The Beatles were a magical band that featured four great minds: John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. After watching this performance by Carlo Poddighe, it seems he has all four minds at once.
He took the term “multi-instrumentalist” to a new level during a concert at Cavern Club in the Fab Four’s hometown of Liverpool by performing a portion of the B-side medley from “Abbey Road” all on his own. That includes keys, guitar, drums, and vocals.
The fact that he can play them all at once is impressive, but the execution is incredibly musical. Poddighe called it the “most emotional moment” of his set. Judging by the audience reaction, he’s not embellishing.
The clip begins with the opening piano part from “Golden Slumbers,” which he plays with just his right hand. As he starts singing, he adds light timekeeping on the hi-hat and bass notes on the guitar. An effect pedal allows him to play the lower strings of the guitar an octave lower, replicating the original bass lines by Harrison.
As the groove picks up, he picks up a drumstick with his picking hand, hitting the snare between his strums. He then launches into “Carry That Weight,” sounding like a full band as he plays a full drum pattern, the bass line, and the guitar part. He continues the medley into its upbeat final movement, “The End,” complete with a guitar solo.
After the raucous jam, he drops things down to just piano for the iconic lyrics “and in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make.”
The seven-song medley on Abbey Road was put together from bits and pieces of songs at the suggestion of Beatles producer George Martin.
“I wanted to get John and Paul to think more seriously about their music. There would be nothing wrong with making a complete movement of several songs, and having quotes back from other songs in different keys,” he said in an interview. “And even running one song into another contrapuntally, but thinking of those songs in a formal classical way. [I] tried to instruct them in the art of classical music, and explain to them what sonata form was. Paul was all for experimenting like that.”
The recording session, culminating in “The End,” was a last burst of joy and camaraderie from the band.
“The swapping of guitar solos in ‘The End’ was a band brainstorm. Harrison thought a guitar break would make a good climax,” says Jerry A. Coyne. “Lennon suggested he, Harrison, and McCartney all trade licks. McCartney said he’d go first. Coming after Starr’s first and only drum solo on a Beatles record, the scorching round-robin breaks — with Harrison in the middle and Lennon at the end — were cut live in one take, a last blast of natural brotherhood from a band only months from splitting.
Follow along with the sheet music for “Golden Slumbers” and “Carry That Weight”:
