Saturday, October 29, 2016

Revolution Outtake

Upon the completion and work on "Revolution 1" and Revolution 9" for the upcoming LP, it was decided to use the song for the next Beatles single. This time the song would be re-recorded with a faster and more lively tempo.
On July 09 and July 10 1968, The Beatles used EMI Studio 3 to re-record the song. After several rehearsal attempts on the ninth of July, the next day (July 10) started with proper backing tracks. This included John and George playing distorted guitars (through the studio board) and heavy drums by Ringo. There were ten attempts at the backing with the last one being used on the release.
This time the song did not feature the "doo-wop" backing vocals and the only overdub would eventually be a short keyboard solo by Nicky Hopkin. For the moment, both guitars went on track 1 and drums on track 2. John Lennon recorded his vocal on track 3 with the "count me out" vocal; no "in". On the last track, John Lennon laid down the famous "scream" from the intro with an accent on the drums by Ringo. The vocals and intro vocal were then all put onto track 3 leaving track 4 open (probably for the future bass and keyboard overdubs).
This stage of the recording in mono was put on an EMI acetate and has been bootlegged on various formats including the LP "The Lost Lennon Tapes Vol. 4" and the CD "Unsurpassed Masters Vol. 7" and the CD "Revolution" as well.


Sunday, October 23, 2016

"Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" Outtake

On July 05 1968, The Beatles were recording at EMI Studio 2 in London preparing a new song for the upcoming LP. "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" started to days previous with the basic track of Paul on acoustic and vocal and Ringo on drums. First it was decided to use take seven, but this was changed to using take four instead. Paul added a second acoustic guitar (slightly distorted) onto take four.
The next day, harmonies and backing vocals were added to the song by John, Paul and George. Lastly (on July 5th, saxophones and conga drums were added to the song.Eventually, more percussion was added to the chorus as well as bass guitar. A rough mix of the song was done and put on an acetate for Paul to take away. He didn't like this take and decided they would abort it and it didn't end up on the LP.
This take (now called take five) has appeared over the years on various bootlegs as it was once considered for the "Sessions" project. The CD "Unsurpassed Masters, Vol. 07" has the raw mix while some versions of this take have it segued with "Christmas Time Is Here Again" in the fade out.
The take five version of "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" was officially released on the Apple 3-LP/2-CD "Anthology 3" (with new edits at the beginning and end).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUeRegBIhd0


Sunday, October 16, 2016

"Blackbird" Rehearsal/ Outtakes

On June 11 1968, Paul McCartney sat at EMI Studio 2 and was filmed as well as recorded performing his new song "Blackbird" featuring himself and an acoustic guitar. John and Yoko as well as Paul's current girlfriend Francie Schwartz were all present at the studio as well.
After performing a run-through of the song for producer George Martin (who was also present), Paul started recording once Mr. Martin had gone up the stairs of the studio to the control room. It was suggested that Paul rehearse the song and record it as a "demo" in order to tighten up the arrangement. In the end, a total of 32 "takes" were recorded on tape in the studio. At one point, the idea of a string quartet in the second verse is discussed as well as a suggestion from John Lennon suggesting a brass band (which would be used eventually on another McCartney composition: "Mother Nature's Son").
Finally, the official takes begun and take 4 was used on the Apple 3-LP/2-CD "Anthology 3" project whose main difference from the commercial release is that the first verse is repeated. In the end, take 32 was chosen as the best take and McCartney double tracked his voice in some places. Six mono mixes were made and a temporary mix (the last one) was kept for almost four months until the official mono and stereo mixes were completed on October 13 1968. The sound effects were added during the October mixing sessions and the difference between the official mono and stereo mixes are the timings for the bird effects in the song (sooner in mono).
The take 4 version of the song can be heard on such CD bootlegs as "Unsurpassed Masters Vol. 4" and "The Peter Sellers Tape". Most of the rehearsal takes can be heard on the bootleg CD "Gone Tomorrow, Here Today" which is a Paul improvisation sung during the rehearsal sessions.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOMXDOJhzqU


Saturday, October 8, 2016

"Don't Pass Me By" Alternate Commercial Mix

Although there are no real outtakes available for the Ringo song from the "White Album", "Don't Pass Me By" has seen a different mix released on the commercially available Apple 3-LP/2-CD "Anthology 3" project as well as a short snippet of dialogue and a few seconds of music on the Anthology DVD.
The snippet consists of the finality of take 3 with cymbals crashes from Ringo while Paul plays some piano. The dialogue that follows this is basically Paul saying "I Think that's got it!" while Ringo says "I think we've got something there, George" (probably referring to George Martin). The piano was treated to some generous leslie speaker manipulation.
The available mix from the LP/CD uses a vocal overdub from Ringo onto take 5 but uses the original take 3 backing of Paul's piano, drums and overdubbed percussion. All this is in glorious stereo. Some extra vocal lines are intact on the mix; some of which would be removed on the "White Album" mix including some spoken word.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqBDFXcEoYA