Thursday, August 15, 1968
Recording and mixing "Rocky Raccoon"
For The Beatles
Last updated on October 26, 2024
Thursday, August 15, 1968
For The Beatles
Last updated on October 26, 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 Aug 14, 1968 • Recording and mixing "Yer Blues", recording and mixing "What's The New Mary Jane"
Article Mid-August 1968 • Paul McCartney invites Linda Eastman to London
Session Aug 15, 1968 • Recording and mixing "Rocky Raccoon"
Session Aug 16, 1968 • Recording "While My Guitar Gently Weeps"
Interview Aug 17, 1968 • Paul McCartney interview for New Musical Express (NME)
AlbumSome of the songs worked on during this session were first released on the "The Beatles (Mono)" LP
The Beatles recorded Paul McCartney’s “Rocky Raccoon” on this day, finishing it — including overdubs and mono mixing — by the end of the session, which ran from 7 pm to 3 am.
It was a difficult song to record, because it had to be all in one take. It would have been very hard to edit, because of the quirkiness of the vocal. But it was fun to do.
Paul McCartney – from “The Beatles” super deluxe book, 2018
Paul sings this Country & Western one and he’s made the lyrics tell a complete story that starts simply to guitar accompaniment but spreads out later. It’s all about young Rocky from the hills of Dakota and how his girl Lily McGill runs off with a nasty piece of work named Danny. Complete with saloon gunfire! Vocally it’s particularly interesting because Paul’s singing changes all the time according to the mood of the story. Started and finished at a single all-night session.
Mal Evans – From the Beatles Monthly Book, N°64, November 1968
Nine takes of the basic track were laid down. In takes one through five, Paul McCartney provided vocals and played the acoustic guitar, John Lennon was on the bass guitar, Ringo Starr handled the drums, and George Martin played the piano. During these takes, George Harrison was present in the control room.
Nine takes of the basic track were recorded. From take 1 to take 5, Paul McCartney provided vocals and played the acoustic guitar, John Lennon was on the bass guitar, Ringo Starr played the drums, and George Martin played the piano. During these takes, George Harrison was in the control room.
During take four, Paul sang that ‘the doctor rolled up his sleeves’ and ‘Rocky said, “Doc, let’s have none of your cock”‘. Soon after that, the performance came to a halt with Paul admitting, ‘Fuck knows where I am!’ He then picked out the riff of ‘Day Tripper’ on his acoustic guitar.
From “The Beatles” Super Deluxe edition book (2018)
It was then decided that the piano part would be later overdubbed, so from take 6 to take 9, George Martin was in the control room.
Take 8 was released on Anthology 3 in 1993, and also on the White Album’s 50th anniversary release in 2018.
Paul’s Rocky Raccoon was started and completed in a single eight-hour session – overdubs and all – the master being Take 10. Along the way the Beatles recorded a number of outtakes that underline both the fun nature of the song and the still changing lyric. This version is Take 8, which, while it may have started out as an attempt at recording the master, soon dissolves into levity.
From Anthology 3 liner notes
Comparing take 8 and take 9 (the one used for the White Album) shows that the lyrics were partly improvised during the session. Take 8 starts with Paul McCartney declaring:
Rocky Raccoon…Rocky Raccoon, he was a fool unto himself. And he would not swallow his foolish pride. Mind you, coming from a little town in Minnesota, it was not the kind of thing that a young guy did when a fella went and stole his chick away from him.
Paul McCartney
Later in the song, the “doctor” verse was:
Now Rocky Raccoon got up from his room and he walked out those swing doors of the local saloon, straight into the arms of someone new, someone who he’d known from a long way back, maybe from a primary school day. A young friend of Rocky recognised. She said, ‘Honey, will you be my new honey bunch?’ She said, ‘Rocky boy, come on. I’ll show you why I love you. Young Rock Raccoon, I love the way you wear your hat, I love the way you hit your pants. Rocky Raccoon, I dig you.’ He said, ‘Mrs., I dig you too. Come with me.
Paul McCartney
Take 9 was transformed into take 10 after a reduction mix, and overdubs were added. George Martin played “a ‘tack-piano’ that was recorded at half-speed to create a Western movie honky-tonk effect when played back at normal speed” (From “The Beatles” Super Deluxe edition book – 2018). John added some accordion and harmonica. John, Paul, and George Harrison added backing vocals.
“Rocky Racoon” was then mixed in mono. Only one try was needed to make the mix released on the White Album. The stereo mix was made on October 10.
Recording • Take 1
Recording • Take 2
Recording • Take 3
Recording • Take 4
Recording • Take 5
Recording • Take 6
Recording • Take 7
Recording • Take 8
AlbumOfficially released on The Beatles (50th anniversary boxset)
Recording • Take 9
Tape copying • Tape reduction take 9 into take 10
Recording • SI onto take 10
Mixing • Mono mixing - Remix 1 from take 10
AlbumOfficially released on The Beatles (Mono)
Tape copying • Tape copying of remix mono 3
Tape copying • Tape copying of remix mono 1
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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