Recording "Golden Slumbers", "Carry That Weight", "The End", "Something", "Here Comes The Sun"

About

On this day, orchestral overdubs were added to “Golden Slumbers / Carry That Weight“, “The End“, “Something” and “Here Comes The Sun“.

It was a mammoth session. We had a large number of lines linking the studios and we were all walking around the building with walkie-talkies trying to communicate with each other…It cost a lot of money: all the musicians have to be paid, fed and watered; I screw every pound note out of it whenever I play the record!

Alan Brown, engineer ​ – From “The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions” by Mark Lewisohn

George Martin wrote some arrangements and booked London’s top players for a single marathon session. Unfortunately, EMI had still not installed an eight-track tape recorder or large-scale console into the Studio One control room, so we were forced to set up a complicated system of audio tie-lines and closed-circuit television that allowed the musicians to be seated in the larger Studio One while we recorded them in the control room of Studio Two.

The day was broken up into two parts: an afternoon session, overdubbing parts onto the “Golden Slumbers” / “Carry That Weight” and “The End” sections of the medley; and an evening session, when we’d be adding orchestra to George Harrison’s “Here Comes The Sun” and “Something.” Following the pattern that had been established for much of the album, the only Beatle at the afternoon session was Paul, and the only one at the evening session was George Harrison. Phil McDonald, however, was there with me for the entire day — working in two studios at once really complicated things, and we needed the extra pair of hands. George Martin did the conducting while each Beatle essentially produced his own session. Thankfully, there were no major technical mishaps and everything worked smoothly.

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

The orchestra overdubs for “Golden Slumbers / Carry That Weight“, “The End” were recorded for three hours, from 2:30 pm to 5:30 pm. The same instruments and players – 21 strings players and nine brass instruments – were used for the three songs.

The mono recording of the string and brass instruments was released on the “Abbey Road (50th anniversary boxset)” in 2019.

[Paul] laid the strings on after we had finished most of the basic tracks. I personally can’t be bothered with strings and things. I like to do it with the group, or electronics, you know. I can’t be bothered with the hassles of the musicians and all that bit, you know. It’s such a drag trying to get them together, but Paul digs that. So, that’s his scene, and it was up to him where he went with the violins, really, and what he did with them. I think he just wanted a straight kind of backing, you know, nothing freaky.

John Lennon – 1969 interview – Quoted in beatlesebooks.com

George’s session was longer than Paul’s, lasting from 7 pm to 1:15 am.

For “Something“, a 21-piece string section was recorded in stereo across tracks three and four. According to Geoff Emerick, George re-did his guitar solo live, but it is believed his solo was recorded on May 5, 1969.

The only hitch came when George Harrison announced that he wanted to redo the guitar solo on “Something.” We were perfectly willing to accommodate him, but the problem was that there was only one track available, and we needed to use that for the orchestra. The only solution was for him to play it live, right along with the orchestra, so we could record them simultaneously on the same track. I was enormously impressed when he nonchalantly said, “Okay, let’s do that”—it took a lot of nerve and self-confidence to be willing to put himself under that kind of pressure. George had to play the solo correctly all the way through, without punch-ins, because the sound coming from his guitar amp would leak onto the other mics, and he wouldn’t get a lot of whacks at it, because it was costing quite a lot to have that orchestra there. But he managed to play the intricate solo with ease, and by the end of the long night both his songs were completed and ready to be mixed.

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

The string section for “Something” was isolated and released on the “Abbey Road (50th anniversary boxset)” in 2019.

For “Here Comes The Sun“, eight woodwind players recorded their parts on track four of the tape, while a nine-piece string section was recorded onto track five, thus erasing George’s harmonium overdub from July 16.

Last updated on December 28, 2021

Songs recorded

Staff

Musicians on "Carry That Weight"

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Four cellos, One double-bass, Four horns, One trombone, Four violas, Three trumpets, One bass trombone, Twelve violins

Musicians on "Something"

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Four violas, Twelve violins, Four cellos, One double-bass

Musicians on "The End"

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Four cellos, One double-bass, Three trumpets, One bass trombone, Four violas, Four horns, One trombone, Twelve violins

Musicians on "Here Comes The Sun"

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Two piccolos, Two clarinets, Four cellos, One double-bass, Two flutes, Two alto flutes, Four violas

Musicians on "Golden Slumbers"

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Four horns, One trombone, Twelve violins, Four violas, Three trumpets, One bass trombone, Four cellos, One double-bass

Production staff

George Martin:

Producer

Geoff Emerick:

Engineer

Phil McDonald:

Engineer

Alan Parsons:

Second engineer