Monday, May 16, 1966
Recording and mixing "Taxman", recording "For No One", mixing "Love You To"
For The Beatles
Last updated on November 12, 2023
Monday, May 16, 1966
For The Beatles
Last updated on November 12, 2023
April 6 - June 22, 1966 • Songs recorded during this session appear on Revolver (UK Mono)
Recording studio: EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road
Session May 09, 1966 • Recording "For No One"
Session May 12, 1966 • Mixing "Doctor Robert", "I'm Only Sleeping", "And Your Bird Can Sing"
Session May 16, 1966 • Recording and mixing "Taxman", recording "For No One", mixing "Love You To"
Session May 18, 1966 • Recording and mixing "Got to Get You Into My Life"
Article May 19, 1966 • Paul McCartney and John Lennon listen to the Beach Boys' "Pet Sounds"
Some of the songs worked on during this session were first released on the "Revolver (UK Mono)" LP.
This was the twentieth day of the recording sessions for the “Revolver” album. During the eleven-hour long session (from 2:30 pm to 1:30 am), overdubs were added onto George Harrison’s “Taxman” and Paul McCartney’s “For No One“. There were also some mixing and tape-copying activities to build a master reel and see how the album was starting to take shape.
“Taxman” had been recorded on April 21 and April 22, 1966. On this day, The Beatles added the final touch, by recording Paul McCartney’s spoken intro “one, two, three, four, one two“.
In the background [of this spoken intro] you hear a cough and stray guitar notes amongst other strange noises. McCartney describes these as sounds that were on the tape, Lennon adding that he “thought (the listeners) would like to hear it.” This unusual introduction ends as we hear Paul’s original count-down to the song from the rhythm track in the background.
From beatlesebooks.com
Four mono mixes were then created, all from take 12, but none were ever used.
The basic track of “For No One” and the first overdubs had been recorded on May 9, 1966. On this day, Paul McCartney overdubbed his lead vocals onto take 10. The tape was slowed to 47.5 cycles rather than the usual 50, which made the vocals higher and faster upon playback.
Some tape reductions were then made, to free up two tracks on the four-track tape. Those were numbered take 13 and take 14 (there were strangely no takes 11 and 12).
[The tape reduction remix] also utilized frequency control, recorded at a slower than normal tape speed, slowing the tempo and lowering the pitch of the entire track by nearly a semitone. Between the applications of varispeed on the lead vocal and tape reduction remix, McCartney’s lead vocal ended up back at its original performance tempo and pitch.
From The Beatles Recording Reference Manual – Volume 2 – Help! through Revolver (1965-1966) by Jerry Hammack, 2021
Onto take 14, Paul added his bass part and Ringo Starr played the tambourine. Take 14 would also receive a French horn overdub on May 19, 1966.
George Harrison’s “Love You To” had been mono-mixed on April 13, 1966. On this date, an edit piece of a solo passage of sitar recorded by George on April 13 was added to the mix as an introduction to the song.
Written by George Harrison
Recording • SI onto take 12
Written by George Harrison
Tape copying • Copies of remix mono 3, numbered mono remixes 4 and 5
Written by George Harrison
Mixing • Mono mixing - Remix 2 from take 12
Written by George Harrison
Mixing • Mono mixing - Remix 3 from take 12
Written by George Harrison
Mixing • Mono mixing - Remix 4 from take 12
Written by George Harrison
Mixing • Mono mixing - Remix 5 from take 12
Recording • SI onto take 10
Tape copying • Tape reduction take 10 into takes 13 and 14 (no takes numbered 11 or 12)
Written by George Harrison
Tape copying • Tape copying of remix mono 4
Written by George Harrison
Tape copying • Tape copying of remix mono 5
Tape copying • Tape copying of remix mono 8
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 Beatles Recording Reference Manual - Volume 2 - Help! through Revolver (1965-1966)
The second book of the Association for Recorded Sound Collections (ARSC)-nominated series, "The Beatles Recording Reference Manual: Volume 2: Help! through Revolver (1965-1966)" follows the evolution of the band from the end of Beatlemania with "Help!" through the introspection of "Rubber Soul" up to the sonic revolution of "Revolver". 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 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.
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