Recording: I Wanna Be Your Man, Little Child, All I’ve Got To Do, Not A Second Time, Don’t Bother Me

Studio Two, EMI Studios, Abbey Road
Producer: George Martin
Engineer: Norman Smith

The Beatles began work on five songs for their second UK album With The Beatles, including George Harrison’s first solo composition ‘Don’t Bother Me’.

There were two sessions on this day, taking place from 2.30-6pm and 7-10.15pm. The first song to be attempted was ‘I Wanna Be Your Man’, written by Lennon and McCartney and sung by Ringo Starr on the album. They recorded just one take of the song, although further attempts would be made on the following day.

‘Little Child’ was taken slightly further, but not much. The Beatles recorded two takes before again choosing to continue it on 12 September.

The first session concluded with work on John Lennon’s ‘All I’ve Got To Do’. The song was finished in 14 takes – eight of which were incomplete – plus a single overdub which became take 15.

The Beatles had a break between 6pm and 7pm, but resumed with another Lennon song, ‘Not A Second Time’. The group recorded five takes of the backing track before Lennon double-tracked his vocals and George Martin overdubbed a piano part. These extra parts took four attempts to get right.

‘Don’t Bother Me’ was the final song to be attempted. Seven takes were recorded, three of which were overdubs, but The Beatles decided to remake the song on the following day.