Phil O'Keefe Posted June 5, 2012 Share Posted June 5, 2012 ...the Beatles walked into 3 Abbey Road and started changing history. Their initial session on 6 June 1962 was at least in part an audition - George Martin and Norman Smith discussed whether or not they even liked the band... but in the end, the guys from Liverpool won them over. The songs they tracked in Studio 2 that day? Besame MuchoLove Me DoAsk Me WhyPS I Love You Only copies of Love Me Do and Besame Mucho are known to still exist today. Another interesting side note: Ringo was not on the 6 June 62 sessions - original Beatles drummer Pete Best was. Ringo didn't make his first appearance at Abbey Road as a Beatle until September... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members beatpoet Posted June 6, 2012 Members Share Posted June 6, 2012 ...and Ringo got replaced for his first session Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted June 7, 2012 Members Share Posted June 7, 2012 I remember feeling old (or at least thinking The Beatles were) when Capitol first released the Sgt Pepper's CD "Twenty Years Ago Today".... That was 25 years ago.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted June 7, 2012 Author Share Posted June 7, 2012 "20 years ago today..." would have been June 2, 1987 - or June 1, 1987 if you're in the UK - they got Sgt Pepper a day earlier than we did in the USA. And yes, also I remember when '87 seemed like it was far in the future instead of the past. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted June 7, 2012 Author Share Posted June 7, 2012 "20 years ago today..." would have been June 2, 1987 - or June 1, 1987 if you're in the UK - they got Sgt Pepper a day earlier than we did in the USA. And yes, also I remember when '87 seemed like it was far in the future instead of the past. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Flogger59 Posted June 7, 2012 Members Share Posted June 7, 2012 Double dose Phil today. June 7, 1962, the final nail in Best's coffin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted June 7, 2012 Members Share Posted June 7, 2012 "20 years ago today..." would have been June 2, 1987 - or June 1, 1987 if you're in the UK - they got Sgt Pepper a day earlier than we did in the USA. And yes, also I remember when '87 seemed like it was far in the future instead of the past. Yep. Crazy to think how much different "twenty years" feels musically now compared to how it did back then. The difference in the musical landscape between 1967 and 1987 was huge. When you think of all the artists and styles that had come and gone during that period. Also to think how far The Beatles themselves grew in the 5 year period between June 1962 and June 1967---from four bar band kids trying to get a record deal by recording a few raw originals and a cover of "Besame Mucho" and the guys who created Sgt. Pepper's. Wow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted June 8, 2012 Author Share Posted June 8, 2012 Also to think how far The Beatles themselves grew in the 5 year period between June 1962 and June 1967---from four bar band kids trying to get a record deal by recording a few raw originals and a cover of "Besame Mucho" and the guys who created Sgt. Pepper's. Wow. Wow indeed. :phil: The technological transformation that occurred over those years was also notable... going from BTR tape decks and mono in their early days, up through stereo only eight track production on their final album. While the UK lagged behind the US in track counts (both Les Paul and Tom Dowd at Atlantic Records had eight track machines by the late 1950s, and Abbey Road didn't get theirs going until '68), the tech chops and resources at Abbey Road's disposal were vast, and things really changed dramatically over the course of the 60s and 70s in terms of the tools available and how they were utilized - the production methods. We're all lucky really in that such a talented band had access to such a capable and creative group of technicians, producers and engineers. Not to mention some of the finest studio musicians in the world supporting them, a great sounding acoustical environment to record in, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Flogger59 Posted June 8, 2012 Members Share Posted June 8, 2012 Well put, Phil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted June 8, 2012 Members Share Posted June 8, 2012 Yep. A great book, on the off chance anyone here hasn't read it, is George Martin's book on the recording of Sgt. Pepper's. That album having been recorded using two 4-track machines has to stand as one of the greatest achievements in recording history. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members beatpoet Posted June 9, 2012 Members Share Posted June 9, 2012 The other amazing thing about the Beatles is that if you take their seven year functioning/record-releasing career (62-69), you can see within those seven years a change that usually occurs to most bands over twenty or more years. They obviously went through the mill, but it's hard to believe there were only two years between Beatlemania and Revolver, or two/three years between Revolver and "late career" White Album/Abbey Road/Let It Be. George was still only 26 when they fell apart! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted June 9, 2012 Members Share Posted June 9, 2012 The other amazing thing about the Beatles is that if you take their seven year functioning/record-releasing career (62-69), you can see within those seven years a change that usually occurs to most bands over twenty or more years. It took Boston ten years to record/release three albums that sound exactly the same. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted June 9, 2012 Author Share Posted June 9, 2012 It took Boston ten years to record/release three albums that sound exactly the same. True Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members onelife Posted June 13, 2012 Members Share Posted June 13, 2012 That was 15 year old Geoff Emerick's second day at EMI and he got to observe the initial Beatles recording session so, in essence, he was there from the beginning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted June 14, 2012 Author Share Posted June 14, 2012 That was 15 year old Geoff Emerick's second day at EMI and he got to observe the initial Beatles recording session so, in essence, he was there from the beginning. I had forgotten about that. Yeah, Geoff first worked as a second (assistant) engineer with Norman Smith (the main Beatles engineer from their first session all the way through Rubber Soul), then later was promoted to mastering engineer, and eventually balance engineer. While he first took the Balance (first) Engineer's chair on a Beatles session on the song Tomorrow Never Knows, it wasn't his first Beatles session by any stretch of the imagination. Nor was it his first session in the First Engineer's chair - he'd already been doing sessions as the balance engineer with artists like Cilla Black and Manfred Mann. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members onelife Posted June 14, 2012 Members Share Posted June 14, 2012 "Balance Engineer" - I like that. I guess that was the name for the person who did the mix before it went to tape. They would only have one chance to get it right or everyone would have to play their parts again. A little bit unnerving at times I'll bet. I think we are fortunate that so much effort and expertise went into making the Beatles records since they will be listened to for a long time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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