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48 years ago today - The recording of A Day in the Life
10 replies
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= new reply since forum marked as read
he smoked so we always went upstairs on the doubledeckers 
...here: 48 Years Ago The Beatles Begin Recording the ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’ Title Track
In light of what would be released in its wake, the Beatles‘ ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band‘ is not the most fully realized concept rock album. But what little thematic structure it has began to take shape on Feb. 1, 1967, when they began recording the title track.
The session at EMI’s Abbey Road Studio Two ran from 7 p.m. until 2:30 a.m., with the Beatles doing nine takes — two of which were complete — on the basic rhythm track, with Paul McCartney and George Harrison on guitars. Ever willing to experiment with new recording techniques, and with a first-rate engineering staff at Abbey Road Studios able to make it happen, McCartney tried something different with his bass. Rather than sticking a microphone in front of his amplifier, a box was built to send the signal right into the board, a process that they called “direct injection,” or DI.
<snip>
The next day (Feb. 2), the Beatles overdubbed their vocals to the master take. At this point, only ‘When I’m Sixty-Four‘ and ‘A Day in the Life‘ had been recorded (although the latter did not yet have its orchestral overdubs), and they hadn’t figured out how to convey the idea that they were putting on the guise of a fictional band.
By the time the Beatles returned to the song a month later, the idea of it being a full-fledged concert by these mythical musicians came into play. On March 3, they brought in four French horn players to add some brass, which helped sell the idea that they were an old-timey band. They added the sound effects — the tuning up the audience noise — three days later.
Lewisohn also notes that the song doesn’t end on Ringo Starr‘s first note of ‘With a Little Help from My Friends,’ but rather just before they sing “Billy Shears” in unison. That introduction had been a part of ‘Friends’ from the first take on March 29. The reprise of ‘Sgt. Pepper,’ which segues perfectly into ‘A Day in the Life,’ was recorded in one session on April 1.
The session at EMI’s Abbey Road Studio Two ran from 7 p.m. until 2:30 a.m., with the Beatles doing nine takes — two of which were complete — on the basic rhythm track, with Paul McCartney and George Harrison on guitars. Ever willing to experiment with new recording techniques, and with a first-rate engineering staff at Abbey Road Studios able to make it happen, McCartney tried something different with his bass. Rather than sticking a microphone in front of his amplifier, a box was built to send the signal right into the board, a process that they called “direct injection,” or DI.
<snip>
The next day (Feb. 2), the Beatles overdubbed their vocals to the master take. At this point, only ‘When I’m Sixty-Four‘ and ‘A Day in the Life‘ had been recorded (although the latter did not yet have its orchestral overdubs), and they hadn’t figured out how to convey the idea that they were putting on the guise of a fictional band.
By the time the Beatles returned to the song a month later, the idea of it being a full-fledged concert by these mythical musicians came into play. On March 3, they brought in four French horn players to add some brass, which helped sell the idea that they were an old-timey band. They added the sound effects — the tuning up the audience noise — three days later.
Lewisohn also notes that the song doesn’t end on Ringo Starr‘s first note of ‘With a Little Help from My Friends,’ but rather just before they sing “Billy Shears” in unison. That introduction had been a part of ‘Friends’ from the first take on March 29. The reprise of ‘Sgt. Pepper,’ which segues perfectly into ‘A Day in the Life,’ was recorded in one session on April 1.
In 2003 the Library of Congress placed Sgt. Pepper in the National Recording Registry, honouring the work as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". That same year Rolling Stone magazine ranked it number one in its list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time". As of 2014 it has sold more than 30 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling albums in history. Professor Kevin J Dettmar, writing in the Oxford Encyclopedia of British Literature, described it as "the most important and influential rock and roll album ever recorded".
I was 14 years old when SPLHCB was released...A Day in the Life blew me away - 4000 holes in Blackburn, Lancashire, Now we know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall ...but I'm more worried now about ... will you still need me, will you still feed me...
