Remember the feeling of missing school and secretly reveling in the fact that you would be absent for one of your least favorite subjects, only to find with gut-wrenching disappointment that you did not, in fact, miss the lesson at all? In fact, that’s what the class was starting with on your first day back? That’s likely how John Lennon felt when he returned to the studio for the first time post-car crash just to record what would become one of his least favorite Beatles songs.
Out of all the Beatles songs that the Fab Four recorded without John Lennon, he likely wished that this controversial Paul McCartney composition could’ve made the list.
Videos by American Songwriter
John Lennon and Yoko Ono Hospitalized In 1969
Tensions were already somewhat high among the Fab Four by the time 1969 rolled around. So, while it’s not unreasonable to assume John Lennon would take time off from the studio simply because he didn’t want to be there, his absence during their 1969 Abbey Road sessions wasn’t planned. On the contrary, Lennon missed studio time following a car crash he endured with his wife, Yoko Ono, his son, Julian Lennon, and Ono’s daughter, Kyoko Ono. Lennon crashed his Leyland Austin Maxi in the Highlands while vacationing in Scotland.
Lennon had to get 17 facial stitches, Ono received 14 stitches in her forehead, and her daughter had to get four stitches. Julian was in shock but walked away without physical injury. Lennon stayed in the hospital for almost a week, telling reporters, “If you’re going to have a car crash, try to arrange for it to happen in the Highlands. The hospital there was just great.” After the Scottish hospital discharged him and he returned to London, he stayed at home to rest for three days.
But of course, Lennon couldn’t stay at home forever. He had a job to do, and on July 9, 1969, he returned to the studio with his pregnant wife in tow. To help continue her recovery from back injuries she sustained in the crash, Lennon arranged for a bed to be placed inside the studio so she could still be a part of the recording process. Unfortunately for John, that process started with a Beatles song he would later classify as one of his least favorites in their lengthy discography.
This Beatles Song Was a Least Favorite Among the Group
Recording for the Paul McCartney composition, “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer,” began on July 9, 1969, much to the chagrin of, well, everyone else in the Beatles. For most Fab Four fans, the track is a quirky classic from an otherwise not-very-quirky album. For the band, the song was a burdensome lesson in their patience and McCartney’s willingness to go the extra mile (or two or three) to make sure his creative vision was just right.
George Harrison called it “fruity.” Ringo Starr said, “It was the worst track we ever had to record. It went on for f***ing weeks.” Paul McCartney later pushed back on Starr’s claims, saying the track only “took three days to record. Big deal.”
Regardless, John Lennon wasn’t a fan, either. In fact, in one of his final interviews with David Sheff (via BeatlesBible), he said, “I hate it. He made us do it a hundred million times. He did everything to make it a single, and it never was, and it never could’ve been. But he put guitar licks on it, and he had somebody hitting iron pieces. We spent more money on that song than any of them in the whole album, I think.”
After the sessions for the divisive song were complete, Lennon returned home with his wife to continue resting their injuries. When the Beatles finally returned to the studio, they began working on “Come Together,” which Lennon likely enjoyed far more than what he called “Paul’s granny music.”
Photo by Daily Mirror/Daily Mirror/Mirrorpix via Getty Images