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June 25-26, 1968

Recording "Sour Milk Sea"

For Jackie Lomax

Last updated on June 20, 2021


Location

  • Recording studio: Trident Studios, London, UK

Timeline

AlbumSome of the songs worked on during this session were first released on the "Sour Milk Sea / The Eagle Laughs at You" 7" Single

Some of the songs from this session also appear on:

From Wikipedia:

With Harrison as his producer, Lomax recorded “Sour Milk Sea” for release as a single. The sessions for the song began at EMI Studios (now Abbey Road Studios) in London on 24 June 1968, before moving to Trident Studios, to use that facility’s superior, eight-track recording equipment. Speaking to Melody Maker in September, Harrison described the recording as a “glorified jam session”. The line-up consisted of Lomax on vocals, Harrison and Eric Clapton on guitars, Nicky Hopkins on piano, Paul McCartney on bass, and Ringo Starr on drums. McCartney was absent from the initial session, however, only returning on 25 June from an Apple-related business trip to California. While Apple projects typically featured one member of the Beatles, “Sour Milk Sea” is the only track where more than two members of the band appeared on another artist’s recording.

Clapton’s electric guitar playing gave the song a riff-based quality that was absent from the Beatles’ version. Lomax later said that he thought the track “worked as an instrumental”, and he recalled his nervousness when it came to overdubbing the vocal part, with “three Beatles in the control room watching me”. In addition to supplying acoustic rhythm guitar on the song, Harrison played an electric guitar solo, which appears shortly after the two-minute mark on the recording, following Clapton’s lead guitar break. Hammond organ was also added over this instrumental passage, although the part is uncredited. Recording was completed on 26 June. Like Clapton and Hopkins, Lomax went on to contribute to the sessions for The Beatles, singing backing vocals on “Dear Prudence“.


Session activities

  1. Sour Milk Sea

    Written by George Harrison

    Recording


Staff

Musicians on "Sour Milk Sea"

Production staff


Going further

If we modestly consider the Paul McCartney Project to be the premier online resource for all things Paul McCartney, it is undeniable that The Beatles Bible stands as the definitive online site dedicated to the Beatles. While there is some overlap in content between the two sites, they differ significantly in their approach.

Read more on The Beatles Bible

Paul McCartney writing

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