"Come Together" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, written primarily by John Lennon and credited to Lennon–McCartney. The song is the opening track on their 1969 album Abbey Road and was also released as a single coupled with "Something". The song reached the top of the charts in the United States and peaked at No. 4 in the United Kingdom.
Origin and meaning
"Come Together" was inspired by a request from Timothy Leary to write a song for his campaign for governor of California against Ronald Reagan, which promptly ended when Leary was sent to prison for possession of marijuana. John Lennon recalled: Beatles historian Jonathan Gould has suggested that the song has only a single "pariah-like protagonist" and Lennon was "painting another sardonic self-portrait". In a December 1987 interview by Selina Scotton the television show West 57th Street, George Harrison stated that he wrote two lines of the song.
Recording
Lennon played rhythm guitar and electric piano and sang the lead vocals, Paul McCartney played bass, George Harrison played lead guitar and Ringo Starr played drums. It was produced by George Martin and recorded in late July 1969 at EMI Studios in London. In the intro and after each chorus, Lennon says "shoot me", which is accompanied by echoing handclaps and a distinctive drum part by Starr as well as McCartney's prominent bass riff. 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, but recording engineerGeoff 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 overdubs on this." In a 1970 interview with Ray Connolly of the Evening Standard, McCartney expressed his disappointment about not singing with Lennon. He told Connolly:
Release and legacy
"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 Billboard Hot 100 chart for 16 weeks, and reached No. 1. The single released on 31 October 1969 in the UK, reaching No. 4. The first take of the song, recorded on 21 July 1969, with slightly different lyrics, was released in 1996 on the outtake compilation Anthology 3. Rolling Stone ranked "Come Together" at No. 202 on their list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" and No. 9 on their list of the Beatles' 100 Greatest Songs.
Lawsuit
In late 1969, "Come Together" was the subject of a copyright infringement claim brought against Lennon by Big Seven Music, who was the publisher of Chuck Berry's "You Can't Catch Me". Morris Levy, the owner of Big Seven Music, contended that it sounded similar musically to Berry's original and shared some lyrics. Before recording, Lennon and McCartney deliberately slowed the song down and added a heavy bass riff in order to make the song more original. The case was settled out of court in 1973, with Levy's lawyers agreeing that Lennon would compensate by recording three Big Seven songs for his next album. A brief 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.
Personnel
Personnel per Ian MacDonald:
John Lennon – lead and backing vocals, rhythm guitar, electric piano, handclaps
Paul McCartney – backing vocal, bass guitar
George Harrison – lead and rhythm guitar
Ringo Starr – drums, maracas
The availability of separate tracks from the original Beatles multi-tracks 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. However, in an interview with Music Radar, Geoff Emerick stated that McCartney did not sing on the choruses: "Initially, Paul played the electric piano part, but John kind of looked over his shoulder and studied what he was playing. When it came time to record it, John played the electric piano instead of Paul. Paul might have been miffed, but I think he was more upset about not singing on the choruses—John did his own backing vocals."
A month after the original version by the Beatles was released, Ike & Tina Turner began performing their rendition of "Come Together," most notably at Madison Square Garden in November 1969. Due to the public response to their live performances, a studio version was released on Minit Records in December 1969. The single, also credited to the Ikettes, reached number 57 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 21 on the Billboard R&B Singles chart. The B-side features another soul-infused rock cover, "Honky Tonk Woman" by the Rolling Stones. "Come Together" is the lead single from Ike & Tina Turner's 1970 album Come Together. The song has been released on various compilations, including Greatest Hits, ', and '. A live version was recorded at L'Olympia in Paris on January 30, 1971, and released later that year on their live album Live in Paris.
John Lennon solo version
"Come Together" was the only Beatles song Lennon sang during his 1972 Madison Square Garden concerts. It was Lennon's only full-length concert performance after leaving the Beatles. He was backed by the band Elephant's Memory. This version of the song appears on the concert albumLive in New York City, recorded on 30 August 1972 and released in 1986.
American hard rock band Aerosmith performed one of the 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. Another recording of the song was released several 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.
Other versions
recorded an updated version of "Come Together" with Noel Gallagher and Paul Weller for the 1995 charity album Help, under the name the Smokin' Mojo Filters. Weller performed the lead vocal duties, with McCartney and Gallagher providing backing vocals, harmonies and bass and guitar. Their rendition reached No. 19 on the UK Singles Chart in December 1995.
