Recording, mixing: And Your Bird Can Sing, Taxman

Studio Two, EMI Studios, Abbey Road
Producer: George Martin
Engineer: Geoff Emerick

A 12-hour session took place on this day, during which The Beatles worked on two songs for Revolver, although the recordings of both were later scrapped. Work began at 2.30 in the afternoon, and finished at 2.30am the following morning.

The first song to be tackled was John Lennon’s ‘And Your Bird Can Sing’. The Beatles recorded two takes of the backing track, which was notable for a jangle rhythm guitar part inspired by The Byrds. This was recorded by George Harrison on a Rickenbacker 12-string, accompanied by another electric guitar by Lennon, and drums by Ringo Starr, all recorded on track one of the four-track tape.

Lennon overdubbed a lead vocal onto track two of the second take while Paul McCartney added a bass part and Starr played a tambourine. Track three featured a second vocal part by Lennon, with harmonies from McCartney and Harrison, and a lead guitar solo.

Onto the fourth track another Lennon/McCartney lead vocal was added, but this descended into laughter and whistling. Despite spending several hours working on the song, it was remade on 26 April 1966; this day’s version was released on the 1996 album Anthology 2.

The Beatles then turned their attention to Harrison’s ‘Taxman’. They recorded four takes of the song, only two of which were complete, but again it was re-recorded at a later date.

The session ended with the creation of five mono mixes of ‘And Your Bird Can Sing’, all from take two.