Video: 'The Beatles in the recording studio (Sept. 12th, 1963) Don't Bother Me takes 10 13'

(Thursday, September 12, 1963, 7:00 p.m.-11:30 p.m. British Summer Time) — After a half-hour break following their first recording session of the day, The Beatles returned to EMI Studio 2 in London tonight to record a remake of George Harrison’s first solo composition “Don’t Bother Me” for their second album With The Beatles.

Starting from scratch at a round number of “take 10,” this attempt included all of the basic elements, including lead vocals and a guitar solo from George, the difficulty in doing both being mentioned by the performer in-between later takes.

While this was somewhat slower than the finished product as we know it, it was a near perfect rendition. The only flaws were George’s occasional off key vocal and Ringo’s accent flub at the very end, which prompted George to sarcastically sing “oh yeah, rock and roll now” as an indication that this take couldn’t be used.

The group then decided to incorporate a “Beatles break” just before George begins singing the first verse. With this in mind, “take 11” broke down just into the first verse.

“Take 12” got a little further, although Ringo kept putting the “breaks” in the wrong places, resulting in George stopping the song saying “no, no, no.”

According to Walter Everett’s book “The Beatles As Musicians: The Quarry Men Through Rubber Soul,” John tried to acheive a “dirty” sound on his rhythm guitar by raising the signal gain, George Martin instead suggesting the use of a compressor to acheive the desired “organ sound,” the tremelo effect on his amplifier also being used to simulate a “sinister” sound as heard on recordings by British hit-makers “The Shadows.”

“Take 13,” which then omitted that first “Beatles break,” was deemed best. The released recording, however, shows Ringo mistakenly performing a “break” just before the first bridge during the words “I know I’ll.”

With the two-track tape being re-recorded onto another two-track machine, The Beatles all simultaneously overdubed different elements, six attempts at this overdub recording being made.

George double-tracked his lead vocal, Paul played claves, John played tambourine and Ringo played an Arabian bongo, all of these percussive instruments being found when they raided the EMI closet.

Video: 'Don't Bother Me (Remastered 2009)'

The second attempt at the overdubs, “take 15,” was considered the best in the end, although they continued overdubbing through “take 19,” none of those later takes being used.

The song was deemed complete by approximately 8:30 p.m. BST.

The Beatles had also started “Little Child” on the previous day, and today began a remake. Takes 3-18 were recorded; the album version was an edit and mix of the basic track from take 7, Lennon’s harmonica from take 13, McCartney’s piano part from take 15 and Lennon’s harmonica solo from take 18, although the track would be completed later.

After this the group made another attempt at “I Wanna Be Your Man,” recording takes 2-7. However, it was again decided to leave any further work for another day.

This would be the final recording session for The Beatles before all four members would go on holiday, starting Sept. 16, 1963.

While John and Cynthia Lennon were holidaying in Paris, and Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr flew to Greece with their partners, George Harrison and his brother Peter visited their sister Louise Harrison Caldwell in Benton, Illinois.

Although The Beatles would conquer America in February 1964, with this trip Harrison became the first of the group to travel to the U.S.

Ringo Starr originally planned to join Harrison on the US trip, but eventually decided to go to Greece instead.

The group to reconvene at EMI Studios in London on Oct. 3, 1963.