The Beatles Songs: I Want You (She's So Heavy)

I Want You (She's So Heavy)

Working title: I Want You
Written by: John Lennon
(credited to Lennon-McCartney)
Recorded: February 22, 1969 (Trident Studios, London, England), April 18 and 20, August 8 and 11, 1969 (Studio 2, Abbey Road Studios, London, England)
Mixed: April 29, July 18, 1969
Length: 7:44
Takes: 35

Musicians:

John Lennon: lead vocals, lead and rhythm guitars (1965 Epiphone E230TD(V) Casino), synthesizer (1968 Moog IIIp)
Paul McCartney: harmony vocals, bass guitar (1964 Rickenbacker 400IS)
George Harrison: harmony vocals, lead and rhythm guitars (1966 Gibson Les Paul Standard SG)
Ringo Starr: drums (1968 Ludwig Hollywood Maple), congas
Billy Preston: organ (1962 Hammond B-3)

Available on: (CDs in bold)
Abbey Road (UK: Apple PCS 7088; US: Apple SO 383; Parlophone CDP 7 46446 2)

History:

• Written as a vehicle for John's obsession over Yoko Ono, and supposedly inspired by Mel Torme's 1962 single "Comin' Home Baby," "I Want You" began life as a jam during the ill-fated "Get Back/Let It Be" sessions, with John demonstrating the song in the LIB film and soloing over his own lead vocal. When that project was abandoned, the Beatles returned to the song only a month later, as one of the first to be recorded for Abbey Road.
• The basic track for "I Want You" was laid down on February 20, 1969 at Trident Studios, then edited down the next day to just over eight minutes in length, assembling the master from three of the 35 takes -- Take 9 can be heard through 2:24; Take 20 through 4:37; and Take 32 thereafter. Back at Abbey Road on April 18, John and George overdubbed as many guitars onto the finale as they possibly could; John then doubled his lead vocal on guitar (with standalone solo at 2:24), and George added his lead lines to the intro and as fills in the verses. Two days later, Billy Preston added organ and Ringo added congas. On August 8, Lennon added the "white noise" from the Moog, and Ringo contributed some drum fills to the finale. On August 11, John, Paul, and George recorded vocals, with double-tracked harmony to overlap the word "heavy" on the chorus; this also resulted in the parenthetical "She's So Heavy" being added to the title.
• At last, during the final mixdown on August 20, John heard the playback and suddenly ordered the engineers to stop tape at 7:44. "Cut it right there," he ordered, and so they did, resulting in the track's breathtaking sudden ending. (The actual master stops just twenty seconds later.)

Trivia:

• Though the song's simple and repetitive lyrics -- only 14 separate words are used in almost eight minutes! -- struck non-blues aficionados as ridiculous, John stood by them as a clue to the new, direct emotional direction he was beginning to take in his music. (This is one of the few Beatles tracks on which John screams, another signpost pointing towards his eventual Plastic Ono Band album.)
• Notably, this was also the last track John would record with the band; his decision to cut the mix cold on August 20 was the last time he set foot in a recording studio as a Beatle.
• John was quite taken with this song, performing snippets of it during the Amsterdam bed-in and also during an interview with Israeli Radio's Akiva Noff.
• Curiously, one of the original 35 takes of "I Want You" features Paul on lead vocal!

Covered by: John Legend, Sarah Vaughan, Eddie Hazel, Groove Collective, George Lynch, The Eric Gales Band, Jack Vees, Thrice, Bee Gees, Peter Frampton, Frankie Howerd, Dianne Steinberg, Stargard, George Benson, Coroner, The Assembled Multitude, Alvin Lee, Type O Negative, Booker T. and the MGs, Noir Désir, Steel Train, Joe Anderson, Dana Fuchs, T.V. Carpio, Spore