Come Together

"Come Together"
Single by The Beatles
from the album Abbey Road
A-side	"Something"
Released	6 October 1969 (US) 31 October 1969 (UK)
Format	7"
Recorded	21–30 July 1969, EMI Studios, London
Genre	Blues rock
Length	4:18
Label	Apple
Writer(s)	Lennon–McCartney
Producer(s)	George Martin
The Beatles singles chronology
"The Ballad of John and Yoko" (1969) "Something"/"Come Together" (1969) "Let It Be" (1970)
Music sample "Come Together"

"Come Together" is a song by the Beatles written by John Lennon^[1] but credited to Lennon–McCartney. The song is the opening track on the album Abbey Road and was released as a double A-sided single with "Something", their 21st single in the United Kingdom and 26th in the United States. The song reached the top of the charts in the US^[2] and peaked at number four in the UK.^[3]

Origin and meaning

The song's history began when Lennon was inspired by Timothy Leary's campaign for governor of California against Ronald Reagan, which promptly ended when Leary was sent to prison for possession of marijuana:^[4]

The thing was created in the studio. It's gobbledygook; Come Together was an expression that Leary had come up with for his attempt at being president or whatever he wanted to be, and he asked me to write a campaign song. I tried and tried, but I couldn't come up with one. But I came up with this, Come Together, which would've been no good to him - you couldn't have a campaign song like that, right?^[5]

It has been speculated that each verse refers cryptically to one of the Beatles.^[6][7] It has also been suggested that the song has only a single "pariah-like protagonist" and Lennon was "painting another sardonic self-portrait".^[8]

Recording

Lennon played rhythm guitar and sang the vocal, McCartney played bass, Harrison played lead guitar, and Starr played drums. It was produced by George Martin and recorded at the end of July 1969 at Abbey Road Studios.^[9] In the intro, Lennon says: "shoot me", which is accompanied by his handclaps and McCartney's heavy bass riff.^[9] The famous Beatles' "walrus" from "I Am the Walrus" and "Glass Onion" returns in the line "he got walrus gumboot", followed by "he got Ono sideboard". Bluesman Muddy Waters is also mentioned in the song.

Music critic Ian MacDonald reports that McCartney sang a backing vocal,^[10] but recording engineer Geoff Emerick said that Lennon did all the vocals himself, and when a frustrated McCartney asked Lennon, "What do you want me to do on this track, John?", Lennon replied, "Don't worry, I'll do the [vocal] overdubs on this."^[11]

Talking about the sessions in a 1970 interview, McCartney said he was disappointed about not singing live with Lennon; instead, he overdubbed his vocals later in the session:

Even on Abbey Road we don't do harmonies like we used to. I think it's sad. On "Come Together" I would have liked to sing harmony with John, and I think he would have liked me to, but I was too embarrassed to ask him, and I don't work to the best of my abilities in that situation.

Release and acclaim

"Come Together" was released as a double A-side with "Something" and as the opening track of Abbey Road. The single was released on 6 October 1969 in the US, was on the charts for 18 weeks, and reached number 1. The single had less success when it was released on 31 October 1969 in the UK, only reaching number 4, possibly due to the BBC banning the song because they considered the lyric "He shoot Coca-Cola" to be product placement.

Rolling Stone ranked "Come Together" at #202 on their list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time"^[12] and #9 on their list of the Beatles' 100 Greatest Songs.^[13][14]

Along with "Something", "Come Together" became The Beatles' 18th number one hit on the US charts, surpassing Elvis Presley's record of seventeen.

On the compilation album Love, "Come Together" is the 19th track. Instrumentals and some backing vocals from "Dear Prudence" fade in followed by the "Can you take me back" section of "Cry Baby Cry" as a transition.

Song analysis

"Come Together" is a blues rock song,^[15] which consists of a repeating verse/refrain structure, broken up by a guitar solo acting as a bridge. For the first eight bars, the tonic note D is repeated, eventually moving to the V chord and then to the IV chord. It then moves to the VI minor chord. The refrain in actuality is three bars long, because the melody keeps going after the last A5 chord and comes to rest on the D5 chord after that. F# is introduced in the melody with a B minor triad. The tonic is held for four bars between each verse and is the same as the contents of the introduction.

Within the verse there are four one-bar structures; each one a non-sequitur. The lyrics end each time on the abrupt beat four of each measure, giving the verse an AAAA phrasing structure. The phrasing structure in the second half of the verse is two bars of BB. The C phrasing structure of the refrain has three measures becoming one long phrase and ending on the word "me" which ties everything together. There is an eleven-bar verse/refrain from a ten bar form. The melody of the verse stays within the range of a perfect fourth. Using mostly three notes (D, F, C) the tonic, flat three and flat seven, it moves away later only for contrast when it hits the II (E) and stays on that note for two bars. The refrain stands out as the highest notes in the piece (A).

Lawsuit

In 1973, "Come Together" was the subject of a lawsuit brought against Lennon by Big Seven Music Corp. (owned by Morris Levy) who was the publisher of Chuck Berry's "You Can't Catch Me". Levy contended that it sounded similar musically to Berry's original and shared some lyrics (Lennon sang "Here come ol' flattop, he come groovin' up slowly" and Berry's had sung "Here come a flattop, he was movin' up with me"). Before recording, Lennon and McCartney deliberately slowed the song down and added a heavy bass riff in order to make the song more original.^[16] After settling out of court, Lennon promised to record three other songs owned by Levy.^[17] A primitive version of "Ya Ya" with Lennon and his son Julian was released on the album Walls and Bridges in 1974. "You Can't Catch Me" and another version of "Ya Ya" were released on Lennon's 1975 album Rock 'n' Roll, but the third, "Angel Baby", remained unreleased until after Lennon's death. Levy again sued Lennon for breach of contract, and was eventually awarded $6,795. Lennon countersued after Levy released an album of Lennon material using tapes that were in his possession and was eventually awarded $84,912.96. The album was called Roots.^[18]

Personnel

• John Lennon – lead and backing vocals, handclaps, rhythm guitar, electric piano
• Paul McCartney – backing vocal, bass guitar
• George Harrison – lead guitar
• Ringo Starr – drums, maracas

personnel per Ian MacDonald^[19]

According to Geoff Emerick, McCartney composed the electric piano part, but Lennon looked over his shoulder to learn it so he could perform it himself on the recording.^[11] In a December 1984 interview in Playboy, McCartney said he played the electric piano part on the recording.

The availability of separate tracks from the original Beatles multitracks (due to release of Rock Band) have made fresh investigation of the Beatles personnel data possible. One of the discoveries is that on the verses of "Come Together", the backing vocals are sung by McCartney. The idea that McCartney did not sing at all on the track may have originated from a quote from Geoff Emerick in Music Radar, where he correctly stated that McCartney did not sing on the choruses: "Paul might have been miffed, but I think he was more upset about not singing on the choruses".

Covers

"Come Together"
Single by Aerosmith
from the album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
B-side	"Kings and Queens"
Released	July 1978
Format	7" vinyl
Recorded	1978
Genre	Hard rock, blues rock
Length	3:46
Label	Columbia
Producer(s)	Jack Douglas
Aerosmith singles chronology
"Get It Up" (1978) "Come Together" (1978) "Chip Away the Stone" (1978)

John Lennon solo version

"Come Together" was the only Beatles' song Lennon sang during his 1972 Madison Square Garden concert. It was Lennon's last full-length concert performance, and his only one after leaving the Beatles. He was backed by the band Elephant's Memory.^[20] This version of the song appears on the concert album Live in New York City.

Aerosmith version

American hard rock band Aerosmith performed one of the first and most successful cover versions of "Come Together". It was recorded in 1978 and appeared in the movie and on the soundtrack to the film Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, in which the band also appeared. The single was an immediate success, reaching number 23 on the Billboard Hot 100, following on the heels of a string of Top 40 hits for the band in the mid-1970s. However it would be the last Top 40 hit for the band for nearly a decade.

A rare live demo of the song was also released months later on Aerosmith's live album Live! Bootleg. The song also featured on Aerosmith's Greatest Hits, the band's first singles compilation released in 1980. The song has also surfaced on a number of Aerosmith compilations and live albums since then, as well as on the soundtrack for the film Armageddon. Aerosmith still occasionally perform "Come Together" in concert.

Since 2006, New Zealand telecommunications company Telecom used a cover of this song for its "Come Together" campaign.

Arctic Monkeys version

Arctic Monkeys performed a cover of the song during the 2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony. A live recording (albeit from a rehearsal), from the London Olympic Stadium on 23 July 2012, was featured on the soundtrack album of the ceremony, Isles of Wonder. It charted at number 21 in the UK.

The Smokin' Mojo Filters

Paul McCartney was also part of a different version of the song with Noel Gallagher and Paul Weller on an updated version of the classic for the 1995 HELP charity record, under the name the Smokin' Mojo Filters. Weller performed the lead vocal duties, with McCartney & Gallagher providing backing vocals, harmonies and bass and guitar. This version made it to number 19 on the British charts in December 1995. In 2005 Weller recorded a new version of the song as part of a double A-sided single.

Other covers

The song has since become one of the most covered songs of all time; covers are listed as follows:

• Syl Johnson covered the song on his 1970 album, Is it because I'm Black.
• The Supremes covered the song on their 1970 album, New Ways But Love Stays.
• Diana Ross covered the song on her 1970 album Everything Is Everything.
• Chairmen of the Board covered the song on one of their first LPs (1970).
• Argentine rock band Catupecu Machu covered the song on their 1997 debut album, Dale!.
• Herbie Mann performed a 10-minute cover on his 1970 album Muscle Shoals Nitty Gritty
• Ike and Tina Turner covered the song on their album called Come Together, which peaked at #57 on the U.S. Hot 100 and at #21 on the R&B charts in 1970. Tina Turner later covered it for the 1976 musical documentary All This and World War II.
• The Brothers Johnson released a cover of the song on their 1976 album Look Out for #1.
• Kate Bush performed this song with the KT Bush Band in 1977.
• Eurythmics covered the song in 1987, but it was not released until 2005 as a bonus track on the digitally remastered version of Savage.
• Michael Hedges released his version on the 1987 album Live on the Double Planet.
• Michael Jackson, who owned the rights to the song, also covered "Come Together" for the concert portion of the film Michael Jackson: Moonwalker (1988). The same recording also appears on Jackson's studio album, HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I (in a shorter edit), and was performed live at certain concerts during Jackson's HIStory World Tour in a medley with his song, "D.S.". The longer version appears on Jackson's 1992 single "Remember the Time." The music video was released on the box set Michael Jackson's Vision.
• Boris Grebenshchikov & Joanna Stingray released their version and its video in the 1990s.
• Soundgarden covered the song on the "Hands All Over" (1990) single, giving it a very grunge metal sound. The band's cover also appeared on its Loudest Love EP.
• Robin Williams and Bobby McFerrin recorded in 1997 a unique version for the Beatles' tribute album In My Life in which McFerrin performs the characteristic bass and guitar intro with his voice, and Williams sings.
• Shalamar released the song as a single from their 1990 album Wake Up.
• Axl Rose and Bruce Springsteen played "Come Together" before Lennon's induction into the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame in 1994.
• Gotthard recorded "Come Together" for their 1994 album Dial Hard.
• Marcus Miller included an instrumental version on his album Tales (1994).^[21]
• Pride and Glory covered this song on their album Pride and Glory (1994).
• Polish rock band IRA covered this song in 1994.
• Delbert McClinton released the song as a single from the 1995 Beatles tribute album Come Together: America Salutes The Beatles.
• American prog metal band Psyco Drama covered the song on their 1997 album "Bent".
• Spiralmouth covered the song on their 1999 self-titled album, their arrangement also incorporating elements of "I Want You (She's So Heavy)".
• Tom Jones released a live version of "Come Together" on his album 1999 Reload.
• Elton John covered the song as a tribute to Lennon during his One Night Only: The Greatest Hits Live at Madison Square Garden 2000 concert.
• Avishai Cohen covered the song for his album Lyla in 2003.
• the Plague recorded the song in the late 1970s. It remained unreleased until their compilation album The X Tapes was released in 2005.
• Saxophonist Warren Hill, who is very much known to perform popular song covers, performed "Come Together" from his release PopJazz in 2005.^[22][23]
• Joe Cocker covers the song on the 2007 soundtrack to the film Across the Universe.
• The Tinku Band covered the song on the 2007 album "Full Circle"
• In 2009, the song was included in a posthumous release by Jeff Healey, Songs from the Road.
• Also in 2009 Olly Murs did a cover of the song on the sixth series of The X Factor.
• Boh Runga also recorded a cover with Che Fu (included in the Bonus edition of her 2009 album Right Here)
• RMM's Tropical Tribute to the Beatles, features the cast of the album performing the song. This version peaked at #38 on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart.^[24]
• Marike Jager did an acoustic cover of the song for the Dutch DWDD Recordings series in 2011.
• Godsmack recorded it for their 2012 album Live and Inspired.
• The Meters included an unreleased, previously recorded cover of "Come Together" on their 2001 album Kickback.
• Umphrey's McGee perform it as a mash-up with Nine Inch Nails' "Closer".
• The Gaslight Anthem performed an acoustic cover of the song at the FOX Studios on The FOX 6 O'Clock Rock Report in 2009.
• The a cappella group The Bobs recorded it on their Sing The Songs Of... album.
• American singers Jennifer Lopez and Mary J. Blige performed the song together as a duet during the 2013 Sound of Change concert.^[25]
• British bands Mumford & Sons, Bear's Den, and The Vaccines performed the song together as an encore performance at each stop of the 2013 Gentlemen of the Road tour.^[26]
• Eric Church released a cover of "Come Together" as the bonus track of his album The Outsiders exclusively on the vinyl version in 2014.
• Pomplamoose covered the song on their 2015 album, Besides
• Canadian singer Jane Lewis released a cover of "Come Together" on her album Stay With Me in 2014. The song won the 2015 Independent Music Award - Best Cover.^[27]

See also

• Come Together: A Night for John Lennon's Words and Music

Notes

References

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to: Abbey Road

• The 15 Best Come Together Covers
• Lyrics and video of Come Together
• Alan W. Pollack's Notes on "Come Together"
• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics

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