100 DAYS OF THE BEATLES – TOP 100 SONGS – 67

From GoogleImages

NUMBER 67: "Oh! Darling" (McCartney – October 1, 1969)

Abbey Road – Side One, track 4 (3:26)

YouTube Video
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (sans footnotes/references) –

"Oh! Darling" is a song by The Beatles composed by Paul McCartney (credited to Lennon–McCartney) and appearing as the fourth song on the album, Abbey Road, in 1969. Its working title was "Oh! Darling (I'll Never Do You No Harm)". Although not issued as a single in either the United Kingdom or the United States, a regional subsidiary of Capitol successfully edited it as a single in Central America, having "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" as its B-side. It was also issued as a single in Portugal. Apple Records released "Oh! Darling" in Japan with "Here Comes the Sun" in June 1970.

Background

McCartney later said of recording the track, "When we were recording 'Oh! Darling' I came into the studios early every day for a week to sing it by myself because at first my voice was too clear. I wanted it to sound as though I'd been performing it on stage all week." He would only try the song once each day; if it was not right he would wait until the next day, in order to make sure he got every precious first take right. He once lamented that "five years ago I could have done this in one take". In a 1980 interview with Playboy magazine, John Lennon said, "'Oh! Darling' was a great one of Paul's that he didn't sing too well. I always thought I could have done it better—it was more my style than his. He wrote it, so what the hell, he's going to sing it."

George Harrison described the song as "a typical 1950s–'60s-period song because of its chord structure."

Let It Be session

After an early attempt at this song on 27 January 1969 during the Let It Be sessions, Lennon announced, "Just heard that Yoko's divorce has just gone through", after which he and the band burst into an improvised version of the song, substituting "I'm free at last" for a part of the lyric. The song and the following improvisation are included on the Anthology 3 CD.

Recording

The basic track was recorded on 20 April 1969, but there were many overdub sessions, including multiple attempts at the lead vocal by McCartney (as described above). According to Ian MacDonald, the backing vocals were "exquisite", but "sadly underplayed in the mix."

Personnel

Paul McCartney – lead and backing vocals, bass
John Lennon – backing vocals, piano
George Harrison – backing vocals, guitar
Ringo Starr – drums

Influences

"Oh! Darling" appears to have drawn heavily on the New Orleans rhythm and blues sound popularised during the 1950s and early 1960s by African-American musicians like Fats Domino; it also seems to have drawn on the Louisiana swamp blues sound found in songs like Slim Harpo's "Raining In My Heart". Furthermore, it may have drawn on the related Louisiana genre known today as swamp pop, whose distinctive sound bears an uncanny resemblance to the basic structure of "Oh! Darling" — so much so that some in Louisiana originally thought the song had been recorded by a local musician. (When swamp pop musician John Fred met The Beatles in London in the 1960s, he was shocked to learn that "they were very familiar with Louisiana music.") Fittingly, swamp pop musician Jay Randall eventually covered "Oh! Darling" for the Lanor label of Church Point, Louisiana.