Wednesday, September 25, 1968
Recording and mixing "Happiness Is A Warm Gun"
For The Beatles
Last updated on July 17, 2024
Wednesday, September 25, 1968
For The Beatles
Last updated on July 17, 2024
"The Beatles" (aka the White Album) sessions
May 30 - Oct 18, 1968 • Songs recorded during this session appear on The Beatles (Mono)
Recording studio: EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road
Session Sep 23, 1968 • Recording "Happiness Is A Warm Gun"
Session Sep 24, 1968 • Recording "Happiness Is A Warm Gun"
Session Sep 25, 1968 • Recording and mixing "Happiness Is A Warm Gun"
Article Sep 26, 1968 • Apple books the Royal Albert Hall for a potential Beatles live performance
Session Sep 26, 1968 • Mixing "Happiness Is A Warm Gun", "What's The New Mary Jane", "Glass Onion", "I Will"
AlbumSome of the songs worked on during this session were first released on the "The Beatles (Mono)" LP
This was the third day spent on John Lennon’s “Happiness Is A Warm Gun“. During the past two days, The Beatles brought the number of takes to 70. At the end of the previous night, they decided that they would combine take 53 and take 65 of the rhythm track, to then move forward with overdubs.
The edit of take 53 and take 65 was therefore the first task of the day. Take 53 was used up to 1’34”, then the final section from take 65 continued to the end. The result of the editing was called… take 65.
The overdubs process could then start. From beatlesebooks.com:
Onto track six was recorded John’s lead vocal, complete with his mock-50’s monologue “When I hold you in my arms…” that is reminiscent of bass man Bill Reed on The Diamonds’ 1957 hit “Little Darlin.'” John’s vocal was treated with Automatic Double-Tracking. Paul’s harmonies were included on track six as well. Paul added a second bass part onto track eight. Various overdubs were taped onto track seven, these being John on organ for the opening section of the song, George playing “fuzz guitar” during the “I need a fix” segment, Ringo on tambourine and hi-hat during the “Mother Superior” segment, and Paul on piano during the final verse. Track five contained John, Paul and George’s backing vocals for the song’s final segment, Paul and George taking the high parts and John singing a doo-wop bass part, such as “Dah-duh-duh.”
Mark Lewisohn’s book “The Beatles Recording Sessions” stipulate that a tuba that happened to be in the studio was overdubbed on this day, presumably played by Paul, although its presence is nearly indecipherable in the finished product. […]
The session, which started at 7:30 pm, ended at 5 am for The Beatles. But Chris Thomas (who produced this session as George Martin was on holiday for most of September 1968) and the two engineers stayed in the control room of Studio Two from 5 am to 6:15 am, and made two mono mixes. Acetates of one of those mixes were created for The Beatles to listen to; those were still labeled with the original song title “Happiness Is A Warm Gun In Your Hand“.
The mono mix appearing on the White Album would be made on the following day, September 26.
Editing • Editing of takes 53 and 65, called take 65
Recording • SI onto take 65
Mixing • Mono mixing - Remix 1 from take 65
Mixing • Mono mixing - Remix 2 from take 65
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 4: The Beatles through Yellow Submarine (1968 - early 1969)
The fourth book of this critically acclaimed series, "The Beatles Recording Reference Manual: Volume 4: The Beatles through Yellow Submarine (1968 - early 1969)" captures The Beatles as they take the lessons of Sgt. Pepper forward with an ambitious double-album that is equally innovative and progressive. 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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Paul Brett • 2 years ago
During ‘Happiness is a Warm Gun’ overdubs, neither John nor George were very happy with the bend notes on the ‘I need a fix’ section, as originally played on George’s Les Paul, ‘Lucy’. That’s when they remembered the Bartell fretless guitar in the cupboard.
“Both John and George then played several versions of the very bendy guitar line on the fretless, with compression and a vox distortion pedal. George could not recall whose version was used in the end.”
The characteristic timbre of a fretless guitar is unmistakable (0:44– 0:58).
The Bartell Fretless was given to Harrison on 3rd Aug 1968 whilst staying on Blue Jay Way
pacealot • 2 years ago
I promise you it’s not the fretless on that lick. Having studied it for a lifetime, and even knowing about the fretless since the Yoko/Kenny Everett tapes surfaced, I guarantee that you cannot play that lick with that phrasing on a fretless guitar.
