"Oh! Darling" | ||||
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Cover to Japanese single
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Single by The Beatles | ||||
from the album Abbey Road | ||||
A-side | "Here Comes the Sun" | |||
Released | 26 September 1969 (album) 5 June 1970 (Japan single) |
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Recorded | 20 April – 11 August 1969 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 3:26 | |||
Label | Apple | |||
Writer(s) | Lennon–McCartney | |||
Producer(s) | George Martin | |||
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"Oh! Darling" | ||||
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Single by Robin Gibb | ||||
from the album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (OST) | ||||
B-side | "She's Leaving Home" | |||
Released | July 1978 | |||
Format | 7", 45rpm | |||
Recorded | September 1977 Cherokee Studios, Los Angeles |
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Genre | Rhythm and blues, soul | |||
Length | 3:29 | |||
Label | RSO | |||
Writer(s) | Lennon-McCartney | |||
Producer(s) | George Martin | |||
Robin Gibb singles chronology | ||||
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"Oh! Darling" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, composed by Paul McCartney (credited to Lennon–McCartney), and appearing as the fourth song on the 1969 album Abbey Road. Its working title was "Oh! Darling (I'll Never Do You No Harm)". Although not issued as a single in either the United Kingdom or the United States, a regional subsidiary of Capitol successfully edited it as a single in Central America, having "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" as its B-side. It was also issued as a single in Portugal. Apple Records released "Oh! Darling" in Japan with "Here Comes the Sun" in June 1970.
McCartney later said of recording the track, "When we were recording 'Oh! Darling' I came into the studios early every day for a week to sing it by myself because at first my voice was too clear. I wanted it to sound as though I'd been performing it on stage all week." He would only try the song once each day; if it was not right he would wait until the next day. According to sound engineer Alan Parsons, McCartney once lamented that "five years ago I could have done this in a flash". In a 1980 interview with Playboy magazine, John Lennon said, "'Oh! Darling' was a great one of Paul's that he didn't sing too well. I always thought I could have done it better – it was more my style than his. He wrote it, so what the hell, he's going to sing it."
George Harrison described the song as "a typical 1950s–'60s-period song because of its chord structure".
After an early attempt at this song on 27 January 1969 during the Let It Be sessions, Lennon announced, "Just heard that Yoko's divorce has just gone through", after which he and the band burst into an improvised version of the song, substituting "I'm free at last" for a part of the lyric. The song and the following improvisation are included on the Anthology 3 CD. This version also features a keyboard part played by Billy Preston.