Maxwell's Silver Hammer

"Maxwell's Silver Hammer"
Song by the Beatles from the album Abbey Road
Released 26 September 1969
Recorded 9–11 July, 6 August 1969
Genre
Length 3:27
Label Apple Records
Writer Lennon–McCartney
Producer George Martin
Abbey Road track listing

"Maxwell's Silver Hammer" is a song by the Beatles, sung by Paul McCartney on their album Abbey Road. It was written by McCartney, though credited to Lennon–McCartney.[4] "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" is a pop song with dark, eccentric lyrics about a man named Maxwell who commits murders with a hammer.[1]

Background

The song was written in October 1968, intended for the album The Beatles, but missed off due to time constraints. It was rehearsed again three months later, in January 1969, at Twickenham film studios during the Get Back sessions but would not be recorded for another six months.[5]

Linda McCartney reported that Paul had become interested in avant-garde theatre and had immersed himself in the writings of Alfred Jarry. This influence is reflected in the story and tone of the song, and also explains how Paul came across Jarry's word "pataphysical", which occurs in the lyrics.[6]

Beatles guitarist George Harrison described the song in 1969 as "one of those instant whistle-along tunes which some people hate, and other people really like. It's a fun song, but it's kind of a drag because Maxwell keeps on destroying everyone like his girlfriend then the school teacher, and then, finally, the judge." Lennon described it as "more of Paul's granny music".[7] In 1994, McCartney said that the song merely epitomises the downfalls of life, being "my analogy for when something goes wrong out of the blue, as it so often does, as I was beginning to find out at that time in my life. I wanted something symbolic of that, so to me it was some fictitious character called Maxwell with a silver hammer. I don't know why it was silver, it just sounded better than Maxwell's hammer. It was needed for scanning. We still use that expression now when something unexpected happens."[8]

Recording

Recording began at Abbey Road Studios on 9 July 1969. John Lennon, who had been absent from recording sessions for the previous eight days after being injured in a car crash, arrived to work on the song, accompanied by his wife, Yoko Ono, who, more badly hurt in the accident than Lennon, lay on a large double-bed in the studio.[9][10] Sixteen takes of the rhythm track were made, followed by a series of guitar overdubs.[10] The unused fifth take can be heard on Anthology 3. Over the following two days the group overdubbed vocals, piano, Hammond organ, anvil, and guitar. The song was completed on 6 August, when McCartney recorded a solo on a Moog synthesizer.[10]

The recording subsequently drew comment from the band: Lennon said "I was ill after the accident when they did most of that track, and it really ground George and Ringo into the ground recording it", adding later "I hate it, 'cos all I remember is the track ... [Paul] did everything to make it into a single, and it never was and it never could have been."[11] Harrison characterised the song as "fruity" and commented "we spent a hell of a lot of time on it", and later "after a while, we did a good job on it".[12] McCartney recalled: "The only arguments were about things like me spending three days on Maxwell's Silver Hammer. I remember George saying, 'You've taken three days, it's only a song.' – 'Yeah, but I want to get it right. I've got some thoughts on this one.' It was early-days Moog work and it did take a bit of time".[13]

Personnel

Personnel according to Ian MacDonald,[14] Andy Babiuk[15] and Mark Lewisohn[5]

*For the studio version of the song, the anvil was played by Starr;[14][15][5] in the Beatles film Let It Be, however, Evans is seen hitting the anvil as the Beatles record the track.

Reception

In his 1969 review of Abbey Road, John Mendelsohn of Rolling Stone magazine observed that in "Maxwell's Silver Hammer", McCartney "celebrates the joys of being able to bash in the heads of anyone threatening to bring you down. [He] puts it across perfectly with the coyest imaginable choir-boy innocence".[16] Robert Christgau referred to the song as "a McCartney crotchet".[17]

Notable cover versions

In the 1978 film Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, the song is performed by comedian Steve Martin, who portrays the character Maxwell Edison. Frankie Laine also covered the song as part of the musical documentary All This and World War II, which featured stock and newsreel footage of the Second World War set to performances of music by The Beatles.

Child star Jack Wild recorded a version of this song for his first studio album, The Jack Wild Album. A perky version was recorded in 1972 by Canadian band, The Bells. The English indie rock band Let's Wrestle covered the song for the 2009 Mojo compilation album Abbey Road Now!, an album in which numerous artists covered the whole of the Abbey Road album.

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Mulligan 2010, p. 127.
  2. ↑ Unterberger, Richie. "Maxwell's Silver Hammer - The Beatles". AllMusic. Retrieved 15 January 2014.
  3. ↑ Gould, Jonathan (2008). Can't Buy Me Love: The Beatles, Britain, and America. Random House. p. 578. ISBN 0-307-35338-9. ... the song is a preternaturally catchy music-hall number ...
  4. ↑ Sheff 2000, p. 202.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Lewisohn 1988, p. 179.
  6. ↑ McCartney, Linda. Linda McCartney's Sixties: Portrait of an Era. Bullfinch Press. Page 153. 1992
  7. ↑ Emerick & Massey 2006, p. 281.
  8. ↑ Miles 1997, p. 554.
  9. ↑ Miles and Badman 2003.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Lewisohn 1988.
  11. ↑ Playboy interviews 1981, p. 171.
  12. ↑ Crawdaddy Magazine 1977.
  13. ↑ The Beatles Bible 2009.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 MacDonald 2005, p. 357.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Babiuk 2002, p. 256.
  16. ↑ Rolling Stone 1969.
  17. ↑ Christgau 1974.

References

  • Babiuk, Andy (2002). Beatles' Gear: All The Fab Four's Instruments, from Stage to Studio (Second Revised ed.). London: BackBeat Books (Outline Press). ISBN 0-87930-731-5.
  • Christgau, Robert (1974). "Rock Theater". The Village Voice (New York). Retrieved 3 March 2013.
  • Emerick, Geoff; Massey, Howard (2006). Here, There and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of The Beatles. New York: Gotham. ISBN 978-1-59240-179-6.
  • Patton Oswalt (2004). Feelin' Kinda Patton (CD). United Musicians.
  • "George Harrison Interview". Crawdaddy Magazine. February 1977. Retrieved 1 July 2009.
  • Mendelsohn, John (15 November 1969). "The Beatles Abbey Road". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 15 September 2011.
  • "Interview with Ringo Starr". Rolling Stone. January 2008.
  • Lewisohn, Mark (1988). The Beatles Recording Sessions. New York: Harmony Books. ISBN 0-517-57066-1.
  • MacDonald, Ian (2005). Revolution in the Head: The Beatles' Records and the Sixties (Second Revised ed.). London: Pimlico (Rand). ISBN 1-84413-828-3.
  • Mulligan, Kate Siobhan (1 July 2010). The Beatles: A Musical Biography. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 0-313-37686-7.
  • "Maxwell's Silver Hammer". The Beatles Bible. 2009. Retrieved 5 November 2009.
  • Miles, Barry (1997). Paul McCartney: Many Years from Now. Secker and Warburg. ISBN 978-0-7493-8658-0.
  • Miles, Barry; Badman, Keith. The Beatles Diary: The Beatles Years. Omnibus Press; 2001. ISBN 978-0-7119-8308-3.
  • Newton, Michael. The Encyclopedia of Serial Killers. ISBN 0-8160-3979-8.
  • "The Playboy Interviews With John Lennon and Yoko Ono". Playboy (Putnam Pub Group). 1981. ISBN 978-0-87223-705-6.
  • Sheff, David (2000). All We Are Saying. New York: St. Martin's Griffin. ISBN 0-312-25464-4.
  • Sulpy, Doug; Schweighardt, Ray (1999). Get Back: The Unauthorized Chronicle of The Beatles' Let it Be Disaster. Macmillan. ISBN 0-312-19981-3.

External links

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