Oh! Darling

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."{{sfn|The Beatles|2000|p=339}} 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".{{sfn|Dowlding|1989|p=282}}

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."{{sfn|Sheff|2000|p=203}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.beatlesbible.com/songs/oh-darling/|title=Oh! Darling|date=16 March 2008|website=The Beatles Bible}} The song is in the key of A major.{{Cite web|url=https://inwhatkey.com/song/oh-darling-by-the-beatles|title=Key of Oh! Darling by The Beatles | In what key?|website=inwhatkey.com}}{{Cite web |title=Alan W. Pollack's Notes on "Oh! Darling" |url=https://www.icce.rug.nl/~soundscapes/DATABASES/AWP/od.shtml |access-date=2024-05-26 |website=www.icce.rug.nl}}{{Cite web |title=Oh Darling by The Beatles Chords, Melody, and Music Theory Analysis - Hooktheory |url=https://www.hooktheory.com/theorytab/view/the-beatles/oh-darling#:~:text=Oh%20Darling%20is%20written%20in,common%20choice%20for%20popular%20songs. |access-date=2024-05-26 |website=www.hooktheory.com}}

George Harrison described the song as "a typical 1950s–'60s-period song because of its chord structure".{{sfn|Bernard|1993|p=106}}

The basic track was recorded on 20 April 1969. There were many overdub sessions, including McCartney's attempts at the lead vocal.{{sfn|Lewisohn|1988|p=174}} According to Ian MacDonald, the backing vocals were "exquisite", but "sadly underplayed in the mix".{{sfn|MacDonald|2005|p=350}} Engineer Geoff Emerick recalled that McCartney sang while the backing track played over speakers, instead of headphones, because he wanted to feel as though he was singing to a live audience.{{cite web|title=67 - 'Oh! Darling'|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/100-greatest-beatles-songs-20110919/oh-darling-19691231|work=100 Greatest Beatles Songs|publisher=Rolling Stone|access-date=18 June 2012}} The song was performed live by Paul McCartney and the Pretenders' Chrissie Hynde during a memorial concert for Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins on 3 September 2022.

McCartney first recorded a demo of "Oh! Darling" at Twickenham Studios on 16 January 1969 during the Get Back sessions without the other Beatles being present, as the Twickenham set they had been using was being dismantled due to their moving the sessions to Apple Corps' headquarters.The Beatles: Get Back. Episode 2, directed by Peter Jackson, produced by Apple Corps Ltd. and WingNut Films. 2021. After an early attempt at the song by the band on 27 January 1969, 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.{{sfn|Lewisohn|1988|p=168}} The song and the following improvisation are included on the Beatles Anthology 3 album, released in 1996. This version also features a keyboard part played by Billy Preston.{{Cite AV media notes |title=Anthology 3 |year=1996 |title-link=Anthology 3 |type=liner notes |author=The Beatles}}

"Oh! Darling" is a rhythm and blues song incorporating elements of doo-wop and the New Orleans rhythm and blues sound popularised during the 1950s and early 1960s by musicians such as Fats Domino;{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yU2WDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA53|page=53|title=Solid State: The Story of "Abbey Road" and the End of the Beatles|author=Kenneth Womack|publisher=Cornell University Press|date= 15 Oct 2019|isbn=9781501746864}} it also seems to have drawn on the Louisiana swamp blues sound found in songs like Slim Harpo's "Rainin' in My Heart" and Charles Brown's "Please Come Home for Christmas". Furthermore, it may have drawn on the related Louisiana genre known today as swamp pop, whose distinctive sound bears an uncanny resemblance to the basic structure of "Oh! Darling" – so much so that some in Louisiana originally thought the song had been recorded by a local musician.{{sfn|Bernard|1993|p=106}} (When swamp pop musician John Fred met the Beatles in London in the 1960s, he was shocked to learn that "they were very familiar with Louisiana music."){{sfn|Bernard|1993|pp=107}} Fittingly, swamp pop musician Jay Randall eventually covered "Oh! Darling" for the Lanor label of Church Point, Louisiana.{{sfn|Bernard|1993|pp=106–107}}

According to Ian MacDonald:{{sfn|MacDonald|2005|p=350}}

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

However, the book accompanying the 2019 box set Abbey Road: Super Deluxe Version lists an alternative line-up:{{Cite book|title=Abbey Road (50th Anniversary Super Deluxe Version) (book)|last=Howlett|first=Kevin|publisher=The Beatles Apple Records}}

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

{{Infobox song

| name = Oh! Darling

| cover = Ohdarlingrobingibb.jpg

| alt =

| caption = Picture sleeve for German and Belgian single releases

| type = single

| artist = Robin Gibb, Bee Gees

| album = Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

| B-side = She's Leaving Home

| released = July 1978

| recorded = September 1977

| studio = Cherokee (Hollywood)

| venue =

| genre = Rhythm and blues, soul

| length = 3:29

| label = RSO

| chronology = Robin Gibb

| writer = Lennon–McCartney

| producer = George Martin

| prev_title = August October

| prev_year = 1970

| next_title = Help Me!

| next_year = 1980

| misc = {{extra chronology|type=single

| artist = Bee Gees

| prev_title = If I Can't Have You

| prev_year = 1977

| title = Oh! Darling

| year = 1978

| next_title = Too Much Heaven

| next_year = 1978

}}

}}

In 1978, "Oh! Darling" was released on the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band soundtrack. It was also released as Robin Gibb's fourth solo single. It reached number 15 on the Billboard pop chart and number 22 in the US Adult Contemporary Charts on 7 October 1978.{{cite magazine |url={{BillboardURLbyName|artist=robin gibb|chart=all}}|title=Robin Gibb - Chart history|magazine=Billboard|access-date=14 July 2013}} It was Gibb's highest charting single in the United States.

{{Reflist}}

{{Refbegin|2}}

• {{Cite book

| author=The Beatles

| year=2000

| author-link=The Beatles

| title=The Beatles Anthology

| publisher=Chronicle Books

| location=San Francisco

| isbn=0-8118-2684-8

| url-access=registration

| url=https://archive.org/details/beatlesanthology0000unse

}}

• {{Cite book

| last=Bernard

| first=Shane K.

| year=1993

| title=Swamp Pop: Cajun and Creole Rhythm and Blues

| publisher=University Press of Mississippi

| location=Jackson

}}

• {{Cite book

| last=Dowlding

| first=William J.

| year=1989

| title=Beatlesongs

| publisher=Fireside

| location=New York

| isbn=0-671-68229-6

}}

• {{Cite book

| last=Lewisohn

| first=Mark

| year=1988

| author-link=Mark Lewisohn

| title=The Beatles Recording Sessions

| publisher=Harmony Books

| location=New York

| isbn=0-517-57066-1

}}

• {{Cite book

| last=MacDonald

| first=Ian

| year=2005

| author-link=Ian MacDonald

| title=Revolution in the Head: The Beatles' Records and the Sixties

| publisher=Pimlico (Rand)

| location=London

| edition=Second Revised

| isbn=1-84413-828-3

}}

• {{Cite book

| last=Sheff

| first=David

| year=2000

| author-link=David Sheff

| title=All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono

| publisher=St. Martin's Press

| location=New York

| isbn=0-312-25464-4

| url-access=registration

| url=https://archive.org/details/allwearesayingla00lenn

}}

{{Refend}}

{{Wikiquote|Abbey Road}}

• {{noteson|http://www.icce.rug.nl/~soundscapes/DATABASES/AWP/od.shtml|Oh! Darling}}

• [https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/the-beatles-oh-darling-abbey-road-song/?fbclid=IwAR3XUfQOJZxkorXsLpWWywQ1JRRdSSLnn-QXln-i_nsxsM4lHBJ3rQAgwao_aem_AYnHxVP5oZkTBhYGeVWufVk8wz9Lb_nrKHLGC2UsDVEIv0fKUL00n-fq35OTv3v7OVkcdVvUgLFiODydRnI4lKcmnuMQ8MP1Cz6nglbISug8tG0TrLegA7BU-HEw91N2XNs|"Oh Darling": The Story behind the song (udiscover music|]

{{Abbey Road}}

{{The Beatles singles}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oh Darling}}

Category:The Beatles songs

Category:1969 songs

Category:Song recordings produced by George Martin

Category:Songs written by Lennon–McCartney

Category:Robin Gibb songs

Category:Songs published by Northern Songs

Category:1970 singles

Category:1978 singles

Category:Apple Records singles

Category:RSO Records singles

Category:British hard rock songs

Category:British rock-and-roll songs

Category:Swamp pop music