Recording "Happiness Is A Warm Gun"
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- Album Songs recorded during this session officially appear on the The Beatles (Mono) LP.
- Studio:
- EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road
Songs recorded
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Recording • Take 19
Album Officially released on The Beatles (50th anniversary boxset)
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Staff
Musicians on "Happiness Is A Warm Gun"
- Paul McCartney:
- bass
- Ringo Starr:
- drums
- John Lennon:
- guide vocal, guitar
- George Harrison:
- lead guitar
Production staff
About
On this day, The Beatles started working on John Lennon’s “Happiness Is A Warm Gun“. They recorded 45 takes of it, during this 7 pm to 3 am session. Paul McCartney was on bass, Ringo Starr on drums, George Harrison on lead guitar and John Lennon played guitar and sang a guide vocal.
The recording tape captured a lot of discussions between The Beatles and the engineering team about how to play the difficult time signature changes or comparing the difficulty of some sections of the song with others.
It’s very similar to Bungalow Bill in that it’s a piss-take of all the people who really do think happiness is a warm gun. There’s a great vocal on it, good lyrics, and it’s a very interesting song because it changes tempo a lot, it’s quite a complex piece. It’s very Lennon.
Paul McCartney – from “Many Years From Now”, by Barry Miles, 1997
As George Martin was on holidays for most of September 1968, Chris Thomas produced this session. He remembered:
‘Happiness Is A Warm Gun’ went to a great many takes. We used to make jokes out of it. ‘Take 83!‘
Steve Thomas – From “The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions” by Mark Lewisohn
Work on “Happiness Is A Warm Gun” continued the day after.
Last updated on August 26, 2021