Thursday, June 27, 1968
Recording "Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey"
For The Beatles
Last updated on October 17, 2024
Thursday, June 27, 1968
For The Beatles
Last updated on October 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 June 25-26, 1968 • Recording "Sour Milk Sea"
Session Jun 26, 1968 • Recording "Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey"
Session Jun 27, 1968 • Recording "Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey"
Session Jun 28, 1968 • Recording "Good Night"
AlbumSome of the songs worked on during this session were first released on the "The Beatles (Mono)" LP
After a day of rehearsals, The Beatles recorded the backing track for “Everybody’s Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey” in a session that ran from 5 pm to 3:45 am.
Mark Lewisohn’s “The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions” mentions that there were six takes of the backing track, followed by two reduction mixes (Takes 7 and 8), and then the overdubs of the cowbell and chocalho (a Latin percussion instrument) on Take 8.
Kevin Howlett’s book accompanying the 2018 reissue of “The Beatles” states there were eight takes of the backing track.
However, both authors concur on the final state of the track after this session. On Take 8, John Lennon played guitar, Paul McCartney played hand bell and chocalho, George Harrison was on guitar, and Ringo Starr played drums.
Overdubs were applied to Take 8 on July 1 and July 23.
The group began work on yet another harsh, aggressive Lennon song…Once again, The Beatles were playing incredibly loud down in the studio, but this time Lennon and Harrison had their volume turned up so high that Paul actually gave up competing with them. Rather than play bass on the backing track, he stood next to Ringo, ringing a huge fireman’s bell, egging his drummer on. There was no microphone on him, because the thing was so loud that it bled on all the mics anyway. Physically, it was very difficult to pull off – Paul had to take a break after each take because his shoulders were aching so much. […] As much as I disliked the song, I had to admit that it was the first time in any of the ‘White Album’ sessions that there was any energy in their playing. George Harrison’s lead work was crisp and efficient, much more aggressive than his usual style.
Geoff Emerick – From “Here, There and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of The Beatles“, 2006
Needless to say, by the time the track was completed, I had a splitting headache. That evening, Paul had walked into the control room on his way in and unceremoniously plunked a bottle of Johnnie Walker down on the table, saying, ‘This is for you, boys.’…(Engineer Richard Lush and I) restrained ourselves until after everyone had gone home, at which point we drained the entire bottle…Giggling like the drunken fools we were, we got every last cup and saucer out of the canteen and took them into Studio Two, whereupon we smashed them up against the wall. Of course, we then had to hide the evidence. But it was worth it. The next morning the canteen staff came in and wanted to know where all the cups and saucers had gone. Fighting our hangovers and trying to appear as angelic as humanly possible, we pleaded innocence.
Geoff Emerick – From “Here, There and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of The Beatles“, 2006
Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey
Recording • Take 1
Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey
Recording • Take 2
Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey
Recording • Take 3
Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey
Recording • Take 4
Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey
Recording • Take 5
Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey
Recording • Take 6
Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey
Tape copying • Tape reduction take 6 into take 7
Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey
Tape copying • Tape reduction take 6 into take 8
Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey
Recording • SI onto take 8
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.
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David Harvey • 1 year ago
Geoff Emerick's anecdote about smashing the cups and saucers against the wall of Studio 2 just sounds unconvincing, because if it really did happen, he would've either been fired from EMI or forced to pay for replacement teacups and saucers.
