Good ol Maxwell's Silver Hammer one of the most polarizing songs in the Beatles entire discography. Some loath it's existence, some don't mind it, and some love it. According to Paul, "Maxwell's Silver Hammer' was my analogy for when something goes wrong out of the blue, as it so often does, as I was beginning to find out at that time in my life, I wanted something symbolic of that, so to me it was some fictitious character called Maxwell with a silver hammer. I don't know why it was silver, it just sounded better than 'Maxwell's Hammer.' It was needed for scanning. We still use that expression even now when something unexpected happens"
The song was first introduced during the Get Back sessions on January 3rd, 1969. Then on January 7th a humorous exchange was captured where Paul asks to Mal Evans to get an anvil as seen here:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=riAczN3RGO8. Then again the next day another humorous event happened where George's Les Paul guitar falls over as seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifPOpFY5LyE. Then Maxwell's Silver Hammer stuck once again on the 10th after George had left the band. The band trying to get some rehearsal done. With one take having John singing with a silly voice as heard here: https://youtu.be/a281gs_OQq4?si=Ecfh2W9TKrYeL3Xu/
However it wasn't until July 9th, 1969 that the song was finally recorded properly. John did not participate as he was still recovering after a car accident earlier in the month. Although he was present bringing with him a double-bed. The session started at 2:30pm with 21 takes being recorded with Ringo on drums, Paul on piano, and George on a Fender Jazz Bass. Take 21 deemed the best. With this Paul and George overdubbed the electric guitars heard throughout and they called it a day ending at 10:15pm.
The next day starting at 2:30pm more overdubs were recorded. These included the anvil recorded by Ringo, Harmony vocals from Paul and George, piano arpeggios most likely played by George Martin, an organ most likely played by Paul, and the final "Silver hammer man" harmony which included Ringo. Once again John didn't participate although he was present. Strangely Geoff Emerick wrote that Paul overdubbed over George's bass performance, although the bass heard on the alternate takes with George sounds almost identical so I highly doubt this occurred. This session ended at 11:30pm.
Lastly some quick overdubs took place on July 11th with additional harmonies and the acoustic guitar played by George simultaneously, Paul also doubled tracked his lead vocal in places. They then moved onto overdubs for "You Never Give Me Your Money" and "Something".
The last overdub for the song took place on August 6th and was Paul on the Moog synthesizer.
Of course George, Ringo, and even John have all said the song was hated and took forever to record with John saying, "That’s Paul’s. I hate it. ‘Cuz all I remember is the track – he made us do it a hundred million times. He did everything to make it into a single and it never was and it never could’ve been." and that it was, "more of Paul's granny music"
Ringo saying, "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."
George saying, "Sometimes Paul would make us do these really fruity songs. I mean, my god, Maxwell’s Silver Hammer was so fruity. After a while we did a good job on it, but when Paul got an idea or an arrangement in his head…"
and Paul saying, "I was very keen on this song, but it took a bit long to record, and the rest of the guys were getting pissed with me...it was something like three days (actually four) - but a long time by the standards of the day...Recording sessions were always good because no matter what our personal troubles were, no matter what was happening on the business front, the minute we sat down to make a song we were in good shape. Right until the end there was always a great joy in working together in the studio."
Whatever you opinion the other three did exaggerate the agony just a little.
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Intro (0:00)
Drums (0:17)
Anvil (3:43)
Bass (4:11)
Lead Vocal (7:35)
Overdubbed Doubled Vocal Lines (10:18)
Backing Vocals (11:03)
Piano (11:23)
Overdubbed Piano (14:48)
Acoustic Guitar (14:56)
Electric Guitars (16:03)
Organ (17:44)
Synth (18:52)
George's Arm (20:33)
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Paul McCartney - Lead and Backing Vocals, Piano (Hamburg Steinway Baby Grand), Electric Guitar (1962 Epiphone ES-230TD Casino), Synthesizer (1967 Moog IIIp), Organ (1967 Hammond L100)
George Harrison - Bass (Fender Jazz), Electric Guitar (1968 Fender Rosewood Telecaster), Acoustic Guitar (J-200), Backing Vocals
Ringo Starr - Drums (1968 Ludwig Hollywood Maple), Anvil, Backing Vocals
George Martin - Piano Arpeggio Overdub (Hamburg Steinway Baby Grand)