Recording: Remember by John Lennon

Studio Three, EMI Studios, Abbey Road
Producer: John Lennon

John Lennon spent much of his 30th birthday in Studio Three of EMI Studios, Abbey Road, where he continued work on his debut solo album John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band. On this day he recorded the song ‘Remember’.

The session began at 2.30pm, and finished at 3.30am the following morning. Earlier in the day Lennon had had his final meeting with his father Alf, at Tittenhurst Park.

One of the outtakes from the session has Lennon singing “Happy birthday… to me…” to the tune of Remember, while Ringo Starr and Klaus Voormann performed the backing track.

During the day George Harrison arrived at the studio, arriving in his dark blue Ferrari. He presented Lennon with a plastic flower and the pair hugged each other.

George Harrison had a Ferrari, a 330 GTC, which was dark blue with a cream interior, and it was parked out the front of the studio. And stuck to his windscreen he had a little vase holder with a little plastic flower in it. He took it out, walked into Studio 3 and said, ‘Happy birthday, John.’ He gave him the plastic flower and they had a hug. Yoko had brought in this present for John, which was a sensory box. It was about twice the size of a shoebox, with lots of holes in it. You had to put your finger in – one hole would be warm and mushy, one would be wet, one would have a pin in it. John had such a ball with it.

#OTD 9OCT1970 George presents @johnlennon with #ItsJohnnysBirthday @AbbeyRoad for his 30th. http://t.co/wJmFMKhXb2 pic.twitter.com/1bsr1YMVi3

— George Harrison (@GeorgeHarrison) October 9, 2014