Studio Three, EMI Studios, Abbey Road
Producer: George Martin
Engineer: Geoff Emerick
Eleven mono mixes of songs recorded for Revolver were made on this day, although none were used on the album. The Beatles also recorded the backing track of John Lennon’s song ‘I’m Only Sleeping’.
There were two scheduled sessions. The first began at 6pm and finished at 11.30pm, and took place in the control room of Abbey Road’s Studio Three. Mono mixes of ‘Taxman’ and ‘And Your Bird Can Sing’, one apiece, were made, along with nine of ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’.
The second session was in Studio Three itself, and took place from 11.30pm-3am. Eleven takes of ‘I’m Only Sleeping’ were recorded, with the final one becoming the basis for the album track. They were performed in E minor, but the tape machine was running fast so it sounded slower and a semitone lower on playback. At this stage it featured John Lennon on a Gibson Jumbo acoustic guitar, Paul McCartney on Rickenbacker bass, and Ringo Starr on drums.
The Beatles attempted a remake two days later, recording five takes, but these were abandoned and the group used take 11 from this day instead.
Out of interest, what’s the source for the Anthology 2 rehearsal of “I’m Only Sleeping” being recorded this day? According to the liner notes, it was recorded on 29 April.
Sorry, I think that was an error. I wrote these pages some years ago! I’ve amended the 27 and 29 April entries which should now (hopefully) be correct.
Good morning from Catalunya. The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions indicate that takes 1 to 11 were on April 27.
According to Robert Rodriguez and John C. Winn, the basic track actually had two acoustic guitars, bass and drums, so George obviously was playing one acoustic and John played the other. I have seen photographs taken at the session and the other Gibson J-160E is leaning against the amplifier while John has his strapped on.