Beatles A Day in the Life Blog posts of '1969' 'August'

Paul McCartney changes the name of his company from Adagrose Ltd. to McCartney Productions Ltd. (MPL).

Meanwhile, the studio session for the Abbey Road album was in the full edit stage. Between 1pm and 2pm, balance engineer Phil McDonald edited the orchestral overdub for The End. He began by making a copy of the tape, before editing the passage then reinserting it back into the multitrack tape.

Then in the control room of Studio Two from 2.30pm until midnight, the final attempt at a crossfade from You Never Give Me Your Money into Sun King/Mean Mr Mustard was made. Paul McCartney had prepared tape loops for this purpose on 5 August 1969, and an early version of the crossfade had been made on 14 August. On this day it was completed in a single attempt, which was known as stereo crossfade remix 12.

The date was August 20, 1969. The Beatles were recording what was to be their final album, Abbey Road. The date is important (and historic), although the boys probably had no idea of its significance.

August 20, 1969, was the last time the four Beatles were together in the recording studio.

They were recording the final over-dubs of John's song "I Want You (She's So Heavy)," a stark, raw love song written by John. The band's final session was spent working on a fervent love song to Yoko Ono.

The Beatles in the recording studio (Studio Two, EMI Studios, London). A synthesizer overdub for Here Comes the Sun is recorded.

The Beatles in the recording studio (Studio Two, EMI Studios, London). Paul McCartney records a piano overdub for The End. The Beatles Anthology 3 includes a remix of The End that includes many of the overdubs that were edited out of the final Abbey Road version (Disc two, Track 23).

Mary Hopkin's had two hit Apple singles, Those Were The Days and Goodbye. Paul McCartney wanted to produce her second album after the completion of The Beatles' Get Back album, but plans were far behind because the group began recording Abbey Road.

McCartney eventually selected the Doris Day classic Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be), a choice which Hopkin didn't care for. However, she agreed to record it, with the folkier The Fields Of St Etienne on the b-side. Both songs were recorded at EMI Studios in between sessions for the Abbey Road album.

The Beatles are taking a break today.

Today there were five Abbey Road Songs  - Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight, The End, Something and Here Comes The Sun. Orchestral overdubs were added and although the 30-piece orchestra was stationed in Studio One, the sound recording was overseen in Studio Two. The engineers and tape operators monitored proceedings via closed-circuit television, which gave a visual link between the two studios for the first time.

The first overdub was for Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight, which was added to track eight of the tape. The recording was doubled via artificial double-tracking during a later mixing session. The End was next but his was not the song's final overdub. Paul McCartney added an extra piano part towards the song's end during a session three days later.

While George Martin was conducting the orchestra in Studio One, George Harrison was in Studio Two simultaneously recording a new guitar part for Something. The final song was Harrison's Here Comes The Sun, the score for which required just 17 musicians. The song's recording was completed on 19 August 1969 with a Moog overdub.

The orchestral players were as follows: Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight and The End: 12 violins, four violas, four cellos, string bass, four horns, three trumpets, trombone, bass trombone. Something: 12 violins, four violas, four cellos, string bass.
Here Comes The Sun: four violas, four cellos, string bass, two clarinets, two alto flutes, two flutes, two piccolos.

Today, a 12-hour session took place for the mixing and editing of various Abbey Road songs in the control room of Abbey Road's Studio Two from 2.30pm-2.30am.

Five stereo mixes were made of Sun King-Mean Mr. Mustard and were numbered mixes 20-24. Maxwell's Silver Hammer's final verse was then mixed in stereo.

Thirteen mixes of Polythene Pam/She Came In Through The Bathroom Window were the next to be made.

The crossfade from You Never Give Me Your Money into Sun King/Mean Mr Mustard was attempted 11 times on this day, which used tape loops assembled by Paul McCartney on 5 August 1969. It was, however, improved on 21 August in a single attempt, which became stereo crossfade mix 12.

During the session John Lennon gave an interview to BBC Radio 1's Kenny Everett for the show Everett Is Here. The interview was broadcast in two parts on 20 and 27 September 1969.

The day ended with the aforementioned edit of two mixes of Maxwell's Silver Hammer, followed by editing of Sun King/Mean Mr Mustard onto Polythene Pam/She Came In Through The Bathroom Window. By 2.30am around half of the Abbey Road medley was complete, with final work on the other songs taking place in the coming days.

Today in Abbey Road Studio's the mixing session for You Never Give Me Your Money was completed from 2.30-9.15pm.

Eight stereo mixes of the song were made on this day, and were numbered 20-27. Take 23 was chosen as the best, and the first attempt at a crossfade into Sun King/Mean Mr Mustard took place the following day, 14 August 1969.

Three Abbey Road songs were mixed in stereo today including Oh! Darling which was the first in the session. Five mixes, numbered 5-9, were made. Next up was Because, which needed just two mixes to complete.

Maxwell's Silver Hammer was the third song made, numbered 27-36, following earlier efforts made on 6 August 1969.

Take 34 was chosen as the best for the time being, although it was subsequently combined with a remix, number 37, of the final verse only. That work took place two days later on 14 August.