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We celebrate the release of Martin Scorsese’s excellent documentary, “George Harrison – Living in the Material World“, by selecting the Harrison-penned Beatles classic “Something” as Song of the Week. “Something” was released on The Beatles’ album “Abbey Road” in September 1969 and as a double A-side single with “Come Together” the following month.

“Something” was written by Harrison at Abbey Road studios in the summer of 1968 when he had some downtime during the sessions for “The White Album.” The original line “Something in the way she moves” was intended to be temporary, as it borrowed from James Taylor’s song “Something In The Way She Moves.”

“Something” has been described as the song that marked Harrison’s coming of age as a songwriter. The song wasn’t a bolt out of the blue though, as he had already proven himself to be a fine songwriter with tracks such as “If I Needed Someone” and “Taxman.” Nevertheless, “Something” was a step up and this was recognised within the band. John Lennon described “Something” as the best song on “Abbey Road” and it was the first Harrison-penned track to be deemed worthy of A-side status on a Beatles single.

The critics agreed with Lennon and “Something” received the Ivor Novello Award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically in 1970.

“Something” also famously received lofty praise from Frank Sinatra, who described it as one of the best love songs ever written, but unfortunately also referred to it as a Lennon & McCartney composition!

There are conflicting stories regarding the inspiration for the song. Harrison’s then wife, Pattie Boyd, has said that “Something” was written about her, but in a 1996 interview (22 years after the pair divorced), Harrison suggested that the song was about no one in particular and that his main intention had been to replicate some of the power of Ray Charles’ soulful ballads. There are even suggestions that this classic love song was originally envisaged as a devotional song about Krishna.

In his track-by-track review of “Abbey Road” for the October 18, 1969 issue of Rolling Stone, George Harrison described “Something” as follows:

“Something” features an inspired melody; heartfelt lyrics; a perfectly realised guitar solo; arguably the best vocal of Harrison’s Beatles career; McCartney’s classic, busy bass line; and a rousing chorus, with its effective change of pace and unexpected chord sequence. The change of key from C major for the verses to A major for the chorus is a huge factor in this song’s success and it is very intelligent songwriting from Harrison. This musical contrast underpins the emotions communicated by the singer, with the sedate verses containing the dreamy expressions of wonder about the power of his attraction to his partner, and the more high powered chorus breaking the spell as the singer considers whether or not the relationship will thrive.

The Beatles – “Something”

Recording date/location

As good as Harrison’s composition was, the wealth of material already available for “The White Album” meant that months passed between Harrison writing the song and The Beatles recording it.

The classic master was recorded between May and August of 1969 at Abbey Road studios in London. The bulk of the work took place during May, with 36 takes recorded on May 2. Overdubs were then carried out on May 5 and during sessions in July and August. The final session on August 15 saw the overdub of the strings and a re-recording of Harrison’s guitar part.

Demos had already been laid down in February and April, with thoughts of pitching the song to Jackie Lomax. This fell through but the demo was given to Joe Cocker whose recording of the song was released shortly after “Abbey Road.”

Musicians

The following musicians featured on “Something”:

• George Harrison – lead vocals, guitars
• Paul McCartney – bass guitar, backing vocals
• John Lennon – piano
• Ringo Starr – drums
• Billy Preston – Hammond organ.

Beatles producer, George Martin, was responsible for the string arrangement.

Chart performance

“Come Together”, backed with “Something,” reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 on November 23, 1969 and stayed on top for one week. In previous weeks, the two songs had charted separately as this was a double-A sided single, but the single hit the top spot after a change to the Billboard rules meant that sales for both were taken into account.

The single peaked at number four on the UK singles chart.

Covers

Joe Cocker – “Something”

Joe Cocker was the first artist to cover “Something,” featuring the song on his album “Joe Cocker!” in November 1969. The song starts off in laidback fashion with Cocker and a solo guitar, but builds effectively as the whole band kicks in and Cocker unleashes his trademark raw vocals. It’s a solid cover, but Cocker doesn’t put his own stamp on the song as successfully as he had with his chart topping cover of the Beatles “With A Little Help From My Friends” earlier in the year.

The album also included a cover of the “Abbey Road” track “She Came In Through the Bathroom Window.”

Shirley Bassey – “Something”

Shirley Bassey hit number four on the UK singles chart with her cover of “Something” in 1970, which also featured on her album of the same name. Bassey is well suited to the material, performing with sensitivity and power. The heavy orchestration works well against Bassey’s powerful voice and the well written organ part adds colour.

Here’s Bassey singing the song live on a television show in 1971.

Ray Charles – “Something”

George Harrison wrote “Something” with Ray Charles in mind and didn’t have to wait long to hear Charles singing it. His soulful cover appeared on the 1971 album “Volcanic Action of My Soul,” along with a cover of the McCartney-penned “The Long And Winding Road.”

There will be a new Song of the Week on October 17.

The Beatles’ “Something” is available on “Abbey Road” and The Beatles 1″, both of which are available in remastered editions.

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