Recording "Don't Pass Me By"

After dedicating three days to “Revolution 1,” The Beatles began recording the second track of their new album, which was also the first song written by Ringo Starr, “Don’t Pass Me By.”

“Don’t Pass Me By” had a lengthy development. Its first known mention was during a BBC radio session for the show Top Gear in 1964, during a chatter to introduce “And I Love Her.” In the conversation, Ringo was questioned about composing a song, and Paul teasingly sang the opening line of the chorus, “Don’t pass me by, don’t make me cry, don’t make me blue, baby.” However, it wasn’t until this day that the song was recorded, initially labeled as “Ringo’s Tune (Untitled)” on June 5, and then as “This Is Some Friendly” on June 6, before getting its final title.

On this day, three versions of the backing track were recorded, featuring Ringo on the drums and Paul on the piano. At the end of the third take, Paul declared, “I think that’s got it!” while Ringo called out to George Martin in the control room, “I think we’ve got something there, George!“

Overdubs were subsequently added onto Take 3. Paul contributed an extra piano part, Ringo a further drum part, and an unidentified Beatle added cowbell and sleigh bells.

Following this, two tape reductions were made, labeled Take 4 and Take 5. Ringo recorded some lead vocals using frequency control, but those were later erased and substituted with a bass line played by Paul. The session concluded with a new tape reduction, Take 6.

Take 6 was ultimately abandoned, and the team resumed work on “Don’t Pass Me By” the next day, adding further overdubs to take 5.

The ‘White Album’ sessions were full of surprises for me. Usually, a Beatles album project would begin with the recording of one of John’s songs, and this was no exception. But the second song was always one of Paul’s – after all, they were the main songwriters in the band. Ringo would be allocated one song per album, and it was usually done almost as an afterthought, near the end…But this time around, they decided to do Ringo’s song right away…and, even more surprisingly, it was actually a song he’d written.

No explanation was given, and George Martin and I were flabbergasted. The only thing we could come up with was that, behind the scenes, the others must have known that Ringo was getting a bit fed up, and they were trying to keep him happy. That seemed like the only possible reason why time and energy was being expended on a Ringo song so early on… After all, the ‘Pepper’ sessions had begun with ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’ and ‘Penny Lane’ – a stark contrast… Obviously, tensions and intrigue were already in play, right at the beginning of these sessions.

Geoff Emerick – From “Here, There and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of The Beatles“, 2006

Session activities

1. Don't Pass Me By

   Written by Ringo Starr

   Recording • Take 1

2. Don't Pass Me By

   Written by Ringo Starr

   Recording • Take 2

3. Don't Pass Me By

   Written by Ringo Starr

   Recording • Take 3

   AlbumOfficially released on Anthology 3

4. Don't Pass Me By

   Written by Ringo Starr

   Tape copying • Tape reduction take 3 into take 4

5. Don't Pass Me By

   Written by Ringo Starr

   Tape copying • Tape reduction take 3 into take 5

6. Don't Pass Me By

   Written by Ringo Starr

   Recording • SI onto take 5

7. Don't Pass Me By

   Written by Ringo Starr

   Tape copying • Tape reduction take 5 into take 6

Staff

Musicians on "Don't Pass Me By"

Production staff

Going further

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