Video: 'And I Love Her (2023 Mix)'
(Thursday, February 27, 1964, 10:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. GMT) — After two major attempts in as many days, The Beatles finally completed “And I Love Her” today, recording takes 20 and 21 at EMI Studio 2 in London.
With the song’s signature riff in place, only two takes were needed to finish it off, this time with a completely acoustic arrangement.
George Harrison skillfully played his parts on his Jose Ramirez acoustic guitar (as he used on his excellent solo in “Till There Was You” the year prior) while Ringo Starr remained on bongos.
The second take of this day (“take 21”) was deemed the best, which then required a couple overdubs; one to double-track Paul’s vocals and the other for the claves (percussive wooden sticks) overdub, which presumably was played by Ringo although some claim George may have played them.
Video: 'Tell Me Why (Remastered 2009)'
By approximately 11:00 a.m. GMT, this three day project was finally completed.
With that finally out of the way, they started on John Lennon’s new composition “Tell Me Why,” which began at approximately 11:30 a.m GMT.
The group ran through eight takes (not all complete) with all four Beatles playing their usual instruments and singing three part harmony simultaneously.
There was a degree of frustration in getting all their parts down perfectly as evidenced in “take four,” which didn’t get much past the introduction before everything fell apart and tempers flared.
Nonetheless, by “take eight” the song was done to everyone’s satisfaction.
Video: 'The Beatles Recording Tell Me Why - EMI Recording Studios, London, England - 26 February 1964'
Overdubs were then performed, John’s double-tracked lead vocal being captured on the open fourth track of the four-track tape. However, the thickness of the three-part harmonies during most of the song appears to indicate that all three vocalists double-tracked their parts, not just John.
A piano can be detected in the finished product so, since there is no piano heard in “take four” of the initial recording, this was undoubtedly overdubbed at this time as well, presumably by George Martin as was quite usual up to this point in the band’s recording career.
By 1:00 p.m., the song was done and it was time for lunch.
Once again The Beatles were filmed today at Abbey Road for the documentary “Follow The Beatles” that was screened on UK TV in August to promote their film A Hard Day’s Night.
Brief outtakes from the studio filming have also been used in a few other doc’s over the years.
