Thursday, April 20, 1967
For The Beatles
Last updated on January 24, 2024
Recording "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band"
Nov 24, 1966 - Apr 20, 1967 • Songs recorded during this session appear on Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (UK Mono)
Recording studio: EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road
Recording studio: EMI Studios, Studio Three, Abbey Road
Session Apr 19, 1967 • Mixing "Good Morning Good Morning", "Only A Northern Song"
Article Late April or May 1967 • Hanging out at Paul's home
Session Apr 20, 1967 • Mixing "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)", recording "Only A Northern Song"
Session Apr 21, 1967 • Mixing "Only A Northern Song", recording "Sgt. Pepper Inner Groove"
Article Apr 22, 1967 • The Beatles play "Sgt. Pepper" at Mama Cass's flat in Chelsea
AlbumSome of the songs worked on during this session were first released on the "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (UK Mono)" LP
There were two sessions on this day. From 5 to 6:15 pm, balance engineer Geoff Emerick and tape operator Richard Lush (without producer George Martin) created the stereo mix of “Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise).”
The track was recorded and mixed in mono on April 1, 1967. Ten attempts at mixing Take 9 and the additional sound effects reel in stereo were made and labelled Remix Stereo 1 to 10, with RS10 serving as the stereo release version of the song.
George Martin attended the second session of the day, which took place from 7 pm to 2:15 am. The Beatles revisited “Only A Northern Song” by George Harrison, which was originally recorded on February 13 and 14, 1967. Although the song was discarded from the “Sgt. Pepper” album, the band decided to recycle it for the “Yellow Submarine” animated film soundtrack, for which the producers were present in the studio during this session.
The process used to finish the song on this day was quite unconventional. They first went back to Take 3, which was the original four-track tape that they had recorded the rhythm track on, on February 13, and wiped the bass, organ, and tambourine parts. Paul McCartney then re-recorded his bass part and added a trumpet part. John Lennon also contributed some glockenspiel, a percussion instrument consisting of metal bars arranged in a keyboard layout.
On February 14, George Harrison had recorded his lead vocals onto Take 12, a reduction mix of Take 3. However, it was decided that he should re-record his lead vocals. Those were added onto Take 11, another reduction mix done on February 14. As they were double-tracked, they filled two tracks of the four-track tape. Paul added another trumpet part, and track one, which contained drums and tambourine from the previous sessions, was erased and replaced by some miscellaneous percussion sounds, studio chatters, organs, and piano.
The two versions of “Only A Northern Song” – Take 3 and Take 11 – were mixed together during the following day’s session.
I think if it had gone Disneyesque [The “Yellow Submarine” animated movie] and they’d wanted a ‘When You Wish Upon A Star’ I would have been very keen to do it, but because they were going more in the Pepper direction, we said to use songs we’d already recorded, like ‘All You Need Is Love’. They also wanted some new songs from us, so we recorded ‘Only A Northern Song’ in Abbey Road. I remember playing a silly trumpet. My dad used to play. I can’t but I can mess around a lot – and that song gave me the perfect framework. It was very tongue in cheek.
Paul McCartney – From “The Beatles Anthology” book, 2000
The film producers were wandering around the studio and they had to sort of go along with this – I saw some very sad faces while I’m playing this trumpet.
Paul McCartney
There was a commitment for The Beatles to do four songs for the film. Apparently, they would say, this is a lousy song, let’s give it to Brodax.
Al Brodax – Producer of the Yellow Submarine film – From MOJO, October 1999
The Beatles were completely uninterested in Yellow Submarine, which was a feature-length cartoon that Brian had obligated them to do, apparently against their wishes. As a result, it essentially became a receptacle for any song of theirs that they deemed substandard, such as George Harrison’s “Only A Northern Song.” “Shovel that sideways,” they would say, and we knew that meant it was destined to be given over to the cartoon: they simply couldn’t be bothered writing anything new for it.
Geoff Emerick – From “Here, There and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of The Beatles“, 2006
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)
Mixing • Stereo mixing - Remix 1 from take 9
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)
Mixing • Stereo mixing - Remix 2 from take 9
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)
Mixing • Stereo mixing - Remix 3 from take 9
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)
Mixing • Stereo mixing - Remix 4 from take 9
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)
Mixing • Stereo mixing - Remix 5 from take 9
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)
Mixing • Stereo mixing - Remix 6 from take 9
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)
Mixing • Stereo mixing - Remix 7 from take 9
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)
Mixing • Stereo mixing - Remix 8 from take 9
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)
Mixing • Stereo mixing - Remix 9 from take 9
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)
Mixing • Stereo mixing - Remix 10 from take 9
AlbumOfficially released on Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (UK Stereo)
Written by George Harrison
Recording • SI onto take 3
Written by George Harrison
Recording • SI onto take 11
The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions • Mark Lewisohn
The definitive guide for every Beatles recording sessions from 1962 to 1970.
We owe a lot to Mark Lewisohn for the creation of those session pages, but you really have to buy this book to get all the details - the number of takes for each song, who contributed what, a description of the context and how each session went, various photographies... And an introductory interview with Paul McCartney!
The Beatles Recording Reference Manual: Volume 3: Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band through Magical Mystery Tour (late 1966-1967)
The third book of this critically - acclaimed series, nominated for the 2019 Association for Recorded Sound Collections (ARSC) award for Excellence In Historical Recorded Sound, "The Beatles Recording Reference Manual: Volume 3: Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band through Magical Mystery Tour (late 1966-1967)" captures the band's most innovative era in its entirety. From the first take to the final remix, discover the making of the greatest recordings of all time. Through extensive, fully-documented research, these books fill an important gap left by all other Beatles books published to date and provide a unique view into the recordings of the world's most successful pop music act.
If we modestly consider the Paul McCartney Project to be the premier online resource for all things Paul McCartney, it is undeniable that The Beatles Bible stands as the definitive online site dedicated to the Beatles. While there is some overlap in content between the two sites, they differ significantly in their approach.
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