Part of
"The Beatles" (aka the White Album) sessions
May 30 - Oct 18, 1968 • Songs recorded during this session appear on The Beatles (Mono)
- Album Songs recorded during this session officially appear on the The Beatles (Mono) LP.
- Studio:
- Trident Studios, London, UK
Some songs from this session appear on:
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 this day, The Beatles started working on John Lennon’s “Dear Prudence” at Trident Studios. They were still a trio, as Ringo Starr had temporarily left the group on August 22. The Beatles had previously worked at Trident, on July 31, 1968, to record “Hey Jude” and take benefit of its eight-track machine.
The session started at 5 pm and lasted till 7 am. Using eight-track recording equipment – which gave them more options than the four-track equipment they usually worked with at Abbey Road – the band was able to re-record their parts as they developed the song and perfect what was registered as Take 1:
The eight-track facility meant that it could be recorded track by track, each one perfected over a number of times while simultaneously wiping previous attempts. This method of working makes the ‘take one’ statistic look distinctly silly for, although it was just one ‘take,’ it was innumerable recordings.
From “The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions” by Mark Lewisohn
What is thought to have been recorded on this day is a basic track of John’s finger-picked electric guitar, George Harrison’s distorted lead guitar part, and Paul McCartney on drums.
They continued working on “Dear Prudence” at Trident, the day after, on August 29, 1968.
Last updated on September 3, 2021
Staff
Musicians
Production staff
- George Martin:
- Producer
- Barry Sheffield:
- 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!
The fourth book of this critically acclaimed series, "The Beatles Recording Reference Manual: Volume 4: The Beatles through Yellow Submarine (1968 - early 1969)" captures The Beatles as they take the lessons of Sgt. Pepper forward with an ambitious double-album that is equally innovative and progressive. 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 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.
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!