Mixing "Your Mother Should Know", recording "Hello, Goodbye"

About

This session, which began at 10 pm and ended at 2:30 am the following morning, saw the creation of the mono mix of “Your Mother Should Know“, and the first takes of “Hello, Goodbye“.

On August 22 and 23, 1967, The Beatles recorded a version of “Your Mother Should Know” at Chappell Recording Studios. On September 16, they decided to work on a remake of the track. However, the remake was eventually scrapped, and, on September 29, they returned to the original takes at Chappell to add more overdubs and finalize the track.

On this day, five mono mixes of “Your Mother Should Know” were created, numbered 21 to 25. The last of these became the master version. The stereo mix was made on November 6, 1967.

“Hello, Goodbye” was intended to be The Beatles’ next single and was not technically a part of the “Magical Mystery Tour” soundtrack, despite appearing over the end credits.

On this day, the band recorded 14 takes of the basic track under the working title “Hello Hello.” The lineup consisted of Paul McCartney on piano, John Lennon on organ, George Harrison on tambourine, and Ringo Starr on drums. Take 14 was considered the best, and the first overdubs were added, including maracas and bongos played by unknown Beatles, as well as congas added by Ringo. The four tracks were then mixed down to a single track, through two tape reductions, named Take 15 and Take 16.

Two weeks later, on October 19, 1967, work on “Hello, Goodbye” continued.

On October 2 it was time to get going on “Hello, Goodbye”. Work on this recording was spread over quite a few weeks because all the four boys were busy editing and doing other jobs connected with the “Magical Mystery Tour” film. You already know that Paul is the lead singer on “Hello, Goodbye” with George joining him and John to supply the answering voices. Those spiky, metallic guitar chords are played by John and George. Session men added the sound of two violas. Paul is on the piano and extra percussion rhythm instruments like bongos and conga drums were brought in towards the end for the Maori finale! Incidentally, sessions were delayed a couple of days in October when Paul got a swollen face caused by a hole in one of his teeth. But he’s O.K. now!

Mal Evans – From the Beatles Monthly Book, N°54, January 1968

Last updated on April 15, 2023

Songs recorded

Staff

Musicians on "Hello, Goodbye"

Paul McCartney:

Piano

Ringo Starr:

Congas, Drums

John Lennon:

Organ

George Harrison:

Tambourine

?:

Bongos, Maracas

Production staff

George Martin:

Producer

Ken Scott:

Engineer

Graham Kirkby:

Second engineer