Recording, mixing: Come And Get It, Sun King, Mean Mr Mustard

Studio Two, EMI Studios, Abbey Road
Producer: George Martin
Engineers: Geoff Emerick, Phil McDonald

This day began with an hour-long session in which Paul McCartney recorded a demo of his song ‘Come And Get It’ for the group The Iveys, who later became Badfinger.

McCartney recorded the basic track on piano in a single take, as well as live vocals. John Lennon was present in the studio control room, and the balance engineer was Phil McDonald.

The piano and vocals were recorded to tracks one and two of the eight-track tape. McCartney then double tracked his vocals and played maracas on track three.

Drums were added next, to track four, and finally came a bass guitar part on track five.

The song was given a single stereo mix, all within the hour before George Harrison and Ringo Starr arrived at Abbey Road.

A copy of the mix was also made for McCartney to give to The Iveys. He produced their recording at EMI Studios on 2 August 1969.

The demo of ‘Come And Get It’ was included on Anthology 3 in 1996, although this was a fake stereo mix – with the treble slashed in one channel and the bass in another – prepared by Geoff Emerick in the 1980s for the unreleased Sessions album rather than the 1969 mix.

The latter, meanwhile, was released in 2019 on the super deluxe 50th anniversary reissue of Abbey Road.

The rest of the day, from 3.30-10.30pm, was spent working on ‘Sun King’/‘Mean Mr Mustard’, two John Lennon songs recorded as one for the Abbey Road medley. During this and the following day’s session, the two songs were known under the working title ‘Here Comes The Sun-King’.

Thirty-five takes were recorded, with The Beatles all playing their conventional instruments. McCartney’s bass guitar was recorded on track one of the eight-track tape; Starr’s drums were on track two; Lennon’s guitar was on three; Harrison’s guitar was on four; and Lennon’s guide vocal was on six. The final take, 35, was considered the best.

Take seven was a cover version of ‘Ain’t She Sweet’, led by Lennon, and later released on Anthology 3. The Beatles followed it with versions of Gene Vincent’s ‘Who Slapped John?’, ‘Up A Lazy River’, and ‘Be-Bop-A-Lula’. As with ‘Come And Get It’, ‘Ain’t She Sweet’ was included on Anthology 3.