Part of
"The Beatles" (aka the White Album) sessions
May 30 - Oct 18, 1968 • Songs recorded during this session appear on The Beatles (Mono)
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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
Timeline
More from year 1968
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About
The Beatles had started working on “Sexy Sadie” on July 19, but the session was unproductive. On this day, they worked on a first remake, from 7 pm to 2:30 pm, and recorded 23 takes – numbered from 25 to 47.
Before take 39, John encouraged everyone with a Shakespearean exhortation delivered by Hal in Henry V: “Once more unto the breach!”. There is little evidence on tape of tempers becoming frayed during the sessions in 1968, but before take 47, Geroge did snap: “There’s no point in Mr. Martin being uptight, right? We’re all here to do this. I mean, you’re being very negative“. After an unannounced take 48, when their producer suggested they “could do a better one“, Geroge had calmed down: “I’m feeling much better now“, he said.
From “The Beatles” Super Deluxe edition book (2018)
John: It’s killing.
Paul: Yeah, I know. It’s not very good.
John: It’s because we stopped believing in it. We forgot what it’s about.
Paul: […] perhaps it was better that the song was now more sympathetic.
Brief exchange between John and Paul after take 47
Even if take 47 was marked “best”, John Lennon remained unsatisfied with the result, and work on a second “remake” would begin on August 13, 1968.
Nothing from this session was released, neither on “Anthology 3” or on “The Beatles” 2018 reissue.
The Beatles ended the session by recording some sound effects. The tape was taken away at the end of the session and its content remains unknown.
Recording the Beatles was a wonderful experience, but while there were times when their creative juices were flowing and it was incredibly exciting, there were others when it was as boring as hell. For instance, I remember it took three days just to get the basic track of ‘Sexy Sadie’. Primarily, they were down in the studio, figuring out the different parts, and all we had to do was make sure the tape was constantly running. What got me through those times was the firm belief that, in the end, it would turn into something amazing, and generally that was the case. But then, I didn’t have to work on ‘Revolution 9’.
Ken Scott – From The Beatles ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’ (soundonsound.com)
Last updated on September 11, 2021
Songs recorded
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2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
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10.
11.
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13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
Untitled
Recording • Unnumbered take of sound effects
Staff
Musicians on "Sexy Sadie"
- Paul McCartney:
- Organ, Piano, Bass
- Ringo Starr:
- Drums
- John Lennon:
- Lead vocal, Acoustic guitar
- George Harrison:
- Electric guitar
Production staff
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!
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.
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.
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