Thursday, July 31, 1969
For The Beatles
Last updated on December 27, 2021
Feb 22 - Aug 25, 1969 • Songs recorded during this session appear on Abbey Road
Recording studio: EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road
Session Jul 29, 1969 • Recording "Come Together", "Sun King", "Mean Mr. Mustard"
Session Jul 31, 1969 • Recording "You Never Give Me Your Money", "Golden Slumbers", "Carry That Weight"
Article August 1969 • The “Get Back” LP rumours – August 1969
AlbumSome of the songs worked on during this session were first released on the "Abbey Road" LP
On this day, in a 2:30 pm to 1:15 am session, The Beatles continued the work on three songs of the “Abbey Road” medley – “You Never Give Me Your Money” and “Golden Slumbers / Carry That Weight“.
The day before, several reduction mixes of take 30 of “You Never Give Me Your Money” had been made and some overdubs were added onto the reduction mix named take 40. On this day, Paul McCartney returned to take 30 and re-recorded his bass part (on track seven). He also recorded a piano track, recorded at half-speed, which gave the honky-tonk effect when played at the correct speed.
At this stage, the remaining question was how to segue “You Never Give Me Your Money” into the next medley track, “Sun King“. This would be solved with additional overdubs added on August 5, 1969.
Paul then re-recorded some lead vocals on “Golden Slumbers / Carry That Weight” (on track six) and Ringo Starr added some extra drum hits (on track seven).
Some timpani drums were also added on “Carry That Weight“. The studio documentation doesn’t mention who played timpani and photographic evidence shows that both Paul and Ringo attempted to achieve the right timpani sound.
“Golden Slumbers / Carry That Weight” would receive its final (orchestral) overdubs on August 15, 1969.
Recording • SI onto take 30
Recording • SI onto take 17
Recording • SI onto take 17
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!
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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