You Never Give Me Your Money by The Beatles Song Info
"You Never Give Me Your Money" is a song written by Paul McCartney (credited to Lennon/McCartney) and recorded by The Beatles for their 1969 album Abbey Road. The track opens the climactic medley on side two of the album. Background McCartney had been largely responsible for the group's direction and projects since the death of manager Brian Epstein in 1967, but he began to realise that the group dynamic of the Beatles was unraveling. He was particularly unhappy at the others, who wanted manager Allen Klein to help resolve financial matters. McCartney later said that the song was written with Klein in mind, saying "it's basically a song about no faith in the person". Realising that Abbey Road could be the group's last album, McCartney and George Martin decided to combine various portions of tracks into a medley, which would act as a climactic finale of the group's career. Some musical segments of "You Never Give Me Your Money" were reused for the "Golden Slumbers" / "Carry That Weight" portion of the medley, including the opening verses and later guitar arpeggios. Recording The Beatles recorded 26 takes of "You Never Give Me Your Money" on 6 May 1969, with McCartney on piano and vocals, John Lennon and George Harrison on guitar and Ringo Starr on drums. At this early stage the song ended abruptly prior to the "One two three four five six seven" refrain. On 1 July, McCartney overdubbed lead vocals onto take 30, and added more vocals and chimes on 15 July. "You Never Give Me Your Money" was originally to segue into "Sun King" with a long organ note. This was recorded along with more vocals on 30 July. They were scrapped the following day, when McCartney completed the song by adding bass guitar and piano. The "Sun King" crossfade was completed on 5 August with a series of tape loops containing the sounds of bells, birds, bubbles and insects.
