The Strawberry Fields Forever/Penny Lane US Single artwork
The Beatles’ decision to tour no longer in 1966 meant that they had a lot more freedom to experiment and explore with their music and the ways in which they created it, because their music would no longer need to be replicable on stage (and even if it were not, the fans would be screaming too loudly for anyone to notice regardless).
While this was a development that would be evident in the album’s sound months later, the recording of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band had a rather slow start.
While this was a development that would be evident in the album’s sound months later, the recording of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band had a rather slow start.
Strawberry Fields Forever
Like many Beatles albums, the writing process began with a song by John Lennon, however unlike any songs before it, Strawberry Fields Forever was the end result of a long recording process where the song had to be entirely re-recorded.
It was one of the first times George Harrison had used a slide within his guitar playing, hence the prominence of the smooth pitch transitions in the guitar in the song. Meanwhile Starr was experimenting with draping towels over his drum kit to create a unique muffled sound for the song, which is a technique not dissimilar to the use of dampening pads on drum kits in today’s music.
However, after the band had concluded recording Lennon’s number to begin McCartney’s classic When I’m Sixty-Four, Lennon decided that he was no longer happy with his song, he thought that it didn’t sound “heavy” enough.
So in December, the band (along with producer George Martin and junior sound engineer Geoff Emerick) endured marathon recording sessions involving George Harrison’s use of the Indian svarmandal and Emerick’s experimenting with backmasking (A technique first used by the band on their previous album, Revolver which involves recording a sound or instrument on to a tape playing in reverse, so that when the tape is played forwards, the sound or instrument is then played in reverse. George Harrison famously used this method of recording for the guitar pieces on I’m Only Sleeping, and the band’s use of backmasking has made it a popular technique used by bands such as Queen and Pink Floyd – backmasking is still used today).
Upon finishing the second recording of the song, Lennon was still unsatisfied with Strawberry Fields Forever, and wanted the two recordings of the song to be joined together, apparently not understanding the problems this request presented for Martin and Emerick - after all, the songs had been played using vastly different arrangements, and at different keys and tempos. While a computer nowadays could swiftly address these issues, in 1966 it meant that Emerick had to manually slow down the first song and speed up the second, to match the tempo and pitch of both. It was the pairing of both recordings that created the thick and psychedelic sound in Lennon’s vocals, and it is what makes Strawberry Fields Forever so interesting.
This section is based on the information included in reference 1 of my bibliography.
It was one of the first times George Harrison had used a slide within his guitar playing, hence the prominence of the smooth pitch transitions in the guitar in the song. Meanwhile Starr was experimenting with draping towels over his drum kit to create a unique muffled sound for the song, which is a technique not dissimilar to the use of dampening pads on drum kits in today’s music.
However, after the band had concluded recording Lennon’s number to begin McCartney’s classic When I’m Sixty-Four, Lennon decided that he was no longer happy with his song, he thought that it didn’t sound “heavy” enough.
So in December, the band (along with producer George Martin and junior sound engineer Geoff Emerick) endured marathon recording sessions involving George Harrison’s use of the Indian svarmandal and Emerick’s experimenting with backmasking (A technique first used by the band on their previous album, Revolver which involves recording a sound or instrument on to a tape playing in reverse, so that when the tape is played forwards, the sound or instrument is then played in reverse. George Harrison famously used this method of recording for the guitar pieces on I’m Only Sleeping, and the band’s use of backmasking has made it a popular technique used by bands such as Queen and Pink Floyd – backmasking is still used today).
Upon finishing the second recording of the song, Lennon was still unsatisfied with Strawberry Fields Forever, and wanted the two recordings of the song to be joined together, apparently not understanding the problems this request presented for Martin and Emerick - after all, the songs had been played using vastly different arrangements, and at different keys and tempos. While a computer nowadays could swiftly address these issues, in 1966 it meant that Emerick had to manually slow down the first song and speed up the second, to match the tempo and pitch of both. It was the pairing of both recordings that created the thick and psychedelic sound in Lennon’s vocals, and it is what makes Strawberry Fields Forever so interesting.
This section is based on the information included in reference 1 of my bibliography.
Penny Lane
The recording of Penny Lane began in November 1966 with McCartney recording six takes of the song’s piano. The piano was recorded by routing the microphone signals through a guitar amp, which featured varispeed effects in the final mix.
The song features a piccolo trumpet solo, played by David Mason, the take of his recording was chosen by Geoff Emerick, who was again acting as sound engineer for the recording.
This section uses information included in references 8-10 of my bibliography.
The song features a piccolo trumpet solo, played by David Mason, the take of his recording was chosen by Geoff Emerick, who was again acting as sound engineer for the recording.
This section uses information included in references 8-10 of my bibliography.