The Beatles Bible

A newly-discovered tape of The Beatles laughing and chatting during an early recording session sold at auction yesterday for £9,800 ($23,000). Read more »

A rare tape featuring The Beatles joking during a 1964 recording session is to be auctioned. Read more »

Studio Three, EMI Studios, Abbey Road
Producer: John Lennon

John Lennon spent much of his 30th birthday in Studio Three of EMI Studios, Abbey Road, where he continued work on his debut solo album John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band. On this day he recorded the song Remember. Read more »

Room four, EMI Studios, Abbey Road
Producer: Phil Spector
Engineer: Peter Bown

The final day's work on The Beatles' last album Let It Be was a stereo mixing and edit session for three songs. Read more »

Studio One, Studio Three control room, EMI Studios, Abbey Road
Producer: Phil Spector
Engineer: Peter Bown

Of all Phil Spector's decisions for The Beatles' Let It Be, none would become as contentious as this, the orchestral and choral overdubs to Across The Universe, The Long And Winding Road and I Me Mine. Read more »

Room four, EMI Studios, Abbey Road
Producer: Phil Spector
Engineers: Mike Sheady, Eddie Klein

Let It Be (Remastered)

The Beatles. EMI 2009, Audio CD, $8.99

Phil Spector spent much of this day working on an idea which was never used: a 16-second tape loop using part of the instrumental break from George Harrison's For You Blue. Onto this he overlaid snatches of dialogue from members of the public recording during The Beatles' rooftop performance.

Several of these vox pops were used in the Let It Be film. In the end, however, Spector rejected the idea for the Let It Be album. Indeed, only one brief piece of dialogue from the entire film soundtrack reels made it onto the LP: John Lennon introducing For You Blue with the words "Queen says no to pot-smoking FBI members".

Room four, EMI Studios, Abbey Road
Producer: Phil Spector
Engineer: Mike Sheady

Phil Spector's fourth day spent fashioning a usable long-player out of the myriad January 1969 session tapes found him working on Dig It and assembling snippets of dialogue to be used in between songs. Read more »

Room four, EMI Studios, Abbey Road
Producer: Phil Spector
Engineer: Peter Bown

Although it would later be subjected to strings, brass and choir overdubs, the stereo mixes of The Long And Winding Road made by Phil Spector on this day were a much simpler affair: they were used for the eventual orchestral score, and for the session musicians to hear while they performed during the 1 April session. Read more »

Room four, EMI Studios, Abbey Road
Producer: Phil Spector
Engineer: Peter Bown

Phil Spector's second day of creating stereo mixes from the Let It Be tapes involved work on three songs. Read more »

Room 4, EMI Studios, Abbey Road
Producer: Phil Spector
Engineer: Peter Bown

After two attempts by Glyn Johns at assembling a Get Back LP were rejected by The Beatles, maverick producer Phil Spector was brought in to work on the tapes. Read more »

Room 4, EMI Studios, Abbey Road
Producer: Malcolm Davies
Engineer: Peter Bown

Glyn Johns' two proposed Get Back albums had been rejected by The Beatles, but there was still a wish to release the January 1969 material in some form. Read more »

Studio Two, EMI Studios, Abbey Road
Producer: Phil Spector
Engineer: Geoff Emerick

The third single by Plastic Ono Band, Instant Karma!, was written, recorded and mixed on this day. Read more »

Studio Two (control room), EMI Studios, Abbey Road
Producer: Geoff Emerick
Engineers: Peter Bown, Jeff Jarratt

For reasons unknown, The Inner Light, the b-side to The Beatles' 1968 single Lady Madonna, was given its first stereo mix on this day. Read more »

Olympic Sound Studios, Barnes, London
Producer: Glyn Johns

This two-hour session away from Abbey Road was ostensibly a remix session for the songs Let It Be and For You Blue. Read more »

Olympic Sound Studios, London
Producer: Glyn Johns

The Beatles had rejected producer Glyn Johns' first attempt at fashioning an album from the Get Back/Let It Be tapes. On this day he put together a second Get Back LP for their consideration, although it too was rejected. Read more »

Studio two, EMI Studios, Abbey Road
Producer: George Martin
Engineer: Phil McDonald

Although there were two further recording sessions for the Let It Be album involving just one member of the group, this was The Beatles' last time recording as a group until the 1990s Anthology sessions. Read more »

Studio Two, EMI Studios, Abbey Road
Producer: George Martin
Engineer: Phil McDonald

Although The Beatles' last recording session as a quartet had taken place on 20 August 1969, there were several other sessions involving one or more members up until April 1970. Read more »

Olympic Sound Studios, Barnes, London
Producer: Glyn Johns

The final Beatles-related studio booking of 1969 was a mixing and editing session for the unreleased Get Back album. None of The Beatles attended. Read more »

Studio One (control room), EMI Studios, Abbey Road
Producer: Geoff Emerick

The Plastic Ono Band gave their only UK concert on 15 December 1969 at the Lyceum in London. Two days later Geoff Emerick prepared stereo mixes for a possible album release. Read more »

Olympic Sound Studios, Barnes, London
Producer: Glyn Johns

When The Beatles decided that the unreleased Get Back album should be the soundtrack for Michael Lindsay-Hogg's documentary, Glyn Johns was asked to compile a set of songs that better reflected the film's content. Read more »