Recording "Lady Madonna", "Across The Universe"

From mid-February to late April, The Beatles planned a trip to India to further their studies of Transcendental Meditation with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Before their trip, they booked some studio time to record a new single for release while they were away. During their five days at EMI Studios, they recorded four new songs, all of which were mixed and ready for release.

On this day, two recording sessions were organized: the first one from 2:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. and the second one from 7 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. During these two sessions, The Beatles began recording Paul McCartney’s “Lady Madonna” and John Lennon’s “Across The Universe.”

The basic track of “Lady Madonna” featured only Paul on piano and Ringo Starr on drums (using brushes instead of sticks).

Paul plays piano on it. We said to George Martin, ‘How did they do it on “Bad Penny Blues”? And he said, ‘They used brushes.’ So, we put an off-beat on it.

Ringo Starr – (“Bad Penny Blues” was a minor hit for the Humphrey Lyttleton Band in 1956, produced by George Martin)

By Saturday February 3 all four Beatles were ready to go ahead with recordings for a single, First new number to be tackled was “Lady Madonna”, Paul having done most of the words and music for this item.

Mal Evans and Neil Aspinall – From the Beatles Monthly Book, N°57, April 1968

After some rehearsals, three formal takes were recorded. Take 1 was incomplete. Take 2 was complete and was released on the White Album’s 50th anniversary re-release in 2018. Take 3 was the master.

The piano… It’s still there at Abbey Road actually, but we used to call it Mrs. Mills piano because there was a pianist who used to do all this, sort of…stride. But Mrs. Mills piano inspired that. I wrote it at home but it was like, ‘I’ve got to do this on that funky little piano.’

Paul McCartney – From “McCartney 3,2,1” documentary

For the overdubs, Paul recorded the first of his lead vocal tracks and deliberately overloaded it to create an edgy quality. Then, John Lennon added some mouth noises, imitating a tuba, and both John and Paul did some handclaps. Paul followed by adding his bass part, while Ringo added more drums, and John and George Harrison played fuzzed guitars through the same amplifier.

MORE THAN A FEW BEATLE PEOPLE ARE SURPRISED TO KNOW THAT PAUL IS THE SOLO SINGER ON “LADY MADONNA”. ALTHOUGH THIS IS AN OUT AND OUT ROCKER, THE SOUND OF PAUL’S SINGING IS VERY DIFFERENT FROM EARLIER THINGS HE DID LIKE “LONG TALL SALLY” OR “I’M DOWN”, THE REAL OLD SCREAMIN’ RAVERS! IN FACT SOME PEOPLE HAVE BEEN CONVINCED THE SINGER IS RINGO, IT ISN’T!

Mal Evans and Neil Aspinall – From the Beatles Monthly Book, N°57, April 1968

There’s a lovely sound on ‘Lady Madonna,’ that’s like sort of muted trumpets, or a kazoo, or something. But, in actual fact, it’s just John and Paul (and George as the recording suggests) sort of humming through their hands into a mike. It was purely by accident that we discovered that sound. We had just finished taping a bit of the record, and John and Paul started to hum into the mike with their hands cupped round their mouths. When we played back the piece of tape with this bit tagged on the end, it sounded great, so we decided to use it.

Ringo Starr

Work on “Lady Madonna” continued on February 6, 1968.

The exact date that The Beatles began working on “Across the Universe” remains a subject of debate. While some sources suggest February 3, 1968, others point to February 4. Mark Lewisohn, in his comprehensive book “The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions,” indicates February 4. However, in the liner notes he wrote for The Beatles Anthology 2, he mentions “Saturday 3 February 1968.” Additionally, John Barrett’s notes reference tape E67494, which contains Takes 1 to 3 of “Lady Madonna” (dated February 3) and Takes 1 and 2 of “Across the Universe” (dated February 4). Tape E67495 has “Across the Universe,” with no take numbers noted, also from February 3. Complicating the matter further, the book accompanying the White Album’s 50th anniversary re-release states that “The Beatles began recording ‘Across The Universe’ on 4 February 1968“.

We assume that the basic track of “Across The Universe” was recorded on February 3, and the first overdubs were added the following day, February 4.

John brought the song into the studio, feeling it could be the next Beatles single. However, despite their efforts on February 3, 4 and 8, he remained unsatisfied with the result, and the group decided instead to release “Lady Madonna.”

Nobody was interested in doing it originally. Everyone was sickened. The tune was good, but subliminally people don’t want to work with it sometimes. I was so disappointed.

John Lennon, 1980

I was psychologically destroyed. Nobody was supporting me or helping me with it, but we would spend hours doing little detail cleaning on Paul’s (songs). When it came to mine, somehow this atmosphere of looseness and casualness – ‘Let’s try a few experiments’ – would come over. It was subconscious sabotage, yeah. He will say this doesn’t exist, that I’m paranoid, but I’m not paranoid. It’s the absolute truth.”

John Lennon – Interview with Playboy, 1980

John wasn’t entirely sure of how he wanted the song presented. Six takes of the basic track were recorded, numbered take 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7 (there is no take 3 on the tapes, likely a false start).

Take 1 was John on acoustic guitar, George Harrison on swarmandal (a stringed Indian instrument), and Ringo Starr on tom-toms.

Takes 2 to 7 featured John on acoustic guitar and guide vocals and Ringo on tom-toms. Take 6 was released on the White Album’s 50th anniversary re-release in 2018. Take 7 was considered to be the best take, and onto which overdubs would be added the following day.

Session activities

1. Lady Madonna

   Written by Lennon - McCartney

   Recording • Take 1

2. Lady Madonna

   Written by Lennon - McCartney

   Recording • Take 2

   AlbumOfficially released on The Beatles (50th anniversary boxset)

3. Lady Madonna

   Written by Lennon - McCartney

   Recording • Take 3

4. Lady Madonna

   Written by Lennon - McCartney

   Recording • SI onto take 3

5. Across The Universe

   Written by Lennon - McCartney

   Recording • Take 1

6. Across The Universe

   Written by Lennon - McCartney

   Recording • Take 2

7. Across The Universe

   Written by Lennon - McCartney

   Recording • Take 4

8. Across The Universe

   Written by Lennon - McCartney

   Recording • Take 5

9. Across The Universe

   Written by Lennon - McCartney

   Recording • Take 6

   AlbumOfficially released on The Beatles (50th anniversary boxset)

10. Across The Universe

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

    Recording • Take 7

Staff

Musicians on "Lady Madonna"

Musicians on "Across The Universe"

Production staff

Going further

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