Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey

On June 26th, 1968, this became one of the first songs to be worked on for the sprawling double album The Beatles.  It was also the first written in reference to Lennon's blossoming romance with Yoko Ono, who was now a permanent fixture by John's side, even in the studio.  While the group had certainly had a number of visitors attend sessions over the years, this was unprecedented, resulting in a considerable amount of discomfort and tension that would not dissipate during the remainder of the band's career.

Whenever the tapes started rolling, however, that tension was set aside as the four individuals who comprised the world's most famous band came together and functioned superbly as a unit, as they always had.  On that first night, they had the luxury of simply rehearsing the number innumerable times, tightening the arrangement over the course of several hours.  They returned the following evening and began a series of proper takes, with John and George on electric guitars, Ringo on drums and Paul alternating between a fireman's bell and a chocahlo.  The previous night's rehearsal paid off, as they required only six takes before arriving at the best basic track.

In his book The Beatles: Recording Sessions, Mark Lewisohn reports that the song was 3'07" in duration at this point.  Perhaps the most extreme case of the Beatles speeding up a track then occurred as a reduction mix made the track come in at 2'29".  And an additional 5 seconds would eventually be lopped off by a later reduction mix!  This accounts for the furious pace of the finished product as it appears on the album.

July 1st saw Paul overdub his bass line and John record his lead vocal for the first time.  He decided to re-record his vocal on July 23rd.  He and Paul then overdubbed layers of backing vocals, especially near the end of the song with the multiple calling out of the simple phrase "come on."

This raucous number is little-known and often overlooked (how on earth was it not included on the Rock and Roll Music compilation?), yet it stands as one of the hardest-rocking tracks the group ever recorded.  And it remains a testament to a claim that Ringo has made many times over the years - though the "White Album" sessions were often contentious, the Beatles did get back to being a band on quite a few occasions during that tumultuous period.