Recording and mixing "Here Comes The Sun"

Tuesday, July 8, 1969 • For The Beatles

Part of


"Abbey Road" sessions

Feb 22 - Aug 25, 1969 • Songs recorded during this session appear on Abbey Road

Album Songs recorded during this session officially appear on the Abbey Road LP.
Studio:
EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road

Master release


Spread the love! If you like what you are seeing, share it on social networks and let others know about The Paul McCartney Project.

About

On July 1, 1969, John Lennon was on holiday in Scotland and got involved in a car accident along with his wife Yoko, his son Julian, and Yoko’s daughter, Kyoko. He was hospitalised and stayed at this hospital till July 6. He would rejoin The Beatles’ sessions on July 9, missing five days of work.


The previous day, The Beatles recorded the basic track of a new George Harrison song, “Here Comes The Sun“. On this day, they added overdubs onto take 13.

Onto track five of the eight-track tape, George added electric guitar played through a Leslie speaker while Ringo Starr added extra drum fills.

George then recorded his lead vocals (on track six). With the help of Paul McCartney, the two of them added double-tracked backing vocals (on tracks seven and eight), replacing the guide vocals recorded the previous day.

As the eight-track tape was now full, two reduction mixes were done to allow for more overdubs. But additional overdubs would only be added a week later on July 16.

The day ended with some rough mono mixes being done, for George to take away. The session which started at 2:30 pm ended up at 10:45 pm.

Last updated on December 24, 2021

Songs recorded


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"

Paul McCartney:
Harmony vocals
Ringo Starr:
Drums
George Harrison:
Vocals, Electric guitar, Harmony vocals

Production staff

George Martin:
Producer
Phil McDonald:
Engineer
John Kurlander:
Second Engineer

Going further


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!

Shop on Amazon


Solid State: The Story of "Abbey Road" and the End of the Beatles

Acclaimed Beatles historian Kenneth Womack offers the most definitive account yet of the writing, recording, mixing, and reception of Abbey Road. In February 1969, the Beatles began working on what became their final album together. Abbey Road introduced a number of new techniques and technologies to the Beatles' sound, and included "Come Together," "Something," and "Here Comes the Sun," which all emerged as classics.

Shop on Amazon


If we like to think, in all modesty, that the Paul McCartney Project is the best online ressource for everything Paul McCartney, The Beatles Bible is for sure the definitive online site focused on the Beatles. There are obviously some overlap in terms of content between the two sites, but also some major differences in terms of approach.

Read more on The Beatles Bible

Contribute!

Have you spotted an error on the page? Do you want to suggest new content? Or do you simply want to leave a comment ? Please use the form below!

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *