The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions

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For information on the recording sessions themselves, see The Beatles' recording sessions.

The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions
Cover of the book
Cover of the UK edition
AuthorMark Lewisohn
LanguageEnglish
SubjectThe Beatles
Publisher
Publication date
1988
Media typePrint
Pages204
ISBN0-600-55798-7

The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions (released in the US as The Beatles Recording Sessions: The Official Abbey Road Studio Session Notes, 1962–1970) is a Beatles reference book compiled by Beatles historian Mark Lewisohn. Hamlyn published it in the UK in 1988 while Harmony Books 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 balance engineer John Barrett found himself unoccupied while undergoing chemotherapy. Ken Townsend, the General Manager of Abbey Road, suggested that to keep his mind engaged he could listen to the Beatles' tapes and write down information pertaining to them. Barrett produced a color coded catalogue, Townsend describing its attention to detail as "quite incredible". Attending Liverpool's annual Beatles convention in 1982, Townsend, Barrett and author Brian Southall used the catalogue during a Q&A session. Attendees enthusiastic about the new information suggested a book be published, but Barrett's death in 1984 precluded this; the project was nearly abandoned until Abbey Road employee Kathryn Varley pushed for its completion.[S 1]

Mark Lewisohn began his work in Beatles research in the late 1970s, working as a research assistant for Philip Norman's 1981 book Shout!: The Beatles in Their Generation.[1] In 1986, Lewisohn published his first reference book, The Beatles Live!, a chronological guide of the group's live performances.[2] The book took years to research, compiling over 1,000 primary sources to provide an exhaustive guide.[1]

I was able to sit in a control room at the studio where the Beatles worked, doing my own mixes and isolating tracks, and I can honestly say I was surprised by everything I heard. The Beatles were brilliant in the studio. Their sheer industry was amazing.[3]

– Mark Lewisohn on researching for the book, 1988

EMI commissioned Mark Lewisohn in 1987 to carry on Barrett's work and write a book detailing the Beatles' recording sessions.[4] Working from 1987 through 1988, the book took two years to research and write.[3] Besides Barrett's previous research, the collection of Beatles recordings stored at Abbey Road Studios had never been properly archived.[4] Listening to over four hundred hours of tapes,[5] Lewisohn's working process served the dual purpose of both researching the book as well as organizing the collection, cataloguing its various mixes, submixes, mastertakes and outtakes.[4] 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 writer Mark Hertsgaard was allowed in twice in 1995.[6] He consulted the studio's recording paperwork, reproducing much of it in the book, and interviewed eighty people who were present at the sessions.[3] Those interviewed include the Beatles' producer George Martin, their publicist Derek Taylor and engineer Geoff Emerick.[7]

Content[]

Spanning 204 pages, most of The Complete Beatles Recording Session is written in the form of a diary detailing each day either the English rock band the Beatles spent in a recording session or producers and engineers spent mixing and editing their music.[8] The diary starts with the band's first recording session at EMI Recording Studios on 6 June 1962 with drummer Pete Best still in the band and finishes on 8 May 1970 with the release of the album Let It Be.[S 2] The book opens with a one-page preface by Abbey Road Studios General Manager Ken Townsend and a ten-page interview between Lewisohn and Paul McCartney.[S 3]

Each entry first notes the date; the studio location, usually EMI or Apple Studios; 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, false starts and studio chatter, as well as information about session musicians, orchestration and any other related miscellaneous information.[8] He discusses the fate of various session tapes, the differences between mono and stereo mixes and the technical advancements first pioneered on the Beatles' recordings.[9] UK release dates of singles, albums and EPs are also mentioned, discussing their chart success and sales numbers.[8][note 1]

Following the diary entries, the book includes a complete discography of all the Beatles' UK and US releases,[8] including singles, EPs and albums.[S 6] It concludes with a glossary of recording industry terms and a note from Townsend on the recording technology used by the band.[8]

Publication and reception[]

Hamlyn published the book in the UK in 1988, while Harmony Books released it in the US in 1988 under the title, The Beatles Recording Sessions: The Official Abbey Road Studio Session Notes, 1962–1970.[10]

Lewisohn's 1992 book, The Complete Beatles Chronicle, combines the work of The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions and The Beatles Live! to provide an exhaustive day-by-day account of the group.[11]

Impact and legacy[]

The book has been widely described as an "essential" Beatles reference book,[12] required reading for anyone attempting a serious study of the band.[13] Later writers have relied heavily on the book's research.[14] In his 1994 book, Revolution in the Head, Ian MacDonald calls it "indispensable".[15] Hertsgaard writes that were it not for "the foundation of archival material provided in Recording Sessions", he would not have been able to write his own 1995 book, A Day in the Life,[16] In their guide to Beatles literature, The Beatles Bibliography, Michael Brocken and Melissa Davis describe it as "one of the cornerstones of Beatles scholarship"[17]

David Hunter of the University of Texas at Austin describes the book as a "bio-discography" – a portmanteau of biography 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".[8] The book was one of the first to document a band or artist's recording sessions, with similar books covering Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix following its release.[18][note 2]

Some writers have still found shortcomings in the book. Hertsgaard writes it is "superb, but superb in the way an encyclopedia is superb". He contends that it provides much more than the typical reader would expecting, leaving a book that "focuses more on the trees than on the forest".[19] Tim Riley writes its research is "invaluable but not imperfect".[20] In particular, he complains that Lewisohn is more a fan than a critic, with his descriptions relying on adjectives like "brilliant" instead of the recording's "color, texture and mood".[20] Nonetheless, he describes the book's notes on session players as invaluable and calls the book "indispensable for close listening".[21]

Notes[]

  1. ^ Most EPs released in the UK were made up of material that had already been released on earlier albums.[S 4] The book only discusses those EPs with previously unreleased material: Long Tall Sally and Magical Mystery Tour.[S 5]
  2. ^ See Jorgensen 1998, Heylin 1995 and McDermott 1995.

References[]

Secondary sources

  1. ^ a b Weber 2016, p. 157.
  2. ^ Weber 2016, pp. 157, 245.
  3. ^ a b c Kozinn 1988.
  4. ^ a b c Kimsey 2009, p. 231.
  5. ^ Hertsgaard 1995, p. 4.
  6. ^ Hertsgaard 1995, p. 324.
  7. ^ Weber 2016, p. 158.
  8. ^ a b c d e f Hunter 1990, p. 641.
  9. ^ Hunter 1990, pp. 641–642.
  10. ^ Hunter 1993, p. 35n43.
  11. ^ Weber 2016, pp. 157, 160.
  12. ^ Beller-McKenna 2003, p. 615; Hertsgaard 1995, p. 328; Kramer 2009, p. 68.
  13. ^ Beller-McKenna 2003, p. 615; Hertsgaard 1995, p. 328.
  14. ^ Kimsey 2009, pp. 231–232.
  15. ^ MacDonald 2007, p. 473, quoted in Weber 2016, p. 163.
  16. ^ Hertsgaard 1995, p. 328.
  17. ^ Brocken & Davis 2012, p. 289, quoted Weber 2016, p. 159.
  18. ^ Zak 2005, p. 98.
  19. ^ Hertsgaard 1995, p. 325.
  20. ^ a b Riley 2002, p. 393.
  21. ^ Riley 2002, p. 395.

Citations to the The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions

  1. ^ Townsend 1988, p. 4.
  2. ^ Lewisohn 1988, pp. 16–17, 199.
  3. ^ Lewisohn 1988, pp. 4–15.
  4. ^ Lewisohn 1988, p. 46.
  5. ^ Lewisohn 1988, pp. 46, 131.
  6. ^ Lewisohn 1988, pp. 200–201.

Bibliography[]

Books

  • Brocken, Michael; Davis, Melissa (2012). The Beatles Bibliography: A New Guide to the Literature. Manitou Springs: Beatle Works Ltd. ISBN 978-0-615-67065-2.
  • Hertsgaard, Mark (1995). A Day in the Life: The Music and Artistry of the Beatles. New York: Delacorte Press. ISBN 0-385-31377-2.
  • Heylin, Clinton (1995). Bob Dylan: The Recording Sessions, 1960–1994. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-13439-8.
  • Jorgensen, Ernst (1998). Elvis Presley: A Life in Music: The Complete Recording Sessions. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-18572-3.
  • Kimsey, John (2009). ""An abstraction, like Christmas": the Beatles for sale and for keeps". In Womack, Kenneth (ed.). The Cambridge Companion to the Beatles. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 230–254. ISBN 978-0-521-68976-2.
  • Kramer, Howard (2009). "Rock and roll music". In Womack, Kenneth (ed.). The Cambridge Companion to the Beatles. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 65–74. ISBN 978-0-521-68976-2.
  • Lewisohn, Mark (1988). The Complete Beatles Recording Session. London: Hamlyn. ISBN 978-0-600-63561-1.
  • MacDonald, Ian (2007). Revolution in the Head: The Beatles' Records and the Sixties (Third ed.). Chicago: Chicago Review Press. ISBN 978-1-55652-733-3.
  • McDermott, John (1995). Jimi Hendrix: The Complete Studio Recording Sessions 1963–1970. Little, Brown. ISBN 0-316-87666-6.
  • Riley, Tim (2002) [1998]. Tell Me Why: The Beatles: Album by Album, Song by Song, the Sixties and After (Revised and Updated ed.). Cambridge: Da Capo Press. ISBN 978-0-306-81120-3.
  • Townsend, Ken (1988). Preface. The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions. By Lewisohn, Mark. London: Hamlyn. p. 4. ISBN 978-0-600-63561-1.
  • Weber, Erin Torkelson (2016). The Beatles and the Historians: An Analysis of Writings about the Fab Four. Jefferson: McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-1-4766-2470-9.

Journal and newspaper articles

External links[]

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