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All Together Now

Song by The Beatles • Lennon–McCartney

Yellow Submarine (1969) — Pop-art primary blocks for the animated film.

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Background

All Together Now is a song by The Beatles, written by Lennon–McCartney and led on vocal by Paul McCartney. Children's singalong written for the film; banjo-uke jaunt. Within the catalogue, its singalong thread connects it to Yellow Submarine.

What's distinctive

One of 65 UK songs led primarily by Paul. Recorded approximately 2 of 11 into the Yellow Submarine (1969) sessions. Carries the unique tag 'banjo-uke' — no other UK song shares it.

Opening line — "One, two, three, four…" (brief identification excerpt; full lyrics © Sony Music Publishing — see Genius link in References.)

P Paul McCartney — lead vocalJ Lennon — rhythm guitarP McCartney — bassG Harrison — lead guitarR Starr — drums

Recording

The session work falls within the band's Yellow Submarine (1969) period, recorded 12 May 1967 at EMI Studios. George Martin produced; Geoff Emerick (1967 sessions); George Martin orchestral score side B engineered. The track was committed to Studer J37 four-track via the REDD.51, with the era's standard signal chain — EMI RS124, EMT 140, Fairchild 660, ADT, Leslie. Likely instrumental setup followed the era's working kit: Epiphone Casino, Hammond organ, Mellotron, harpsichord (Martin), amplified through Vox AC100, Fender Showman. For session-by-session detail, see Mark Lewisohn's account on p.112 of The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions (excerpt below).

Recording process — typical signal flow for the Yellow Submarine (1969)
DemoBackingOverdubsVocalsMix
Studio: EMI Studios • Console: REDD.51 • Tape: Studer J37 four-track
StudioEMI Studios — Studio Two/Three (for the band tracks); CTS for orchestral score
Tape machineStuder J37 four-track
ConsoleREDD.51
MicrophonesU47/U48, AKG C12, STC 4038
Outboard / effectsEMI RS124, EMT 140, Fairchild 660, ADT, Leslie
GuitarsEpiphone Casino, Hammond organ, Mellotron, harpsichord (Martin)
AmplifiersVox AC100, Fender Showman
ProducerGeorge Martin
Engineer / 2ndGeoff Emerick (1967 sessions); George Martin orchestral score side B • Phil McDonald, Ken Scott
E: Geoff Emerick. 2E: Richard Lush. It must have been the effect of the previous night's work at Olympic which made the Beatles start, finish and mix (for mono) another new song in one evening session – and a short one at that, less than six hours. There was no producer on this occasion however, although Geoff Emerick…— Mark Lewisohn, The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions, p.112

Pattern analysis

Lead vocalists across Yellow Submarine
13
Instrumental 7
Lennon 2
Harrison 2
McCartney 1
Starr 1
Theme prevalence across the canon
singalong2children2banjo-uke1counting-song1
Track length percentile — All Together Now sits at the 25th percentile (median 2:33)
shorter ←→ longer2:11
Recorded 12 May 1967 — position on the band's studio chronology
196219631964196519661967196819691970

Legacy & release history

In the UK canonical discography it appears on the LP Yellow Submarine. Documented alternate versions include 2009 Stereo Remasters. Mono and stereo histories vary by era — see the dedicated section below.

Mono & stereo

Documented alternate versions

Released on

Cross-references

Other songs sharing themes (singalong, banjo-uke, counting-song, children)

Other songs led by the same vocalist

Other songs from this era

singalongbanjo-ukecounting-songchildren

References & external databases

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