1 week Ago By Scarlett O'Toole, Maria Leticia Gomes
Towards the end of The Beatles' journey, it was clear that John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr were not on the same page . However, they all shared a mutual dislike for Paul McCartney's song Maxwell's Silver Hammer. This song, written by Paul for their final 1969 album Abbey Road, was meant to be a quirky, music hall-style piece.
But it ended up symbolizing the rift among the band members . It was an upbeat ballad that, according to everyone except Paul himself, nearly shattered the band's collective spirit. Their worst recording session ever was Maxwell's Silver Hammer, Ringo later confessed.
"It was the worst track we ever had to record. It went on for f------ weeks. I thought it was mad," he told Rolling Stone magazine.
By this time, the atmosphere within the band was strained. When they entered Abbey Road Studios to record the Abbey Road album, John was increasingly detached, George had strong material like Here Comes the Sun and Something and Ringo was reportedly exhausted. In the middle of this turmoil, Paul brought back the dreaded track, which he had written during the White Album sessions.
Maxwell's Silver Hammer has dark lyrics about a student who kills people with a hammer, set to a cheerful, happy tune. While Paul found it thrilling, the rest of the band didn't share his enthusiasm. "I hated it," John Lennon confessed to Playboy in 1980.
"All I remember is the track – he made us do it a hundred million times." He added, "He did everything to make it into a single and it never was and it never could've been. But [Paul] put guitar licks on it, and he had somebody hitting iron pieces, and we spent more money on that song than any of them in the whole album.
" Paul's obsession with perfecting the track consumed countless hours in the studio, a time investment that Lennon and Harrison felt could have been better allocated to other material. Harrison also voiced his opinion about the grueling sessions, "Sometimes Paul would make us do these really fruity songs. I mean, my God, Maxwell's Silver Hammer was so fruity.
" "After a while we did a good job on it, but when Paul got an idea or an arrangement in his head...
" he added. Even Paul later admitted the strain Maxwell's Silver Hammer caused during an interview with Barry Miles in Many Years From Now, "They got annoyed because Maxwell's Silver Hammer took three days to record." He still defended it, though, "It was the best radio play I had ever heard in my life, and the best production.
That was one of the big things of the period for me". McCartney also proudly claimed that he was "the only person who ever put the name of pataphysics into the record charts," adding, "It was great. I love those surreal little touches.
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