Reddit reviews The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions

And then there were two.

I highly recommend The Beatles' Complete Recording Sessions. It really details the extent George Martin played as the "fifth" Beatle. Fantastic book.

The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions: The Official Story of the Abbey Road Years 1962-1970 Paperback – October 1, 2013
by Mark Lewisohn

This 1999 review of Mark Lewisohn's excellent Beatles studio diary book where many of The Beatles recording engineers and tape operators and their producer George Martin are interviewed (and it shows how truly innovative,brilliant and creative especially John and Paul were in the recording
studio),The Beatles Recording Sessions titled, Behind The Creative Genius Of A Groundbreaking Band by a musician himself says it all, he says that as a musician he found Mark Lewisohn's portrayal of The Beatles genius and in parenthesis he says, especially that of John Lennon and Paul McCartney, to be completely thorough and accurate, as well as insightful. He then says if you are to buy any one Beatles book,buy this one.











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And this reviewer RAS who became a big Beatles fan after he read The Beatles Recording Sessions book,said,I think The Beatles ARE BRILLIANT and he said he despairs what his life would be like without The Beatles!! He said that when he first saw this book,he said Oh another garbage Beatles book.










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That's a really interesting characterization to me, because Sgt. Pepper is probably their most labored and intricate recording session. That's also so different than my own appreciation for that album, which is justifiably their most important but not my favorite (UK Rubber Soul for me, please).

If you're at all interested in this sort of thing, this book is well worth the money:

http://www.amazon.com/The-Complete-Beatles-Recording-Sessions/dp/1454910054

This one:

https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Beatles-Recording-Sessions-1962-1970/dp/1454910054

Thanks for your reply. I remember reading a Hunter Davies book decades ago when he shadowed them for a while during the making of Revolver, which was quite interesting.

There is also the Complete Beatles Recording Sessions, which is an exhaustive record of every one of their studio sessions based on recording logs and the author listening through master tapes. I have this book and love it...it's available again here https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Beatles-Recording-Sessions/dp/1454910054

I haven't read this but looks like a very interesting read https://www.amazon.ca/Beatles-Recording-Reference-Manual-1966-1967/dp/1727146980/ref=pd_sim_14_3?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=1727146980&pd_rd_r=c213ebd9-ee80-11e8-b8bf-2d5ac68107a8&pd_rd_w=jolIq&pd_rd_wg=u3gmZ&pf_rd_i=desktop-dp-sims&pf_rd_m=A3DWYIK6Y9EEQB&pf_rd_p=f2db799a-cb6a-4ff5-b84b-b317891b94a8&pf_rd_r=AQJG2ARARZDJK4JGE2ZE&pf_rd_s=desktop-dp-sims&pf_rd_t=40701&psc=1&refRID=AQJG2ARARZDJK4JGE2ZE

Many years ago I had to "teach" (clients or young engineers) on occasion.

The best "basic" tool I had was a photo of an orchestra, with the louder instruments "in the back," and the quieter ones "up front."

Sinatra was photographed a lot in the studio, and many of these photos illustrated variations on microphone placement, gobos (acoustic isolation panels), etc.

Another really important tool was found in early Motown (or similar) recordings where instruments had to often perform "double duty" due to the limitation in number of tracks. Session musicians, like Tommy Tedesco, would often play "secondary parts," or provide subtle noise effects, in addition to performing their primary parts. Often, these additions were not written on the score or chart. Following a specific instrument, such as a guitar, can be a real eye opener. These instruments were often panned hard left or hard right, and were easy to follow.

I think getting kids to overdub, and literally "sing with themselves," would provide the biggest "wow factor" that kids could relate to. I would be easy to recreate that "kids chorus" from Another Brick In The Wall (Pink Floyd), and the kids would have a blast.

Isolated vocals, like this or this.

Books, such as Good Vibrations or the Beatles Complete Recording Sessions are often more inspiring than the "how to recipe" books. I think kids could probably relate to the idea of the Beach Boys recording in an empty swimming pool.