Ascot Sound Studios
Producers: John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Phil Spector
Engineer: Ken Scott
The second recording session for John Lennon’s second solo album Imagine took place on 16 February 1971.
The main album sessions were held at Ascot Sound Studios, Lennon’s recording studio at his Tittenhurst Park home.
Twenty-one takes of ‘I Don’t Want To Be A Soldier’ were recorded. The song started off with a reggae beat, which lessened as the session progressed.
The multitrack tape had Klaus Voormann’s bass guitar on track 1; Jim Gordon’s drums on 2; Lennon’s electric guitar on 3; saxophone by Bobby Keys on 4; percussion by Jim Keltner on 5; an echo track on 7; and Lennon’s vocals on 8. Track 6 was left blank.
More takes of ‘I Don’t Want To Be A Soldier’, including the album master, were recorded on 24 May, with overdubs following on 4 and 5 July in New York City.
Towards the end of the session, Lennon and the other musicians recorded 11 takes of ‘Well (Baby Please Don’t Go)’, a 1958 song by The Olympics that he had sung at the Cavern Club during The Beatles’ early days. He had previously attempted the song on 11 February.
Take 6 from this session was chosen as the best, but the song was ultimately left off Imagine.