Deconstructing Something - The Beatles (Isolated Tracks)

“Something” began life during the White Album sessions. According to George in a 1980 interview, "I had a break while Paul was doing some overdubbing so I went into an empty studio and began to write. That's really all there is to it, except the middle took some time to sort out."

It was rehearsed during the Get Back sessions. On January 28th, the band began working on the song, though George was still unsure about the lyrics. As seen in the Get Back documentary:    • "Something" Rehearsal Clip | The Beatles: ...  , John encouraged him saying, "Just say whatever comes into your head each time 'attracts me like a cauliflower' until you get the word."

On February 25th, 1969, George recorded a demo heard on Anthology:    • The Beatles - Something (Studio Demo / Audio)  .

Work resumed on April 16th at EMI. The Beatles gathered at 7 p.m. to record “Old Brown Shoe,” which occupied most of the session. As it stretched into early morning, Ringo had an early morning with filming for The Magic Christian, so before work on something began he had to leave. The others turned to “Something,” with Paul on drums, John on bass, George on guitar, and George Martin on piano. After 12 takes, none were usable, and they stopped at 2:45 a.m.

Two weeks later, on May 2nd, they recorded 36 takes of the song. Paul played bass, Ringo was back on drums, George handled rhythm guitar which was fed through a Leslie speaker, and John played piano. The final take was selected as best.

On May 5th, work continued at Olympic Sound Studio, focusing on Paul's bass and George's lead guitar. As heard in the video there is a strange bass part from the bridge onward that is barely audible in the final mix. I'm not entirely sure when it was recorded, maybe it was a attempt at a simpler bass part. Listening the the bleed captured on the rhythm guitar track at least the bridge portion may have been the original bass part before being re-recorded. Either way according to Paul in Anthology, “I think George thought my bass-playing was a little bit busy... maybe it was his turn to tell me I was too busy." Ultimately, George approved of the final part, saying, “You just have to listen to the bass line on 'Something' to know that, when he wanted to, Paul could give a lot.”

On July 11th, George recorded a lead vocal, and Billy Preston added an organ part.

Five days later, George re-recorded his vocal, with Paul adding harmonies. George also double-tracked parts of his vocal, and Ringo added some cymbal rolls throughout. During the bridge a hi-hat and clap pattern was recorded to accompany the toms already present.

Finally, on August 15th, George Martin added his orchestral arrangement. There is an anecdote from George Martin that George re-recorded his lead guitar part live with the orchestra. However I'm unsure if this happened as the isolated orchestra track doesn't have any guitar bleed. So if this did happen it wasn't live with the orchestra or on the same track as George Martin suggested.

At some point, John’s original piano part, audible in full in the video, was mostly wiped. Only his piano during the bridge including the descending notes, often attributed to Paul, remained in the final mix.

The final eight-track tape was, George's lead guitar part, Paul's Bass (the strange one), and John's piano (track 1), Ringo's drums and overdubbed percussion (track 2), the orchestra (tracks 3 and 4), Paul's bass (track 5), George's rhythm guitar played through a Leslie speaker (track 6), George's lead vocals and Paul's harmony vocals (track 7) and Billy Preston's organ (track 8).

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Basic Track Drums (0:00)
Overdubbed Cymbals and Percussion (2:57)
Bass (4:00)
Mysterious Bass Part (6:58)
George Lead Vocal Track 1 (8:13)
Paul Backing Vocal Track 1 (10:13)
George Lead Vocal Track 2 (10:46)
Paul Backing Vocal Track 2 (11:56)
Paul Singing Along to the Solo (12:32)
Billy's Organ (12:58)
John's Piano (15:53)
Rhythm Guitar (18:50)
Lead Guitar (21:46)
Orchestra (   • The Beatles - Something (Take 39 / Instrum...  )
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George Harrison - Lead Vocals, Lead Guitar (1957 Gibson Les Paul), Rhythm Guitar (1968 Fender Rosewood Telecaster?)
Paul McCartney - Bass (1963 Hofner Or 1964 Rickenbacker), Backing Vocals
John Lennon - Piano (1905 Steinway Vertegrand)
Ringo Starr - Drums (1968 Ludwig Hollywood Maple), Percussion
Billy Preston - Organ (Hammond RT-3)
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