The Beatles are taking a break

The Beatles taking a break today

Recording, mixing: Christmas Time (Is Here Again)

Studio Three, EMI Studios, Abbey Road
Producer: George Martin
Engineer: Geoff Emerick

The Beatles' fifth fan club Christmas record was recorded and mixed on this day, between 6pm and 2.45am. This was the group's final recording session in 1967.
[amazon template=iframe image2&asin=B000034CGB]

The song, credited to Lennon-McCartney-Harrison-Starkey, was titled Christmas Time (Is Here Again). It featured all four Beatles on vocals, as well as producer George Martin and actor Victor Spinetti.

The original recording lasted 6'37". The theme song was taped in a single take, with Paul McCartney on piano, George Harrison playing an acoustic guitar, Ringo Starr on drums and John Lennon joining in on a bass drum. The Beatles then added two sets of lead vocals, singing the title phrase repeatedly, and Starr singing "O-U-T spells 'out'". The song had 10 verses, the last of which was instrumental.

The group then recorded 10 takes of speech and sketches, overlaid with sound effects. These included parodies of radio and television broadcasts, a tap dancing duet by Starr and Spinetti, a brief rendition of Plenty Of Jam Jars by "The Ravellers", and a spoof advert for the miraculous product Wonderlust. It ended with a nonsense poem by John Lennon, narrated on top of an organ version of Auld Lang Syne.

The Beatles' Christmas Fan Club single, 1967Once recording was complete, the song was mixed in mono. Four mixes were made, of take 1 (music), and takes 2, 6 and 10 (speech). The parts were edited together on the following day, and the completed version was then sent to Lyntone Records, who pressed the fan club flexi-disc.

The 1995 single Free As A Bird single contained a 3'03" mix of the Christmas Time (Is Here Again) song. Towards the end of this version, somewhat incongruously, some Christmas Beatle greetings from 1966 were included.

Christmas Time (Is Here Again) was the group's last Christmas disc to be recorded together at Abbey Road. In 1968 and 1969 their contributions were recorded separately, and edited together to give a sense of unity.

The Beatles' recording session for this day ended at 2.45am, but John Lennon stayed behind to compile tapes for the National Theatre production of a play he had written, Scene Three, Act One, based on a piece from his 1964 book In His Own Write.

US album release: Magical Mystery Tour

In the UK The Beatles chose to issue the six songs from the Magical Mystery Tour film as a double gatefold EP with a 28-page booklet. EPs, however, were far less popular in America, and Capitol chose to turn it into a full LP, with added tracks from singles released in 1967.

Magical Mystery Tour album artworkMagical Mystery Tour was issued on 27 November 1967 as Capitol MAL 2835 (mono) and SMAL 2835 (stereo). The package was a huge hit with the public, generating the highest level of initial sales of any album to date, and netting the label more than $8 million in just three weeks.

Realising the Capitol had created a product too popular to ignore, EMI imported a number of copies to the United Kingdom. It wasn't officially released there, however, until 1976.

In 1987 the US format of Magical Mystery Tour became the standard issue worldwide, when The Beatles' back catalogue was issued on compact disc.

The Beatles took a break today

Beatles Interview: In Soho 11/25/1967

In mid-November 1967, NME's Norrie Drummond had a lunchtime chat with John, Paul and Ringo during a quick break from their work at a small film studio in Soho. At the time of this interview, the Beatles were in the editing stage of their upcoming made-for-TV film 'Magical Mystery Tour.'

Magical Mystery Tour, a psychedelic film, unfortunately would be aired in black-and-white by the BBC. It received mixed reviews from the public, while being slammed by the professional critics. It became famous at that time as the Beatles' first critical failure, yet historically it is also regarded as an early advance into the music video age -- featuring some of the earliest examples of surreal rock videos, including 'I Am The Walrus.' The videos that appear in the 'Magical Mystery Tour' film seemed to further explore the direction that had begun with their earlier promotional video for 'Strawberry Fields Forever.'

The following interview, entitled 'Norrie Drummond Lunches With John, Paul And Ringo,' appeared in the November 25th 1967 issue of the New Musical Express. Topics of discussion include the process of directing and editing their own movie, and Ringo talks about his upcoming film with Richard Burton and Marlon Brando, entitled 'Candy.' Also discussed is the newly-released Beatles song 'I Am The Walrus' and its lyrics 'You let your knickers down' being criticized as too obscene for radio.

Albeit much too brief, an additional tidbit of interest is Drummond's first-hand account of the process as the three Beatles work on the film in the editing studio just before breaking for lunch.

The crudely written sign on the door read 'Magical Mystery Tour' and from within came the strains of 'She Loves You' being played on a barrel-organ. A handful of young girls waiting patiently outside eyed me up and down as I pushed open the door and entered.

The small room was hot and smokey. Long strips of film hung from steel coat racks and dozens of LPs lay scattered around the floor. Empty coffee cups were dotted everywhere with ashtrays spilled over with cigarette butts.

That was the scene last weekend in a small studio in the heart of Soho where the Beatles are at work editing their TV film.

John and Ringo were sitting at a table watching the film through a viewfinder, while Paul was synchronizing the sound of the barrel-organ. George was having a day off work.

"Ah, Drummond's here. Must be time for lunch," said Paul, switching off the music.

The three Beatles pulled on their jackets, and with road manager bodyguard-friend Mal Evans and Peter Brown (the late Brian Epstein's personal assistant), we left for a small restaurant about two blocks away.

Anyone walking through Soho following us with a film camera could have made a wonderful short just by filming the expressions of passers-by. Some looked and recognized. Others looked and puzzled. But most just stared. And as we entered the restaurant one middle-aged lady almost choked over her spaghetti.

"You know, it's just great to be back at work again," declared Paul as we settled down at our table. "For the past eight weeks we've been working regularly -- just like people! We start at about eleven every morning. Have an hour for lunch, and finish about seven in the evening. What's more, we work seven days a week."

Just last week Peter Brown called George at home and his wife Patti declared quite proudly, "Oh no, George isn't here. He's out at work."

Magical Mystery Tour was the Beatles first attempt at editing and directing their own film. Had it been as successful as they hoped?

"Well, we probably won't be finished for another couple of weeks," John replied, "but we're happy with what we've done so far."

"Film-making isn't as difficult as many people imagine," added Paul. "It's a matter of common sense more than anything. We'd never directed anything before and we didn't know about editing, but we're learning. Magical Mystery Tour was an experiment and so far it's been successful."

Did this mean that in future the Beatles would write, produce and direct their own full-length films?

"Mystery Tour is almost a full-length movie," said Ringo, looking up from his plate. "I imagine that we could make a film for cinema showing sometime. We'd like to make our next film that way."

"We learned so much from working on our own," continued Paul. "When we were making 'Help!' with director Dick Lester, he used to ask us to do the same scene over and over again, and at that time we thought it was just because our acting wasn't up to much. But now we realize that it wasn't necessarily so. When a film is being made you generally shoot about ten times as much film as is used in the finished product. Then of course it has to be edited down."

As the main course arrived, conversation changed to Ringo's forthcoming film role in 'Candy' in which he plays the part of a Mexican gardener.

"Yes that's me alright,' he declared in a mock-American accent. "I'll be starring with Burton and Brando. Ringo Starr they call me with the emphasis on Starr." And then more seriously, "Candy is a young girl who goes around making love to lots of men, and I'm the first. We'll be filming in Italy for about two weeks from the beginning of next month. I'm looking forward to it. Although it's only a small part, I'm pleased. It's what they call a cameo role and of course the other names in the film should help it a lot."

This led to the subject of John's appearance in 'How I Won The War.' Was he happy with the rather mixed reception the film had received? "I think the reviews were fair. I was happy with my part. It was an experience."

All three of them were completely knocked out by 'Bonnie And Clyde' when they went to see it. "One of the best films I've ever seen," declared John.

They also went to see 'The Oldest Profession' recently. That's the film which was billed as a 'lusty lustful luscious eyeful,' the star of which is Racquel Welch. "We sneaked in there the other week," said Ringo, "thinking that no one would see us. But when the lights went up we found we were sitting next to a bloke who used to work on Radio Caroline!"

What about the criticism that the group had received regarding the lyrics of 'I Am The Walrus,' the b-side of their new single. "It always seems to happen now, that people misinterpret what we write or say. We're happy with the words and I don't see how they can offend anyone. Do you think they're obscene?" Also to be released shortly is a special presentations pack containing the six recordings from 'Magical Mystery Tour,' along with a 32-page color booklet. Paul stated, "We wanted to do this because when we were young we couldn't think of anything to buy people for presents at that price. The only things you could get were either ties or soap and talcum powder. But we think that the pack is a good present."

"Yes, it's a lovely gift for someone," added Ringo.

"And that's what you're getting," replied John.

"Well, it's about time we got back to work, men," declared Paul, draining his coffee cup. "Lunch break's over."

As we walked back through Soho, Paul suddenly spotted Billy, an old friend of the boys. Billy is about sixty and wanders around Soho with a bottle on his head and a carnation behind each ear. "We'd have loved him for the film," whispered Paul as he, John, Ringo and Billy broke into a chorus of 'Singing The Blues.'

"Long Live the Beatles," shouted Billy as they continued down the street, "and the Stones."

UK single release: Hello, Goodbye

The Beatles' third and final single of 1967 was issued in the UK on this day: Hello, Goodbye, with I Am The Walrus as its b-side.

Hello, Goodbye single - United KingdomThe single was their 16th for EMI, and had the catalogue number Parlophone R 5655.

Hello, Goodbye was an instant hit, entering the charts at number three, and climbing to the top spot the following week. Within three weeks of being on sale the single had sold over 500,000 copies, and it became the nation's Christmas number one single for 1967.

Due to unexpected demand EMI sub-contracted Decca to press a number of singles at their Pressing Plant. These can be identified by a four-pronged push-out centre of the 7" disc; the EMI version had a solid label. The Decca version is the slightly rarer of the two.

Paul McCartney - Sexiest Man Alive

The Beatles were in-between recording.

November 21, 1967 - Press photo of Lulu locking arms with Beatles wives Pattie and Cynthia at the premiere of  Norman Bogner’s new play, The Waiters, at the Palace Theatre. By Ray Roberts.

The Beatles were in in-between recording

The Beatles are in-between recording

The Beatles are in-between recording

Mixing, editing: I Am The Walrus

Room 53, EMI Studios, Abbey Road
Producer: George Martin
Engineer: Geoff Emerick

On this, the day that stereo copies of the Magical Mystery Tour EP were cut in Britain, a last-minute stereo mix of the first half of I Am The Walrus was made.

The session took place from 10am to 1.15pm. The mix, numbered 25, was of the song up until the 2'03" mark, and accidentally included a six-beat introduction rather than four.

An edit of the new mix was then made, combining the new stereo mix 25 and the previous mix 7, of the second half of the song. This was edited into the master reel ahead of the EP pressing, and subsequently became the standard stereo version.

The Beatles are inbetween recording

15 November 1967: Mixing: Hello, Goodbye

Studio Two (control room), EMI Studios, Abbey Road
Producer: George Martin
Engineer: Geoff Emerick

On 10 November 1967, The Beatles had made a promotional film for the single Hello, Goodbye. Since no viola players featured in the clip, they risked contravening a Musicians' Union ban on miming, since it would make it obvious that the music was not all live.

In order to escape censure, a new mono mix was made on this day. It omitted the viola parts, and was subsequently dubbed onto the BBC's copy of the film. However, it was a wasted effort as The Beatles' own performance made it clear that they were miming, and the film was not shown in the UK.

The BBC had planned to show the promo on Top Of The Pops on 23 November 1967, but this was cancelled on the 20th. The official reason was that "a minor portion of the film contravened the Musicians' Union regulations concerning miming on television".

On 21 November, BBC cameramen attended an edition session for the Magical Mystery Tour film, to gather replacement footage, but the 23 November edition of Top Of The Pops instead ran footage from the 1964 film A Hard Day's Night. A combination of footage from the edit suite and still photographs was eventually shown on the 7 December 1967 edition of the show.

Also during this brief session, which ran from 10.30-11am, copies were made of the final mono mixes of It's All Too Much, All Together Now and Only A Northern Song, for the producers of the Yellow Submarine animated film.

The Beatles enjoying this week long break from recording.

The Beatles are taking a break today.

The Beatles are taking a break today.

The Beatles are taking a break inbetween recording.

Filming: Hello, Goodbye

The Beatles filmed promotional footage for their forthcoming single Hello, Goodbye at London's Saville Theatre on this day.

Without an audience present, they mimed to the song on stage. At the time the theatre was still leased by NEMS Enterprises, despite the recent death of Brian Epstein.

Paul McCartney was the director of the three promo clips made, using different costumes for each. For the first The Beatles wore their Sgt Pepper uniforms before a psychedelic backdrop. The clip also had cutaways of the group waving to the camera in their 1963 collarless suits, and some dancing girls wearing Hawaiian costumes in the finale.

The second clip had The Beatles in their normal (for 1967, at least) clothes, with the dancing girls again appearing in the finale. The third was made of outtakes from the first two clips, plus footage of The Beatles dancing the Twist.

John Lennon poses in a still from the film How I Won the War on the cover of the first issue of Rolling Stone. Lennon would go on to grace the cover two more times within the first ten issues on his way to becoming one of the most featured people on the cover of Rolling Stone.

Read the John Lennon issue of Rolling Stone from November 9, 1967. (Wish we had it) If anyone does, please let us know!

The Beatles enjoying a break between recording.

Recording, mixing, editing: Blue Jay Way, Flying, Magical Mystery Tour

Studios One and Two, EMI Studios, Abbey Road
Producer: George Martin
Engineers: Ken Scott, Geoff Emerick

This busy day saw two separate sessions booked at different studios at Abbey Road, mainly for mixing of songs from the Magical Mystery Tour soundtrack.

The first session took place in the control room of Studio Two, between 2.30pm and 5.45pm. Blue Jay Way was the first song to be tackled, and was mixed in stereo in two atttempts. These were known as remix mono 1 and 2.

This was followed by a single stereo mix of Flying, and edits of both songs. The balance engineer for this first session was Ken Scott.

Scott was not involved in the second session, which was held in Studio One from 9pm to 4.30am; the engineer was Geoff Emerick. It began with nine mono mixes of Blue Jay Way, numbered 20-28, followed by three more stereo mixes, numbered 10-12. The best of these - mono mix 27 and stereo mix 12 - were then edited, and became the master versions.

The third song to be mixed was Magical Mystery Tour. Two stereo mixes were made, and two overdubs were simultaneously added. During the editing of the film, John Lennon had added a spoken introduction: "Roll up, roll up for the Magical Mystery Tour! Step right this way! Hurry, hurry, hurry!" It was decided that this should be added to the record release too.

The fourth stereo mix made during the November 6, 1967 session was copied onto a new take, and Paul McCartney simultaneously recreated Lennon's spiel, although he left out the "Hurry, hurry, hurry!" section.

A tape loop of traffic noise, assembled back on April 25th, was also added. Two stereo mixes, numbered 5 and 6, were then made of Magical Mystery Tour, followed by three, numbered 8-10, in mono.

The session ended with copies of I Am The Walrus, Your Mother Should Know, Flying, Magical Mystery Tour, Blue Jay Way, The Fool On The Hill and Strawberry Fields Forever being made for Capitol Records' representative Voyle Gilmore, who took them back to the United States for release.

Mixing, editing: Hello, Goodbye, I Am The Walrus, Your Mother Should Know, Magical Mystery Tour

Studio Three (control room), EMI Studios, Abbey Road
Producer: George Martin
Engineer: Geoff Emerick

Stereo mixes of four Magical Mystery Tour songs were made in customarily swift fashion during this session, which lasted from 2.30-6pm.

The first task was the creation of two mixes of Hello, Goodbye, the second of which was used as the master version.

The song's b-side, I Am The Walrus, was the next to be tackled, and was mixed in seven attempts. As the King Lear radio feed had been incorporated directly into the mono mix rather than the multitrack tape, this necessitated some studio trickery. The first half of the stereo master was made of stereo mix six, and from the 2'03" onwards it switched to a fake stereo version of mono mix 22, made on 29 September 1967.

Fake stereo involved slashing the treble from one channel and the bass from another, and was the best that could be achieved in the circumstances. The edit was made towards the end of the session.

Your Mother Should Know was the third song to be mixed, and took two attempts. It was followed by four of the Magical Mystery Tour title track. These were judged to be unsatisfactory, however, and further recording took place on November 7th.

The Beatles are in-between recordings today.

The Beatles are in-between recordings today.

"Sunny Heights", South Rd. St. George's Hill

Weybridge, Surrey

The filming of Magical Mystery Tour was completed this day with inserts for George's "Blue Jay Way" sequence (otherwise shot at West Malling) done at Ringo's country house in Weybridge, 19 miles south-west of London.

Principally, the Beatles filmed in Ringo's spacious back garden, each of them pretending to play a lovely white cello. (When the West Malling filming was done, Sept. 19 through Sept. 24th, the recording did not feature cello, the instrument was overdubbed at EMI on October 6th - hence the need for additional shooting now).

When it was John's turn, the others rushed into the picture fooling around with a football. George was also filmed running down some garden steps, and the cello - without a player - was filmed in front of plopping and fizzing fireworks (easily obtained this time of year with Guy Fawkes night only 48 hours away). A number of children were also filmed playing around in the garden. Moving inside the house, a topless Mal Evans was filmed with George's West Malling "Blue Jay Way" sequence projected onto his chest, and then various Beatles were filmed watching "Blue Jay Way" on a screen. John doing so while bobbing to and fro on a rockinghorse (the possession of Ringo's two year old son Zak).

BBC Television bought Magical Mystery Tour for two screenings, the first in black and white on BBC1 (Tuesday, December 26th 1967, Boxing Day) the second on the color channel BBC2, not yet available to all Britons. Additionally, Top Of The Pops twice broadcast short MMT extracts to accompany music performances "The Fool On the Hill" on Thursday, December 28 and then mute footage to accompany the playing of "Hello, Goodbye" on Thursday, January 11th.

Source: The Complete Beatles Chronicles

Recording, mixing: Hello, Goodbye

Studio Three, EMI Studios, Abbey Road
Producer: George Martin
Engineer: Ken Scott

Hello, Goodbye received its final overdub on this day: a second bass guitar part played by Paul McCartney.

The song was then mixed in mono in six attempts, the last of which was considered the best and became the master version.

The stereo mix of Hello, Goodbye was made on 6 November 1967.

The Beatles are taking a break today.