"OCTOPUS'S GARDEN"

(Richard Starkey)

Ringo Starr was never under the illusion that he could compose music of the same caliber as his bandmates. "It'll be years before his production is going as fast as ours," John related during a 1969 Radio Luxembourg show, adding, "It took George a few years." His role within the group was solid as drummer, percussionist and sometimes lead vocalist, even contributing small parts on other instruments and backing vocals when he was asked. Nevertheless, on occasion he would approach a piano or guitar, put a pen to paper, and have a go at songwriting.

His first contribution, “Don't Pass Me By,” may have caused a slight bit of ridicule from his band-mates for a few years but eventually, in 1968, they worked up a version of the song for inclusion on the “White Album,” something he'd been proud of ever since. So much so, in fact, that in January of 1969, he introduced three newer songs he had written for consideration for future albums.

On January 3rd, 1969, before Lennon arrived at Twickenham Film Studios for The Beatles' second day of rehearsals for what became the “Let It Be” project, Ringo demoed two of these songs on piano for Paul and George. These songs were “Taking A Trip To Carolina” and “Picasso,” a bit of the demo for this first song being included on the “Fly On The Wall” disc included in “Let It Be...Naked” in 2003. Neither of these songs were taken any further than these demos.

But on their third day of rehearsals, January 6th, 1969, Ringo brought forward yet another song entitled “Octopus's Garden.” Because the atmosphere on this day produced much bickering and jamming, only a brief incomplete run-through of the song happened. However, this song was one that Ringo thought to push a little further with, more attention being given to it on January 23rd and 26th of that year after they moved to Apple Studios. The song eventually won the hearts of The Beatles and George Martin, becoming Ringo's second solo composition to grace a Beatles album.

Songwriting History

It had been thought for decades, due to writings of various authors and a couple of spurious quotes from The Beatles themselves, that the song "Octopus's Garden" started to be composed sometime between August 23rd and September 4th, 1968. This was the period that many thought Ringo, having become frustrated within The Beatles, proceeded to quit the band and took a trip with his family to Sardinia while the rest of them recorded “Back In The U.S.S.R.” and "Dear Prudence" without him.

However, the band's November "Beatles Monthly Book" fan magazine stipulates that Ringo's Sardinia trip took place a bit later, stating: "On the morning of Monday, October 14, Ringo left London for a two-week family holiday in Sardinia. With him went Maureen, her mother, (their sons) Zak and Jason and their nanny." Newer evidence also reveals that Ringo was indeed in London during the recording of "Dear Prudence" in late August and participated in those sessions.

In the “Beatles Anthology” book, Ringo said: "I had a rest and the holiday was great....Peter Sellers had lent us his yacht and we went out for the day. We told the captain we wanted fish and chips for lunch (because that's all we ever ate, being from Liverpool). So when lunchtime had come around we had french fries but there was this other stuff on the plate. He said, 'Here's your fish and chips.' 'Well, what is this?' 'It's squid.' 'We don't eat squid, where's the cod?' Anyway, we ate it for the first time and it was OK, a bit rubbery. It tasted like chicken.”

“I stayed out on deck with him and we talked about octopuses. He told me that they hang out in their caves and they go around the seabed finding shiny stones and tin cans and bottles to place in front of their cave like a garden. I thought it was fabulous, because at the time I just wanted to be under the sea too. And a couple of tokes later with the guitar and we had 'Octopus's Garden.'"

In May of 2008, Ringo did an interview with his musician friend Dave Stewart on a HBO program called "Off The Record." Ringo elaborated on the story: "Well, you know, with the 'medication,' this was like 'WOW, GOD, WOW,' you know, it was like the best thing I ever heard. And so, I had a guitar with me and, in my three chords, 'I'd like to...' Because my head was exploding so it actually meant, 'I'd like to be under the sea in an octopus's garden,' in a nice way, y'know, in the garden, because it was just hell in here at the time. So, I wrote as much as I could and I took this back to George who transposed some of the chords and (it turned into), 'I'd like to be / in Krishna's garden.' 'NO KRISHNA!' (I told him)."

Ringo also went on to explain a little more about the dynamic of how George would assist him in writing his songs. "What I used to do - I was great at a verse and a chorus, or two verses and a chorus. I couldn't ever, like, finish them....(George) would round them off for me, and I would play three chords, that's all I can play. Then I would give them to him and he'd put in the passing chords and there'd be, like, ten chords and I'd be, like, a genius."

Therefore, the initial composing of this song was done by Ringo while on vacation between October 14th and 28th, 1968. There was much more work needed with the writing and arranging, however, before it was ready for recording. “Octopus's Garden” was introduced by Ringo to his band-mates on January 6th and 23rd, 1969, as mentioned above, in its original primitive state. George took a liking to the song, as we see in the segment included in the “Let It Be” movie that was filmed on January 26th, 1969 in their new basement studio at Apple Headquarters at 3 Saville Row in London. Harrison started working with Ringo to flesh out the song as explained above while their assistant Mal Evans noted down the lyrics.

“Ringo gets bored playing the drums,” George stated in 1969 shortly after their “Abbey Road” album was released, “and at home he plays a bit of piano, but he only knows about three chords. He knows about the same on guitar...The main music he loves is country and western, so ('Octopus's Garden' has) really got a country and western feel....I think it's a really great song, because on the surface, it's just like a daft kids' song, but the lyrics are great. For me, y'know, I find very deep meaning in the lyrics, which Ringo probably does not see, but all the things such as 'resting our head on the sea bed' and 'we'll be warm beneath the storm' which is really great, you know. Because it's like this level in a storm and if you get sort of deep within your consciousness, it's very peaceful. So Ringo's writing his cosmic songs without noticing it."

As included in the "Super Deluxe" editions of the "Let It Be" 2021 Anniversary edition, after Ringo demonstrated his song "Picasso" on piano to Harrison, Glyn Johns and George Martin on January 26th, 1969 at Apple Studios, Harrison asked him, "Have you written any more words, Ringo, to that one," he replied, "No....Have you heard the Octopus one?" After George said "no," Ringo proceeded to demonstrate the first eight measures of the first verse of "Octopus's Garden," including the lyric, "it would be nice / paradise." When Ringo hit upon the second chord in his four chord pattern, George admiringly remarked, "You've learnt A minor, then." After stopping and saying, "That's all I've got," which resulted in a bit of laughter, George kicked in with some suggestions. Ringo then admited "I need a few more verses," which prompted George to make some more suggestions.

The above-mentioned charming event on this day, as partially witnessed in the "Let It Be" movie, showed Ringo playing it on piano while singing parts of the lyrics he already had in place. Ringo was playing the song in the key of C (as he sang in his song "Early 1970" that he can only play the piano "if it's in C"), Harrison patiently encouraging him, demonstrating a series of suggested chord changes on acoustic guitar. The two of them go over the song again, continually smiling to producer George Martin who also hummed a few suggestions for an arrangement.

Neither John nor Paul were there yet at that point, but when John and Yoko arrived, after Lennon humourously offered to "do a dance step" during this song (as he had proposed for George's song "I Me Mine" a couple weeks prior), he stated "I think Paul would want to do drums on it, with his strong left arm. I'm not getting on that kit without a ciggy," which prompted some laughter. John then chose to join the fun by going over to the drums, lighting a cigarette, and tapping out a beat with Yoko by his side. Paul then arrived and the song broke down, as if to suggest that they needed to stop all this goofing around because the "boss" was now there (or so the movie was edited to appear). This wasn't the case, however, since they ran through Ringo's new song a total of eight times this day with Paul contributing as well.

There were a decent amount of changes made to this song regarding chord structure and lyrics between this time and when The Beatles began officially recording it in April of 1969. In fact, during an interview Ringo made in the early months of 1969 with New Musical Express, the title of the song was referred to as "In An Octopus's Garden (Or I Would Like To Live Up A Tree)," possibly indicating that he may have thought about going in yet another direction lyrically at one point. Ringo's first lead vocal performance occurred on April 29th, 1969, which revealed that all of the lyrics as we know them were in place at that point. This estimates the period of writing spanning from October 1968 to April 1969. It can be assumed that Harrison helped Ringo with appropriate chord changes, possible assistance from Paul, John and George Martin occurring too, but everyone always credited Ringo as the sole composer of the song. “It's a 'Ring-A-Long' 'Sing-A-Long,” as John described it in 1969.

Recording History

Since the January rehearsals of the song, as we described above, didn't solidify it enough for inclusion in the "Let It Be" project, and because Ringo failed to achieve a vocal contribution for that album as of yet, The Beatles decided to bring this into EMI Studios to work it out and record it properly. A decision hadn't yet been made to record one final album, which became the "Abbey Road" LP, so the group was busying itself recording more songs to flesh out the January sessions into what they felt would be a suitable "Let It Be" album. This is where they intended "Octopus's Garden," as well as several other songs the group had been recording in the spring of 1969, to fit in.

The Beatles entered EMI Studio Two on April 26th, 1969 at about 4:30 pm with the intention of working on Ringo's song. George Martin was only there sporadically during these spring Beatles sessions, the documentation for this session indicating “The Beatles” as the producer. Chris Thomas, who had been recruited as producer for Beatles recording sessions since the “White Album” project, distinctly recalls being present in the control room on this day so he undoubtedly contributed to these proceedings to at least some capacity.

Engineer Jeff Jarratt, who was somewhat new to working with the band at this time, remembered the circumstances of working with them. In Mark Lewisohn's book “The Beatles Recording Sessions” he stated: “I was really thrown in at the deep end. George Martin informed me that he would not be available. I can't remember word for word what he said to me, but it was something like, 'If there will be one Beatle there, fine. Two Beatles, great. Three Beatles, fantastic. But the minute that the four of them are there, that is when the inexplicable charismatic thing happens, the special magic no one has been able to explain. It'll be very friendly between you and them but you will be aware of this inexplicable presence.' Sure enough, that is exactly the way it happened. I've never felt it in any other circumstances. It was the special chemistry of the four of them that nobody since has ever had.”

After Paul put in an attempt to overdub his lead vocal onto the recently recorded rhythm track of his song “Oh! Darling,” all four Beatles worked hard to solidify an appropriate arrangement for Ringo's “Octopus's Garden.” When they all felt confident enough to roll the tapes, they recorded 32 takes of the rhythm track onto an eight-track machine. The instrumentation consisted of Paul on his Rickenbacker bass (track one), Ringo on drums (track two), Harrison on his Fender Stratocaster played through a Leslie speaker (track three) John playing finger-picking rhythm guitar using his Epiphone Casino (track four) and Ringo's lead vocals (track eight).

Mark Lewisohn, who'd had the privilege of listening to the entire EMI tape as research for his book “The Beatles Recording Sessions,” described it to be "a fun and creative session," everyone cooperative and on their best behavior. 'Take two,' as included in the 1996 compilation album “Anthology 3,” shows that they all had the arrangement nearly perfected at this stage, Harrison even having his intricate guitar intro and conclusion down to a tee. Ringo keeps repeating the opening verse vocally, undoubtedly assuming that this element would be re-recorded as an overdub later, which meant that the accented “can't be found” in the second verse had not been worked out yet. At the end of 'take eight,' which didn't turn out so good, Ringo sarcastically stated “Well, that was superb!,” this remark also included on “Anthology 3."

Ringo's "supurb" remark was included in some of the 50th Anniversary editions of "Abbey Road" among their chatter heard before the incomplete "take nine." Ringo stated, "Right, George," as "take nine" is then heard on the talkback microphone. George counts off "one, two, three, four" before hitting a bum note on his guitar, which prompts Ringo to laugh. This take then commences, which sounds fine throughout the first verse. Unfortunately, Ringo comes in a few measures early with his line "He'd let us in..." which throws the take off substantially and grinds it to a halt. "Sorry, did I went wrong, did I?" Ringo asks. "I thought I heard you singing, 'in an octopus's garden with John'" Lennon asserts, which makes Ringo laugh once again. "I think I went into 'I'd ask my friends' earlier, or you all came late," Ringo wonders out loud.

By "take 32," the group had perfected the rhythm track for the song that would be used on the finished recording, interjecting the “can't be found” accents as a nice touch to their arrangement. It was 4:15 am the following day by this point, this nearly being a 24 hour session, and they decided to finally call it a day.

On April 29th, 1969, they had resumed work on Ringo's song in EMI Studio Three. The first thing they did was to congregate in the control room at 2:30 pm to listen to a four-hour playback of the songs they had recently recorded and were considering for inclusion on their next proposed LP, which was titled “Let It Be” the following later without any of these newer songs. Their listening session ended around 6:30 pm. Then, after an hour break, they went out onto the studio floor at 7:30 pm for Ringo to re-record the lead vocals on "Octopus's Garden," Paul overdubbing piano on one of the three open tracks. They were happy with the results and went to work making a stereo mix of the song, considering it done and ready for the soon-to-be-released "Get Back" (aka “Let It Be”) album. Producer Chris Thomas, along with engineers Jeff Jarratt and Nick Webb, made four attempts at creating this stereo mix, undoubtedly the fourth being deemed the best. At 1 am the following morning, this session was complete.

Then, a little over a month later, a decision was made to put together one last Beatles album, leaving the January 1969 sessions for the time being to concentrate on what they had been recording since January for inclusion on what later became the “Abbey Road” LP. Newer songs would also be started but, in the process, they decided that they should spruce up the production of the tracks that they had been recording that spring, but now with George Martin at the helm. In the spirit of the previous 1966 sessions for “Yellow Submarine,” and because of George Martin's expertise at recording comedy records for The Goons and many others, various sound effects were decided upon for Ringo's song.

The Beatles arrived in EMI Studio Two on July 17th, 1969 at 6:30 pm to focus on whatever was needed to complete “Octopus's Garden.” Still thinking that Ringo's lead vocal overdub was acceptable for the finished product, Paul and George (and possibly Ringo) added background harmonies delivered in a high pitch before the sound effects overdubs began. John stated the following in a 1969 interview about these overdubs: “During the time I was away, they laid a few harmony tracks on some of the harmony bits, so Ringo is doing a few harmony bits.” This appears to indicate that, even though Lennon had reunited with The Beatles after his automobile accident by this time, he may not have been present on this day.

Engineer Geoff Emerick, in his book “Here, There And Everywhere,” recalled this day's session. “We had great fun doing the overdubs on 'Octopus's Garden.' Paul and George were both in high spirits on the evenings that we were working on it, and together they chipped in, putting as much effort into this as if this were one of their own songs. Ringo....even got the inspiration – recycled from 'Yellow Submarine' – to blow bubbles into a close-miked glass of water.” Regarding the bubble overdub, technical engineer Alan Brown adds: “That was miked very closely to capture all the little bubbles and sounds.”

Geoff Emerick related: “As the songwriter, Ringo acted as the de facto producer for the track, and in one of our rare conversations, Ringo asked me if I could make the vocals in the middle section sound as if they were being sung underwater. It was one of the few times during the 'Abbey Road' sessions that I was challenged to come up with a new kind of sound. I jumped at the opportunity. After some experimentation, I discovered that by feeding the vocals into a compressor and triggering it from a pulsing tone (which I derived from George Harrison's Moog Synthesizer), that imparted a distinctive wobbly sound, almost like gargling. It was weird, almost like something out of a cheesy science-fiction movie, but Ringo loved the result.” By 11:15 that evening, this fun session finally came to a close.

The next day, July 18th, 1969, a decision was made to re-record Ringo's lead vocals for this track. Paul and Ringo arrived sometime after 2:30 pm at EMI Studio Three on this day for this purpose, Paul first putting in yet another attempt at nailing down his lead vocals for “Oh! Darling.” He wasn't satified with his vocal work on this day, but Ringo proceeded to capture the perfect vocal performance for his song shortly thereafter, even double-tracking it in spots, something he had not done on a lead vocal since "Matchbox" in 1964. "For once, Ringo sang the lead vocal with confidence," explained Geoff Emerick. Ringo also overdubbed what Mark Lewisohn described in his 1988 “Recording Sessions” book as “sundry percussion” onto this song, which appears to be tom-tom beats from his drum kit recorded along with background vocals from Paul and George. Also recorded on this day was McCartney playing bass notes of a piano, George doubling them on guitar. After an undocumented reduction mix, the end result on the final eight-track tape, according to Kevin Howlett's writing in the "Abbey Road" 50th Anniversary book, is "bass on track one, drums on two, bubbly sound effects and wobbled 'underwater vocals' on three, bass notes of a piano and a guitar doubling them on four, tom-tom beats and backing vocals by Paul and George on five; more backing vocals by Paul and George and a lead vocal overdubbed on six, piano and George'e lead guitar on seven, John's guitar on eight." By 8 pm, this recording session was complete, which also completed the recording of “Octopus's Garden.”

This is not to say that everyone went home at this point. Instead, they immediately proceeded into the control room of EMI Studio Two to create a releasable mix of the song. George Martin and engineers Phil McDonald and Alan Parsons first worked at creating a mono mix, which was odd since Beatles albums and singles were only released in stereo by this time. Nonetheless, they made seven tries at a mono mix and then five attempts (numbered 10 through 14) at a stereo mix, the final mix being the one used on the released album.

A very interesting session involving "Octopus's Garden" at EMI Studios occurred on December 2nd, 1969. A George Martin Yorkshire Television "spectacular" entitled "With A Little Help From My Friends" was being put together for transmission through the entire IBA network on Christmas Eve, December 24th, 1969. One of the various features of this broadcast, which included The Hollies, Lulu, Dudley Moore, Spike Milligan, Blue Mink and Pan's People, was Ringo Starr miming the recently released track "Octopus's Garden." However, because of the Musicians' Union ban on television miming, an illusion needed to be created that the singer was not just miming to the "Abbey Road" album recording of the song. This being the case, a new mix of the official Beatles recording of the song was created on this day, thus removing Ringo's vocal as well as the bass, piano and lead guitar. This was done on this day in the control room of EMI Studio Two by George Martin, with Geoff Emerick, Phil McDonald and Richard Lush as engineers, sometime between 2:30 and 5:30 pm, during which time stereo mixes were also being prepared of "Lady Madonna" and "Rain" for their appearance on the US album "Hey Jude."

Ringo's new lead vocal, performed along with unknown bass, piano and lead guitar players, were recorded on December 8th, 1969 at EMI Studio Two between 10 am and 12:15 pm by George Martin and engineers Martin Benge and Richard Lush. Ten 'takes' of this overdub were recorded onto one track of a two track tape, the other track consisting of the 2nd mix of The Beatles' backing track as remixed on December 2nd, the 10th take being deemed the best.

Sometime in 1996, George Martin and Geoff Emerick returned to the master tapes of the original rhythm track The Beatles made on April 26th, 1969 in order to create a mix of "take two" for inclusion on the compilation album “Anthology 3.” The entire take was included on this release with Ringo's sarcastic comment “Well, that was superb!” from the end of "take eight" tacked on at the end. The listener can hear how fully formed the arrangement was at this early stage, lead guitar work and all, with only new lead vocals and minimal overdubs being added later to get it to its complete state.

Then, sometime between 2004 and 2006, George Martin and his son Giles Martin went back to the final master tape, as well as master tapes from various other songs, to create a unique mash-up version of “Octopus's Garden” for inclusion in the production of the Cirque du Soleil show “Beatles Love.” This new stereo mix, which was also featured on the resulting 2006 “Love” album, masterfully mixes elements of “Yellow Submarine,” “Good Night,” “Lovely Rita,” “Helter Skelter” and “Sun King” to create a quite innovative and enjoyable track.

During the year 2019, Giles Martin and engineer Sam Okell returned once again to the master tapes of "Octopus's Garden" to create a vibrant new stereo mix of the song for inclusion on the 50th Anniversary releases of "Abbey Road." While they were at it, they created a stereo mix of the aborted "take nine" of the rhythm track as recorded on April 26th, 1969, along with interesting chatter before and after the take.

Sometime in 2021, Giles Martin and engineer Sam Okell were commissioned to create a new mix of the "Let It Be" album, which would be available in various editions. They thought to include the above mentioned writing session for "Octopus's Garden" as caught on tape on January 26th, 1969 at Apple Studios during the recording of what became the "Let It Be" album.

Two live recordings were made by Ringo and his then current band, The Roundheads, which saw release. The first live recording was done on May 13th, 1998 at Sony Studios in New York City in an intimate setting for broadcast on the popular VH1 cable show “Storytellers.” Ringo told a charming story of how “Octopus's Garden” was written and then, with his band that included both Mark Hudson and Joe Walsh on guitar, ran through their rendition on the song in front of a small audience. The second live recording of the song, also by Ringo and The Roundheads, was on June 24th, 2005, at the Genesse Theatre in Waukegan, Illinois. This version was eventually released on the album “Ringo Starr: Live At Soundstage.”

Song Structure and Style

The structure they used in "Octopus's Garden" couldn't have been any simpler: 'verse/ verse/ solo/ verse' (or aaba) with a somewhat intricate introduction that was, unmistakably, concoted by Harrison since his participation is integral to the arrangement.

The instrumental intro is four measures long and primarily features George's lead guitar work. Harrison starts out the song with solo lead guitar, joined by Ringo, Paul and John accenting two beats in the opening measure, the second of these beats being the fourth beat of this measure. George then plays a somewhat similar melody line in the second measure which Ringo, Paul and John join in on at the end of measure three and continue on with through till the end of the introduction and also to the end of the song. George continues playing an interesting lead guitar passage throughout the remainder of this section while Ringo plays a simple 4/4 drum beat focusing on the closed hi-hat, Paul plays a simple bass pattern and John reprises his “travis picking” style he learned in India in 1968, this also appearing in “Dear Prudence” and “Julia,” among other songs.

The first verse is next, which is sixteen-measures long as the rest of them are. Ringo sings single-tracked lead vocals and performs a simple 4/4 pattern on the drums for the first four measures while Lennon continues his “travis picking” in the same measures throughout all the chord changes. McCartney plays simple bass patterns while George doesn't appear at all during these first eight measures.

Measures nine through twelve, however, feature the drummer singing double-tracked lead vocals while McCartney kicks in with his overdubbed Steinway piano that takes center stage. John strums accented chords in measures ten and twelve along with Paul and Ringo on their instruments, allowing the vocal message to shine through with primary importance. He was here inviting his “friends to come and see an octopus's garden,” among these friends, undoubtedly, were his band members.

After a simple drum fill from Ringo, the band fills out the rest of the verse's measures as before but with some additional elements. Paul and George's harmony vocals kick in here for the first time, Harrison adds in a quaint lead guitar passage in measure sixteen, and McCartney continues playing piano through the remainder of the verse.

The second verse is next, this one being generally similar to the first one. Background harmony from Paul and George is present here, singing “ooh” in measures one through three and five through seven, and singing “aah” in measures four and five and then eight and nine. Harrison thought to add in some lead guitar passages for measures five through seven in the open vocal spaces. Measures nine through sixteen are primarily identical to the first verse, although Harrison does attempt a guitar passage after the lyric “I'd like to be” in the thirteenth measure, it being embarrassingly aborted after one pulled note. This verse concludes with one final high note from Paul's piano, another simple drum fill from Ringo, and the beginning of George's guitar solo for the next section.

An eight measure solo section is next, which changes keys from E major to A major for emotional impact. George takes center stage here with an intricate lead guitar solo while Ringo stays away from any cymbals and focuses on his toms, adding in a slight drum fill in measures four and eight. John continues his “travis picking” while Paul plods away appropriately on his bass, George, Paul and Ringo adding backing vocals aided by a tremolo-style effect from Harrison's Moog synthesizer that simulates being underwater. Ringo humorously blows bubbles into a glass of water sporadically throughout this portion of the song, primarily focusing on the end of each even-numbered measure.

The fourth verse comes next, which this time includes the end of the song and is therefore extended to twenty measures long. The instrumentation is primarily the same as the second verse, although the backing vocals actually touch on repeating lyrics Ringo had just sung, such as “lies beneath the ocean waves” in the fourth and fifth measures and “happy and they're safe” in the eighth and ninth measures. George again lays low in the arrangement until measure thirteen and thereafter, echoing the lead vocals with appropriate guitar phrases. The fifteenth and sixteenth measures are repeated three times for emphasis this time, with drum fills added in the sixteenth and eighteenth measures along with suitable lead guitar fills from George. The twentieth measure becomes a 'Beatles break,' all elements coming to a halt except for George's last lead guitar passage. The final moments of measure twenty bring in two accents from John, Paul and Ringo on their instruments, bringing the song to a campy but appropriate close.

Ringo's lyrics may not be as “cosmic” as George interpreted them as, but they do reveal touches of the drummer's recent disenchantment with being a Beatle and wanting to escape it all. While his old friends may be invited to “come and see” where he's going to be residing “under the sea,” he revels at the thought of “no one there to tell us what to do,” such as Paul being picky about how Ringo should play the drums on "Back In The U.S.S.R." He also would be experiencing the “joy” of becoming “happy” and “safe” in this “hideaway.”

All of the Beatles should be commended for their participation on this track. All of them, George Martin included, thought enough of Ringo's song to put their best effort into it, instrumentally and production-wise, to confirm their drummer was more than capable of composing a song worthy of attention, even though its fans may very well be in the single digits age-wise this time around.

American Releases

On October 1st, 1969, the final recorded Beatles LP was released in the US simply titled "Abbey Road." "Octopus's Garden" wasn't embarrassingly hidden somewhere on the album to pacify their drummer but was placed as the fifth track on side one, this being clear evidence that all involved were especially proud of how this Ringo-penned song turned out. The LP took only three weeks to jump into the top spot on the Billboard album chart, raking in a total of eleven weeks in the #1 position. This album first appeared on compact disc on October 10th, 1987, and then as a remastered release on September 9th, 2009. A 50th Anniversary vinyl and CD release came out on September 27th, 2019, not to mention an opaque green vinyl edition being released on October 10th, 2025 as an exclusive release available only at Target Department Stores.

Ringo's song proved popular enough for inclusion on the second of two double-compilation LPs released on April 2nd, 1973, namely “The Beatles / 1967-1970” (aka, the “Blue Album”). The song appeared as the fourth track on side four among such big hits as “Let It Be,” “Something” and “The Long And Winding Road.” This #1 album was first released on CD on October 5th, 1993 and eventually as a remastered CD re-release on October 19th, 2010 and on vinyl on October 31st, 2014.

Sometime during 1978, Capitol released the "Abbey Road" album as a picture disc. Side one had the iconic front cover while side two contained a close-up of the wall photo of the back cover minus the song title listings. This release quickly went out of print, but was re-released on 180-gram vinyl on September 27th, 2019.

A new US vinyl edition of “Abbey Road” came out on December 28th, 1979, manufactured by Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab in Chatsworth, California as the first Beatles installment in their series of "Original Master Recordings." Their practice was to prepare new masters using half-speed mastering technology from the original master tapes, in this case using the leased sub-master from Capitol Records. Stickers on the shrinkwrap proclaimed this album as being “A Brand New Experience,” which proved to be the case. This version of the album sounded superior to all previous British and American pressings at that time. Unfortunately, this excellent edition of “Abbey Road” was only available for a short time and is quite collectible today.

In March of 1994, Capitol put “Octopus's Garden” as b-side to “Here Comes The Sun” for a “For Jukeboxes Only” single in their Cema series. With the popularity of both of these songs being what they were at the time of the original album's release, this would undoubtedly have been a big selling single back in 1969. However, this limited edition 1994 release, which was printed on orange vinyl, has become quite collectible.

"Take two" of the song's original rhythm track as recorded on April 26th, 1969, as detailed above, was featured on the October 28th, 1996 released compilation set “Anthology 3.” This album went 3x Platinum in America and hit #1 on the Billboard album chart.

The above described new mix/mashup of “Octopus's Garden” was contained on the November 20th, 2006 release entitled “Love,” which was put together by George Martin and his son Giles Martin to be featured in conjunction with the Cirque du Soleil show of the same name. This successful album peaked at #4 on the Billboard album chart.

On September 27th, 2019, various editions of "Abbey Road" came out to commemorate its 50th Anniversay featuring interesting versions of "Octopus's Garden." The "Deluxe" 2CD set, the "Triple Album" vinyl set, and their "Super Deluxe" 3CD + Blu-ray edition, all have the newly created Giles Martin mix of the entire LP along with as their never-before-heard incomplete "take nine" of "Octopus's Garden" as recorded on April 26th, 1969.

On October 15th, 2021, various editions of the "Let It Be" album were released, some featuring an interesting version of the song "Octopus's Garden." The "Super Deluxe" 5CD + Blu-ray edition and the "Super Deluxe" 4LP + 1 12" EP edition include Ringo's introduction of the song to George, Glyn Johns and George Martin at the start of their January 26th, 1969 session at Apple Studios.

A 50th Anniversay edition of the compilation set "The Beatles / 1967 - 1970" ("The Blue Album") was released on November 10th, 2023, the latest stereo mix of "Octopus's Garden" by Giles Martin being included. This expanded release included 12 added songs for a total of 38 tracks, and was made available as a double compact disc and a triple vinyl release on both black and blue vinyl.

On November 21st, 2025, "Anthology 4" was released on both CD and vinyl, this album also being made available within the "Anthology Collection" box set on CD and on vinyl. Ringo's rehearsal of "Octopus's Garden" that was recorded at Apple Studios on January 26th, 1969 was also included on this new release as it had been on the "Super Deluxe" edition of the "Let It Be" album metioned above.

Ringo released two live albums featuring the song, the first of these being “VH1 Storytellers” with his group The Roundheads that came out on October 20th, 1998. The second live album, also featuring The Roundheads, was “Ringo Starr: Live At Soundstage,” which came out on October 23rd, 2007. Neither release charted in the US on Billboard, but both are respected by fans and critics alike.

Live Performances

The Beatles, of course, never performed "Octopus's Garden" on stage, the above mentioned rehearsals of the song that appear in the "Let It Be" movie and 2021 "Get Back" series being the only visual representation of the song being played by the band in any form.

On December 6th, 1969, in promotion of the soon-to-be-released film "The Magic Christian," Ringo appeared on the London Weekend Television series "Frost On Saturday" with the movie's co-star Peter Sellers and guest Spike Milligan. Sometime during the broadcast, the episode being taped in Studio One in Wembley Studios and shown the same day, Ringo launched into a brief, off-the-cuff vocal rendition of "Octopus's Garden."

The next performance of this song was the "With A Little Help From My Friends" Yorkshire Television "spectacular" that was video-taped on December 14th, 1969 and aired on December 24th of that year. As we discussed above, Ringo lip synced to a newly created recording of the song for this George Martin arranged television show that was prepared for Ringo earlier that month at EMI Studios.

On April 26th, 1978, an NBC television special was aired entitled "Ringo," which had been put together in promotion of his recently released LP "Bad Boy." In a scene with guest star Art Carney, Ringo sings a bit of "Octopus's Garden" in order to prove that he is indeed the legendary Ringo Starr. Unfortunately, this star-studded TV special failed to make much of an impact, finishing 53rd of the 65 network prime-time programs for that week.

Surprisingly, Ringo was reluctant to include "Octopus's Garden" within the set list of his multiple-year history of tours with his “All-Starr Band.” In fact, he has been known to introduce his song “Don't Pass Me By” as his favorite self-penned composition, which may have made Beatles fans wonder why he didn't think as fondly of “Octopus's Garden,” which was so painstakingly recorded to good effect.

Ringo did, however, include "Octopus's Garden" in live shows he did with his studio band The Roundheads, who did a bang-up job in duplicating The Beatles' “Abbey Road” arrangement of the song, including the gurgling backing vocals and George Harrison's stellar guitar work. Sporadic live performances of the song by Ringo and The Roundheads stretch from 1998 to 2005. Their above mentioned June 24th, 2005 performance at the Genesse Theatre in Waukegan, Illinois featuring the song came out in 2012 as a DVD and Blu-ray in High-Definition and mixed in 5.1 Surround Sound under the simple title "Ringo Starr And The Roundheads: Live."

Finally, Ringo decided to include "Octopus's Garden" in the set list for his "All Starr Band 2022" tour, which ran from May 22nd (Rama, Canada) to October 12th (Portland, Oregon), the remainder of this tour being cancelled because of his testing positive for COVID-19 at the time.

Conclusion

It's interesting to note that, even though no one expected him to write any music, Ringo came up with two solo songs that graced LPs that have since been viewed as legendary. And with his name also appearing in songwriting credits on four other songs in The Beatles' catalog ("What Goes On," "Dig It," "Flying" and "Maggie Mae"), Ringo's name had become a little more commonplace as a songwriter on record labels. As for "Octopus's Garden" even garnering a spot on the first official set of "greatest hits" packages, his songwriting reputation concluded on a high note as The Beatles' career drew to a close.

This accomplishment allowed Beatle fans, as well as the other three band members themselves, to have a greater degree of confidence in Ringo's solo career. Having already been cast in two movies by this time (“Candy” and “The Magic Christian”), people had assumed that Ringo had a future in films, something that he continued to pursue from time to time. But as for a solo music career, his future appeared uncertain to many.

Ringo surprised everyone, however, by continuing to co-compose and release many successful hit singles and LPs, even outperforming the overall commercial success of all three of his former band-mates for a few years. In 1974, after two years of not having a hit song himself, John Lennon sent Ringo a telegram that stated: “CONGRATULATIONS. HOW DARE YOU? AND PLEASE WRITE ME A HIT SONG.” “It Don't Come Easy,” "Photograph," "Oh, My, My" and “Back Off Boogaloo,” along with various other album tracks, show that he learned a thing or two (or three) from his “friends” to help him “get by” as a composer. Being in the constant presence of three men who became known as, arguably, the most prolific and respected songwriters of the 20th century surely bore some fruit.

Song Summary

“Octopus's Garden”
Written by: Richard Starkey

• Song Written: October,1968 to April 1969
• Song Recorded: April 26, July 17 & 18, 1969
• First US Release Date: October 1, 1969
• First US Album Release: Apple #SO-383 “Abbey Road”
• British Album Release: Apple #PCS 7088 “Abbey Road”
• US Single Release: Capitol Cema #S7-17700 (b-side to “Here Comes The Sun”)
• Highest Chart Position: n/a
• Length: 2:49
• Key: E major
• Producers: The Beatles, Chris Thomas, George Martin
• Engineers: Jeff Jarratt, Phil McDonald, Richard Landham, Alan Parsons

Instrumentation (most likely):

• Ringo Starr - Lead and Backing Vocals, Drums (1968 Ludwig Hollywood Maple), blowing bubbles
• George Harrison - Lead Guitar (1968 Fender Rosewood Telecaster, 1961 Sonic Blue Fender Stratocaster, painted psychedelically), backing vocals
• Paul McCartney - Bass (1964 Rickenbacker 4001 S ), Piano (Hamburg Steinway Baby Grand), backing vocals
• John Lennon - Rhythm Guitar (1965 Epiphone ES-230TD Casino)
• Geoff Emerick - Synthesizer (1967 Moog IIIp) (used to achieve underwater backing vocal effect)

Written and compiled by Dave Rybaczewski

"Clarity" by Dave Rybs

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