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Tuesday, July 8, 1969

Recording and mixing "Here Comes The Sun"

For The Beatles

Last updated on April 5, 2025


Master session

Location

  • Recording studio: EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road

Timeline

Master release

AlbumSome of the songs worked on during this session were first released on the "Abbey Road" LP

Some of the songs from this session also appear on:

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

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!

Buy 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.

Buy on Amazon

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.

Read more on The Beatles Bible

Paul McCartney writing

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