Mixing the "Abbey Road" medley

Thursday, August 21, 1969 • For The Beatles

Album Songs recorded during this session officially appear on the Abbey Road LP.
Studio:
EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road
Studio:
EMI Studios, Room 4, Abbey Road

Songs recorded


1.

The End

Written by Lennon - McCartney

Tape copying • Tape copying (take 7)


2.

You Never Give Me Your Money

Written by Lennon - McCartney

Mixing • Stereo crossfade remix 12, from sound effects take 5 of "You Never Give Me Your Money"


3.

The End

Written by Lennon - McCartney

Mixing • Remix 4, from take 7

Staff

Production staff

George Martin:
Producer
Geoff Emerick:
Engineer
Phil McDonald:
Engineer
Alan Parsons:
Second engineer

About

At this late stage (the master tape of the “Abbey Road” album had been done the previous day), it was discovered that the orchestra on “The End” was slightly out of sync with The Beatles’ performance. So on this day, from 1 pm to 2 pm, in EMI Studios Room 4, engineer Phil McDonald was tasked to do some tape copying to extract the orchestra track on another tape.


A second session was then held in the control room of Studio Two, from 2:30 pm to 12 pm.

On August 14, eleven attempts at crossfading “You Never Give Me Your Money” into “Sun King / Mean Mr. Mustard” were made, using the tape loops assembled by Paul McCartney on August 5. On this day, another attempt was made, which would be the one released on the “Abbey Road” album.

The End” was then remixed to fix the sync issue with the orchestra. Only one remix (named remix 4) was needed. This was the one released on the “Abbey Road” album, pending a last edit done on August 25.

To correct this, track three with the strings and brass was transferred to another tape and ‘flown in’ from another machine during mixing.

From “Abbey Road” Super Deluxe edition book (2019)

Those changes were then reinserted into the master reel for the album.

Last updated on December 28, 2021

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