Location and Time
EMI Studio 2
6.00 – 8.00pm
Songs
Bésame Mucho
Love Me Do
Ask Me Why
Personnel
John Lennon – guitar, vocals
Paul McCartney – bass, vocals
George Harrison – guitar
Pete Best – drummer
George Martin – Producer
Ron Richards – Assistant Producer
Norman Smith – Balance Engineer
Chris Neal – Tape Operator / Assistant Engineer
Instruments and Amplification
The following list is according to Jerry Hammack in The Beatles Recording Reference Manual: Volume 1, along with other sources listed below.
- 1957 Gretsch G6128 Duo Jet electric guitar (George Harrison)
- 1598 Rickenbacker 325 Capri with Bigsby B5 vibrato (John Lennon)
- 1960 Fender Narrow Panel Deluxe (Tweed) 15W guitar amplifier (John Lennon)
- 1961 Hofner 500/1 bass guitar (Paul McCartney)
- Gibson GA-40T, 16W guitar amplifier (George Harrison)
- Leak Point One preamplifier (Paul McCartney, temporarily provided by EMI engineers)
- Leak TL12 bass amplifier with Tannoy Dual Concentric 15″ speaker (Paul McCartney, temporarily pulled from the Echo Chamber One due to Paul’s noisy amp)
- Premier Marine Pearl 54 (Pete Best)
- 14″ x 22″ bass drum
- 8″ x 12″ rack tom
- 16″ x 16″ floor tom
- 14″ x 5.5″ Super Ace snare
- Zildjian cymbals – 16″ crash, 18″ custom sizzle ride (Pete Best)
- Zyn cymbals – 18″ crash, 14″ hi-hats (Pete Best)
Studio Gear
This is the standard setup used in the 1962 to 1964 era, unless noted.
The following list is according to Jerry Hammack in The Beatles Recording Reference Manual: Volume 1, along with other sources listed below.
Control Room
- REDD.37 valve console
- BTR-2 mono tape machine
- BTR-3 twin-track tape machine
Available Gear
- Fairchild 660 limiter
- EMI RS124 compressor
Microphones
- Neumann U 48 (vocals, electric guitar amplifiers, acoustic guitar, acoustic and electric keyboards)
- Neumann U 47/48 (vocals, electric guitar amplifiers, acoustic and electric keyboards)
- Neumann KM 54 (electric guitar amplifiers)
- STC 4038 (drum overhead)
- STC 4033-A (bass drum)
- STC 4033-A (bass guitar amplifier)
Session Notes
Mixing Techniques
- P.S. I Love You was planned but not recorded.
Additional Notes
- The performance convinced Martin that the group had potential, paving the way for a formal Parlophone contract and establishing Abbey Road as their recording base.
- Martin’s dissatisfaction with Best’s drumming after this session set in motion the search that would bring Ringo Starr into the band later that summer.
- Tapes thought lost were partly recovered decades later, with two tracks surfacing on Anthology 1, giving us a glimpse of the moment the Beatles’ studio story truly began.
- According to George Martin, this session was in Studio Three, while the engineers agreed it was in Studio Two
- This was followed by their next studio appearance on 4 September 1962, where Ringo Starr joined for the first time.
Media
Sources
Books
All the Songs: The Story Behind Every Beatles Release (Jean Michel Guedson, Philippe Margotin)
The Beatles Recording Reference Manual: Volume 1 (Jerry Hammack)
The Beatles Recording Techniques (Jerry Hammack)
The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions (Mark Lewisohn)
