Friday, August 23, 1968
Recording and mixing "Back In The U.S.S.R."
For The Beatles
Last updated on September 3, 2021
Friday, August 23, 1968
For The Beatles
Last updated on September 3, 2021
"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
Session Aug 21, 1968 • Recording and mixing "Sexy Sadie"
Session Aug 22, 1968 • Recording "Back In The U.S.S.R."
Session Aug 23, 1968 • Recording and mixing "Back In The U.S.S.R."
Session Aug 26, 1968 • Tape copying "Revolution 9"
Single Aug 26, 1968 • "Hey Jude / Revolution" by The Beatles released in the US
AlbumSome of the songs worked on during this session were first released on the "The Beatles (Mono)" LP
The day before, on August 22, as work started on “Back In The U.S.S.R.“, Ringo Starr decided to quit the sessions. On this day, from 7 pm to 3 am, The Beatles continued the work on “Back In The U.S.S.R.” as a trio.
From Wikipedia:
During the overdubbing on the song, on 23 August, McCartney and Harrison also contributed bass parts, and both also added lead guitar parts. According to author John Winn, the first overdubs were piano, played by McCartney; drums by Harrison, replacing Lennon’s bass part from the previous day; and another electric guitar part.
After these additions were mixed down to a single track, McCartney sang a lead vocal, using what he described as his “Jerry Lee Lewis voice”, and Lennon, Harrison and McCartney added backing vocals, including Beach Boys-style harmonies over the song’s bridges. All three musicians added handclaps. Other overdubs included McCartney’s bass, Harrison on six-string bass, and Lennon playing a snare drum. Harrison played the guitar solo in the instrumental break, while McCartney contributed a high-pitched, single-note solo over the final verse. MacDonald describes the musical arrangement as a “thunderous wall of sound”. For the sounds of the aircraft that appear on the track, a Viscount turboprop, Scott created a tape loop from a recording stored in EMI’s library.
The mono mix of “Back In The U.S.S.R.“, released on the mono version of the White Album, was made on this day. During the mixing, the sound of Viscount airliner taking off and landing was added. This sound effect had been recorded at London Airport and came from the tape “Volume 17: Jet and Piston Engine Aeroplane” from the Abbey Road collection.
Someone managed to get that tape for me at London Airport. There’s one of it revving up and taking off and one of it landing. It’s a Viscount airplane filed in the library as ‘Volume 17: Jet and Piston Engine Aeroplane.’
Stuart Eltham, curator of the sound effects library at EMI – Quoted in beatlesebooks.com
The stereo mix would be made much later, on October 13, 1968.
For the mono mix everything came out OK, but the stereo mix took a long, long time and I was holding the pencil to keep the effects tape taught. I guess I must have been leaning back on it and started to stretch it, because the mono has this clear, clean lovely jet sound while the stereo is an abomination of a jet sound.
John Smith, tape operator – from The Beatles super deluxe edition book, 2018
Recording • SI onto take 5
Tape copying • Tape reduction take 5 into take 6
Recording • SI onto take 6
Mixing • Mono mixing - Remix 1 from take 6
AlbumOfficially released on The Beatles (Mono)
Tape copying • Tape copying of remix mono 1
Tape copying • Tape copying of remix mono 1
Tape copying • Tape copying of remix mono 6
Tape copying • Tape copying of remix mono 8
Tape copying • Tape copying of remix mono 5
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.
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