All Together Now

Some of it is put as a question ('Can I have a little more?'), and the lyric touches the motifs of color and happiness. It is a list song, most at home in the Beatles' 1968 writing. The writing reaches for onomatopoeia ('Bom bom bom bompa bom'), 11 songs use it, the first of them 6 years before this one. A curiosity, the title comes in the chorus, and the language is full of nonsense words. Oddly enough, the line "Five six seven eight nine" turns up in one other Beatles song, 'Kansas City / Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey!'.

In G major at roughly 100 BPM, 'All Together Now' is a children's and music hall song, with skiffle influences. The tune carries call and response, one voice asking and the rest answering (backing 'All together now' answers lead), and it is on more of the Beatles' 1963 records than any other year's. Also, the record features group vocals.

Built layer by layer with party-style backing vocals from whoever was around the studio, plus John on ukulele and harmonica. That Rickenbacker 4001S is McCartney's bass, most at home in their 1967 writing. They worked with the Ludwig Super Classic drum kit and the Epiphone Texan FT-79, which had not been on a Beatles record for four years. Double tracked vocal shaped the finished record, as on 139 of their records. 1967 brought 25 songs, and this was the 16th of them, the 137th record of their career.

McCartney wrote it and shares the lead with Lennon. The record has Lennon on ukulele, McCartney on french horn and percussion and Starr on finger cymbals, a role swap, and harmonica is in there too. You can hear a zill on it. The backing vocals in the mix are party-style, whoever was around, most at home in their 1968 writing.

This track came out with Yellow Submarine on January 17, 1969. This is the Beatles' 178th record, and the 2nd of the 26 they released in 1969.