The third song on the second side of the LP/CD "Abbey Road" consists of an original Lennon/McCartney composition written mainly by Paul entitled "You Never Give Me Your Money". This tune was the beginning of a series of songs that were intended to form a continuous piece of music/ kind of a medley of various songs. The entire piece was referred to as "The Long One/Huge Melody". "You Never Give Me Your Money" introduced the long melody and was recorded as an introduction from the beginning. The song was inspired by the constant business pressures and troubles eminating from the Apple Corps. offices of the day.
The basic track for "You Never Give Me Your Money" was conducted on Tuesday May 06 1969 at Olympic Sound Studios in Barnes, London. The instrumentation for the basic tracks included Paul on vocal and piano, John on distorted electric guitar, George on clean swirling guitar (with the help of a Leslie) and Ringo on drums. 36 takes were recorded. The Beatles chose take 30 for the commercial version. A stereo mix of this version was attempted and completed on the same day.
On Tuesday July 01 1969 at EMI studio two, Paul McCartney re-did his vocal track for "You Never Give Me Your Money". A mono mix of this version of the song can be heard on the bootleg: "Unsurpassed Masters Vol. 05".
On Friday July 11 1969 again at EMI studio two, another Paul McCartney solo performance as his bass guitar was overdubbed onto take 30 of "You Never Give Me Your Money".
Four days later on July 15 1969 at EMI studio three, more vocals and tambourine/ chimes were added to the song.
On Wednesday July 30 1969, "You Never Give Me Your Money" was given some backing vocals on the "Out Of Money..." section which eventually went un-used for the commercial version. Once completed, a test run of "The Long One/Huge Melody" commenced which gave "You Never Give Me Your Money" a rough stereo mix consisting of a reduction to take 40. At this point, "You Never Give Me Your Money" and "Sun King" were linked by an organ chord. This rough mix can be heard on the bootleg: "Unsurpassed Masters Volume 05". All of this took place in the control room of EMI studio two.
On Thursday July 31 1969, Paul McCartney disgarded the previous day's reduction (eliminating the previous day's vocal overdub) and re-recorded his bass guitar and tack piano section in the "Out of money..." part.
On Tuesday August 05 1969, Paul McCartney entered the control room of EMI studio three with a bag full of home made tape loops. He then took his tape loops and transferred them onto professional four track tape. The loops were sound effects containing cricket sounds, bell chiming, birds, etc. This loop was used to finally connect "You never Give Me Your Money" and "Sun King" on the recording. Five takes were attempted to mix and connect the sound effects.
On Wednesday August 13 1969, "You Never Give Me Your Money" was mixed for stereo in 27 attempts with attempt 23 being used for the commercial version. The song was mixed for stereo in the control room of EMI studio two.
The next day on August 14 1969, "You Never Give Me Your Money" was crossfaded into "Sun King" with 11 attempts including the inclusion of the sound effects.
"You Never Give Me Your Money" is available on the Apple LP/CD "Abbey Road".
On a personal note; my thrill was hearing Paul perform the piece solo at sound check in Montreal on August 12 2010 for his Up and Coming tour.
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