Recording "You Know My Name (Look Up That Number)"

About

On this day, The Beatles began recording “You Know My Name (Look Up That Number)“. The recording process took place over several sessions between this day and November 1969. The track was finally released in March 1970, almost three years after the initial session. The song consisted of five parts that were recorded on different dates.

Before the session, The Beatles visited Brian Epstein’s office and were photographed with an award from the Norwegian magazine, Børge. When they arrived at EMI Studios at 7 pm, they didn’t have a song in mind. Producer George Martin was on holiday, so balance engineer Geoff Emerick acted as producer.

John had arrived one night with this song which was basically a mantra: ‘You know my name, look up the number.’ And I never knew who he was aiming that at, it might have been an early signal to Yoko. It was John’s original idea and that was the complete lyric. He brought it in originally as a 15-minute chant when he was in space-cadet mode and we said, ‘Well, what are we going to do with this then?’ and he said, ‘It’s just like a mantra.’ So we said, ‘Okay, let’s just do it’.

Paul McCartney – From “Paul McCartney: Many Years from Now” by Barry Miles, 1997

What would you do if a guy like John Lennon turned up at the studio and said “I’ve got a new song”. I said “What’s the words?” and he replied “You know my name look up the number”. I asked “What’s the rest of it?” “No, no other words, those are the words. And I wanna do it like a mantra!” We did it over a period of maybe two or three years. […] It’s not a great melody or anything, it’s just unique.

Paul McCartney – Interview with Mark Lewisohn – From “The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions” by Mark Lewisohn, 1988

ln mid-May, George Martin took off for a two-week holiday in the south of France. The Beatles nonetheless soldiered on without him, and I was officially listed on the tape box as both producer and engineer of the two songs they recorded in his absence: Paul’s “All Together Now” and an unusual collaboration between John and Paul called “You Know My Name (Look Up The Number).” Frankly, George going on vacation in the middle of these sessions did not go down well in anybody’s book. We were all tired, yet he was the only one taking time off. By this point, I doubt very much if the band were crediting George Martin with their success, anyway. In fact, they probably welcomed the opportunity to get some work done without him.

Geoff Emerick – From “Here, There and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of The Beatles“, 2006

In fact, “You Know My Name (Look Up The Number)” was inspired by a slogan on the front of the 1967 London telephone directory, which John Lennon saw at Paul McCartney’s London home.

That was a piece of unfinished music that I turned into a comedy record with Paul. I was waiting for him in his house, and I saw the phone book was on the piano with ‘You know the name, look up the number.’ That was like a logo, and I just changed it. It was going to be a Four Tops kind of song – the chord changes are like that – but it never developed and we made a joke of it. Brian Jones is playing saxophone on it.

John Lennon – All We Are Saying, David Sheff

The final recording was made up of five different parts, and the first part was recorded during this session. After a series of rehearsals, The Beatles recorded 14 takes of the rhythm track. John Lennon and George Harrison played electric guitars, Paul McCartney was on bass, and Ringo Starr played drums.

Take 9 was considered the best and received some overdubs. John and Paul recorded lead vocals and handclaps, and Ringo added some bongos.

Ironically, during those first few days that the adulation for Pepper was flooding in, the group were hard at work in Studio Two on what was quite possibly the least substantive song they had ever put down on tape: “You Know My Name (Look Up The Number).” It was recorded in sections, and the sole lyric was the title phrase, repeated over and over again in a variety of genres, from straight rock ’n’ roll to lounge lizard style. We all had great fun on those sessions as John and Paul dubbed on all manner of loony sound effects and sang and harrumphed in their full repertoire of comic Goon-like voices. It was such a novelty number, in fact, that it sat on the shelf for nearly two and half years before it was finally finished, at Lennon’s instigation, and released as the B-side of the “Let It Be” single.

Geoff Emerick – From “Here, There and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of The Beatles“, 2006

The session ended at 2:30 am, and work on “You Know My Name (Look Up That Number)” continued on June 7, 1967.

Last updated on April 18, 2024

Songs recorded

Staff

Musicians on "You Know My Name (Look Up The Number)"

Paul McCartney:

Handclaps, Lead vocals, Bass

Ringo Starr:

Bongos, Drums

John Lennon:

Handclaps, Lead vocals, Electric guitar

George Harrison:

Electric guitar

Production staff

Geoff Emerick:

Producer, Engineer

Richard Lush:

Second Engineer