"Come Together" is a song by the English rock band
the Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developmen ...
, written by
John Lennon
John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...
and credited to
Lennon–McCartney
Lennon–McCartney was the songwriting partnership between English musicians John Lennon (1940–1980) and Paul McCartney (born 1942) of the Beatles. It is the best-known and most successful musical collaboration ever by records sold, with the ...
. The song is the opening track on their 1969 album ''
Abbey Road
''Abbey Road'' is the eleventh studio album by the English rock band the Beatles. It is the last album the group started recording, although '' Let It Be'' was the last album completed before the band's break-up in April 1970. It was mostly ...
'' and was also released as a single coupled with "
Something
Something may refer to:
Philosophy and language
*Something (concept)
*Something, an English indefinite pronoun
Music
Albums
* ''Something'' (Chairlift album), 2012
* ''Something'' (Shirley Bassey album), 1970
* ''Something'' (Shirley Scott ...
". The song reached the top of the charts in the United States and Australia, but peaked at No. 4 in the United Kingdom.
It has been covered by several other artists, including
Ike & Tina Turner
Ike & Tina Turner were an American musical duo consisting of husband and wife Ike Turner and Tina Turner. From 1960 to 1976, they performed live as the Ike & Tina Turner Revue, supported by Ike Turner's band the Kings of Rhythm and backing voca ...
,
Aerosmith,
Joe Cocker and
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...
.
Background and inspiration
![John Lennon performing Give Peace a Chance 1969](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/24/John_Lennon_performing_Give_Peace_a_Chance_1969.jpg)
In early 1969,
John Lennon
John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...
and his wife,
Yoko Ono
Yoko Ono ( ; ja, 小野 洋子, Ono Yōko, usually spelled in katakana ; born February 18, 1933) is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist. Her work also encompasses performance art and filmmaking.
Ono grew up i ...
, held nonviolent protests against the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...
, dubbed the
Bed-ins for Peace. In May, during the
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...
portion of the bed-in,
counterculture
A counterculture is a culture whose values and norms of behavior differ substantially from those of mainstream society, sometimes diametrically opposed to mainstream cultural mores.Eric Donald Hirsch. ''The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy''. Hou ...
figures from across North America visited Lennon, including American psychologist
Timothy Leary
Timothy Francis Leary (October 22, 1920 – May 31, 1996) was an American psychologist and author known for his strong advocacy of psychedelic drugs. Evaluations of Leary are polarized, ranging from bold oracle to publicity hound. He was "a her ...
, an early advocate of
LSD
Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), also known colloquially as acid, is a potent psychedelic drug. Effects typically include intensified thoughts, emotions, and sensory perception. At sufficiently high dosages LSD manifests primarily mental, vi ...
, whom Lennon admired. Leary intended to run for
Governor of California in the
following year's election and asked Lennon to write him a
campaign song
Campaign songs are songs used by candidates or political campaigns. Most modern campaign songs are upbeat popular songs or original compositions that articulate a positive message about a campaign or candidate, usually appealing to patriotism, o ...
based on the campaign's slogan, "Come Together – Join the Party!" The resulting chant was only a line long: "Come together and join the party". Lennon promised to finish and record the song, and Leary later recalled Lennon giving him a tape of the piece, but the two did not interact again.
In July 1969, during sessions for
the Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developmen ...
' album ''
Abbey Road
''Abbey Road'' is the eleventh studio album by the English rock band the Beatles. It is the last album the group started recording, although '' Let It Be'' was the last album completed before the band's break-up in April 1970. It was mostly ...
'', Lennon used the phrase "come together" from the Leary campaign song to compose a new song for the album. Based on the 1956 single "
You Can't Catch Me
"You Can't Catch Me" is a song written and recorded by Chuck Berry, released as a single in 1956.
Background
The song's lyrics describe racing a souped-up "air-mobile" down the New Jersey Turnpike, then unfolding its wings and taking off. At the ...
" by American guitarist
Chuck Berry
Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the " Father of Rock and Roll", he refined and developed rhythm and blues into th ...
, the composition began as an up-tempo
blues number, only slightly altering Berry's original lyric of "Here come a flattop / He was movin' up with me" to "Here come ol' flattop / He come groovin' up slowly". Lennon further incorporated the phrase "shoot me" from his unfinished and unreleased January 1969 song, "
Watching Rainbows
"Watching Rainbows" is an unreleased song by the Beatles recorded on 14 January 1969 during the ''Get Back'' sessions at Twickenham Studios. It features John Lennon on lead vocal and electric piano, Paul McCartney on lead guitar, and Ringo Star ...
". The lyrics were inspired by his relationship with Ono, and were delivered quickly, as in the Berry song. Author
Peter Doggett
Peter Doggett (born 30 June 1957) is an English music journalist, author and magazine editor. He began his career in music journalism in 1980, when he joined the London-based magazine ''Record Collector''. He subsequently served as the editor ...
wrote that "each phrase
asses
Ass most commonly refers to:
* Buttocks (in informal American English)
* Donkey or ass, ''Equus africanus asinus''
**any other member of the subgenus ''Asinus''
Ass or ASS may also refer to:
Art and entertainment
* Ass (album), ''Ass'' (album ...
too quickly to be understood at first hearing, the sound as important as the meaning".
When Lennon presented the composition to his bandmates, his songwriting partner
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...
noticed its similarity to "You Can't Catch Me" and recommended they slow it in tempo to reduce the resemblance. Beatles historian Jonathan Gould has suggested that the song has only a single "pariah-like protagonist" and Lennon was "painting another sardonic self-portrait". In a December 1987 interview by
Selina Scott
Selina Mary Scott (born 13 May 1951) is an English television presenter who co-hosted the first dedicated breakfast television programme in the UK before crossing the Atlantic to join '' West 57th'', a prime-time current-affairs show broadcast f ...
on the television show ''
West 57th Street
57th Street is a broad thoroughfare in the New York City borough of Manhattan, one of the major two-way, east-west streets in the borough's grid. As with Manhattan's other "crosstown" streets, it is divided into its east and west sections at ...
'',
George Harrison stated that he wrote two lines of the song.
Production
Recording
The Beatles taped the basic track for "Come Together" at EMI Studios (now
Abbey Road Studios) in Studio Three on 21 July 1969, during the sessions for ''Abbey Road''.
George Martin
Sir George Henry Martin (3 January 1926 – 8 March 2016) was an English record producer, arranger, composer, conductor, and musician. He was commonly referred to as the " Fifth Beatle" because of his extensive involvement in each of the ...
produced the session, assisted by
balance engineers Geoff Emerick
Geoffrey Ernest Emerick (5 December 1945 – 2 October 2018) was an English sound engineer and record producer who worked with the Beatles on their albums ''Revolver'' (1966), ''Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'' (1967) and ''Abbey Road'' ...
and
Phil McDonald
Philip McDonald is an English recording studio audio engineer, best known as the engineer for EMI and later for Apple Records during the Beatles' The Beatles#Controversy.2C studio years and break-up .281966.E2.80.931970.29, studio years, along w ...
. At McCartney's request, the session marked Emerick's first with the group since July 1968, having quit working with them during sessions for their 1968 album, ''
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developmen ...
'' (also known as "the White Album"), due to what he found a tense and negative atmosphere. The session also marked Lennon's first new composition for the band in three months, having last recorded "
The Ballad of John and Yoko
"The Ballad of John and Yoko" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles that was released as a non-album single in May 1969. It was written by John Lennon and credited to the Lennon–McCartney partnership, and chronicles the events surrou ...
" on 14 April.
The group taped eight takes of "Come Together", with take six marked "best". The line-up consisted of Lennon singing lead vocal, McCartney on bass,
George Harrison on rhythm guitar and
Ringo Starr on drums. Starr placed
tea towels over his
tom drums to further dampen their sound. Without needing to use his hands to play guitar, Lennon added handclaps each time he sang "Shoot me!", also adding
tambourine
The tambourine is a musical instrument in the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zills". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though ...
over both the solo and
coda. Taped on
4-track recording equipment, at the end of the session, take six was copied over to 8-track tape in Studio Two, allowing for both
overdubbing and the easy manipulation of
EQ.
Overdubbing and mixing
Overdubbing for "Come Together" took place in the week following the recording of the basic track. On 22 July, Lennon sang a new lead vocal and again added handclaps, both being treated to a
tape delay, with
automatic double tracking
Automatic double-tracking or artificial double-tracking (ADT) is an analogue recording technique designed to enhance the sound of voices or instruments during the mixing process. It uses tape delay to create a delayed copy of an audio signal wh ...
added during the choruses. At Lennon's request, McCartney played a
Fender Rhodes electric piano, with McCartney later recalling that Lennon "wanted a piano lick to be very swampy and smokey, and I played it that way and he liked that a lot". Harrison added a heavily distorted guitar during the refrains, while Starr added a
maraca
A maraca (), sometimes called shaker or chac-chac, is a rattle which appears in many genres of Caribbean and Latin music. It is shaken by a handle and usually played as part of a pair.
Maracas (from Guaraní ), also known as tamaracas, were ...
. Work on the track continued the next day, with more vocals added. On 25 July, McCartney contributed a harmony vocal sung below Lennon's part, and on 29 July, Lennon overdubbed a guitar during the song's middle climax. Work on the song finished the next day, with Harrison playing a lead guitar solo with a
Gibson Les Paul during the song's coda.
Mixing on "Come Together" was completed on 7 August in Studio Two. Done on EMI's new
solid state mixing console
A mixing console or mixing desk is an electronic device for Audio mixing (recorded music), mixing audio signals, used in sound recording and reproduction and sound reinforcement systems. Inputs to the console include microphones, signals fro ...
, the
EMI TG12345
The EMI TG12345 was a mixing console designed by EMI for their Abbey Road Studios, which was used to mix several influential albums, including The Beatles' ''Abbey Road'' and Pink Floyd's ''The Dark Side of the Moon''.
Overview
The TG12345 was i ...
, Emerick later suggested that the console's "softer and rounder"
sonic texture influenced the band's performances, with "the rhythm tracks... coming back off tape a little less forcefully", the overdubs were subsequently "performed with less attitude". He also suggests that, because McCartney's bass hits on the "me" of Lennon's line "Shoot me!", only "Shoot" is easily audible on the finished recording. Ten
stereo mixes were made during the process, with the first attempt marked "best". Like the rest of ''Abbey Road'', the song was never mixed for
mono
Mono may refer to:
Common meanings
* Infectious mononucleosis, "the kissing disease"
* Monaural, monophonic sound reproduction, often shortened to mono
* Mono-, a numerical prefix representing anything single
Music Performers
* Mono (Japanese b ...
.
Release and legacy
Apple Records
Apple Records is a record label founded by the Beatles in 1968 as a division of Apple Corps Ltd. It was initially intended as a creative outlet for the Beatles, both as a group and individually, plus a selection of other artists including Ma ...
, the Beatles'
EMI
EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British Transnational corporation, transnational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in March 1 ...
-distributed record label, released ''Abbey Road'' on 26 September 1969, with "Come Together" sequenced as the opening track. The song was issued as a double A-side single with Harrison's "
Something
Something may refer to:
Philosophy and language
*Something (concept)
*Something, an English indefinite pronoun
Music
Albums
* ''Something'' (Chairlift album), 2012
* ''Something'' (Shirley Bassey album), 1970
* ''Something'' (Shirley Scott ...
" on 6 October in America (as Apple 2654) and 31 October in Britain (as Apple R5814). Commercially, the single was a massive success, staying on the US
''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart for 16 weeks, and reaching No. 1. The single was released on 31 October 1969 in the UK and reached No. 4.
The first take of the song, recorded on 21 July 1969, with slightly different lyrics, was released in 1996 on the outtake compilation ''
Anthology 3'', and take five of the song was released on the ''Abbey Road'' 50th Anniversary release.
In May 2021,
Ringo Starr said it was his favourite Beatles song in an interview on ''
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
''The Late Show with Stephen Colbert'' is an American late-night news and liberal political satire talk show hosted by Stephen Colbert, which premiered on September 8, 2015. Produced by Spartina Productions and CBS Studios, it is the second ...
''.
Accolades
"Come Together" has frequently appeared on numerous publications' lists of the Beatles' best songs. In 2006, ''
Mojo
Mojo may refer to:
* Mojo (African-American culture), a magical charm bag used in voodoo
Arts, entertainment and media Film and television
* MOJO HD, an American television network
* ''Mojo'' (play), by Jez Butterworth, made into a 1997 film
* ' ...
'' magazine placed it at No. 13 in their list of the Beatles' 101 best songs. Four years later, ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...
'' ranked it No. 9 on their list of the band's 100 greatest songs.
Meanwhile, ''
Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cu ...
'' and ''
Ultimate Classic Rock
Townsquare Media, Inc. (formerly Regent Communications until 2010) is an American radio network and media company based in Purchase, New York. The company started in radio and expanded into digital media toward the end of the 2000s, starting wi ...
'' ranked it at No. 44 and No. 20, respectively. In 2015, ''
NME
''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
'' and ''
Paste'' placed it at No. 20 and No. 23 in their respective lists of the band's best songs.
''Rolling Stone'' ranked "Come Together" at No. 202 on their list of
the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time
"The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" is a recurring survey compiled by the American magazine ''Rolling Stone''. It is based on weighted votes from selected musicians, critics, and industry figures. The first list was published in December 2004 in ...
in 2004, re-ranking it No. 205 in the 2010 revised list.
Based on the song's appearances in professional rankings and listings, the aggregate website
Acclaimed Music lists "Come Together" as the 16th most acclaimed song of 1969, the 113th most acclaimed song of the 1960s and the 393rd most acclaimed song in history.
Lawsuit
In late 1969, "Come Together" was the subject of a
copyright infringement
Copyright infringement (at times referred to as piracy) is the use of works protected by copyright without permission for a usage where such permission is required, thereby infringing certain exclusive rights granted to the copyright holder, s ...
claim brought against Lennon by Big Seven Music, the publisher of
Chuck Berry
Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the " Father of Rock and Roll", he refined and developed rhythm and blues into th ...
's "
You Can't Catch Me
"You Can't Catch Me" is a song written and recorded by Chuck Berry, released as a single in 1956.
Background
The song's lyrics describe racing a souped-up "air-mobile" down the New Jersey Turnpike, then unfolding its wings and taking off. At the ...
".
Morris Levy
Morris Levy (born Moishe Levy; August 27, 1927 – May 21, 1990) was an American entrepreneur in the fields of jazz clubs, music publishing, and the independent record industry. Levy was cofounder and owner of Roulette Records, founding partner ...
, the owner of Big Seven Music, contended that it sounded similar musically to Berry's original and shared some lyrics (Lennon sang: "Here come ol' flattop, he come groovin' up slowly", and Berry's had sung: "Here come a flattop, he was movin' up with me"). Before recording, Lennon and McCartney deliberately slowed the song down and added a heavy bass riff in order to make the song more original. The case was settled out of court in 1973, with Levy's lawyers agreeing that Lennon would compensate by recording three Big Seven songs for his next album. A brief version of "
Ya Ya
"Ya Ya" is a song by Lee Dorsey. The song was written by Dorsey, C. L. Blast, Bobby Robinson, and Morris Levy. Levy's participation in the writing has been called into question; the Flashback release of the single lists only Dorsey and Blast a ...
" with Lennon and his son Julian was released on the album ''
Walls and Bridges
''Walls and Bridges'' is the fifth studio album by English musician John Lennon. It was issued by Apple Records on 26 September 1974 in the United States and on 4 October in the United Kingdom. Written, recorded and released during his 18-month ...
'' in 1974. "You Can't Catch Me" and another version of "Ya Ya" were released on Lennon's 1975 album ''
Rock 'n' Roll
Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm an ...
'', but the third, "
Angel Baby", remained unreleased until after Lennon's death. Levy again sued Lennon for breach of contract, and was eventually awarded $6,795. Lennon countersued after Levy released an album of Lennon material using tapes that were in his possession and was eventually awarded $84,912.96. The album was called ''
Roots: John Lennon Sings the Great Rock & Roll Hits''.
Personnel
According to Kevin Howlett:
*
John Lennon
John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...
– lead and backing vocals, guitar, handclaps,
tambourine
The tambourine is a musical instrument in the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zills". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though ...
*
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...
– backing vocal, bass,
electric piano
*
George Harrison – lead and rhythm guitars
*
Ringo Starr – drums,
maraca
A maraca (), sometimes called shaker or chac-chac, is a rattle which appears in many genres of Caribbean and Latin music. It is shaken by a handle and usually played as part of a pair.
Maracas (from Guaraní ), also known as tamaracas, were ...
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications and sales
Cover versions
Ike & Tina Turner version
A month after the original version by the Beatles was released,
Ike & Tina Turner
Ike & Tina Turner were an American musical duo consisting of husband and wife Ike Turner and Tina Turner. From 1960 to 1976, they performed live as the Ike & Tina Turner Revue, supported by Ike Turner's band the Kings of Rhythm and backing voca ...
began performing their rendition of "Come Together," most notably at
Madison Square Garden in November 1969. Due to the public response to their live performances,
Minit Records
Minit Records was an American independent record label, originally based in New Orleans and founded by Joe Banashak in 1959. Ernie K. Doe, Aaron Neville, Irma Thomas, and Benny Spellman were early artists on the label. Later artists included Bo ...
rushed the release of a studio version. The single, also credited to
the Ikettes
The Ikettes, originally The Artettes, were a trio (sometimes quartet) of female backing vocalists for the Ike & Tina Turner Revue. Despite their origins, the Ikettes became successful artists in their own right. In the 1960s they had hits such as ...
, was released in December 1969. It reached number 57 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and number 21 on the
''Billboard'' R&B Singles chart. The B-side features another soul-infused rock cover, "
Honky Tonk Women
"Honky Tonk Women" is a song by the English rock band the Rolling Stones. It was released as a non-album single on 4 July 1969 in the United Kingdom, and a week later in the United States (although a country version called "Country Honk" was ...
" by
the Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the g ...
.
"Come Together" is the lead single from Ike & Tina Turner's 1970 album
of the same name. The song has been released on various compilations, including ''
Greatest Hits
A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be crea ...
'' (1976), ''
Proud Mary: The Best of Ike & Tina Turner'' (1991), and ''
The Ike & Tina Turner Story: 1960–1975'' (2007). A live version was recorded at
L'Olympia
The Olympia (; commonly known as L'Olympia or in the English-speaking world as Olympia Hall) is a concert venue in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, France, located at 28 Boulevard des Capucines, equally distancing Madeleine church and Opéra G ...
in Paris on 30 January 1971, and released later that year on their live album ''
Live in Paris''.
John Lennon solo version
"Come Together" was the only Beatles song Lennon sang during his 1972 Madison Square Garden concerts. It was Lennon's only full-length concert performance after leaving the Beatles. He was backed by the band
Elephant's Memory
Elephant's Memory (also billed as Elephants Memory, without the apostrophe) was an American rock band formed in New York City in the late 1960s, known primarily for backing John Lennon and Yoko Ono from late 1971 to 1973. For live performance ...
. This version of the song appears on the concert album ''
Live in New York City'', recorded on 30 August 1972 and released in 1986.
Aerosmith version
American
hard rock band
Aerosmith recorded one of the most successful cover versions of "Come Together" in 1978. The band performed the song in the 1978 film ''
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band''; their recording appeared on its accompanying
soundtrack album. Released as a single in July 1978, Aerosmith's version was an immediate success, reaching number 23 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100,
following on the heels of a string of
Top 40
In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or "cont ...
hits for the band in the mid-1970s. However, it would be the last Top 40 hit for the band for nearly a decade.
Another recording of the song was released several months later on Aerosmith's live album ''
Live! Bootleg''. The song also featured on ''
Aerosmith's Greatest Hits
''Greatest Hits'' is the first greatest hits compilation album by American hard rock band Aerosmith, released by Columbia Records on November 11, 1980.
Release and reception
Although the official website for Aerosmith lists the release for '' ...
'', the band's first
singles
Singles are people not in a committed relationship.
Singles may also refer to:
Film and television
* ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series
* ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe
* ''Singles'' ...
compilation released in 1980. Their live performance from the
33rd Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was released in a Grammy compilation CD. The song has also surfaced on a number of Aerosmith compilations and live albums since then, as well as on the soundtrack for the film ''
Armageddon
According to the Book of Revelation in the New Testament of the Christian Bible, Armageddon (, from grc, Ἁρμαγεδών ''Harmagedōn'', Late Latin: , from Hebrew: ''Har Məgīddō'') is the prophesied location of a gathering of armies ...
''.
Godsmack version
Godsmack released Come Together in 2012 on the Live & Inspired album. An official music video was released and the single entered the Hard Rock Charts at number 11, then in 2017 resurfaced to land at position No. 1 on Billboard's Hard Rock Digital Song Sales chart.
Gary Clark Jr. and Junkie XL version
American musician
Gary Clark Jr.
Gary Lee Clark Jr. (born February 15, 1984) is an American musician from Austin, Texas. He is known for his fusion of blues, rock and soul music with elements of hip hop. In 2011, Clark signed with Warner Bros Records and released ''The Brig ...
and Dutch composer
Junkie XL
Tom Holkenborg (born 8 December 1967), also known by his stage name Junkie XL or occasionally JXL, is a Dutch composer, multi-instrumentalist, DJ, producer, and engineer.
Originally known for his trance productions, he has moved to producing ...
released a cover version of "Come Together" as the first single from the
soundtrack
A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack ...
of the 2017 superhero film ''
Justice League
The Justice League (also known as The Justice League of America) are a team of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The team first appeared in ''The Brave and the Bold'' #28 (March 1960). The team was conceived b ...
'' on 8 September. A music video featuring Gary Clark Jr. on guitar and vocals interspersed with cuts of footage from the film was released on 27 October. The single reached No. 27 on the ''Billboard''
Digital Songs Sales and No. 7 on the ''Billboard''
Hot Rock & Alternative Songs
Hot Rock & Alternative Songs (formerly known as Rock Songs and Hot Rock Songs) is a record chart published by ''Billboard'' magazine. From its debut on June 20, 2009, through October 13, 2012, the chart ranked the airplay of songs across alternati ...
.
Weekly charts
Other versions
McCartney recorded an updated version of "Come Together" with
Noel Gallagher
Noel Thomas David Gallagher (born 29 May 1967) is an English singer, songwriter, and musician. He was the chief songwriter, lead guitarist, and co-lead vocalist of the rock band Oasis until their split in 2009. After leaving Oasis, he formed ...
and
Paul Weller
Paul John Weller (born John William Weller; 25 May 1958) is an English singer-songwriter and musician. Weller achieved fame with the punk rock/ new wave/mod revival band the Jam (1972–1982). He had further success with the blue-eyed soul mu ...
for the 1995 charity album ''
Help
Help is a word meaning to give aid or signal distress.
Help may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
Films
* ''Help'' (2010 film), a Bollywood horror film
* ''Help'' (2021 theatrical film), a British psychological thriller film
* '' ...
'', under the name the Smokin' Mojo Filters. Weller performed the lead vocal duties, with McCartney and Gallagher providing backing vocals, harmonies and bass and guitar. Their rendition reached No. 19 on the UK Singles Chart in December 1995.
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...
also covered the song in 1986. The song was recorded for ''
Bad'' (1987), but was scrapped and instead put on ''
HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I'' (1995). It was also included as a B-side on Jackson's "
Remember the Time
"Remember the Time" is a 1992 single by American singer and songwriter Michael Jackson. It was released by Epic Records on January 14, 1992, as the second single from Jackson's eighth studio album, '' Dangerous''. The song was written and co ...
" CD single. It was featured at the end of the 1988 film ''
Moonwalker
''Moonwalker'' is a 1988 American experimental anthology musical film starring Michael Jackson. Rather than featuring one continuous narrative, the film expresses the influence of fandom and innocence through a collection of short films about J ...
'' and also had an official video. Notably, it was the only Beatles song covered by Jackson on an official release. Jackson had
purchased the publishing rights to the Beatles' catalogue in 1985 and thus owned the rights to "Come Together" at the time he covered the song.
Arctic Monkeys
Arctic Monkeys are an English rock band formed in Sheffield in 2002. The group consists of Alex Turner (lead vocals, guitar, keyboards), Jamie Cook (guitar, keyboards), Nick O'Malley (bass guitar, backing vocals), and Matt Helders (drums, ...
covered the song for the
2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, it was released on the album ''
Isles of Wonder'' and reached No. 21 on the UK Singles Chart.
Foo Fighters,
Liam Gallagher
William John Paul Gallagher (born 21 September 1972) is an English singer and songwriter. He achieved fame as the lead vocalist of the rock band Oasis from 1991 to 2009, and later fronted the rock band Beady Eye from 2009 to 2014, before starti ...
and Aerosmith's Joe Perry covered "Come Together" at the CalJam Festival in San Bernardino, California in 2017. Gallagher forgot the words during the performance, later explaining that he thought they were performing "
I Am the Walrus
"I Am the Walrus" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1967 television film ''Magical Mystery Tour''. Written by John Lennon and credited to Lennon–McCartney, it was released as the B-side to the single "Hello, Goodbye" a ...
".
Syl Johnson
Sylvester Johnson (born Sylvester Thompson; July 1, 1936 – February 6, 2022) was an American blues and soul singer, musician, songwriter and record producer. His most successful records included "Different Strokes" (1967), " Is It Because I' ...
made a recording of "Come Together" in 1970.
See also
*''
Come Together: A Night for John Lennon's Words and Music''
Notes
References
Citations
Sources
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External links
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Full lyrics for the song at the Beatles' official websiteLyrics and video of Come Together
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1969 songs
1969 singles
1978 singles
Aerosmith songs
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Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles
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