Studio Two, EMI Studios, Abbey Road
Producer: George Martin
Engineer: Norman Smith
The Beatles recorded ‘She’s A Woman’, the b-side to their 1964 Christmas single ‘I Feel Fine’, on this day.
The backing track was recorded in the day’s first session, which lasting from 3.30-5.30pm.
The released version was take six. A longer version, known as take seven due to George Martin’s erroneous announcement at the start, was most likely actually take five; the recording circulates on bootlegs, and ends with three minutes of jamming and screaming from Paul McCartney.
The Beatles used just two of the four available tracks during this first session. Rhythm guitar, bass guitar and drums were added to track one, and McCartney’s lead vocals were recorded onto track two.
A second session then followed from 7-10pm, in which overdubs were added to take six. McCartney re-recorded his vocals onto track two, and George Harrison added a guitar solo onto three.
Track four was used for final overdubs. McCartney added piano, Ringo Starr shook a chocalho, and McCartney and Harrison doubled up their vocals and guitar solo respectively.
Also on this day...
- 2016: Paul McCartney live: Desert Trip festival
- 2015: Ringo Starr live: Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre, Victoria, BC, Canada
- 2014: Ringo Starr live: Moody Theater, Austin, Texas
- 2010: Google publishes animated tribute to John Lennon
- 2010: John Lennon fingerprint card seized by FBI
- 2005: Paul McCartney live: MCI Center, Washington, DC
- 1971: UK album release: Imagine by John Lennon
- 1969: George Harrison is interviewed for the BBC’s Scene And Heard
- 1968: Recording: Long Long Long, I’m So Tired, The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill
- 1962: Radio: The Friday Spectacular
- 1960: The Beatles live: Kaiserkeller, Hamburg
Want more? Visit the Beatles history section.
Any idea what guitar John was using for this recording? My Beatles guitar chronology is a little shaky.
my guess is his Rickenbacher – it’s what it sounds like to me – but I’m just guessing.
The seven takes have drums, bass, and Lennon’s carefully
damped MRB-colored Capri (Guitar II, played dry like a Motown offbeat
“chick” rhythm guitar but with its amp leaking onto McCartney’s vocal mike
for added presence) on one track (Walter Everett)
Something confuses me about that last sentance of this article, “McCartney added piano, Ringo Starr shook a chocalho, and McCartney and Harrison doubled up their vocals and guitar solo respectively.” In what part of the song did George sing? May this be an error because I don’t recall him singing in the song.
The key word here is “respectively”. Harrison doubled up his guitar solo; McCartney did the same for his vocals.
A true rock n roll.
Does anyone know why George Martin slated the takes for these songs instead of Norman Smith? (And is that Ken Scott on take 1?)
I just listened to the take six “outtake” from “The Red Light’s On” bootleg series. If I’m hearing things correctly, then Ringo actually did the ride cymbal work at the end of the tune as an overdub — in the outtake the base drum track appears in the left for most of the tune, but then additional drumming (featuring the ride cymbal) appears in the right channel
only at the end. (Actually, it appears in the center of the bootleg, but if you listen to only the right of the bootleg, you can hear it join specifically at that point.) The center panning in the bootleg might indicate that this overdub was added to the one of the two tracks that held George’s guitar solo (which would be empty at that point in the song).
One cannot hear evidence of this on the official stereo mix, because the end drumming has been panned to the left, along with the basic track drumming.