Mixing "Helter Skelter", recording "I Will", "Cry Baby Cry"
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- Album Songs recorded during this session officially appear on the The Beatles (Mono) LP.
- Studio:
- EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road
Songs recorded
1.
3.
4.
Staff
Musicians on "I Will"
- Paul McCartney:
- Backing vocal, 'Sung bass', Acoustic guitar
Musicians on "Cry Baby Cry"
- Paul McCartney:
- Piano
- Ringo Starr:
- Drums, Tambourine
Production staff
About
On this day, The Beatles continued working on “Helter Skelter“, “I Will” and “Cry Baby Cry” during a session that lasted from 7 pm to 5 am. As George Martin was on holiday for most of September 1968, Chris Thomas produced this session.
The mono mix of “Helter Skelter“, released on “The Beatles (mono)“, was done on this day. This mono mix fades at 3.36, while the stereo mix – which would be made on October 12 – reaches 4:29. This mono mix, in particular, excludes Ringo Starr’s shout “I’ve got blisters on my fingers!“
[The engineering team] went the conventional route by performing a simple fade of the song at 3:36, omitting Ringo’s “blisters” remark entirely. The background vocals were placed somewhat prominently in the mix while care was given to fade out extraneous chatter and sounds when the song comes to a halt at the three minute mark.
From beatlesebooks.com
“I Will“, which recording started the day before, was completed on this day, with Paul McCartney overdubbing backing vocals, a second acoustic guitar track, and a vocal bass line (“a clever baritone ‘dum-dum-dum’ impersonation of a bass guitar” as reported by Mark Lewisohn in “The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions“). Some maracas were also added but it’s unclear if those were played by Paul, John, or Ringo.
The mono mix would be created on September 26, and the stereo mix on October 14, 1968.
The four-track tape of “Cry Baby Cry“, last used on July 18, was transferred to an eight-track tape in order to add the latest overdubs.
The song was finished two months later when the audio was transferred to tracks five to eight of an eight-track tape. Descending piano bass notes in cavernous echo were recorded on track one, and new drums and a tambourine are heard on track two of the new tape.
From “The Beatles” Super Deluxe edition book (2018)
The mono and stereo mixes would be made on October 15.
Beatles have been extending their nightly sessions into 10- or 12-hour affairs starting at dusk and finishing after dawn. So Mal [Evans] was asked to buy a set of four toothbrushes for the fellows – each a different colour – and these are kept on hand at the studios for pre-breakfast use at the end of each session!
From the Beatles Monthly Book, N°63, October 1968
Last updated on October 2, 2021