Recording and mixing "We Can Work It Out", mixing "Day Tripper"

This was the eleventh day of work on The Beatles’ new album “Rubber Soul.”

On October 20, The Beatles had recorded “We Can Work It Out,” which would be issued as one side of the single “We Can Work It Out / Day Tripper,” released on the same day as the album. The previous day, a rough mono mix had been prepared to serve as a playback track for “The Music of Lennon & McCartney,” scheduled to be filmed on November 1, with The Beatles miming to it.

When they heard the mix, The Beatles felt that the track needed additional vocals, which were recorded during a session from 2 pm to 4 pm on this day.

Onto Take 2, Paul double-tracked his lead vocals, while John added an additional harmonium part. With this work, the recording of the track was completed.

“We Can Work It Out” was then mixed in mono. Two remix mono versions were made and labelled RM2 and RM3. RM2 was considered the best and was released on the single, while RM3 was used for “The Music of Lennon & McCartney.”

“Day Tripper” was also mixed in mono during that session. A previous mono mix had been made on October 26. On this day, two further mixes were prepared (RM2 and RM3). RM3 was released on the single, and RM2 was used for “The Music of Lennon & McCartney.”

Session activities

1. We Can Work It Out

   Written by Lennon - McCartney

   Recording • SI onto take 2

2. We Can Work It Out

   Written by Lennon - McCartney

   Mixing • Mono mixing - Remix 2 from take 2

   AlbumOfficially released on We Can Work It Out / Day Tripper (UK)

3. We Can Work It Out

   Written by Lennon - McCartney

   Mixing • Mono mixing - Remix 3 from take 2

4. Day Tripper

   Written by Lennon - McCartney

   Mixing • Mono mixing - Remix 2 from take 3

5. Day Tripper

   Written by Lennon - McCartney

   Mixing • Mono mixing - Remix 3 from take 3

   AlbumOfficially released on We Can Work It Out / Day Tripper (UK)

Staff

Musicians on "We Can Work It Out"

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!

Buy on Amazon

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.

Buy on Amazon