Studio One, Olympic Studios, London
Producer: Glyn Johns
Engineer: Phil Chapman
Wings began recording their second album Red Rose Speedway on 6 March 1972.
The first song to be tackled was the album’s opener, ‘Big Barn Bed’. The session took place at Olympic Studios in Barnes, London, where Paul McCartney had recorded part of ‘Some People Never Know’ the previous September.
The song dated from 1970. McCartney performed the opening lines – “Who’s that coming round that corner?/Who’s that coming round that bend?” – at the close of ‘Ram On’ on the Ram album. At that time it was known as ‘Sleepin’ On A Big Barn Bed’.
Wings began by rehearsing the song in the studio, before recording began. McCartney was on bass guitar and vocals, Denny Laine played an acoustic guitar, Henry McCullough was on electric guitar, Denny Seiwell was on drums, and Linda McCartney played a vibraslap.
The backing track was complete by the mid-afternoon, and overdubs followed. McCartney added piano and Laine played a second acoustic guitar part, before the band all contributed harmony vocals.
‘Big Barn Bed’ was completed with overdubs added at Abbey Road on 17 November, including a re-recording of Denny Seiwell’s drums. More backing vocals and percussion were also added to complete the song.