Fab Four Blog

The Beatles are not in the recording studio today.

It’s a been a booming era for rediscovered Beatles photos, from the famous lost Beatles photographs taken by their tour manager to Linda McCartney’s tender portraits to Harry Benson’s luminous black-and-white photos of the Fab Four.

On this day in 1969, two days after their final recording session, the Beatles gathered at Tittenhurst Park, where John Lennon and Yoko Ono resided, for a photo shoot they didn’t realize would be their last — an instance of those bittersweet “unknown lasts” that wedge themselves between our lived experience and our memory, sometimes violently and other times with the tender wistfulness of nostalgia.

The cast of characters on that fateful August 22, captured by photographers Ethan Russell and Monte Fresco and Beatles assistant Mal Evans, included the Fab Four, Yoko Ono, a very pregnant Linda McCartney (a photographer herself), Apple Corps’ press officer Derek Taylor, Paul McCartney’s sheepdog Martha, and two donkeys Lennon and Ono kept on the property.

Linda shot some 16mm footage on my camera. That turned out to be the last film taken.” ~ Paul McCartney

Paul McCartney changes the name of his company from Adagrose Ltd. to McCartney Productions Ltd. (MPL).

Meanwhile, the studio session for the Abbey Road album was in the full edit stage. Between 1pm and 2pm, balance engineer Phil McDonald edited the orchestral overdub for The End. He began by making a copy of the tape, before editing the passage then reinserting it back into the multitrack tape.

Then in the control room of Studio Two from 2.30pm until midnight, the final attempt at a crossfade from You Never Give Me Your Money into Sun King/Mean Mr Mustard was made. Paul McCartney had prepared tape loops for this purpose on 5 August 1969, and an early version of the crossfade had been made on 14 August. On this day it was completed in a single attempt, which was known as stereo crossfade remix 12.

The date was August 20, 1969. The Beatles were recording what was to be their final album, Abbey Road. The date is important (and historic), although the boys probably had no idea of its significance.

August 20, 1969, was the last time the four Beatles were together in the recording studio.

They were recording the final over-dubs of John's song "I Want You (She's So Heavy)," a stark, raw love song written by John. The band's final session was spent working on a fervent love song to Yoko Ono.

The Beatles in the recording studio (Studio Two, EMI Studios, London). A synthesizer overdub for Here Comes the Sun is recorded.

The Beatles in the recording studio (Studio Two, EMI Studios, London). Paul McCartney records a piano overdub for The End. The Beatles Anthology 3 includes a remix of The End that includes many of the overdubs that were edited out of the final Abbey Road version (Disc two, Track 23).

Mary Hopkin's had two hit Apple singles, Those Were The Days and Goodbye. Paul McCartney wanted to produce her second album after the completion of The Beatles' Get Back album, but plans were far behind because the group began recording Abbey Road.

McCartney eventually selected the Doris Day classic Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be), a choice which Hopkin didn't care for. However, she agreed to record it, with the folkier The Fields Of St Etienne on the b-side. Both songs were recorded at EMI Studios in between sessions for the Abbey Road album.

The Beatles are taking a break today.

Today there were five Abbey Road Songs  - Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight, The End, Something and Here Comes The Sun. Orchestral overdubs were added and although the 30-piece orchestra was stationed in Studio One, the sound recording was overseen in Studio Two. The engineers and tape operators monitored proceedings via closed-circuit television, which gave a visual link between the two studios for the first time.

The first overdub was for Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight, which was added to track eight of the tape. The recording was doubled via artificial double-tracking during a later mixing session. The End was next but his was not the song's final overdub. Paul McCartney added an extra piano part towards the song's end during a session three days later.

While George Martin was conducting the orchestra in Studio One, George Harrison was in Studio Two simultaneously recording a new guitar part for Something. The final song was Harrison's Here Comes The Sun, the score for which required just 17 musicians. The song's recording was completed on 19 August 1969 with a Moog overdub.

The orchestral players were as follows: Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight and The End: 12 violins, four violas, four cellos, string bass, four horns, three trumpets, trombone, bass trombone. Something: 12 violins, four violas, four cellos, string bass.
Here Comes The Sun: four violas, four cellos, string bass, two clarinets, two alto flutes, two flutes, two piccolos.

Today, a 12-hour session took place for the mixing and editing of various Abbey Road songs in the control room of Abbey Road's Studio Two from 2.30pm-2.30am.

Five stereo mixes were made of Sun King-Mean Mr. Mustard and were numbered mixes 20-24. Maxwell's Silver Hammer's final verse was then mixed in stereo.

Thirteen mixes of Polythene Pam/She Came In Through The Bathroom Window were the next to be made.

The crossfade from You Never Give Me Your Money into Sun King/Mean Mr Mustard was attempted 11 times on this day, which used tape loops assembled by Paul McCartney on 5 August 1969. It was, however, improved on 21 August in a single attempt, which became stereo crossfade mix 12.

During the session John Lennon gave an interview to BBC Radio 1's Kenny Everett for the show Everett Is Here. The interview was broadcast in two parts on 20 and 27 September 1969.

The day ended with the aforementioned edit of two mixes of Maxwell's Silver Hammer, followed by editing of Sun King/Mean Mr Mustard onto Polythene Pam/She Came In Through The Bathroom Window. By 2.30am around half of the Abbey Road medley was complete, with final work on the other songs taking place in the coming days.

Today in Abbey Road Studio's the mixing session for You Never Give Me Your Money was completed from 2.30-9.15pm.

Eight stereo mixes of the song were made on this day, and were numbered 20-27. Take 23 was chosen as the best, and the first attempt at a crossfade into Sun King/Mean Mr Mustard took place the following day, 14 August 1969.

No recording sessions today

The Beatles in the recording studio (Studios Three and Two, EMI Studios, London). John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison record the “she’s so heavy” harmony vocals for I Want You (She’s So Heavy). Then backing vocals are overdubbed for Oh! Darling and Here Comes the Sun.

The Beatles did not have a recording session today

Today, All four Beatles gathered at EMI Studios in the morning to take one of the most famous photo shoots of their career. Iain Macmillan took the image that would appear on their last recorded album, Abbey Road.

Prior to the shoot, Paul McCartney had sketched his ideas for the cover, to which Macmillan added a more detailed illustration.

As the group waited outside the studio for the shoot to begin, Linda McCartney took a number of extra photographs. A policeman held up the traffic as Macmillan, with a stepladder positioned in the middle of the road, took six shots as the group walked across the zebra crossing just outside the studio.

The Beatles crossed the road a number of times while Macmillan photographed them. It was a hot day in north London, and for four of the six photographs McCartney walked barefoot; for the other two he wore sandals.

Photographer, Iain McMillan, balanced on a step-ladder in the middle of Abbey Road, takes photographs of John Lennon, Ringo Starr, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison (lined up in that order) walking across the zebra crossing (pedestrian cross-walk) just outside Abbey Road studios. The Beatles cross several times, McMillan taking six shots while a policeman holds up traffic for them. After this, Paul chooses out of the six pictures taken the best one for the LP. Before a scheduled recording session, Paul takes John to his house at Cavendish Avenue, George and Mal go to the London Zoo at Regent’s Park, and Ringo goes shopping.

The Beatles in the recording studio (Studios Two and Three, EMI Studios, London). Recording drums and bass overdubs for The End. Then Ringo Starr adds drums, while John Lennon records an overdub of synthesizer and white-noise onto I Want You (She’s So Heavy). In another studio, Paul McCartney records lead guitar and tambourine overdubs onto Oh! Darling.

Two sessions were held in the control room of Studio Two from 2.30-6pm, 10 stereo mixes of Come Together were made, with John Lennon's vocals treated with artificial double-tracking during the choruses.

John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison assembled in Studio Three from 2:30 to 5:30 for the recording of the guitar solos on The End.

According to Geoff Emerick, the idea for the guitar solos was very spontaneous and everybody said, 'Yes! Definitely' – well, except for George, who was a little apprehensive at first. But he saw how excited John and Paul were so he went along with it. Truthfully, I think they rather liked the idea of playing together, not really trying to outdo one another per se, but engaging in some real musical bonding. Yoko was about to go into the studio with John – this was commonplace by now – and he actually told her, 'No, not now. Let me just do this. It'll just take a minute.' That surprised me a bit. Maybe he felt like he was returning to his roots with the boys – who knows?  The order was Paul first, then George, then John, and they went back and forth. They ran down their ideas a few times and before you knew it, they were ready to go. Their amps were lined up together and we recorded their parts on one track. You could really see the joy in their faces as they played; it was like they were teenagers again. One take was all we needed. The musical telepathy between them was mind-boggling.

-The Beatles in the recording studio (Studios Three and Two, EMI Studios, London). George Harrison records an acoustic guitar overdub for Here Comes the Sun, and Paul McCartney records Moog synthesizer onto Maxwell's Silver Hammer. With all of the basic tracks for Abbey Road recorded, and only overdubs left, there will be only a few more instances where all four Beatles are in the studio together.

The Beatles in the recording studio (Studios Three and Two, EMI Studios, London). George has his new Moog synthesizer brought into the studio for group to use in finishing up Abbey Road. Moog overdubs are recorded onto Because. Then vocals are overdubbed onto The End. Paul had brought along tape loops to use in creating the transition sounds linking You Never Give Me Your Money and Sun King.

The Beatles in the recording studio (Studio Two, EMI Studios, London), recording vocal overdubs for Because. Also, George Harrison asks George Martin to arrange an orchestral score for Something. The Beatles Anthology 3 has the vocal overdub track, without any instrumentation, for Because (Disc two, Track 20).

The Beatles - Inbetween recording sessions

Badfinger records Come and Get It at Abbey Road Studios. Paul McCartney produces the session.

The Beatles in the recording studio (Studio Two, EMI Studios, London), recording John Lennon’s song Because, in 23 takes (take 16 being selected as ‘best’), along with the first of three sets of vocals overdubs.

The Beatles in the recording studio (Studio Two, EMI Studios, London). Additional overdubs bring You Never Give Me Your Money to completion. Then, drums, tympani, and vocals are overdubbed onto Golden Slumbers / Carry That Weight.

The Beatles in the recording studio (Studios Two and Three, EMI Studios, London). Recording overdubs for Come Together, Polythene Pam / She Came In Through the Bathroom Window, You Never Give Me Your Money, and Golden Slumbers / Carry That Weight. Then The Beatles begin to assemble the "medley" that will make up side two of the album. Paul McCartney tells tape operator, John Kurlander, to discard Her Majesty, but Kurlander can't bring himself to do so, tacking it onto the end of the medley tape, about 20 seconds after The End. The next day, when acetate discs are cut from the tape, Her Majesty is included. Hearing it like this, Paul likes it and decides to keep it, including the lengthy silence preceding it.

The Beatles in the recording studio (Studio Three, EMI Studios, London). Recording a guitar overdub for Come Together. Then recording overdubs onto Sun King / Mean Mr. Mustard.

Today the Beatles recorded Polythene Pam and She Came In Through The Bathroom Window.

Various instruments were added to the songs and the overdubs included acoustic and electric pianos and guitars, percussion and extra vocals.

Most of these went unused in the final mixes, however. The recordings took place in Studio Three between 2.30pm and 8pm, before a reduction mix was made in the control room of Studio Two. This was completed by 8.30pm, and the new mix was numbered take 40.

It was a slow day for the Beatles today - at least in recording sessions.

A break in the recording studio today

The Beatles in the recording studio (Studio Two, EMI Studios, London). Recording overdubs for Sun King / Mean Mr. Mustard and Come Together. Then The Beatles record John Lennon's Polythene Pam and Paul McCartney's She Came In Through The Bathroom Window as one continuous piece (39 takes plus overdubs).