When The Beatles first got together, there was never any concern about who the band’s lead singer was going to be. Throughout their time together, it was expected that every band member would have a turn behind the microphone at some point, with even Ringo Starr having one featured spot on every single album they made. While they may have grown more territorial as they got older, Paul McCartney was disheartened not being allowed to sing one Beatles classic.
Considering the turmoil that went into creating the band’s self-titled White Album, it’s a miracle that they could create anything afterwards. Once the band took a break with a transcendental retreat in India, their creative directions went in a million disparate ways, which included vicious disagreements among the band as to how every song should sound.
By the time the band had time to get back together, McCartney initially thought of getting the band back to their roots, rehearsing songs that were cut to the chase rather than experimenting in the studio. While the material they used for the project would eventually be folded into Let it Be, the band acquiesced again to create their final artistic statement, Abbey Road.
Working with George Martin for the final time, the Beatles pulled out all the stops for their swan song, creating a tapestry of different sounds that would become the album’s second side. While John Lennon may not have cared for the operatic flipside of the album, he did give the band one more classic with the opening song ‘Come Together’.
Based on the familiar Chuck Berry tune ‘You Can’t Catch Me’, it was McCartney’s suggestion to slow the song down, leading to him creating one of his classic basslines. Although the song would mark one of the last true collaborations between the band, McCartney wasn’t pleased when he couldn’t sing on the final track.
When talking about the song, McCartney thought that he would have been imposing on Lennon by asking him if he could sing backup vocals, recalling, “On ‘Come Together,’ I would have liked to sing harmony with John, and I think he would have liked me to, but I was too embarrassed to ask him, and I do network to the best of my abilities in that situation”.
Then again, McCartney wasn’t the only one who was hurt by the way that singing duties were distributed. When talking about the blues scorcher ‘Oh Darling!’, Lennon was known to be jaded at McCartney about the song, thinking that he would have been able to sing it better if he had the chance to.
Regardless of who sang which song, Abbey Road featured some of the best singing to grace a Beatles record, from Harrison’s folk rock staple ‘Here Comes the Sun’ to the band created a wall of voices arranged by Martin for Lennon’s track ‘Because’. The Beatles may have been breaking apart, but even in the middle of turmoil, they could still make something harmonious whenever they sang together.
