The Beatles “Something” Isolated Tracks

I haven’t posted an isolated track in a good long while so it’s time to bring one back. This time it’s all the isolated tracks from one of The Beatles most beautiful songs “Something,” from their Abbey Road album. In it you’ll hear the isolated drums, bass, guitars, vocals and keyboards/strings (thanks to JP Isolated Tracks), and I promise there will be things that will surprise you.

Something isolated tracks

Before we get to the video, here are some things to listen for.

Drums

  • I don’t know how anyone could listen to this and then question the quality of Ringo’s drumming. The guy’s beat is rock solid. He would make any musician playing with him sound better.
  • Ringo’s fills are ever so slightly behind the beat, but yet doesn’t seem to be dragging, which is usually the problem with “lazy fills.” In this case it’s perfect for the song.
  • The cymbal swells are obviously overdubbed, but you probably can’t tell that with the other instruments in the track.

Bass (3:05)

  • By this time Paul was laying his bass track on as an overdub after everything was recorded so he could better tailor the part to the song. You can hear that in evidence here as it’s so melodic, especially in the holes that it’s filling.
  • You can hear the snap of heavy compression of the EMI-modified Altec 124 compressor on the attack of the bass sound.
  • The part is actually a little on the lazy side with Paul sometimes a little behind the beat during the verses and a little ahead on the bridge. This is something that we’d fix today but I’m sure glad that they didn’t here. It just shows you that parts don’t have to be played perfectly to be perfect for the song.

Guitars (6:09)

  • I love the rhythm guitar through the Leslie sound, something that the band used often on their records but you hardly hear these days.
  • There were a lot of tuning problems with the guitars. Again, something that we’d definitely fix today but somehow sound just right for the track.
  • There are some mis-fingerings during the guitar solo (maybe the best George ever played) and sometimes it’s a little out of the pocket. Don’t hear it in the track though.

Vocals (9:10)

  • I’m struck by how distorted the vocals are, especially during the loud parts of the bridge. Again, we’d never let that get by today but it never seemed to bother anyone listening to the record. I think this was the of the first recordings on Abbey Road’s TG12345 solid state console, which most of the engineers hated compared to the previous tube versions.
  • The reverb doesn’t sound as good as other Beatle recordings. It’s a little on the middy side, although no one would ever comment on it unless heard isolated like this.
  • Listen to Paul singing the guitar solo. I guess he found it memorable.

Keyboards/Strings (11:52)

  • This is definitely Billy Preston playing the organ as you can immediately hear the gospel feel.
  • Check out the organ figure on the D chord.
  • Listen to the organ stabs on the 2&, and 3 on the bridge.

It’s always so much fun to listen to the X-ray of a hit song to hear exactly what’s going on. Even more so for such an iconic tune like The Beatles “Something.” Enjoy.