Recording: Intuition, Only People, Bring On The Lucie (Freeda Peeple) by John Lennon

The second recording session for John Lennon’s fourth solo album Mind Games took place on 2 August 1973.

The album sessions took place at New York’s Record Plant studio. The musicians for the basic backing tracks were Lennon, David Spinozza (guitar), Ken Ascher (piano, organ), Gordon Edwards (bass guitar), and Jim Keltner (drums, percussion).

The first song recorded on this day was ‘Intuition’. Six tape reels were used. The first contained four takes, the first two of which were incomplete. At that stage the song was still being rehearsed, and various arrangements were tried. The takes featured vocals and Clavinet (Lennon), electric guitar (David Spinozza), electric piano (Ken Ascher), bass guitar (Gordon Edwards), and drums (Jim Keltner).

Reel 2 featured five takes numbered 5-9. They featured Ascher playing electric and acoustic piano at the same time. The third reel contained takes 10-12, the first of which was incomplete. For take 12 the musicians played the song twice; the second was included in the expanded 2024 reissue of Mind Games.

Reel 4 had seven takes, numbered 13-19. Only takes 13 and 18 were complete, and take 15 was mostly instrumental. The fifth reel had takes 20-22. Takes 20 and 21 were complete, and the second of these became the master version. An extended version of the take is also on the 2024 reissue.

The final tape reel contained takes 23-26, all of which were false starts or incomplete. They were followed by a jammed version of ‘Only People’, followed by take 1 of ‘Bring On The Lucie (Freeda Peeple)’.

Five tape reels were used for ‘Bring On The Lucie’. Reel 1 contained three takes, although the first two were false starts. Take 3 was complete, although mainly a rehearsal, and featured vocals, electric slide guitar, organ, bass guitar, and drums.

Reel 2 contained a further four takes, numbered 4-7. All but take 6 were complete.

Four more takes, numbered 8-11, were recorded onto the third reel. Take 8 was incomplete as the band started playing before recording began. Lennon took over from David Spinozza on slide guitar from take 11.

Reel 4 had two more takes, numbered 12 and 13, although the first was incomplete. It was then decided to leave the song for another day, and it was picked up again on 5 August.

The Mind Games recording sessions continued until 20 August, after which the songs were mixed and edited.