Recording "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da"

Thursday, July 4, 1968 • For The Beatles

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:
EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road

Master release


Some songs from this session appear on:



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About

On this day, The Beatles continued the work started the previous day on version 1 of “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da”, by adding vocal overdubs onto take 4. This session started at 7 pm and ended at 2:15 am.

Paul McCartney added lead vocal. A reduction mix labelled take 5 was then created, for McCartney to double-track his lead vocal and for John Lennon and George Harrison to add backing vocals.

They would continue to work on this version 1 on July 5, before deciding to do a remake.

Last updated on September 4, 2021

Songs recorded


1.

Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da

Written by Lennon - McCartney

Recording • SI onto take 4


2.

Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da

Written by Lennon - McCartney

Tape copying • Tape reduction take 4 into take 5


3.

Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da

Written by Lennon - McCartney

Recording • SI onto take 5

Staff

Musicians on "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da"

Paul McCartney:
Lead vocal
John Lennon:
Backing vocals
George Harrison:
Backing vocals

Production staff

George Martin:
Producer
Geoff Emerick:
Engineer
Richard Lush:
Second 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!

Shop on Amazon


The Beatles Recording Reference Manual: Volume 4: The Beatles through Yellow Submarine (1968 - early 1969)

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.

Shop on Amazon


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.

Read more on The Beatles Bible

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