Recording, mixing: It’s All Too Much

De Lane Lea Recording Studios, London
Producer: George Martin
Engineer: Dave Siddle

This was The Beatles’ fourth consecutive session at the independent De Lane Lea Studios, where they finished work on ‘It’s All Too Much’. The session took place from 7pm until 2.15am.

The main purpose was the brass and woodwind overdubs, which were supposed to have been completed between 8pm and 11pm. In the end the session musicians worked until 2am the following morning.

The musicians were four trumpet players, one of whom was David Mason, who had previously performed the solo on ‘Penny Lane’. They were joined by a bass clarinetist, Paul Harvey.

George Harrison was in charge of that session. I don’t think he really knew what he wanted.

Mason’s assessment appears to be correct, as Harrison later said of the song: “I am still annoyed that I let them mess it up with those damn trumpets.” The Beatles’ sessions in the weeks after the completion of Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band were mostly aimless and unfocused, and this was no exception.

The overdubs were recorded onto the fourth track of the tape. The recording of ‘It’s All Too Much’ was complete, but mixes weren’t made for four more months, suggesting that the song may not yet have been a serious contender for the Yellow Submarine soundtrack.

During the session The Beatles also filled two tape reels with unstructured instrumental jamming, as they had on the previous evening.