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[Moogmodule]

John recorded his own version in January 1969...

Classic. Do you think that was done when Paul had nipped out to the loo? Can't hear any bass.

[Hello Goodbye]

Classic. Do you think that was done when Paul had nipped out to the loo? Can't hear any bass.

I reckon so, Moog.  John doesn't look all too happy here...

The Beatles - Maxwell's Silver hammer (from let it be)

[Moogmodule]

I reckon so, Moog.  John doesn't look all too happy here...

No. I'm not sure he was giving it his all during the whistling break.

Mal looks to be enjoying himself though.

[Dcazz]

Maxwell isn't my favorite song but... I like to be entertained more than R&R philosophized and a song like this is if nothing else interesting. At the chorus I really like when the acoustic guitar (Paul-George?) comes in and adds incredible texture. Georges electric guitar is fantastic and add his bass and backup singing and for someone who doesn't like the song he sure adds so much to it! In the LIB rehearsal film from the earlier post his foot is sure keeping time to it as well. Moog is well done as and added instrument not dominating but giving the song something rarely heard up to this point in music. If John chose to be sick so be it, it came out good anyway!
I think Paul gets it as I here a little bit of laughter on one of the verses.

I had this on this winter and my wife Nancy was getting ready in the other room and she came in suddenly and a little surprised /agitated said" this songs about a guy that goes around killing people with a hammer!!!"
Yup!

[KelMar]

Come Inside Love would have worked as quite a dirty double entendre.

...the song was subsequently banned in South Africa under claims of prostitutes using the hook line as an invitation call. “It could have been worse,” said The Beatles road manager Tony Bramwell, “Paul’s original idea was to call it ‘Come Inside Love.’” 

10 Stories Behind Beatles Songs

[Moogmodule]

I had this on this winter and my wife Nancy was getting ready in the other room and she came in suddenly and a little surprised /agitated said" this songs about a guy that goes around killing people with a hammer!!!"
Yup!

I hope you just grinned and kept sharpening a knife or something.

[Hello Goodbye]

I hope you just grinned and kept sharpening a knife or something.

 

[Hello Goodbye]

[Normandie]

I had this on this winter and my wife Nancy was getting ready in the other room and she came in suddenly and a little surprised /agitated said" this songs about a guy that goes around killing people with a hammer!!!"

That was my exact same reaction the first time I heard the song! Took a minute for the lyrics to sink in.

[Mr Mustard]

I like "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" and always have done. Along with "Octopus's Garden" it provides a nice catchy counterbalance to the intensity of side one from Abbey Road.... and reminds us of The Beatles' wonderful eclecticism. Sure it would probably be more at home on the patchwork quilt we know and love as The White Album. But this was 1969, and in the teeth of prog rock and the heavy, intricate era of virtuoso musicianship and po-faced, labyrinthine, multi-layered, over-extended self indulgence it is a refreshing nod towards their eternal penchant for fun and mischief and the simple accessibility which always underpinned their work. A hammer & anvil was a great little touch, in just the same way that the comb & paper sprinkled simple genius onto Lovely Rita, or clanking anchor chains added to the texture of Yellow Submarine.

I'm not convinced John was absent throughout the recording. Surely he and George ARE Rose and Valerie, screaming from the gallery ("Maxwell must go free!")??  Few but Paul could set the actions of a psychopathic murderer to such a bouncy melody. I could personally sit through this far more easily than "Come Together" or the dreadful (in my opinion) "Oh! Darling", or indeed the at times seemingly interminable "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" which I don't mind but really have to be in the right mood for. Perhaps this comes down to the fact I am NOT a musician. Like most people who like The Beatles, I cannot play a musical instrument but I CAN sing along with them, and like millions of others I enjoy doing so. Maxwell is so infectiously easy to warble along with! This is why I never cared for those boring groups who were clever musicians but crap vocalists (e.g. The Yardbirds).

So there! 

[oldbrownshoe]

I agree that the Led Zeppelin/lead guitarists angle is tiresome but The Yardbirds' run of As and Bs up to '68 is as enjoyable as any.   

[zipp]

I like "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" and always have done. Along with "Octopus's Garden" it provides a nice catchy counterbalance to the intensity of side one from Abbey Road.... and reminds us of The Beatles' wonderful eclecticism. Sure it would probably be more at home on the patchwork quilt we know and love as The White Album. But this was 1969, and in the teeth of prog rock and the heavy, intricate era of virtuoso musicianship and po-faced, labyrinthine, multi-layered, over-extended self indulgence it is a refreshing nod towards their eternal penchant for fun and mischief and the simple accessibility which always underpinned their work. A hammer & anvil was a great little touch, in just the same way that the comb & paper sprinkled simple genius onto Lovely Rita, or clanking anchor chains added to the texture of Yellow Submarine.

I'm not convinced John was absent throughout the recording. Surely he and George ARE Rose and Valerie, screaming from the gallery ("Maxwell must go free!")??  Few but Paul could set the actions of a psychopathic murderer to such a bouncy melody. I could personally sit through this far more easily than "Come Together" or the dreadful (in my opinion) "Oh! Darling", or indeed the at times seemingly interminable "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" which I don't mind but really have to be in the right mood for. Perhaps this comes down to the fact I am NOT a musician. Like most people who like The Beatles, I cannot play a musical instrument but I CAN sing along with them, and like millions of others I enjoy doing so. Maxwell is so infectiously easy to warble along with!

I agree with a lot of what you say and it's nice to see someone defending this song for a change.

All the songs on Abbey Road are treated with care and imagination which is partly why it's a classic album.
Some of the songs may be weak (Mean Mister Mustard for example) but it doesn't seem to matter.

[Moogmodule]

I'm not convinced John was absent throughout the recording. Surely he and George ARE Rose and Valerie, screaming from the gallery ("Maxwell must go free!")??

I think you're right. Definitely sounds like John in the backing.

[nimrod]

I think you're right. Definitely sounds like John in the backing.

I think he was maybe absent for a couple of days during the recording due to the car crash, but he made it eventually

thats what I read anyway

[tkitna]

I like "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" and always have done. Along with "Octopus's Garden" it provides a nice catchy counterbalance to the intensity of side one from Abbey Road.... and reminds us of The Beatles' wonderful eclecticism. Sure it would probably be more at home on the patchwork quilt we know and love as The White Album. But this was 1969, and in the teeth of prog rock and the heavy, intricate era of virtuoso musicianship and po-faced, labyrinthine, multi-layered, over-extended self indulgence it is a refreshing nod towards their eternal penchant for fun and mischief and the simple accessibility which always underpinned their work. A hammer & anvil was a great little touch, in just the same way that the comb & paper sprinkled simple genius onto Lovely Rita, or clanking anchor chains added to the texture of Yellow Submarine.

I'm not convinced John was absent throughout the recording. Surely he and George ARE Rose and Valerie, screaming from the gallery ("Maxwell must go free!")??  Few but Paul could set the actions of a psychopathic murderer to such a bouncy melody. I could personally sit through this far more easily than "Come Together" or the dreadful (in my opinion) "Oh! Darling", or indeed the at times seemingly interminable "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" which I don't mind but really have to be in the right mood for. Perhaps this comes down to the fact I am NOT a musician. Like most people who like The Beatles, I cannot play a musical instrument but I CAN sing along with them, and like millions of others I enjoy doing so. Maxwell is so infectiously easy to warble along with! This is why I never cared for those boring groups who were clever musicians but crap vocalists (e.g. The Yardbirds).

So there! 

Holy crap, a Mr. Mustard sighting. Great to hear from you.

I hate MSH, but admit that I don't care for the other three songs you listed either, and understand your side completely.

[nimrod]

This is the wonderful thing about music though isnt it, one mans 'weak' song is anothers mans gem, you listen to something , you form an opinion, which could change but usually doesnt..

I was thinking about this comment form zipp;

Some of the songs may be weak (Mean Mister Mustard for example) but it doesn't seem to matter.

what makes a song weak ? is it weak ? to some MMM may be a really good song, it seems to have an interesting time signature, an interesting melody (the way it goes down in pitch and then goes right back up in pitch.... and an interesting subject, a strange character called Mr Mustard, so when John was kinda ribbing Paul about Maxwell he was being hypocritical when in the next breath he writes a song about Mr bloody Mustard 

I dont really agree about songs being 'weak' or 'strong', surely it either appeals to you or it doesnt, I wouldnt describe Maxwell as 'weak' in fact it has a really good melody, and very singalongy, and clever in its concept.

I listened to an album the other day by a band called Ocean Colour Scene, a band that had enormous success and apparently are 'Beatle-esque'... sadly it didnt appeal although some of the melodies I quite liked, I guess a lot depends on the overall sound, and A LOT of people love them, I couldve said I thought they were a bit weak, but one mans weakness is another mans strength......we all like different things, English people hate Australian beer !

anyway what am I blathering on about here ? if Id written Maxwell Id be so goddam proud of it so maybe Im the hypocrit ?

please dont shout 'YES' too loudly 

[Moogmodule]

I've been pondering that similar question lately Nim. What makes a song strong or weak. It's very hard to pin down. And you're right that if it appeals to some people then how would you call it weak.

I think it largely comes down to what you want from music. I've never had much interest for instance in that sort of 70s US rock style. Like Foreigner or Bob Seger for instance. I don't hate it I just don't find it interesting at all. It seems to lack harmonic variety and subtlety in melody. But what it does have is a strong driving beat, chunky heavyish instrumentation, catchy if not overly fascinating melody and usually strong vocals.  So people who look for those things in music will love it.  Similarly the Beatles charms might mostly escape people looking for that (except for the odd song). So you can't really say that Old Time Rock and Roll is a better or worse song than I am the Walrus (although I know which I prefer by a long way)

That said I wonder if you can objectively compare quality of songs in a similar style. For instance songs that lack any real imagination or don't stray beyond musical and lyrical cliche are probably going to suffer in comparison to more classic songs of the genre. We implicitly do that when we refer to some songs as filler.  Couldn't we say Ticket to Ride for instance is a "better" song than You Like Me Too Much. That's not to say everyone will prefer the former over the latter. Only that Ticket to Ride has qualities that YLMTM doesn't.

[nimrod]

Music is a mystery moog, I also don't like 70's rock like Foreigner etc but I love the simplistic 70's rock that Mark Bolan made with T Rex, Hot Love, Get It On, I Love To Boogie were great songs and yet just built around a simple riff.

Then again I admire complexity, take Roseanna by Toto, very NOT simple, complicated but still great for me.

I just think it either appeals or it doesn't.

Theres a thread on here about Bob Dylan, whilst I respect his songwriting and his importance, I just cant listen to his records, he just sounds miserable and a bit boring to me.

Singer/songwriter ? Give me Neil Diamond anyday   

Its a mystery mate !!

[Hello Goodbye]

That was my exact same reaction the first time I heard the song! Took a minute for the lyrics to sink in.

Well, now that you have that figured out, who was the girl who came in through the bathroom window?

[Moogmodule]

Music is a mystery moog, I also don't like 70's rock like Foreigner etc but I love the simplistic 70's rock that Mark Bolan made with T Rex, Hot Love, Get It On, I Love To Boogie were great songs and yet just built around a simple riff.

Then again I admire complexity, take Roseanna by Toto, very NOT simple, complicated but still great for me.

I just think it either appeals or it doesn't.

Theres a thread on here about Bob Dylan, whilst I respect his songwriting and his importance, I just cant listen to his records, he just sounds miserable and a bit boring to me.

Singer/songwriter ? Give me Neil Diamond anyday   

Its a mystery mate !!

It is indeed. And it can hinge on such subtle things. I recall two recorded versions of Buffalo Soldier by Bob Marley. On one I loved his vocal and it made the song. The second there were subtle differences in his delivery and it was like... Meh