Fab Four Blog

The Beatles were resting after the final production of Rubber Soul.

It's the weekend. The Beatles took a rest.

Today, the Beatles relaxed!

Studio One, EMI Studios, London

FINAL Production for Rubber Soul - Discs were cut, lacquers were rushed to the pressing plant, and the sleeve was quickly printed.

Today, George Martin worked out the LP running order (Rubber Soul) and telephoned it over to Abbey Road.

Studio One, EMI Studios, London

Final production for Rubber Soul was effected from 2:30 to 5:30 pm, with "I'm Looking Through You", "You Won't See Me", "Girl", "Wait", and "Michelle" being mixed into mono, and "Wait', "I'm Looking Through You", "You Won't See Me", "Girl", and "The Word" mixed into stereo.

Source: The Complete Beatles Chronicle - Mark Lewisohn

The Beatles enjoyed a break today.

Week of November 13, 1965

1. The Sound of Music, Soundtrack
2. Help!, The Beatles
3. The In Crowd, Ramsey Lewis Trio
4. Whipped Cream & Other Delights, Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass
5. Highway 61, Revisited Bob Dylan

Today, the Beatles took a break from recording.

Room 65/Studio Two, EMI Studios, London

Mono and stereo mixes of "The Word" were produced in Room 65, probably in the Beatles' absence, between 4:00 and 5:30 pm. The Beatles began recording at 6:00 pm, one hour ahead of time, in this final Rubber Soul session, and they also worked four hours beyond its 3:00 am scheduled end, clocking up 13 uninterrupted hours in studio two. They knew that the deadline had come, that their new album had to be finished this night. They also knew that they needed three more songs. Paul came up with one, John another, and for the third they pulled off the shelf "Wait", the discarded Help! track, added various bits and pieces and pronounced it fit for inclusion on the new LP. Balance was everything in 1965: a 14-song album meant seven songs per side and everything hunky-dory. (Still, despite the pressure, no one considered including on the album either or both songs on the new single, "We Can Work It Out/Day Tripper".

Paul's song, "You Won't See Me", was recorded from start to finish in two takes, as was John's song, "Girl", then the Beatles added tone-pedal guitar, tambourine, maraca and more vocals onto take four of the five-month-old "Wait", overdubbed vocals onto the previous night's "I'm Looking Through You" rhythm track and, suddenly, to the accompaniment of the St. John's Wood dawn chorus, they knew that the new album was complete.

Source: The Complete Beatles Chronicle - Mark Lewisohn

Room 65/Studo Two, EMI Studios, London

A 2:30-5:30 pm mix session in Room 65 yielded stereo masters of "Run For Your Life" and "We Can Work It Out" (not on Rubber Soul, this mix was destined for Australian and US albums). The Beatles did not attend - they arrived at Abbey Road for 9:00 pm-3:00 am studio two session (which overran to 4:00), the first product of which was the recording from start to finish, in three takes, of John's song "The Word", the lyric of which was a prototype "All You Need Is Love", two years ahead of that world anthem. Then the group set about the second re-make of Paul's "I'm Looking Through You", taping in one take (numbered four) a new "best" rhythm track by session's end.

Room 65, EMI Studios, London

More mixing, probably in the Beatles' absence, 2:30-5:30 pm, with mono masters being prepared for "Michelle", "What Goes On", "Run For Your Life", "Think For Yourself", and "The Beatles" Third Christmas Record (also edited), and stereo masters being made for "Think For Yourself", "Michelle" and "What Goes On".

Studio Two, EMI Studios, London

The Beatles had recorded George Harrison's If I Needed Someone in October 1965. On this day they recorded another of his compositions, Think For Yourself, under the working title Won't Be There With You.

The session was a late one, beginning at 9pm and finishing at 3am the following morning. The Beatles began by rehearsing the song, a process which was recorded by George Martin in the hope of some of the material being usable for their Christmas fan club release.

The recording was labelled Beatle Speech, and the tape box was labelled with the words "This will eventually be issued". None of it was used on the Christmas flexi disc, but a snippet of the group practising their vocal harmonies was used in the Yellow Submarine film in 1968.

The basic track for Think For Yourself was recorded in a single take, with bass guitar, drums, Harrison's Fender Stratocaster, and John Lennon's Vox Continental organ.

The Beatles then recorded a number of overdubs, including a three-part vocal track led by Harrison. A second track was also filled with three-part harmonies, plus tambourine and maracas. Perhaps the most notable addition to the song, however, was a second bass guitar part played by Paul McCartney, fed through a distortion unit.

Late into the night, once work on the song had concluded, The Beatles recorded The Beatles' Third Christmas Record. Three takes, all largely ad-libbed, were recorded, and edited for release by George Martin the following day.

Studio Two, EMI Studios, London

The first of two re-makes of "I'm Looking Through You". Between 7:00 pm and 1:00 am, the Beatles taped two takes (numbered two and three to follow October 24th version), overdubbing all required sounds onto the second of these. By the end, they were considerably nearer to the desired end result - but not enough.

50 years ago today people in US were listening to Get Off Of My Cloud by The Rolling Stones. In UK Get Off Of My Cloud by The Rolling Stones which was in the top 5 hits.

Studio Two, EMI Studios, London

The Beatles were under pressure to complete the Rubber Soul album in time for the Christmas market. This necessitated two notable tactics: late-night recording sessions and the revival of old compositions.

The group had recorded Michelle, one of Paul McCartney's early songs, yesterday. The following day one of John Lennon's was revived. What Goes On had been written in the Quarry Men days, and The Beatles had wanted to record it during the From Me To You session on March 5, 1963.

The song was completed in a session beginning at 11pm and finishing at 3.30am the following morning. McCartney's bass guitar and Ringo Starr's drums were recorded in a single take onto track one of the four-track tape. Starr's lead vocals were added onto a second track.

Lennon's Rickenbacker 325 rhythm guitar, George Harrison's Gretsch Tennessean guitar, and backing vocals by Lennon and McCartney were then overdubbed, and the song was complete.

The session didn't end there, however. The Beatles decided to record 12-Bar Original, an instrumental blues tune seemingly inspired by Booker T and the MGs' Green Onions.

Take one broke down, but take two was complete and lasted 6'42". George Martin joined the group on harmonium, and the song was recorded without overdubs. McCartney played bass, Starr was on drums, Harrison played a Fender Stratocaster with a tone pedal, and Lennon played an Epiphone Casino.

Despite the trouble they had completing Rubber Soul, The Beatles wisely chose not to include 12-Bar Original. An edit of take two, lasting 2'55" and taken from four separate parts of the recording, was eventually released in 1996 on Anthology 2.

Studio Two, EMI Studios, London

Nine hours, 2:30-11:30 pm, spent recording and completing Paul's new ballad "Michelle". From 2:30-7:00 the Beatles perfected the rhythm track in one take. At 7:00 this was reduced into take two to vacate a track on the four-track tape, and from then until 11:30 they filled this with vocal and guitar overdubs.

Source: The Complete Beatles Chronicle - Mark Lewisohn

Studio Six, Granada TV Centre, Manchester

Day 2 - The full line-up of songs (Artists) was: song medley (The George Martin Orchestra), "A World Without Love" (Peter and Gordon), "I Saw Him Standing There", (Lulu), "From Me To You" (Alan Haven and Tony Crombie), "She Loves You/song medley (Fritz Spiegl's Ensemble), "Day Tripper" (the Beatles), "Yesterday", (Paul McCartney, then Marianne Faithfull), "She Loves You" (Antonio Vargas), "Things We Said Today" (In French, Dick Rivers), "Bad To Me" (Billy J. Kramer with the Dakotas), "It's For You" (Cilla Black), "Ringo's Theme (This Boy)' (The George Martin Orchestra), "If I Fell" (Henry Mancini), "And I Love Him" (Esther Phillips), "A Hard Day's Night" (Peter Sellers) and, finally "We Can Work It Out" (The Beatles)

The Music of Lennon and McCarthy was ITV's official entry for the Golden Rose of Montreux Award, decided at the 1966 Montreux Festival (April 22-30), but it did not win.

Studio Six, Granada TV Centre, Manchester

This was the first of two days at Granada TV Centre in Manchester, during which The Beatles recorded their contributions to The Music Of Lennon & McCartney, a television special first broadcast on December 16, 1965.

The Beatles mimed to We Can Work It Out and Day Tripper, both sides of their forthcoming single. Paul McCartney also sang the first part of Yesterday, which was completed by Marianne Faithfull.

The other guests on the show were Cilla Black, Peter and Gordon, Lulu, Henry Mancini, Esther Phillips, Fritz Spiegl, Billy J Kramer and the Dakotas, Alan Haven, the George Martin Orchestra, Dick Rivers, and Peter Sellers.

Filming continued on the following day, November 2, 1965.

50 years ago today people in US were listening to Yesterday by The Beatles. In UK Get Off Of My Cloud by The Rolling Stones Both in the top 5 hits.

50 years ago today people in the US were listening to Yesterday by The Beatles. In UK Tears by Ken Dodd was in the top 5 hits. 

Studio Two, EMI Studios, London

Vocal repair work was effected onto take two of "We Can Work It Out" between 2:00 and 4:00 pm, and from then until 5:00 both this song and also "Day Tripper" were mixed twice into mono - once for record release and once for TV play-back on November 1-2.

Source: The Complete Beatles Chronicle - Mark Lewisohn

Studio One, EMI Studios, London

A rough mono mix of "We Can Work It Out", made between 5:00 and 5:30 pm, not for record release but for the Beatles to mime to during the video-taping of The Music Of Lennon & McCartney.

It was only when they heard a playback of this mix-for-TV that the Beatles realized the song's vocal tracks required an overhaul. They were overdubbed again the next day, October 29th, instantly rendering this mix unusable.

Source: The Complete Beatles Chronicles - Mark Lewisohn

The number one song in the US on October 27, 1965 was Yesterday by The Beatles.

Stereo mixes of "Drive My Car", "Day Tripper", "In My Life", "If I Needed Someone", "Norwegian Wood", and "Nowhere Man", were prepared by George Martin between 10:00 am and 12:00 pm this day in studio one at EMI.

Although the Beatles were beginning to attend mix sessions they certainly missed this one, instead collecting their MBE's from the Queen of Buckingham Palace and hosting a subsequent press conference at the Saville Theatre. There was, naturally, considerable newsreel, TV and radio news coverage of these events. (As an example, even the BBC Home Service's somewhat august news and current affairs program The World At One, anchored by William Harcastle, had four consecutive reports about the morning's activities, two from outside the Palace, one from inside and another commentating on the Beatles' arrival at the Saville.)

Studio One, EMI Studios, London

Mono mixes of "Drive My Car", "In My Life", "If I Needed Someone", "Day Tripper", "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)" and "Nowhere Man", produced by George Martin from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm, probably without the Beatles in attendance.

Source: The Complete Beatles Chronicle - Mark Lewisohn

Studio Two, EMI Studios, London

Though stacked with potential, Paul's new song "I'm Looking Through You", wasn't easy to realize on tape. The Beatles spent the first half of this nine-hour session, 2:30-7:00 pm, recording one take of the song's rhythm track and overdubbing onto this, then spent the second half, until 11:00 pm, adding vocals. By the end of the night they had what would recognize as a classy recording - most, that is, but not the Beatles, who were to tape a re-make on November 6th and a second re-make on the 10th-11th.

Source: The Beatles Complete Chronicle - Mark Lewisohn

On this date, 50 years ago, people in US were listening to Yesterday by The Beatles.