Mixing "Everybody's Got Something...", "Helter Skelter", "Mother Nature's Son", "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da", "Long, Long, Long"

This day was devoted to the creation of mono and stereo mixes, for five songs to appear on the White Album.

The recording of “Everybody’s Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey” was completed on July 23, and five attempts at a mono mix were then done. On this day, the mono and stereo mixes released on the White Album were made. The only notable difference between the stereo and mono mixes is the “come on” screaming in the last verse is somewhat different.

The recording of “Helter Skelter” was completed on September 10 and the mono mix was made on September 17. On this day, the stereo mix released on the White Album was made.

Five attempts were made at creating this difficult mix, the fifth try, no doubt, being the one used on the released album. The backing vocals were pushed more in the background, Paul’s lead guitar in the instrumental break was brought up higher in the mix, and the chatter and extraneous sounds during the break at the three minute mark was left in this time around. And, most notably, a decision was made to fade the song back up for the listener to hear its full conclusion as well as Ringo’s “blisters” cry.

From beatlesebooks.com

As in the past, the stereo mixes for The White Album tended to be put off until the last minute, even though they were now deemed to be important. The reason for the importance was not what one might expect though. Paul explained to me whilst mixing the stereo version of “Helter Skelter” that it had to sound different from the mono version. Apparently fans started to buy both the mono and stereo albums and wrote to them asking if they knew there were differences between the versions, so Paul and/or the band saw this as a great way to boost sales.

Ken Scott – From “Abbey Road to Ziggy Stardust“, 2012

The mono mix fades at 3:36, while the stereo mix reaches 4:29. The mono mix excludes Ringo Starr’s shout “I’ve got blisters on my fingers!“.

The recording of “Mother Nature’s Son” had been completed on August 20, and eight attempts at a mono mix were then done. On this day, the mono and stereo mixes released on the White Album were made.

The recording and mixing process for “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da” was laborious. The recording started in early July, three remakes were done. At the end of the recording process, on July 15, ten mono mixes were made but judged unsatisfactory. On this day, one more attempt at creating the mono mix was done, and the result was released on the White Album. Four stereo mixes were also made on this day, including the one released on the stereo version of the album.

The first attempt at a mono mix of “Long, Long, Long” was done on this day, but this mix was deemed not good enough. A proper mono mix was done on October 14.

Session activities

1. Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey

   Written by Lennon - McCartney

   Mixing • Stereo mixing - Remix 1 from take 12

   AlbumOfficially released on The Beatles (Stereo)

2. Helter Skelter

   Written by Lennon - McCartney

   Mixing • Stereo mixing - Remix 1 from take 21

3. Helter Skelter

   Written by Lennon - McCartney

   Mixing • Stereo mixing - Remix 2 from take 21

4. Helter Skelter

   Written by Lennon - McCartney

   Mixing • Stereo mixing - Remix 3 from take 21

5. Helter Skelter

   Written by Lennon - McCartney

   Mixing • Stereo mixing - Remix 4 from take 21

6. Helter Skelter

   Written by Lennon - McCartney

   Mixing • Stereo mixing - Remix 5 from take 21

   AlbumOfficially released on The Beatles (Stereo)

7. Mother Nature's Son

   Written by Lennon - McCartney

   Mixing • Stereo mixing - Remix 1 from take 26

8. Mother Nature's Son

   Written by Lennon - McCartney

   Mixing • Stereo mixing - Remix 2 from take 26

   AlbumOfficially released on The Beatles (Stereo)

9. Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da

   Written by Lennon - McCartney

   Mixing • Stereo mixing - Remix 1 from take 23

10. Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

    Mixing • Stereo mixing - Remix 2 from take 23

11. Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

    Mixing • Stereo mixing - Remix 3 from take 23

12. Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

    Mixing • Stereo mixing - Remix 4 from take 23

    AlbumOfficially released on The Beatles (Stereo)

13. Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

    Mixing • Mono mixing - Remix 1 from take 12

14. Mother Nature's Son

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

    Mixing • Mono mixing - Remix 1 from take 26

15. Mother Nature's Son

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

    Mixing • Mono mixing - Remix 2 from take 26

    AlbumOfficially released on The Beatles (Mono)

16. Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

    Mixing • Mono mixing - Remix 10 from take 23

    AlbumOfficially released on The Beatles (Mono)

17. Long, Long, Long

    Written by George Harrison

    Mixing • Mono mixing - Remix 1 from take 67

Staff

Production staff

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