One After 909

"One After 909"
Song by The Beatles from the album Let It Be
Released	8 May 1970
Recorded	30 January 1969 (Rooftop concert)
Genre	Rock and roll
Length	2:52 (Original LP)
Label	Apple, Parlophone, EMI
Writer	Lennon–McCartney
Producer	Phil Spector
Let It Be track listing
12 tracks Side one "Two of Us" "Dig a Pony" "Across the Universe" "I Me Mine" "Dig It" "Let It Be" "Maggie Mae" Side two "I've Got a Feeling" "One After 909" "The Long and Winding Road" "For You Blue" "Get Back"
Music sample "One After 909"

"One After 909" (sometimes titled The One After 909 in early recordings) is a song by The Beatles, written by John Lennon, with input from Paul McCartney (credited to Lennon–McCartney), and originally released in 1970 on the album Let It Be. The album version is the live performance from the rooftop concert which took place on 30 January 1969. This performance is also included in the Let It Be film. The song was written as early as 1957, and is one of the first Lennon/McCartney compositions. "One After 909" is also a more American rock-and-roll sounding song than any of the other songs from the rooftop show, and as a joke for the rooftop chatter, Lennon sings a variant on the opening line of "Danny Boy" after the song is finished that is unable to be entirely made out.

Origin

In his 1980 Playboy interview, Lennon explained, "That was something I wrote when I was about seventeen. I lived at 9 Newcastle Road. I was born on the ninth of October, the ninth month [sic]. It's just a number that follows me around, but, numerologically, apparently I'm a number six or a three or something, but it's all part of nine."^[1][2]

McCartney said, "It's not a great song but it's a great favourite of mine because it has great memories for me of John and I trying to write a bluesy freight-train song. There were a lot of those songs at the time, like 'Midnight Special', 'Freight Train', 'Rock Island Line', so this was the 'One After 909'; she didn't get the 909, she got the one after it."^[3]

Different versions

The Beatles recorded a version of the song on 5 March 1963 during the same session that produced their third single, "From Me to You," and its B-side "Thank You Girl." They were unhappy with the result and that version was not released at the time.^[4] Various takes from the 5 March session, and an edit of them, were released in 1995 on the Anthology 1 compilation.^[5]

"One After 909" is included on 2003's Let It Be... Naked, a remixed and remastered version of the original 1969 session tapes.

Personnel

• John Lennon – rhythm guitar, lead vocals
• Paul McCartney – bass guitar, harmony vocals
• George Harrison – lead guitar
• Ringo Starr – drums
• Billy Preston – electric piano (Let It Be and Let It Be... Naked versions)
• Stuart Sutcliffe – bass guitar (The Quarrymen At Home version)

Cover versions

The song has been covered by various artists including Ricky Nelson, Terry Manning, Laibach, Willie Nelson, Carmen Rasmusen, and The Smithereens. James Apollo recorded a version of the song in 2010, for Mojo's 40th Anniversary recreation Let It Be Revisited.

Notes

1. ^ Sheff, David (2000). All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono. New York: St. Martin's Press. p. 204. ISBN 0-312-25464-4. 
2. ^ "Let It Be". Beatles Interview Database. http://www.beatlesinterviews.org/dba12let.html. Retrieved 2009-09-09. 
3. ^ Miles, Barry (1997). Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now. New York: Henry Holt and Company. p. 536. ISBN 0-8050-5249-6. 
4. ^ Lewisohn, Mark (1988). The Beatles Recording Sessions. New York: Harmony Books. p. 28. ISBN 0-517-57066-1. 
5. ^ Lewisohn, Mark (1994). Album notes for Anthology 1 by The Beatles, pp. 20–21 [booklet]. London: Apple Records (31796).

External links

• Alan W. Pollack's Notes on "One After 909"