| "One After 909" | |
|---|---|
 Cover of the song's sheet music | |
| Song bythe Beatles | |
| from the albumLet It Be | |
| Released | 8 May 1970 |
| Recorded | 30 January 1969[citation needed] |
| Genre | |
| Length | 2:52 |
| Label | Apple |
| Songwriter(s) | Lennon–McCartney |
| Producer(s) | Phil Spector |
| Audio sample | |
"One After 909" (sometimes entitled "The One After 909" in early recordings) is a song by the English rock bandthe Beatles from their 1970 albumLet It Be. It was written byJohn Lennon, with input fromPaul McCartney, and credited to theirjoint partnership. The album version is the live performance from therooftop concert which took place on 30 January 1969. This performance is also included in theLet It Be film. The song was written no later than spring 1960[2] and perhaps as early as 1957, and is one of the first Lennon–McCartney compositions. "One After 909" is perhaps more reminiscent of early Americanrock and roll 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.
In his 1980Playboy 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."[3][4]
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 9:09, she got the one after it."[5]
John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison first recorded the song in early 1960 underThe Quarrymen name, but the recording does not survive.[6] In mid-1960, the Beatles recorded the song again, on a home demos tape, but the recording has not been officially released.[7]
On 5 March 1963, the Beatles recorded a version of the song in five takes during the same session that produced their third single, "From Me to You", and itsB-side "Thank You Girl". They were unhappy with the result and that version was not released at the time.[8] Various takes from the 5 March session, and an edit of them, were released in 1995 on theAnthology 1 compilation.[9]
The song was then shelved for six years, until the Beatles re-recorded it in January 1969 for theirGet Back project, and the rooftop concert performance of the song was released onLet It Be.[10] "One After 909" is also included on 2003'sLet It Be... Naked, in a remixed and remastered version of the concert take. A preceding studio take of the song from January 1969 (take three) was released as part of the2021 re-release ofLet It Be.[11]
Let It Be (1970, recorded 1969)[edit]According toMark Lewisohn:[12] The Beatles
Additional musician | Anthology 1 (1995, recorded 1963)[edit]According toIan MacDonald:[13] The Beatles
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The song has been covered by various artists includingRicky Nelson,Terry Manning,Laibach,Willie Nelson,Helen Reddy,Carmen Rasmusen, theLong Ryders, andThe Smithereens.James Apollo recorded a version of the song in 2010 forMojo's 40th Anniversary recreationLet It Be Revisited.Caspar Babypants released a children's version in 2015.
