Sexy Sadie

Sexy Sadie is yet another instance of Lennon lashing out at someone that he perceived as a failed father figure - in this case, the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.  The time spent in Rishikesh, India, in early 1968 studying Transcendental Meditation under the guidance of the Maharishi had been beneficial for the most part, but when a rumor reached John's ears that the guru had made unwanted advances to actress Mia Farrow, he was outraged and left the compound disillusioned and bitter.  He began writing the song as he and George were en route to the airport.  George claimed that it was he who convinced John not to use the name Maharishi but rather to change it to Sexy Sadie.

All four verses and both bridges were written when the Beatles gathered at George's house to record demos in late May.  John's double-tracked vocals do not match up much of the time as he seems to be learning how to find the proper way to breathe and sing the song, but the framework is all there on the demo.  And the tempo is close to that on the master recording we know from the "White Album."

The group first began work on the track on July 19th, 1968, playing it at a noticeably slower tempo.  The 50th anniversary edition of the "White Album" contains take eleven, while Anthology 3 features take six.  There is little to differentiate these lethargic takes.  The instrumentation has John on acoustic and George on electric guitars, Ringo on drums and Paul playing keyboards.  They recorded twenty-one takes before calling it a night.

With the same instrumental lineup, they recorded twenty-three more takes on July 24th.  By the end of this session, John admitted that it just wasn't coming out the way he had hoped, and they set the song aside for a few weeks.  When they returned to the track on August 13th (starting at take 100 for some reason, though less than half that many had been recorded so far), they played it at the tempo John had used for the demo months earlier.  He now played electric guitar, Ringo remained on drums, Paul played a piano with heavy reverb applied, and George merely hit a tambourine.  Take 107 proved to be the keeper, so John overdubbed his lead vocal onto that and the song was once again left for another day.

All final overdubs were added on August 21st, including bass and organ from Paul, a lead guitar part by George, and the "wah wah wah wah" backing vocals sung by John, Paul and George.  At this point, the long fadeout contained an instrumental version of the bridge in addition to a few verses, but this bridge was eventually edited out.

The song sits in the middle of side three on the "White Album."  I must admit that it has never been one of my favorites, even before I learned the unpleasant story of its origin.  Among those who differ with me are two members of the Beatles.  Ringo mentions the character Sexy Sadie in his song Devil Woman from his great self-titled 1973 album.  And George also mentions Sexy Sadie in his 1974 song Simply Shady from the album Dark Horse.