Mixing "A Day In The Life", recording "Only A Northern Song"

Monday, February 13, 1967 • For The Beatles

Album Songs recorded during this session officially appear on the Yellow Submarine (Mono) LP.
Studio:
EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road

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About

On this day, in a session that lasted from 7 pm to 3:30 am, The Beatles began recording George Harrison’s “Only A Northern Song“. The track was obviously intended for the “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” album but would be released in January 1969 on the soundtrack for the “Yellow Submarine” film.


The session began, however, with the creation of four mono mixes of “A Day In The Life“. These were numbered 2-5 and were for reference purposes only. The song remained incomplete until the recording of the final piano chord on 22 February 1967.


From Wikipedia:

[…] The Beatles taped the basic track for “Only a Northern Song” at EMI’s Abbey Road Studios on 13 February 1967, during the sessions for Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. As was typical with his new compositions, Harrison had yet to give the song a title, so it was instead referred to as “Not Known“. The line-up on the track comprised Harrison on organ, Lennon on tambourine, McCartney on bass and Starr on drums. The band recorded nine takes of the song before selecting take 3 for further work. […]

Last updated on February 17, 2023

Songs recorded


1.

A Day In The Life

Written by Lennon - McCartney

Mixing • Mono mixing - Remix 2 from take 7


2.

A Day In The Life

Written by Lennon - McCartney

Mixing • Mono mixing - Remix 3 from take 7


3.

A Day In The Life

Written by Lennon - McCartney

Mixing • Mono mixing - Remix 4 from take 7


4.

A Day In The Life

Written by Lennon - McCartney

Mixing • Mono mixing - Remix 5 from take 7


5.

Only A Northern Song

Written by George Harrison

Recording • Take 1


6.

Only A Northern Song

Written by George Harrison

Recording • Take 2


7.

Only A Northern Song

Written by George Harrison

Recording • Take 3


8.

Only A Northern Song

Written by George Harrison

Recording • Take 4


9.

Only A Northern Song

Written by George Harrison

Recording • Take 5


10.

Only A Northern Song

Written by George Harrison

Recording • Take 6


11.

Only A Northern Song

Written by George Harrison

Recording • Take 7


12.

Only A Northern Song

Written by George Harrison

Recording • Take 8


13.

Only A Northern Song

Written by George Harrison

Recording • Take 9

Staff

Production staff

George Martin:
Producer
Geoff Emerick:
Engineer
Richard Lush:
Second engineer

Going further


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!

Shop on Amazon


The Beatles Recording Reference Manual: Volume 3: Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band through Magical Mystery Tour (late 1966-1967)

The third book of this critically - acclaimed series, nominated for the 2019 Association for Recorded Sound Collections (ARSC) award for Excellence In Historical Recorded Sound, "The Beatles Recording Reference Manual: Volume 3: Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band through Magical Mystery Tour (late 1966-1967)" captures the band's most innovative era in its entirety. 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.

Shop on Amazon


If we like to think, in all modesty, that the Paul McCartney Project is the best online ressource for everything Paul McCartney, The Beatles Bible is for sure the definitive online site focused on the Beatles. There are obviously some overlap in terms of content between the two sites, but also some major differences in terms of approach.

Read more on The Beatles Bible

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