Thursday, March 23, 1967
Recording and mixing "Getting Better"
For The Beatles
Last updated on December 31, 2023
Thursday, March 23, 1967
For The Beatles
Last updated on December 31, 2023
Recording "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band"
Nov 24, 1966 - Apr 20, 1967 • Songs recorded during this session appear on Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (UK Mono)
Recording studio: EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road
Session Mar 22, 1967 • Recording and mixing "Within You Without You"
Article Mar 23, 1967 • The Beatles win two Ivor Novello awards
Session Mar 23, 1967 • Recording and mixing "Getting Better"
Session Mar 28, 1967 • Recording "Good Morning Good Morning" and "Being For The Benefit of Mr. Kite!"
Some of the songs worked on during this session were first released on the "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (UK Mono)" LP.
“Getting Better” was recorded on March 9 and 10, 1967. On March 21, Paul McCartney, John Lennon and George Harrison attempted to record vocals for the track, but the session was stopped after John accidentally took LSD in the studio.
Two days later, The Beatles resumed the session at EMI Studios. Producer George Martin and engineers Geoff Emerick and Richard Lush were unavailable, so Peter Vince acted as both the producer and balance engineer, while Ken Scott assisted as the second engineer.
During the session, Paul re-recorded his double-tracked lead vocals, and John and George added double-tracked backing vocals. All those vocals were added to Take 14, filling tracks three and four.
After that, a tape reduction, named Take 15, was done to combine the two vocal tracks and free up track four. The latest overdubs were then added: some congas played by Ringo Starr, a guitar overdub provided by George, and some handclaps (the provider being unknown.)
Three mono mixes were then done, labelled Remix Mono 1 to 3, with RM3 being released on the “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” mono album. The session, which started at 7 pm, ended at 3:45 am.
The stereo mix was made on April 17, 1967.
Recording • SI onto take 14
Tape copying • Tape reduction take 14 into take 15
Recording • SI onto take 15
Mixing • Mono mixing - Remix 1 from take 15
Mixing • Mono mixing - Remix 2 from take 15
Mixing • Mono mixing - Remix 3 from take 15
AlbumOfficially released on Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (UK Mono)
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 3: Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band through Magical Mystery Tour (late 1966-1967)
The third book of this critically - acclaimed series, nominated for the 2019 Association for Recorded Sound Collections (ARSC) award for Excellence In Historical Recorded Sound, "The Beatles Recording Reference Manual: Volume 3: Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band through Magical Mystery Tour (late 1966-1967)" captures the band's most innovative era in its entirety. 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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