My husband, the hoplessly besotted Beatlemaniac came home from work the other day to discover a gigantic UPS package on our front porch. “That must be my new Beatles book” he gleefully exclaimed. (I was
guessing loveseat or small picnic table.) “I ordered this like a year ago and completely forgot about it,” he said.
He then dragged it in the house and began to unwrap Recording the Beatles: The Studio Equipment and
Techniques Used to Record Their Classic Albums as if it were the Holy Grail, which, apparently, it is … at least this year’s version. A few days later his head emerged from its 500 pages for a brief moment to simply say “wow”.
Perhaps I’ll let him elaborate:
Every piece of recording equipment, every kind of sound effect, every sound engineer, producer and tape operator ever involved with the Fabs at Abbey Road Studios is profiled in this book. Every request or
demand the Beatles ever made for something new, something fresh, something totally crazy – is followed up with the meticulous and ingenious methodology that not only met but often surpassed their vision, many of these solutions becoming mainstays of recording studios today. Paul wanted more bass? Why not reverse the action of a giant studio speaker so it acted as a microphone to pick up the sound instead of pushing it out? John wanted to sound like his voice was floating under water – no sweat. Create the sound of a swirling, cacophonous carnival for The Benefit of Mr. Kite? - right.
The lavishly illustrated coffee table (literally) book contains rare vintage photos of the boys and recording staff at work( in geeky white lab coats, no less!), recording studio and equipment schematics and photos, detailed recording logs and fascinating commentary from all the sung and unsung players on the both sides of the studio glass. More than a Beatles book for the obsessive fan, it really chronicles the birth of modern multitrack recording, on the fly by the ingenious “mothers of invention” at Abbey Road Studios.
The book comes in a handsome slip-case and can be special ordered from curvebender publishing at recordingthebeatles.com. It ain’t cheap –100 bucks. But if you order now it might just make it to your front porch in time for Christmas.
Did I mention “wow”?
