Author John Blaney describes the rhythm track as "pulsing," claiming it "echoes the beating hearts" from Lennon's earlier song "John & Yoko" from The Wedding Album. Lennon's singing on the song ranges between tender and ferocious. In the middle section he screams the song's title with particular abandon. Authors Chip Madinger and Mark Easter call this "the most tortured-larynx singing of John's career. Mellers attributes the screams of the title phrase at the end of the song to Lennon capitulating "to the infant's hysteria, traumatically howling for the maternal breast," as a result of Lennon undergoing Arthur Janov's primal therapy at the time he wrote the song. Recording Although the song was released commercially in mono, Phil Spector produced a rough mix in stereo. The stereo mix has appeared on bootleg albums. According to Ringo Starr, Lennon played Lee Dorsey's "Everything I Do Gonh Be Funky (From Now On)" 100 times while recording "Well Well Well" in an effort to capture the feel of the song. Reception Music critic Robert Christgau describes "Well Well Well" as an "unsung great song." Rolling Stone critic Stephen Holden considers the "furious howls" on "Well Well Well," as well as two other John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band songs–"Mother" and "Isolation"– to be unprecedented in rock 'n' roll, which serves as a clear influence to later rock singers like Kurt Cobain. Music critic Paul Evans claims that the Plastic Ono Band songs "Well Well Well" and "I Found Out" are "tougher rock than nearly anything released before the Sex Pistols." Personnel The musicians who performed on the original recording were as follows: John Lennon – vocals, electric guitar Ringo Starr – drums Klaus Voormann – bass guitar Other versions Lennon played "Well Well Well" live in concert twice, at the two One on One benefit concerts at Madison Square Garden on 30 August 1972. A heavily edited version of the matinee performance was included on the album and video Live in New York City. Urish and Bielen note that the live version is taken at a quicker pace than the studio version, which they believe makes it one of the stronger songs on Live in New York City. Music critic Johnny Rogan, though not considering "Well Well Well" to be one of the strongest songs on Plastic Ono Band, notes that the live performance "works remarkably well." On the other hand, Allmusic critic Richard Ginell calls