Recording "Penny Lane" #5
This image is a cover of an audio recording, and the copyright for it is most likely owned by either the publisher of the work or the artist(s) which produced the recording or cover artwork in question. It is believed that the use of low-resolution images of such covers qualifies as fair use.
- Album Songs recorded during this session officially appear on the Strawberry Fields Forever / Penny Lane 7" Single.
- Studio:
- EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road
Songs recorded
1.
2.
3.
4.
Staff
Musicians on "Penny Lane"
- Paul McCartney:
- Bass, Backing vocals
- Ringo Starr:
- Drums
- John Lennon:
- Backing vocals, Congas, Piano
- George Harrison:
- Backing vocals, Electric guitar
- George Martin:
- Piano
Production staff
About
The Beatles had recorded Paul McCartney’s “Penny Lane” in four sessions so far, on December 29 and December 30, 1966, and on January 4 and January 5, 1967. On this day, they continued working on the track from 7 pm to 1 am.
Paul recorded his bass part on track two. On track four, George Harrison added some electric guitar, Ringo Starr added drums and John Lennon played congas. Those overdubs replaced the previously recorded piano and guitar parts by John and George on January 4. The recording was made with the tape machine running at a slower speed of 47.5 cycles per second, so the music was faster upon playback.
Since the four tracks of the tape were now full, a reduction mix labelled Take 8 was created, freeing up two tracks. All the instrumental parts recorded to date were reduced to a single channel on track one, while all the vocals were on track four.
George Martin and John then added some piano parts to track two and Paul, John and George added backing vocals to track three. They also humorously scat-sang when they knew brass instruments would be added later. A good portion of this handclap and scat-singing overdub can be heard on “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (50th anniversary boxset)“.
However, these overdubs were later scrapped, and another tape reduction of Take 7 was done, labelled Take 9.
The work on “Penny Lane” would continue on January 9.
Last updated on January 22, 2024