitar solo was slightly thickened with ADT.”^1,2
19 August 1969 — released stereo master, Studio Two — Studio Two, 2.00pm–4.00am (shared 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) — the second set of stereo remixes (numbers 1–4 had been made on 11 July). “These new mixes of ‘Something’ finally discarded any remnant of the instrumental jam … gradually whittled away during interim reduction mixdowns.” The released master (LP + single) is one of these.¹

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.— Alan Brown¹

Studio Notes

Take 39 eight-track layout — Per the K/R take-39 diagram: Track 1 = George’s lead guitar combined with brief portions of the piano; Track 2 = drums combined with the percussion + handclaps overdub; Tracks 3 and 4 = empty (later used for the orchestral overdub); Track 7 = both vocal tracks combined into one. “This reduction … freed up two tracks onto which George Martin could record his orchestral arrangement.”²
TG12345 console arrival, late 1968 — The desk 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.” The faithful Altec 605A monitors were also replaced with Tannoy Gold speakers in Lockwood enclosures. The TG12345 had broader routing flexibility than the four-track REDD.51, which is what made the cross-studio multi-track patch-through technically possible.²
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 3M M23 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 + the 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 solo. That tape-generation count makes Something a peer of Come Together for tape-generation depth, although the J-37→M23 cross-machine transfer that defines Come Together does not apply here (Something stayed on the eight-track throughout).^1,2

Releases

1969 UK stereo LP Abbey Road (26 September 1969, Apple [Parlophone] PCS 7088, stereo only) — Released master = a stereo remix from Tuesday 19 August 1969, Studio Two: “Stereo mixing: ‘Something’ (remixes 1–10, from take 39).” P: George Martin. E: Geoff Emerick / Phil McDonald. 2E: Alan Parsons. These remixes “finally discarded any remnant of the instrumental jam … gradually whittled away during interim reduction mixdowns.” The earlier rough stereo remixes 1–4 from take 36 (11 July 1969) were superseded once take 39 became the canonical reduction. Abbey Road was issued stereo-only worldwide; 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 19 August 1969 stereo remix 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, “to spur George’s career in giving him his first A-side.” Chart peak: #3 UK / #1 US (the single sold over two million copies worldwide) — Harrison’s first A-side as a Beatle.¹
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 for George Martin’s orchestral scoring (unreleased) — An “unnumbered rough remix, from take 39” made in the Studio Three control room on Monday 4 August 1969 (shared booking with the parallel Here Comes The Sun rough remix from take 15). P: George Harrison. E: Phil McDonald. 2E: Alan Parsons. “An acetate of the ‘Something’ mix was given to George Martin so that he could arrange an orchestral score” — a working reference for the 15 August orchestral session, not a commercial release; recorded here for source completeness.¹
Anthology 3 (28 October 1996, Apple) — Lewisohn 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.” Anthology 3 is the natural release vehicle for that demo; per §1 less-specific-when-uncertain, the page flags the variant without claims beyond the primary-source attestation (the compilation’s 1996 liner notes post-date Lewisohn’s 1988 catalogue).¹
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. Post-Lewisohn; documented in the album’s 50th-anniversary liner notes rather than in the primary-source canon; flagged here for completeness.

Sources

Mark Lewisohn, The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions (New York: Harmony Books, 1988), 156, 171, 173, 175–76, 180, 184, 190, 193.
Kevin Ryan and Brian Kehew, Recording the Beatles: The Studio Equipment and Techniques Used to Create Their Classic Albums (Houston: Curvebender Publishing, 2006), 514, 517 (“A Closer Look: 2 May 1969”).

Frequently asked

Who wrote Something?

“Something” was written by George Harrison.

Who sings lead on Something?

The lead vocal on “Something” is by George Harrison.

When was Something recorded?

The first proper recording was 16 April 1969; the released basic was the 2 May 1969 re-make at EMI Studios, Abbey Road, with overdubs through July, the cross-studio orchestral overdub on 15 August and the released stereo remix on 19 August 1969.¹

How many takes did Something require?

The 2 May 1969 re-make reached take 36 (the “best” basic); reduction mixdowns produced takes 37, 38 and 39, the last being “best”, and every overdub and the released stereo remix derive from take 39.¹