Come Together

"Come Together" is a song by the rock band The Beatles written primarily by John Lennon^[1] and credited to Lennon/McCartney. The song is the lead-off track on The Beatles' September 1969 album Abbey Road. One month later it also appeared as one of the sides of the group's twenty-first single (it was a double A-side, the other side being George Harrison's "Something") in the United Kingdom, their twenty-sixth in the United States.

Origin

The song's history began with Lennon writing a song for Timothy Leary's failed gubernatorial campaign in California against Ronald Reagan, one which promptly ended when Leary was sent to prison for possession of marijuana. It was transformed by Lennon into a track with digs at McCartney and Harrison interspersed alongside tales of his Bagism movement with wife Yoko Ono.

Lawsuit

"Come Together" was the subject of a lawsuit brought against Lennon by Chuck Berry's music publisher, Morris Levy, because one line in "Come Together" closely resembled a line of Berry's You Can't Catch Me: (i.e. The Beatles' "Here come ol' flattop, he come groovin' up slowly" vs. Berry's "Here come up flattop, he was groovin' up with me"). After settling out of court, Lennon promised to record other songs owned by Levy, all of which were released on Lennon's 1975 album Rock 'n' Roll.^[2]

Recording

Lennon played rhythm guitar in addition to singing the vocal. Each exclamation of 'shoot' one hears during the opening bass line is actually 'shoot me', although 'shoot' is immediately followed by a handclap which drowns out the word 'me'.^[3] Also, at approximately 2:17 in the song, Lennon can be heard shouting something indiscernible, though it is very faint. (It sounds like "come!") McCartney played bass and the electric piano (described as "southern" by John), Harrison lead guitar, and Ringo Starr drums and maracas. It was produced by George Martin and recorded at the end of July 1969 at Abbey Road Studios.^[3]

The famous Beatles Walrus from "I Am the Walrus" returns, in the line "He got walrus gumboot". He also appeared in Glass Onion.

Release and acclaim

"Come Together" was released as the B-side to "Something" and as the opening track of Abbey Road.

For a time, the song was banned by the BBC, as they believed the song's reference to Coca-Cola could be construed as an advertisement.

Rolling Stone ranked "Come Together" at #202 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.^[4]

On the compilation album Love, "Come Together" is the 19th track. Sections of "Dear Prudence" and "Cry Baby Cry" fade in at the end of the track.

Personnel

John Lennon – vocal, rhythm guitar, lead guitar, hand-claps
Paul McCartney – harmony vocal, bass, electric piano
George Harrison – guitar
Ringo Starr – drums, maracas

Credits per Ian MacDonald^[5]

Covers

Aerosmith version

American hard rock band Aerosmith did one of the first and most successful cover versions of "Come Together". It was recorded in 1978 and appeared in the movie and on the soundtrack to the film Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, which the band also appeared in. The single was an immediate success, reaching #23 on the Billboard Hot 100, following on the heels of a string of Top 40 hits for the band in the mid-1970s. However it would be the last Top 40 hit for the band for nearly a decade.

A rare live demo of the song was also released months later on Aerosmith's live album Live! Bootleg. The song was also featured on Aerosmith's Greatest Hits, the band's single-disc compilation released in 1980. The song has also surfaced on a number of Aerosmith compilations and live albums since then, as well as on the soundtrack for the film Armageddon.

The Aerosmith version is still frequently heard on mainstream and album rock radio stations. Aerosmith still occasionally performs "Come Together" in concert.

Since 2006, New Zealand telecommunications company Telecom used a cover of this song for its "Come Together" campaign.

Other Notable Covers

The song has since become one of the most covered songs of all time:

Labyrinth covered the song on their album "6 Days to Nowhere" released 2007
Marilyn Manson Also covered the song while touring, never released. He also used a few lines from the song as an intro to an early demo of "My Monkey" (the intro was cut in later demos and on the album Portrait of an American Family)
Tina Turner covered the song for the 1976 ephemeral musical documentary All This and World War II and reached #57 in the US and #21 on the R&B charts. Prior to that,her cover was featured on her and then husband's Ike's album of the same name.
Do As Infinity performed a live cover of a metal version of the song in Japan during a Beatles celebration event.
Michael Jackson, who owns the rights to the song, also covered "Come Together" for the concert film Michael Jackson: Moonwalker. A different cover is on his album HIStory.
Axl Rose and Bruce Springsteen later played "Come Together" before Springsteen's induction into the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame in 1994.
Soundgarden covered the song on the "Hands All Over" single, giving it a very grunge sound.
Michael Ruff covered "Come Together" in a very funky way on the album Michael Ruff Band in 1992.
Robin Williams and Bobby McFerrin recorded a unique cover version in which McFerrin performs the characteristic bass and guitar intro with his voice alone and Williams sings and features on the album In my Life
Noel Gallagher and Paul Weller played with Paul McCartney on a version of the song for the 1995 HELP charity record, under the name The Smokin' Mojo Filters. This version made #19 on the British chart in December.
The Lynne Arriale Trio recorded a jazz version of the song, which was the title track of their album Come Together
Sugababes covered the song as a B-Side for their single, "Ugly".
There is also an instrumental version by Marcus Miller on his album Tales.
The Korean hip-hop group Roo-Ra performed a breakbeat cover of the song.
Elton John covered the song as a tribute to Lennon during his "One Night Only: The Greatest Hits" concert.
Victoria Beckham and Damon Dash sampled the song as an intro to one of Dash's mixtapes.
Enrique Bunbury made a cover of the song and published it in his 1997 single "Planeta Sur".
Craig David, performed a live version on Top of The Pops 2 in 2003.
The Supremes (post-Diana Ross) covered the song on their 1970 album, New Ways But Love Stays.
Chairmen of the Board covered the song and is on one of their first LPs.
Toxic Audio covered the song on their album Captive Audience.
Diana Ross covered the song on her 1970 album Everything Is Everything.
Tom Jones released a live version of "Come Together" on his album Reload, albeit with a new, faster arrangement.
The Brothers Johnson released a cover of the song on their 1976 album Look Out For #1, altering the bass-line in their mid-tempo funk rendition that also includes a harmonica/guitar solo.
Hip hop group The Roots sampled this song on their 2006 Best of The Roots mixtape produced by J. Period. The chorus of the song is repeated clips of Lennon singing "one thing I can tell you is you've got to be free," and "come together, over me."
The band Gotthard recorded "Come Together' on their 1994 album Dial Hard.
The jazz-funk band Defunkt covered "Come Together" on the 1992 album Downtown Does the Beatles Live at the Knitting Factory.
Zakk Wylde covered this song on the album "Pride & Glory".
The John Butler Trio also covered the song while touring, never released.
A segment of this song was used to close several commercials for Nortel Networks. One version of the commercial featured a businessman reciting the song, omitting the lines "He one holy roller" and "He shoot Coca-Cola."
"Come Closer Together," an unauthorized mashup of Nine Inch Nails's "Closer" with "Come Together" is widely available on YouTube and other Internet sites.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bM7tdWRkBp0
The Plague (English punk rock band) recorded the song in the late 1970s. It remained unreleased until their compilation album "The X Tapes" was released in 2005.
Joe Cocker covers the song on the 2007 soundtrack to the film Across the Universe.

Notes

1. ^ Sheff, David (2000). All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono. New York: St. Martin's Press, 201. ISBN 0-312-25464-4.
2. ^ Wenner, Jann S (2000). Lennon Remembers (Full interview from Lennon's 1970 interview in Rolling Stone magazine). London: Verso, 90. ISBN 1-85984-600-9.
3. ^ Lewisohn, Mark (1988). The Beatles Recording Sessions. New York: Harmony Books, 181. ISBN 0-517-57066-1.
4. ^ The Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. Retrieved on 2007-10-05.
5. ^ MacDonald, Ian (2005). Revolution in the Head: The Beatles' Records and the Sixties, Second Revised Edition, London: Pimlico (Rand), 358-359. ISBN 1-844-13828-3.

External links

Alan W. Pollack's analysis of "Come Together"

Preceded by "Wedding Bell Blues" by The Fifth Dimension	Billboard Hot 100 number one single November 29 1969 (The Beatles version of Come Together)	Succeeded by "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye" by Steam

• • [ e] The Beatles Singles
Singles (UK - Parlophone, Apple Records)
1962: Love Me Do 1963: Please Please Me, From Me to You, She Loves You, I Want to Hold Your Hand 1964: Can't Buy Me Love, A Hard Day's Night, I Feel Fine 1965: Ticket to Ride, Help!, Day Tripper / We Can Work It Out 1966: Paperback Writer, Eleanor Rigby / Yellow Submarine 1967: Strawberry Fields Forever / Penny Lane, All You Need Is Love, Hello Goodbye 1968: Lady Madonna, Hey Jude 1969: Get Back / Don't Let Me Down, Ballad of John and Yoko, Something / Come Together 1970: Let It Be 1976: Yesterday, Back in the U.S.S.R. 1978: Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band / A Day in the Life • 1982: The Beatles Movie Medley, Love Me Do (reissue) 1995: Baby It's You, Free as a Bird 1996: Real Love
B-sides
1962: P.S. I Love You 1963: Ask Me Why, Thank You Girl, I'll Get You, This Boy 1964: You Can't Do That, Things We Said Today, She's a Woman 1965: Yes It Is, I'm Down 1966: Rain 1967: Baby You're a Rich Man, I Am the Walrus 1968: The Inner Light, Revolution 1969: Old Brown Shoe 1970: You Know My Name (Look up the Number) 1976: I Should Have Known Better, Twist and Shout 1982: I'm Happy Just to Dance with You, P.S. I Love You (reissue) 1995: I'll Follow the Sun / Devil in Her Heart / Boys, Christmas Time (Is Here Again) 1996: Baby's in Black
Singles (U.S. - Capitol Records, Apple Records)
1963: I Want to Hold Your Hand 1964: Can't Buy Me Love, A Hard Day's Night, I'll Cry Instead, And I Love Her, Matchbox, I Feel Fine 1965: Eight Days a Week, Ticket to Ride, Help!, Yesterday, We Can Work It Out / Day Tripper 1966: Nowhere Man, Paperback Writer, Eleanor Rigby / Yellow Submarine 1967: Penny Lane / Strawberry Fields Forever, All You Need Is Love, Hello, Goodbye 1968: Lady Madonna, Hey Jude 1969: Get Back / Don't Let Me Down, Ballad of John and Yoko, Something / Come Together 1970: Let It Be, The Long and Winding Road 1976: Got to Get You into My Life 1978: Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band / A Day in the Life 1982: The Beatles Movie Medley 1986: Twist and Shout 1995: Baby It's You, Free as a Bird 1996: Real Love
B-sides
1963: I Saw Her Standing There 1964: You Can't Do That, I Should Have Known Better, I'm Happy Just to Dance with You, If I Fell, Slow Down, She's a Woman 1965: I Don't Want to Spoil the Party, Yes It Is, I'm Down, Act Naturally 1966: What Goes On, Rain 1967: Baby You're a Rich Man, I Am the Walrus 1968: The Inner Light, Revolution 1969: Old Brown Shoe 1970: You Know My Name (Look up the Number), For You Blue 1976: Helter Skelter 1982: I'm Happy Just to Dance with You 1986: There's a Place 1995: I'll Follow the Sun / Devil in Her Heart / Boys, I Saw Her Standing There / This Boy / Christmas Time (Is Here Again) 1996: Baby's in Black / Yellow Submarine / Here, There and Everywhere

• • [ e] Aerosmith singles
Singles
1973: "Mama Kin", "Dream On" 1974: "Same Old Song and Dance", "Train Kept A-Rollin'", "S.O.S. (Too Bad)" 1975: "Sweet Emotion", "You See Me Crying" 1976: "Last Child", "Home Tonight", "Walk This Way" 1977: "Back in the Saddle", "Draw the Line" 1978: "Kings and Queens", "Come Together" 1979: "Chip Away the Stone" 1980: "Remember (Walking in the Sand)" 1982: "Lightning Strikes" 1985: "Let the Music Do the Talking" 1986: "Shela" 1987: "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)", "Hangman Jury" 1988: "Angel", "Rag Doll" 1989: "Love in an Elevator", "Janie's Got a Gun" 1990: "What it Takes", "The Other Side", "F.I.N.E.", "Monkey On My Back" 1993: "Eat the Rich", "Livin' on the Edge", "Fever", "Cryin'", "Amazing" 1994: "Shut Up and Dance", "Deuces Are Wild", "Crazy", "Blind Man" 1995: "Walk on Water" 1997: "Nine Lives", "Falling in Love (Is Hard on the Knees)", "Hole in My Soul", "Pink" 1998: "Taste of India", "Full Circle", "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing", "What Kind of Love Are You On" 2000: "Angel's Eye" 2001: "Jaded", "Fly Away From Here", "Sunshine", "Just Push Play" 2002: "Girls of Summer" 2004: "Baby, Please Don't Go" 2006: "Devil's Got a New Disguise"
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(1969) Let It Be
(1970)

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A-side(s) "Something"
"Come Together" (U.S)
B-side(s) "Come Together" (U.K.)
Released 1969-10-31 (UK)
Format 7"
Recorded Abbey Road: 1969-02-25
Genre Pop
Length 3:01
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*:1969 (number)

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Come Together

Information about Come Together

Origin

Lawsuit

Recording

Release and acclaim

Personnel

Covers

Aerosmith version

Other Notable Covers

Notes

External links