"Something" is a song by The Beatles featured on their 1969 album Abbey Road. It was also released as Double A-sided single with "Come Together". "Something" was the first Beatles song written by lead guitarist George Harrison to appear as an A-side, and the only song written by him to top the US charts while he was in the band.^{[citation needed]} The single was also one of the first Beatles singles to contain tracks already available on an LP album, as both songs appeared on Abbey Road.

John Lennon and Paul McCartney, the band's principal songwriters, both praised "Something" as among the best songs Harrison had written, or the group had to offer.^[3] As well as critical acclaim, the single achieved commercial success, topping the Billboard charts in the United States and making the top five in the United Kingdom. The song has been covered by over 150 artists, including Phish, Isaac Hayes, Elvis Presley, Ray Charles, Shirley Bassey, Ike & Tina Turner, Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, James Brown, Julio Iglesias, The Miracles, Eric Clapton, and Joe Cocker, and is the second-most covered Beatles song after "Yesterday".^[4] Harrison is quoted as saying that his favourite cover of the song was James Brown's, and he kept Brown's version in his personal jukebox.^[5]

Composition[link]

During the 1968 recording sessions for The Beatles (also referred to as the White Album), Harrison began working on a song that eventually became known as "Something". The song's first lyrics were adapted from the title of an unrelated song by fellow Apple artist James Taylor called "Something in the Way She Moves" and used as filler while the melody was being developed.^[6] The song's second line, "Attracts me like no other lover," was the last to be written; during early recording sessions for "Something", Harrison alternated between two placeholder lyrics: "Attracts me like a cauliflower" and "Attracts me like a pomegranate."^[7]

Harrison later said that "I had a break while Paul was doing some overdubbing so I went into an empty studio and began to write. That's really all there is to it, except the middle took some time to sort out. It didn't go on the White Album because we'd already finished all the tracks."^[3] A demo recording of the song by Harrison from this period appears on the Beatles Anthology 3 collection, released in 1996.

Many believe that Harrison's inspiration for "Something" was his wife at the time, Pattie Boyd. Boyd also claimed that inspiration in her 2007 autobiography, Wonderful Tonight, where she wrote: "He told me, in a matter-of-fact way, that he had written it for me."^[8]

However, Harrison has cited other sources of inspiration to the contrary. In a 1996 interview he responded to the question of whether the song was about Pattie: "Well no, I didn't [write it about her]. I just wrote it, and then somebody put together a video. And what they did was they went out and got some footage of me and Pattie, Paul and Linda, Ringo and Maureen, it was at that time, and John and Yoko and they just made up a little video to go with it. So then, everybody presumed I wrote it about Pattie, but actually, when I wrote it, I was thinking of Ray Charles."^[9]

The original intention had been for Harrison to offer the song to Apple Records signing Jackie Lomax, as he had done with a previous composition, "Sour Milk Sea". When this fell through, "Something" was given to Joe Cocker (who had previously covered the Lennon−McCartney song "With a Little Help from My Friends" with great success); his version came out two months before The Beatles'. During the Get Back recording sessions for what eventually became Let It Be, Harrison considered using "Something", but eventually decided against it due to his fear that insufficient care would be taken in its recording; his earlier suggestion of "Old Brown Shoe" had not gone down well with the band.^[10] It was only during the recording sessions for Abbey Road that The Beatles began seriously working on "Something".

Recording and production[link]

"Something" was recorded during the Abbey Road sessions. It took 52 takes in two main periods, the first session involved a demo take on Harrison's 26th birthday (featured on Anthology 3), 25 February 1969, followed by 13 backing track takes on 16 April. The second main session took 39 takes and started on 2 May 1969 when the main parts of the song were laid down in 36 takes, finishing on 15 August 1969 after several days of recording overdubs.^[11]

The original draft that The Beatles used lasted eight minutes, with an extended coda with Lennon on the piano. The middle also contained a small counter-melody section in the draft. Both the counter-melody and Lennon's piano piece were cut from the final version. Still, Lennon's piano was not erased totally. Some bits can be heard in the middle eight, in particular the line played downwards on the C major scale, i.e. the connecting passage to Harrison's guitar solo. The erased parts of Lennon's piano section is similar to the style on Lennon's song "Remember".^[12]

Musical structure[link]

The lead vocalist for "Something" was Harrison. The song runs at a speed of about sixty-six beats per minute and is in common time throughout. The melody begins in the key of C major. It continues in this key throughout the intro and the first two verses, until the eight-measure-long bridge, which is in the key of A major. After the bridge, the melody returns to C Major for the guitar solo, the third verse, and the outro.^[13] Although The Beatles had initially attempted an edgier acoustic version of the song, this was dropped along with the counter-melody. A demo of the acoustic version with the counter-melody included was later released as part of Anthology 3. On the final release, the counter-melody was replaced by an instrumental break, and the song was given a softer tone with the introduction of a string arrangement by George Martin, the Beatles' producer.^[14]

Simon Leng said the song's theme is doubt and uncertainty.^[15] Richie Unterberger of Allmusic described it as "an unabashedly straightforward and sentimental love song" at a time "when most of the Beatles' songs were dealing with non-romantic topics or presenting cryptic and allusive lyrics even when they were writing about love".^[14]

Promotional video[link]

The promotional video for "Something" was shot shortly before the break-up of the band. By this time, the individual Beatles had drawn apart and so the film consisted of separate clips of each Beatle walking around his home, accompanied by his wife, edited together. The film was directed by Neil Aspinall.^[16]

Reception[link]

The Abbey Road album was the first Beatles' release to feature "Something"; it was released on 26 September 1969 in the United Kingdom, with the United States' release following on 1 October, and performed well, topping the charts in both countries.^[17][18]

A few days later on 6 October, "Something" was nominally released as a double A-side single with "Come Together" in the United States, becoming the first Harrison composition to receive top billing on a Beatles' single.^[19] In actuality, it was the A-side in both form and cataloguing: it appears on the side displaying the outer skin of Apple's logo, and is listed first in Apple's catalog. In many other countries, it was explicitly labeled as the A-side.^[20]

Although it began charting a week after its release on 18 October, doubts began to arise over the possibility of "Something" topping the American charts. It was the prevailing practice at the time to count sales and airplay of the A- and B-sides separately, which allowed for separate chart positions. With "Come Together" rivaling "Something" in popularity, it was hardly certain that either side of the single would reach number one. However, on 29 November, Billboard started factoring the combined performance of both A- and B-sides into their calculations, as one single. The result was that "Come Together"/"Something" topped the American charts for a week, before eventually falling out of the charts about two months later (on the concurrent Cash Box singles chart, which continued to measure the performance on both sides of a single separately, "Something" peaked at number two while "Come Together" spent three weeks at number one). The single was certified Gold just three weeks after its initial release, but was not heard of again in terms of sales until 1999, when it was declared Platinum.^[19]

In the UK, "Something" came out on 31 October. It was the first Beatles' single to have a Harrison song on the A-side, and it was also The Beatles' first single to feature songs already available on an album.^[21] "Something" first entered the chart on 8 November, eventually peaking at number four, before falling out of the charts three months after its initial release. In the UK Shirley Bassey's version also reached #4.^[22]

Although Harrison himself had been dismissive of the song—he later said that he "put it on ice for about six months because I thought 'that's too easy'"^[23]—Lennon and McCartney both stated that they held "Something" in high regard. Lennon said "I think that's about the best track on the album, actually", while McCartney said "For me I think it's the best he's written."^[3] Both had largely ignored Harrison's compositions prior to "Something", with their own songs taking much of the limelight. Lennon later explained:

Awards[link]

In 1970, the same year The Beatles announced they had split, "Something" received the Ivor Novello Award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically.^[25] "Something" continues to garner accolades from the musical establishment decades after its release, with the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) website naming it as the 64th-greatest song ever. According to the BBC, "Something" shows more clearly than any other song in The Beatles' canon that there were three great songwriters in the band rather than just two."^[23] The Beatles' official website itself said that "Something" "underlined the ascendancy of George Harrison as a major song writing force".^[26] In 1999, Broadcast Music Incorporated (BMI) named "Something" as the 17th-most performed song of the 20th century, with five million performances in all. Other Beatles' songs on the list were "Yesterday" and "Let It Be", both written by Paul McCartney (though attributed to Lennon and McCartney).^[27] In 2004, "Something" was ranked number 273 on Rolling Stone's list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". In 2010, the magazine ranked it #6 on The Beatles' 100 Greatest Songs.^[28]

Cover versions[link]

With more than 150 versions, "Something" is the second most covered Beatles' song after "Yesterday".^[4] It began accumulating cover versions from other artists almost immediately after its release by The Beatles. Lena Horne recorded a cover version in November 1969 for the album she recorded with guitarist Gabor Szabo, Lena and Gabor. Other cover versions soon appeared, including versions from Elvis Presley (who included it in his Aloha from Hawaii TV special), Phish, Frank Sinatra, Ike & Tina Turner, The O'Jays, James Brown, Smokey Robinson and Ray Charles. Despite having written the song with Charles in mind, Harrison's favorite version was Brown's. Of Brown's recording, Harrison said:

Frank Sinatra was particularly impressed with "Something", calling it "the greatest love song ever written". Apart from performing "Something" numerous times in concert, Sinatra recorded the song twice: in the late 1960s as a single for Reprise (this version later appeared on Frank Sinatra's Greatest Hits, Vol. 2), and in 1980 for Trilogy: Past Present Future. During live performances, the singer was known to mistakenly introduce "Something" as a Lennon–McCartney composition, however, by 1978, had begun correctly citing Harrison as its author.^[29] Harrison would go on to adopt Sinatra's minor lyrical change (the song's bridge, "you stick around now, it may show" was changed to "You stick around, Jack, she might show") for his own live performances.^[30]

A successful version was recorded by Shirley Bassey, released in 1970 as the title single to her album, of the same name. It was her biggest UK hit for many years, reaching No.4 and spending 22 weeks on the chart. It also reached No.6 on the US AC Chart.

A version by country singer Johnny Rodriguez reached the top 10 of the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart in the spring of 1974.^[31] Barbara Mandrell covered the song on her 1974 album This Time I Almost Made It. In 2002, after Harrison's death, McCartney performed the song using just a ukulele on his "Back in The US" and "Back in the World" tours. McCartney and Eric Clapton performed "Something" at the Concert for George on 30 November 2002, a performance which was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals.^[32] The song was also performed as a tribute to Harrison by McCartney in 2008 at the Liverpool Sound Concert, performing the song in a similar fashion to that of the Concert for George: starting off with only a ukulele for accompaniment, then after the bridge, being joined by the full band to conclude the song similarly to that of the original recording.^[33][34][35] Bob Dylan likewise played the song live as a tribute to Harrison following his death.^[36][37] Musiq Soulchild also covered the song from 2002's Juslisen album.

Live performances (by Harrison)[link]

In 1971, Harrison played this song in The Concert for Bangladesh with Eric Clapton, Ringo, and many others. Although the guitar solo differed from the studio version, it was in the key of C#, while the lyrics remained the same. The new guitar solo was very similar to the guitar intro to the Live in Japan version of this song.

In 1991, George and Eric Clapton played "Something" live in Japan and in London, such that the third verse gets repeated after the bridge is played again, but without the guitar solo. This was also done in the Concert for George.

Personnel[link]

The Beatles

• George Harrison – lead and rhythm guitars, lead vocals
• John Lennon – piano
• Paul McCartney – bass guitar, backing vocals
• Ringo Starr – drums

Additional personnel

• George Martin – string arrangement
• Billy Preston – Hammond organ

References[link]

External links[link]

• "Something" singles at Discogs
• Alan W. Pollack's Notes on "Something"

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Eulaulah Donyll Hathaway (born December 16, 1968)^[1] best known as Lalah Hathaway referred to as the First Daughter of Soul, is a contemporary R&B and jazz singer. She is the daughter of soul singer Donny Hathaway and a classically trained vocalist. In 1990, Lalah Hathaway released a self-titled album. The album's first single was "Heaven Knows", produced by Derek Bramble. The follow-up single was "Baby Don't Cry" produced by Angela Winbush.

In 1991, Hathaway released her extended play, Night & Day in Japan. A Moment was released in 1994, debuting at #34 on the Top R&B albums chart. The lead single "Let Me Love You" charted on the Hot R&B charts at #37. In 1999, Lalah Hathaway collaborated with Joe Sample and released her third album The Song Lives On. After a five year hiatus, Hathaway returned with her fourth album Outrun the Sky. The single "Forever, For Always, For Love" peaked #1 on the Hot Adult R&B Airplay.

In 2007, Hathaway signed to Stax Records and in 2008 released her fifth album Self Portrait. It was released on June 3, 2008 in the United States, debuted at #63 on the Billboard's Hot 200 and reached the top ten on the Top R&B albums chart, making this album, Hathaway's most successful album to date. She received a Best Female R&B Vocal Performance Grammy Award nomination for "That Was Then".

Early life and career beginnings[link]

Lalah Hathaway was born in Chicago, Illinois, on December 16, 1968. Hathaway is the daughter of Donny Hathaway, an R&B and soul singer, and Eulaulah Hathaway, an accomplished musician. In 1979, Hathaway lost her father, Donny Hathaway at the age of ten. His body did not have any indication of struggle, and the glass from the window in Hathaway's room had been removed; investigators determined Hathaway had committed suicide.

The Chicago native first put pen to paper, "with the music," as a 10th grader. In 1989, Hathaway signed to Virgin Records and released her first song "Inside the Beat", which was released as a promo single. Later, as a student at Berklee College of Music, she recorded her self-titled debut in 1990.

Recording career[link]

[edit] Lalah Hathaway and A Moment (1990-1995)

In 1990, Lalah Hathaway released her self-titled debut album. The album debuted at #191 on the Billboard Hot 200 and #18 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts.^[2] The album's lead single Heaven Knows became a top ten single peaking at #3 on the Hot R&B charts. The album's second single "Baby Don't Cry" only charted at #18 on the Hot R&B charts. The follow-up single "I'm Coming Back" was less successful, possibly due to the lack of a music video. The album's final single "Something" debuted at #21 on the Hot R&B charts. In 1991, Hathaway released an EP entitled Night & Day. The EP was only released in Japan but the single "Night & Day" was released in America. "Night & Day"' debuted at #110 on the Hot R&B charts. In 1992, Hathaway appeared on Grover Washington's album "Next Exit". The song, "Love Like This", which featured vocals from Lalah Hathaway, was chosen to be the lead single off the album. The single charted at #31 on the Hot R&B charts.

In 1994, Hathaway followed up her success with her second album, A Moment, which debuted at #34 on the Top R&B albums chart and #23 on the Heatseekers chart.^[2] The release of her second album saw Hathaway embracing an even more progressive sound as producer Brian Alexander Morgan was enlisted for her upbeat lead single "Let Me Love You", which debuted at the #37 on the Hot R&B charts. Later that year, the songs "Separate Ways" and "Family Affair" were released as singles, although neither charted. The album did not sell as well as her first release and eventually Hathaway left Virgin.

[edit] The Song Lives On (1998-2000)

She continued working with many other established artists, including Take 6, Mary J. Blige, The Winans, and Marcus Miller, writing, producing and doing background vocals. In 1999, Hathaway joined GRP Records and collaborated with jazz legend Joe Sample on the album The Song Lives On. The Song Lives On, topped the jazz charts at #2.^[2] The album became Hathaway's second debut on the Billboard's Hot 200 and later charted on Top R&B album chart.^[2] The single "When Your Life Was Low" charted only on the Hot R&B charts at #118. The album's second single "Fever" failed to chart.

The Song Lives On went on to become one of Hathaway and Joe Sample's most successful album to chart. In response to the album's success, Hathaway and Sample were honored with Billboard/BET On Jazz Award for "Mainstream Jazz Album".^[3]

[edit] Outrun the Sky (2003-2006)

In 2003, Lalah Hathaway appeared alongside Sanctuary, Pyramid, Mesa, and Blue Moon Records. In 2004, Hathaway released a cover version of Luther Vandross's song "Forever, For Always, For Love". The song later appeared on the all-star tribute album "Forever, For Always, For Luther" and on Hathaway's fourth album Outrun the Sky. The song was released the lead single and peaked #1 on the Adult R&B charts. Forever, For Always, For Love became Hathaway's first single to chart on the Billboard's Hot 100, charting at #112 and #37 on the Hot R&B charts. Hathaway's first solo album in five years featured production from Rex Rideout, Mike City, and Chris Parks.^[4] The album's second single "Better and Better" peaked #121 on the Hot R&B charts.

Also in 2004, Hathaway was featured on Donald Lawrence's debut solo album I Speak Life as a lead vocalist on "Don't Forget to Remember". In 2005, Hathaway was seen on the international Daughters of Soul tour along with Sandra St. Victor, Nona Hendryx, Indira Khan, Simone, and Joyce Kennedy.^[5] Continuing her forays into the gospel realm, she could be found on Israel and New Breed's 2006 Chr*stmas album A Timeless Chr*stmas, which also featured Marcus Miller.

[edit] Stax and Self Portrait (2007-2009)

The recently re-launched Stax Records label had announced signing Hathaway. Hathaway stated, "The foundation of soul music is rooted in Stax Records. Working with Maurice White on the Interpretations project was more than special to me. There is no higher compliment than to be signed to a label whose music is timeless. I'm proud to carry the torch that will continue to bring quality soul music to a new audience."^[6]

Her first release from Stax was the single "Love's Holiday," from the Earth, Wind & Fire tribute album Interpretations.^[7] In April 2008, Hathaway released her lead single Let Go, which debut at #51 on the Hot R&B charts and #16 on the Hot Adult R&B charts. In June 2008, Hathaway's debut for Stax Records, Self Portrait was released. Collaborating again with producer Rex Rideout on much of the album and working with such artists as Rahsaan Patterson and Sandra St. Victor, Self Portrait became her most successful album to date, debuting at #6 Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and #63 on the Billboard's Hot 200. The album sold over 9,400 copies in the first week.^[2][8]

After the release of Self Portrait, Hathaway went on tour, which began in July 2008.^[9] The Self Portrait Tour was singer Lalah Hathaway's second solo concert tour, intended to showcase songs from her debut solo album, Self Portrait. The concert tour contained ten tour dates in American and collection of songs from her previous albums, Lalah Hathaway and Outrun the Sky, and few songs from her present album, Self Portrait. The tour only reached America. In late 2008, "That Was Then" was released as the album's second single. The single debut at #105 on the Hot R&B charts and #32 on the Hot Adult R&B Airplay.^[10]

In November 2008, Hathaway joined Will Downing and Gerald Albright for the Soulful Chr*stmas Tour. The tour, which kicked off on November 28 at the Detroit Opera House, appeared in the places of Washington, D.C., Memphis, Dallas, Houston, Indianapolis, Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia, St. Louis, and Atlanta.^[11] In January 2009, Hathaway appeared on BETJ in an interview and performed before an audience. Lalah Hathaway continued to support the album and she is currently schedule to perform at the Capital Jazz Festival in Columbia, MD, Essence Music Festival in New Orleans, LA, and Circle of Promise, which took place in July 2009.^[12] In December, 2009 she won the Song of the Year award in the SoulTracks Readers' Choice Award for her duet with DC singer Eric Roberson, "Dealing."^[13]

[edit] Where It All Begins (2011)

On August 14, 2011, Lalah Hathaway took to her Twitter account to release a free download of "If You Want To,"^[14] the debut single from her sixth studio album Where It All Begins releasing October 18, 2011.^[15]

Musical style and image[link]

Music and voice[link]

Hathaway, an alto and contralto, has always been identified as the eldest daughter of her father Donny Hathaway. Hathaway's longest singing note held for 17 seconds in the performance of "Forever, For Always, For Love". In many reviews, Lalah is often compared to her father and reviewed to be continuing his vocal style. Lalah has often been criticized^[who?] for not covering any of her father's songs, although she has appeared on others' recorded covers, such as Take 6's rendition of "Someday We'll All Be Free". Singer Natalie Cole actually stated that Lalah should herself cover at least one song, however, Hathaway replied with statement that she feels she doesn't need to. Hathaway also mentioned during the recording process of her fifth studio album, that she doesn't want to fit into the music industry's current music. Lalah stated, "I don't necessarily want to fit into what’s happening now, but I want to stand with it, doing my own thing. I would really love it if people need the record. I put a lot of myself into this album, so I hope people can hear me and understand who I am."^[16]

Although she has created a space for herself, it's not surprising that Hathaway remains connected to her late father and his classic sound. Lalah Hathaway stated "I am his daughter and that’s the truth of who I am, every day. When I was 15, and then, 20, I didn’t get why people were asking me how I felt about him and his music. But when I turned 25, I began to understand. Like my father, I want to leave a legacy of music that makes people really feel something, whether it be happiness, sadness, grief or heartache. I also want them to appreciate my humor which I know can be difficult to interpret in a song."^[16]

Songwriting and producing[link]

Between album projects, Hathaway, who has recorded collaborations with Marcus Miller, Meshell Ndegéocello, and Mary J. Blige, keeps her creativity nourished by taking to the global stage and contributing her voice to Daughters of Soul Tour, a musical mélange founded by comrade Sandra St. Victor, and featuring Nona Hendryx, Joyce Kennedy as well as Indira and Simone, daughters of Chaka Khan and Nina Simone.^[16]

While it might seem that "On Your Own" from Self Portrait, which re-teams her with Rex Rideout and Rahsaan Patterson, is inspired by a past heartbreak, in fact, the idea for the song came to her in a dream. While Lalah Hathaway is often known for singing down tempo songs, during the period of 2004 and 2008, Hathaway has done mid-tempo songs such as "Let Go", "Let Me Love You", and "Better and Better". Keeping in step with the theme of her family, Hathaway often journeys back to her childhood with "Little Girl", which she co-produced with Rex Rideout, Rahsaan Patterson, and Sandra St. Victor.^[16]

Stage[link]

On stage, Hathaway performs the songs longer than the album version with new arrangements. In concert, the stage mainly consists of Lalah Hathaway, the back-up singers, and the band. Often at audience's request, the vocals would be turned higher than band. Hathaway's band would often consist of a keyboardist, guitarist, bassist, and drummer. Most songs would last over approximately five minutes. Dawn! E. Robinson of VocalMusician.com attended a Hathaway in concert and reviewed stating, "The sound in the house was strange – the band was really too loud all evening. Even when the sound guy turned LALAH’s vocals up (at the audience's request) the band got louder. I got the impression that the sound onstage was good though, because none of the singers appeared to be over-singing."^[17] Hathaway appeared with her band on Prince's Welcome to America opening concert at the Izod Center, December 15, 2010.

Other Ventures[link]

Philanthropy[link]

Lalah Hathaway is one of the National Ambassadors for the Circle of Promise. Launched in October 2007, the campaign was created by Susan G. Komen for the Cure to educate, empower and mobilize the African-American community in the fight against breast cancer.

"The rate of Black women and girls diagnosed with breast cancer is rising at an alarming rate," said Hathaway. "We are fighting a common enemy. Knowledge and having a take-charge mindset and attitude are critical weapons in the fight against this deadly disease. I became active because I want to be an ambassador of change. If I tell seven of my friends and they tell seven of their friends and so on, the circle will continue to expand and we'll create a chorus of voices within the African-American community to eradicate breast cancer. I truly believe that this is a goal we can achieve together." The Circle of Promise is nationally represented by several phenomenal African American women. Hathaway has raised money on her tours and record sales to help find a cure for women with breast cancer. She has also influenced women to get tested and tell family members to be aware of the cancer.^[18]

Discography[link]

Albums[link]