Studio Two, EMI Studios, Abbey Road
Producer: George Martin
Engineer: Geoff Emerick
Paul McCartney had the idea for Sgt Pepper during a flight from Kenya to England in November 1966. On this day they began recording the title song.
The session took place from 7am to 2.30am, and saw nine takes of the song recorded. Only the first and last of these was complete.
The backing track had McCartney and George Harrison on electric guitar, and Ringo Starr on drums, all recorded onto track one of the four-track tape.
McCartney then overdubbed his bass guitar onto track two of take nine. This was recorded by direct injection (DI) straight into the recording desk, bypassing the use of an amplifier, and was the first time the method had been used on a Beatles session. EMI built their own DI boxes, and perhaps pioneered the technique anywhere in the world.
Also on this day...
- 2024: Beatles painting Images Of A Woman sells at auction for $1.74 million
- 1990: Paul McCartney live: The Palace, Auburn Hills
- 1970: Ringo and Maureen fly to New York from Los Angeles
- 1969: Allen Klein discusses The Beatles’ purchase of NEMS
- 1968: Ringo Starr rehearses for Cilla Black’s television show
- 1965: US EP release: 4 By The Beatles
- 1964: The Beatles live: Olympia Theatre, Paris
- 1963: The Beatles live: Assembly Rooms, Tamworth
- 1963: The Beatles live: Maney Hall, Sutton Coldfield
- 1962: The Beatles live: Thistle Cafe, West Kirby
- 1962: The Beatles live: Cavern Club, Liverpool (lunchtime)
- 1961: The Beatles live: Hambleton Hall, Liverpool
Want more? Visit the Beatles history section.
Love those original 3rd and 4th lines of the song: “He showed them how to please a crowd/The man’s a leader that has made them proud.” John and Paul knew how to knock such clunkers our of their lyrics!
I listened to the isolated drum and guitars track on Google Drive (not counting Paul’s lead guitar overdub) and it sounds like John, Paul and George are all playing guitars, so my guess is that John and Paul played joint rhythm guitars and George played the lead guitar before Paul added his own stinging lead to clearly augment, not replace, George’s effort and of course, his bass part.
I don’t trust Geoff Emerick’s account of John and Paul swapping rhythm guitar and bass roles, because a) it’s highly unrealistic and b) John would have immediately said no to such a thing not to mention that Geoff said that he couldn’t remember much in his 1979 interview.