October 16-17, 1968
For The Beatles
Last updated on November 18, 2024
"The Beatles" (aka the White Album) sessions
May 30 - Oct 18, 1968 • Songs recorded during this session appear on The Beatles (Mono)
Recording studio: EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road
Recording studio: EMI Studios, Studio One, Abbey Road
Recording studio: EMI Studios, Studio Three, Abbey Road
Recording studio: EMI Studios, Room 41, Abbey Road
Recording studio: EMI Studios, Room 42, Abbey Road
Session Oct 15, 1968 • Mixing "Happiness Is A Warm Gun", "I'm So Tired", "Cry Baby Cry"
Session October 16-17, 1968 • Mixing "Why Don't We Do It In The Road", "It's All Too Much" and cross-fades for the White Album
Session Oct 18, 1968 • Tape copying "Yer Blues", "Don't Pass Me By"
Article October 20-31, 1968 • Paul McCartney spends time with Linda Eastman in New York
AlbumSome of the songs worked on during this session were first released on the "The Beatles (Mono)" LP
The final mixing session for the White Album, which was also the longest session The Beatles ever did, began on October 16 at 5pm and concluded 24 hours later on October 17 at the same time.
George Harrison and Ringo Starr were absent; George flew to the US on this day to produce Jackie Lomax’s LP, and Ringo was on vacation.
Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Martin, and engineers Ken Scott and John Smith used the three Abbey Road Studios and two additional rooms to decide the final running order of the album, and mix crossfades and do some last edits.
Can you recall the very last session you did with the Beatles as an entire group?
The last session was the one I wrote about in the book, which literally lasted about 24 hours. We had to finish the White Album because George was leaving to go to LA. And because it was the first release on Apple, it had to be delivered on time. There was a deadline and we had to get it completed. It was ultimate mayhem. We were using every studio, every room we possibly could; everyone was doing different things from John Smith in one room putting the album in order. Then in another room there’d be, say Chris Thomas and John, I think it was, listening to the running order and passing comment. Then it would go back to John and he’d say, “No, change it this way.” I was in another studio mixing something with Paul. Just all over the place like that. That was the last session I did with all four.
Ken Scott – From Daytrippin’ Beatles Magazine, 2012
The last session I ever did with The Beatles as a band was a full 24-hour marathon to complete The White Album. Generally speaking, The Beatles never had a time schedule. They took as long as they wanted, and the project was done when they felt it was ready. This time was different though. It was the first time they were under the pressure of a deadline because the album was to be the first release on their new label, Apple Records.
We were always behind schedule, but the fact that it was a double album didn’t help, nor did the fact that right towards the end John came in with a new song called “Julia.” Luckily that was easy to record because it was just him and an acoustic guitar and a bit of double-tracking, but all of the recording just kept on going way past the time when we should have been mixing and cutting.
The release couldn’t be delayed because there was a lot of promotion already set up and George (Harrison) was slated to fly out to Los Angeles with the masters for Capitol to master for the American market, so it had to be completed in time. We were far enough behind that as soon as everyone from the studio had gone home for the day, we took over the entire EMI facility, including all three studios and listening rooms. I was in one studio doing a mix with one member of the band, then I’d pop into another control room with someone else for another mix there. John Smith was in Room 41 with John (Lennon) and Chris listening to different running orders for the record. It was mayhem.
Ken Scott – From “Abbey Road to Ziggy Stardust“, 2012
I remember arriving at the studios on Thursday 17 October 1968, 9am, to find the Beatles still there. They had been there all night, finalising the master tapes for what we now call the White Album and banding it up [putting the songs in order and editing the master]. They were all over the place, room 41, the front listening room – anywhere – almost every room they could get. It was a frantic last minute job.
Alan Brown – From “The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions” by Mark Lewisohn, 1988
I was in Room 41 with John Lennon and John Smith making up running orders. Listening to so many different ones made us all a little nuts. By about 4 A.M. John [Smith] was up to about four foot of tape, cutting these bits out and then resplicing it. Ken came in about four in the morning and said, “Chris, can you help me? Paul wants to do another mix of ‘Helter Skelter’ but he’s fallen asleep at the mixer.” So I came in and we mixed it while he was still asleep, absolutely crashed out on the board.
Chris Thomas – From “Abbey Road to Ziggy Stardust“ by Ken Scott, 2012
John and Paul would sit down with a sheet of paper and make a running list on top of a copy of Sgt. Pepper’s on their lap in the first listening room. I’d then take the tapes into the second listening room and put it together while they were listening to a side that I had already edited in the first room. That took about 12 hours between all the re-edits of the four sides. Then they all went home and asked me if I could do the same thing with the stereo versions. I was probably up for 24 hours that day and working for at least 18. On many of the other days there was dope flying in and out of those studios, but on that night, everyone was stone cold sober.
John Smith – Second engineer – From “Abbey Road to Ziggy Stardust“ by Ken Scott, 2012
[On] Monday, October 14, Ringo and his family left for their holiday in Sardinia. On Wednesday, George joined me and Jackie Lomax in America. And meanwhile Paul and John got together with George Martin to do all the final re-mixing of the tapes and decide what order to put everything in on the two LP discs. A couple of other last-minute songs just couldn’t be recorded in time – “Polythene Pam” and “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer” – but that needn’t worry anybody because the fellows already had too much rather than too little material to fill the four extra-long sides of the November LP records
Mal Evans – From the Beatles Monthly Book, N°64, November 1968
At this late stage, the decision was made to omit John Lennon’s song “What’s The New Mary Jane“. Similarly, “Not Guilty” from George Harrison didn’t make the cut neither, although this decision was made earlier, as no proper mono or stereo mixes were done after the last overdub session on August 12.
NOT GUILTY – This is one of two August recordings you WON’T hear on the new album because they were dropped at the last minute in favour of more recent numbers. Written and sung by George. Interesting note – he used Lucy for the first time on this session. Lucy is the fantastic solid red Gibson guitar which was given to George at the beginning of August by Eric Clapton. […]
WHAT’S THE NEW MARY JANE – Again a recording you WON’T hear on the new LP, but I thought you’d like to have my notes on it in any case. Very strange this one. John thought it up and John sings it. Outbreaks of raucous laughter here and there and many instrumental sounds. Gets quite chaotic at times but it’s a controlled sort of Lennon chaos! The theme of the words? Well, you listen and you decide but it’s a shame Mary Jane had a pain at the party!
Mal Evans – From the Beatles Monthly Book, N°64, November 1968
Also, there apparently were some debates regarding the inclusion of John’s “Revolution 9“:
When they were sequencing the ‘White Album,’ I heard through the grapevine that John and Paul ultimately had a huge row over ‘Revolution 9.’ Paul absolutely did not want it on the album, and John was just as adamant that it would be on there. In the end, of course, he got his way.
Geoff Emerick – From “Here, There and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of The Beatles“, 2006
A tentative structure for the album was established with the following guidelines:
After agreeing on the structure, they began working on transitions between tracks. Echoing the approach of “Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band“, The Beatles didn’t want gaps between songs, opting for crossfades or straight edits.
In the midst of this, they also chose to incorporate a 28-second excerpt from the ad-lib song snippet “Can You Take Me Back,” recorded on September 16, into the end of “Cry Baby Cry” for both stereo and mono versions.
The team initiated the crossfades and edits with the mono version, which included creating a mono mix of “Why Don’t We Do It In The Road?” Subsequently, they repeated these efforts for the stereo version. At the end of this session, the stereo mix of the White Album was completed. A couple of adjustments were done on the mono mix the day after.
“Why Don’t We Do It In The Road?”, the song by Paul McCartney recorded on October 9 and 10, was also mixed in both mono and stereo versions on this day. The one noticeable difference between the two mixes is the absence of handclaps in the introduction of the mono version.
During this session, engineers Ken Scott and Dave Harries also dedicated time to the 1967 unreleased track “It’s All Too Much,” written by George Harrison. The recording sessions took place on May 25, May 31, and June 2, 1967. It was mixed in both mono and stereo formats on October 12, 1967, with the mono version lasting 8:15 and the stereo version 6:22.
On this day, a copy of Take 2 was made and labeled as Take 196 for whatever reason. Subsequently, new Remix Mono 1 and Remix Stereo 1 were made.
“It’s All Too Much” was never considered for the White Album. Instead, it was released on the “Yellow Submarine” soundtrack in 1969.
Crossfades and edits for LP
Mixing • Mono mixing
Why Don't We Do It In The Road?
Mixing • Mono mixing - Remix 1 from take 6
AlbumOfficially released on The Beatles (Mono)
Crossfades and edits for LP
Mixing • Stereo mixing
Why Don't We Do It In The Road?
Mixing • Stereo mixing - Remix 1 from take 6
AlbumOfficially released on The Beatles (Stereo)
Written by George Harrison
Tape copying • Tape copying of take 2, called take 196
Written by George Harrison
Mixing • Mono mixing - Remix 1 from take 196
AlbumOfficially released on Mono Masters (Mono - 2009 remaster)
Written by George Harrison
Mixing • Stereo mixing - Remix 1 from take 196
AlbumOfficially released on Yellow Submarine (Stereo)
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!
The Beatles Recording Reference Manual: Volume 4: The Beatles through Yellow Submarine (1968 - early 1969)
The fourth book of this critically acclaimed series, "The Beatles Recording Reference Manual: Volume 4: The Beatles through Yellow Submarine (1968 - early 1969)" captures The Beatles as they take the lessons of Sgt. Pepper forward with an ambitious double-album that is equally innovative and progressive. 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.
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.
Notice any inaccuracies on this page? Have additional insights or ideas for new content? Or just want to share your thoughts? We value your feedback! Please use the form below to get in touch with us.