Recording: One Day At A Time, Aisumasen (I’m Sorry), Bring On The Lucie (Freeda Peeple), Tight A$ by John Lennon

The fifth recording session for John Lennon’s fourth solo album Mind Games took place on 5 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).

‘One Day (At A Time)’ was recorded in 19 takes, spread across three tape reels. Reel 1 contained four takes, none of which featured Lennon’s falsetto vocals. Take 3 was incomplete. These takes featured guide vocals, electric piano, bass guitar, and drums, but no guitars.

Reel 2 contained six takes, numbered 5-10. The musicians were still working out their parts, with various changes to the tempo and arrangement. There was also an improvised jam after take 5. Spinozza played electric guitar from take 6.

Five more takes, numbered 11-15, were recorded onto reel 3. Take 19 was the master. Take 18 of the song was included in the expanded 2024 reissue of Mind Games.

The second song recorded on this day was ‘Aisumasen (I’m Sorry)’. It was completed in just three takes, the first of which was incomplete. Take 2 of the song was included in the expanded 2024 reissue of Mind Games.

The master was take 3, and featured Lennon’s vocals and acoustic guitar, Spinozza’s electric guitar, two tracks of piano by Ascher, Edwards’ bass guitar, and three tracks of drums by Keltner.

Lennon’s original vocals were retained for the final release, apart from during the bridge and the words “your name” before the guitar solo.

The third song recorded was ‘Bring On The Lucie (Freeda Peeple)’, which the musicians had unsuccessfully attempted on 2 August.

Four takes, numbered 1-4, were recorded on this day, although take 3 was a jam around ‘That’s All Right (Mama)’.

The final take was the master, and featured Lennon on vocals and acoustic guitar, more acoustic guitar by Spinozza, electric piano by Ascher, bass guitar by Edwards, three drum tracks by Keltner, and bongos by Rick Marotta.

The final song recorded on this day was another re-recording. Four incomplete takes of ‘Tight A$’ had been recorded on 1 August, the first Mind Games session.

On this day the musicians recorded six new takes. They were numbered 1-6, but only takes 2 and 6 were complete.

Take 6 was the master take, and featured Lennon’s vocals and acoustic guitar, Spinozza’s electric guitar, Ascher’s piano on two tracks, Edwards’ bass guitar, and Keltner’s drums on three tracks.

The final studio was edited by almost a minute for the album, with a third verse and some solo guitar work by David Spinozza becoming lost along the way. The full version was included in the expanded 2024 reissue of Mind Games.

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