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- Album Songs recorded during this session officially appear on the The Ballad Of John And Yoko / Old Brown Shoe (UK - 1969) 7" Single.
- Studio:
- EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road
- Studio:
- EMI Studios, Studio Three, Abbey Road
Timeline
More from year 1969
Some songs from this session appear on:
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About
On this day, George Harrison’s “Old Brown Shoe” was completed. The basic track and overdubs had been recorded two days earlier on April 16, but George felt the song could be improved by adding a Hammon organ overdub. In “The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions“, Mark Lewisohn remarks that, in the process, John Lennon’s rhythm guitar track was wiped out.
George also added a guitar solo during the instrumental verse of the song, played through a Leslie speaker using ADT (Artificial Double Tracking).
The session had started at 2:30 pm and the recording activities were completed by 10:30 pm.
Nineteen stereo mixes were then attempted. The final one, remix 23, was chosen as the master, and would be released as the B-side of the recently recorded “The Ballad Of John And Yoko“.
The recording of “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” had begun on February 22, 1969. At around 1 am, George and John Lennon (the two Beatles present at this session) returned to this song and added some guitar overdubs.
John and George went into the far left-hand corner of number two to overdub those guitar. They wanted a massive sound so they kept tracking and tracking, over and over.
Jeff Jarratt, engineer – From “The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions” by Mark Lewisohn
The session ended with some rough stereo mixing of the track. Work on “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” would continue on April 20, 1969.
Last updated on December 28, 2021
Songs recorded
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
Written by George Harrison
Mixing • Stereo mixing - Remix 23 from take 4
Album Officially released on The Ballad Of John And Yoko / Old Brown Shoe (UK - 1969)
21.
Recording • SI onto unnumbered Trident master
22.
Recording • Tape reduction of unnumbered Trident master, called take 1
23.
24.
Mixing • Stereo mixing - Unnumbered rough remix from take 1
Staff
Musicians on "I Want You (She's So Heavy)"
- John Lennon:
- Guitar
- George Harrison:
- Guitar
Musicians on "Old Brown Shoe"
- George Harrison:
- Guitar, Organ
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!
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.
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.
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