Recording "Eleanor Rigby", "I'm Only Sleeping"

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This was the sixteenth day of the recording sessions for the “Revolver” album. The session lasted from 5 pm to 1 am. This time was spent adding overdubs on “Eleanor Rigby” and “I’m Only Sleeping“.

The backing track of “Eleanor Rigby“, played by a double string quartet and no Beatles, had been recorded the previous day. On this day, overdubs were added onto take 15. Paul McCartney recorded his lead vocals and ADT (artificial double-tracking) was applied in some places to provide harmonies.

I didn’t think I was singing it well. I remember talking to George (Martin). I said, ‘I’m not singing this (well)’ He said, ‘No, it’s ok.’ He was calming me down. And we double-tracked it, I think probably because I didn’t think I’d sung it well. So when we would double-track it, we’d cover any sins.

Paul McCartney – From McCartney 3,2,1 documentary series, 2021 – Transcribed by beatlesebooks.com

John Lennon and George Harrison also contributed harmony vocals, singing a few “Aaah, look at all the lonely people“.

According to The Beatles Recording Reference Manual – Volume 2 – Help! through Revolver (1965-1966) by Jerry Hammack, Ringo Starr also played some congas while another Beatle contributed finger cymbal. This overdub was dropped in favour of a second lead vocal recorded on June 6, 1966.

Three mono mixes were then made but would never be used.

Towards 7 pm, The Beatles switched to “I’m Only Sleeping“. They had recorded the rhythm track two days before, on April 27. But they were not entirely satisfied with the result, as, on this day, they started working on a remake.

They recorded some rehearsals with acoustic guitar, drums and vibraphone, before recording five formal takes of this new version (numbered takes 1 to 5), with John on acoustic guitar and vocals, Starr on drums, and Paul on vocals. One of those rehearsals and Take 1 were released on Anthology 2 in 1996.

A brief instrumental rehearsal – distinguished, unusually, by a vibraphone part being played along with the acoustic guitar and drums. This recording nearly didn’t survive: the session tape was spooled back after the Beatles had finished rehearsing and five proper, numbered takes were recorded anew form the top, wiping over the earlier sounds. The last of these stopped just short of where the rehearsals had concluded, leaving the final minute intact.

From Anthology 2 liner notes

Take 1. The other version presented here (in mono, because it was taped that way) is the first of these proper, numbered takes – recorded, curiously, two days after the Beatles had already cut takes 1 to 11, the last of which led to the Revolver master. None of these five further takes (acoustic guitar, simple percussion and joint John and Paul vocals) was used.

From Anthology 2 liner notes

Not satisfied by this remake, The Beatles finally decided to return to take 11, recorded two days before, and record John Lennon’s lead vocals onto it.

They made use of the remaining time in the studio on this day to overdub John’s lead vocals onto the previously recorded ‘take eleven,’ clipping off a brief acoustic guitar introduction in the process. “We tried to get the vocals to sound like somebody’s asleep, which is very difficult,” George Harrison explained.

More “vari-speed” experimentation ensued, the rhythm track being played back at 47 ¾ cycles which slowed down the original recording tremendously since it was recorded at 56 cycles as previously noted. John’s vocals were then recorded at 45 cycles so that it would come through with a higher tonality when played at regular speed. While this sounds confusing, the resulting effect is especially noteworthy on the finished product, the rhythm track being recorded faster and being slowed down while the lead vocals were recorded slower and sped up. This puts the finished song in the very odd key of E-flat minor (instead of E-minor as probably originally played). Finally, by 1 am the following morning, the lead vocals of “I’m Only Sleeping” were complete.

From beatlesebooks.com

After this day, the “Revolver” sessions were paused for nearly a week. Work would continue on “I’m Only Sleeping” when they restarted on May 5, 1966.

Last updated on October 16, 2022

Songs recorded

Staff

Musicians on "Eleanor Rigby"

Paul McCartney:

Lead vocals

Ringo Starr:

Congas

John Lennon:

Harmony vocals

George Harrison:

Harmony vocals

?:

Finger cymbal

Musicians on "I'm Only Sleeping"

Paul McCartney:

Vocals

Ringo Starr:

Drums

John Lennon:

Vocals, Acoustic guitar

?:

Vibraphone

Production staff

George Martin:

Producer

Geoff Emerick:

Engineer

Phil McDonald:

Second Engineer