"Maxwell's Silver Hammer" is a song by the Beatles, sung by Paul McCartney on their album Abbey Road. It was written by McCartney, though credited to Lennon–McCartney. "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" is a pop song with dark, eccentric lyrics about a man named Maxwell who commits murder with a hammer.
The song was written in October 1968, intended for the album The Beatles, but missed off due to time constraints. It was rehearsed again three months later, in January 1969, at Twickenham film studios during the Get Back sessions but would not be recorded for another six months.
Linda McCartney reports that Paul had become interested in avant-garde theatre and had immersed himself in the writings of Alfred Jarry. This influence is reflected in the story and tone of the song, and also explains how Paul came across Jarry's word “pataphysical”, which occurs in the lyrics.
Beatles guitarist George Harrison described the song in 1969 as "one of those instant whistle-along tunes which some people hate, and other people really like. It's a fun song, but it's kind of a drag because Maxwell keeps on destroying everyone like his girlfriend then the school teacher, and then, finally, the judge."[this quote needs a citation] Lennon described it as "more of Paul's granny music". In 1994, McCartney said that the song merely epitomises the downfalls of life, being "my analogy for when something goes wrong out of the blue, as it so often does, as I was beginning to find out at that time in my life. I wanted something symbolic of that, so to me it was some fictitious character called Maxwell with a silver hammer. I don't know why it was silver, it just sounded better than Maxwell's hammer. It was needed for scanning. We still use that expression now when something unexpected happens."
On 9 August 1967 Kenneth Halliwell killed his lover Joe Orton with nine hammer blows to the head, and then overdosed on sleeping pills. Their bodies were discovered late the following morning, when a chauffeur arrived at the door of their Noel Road flat in Islington to collect Orton for a meeting with The Beatles regarding a screenplay he had written for them.
The recording subsequently drew comment from the band: Lennon said "I was ill after the accident when they did most of that track, and it really ground George and Ringo into the ground recording it", adding later "I hate it, 'cos all I remember is the track ... [Paul] did everything to make it into a single, and it never was and it never could have been."
Harrison characterised the song as "fruity" and commented "we spent a hell of a lot of time on it", and later "after a while, we did a good job on it". McCartney recalled: "The only arguments were about things like me spending three days on Maxwell's Silver Hammer. I remember George saying, 'You've taken three days, it's only a song.' – 'Yeah, but I want to get it right. I've got some thoughts on this one.' It was early-days Moog work and it did take a bit of time"
PersonnelPaul McCartney – lead and backing vocals, overdubbed electric guitar, piano, Moog synthesizer
George Harrison – backing vocal, electric guitar, six-string bass
Ringo Starr – backing vocal, drums, anvil
George Martin – organ
Mal Evans – anvil
Wonder if this is the only song in history with a credit for an Anvil player ?