Recording and mixing "Here Comes The Sun"

On July 1, 1969, John Lennon was on holiday in Scotland when he was involved in a car accident along with his wife Yoko, his son Julian, and Yoko’s daughter, Kyoko. He was hospitalized on this day and would remain there until July 6, rejoining The Beatles’ sessions on July 9 — missing five days of work.

The previous day, The Beatles had recorded the basic track for a new George Harrison song, “Here Comes The Sun“. On this day, from 2:30 pm to 10:45 pm, they focused on adding overdubs to take 13.

George recorded his lead vocals onto track six of the eight-track tape. With Paul McCartney’s help, the two then added double-tracked backing vocals on tracks seven and eight, replacing the guide vocals laid down during the initial session.

Next, George added an electric guitar part onto track five, while Ringo Starr added extra drum fills.

As all eight tracks of the tape were now used, two reduction mixes — labelled takes 14 and 15 — were created to free up space for further overdubs. Take 15 was selected as the best, though no additional overdubs would be made until July 16.

Session activities

1. Here Comes The Sun

   Written by George Harrison

   Recording • SI onto take 13

2. Here Comes The Sun

   Written by George Harrison

   Tape copying • Tape reduction take 13 into take 14

3. Here Comes The Sun

   Written by George Harrison

   Tape copying • Tape reduction take 13 into take 15

4. Here Comes The Sun

   Written by George Harrison

   Mixing • Mono mixing - Unnumbered rough remix from take 15

Staff

Musicians on "Here Comes The Sun"

Production staff

Going further

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