The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions
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''The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions'' (subtitled ''The Official Story of the Abbey Road Years 1962–1970'') is a
reference book A reference work is a work, such as a paper, book or periodical (or their electronic equivalents), to which one can refer for information. The information is intended to be found quickly when needed. Such works are usually ''referred'' to f ...
on the English rock band
the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
compiled by author
Mark Lewisohn Mark Lewisohn (born 16 June 1958) is an English historian and biographer. Since the 1980s, he has written many reference books about the Beatles and has worked for EMI, MPL Communications and Apple Corps.
. Hamlyn published it in the UK in 1988 and
Harmony Books Harmony Books is an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, itself part of publisher Penguin Random House. It was founded by Bruce Harris, a Crown executive, in 1972. The imprint has been used for such books as: *Jill Freedman, ''Circus Days'' ( ...
published it in the US. The book is written in the form of a diary, documenting each day from 1962 through 1970 that the Beatles spent in a recording session or producers and engineers spent mixing and editing their music. The book has been widely described as an "essential" reference book for study of the band.


Background

In the early 1980s,
EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...
balance engineer John Barrett found himself unoccupied while undergoing
chemotherapy Chemotherapy (often abbreviated to chemo and sometimes CTX or CTx) is a type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) as part of a standardized chemotherapy regimen. Chemotherap ...
..
Ken Townsend Ken Townsend MBE, is an English sound engineer who played an important role at Abbey Road Studios. He worked on several Beatles albums, such as ''Rubber Soul'', ''Revolver'' and ''Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band''. In 1966 he invented ar ...
, the General Manager of
Abbey Road Studios Abbey Road Studios (formerly EMI Recording Studios) is a recording studio at 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London, England. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of British music c ...
, later recalled suggesting Barrett keep his mind engaged by listening to
the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
' session tapes and write down information pertaining to them. Author Stephen Matteo alternatively suggests Barrett's work was intended to gather interesting unreleased material for '' The Beatles at Abbey Road'', a 1983 multimedia presentation at Abbey Road Studios. Barrett produced a colour-coded catalogue, which Townsend later said displayed an "incredible" attention to detail. In 1982, while attending
Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
's annual Beatles convention, Townsend, Barrett and author Brian Southall used Barrett's work during a Q&A session. Attendees were enthusiastic about the new information and suggested the catalogue be published, but Barrett's death in 1984 precluded it. The project was nearly abandoned until Abbey Road employee Kathryn Varley pushed for its completion.
Mark Lewisohn Mark Lewisohn (born 16 June 1958) is an English historian and biographer. Since the 1980s, he has written many reference books about the Beatles and has worked for EMI, MPL Communications and Apple Corps.
began formally researching the Beatles in the late 1970s, working as a research assistant for Philip Norman's book '' Shout!'' (1981). In 1986, Lewisohn published his first reference book, ''The Beatles Live!'', a chronological guide of the group's live performances. The book took years to research and compiles over 1,000 primary sources to provide an exhaustive guide. Because of his work compiling ''The Beatles Live!'', EMI commissioned Lewisohn in 1987 to continue Barrett's work and write a book detailing the Beatles' recording sessions. Besides Abbey Road Studios staffers and the Beatles, Lewisohn was the first person granted access to listen to all of the Beatles' working tapes, a privilege not extended again until 1995 for writer
Mark Hertsgaard Mark Hertsgaard (born 1956) is an American journalist and the co-founder and executive director of Covering Climate Now. He is the environment correspondent for ''The Nation'', and the author of seven non-fiction books, including ''Earth Odyssey ...
. Working from 1987 through 1988, the book took two years to research and write. Lewisohn consulted the studio's recording paperwork, reproducing some of it in the book, and interviewed eighty people who were present at the sessions, including the Beatles' producer
George Martin Sir George Henry Martin (3 January 1926 – 8 March 2016) was an English record producer, arranger, composer, conductor, and musician. He was commonly referred to as the "Fifth Beatle" because of his extensive involvement in each of the B ...
, publicist
Derek Taylor Derek Taylor (7 May 1932 – 8 September 1997) was an English journalist, writer, publicist and record producer. He is best known for his role as press officer to the Beatles, with whom he worked in 1964 and then from 1968 to 1970, and was one ...
and
engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...
Geoff Emerick Geoffrey Ernest Emerick (5 December 1945 – 2 October 2018) was an English sound engineer and record producer who worked with the Beatles on their albums '' Revolver'' (1966), '' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'' (1967) and ''Abbey Road ...
. Besides Barrett's previous research, the collection of Beatles recordings stored at Abbey Road Studios had never been properly archived. Listening to over four hundred hours of tapes, Lewisohn's working process served the dual purpose of both researching the book as well as organising the collection, cataloguing its various mixes, submixes, mastertakes and outtakes.


Publication and content

Hamlyn published ''The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions'' in the UK in 1988.
Harmony Books Harmony Books is an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, itself part of publisher Penguin Random House. It was founded by Bruce Harris, a Crown executive, in 1972. The imprint has been used for such books as: *Jill Freedman, ''Circus Days'' ( ...
published it the same year in the US, re-titled as ''The Beatles Recording Sessions''. A book launch was held in October 1988 at Abbey Road Studios, with
wax figures A wax sculpture is a depiction made using a waxy substance. Often these are effigies, usually of a notable individual, but there are also death masks and scenes with many figures, mostly in relief. The properties of beeswax make it an excell ...
of the Beatles temporarily moved to the studio from London's
Madame Tussauds Madame Tussauds (, ) is a wax museum founded in 1835 by French wax sculptor Marie Tussaud in London, spawning similar museums in major cities around the world. While it used to be spelled as "Madame Tussaud's"; the apostrophe is no longer us ...
wax museum for the event. Spanning 204 pages, most of ''The Complete Beatles Recording Session'' is written in the form of a diary detailing each day either the Beatles spent in a recording session or producers and engineers spent mixing and editing their music. The diary begins with the band's first recording session at
EMI Recording Studios Abbey Road Studios (formerly EMI Recording Studios) is a recording studio at 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London, England. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of British music c ...
on 6 June 1962, while drummer
Pete Best Randolph Peter Best (né Scanland; born 24 November 1941) is an English musician known as the drummer of the English rock band the Beatles who was dismissed immediately prior to the band achieving worldwide fame. Fired from the group in 1962 ...
was still in the band, and finishes on 8 May 1970 with the release of the album ''
Let It Be Let It Be most commonly refers to: * ''Let It Be'' (Beatles album), the Beatles' final studio album, released in 1970 * "Let It Be" (Beatles song), the title song from the album It may also refer to: Film and television * ''Let It Be'' (1970 ...
''.. The book includes a one-page preface by Ken Townsend and a ten-page interview between Lewisohn and
Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...
.; . Each entry first notes the date; the studio location, usually EMI or
Apple Studios Apple Studios is an American film and television production company and a distributor that is a subsidiary of Apple Inc. It specializes in developing and producing television series and films for Apple's digital video streaming service Apple TV ...
; the session time; the songs recorded or mixed, including the number of takes; and the names of the producer and engineers involved. Lewisohn then writes about the details of the particular session, such as
overdubbing Overdubbing (also known as layering) is a technique used in audio recording in which audio tracks that have been pre-recorded are then played back and monitored, while simultaneously recording new, doubled, or augmented tracks onto one or more av ...
, false starts and studio chatter, as well as information about
session musician Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a ...
s, orchestration and any other related information. He discusses the fate of various session tapes, the differences between
mono Mono may refer to: Common meanings * Infectious mononucleosis, "the kissing disease" * Monaural, monophonic sound reproduction, often shortened to mono * Mono-, a numerical prefix representing anything single Music Performers * Mono (Japanese b ...
and
stereo Stereophonic sound, or more commonly stereo, is a method of sound reproduction that recreates a multi-directional, 3-dimensional audible perspective. This is usually achieved by using two independent audio channels through a configuration ...
mixes and the technical advancements first pioneered on the Beatles' recordings. UK release dates of singles, albums and EPs are also mentioned, discussing their chart success and sales numbers. Following the diary entries, the book includes a complete
discography Discography is the study and cataloging of published sound recordings, often by specified artists or within identified music genres. The exact information included varies depending on the type and scope of the discography, but a discography entry ...
of all the Beatles' UK and US releases, including singles, EPs and albums.. It concludes with a glossary of recording industry terms and a note from Townsend on the recording technology used by the band.; .


Impact and legacy

The book has been widely described as an "essential" Beatles reference book, required reading for anyone attempting a serious study of the band. In Michael Brocken and Melissa Davis's guide to Beatles literature, ''The Beatles Bibliography'', they describe it as "one of the cornerstones of Beatles scholarship", and authors Stuart Shea and Robert Rodriguez characterise it as " ssibly the most important Beatles book ever published", writing it was a "landmark" by providing the general public with so much previously unknown information. Later writers have relied heavily on the book's research, such as
Ian MacDonald Ian MacCormick (known by the pseudonym Ian MacDonald; 3 October 1948 – 20 August 2003) was a British music critic and author, best known for both ''Revolution in the Head'', his critical history of the Beatles which borrowed techniques from a ...
and Mark Hertsgaard, who each described it as being indispensable for the research of their own books, ''
Revolution in the Head ''Revolution in the Head: The Beatles' Records and the Sixties'' is a book by British music critic and author Ian MacDonald, discussing the music of the Beatles and the band's relationship to the social and cultural changes of the 1960s. The fir ...
'' (1994) and ''A Day in the Life'' (1995), respectively. Hertsgaard further writes it is "superb, but superb in the way an encyclopedia is superb", contending that it provides much more than the typical reader would expect, leaving a book that "focuses more on the trees than on the forest". Critic Tim Riley writes the book is "indispensable for close listening", and concludes its research is "invaluable but not imperfect". He criticises Lewisohn for writing more like a fan than a critic, with his descriptions reliant on adjectives like "brilliant" rather than evaluating a recording's "color, texture and mood". Colin Fleming of ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'' magazine similarly finds Lewisohn's descriptions of songs lacking, while still retaining an ability to make the listener feel engrossed in the particular recording session. Writing for ''
Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...
'' in 2018,
Stephen Thomas Erlewine Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance writer, occ ...
also finds the book absorbing in its narrative of particular sessions. Author Chris Ingham writes that the book is useful for researchers while also being an easy read due to "Lewisohn's neutrally enthusiastic tone". The book was one of the first to document a band or artist through their recording sessions. Similar books covering
Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...
,
Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...
and
Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...
were written following its release. In the introduction to his 1995 book on Dylan's recording sessions,
Clinton Heylin Clinton Heylin (born 8 April 1960) is an English author who has written extensively about popular music and the work of Bob Dylan. Education Heylin attended Manchester Grammar School. He read history at Bedford College, University of London, ...
acknowledges that Lewisohn's book remains "perhaps the best-known 'sessionography. David Hunter of the
University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...
describes the book as a "bio-discography" – a
portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsbiography A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or ...
and discography – illustrating the Beatles' progression and story through study of their recorded music. He writes that it serves as "the standard by which all bio-discographies will be measured". Lewisohn's 1992 book, ''The Complete Beatles Chronicle'', combines the work of ''The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions'' with ''The Beatles Live!'' to provide an exhaustive day-by-day account of the group.


Notes


References

Secondary sources Citations to ''The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions''


Bibliography

Books * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Journal, magazine and newspaper articles * * * * * * * *


External links

UK edition * * ''The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions''at
Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google Inc. that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical c ...
US edition * * ''The Beatles Recording Sessions''at
Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google Inc. that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical c ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Complete Beatles Recording Sessions, The 1988 non-fiction books Books about the Beatles English non-fiction books