"Maxwell's Silver Hammer": classic or stinker? The three Beatles who didn't write the song have all discredited the song from 1970's Abbey Road, but Paul McCartney said that it's not so much that they didn't like the song, but rather that he pushed them so hard during its recording.
"I was very keen on it," he said about the song during the latest episode of McCartney: A Life in Lyrics on iHeartPodcasts. "It took a little bit long to record. I remember the guys getting pissed with me."
He continued, "Occasionally, I, in particular, would take too long, 'cause I was trying to get what was in my head [onto the recordings]."
Despite this friction during the session, McCartney added that the recording process was always fun for the group, even toward the end. "Recording sessions were always good, because no matter what our personal troubles were, no matter what was going down, the minute we sat down to make a song, we were good. Our skills came out, so I think we all enjoyed being in this skillful company."
Drummer Ringo Starr once told Rolling Stone, "The worst session ever was 'Maxwell's Silver Hammer.' It was the worst track we ever had to record. It went on for fucking weeks." John Lennon didn't play on the track at all.
Hear the episode of McCartney: A Life in Lyrics below.
