Studio A-1, A&R Recording, New York City
Producer: Paul McCartney
Engineers: Phil Ramone, Dixon Van Winkle
Paul McCartney worked on three songs on 27 January 1971: ‘The Back Seat Of My Car’, ‘Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey’, and ‘Oh Woman, Oh Why’.
The main purpose of this, and the following day’s, session was for the recording of the orchestral instruments for the Ram album. The session musicians were among the cream of New York’s classical and jazz players. They were contracted by Emile Charlap, a trumpeter and arranger from Brooklyn.
Encouraged by studio owner and engineer Phil Ramone, McCartney conducted the musicians. There was no podium, so he stood before them on the studio floor. Many of the players did not recognise the bearded McCartney, who looked considerably different from the Beatles days.
‘The Back Seat Of My Car’ was completed in a handful of takes, after which attentions turned to ‘Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey’. The song had been recorded in two parts, and only the ‘Uncle Albert’ section was worked on during this session. George Martin’s score, which was erroneously headed ‘Uncle Arthur’, required 16 violins, four violas, four cellos, a double bass, three French horns, bass trombone, and harp.
Once the recordings were complete, McCartney remained behind to add an unusual overdub to ‘Oh Woman, Oh Why’. He had decided to record the sound of gunshots, so a studio assistant was sent to buy a starting pistol and a box of blank rounds.
A&R’s cavernous Studio A-1 was too spacious to record the shots without excessive reverberation, so the final take was recorded in the hall outside A-2. It took two attempts to complete the song.
‘Oh Woman, Oh Why’ became the b-side of ‘Another Day’, McCartney’s debut solo single.