Recording "You Know My Name (Look Up That Number)"

About

On May 17 and June 7, 1967, The Beatles began recording “You Know My Name (Look Up That Number)“. The song consisted of five parts. The first part was recorded during the first two sessions.

On this day, June 8, from 7 pm to 1 am, The Beatles recorded the four other parts, each played in a different musical style. During this recording session, Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones joined them on saxophone.

The Undertakers were a Liverpool-based beat group that had a tenor saxophonist named Brian Jones in their lineup, which caused some confusion about which Brian Jones played on the track. The Undertakers also had Jackie Lomax, who was signed with Apple Records, The Beatles’ record label, in 1968.

Was that Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones or was it Brian Jones of the Undertakers playing sax? Because people have never been too sure.

It was Brian Jones of the Stones. He turned up very, very nervous with a sax, and we said “Oh, we thought you’d bring a guitar!” and he’d brought a sax. I invited him to the session. Absolutely definitely Brian of the Stones. Unequivocably, as they say.

Paul McCartney – Interview with Mark Lewisohn – From “The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions” by Mark Lewisohn, 1988

[Brian Jones] arrived at Abbey Road in his big Afghan coat. He was always nervous, a little insecure, and he was really nervous that night because he’s walking in on a Beatles session. He was nervous to the point of shaking, lighting ciggy after ciggy. I used to like Brian a lot. I thought it would be a fun idea to have him, and I naturally thought he’d bring a guitar along to a Beatles session and maybe chung along and do some nice rhythm guitar or a little bit of electric twelve-string or something, but to our surprise he brought his saxophone. He opened up his sax case and started putting a reed in and warming up, playing a little bit. He was a really ropey sax player, so I thought, Ah-hah. We’ve got just the tune.

Paul McCartney – From “Paul McCartney: Many Years from Now” by Barry Miles, 1997

During this recording session, The Beatles recorded 12 takes of Part 2, 4 takes of Part 3, 6 takes of Part 4, and one take of Part 5. It’s not clear which part corresponds to which music style. Also, it’s not documented who played what. Here are the different musical styles and the instruments used in each:

• The ska-influenced part had piano, bass, guitar, drums and Brian Jones on saxophone.
• The part played in a “lounge lizard style” (this is how Geoff Emerick described it) had piano, bongos and maracas.
• The part played in traditional jazz style featured piano, bass, drums, vibraphone, and again Brian Jones on saxophone.
• The last part had piano, bongos, tambourine, cog rattle and coo-coo whistle.

The following credits are given in Ian McDonald’s book “Revolution In The Head“:

• John Lennon – guitar, maracas
• Paul McCartney – piano, bass, handclaps
• George Harrison – lead guitar, vibraphone
• Ringo Starr – drums, timbales, bongos

Jerry Hammack’s reference book “The Beatles Recording Reference Manual: Volume 3: Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band through Magical Mystery Tour (late 1966-1967)“, gives the following credits:

• John Lennon – piano, guitar, handclaps
• Paul McCartney – bass, handclaps, flute?, piano?
• George Martin – piano?
• George Harrison – guitar
• Ringo Starr – drums, tambourine
• ?: vibraphone, percussions

Work continued on “You Know My Name (Look Up That Number)“ the following day.

Ironically, during those first few days that the adulation for Pepper was flooding in, the group were hard at work in Studio Two on what was quite possibly the least substantive song they had ever put down on tape: “You Know My Name (Look Up The Number).” It was recorded in sections, and the sole lyric was the title phrase, repeated over and over again in a variety of genres, from straight rock ’n’ roll to lounge lizard style. We all had great fun on those sessions as John and Paul dubbed on all manner of loony sound effects and sang and harrumphed in their full repertoire of comic Goon-like voices. It was such a novelty number, in fact, that it sat on the shelf for nearly two and half years before it was finally finished, at Lennon’s instigation, and released as the B-side of the “Let It Be” single.

Geoff Emerick – From “Here, There and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of The Beatles“, 2006

On Thursday, June 8th, 1967, Paul signed my [Sgt. Pepper] album at EMI. I asked him to sign just his [first] name and he signed Paul Mc, looked around at the other signatures, and said, ‘I ruined your album!’ and stopped writing. I kidded with him that he had just done it on purpose so I would have to buy another album.

Lizzie Bravo – Beatles fan – From The Beatles Signed “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” From | Lot #16081 | Heritage Auctions (ha.com)

Last updated on February 26, 2024

Songs recorded

Staff

Musicians on "You Know My Name (Look Up The Number)"

Paul McCartney:

Piano?, Bass, Flute?

Ringo Starr:

Tambourine, Drums

John Lennon:

Piano, Guitar

George Harrison:

Guitar

George Martin:

Piano?

Brian Jones:

Saxophone

?:

Percussions, Vibraphone

Production staff

George Martin:

Producer

Geoff Emerick:

Engineer

Richard Lush:

Second Engineer