The Story Behind The Beatles Awkward First Recording Session at Abbey Road
The Beatles and Abbey Road Studios are deeply connected. So much so that the studio was initially EMI Studios but changed its name after Abbey Road was a hit album. However, the fab four did not make a great first impression during their initial recording session at Abbey Road.
The Beatles came to Abbey Road with lackluster equipment
The Beatles’ first recording session at Abbey Road Studios occurred on June 6, 1962. While the band gained a small following in the U.K., they had not yet secured a recording contract. At the time, The Beatles consisted of Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison, and drummer Pete Best, as Ringo Starr hadn’t joined yet.
In a 2008 interview with Sound on Sound, engineer Norman Smith, who recorded The Beatles’ first six albums, recalled their first session. He said they did not make a “very good first impression,” mainly because their equipment made it nearly impossible to get any clean sound for a song.
“We heard nothing of John and Paul’s songwriting ability,” Smith said. “They had tiny little Vox amplifiers and speakers, which didn’t create much of a sound at source. I got nothing out of the Beatles’ equipment except for a load of noise, hum, and goodness knows what. Paul’s was about the worst — in those days, we had echo chambers to add onto the reverberation, and I had to raid the Studio 2 echo chamber in order to fix him up with a sound so that we could get something down on tape.”
George Martin helped to break the ice with the band
The whole session started awkwardly, with low energy in the studio. Fortunately, The Beatles’ longtime producer George Martin showed up, and he helped break the ice with the band to get things going. The Beatles and Martin hit it off, leading to a legendary partnership that produced many of the most successful albums ever.
“We gave them a long lecture about their equipment and what would have to be done about it if they were to become recording artists. They didn’t say a word back, not a word, they didn’t even nod their heads in agreement,” Smith explained. “When he finished, George said, ‘Look, I’ve laid into you for quite a time, you haven’t responded. Is there anything you don’t like?’ I remember they all looked at each other for a long while, shuffling their feet, then George Harrison took a long look at George and said, ‘Yeah, I don’t like your tie!’ That cracked the ice for us, and for the next 15-20 minutes, they were pure entertainment.”
Despite all of the technical issues, Smith knew The Beatles were special once Martin showed up and the band expressed their personality.
“They left, and George turned to me and said, ‘Well, what do you think?’” Smith recalled. “And I said, ‘I’ve seen a lot of groups come in for artists test, but this one – there is something special about them. I can’t tell you what, but there is something there.’ As I said, the test hadn’t gone too well, and I wasn’t impressed by their sound. But they had an appealing quality, a kind of charisma.”
The Beatles recorded one of their earliest hits during this session
According to Ultimate Classic Rock, The Beatles recorded four songs during their first Abbey Road session: “Besame Mucho”, “P.S. I Love You”, “Love Me Do”, and “Ask Me Why”. The recordings of “Besame Mucho” and “Love Me Do” were the only songs that survived the session and were later released on the Anthology 1 album in 1995.
“Love Me Do” was the official debut single of The Beatles, but it was a more refined and perfected version. It was released in the U.K. in 1962 and reached No. 17 on the charts. However, when it was released in the U.S. in 1964, it peaked at No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100.
