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Monday, June 10, 1996

Overdubs for "Somedays"

For Paul McCartney

Last updated on September 10, 2020

During this session, George Martin scored a string arrangement for “Somedays“. This was recorded at Martin’s most recent studio, Lyndhurst Hall.

When I got to the final version of that, I thought that I just maybe could use a little arrangement. So I rang George Martin up. He’s such an old friend and so nice to work with that it’s great to find an excuse, you know, just to work with him on a song. Who’s better to do it than George. I said “by the way George, I’ve got this little tune, what do you think, you know”. “Oh, I see you haven’t lost your touch, Paul” Haha.

Paul McCartney, in “Flaming Pie Radio Special”

When I heard Somedays, it immediately reminded me of the vintage Paul. It’s quite difficult to keep writing hits. Even when you know the greatest hitmaker of all. It was nice to see that Paul was getting back to his roots because I think Somedays is a classic song. I think it’s one of those simple ones, deceivingly simple, but so difficult to write. I loved it, I thought it was terrific. When I listen to it and then Paul said “what do you think we should do then”, I thought it needed small forces, I needed a chamber group again. So when I scored it, it was very simple instrumentation and I gave a kind of idea of what it would be. He liked it.

George Martin, in “Flaming Pie Radio Special”
From AIR Studios – Built in 1884 by Alfred Waterhouse, architect of the Natural History Museum, Lyndhurst Hall is now one of the world’s largest recording rooms. The live area accommodates a full symphony orchestra and choir simultaneously, with an inspiring acoustic that musicians love. The flexibility of the space is perfect for film scoring, orchestral recordings and live performances. Since Sir George Martin opened Lyndhurst Hall in 1992 the music recorded here has been heard in cinemas and homes across the globe.

Session activities

  1. Somedays

    Written by Paul McCartney

    Recording


Staff

Musicians


Going further

Eight Arms to Hold You: The Solo Beatles Compendium

We owe a lot to Chip Madinger and Mark Easter for the creation of those session pages, but you really have to buy this book to get all the details!

Eight Arms To Hold You: The Solo Beatles Compendium is the ultimate look at the careers of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr beyond the Beatles. Every aspect of their professional careers as solo artists is explored, from recording sessions, record releases and tours, to television, film and music videos, including everything in between. From their early film soundtrack work to the officially released retrospectives, all solo efforts by the four men are exhaustively examined.

As the paperback version is out of print, you can buy a PDF version on the authors' website

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