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- Album Songs recorded during this session officially appear on the Revolver (UK Mono) LP.
- Studio:
- EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road
Timeline
More from year 1966
Some songs from this session appear on:
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About
This was the eighth day of the recording sessions for the “Revolver” album. From 2:30 pm to 10:30 pm, The Beatles started recording a new song by John Lennon, titled “Doctor Robert“. It was a relatively straightforward track to record, compared to the more experimental songs recorded so far, such as “Tomorrow Never Knows” and “Rain“.
After a series of unnumbered rehearsal takes, they recorded seven takes of the backing track, with John Lennon on rhythm guitar, Paul McCartney on bass, George Harrison on maracas and Ringo Starr on drums. Take 7 was deemed the best, and they started adding overdubs onto it. John added some harmonium parts, George added his lead guitar, and Paul some piano (this piano part was not included in the song’s final mix). At this stage, the song lasted 2 minutes 56 seconds but would be edited to 2:13 during the mixing process.
The Beatles would complete the recording of “Doctor Robert” by adding all the vocals, on April 19, 1966.
Last updated on October 14, 2022
Staff
Musicians on "Doctor Robert"
- Paul McCartney:
- Bass, Piano
- Ringo Starr:
- Drums
- John Lennon:
- Rhythm guitar, Harmonium
- George Harrison:
- Lead guitar, Maracas
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 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 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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