Polythene Pam/She Came In Through The Bathroom Window- The Beatles (Guitar Cover) Abbey Road Medley

These two songs were recorded together on July 25th, 1969 for the side two medley on Abbey Road (aka The Long One). The lineup was Paul McCartney on bass guitar, John Lennon on Framus Hootenanny 12-string acoustic guitar, George Harrison on lead electric guitar, and Ringo Starr on drums

The Framus Hootenanny was the same 12-string heard on classic songs earlier in their career- Help, I've Just Seen A Face, I'm A Loser, and You've Got To Hide Your Love Away. After retiring it around 1965-67, John brought it back, just for these two songs

It's not 100% clear which guitar George Harrison used for these sessions, it was either his 'Lucy' Les Paul or his Rosewood Telecaster. The beginning of Polythene Pam features a very warm crunchy neck pickup part, which sounds more characteristic of a Les Paul. But his guitar solo at 0:48 is very bright and more Fender-y sounding

George was definitely plugged into a Fender Twin Reverb amp, the main amp used on Abbey Road. They are 85 watts and very loud. It is harder to make these amps crunch up, especially with a single coil Fender. I concluded that George used his Les Paul, but that he used very bright settings on the amp

There is a slapback-delay effect on George's guitar throughout the song, which was applied after the recording session using tape machines. During the Polythene Pam guitar solo you also hear volume swells happening at various points. This was also done after the recording session using console faders, not with a volume pedal. I confirmed this by listening to the original mix of the Medley, heard on the Abbey Road super deluxe box set. There were no volume swells at that stage of mixing

George overdubbed a second guitar for the descending lines, which segues the first song into the second. At 1:13 you hear the overdubbed guitar, which is very crunchy and definitely sounds like a Les Paul

Here are some interesting guitar parts that occur-
0:11 George slides up to only the 11th fret (Eb instead of E)
0:18 John mistakenly pauses, playing a C chord quieter
0:31 George slides up to only the 11th fret again (Eb instead of E)
0:37 George mistakenly hits an F note on the D-string 15th fret
0:49 George switches to bridge pickup for the guitar solo
1:33 George switches to middle position pickup for one line
2:01 John ends his A chord later than George
2:37 George switches to middle position for one line
2:52 John mistakenly plays a Bb note in his D minor (3rd fret G)

I'm using my 1967 Gibson B-25-12 acoustic guitar for John's part. It has a smaller body size, like the Hootenanny. I'm mic'ing it with a Neumann TLM-103 condenser. The Beatles almost exclusively mic'd their acoustics with Neumann U67's and 87's

For George's guitar parts I'm using my 2005 Gibson Les Paul Standard. It's plugged into an Analogman King of Tone overdrive pedal, into my 1974 Fender Pro Reverb amp. I turned the bright switch ON for the main guitar part

I'm using an Abbey Road J37 Tape plug-in for the slapback delay effect. It is set to 195ms. I also manually created volume swells in Pro Tools, for his Polythene Pam guitar solo

My Gear:
1967 Gibson B-25-12
2005 Gibson Les Paul Standard (OX4 Pickups)
Analogman King of Tone (boost side for main guitar, drive side for overdubbed guitar)
1974 Fender Pro Reverb (Weber 12F150 Speakers)
Neumann TLM-103

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#guitarlesson #thebeatles #guitarcover

[Luciano]

Definitely George Harrison had a magic touch.

[wet_]

It used to be a stupid theory, but now I'm starting to be sure that George's and John's souls live inside this man's body.

[edmondlau]

She Came In Through The Bathroom Window is THE song that made me want to play electric guitar. John was awesome with the rhythm and really drove the song. The lead guitar was just magical on this song. George was so perfect with his sense of timing of when to play what. His guitar parts never overshadowed the song, the guitar complemented the songs perfectly.

[sbarber]

Hearing side 2 of Abbey Road changed my life. Awesome covers lately

[The_Walrus_Was_Paul_]

George’s lead work on She Came In Through The Bathroom is amazing, some of his best. Great cover as usual.

[paninovevo]

I've always loved that electric guitar lick 01:23

[paulbfields]

Simple elegance.. George never practiced.. just showed up and did THIS.. and you presented it perfectly.. thank you

[TheTralfaz]

One can easily suspend disbelief and imagine they're watching actual Beatles operate these guitars....because its so spot on. amazing detail

[Samuel]

This little delay, this tone. Man, everything is perfect. Cheers from a brazilian beatles fan 🇧🇷🤘🏻

[myvalium]

I always appreciated George’s contribution to the songs, but your videos really highlight how creative he was. Super job!!!

[rockturtleneck]

Fantastic job, well done as always. I continue to be fascinated by George's guitar parts. He seems to find a completely unique style for every song.

[basementbeatle]

Awesome work. Polythene Pam probably one of the best Beatles rock songs, very short but very underrated. And you mastered it

[JacobKMusics]

This man continues to have it! 🔥 🔥 🔥 Someone give this man a cold beer, he’s earned it!

[chramos]

The Beatles are beautiful, touching and "simple" at the same time ❤

[brilko]

Once again perfection Sam! Really like Georges part! AND a 12 string Hotennany for authenticity …. wow!

[guyrozeppeli]

Best beatles covers i've ever heard

[paulgarstki]

Just beautiful work, as always! Love the way you nailed the 12-string sound.

[DOGMAN]

Abby Road is the Beatles musical peak and made possible by George Harrison's amazing guitar playing.

[curtis]

This sounds amazing Sam! I never realized how much slapback delay there was on George’s parts, and also those fills that he does on SCITTBW actually look a lot trickier then they sound! As always, keep up the great work man!

[evpastsherm]

Learned how to play John’s part just by watching this video. Thank you Sam. Now I need to get my hands on a 12 string.