"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
Previous session July - October 1968 • Recording "James Taylor"
Interview Jul 01, 1968 • Paul McCartney interview for BBC North region
Article Jul 02, 1968 • Paul McCartney discusses Apple at lunch with EMI chairman and banker
Session Jul 02, 1968 • Recording "Good Night"
Session Jul 03, 1968 • Recording "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da"
AlbumSome of the songs worked on during this session were first released on the "The Beatles (Mono)" LP
On this day, from 6 pm to 2:15 am, The Beatles continued to work on John Lennon’s “Good Night.”
John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison first added backing vocals to Take 5, recorded on June 28.
Then, they opted to begin anew, recording 10 fresh takes, numbered 6 through 15, featuring Ringo Starr on vocals, John on piano, and either Paul or George on maracas. Take 10 was released on “The Beatles” 2018 reissue.
Following this, Ringo recorded several spoken introductions for the song, such as “Come on, it’s time you little toddlers were in bed,” “Come along now, we must go to bed. We’ve had a wonderful day,” and “Cover yourself up Charlie, no peeking.” A 39-second compilation of these introductions was also released on “The Beatles” 2018 reissue.
At the end of the session, George Martin took two copies of Take 15 to arrange for an orchestra and choir. Ultimately, the efforts from this session, and the previous one on June 28, were discarded in favor of a new version featuring only the orchestral arrangement, without The Beatles’ participation, except for Ringo’s lead vocals.
The orchestral and choir arrangement was recorded on July 22.
Recording • SI onto take 5
Recording • Take 6
Recording • Take 7
Recording • Take 8
Recording • Take 9
Recording • Take 10
AlbumOfficially released on The Beatles (50th anniversary boxset)
Recording • Take 11
Recording • Take 12
Recording • Take 13
Recording • Take 14
Recording • Take 15
Try-outs of spoken introduction
Recording
AlbumOfficially released on The Beatles (50th anniversary boxset)
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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