Performed by: The Beatles
Written by: John Winston Lennon; Paul James Mccartney
Credits: Lennon, John Winston (Songwriter); Mccartney, Paul James (Songwriter); SONY BEATLES LTD (Publisher); SONY/ATV TUNES LLC (Publisher)
| Lyrics: Maxwell's Silver Hammer |
Performed by: The Beatles
Written by: John Winston Lennon; Paul James Mccartney
Credits: Lennon, John Winston (Songwriter); Mccartney, Paul James (Songwriter); SONY BEATLES LTD (Publisher); SONY/ATV TUNES LLC (Publisher)
| Wikipedia: Maxwell's Silver Hammer |
| "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Song by The Beatles
from the album Abbey Road |
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| Released | 26 September 1969 | |||
| Recorded | 9 July-11 July, 6 August 1969 | |||
| Genre | Pop rock | |||
| Length | 3:27 | |||
| Label | Apple Records | |||
| Writer | Lennon/McCartney | |||
| Producer | George Martin | |||
| Abbey Road track listing | ||||
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"Maxwell's Silver Hammer" is a song by The Beatles, from the Abbey Road album, with Paul McCartney singing lead. It was written by McCartney, though the songwriting credit is Lennon/McCartney.
Contents |
The vaudevillian-style song is about medical student Maxwell Edison, who uses his silver hammer to murder his girlfriend Joan, then his teacher, and finally the judge during his murder trial. Despite the grim subject matter, the song is bouncy and upbeat (a "Happy song about murder"). The "Silver Hammer Man" coda seems to be a deliberate pastiche of Mason Williams' 1968 song "Long Time Blues"; the arrangement and performance of this coda echo the arrangement and performance of the titular line in Williams' song nearly perfectly. Additionally, the coda appears after the song has already resolved to a nice conclusion, which invites speculation regarding whether the "Silver Hammer Man" coda was perhaps a nod to (or a tease on) Williams.
In the film Let It Be, McCartney attempts to teach the song to the rest of the band, who are clearly less than enthusiastic. McCartney can be heard sniggering at 1:21 as he sings the line "... writing fifty times I must not be so ..." on the studio recording. This is sometimes rumoured to be because as McCartney sang the line "so he waits behind," Lennon mooned McCartney from the control room.
The Beatles began recording Maxwell's Silver Hammer at Abbey Road Studios on 9 July 1969. McCartney, Harrison and Starr taped 16 takes of the rhythm track, followed by a series of guitar overdubs. The unused fifth take can be heard on Anthology 3.
The following two days the group overdubbed vocals, piano, Hammond organ, anvil and guitar. The song was completed on 6 August, when McCartney recorded a solo on a Moog synthesizer.[1]
Although thought to be a thinly-veiled allegory on the Charles Manson murders, this is impossible, because the Tate-La Bianca murders occurred on 8–9 August 1969, after the song was recorded. However, a homicidal cult is believed to have used this name in the 1970s, and claimed the lives of five campers in Santa Barbara, California. This is mentioned by the Manson family.[2] The song may also be a warning about the dangers of dabbling with the powers of 'Pataphysics.[3]
McCartney said in 1994 that it merely epitomises the downfalls of life:
McCartney referred to the song when talking about his 2005 album Chaos and Creation in the Backyard:
Comedian Patton Oswalt refers to "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" as a euphemism for a hypodermic needle used for injecting the perfect amount of heroin.[4]
The song was recorded in three days by McCartney, Harrison and Starr on the 9-11 July 1969.[5] A moog synthesiser overdub was added by McCartney on the 6th August.
The length of time it took to record the song created tension between the Beatles. John Lennon later recalled, "He did everything to make it into a single, and it never was and it never could have been."[6] According to Lennon, the band spent more money on that song than any other on Abbey Road, though this is contested[7] as it lacked the expensive orchestral overdubs of some of the other songs on the album. Lennon, who did not participate in the recording, derided the song at the time as a prime example of McCartney's "granny-style" writing.
George Harrison described it 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." In 1977, Harrison would be less charitable, stating "I mean, my God, 'Maxwell's Silver Hammer' was so fruity."[8]
Ringo Starr recalled in an interview in early 2008: "The worst session ever was 'Maxwell's Silver Hammer.' It was the worst track we ever had to record. It went on for fucking weeks. I thought it was mad."[9]
Paul McCartney has defended the song: "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"[7].
In the 1978 film Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, the song is performed by comedian Steve Martin, who portrays the character Maxwell Edison. Frankie Laine also covered the song as part of the musical documentary All This and World War II, which featured stock and newsreel footage of the Second World War set to performances of music by The Beatles. Child star Jack Wild recorded a version of this song for his first studio album "The Jack Wild Album". A North Devon group, Good Ship Lollipop covered the song in 1969 (their only single), this was released on the Ember label, and is available on "Rainy Day Mind" a 2009 CD of Ember releases. The English Indie Rock Band Let's Wrestle covered Maxwell's Silver Hammer for the 2009 Mojo compilation album, Abbey Road Now!, an album where numerous artists including cornershop and robyn hitchcock covered the whole of the Abbey Road album.
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
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