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Recording History

As detailed above, the first recordings John made for his song "Strawberry Fields Forever" had been done between September 26th and November 6th, 1966, while he was shooting the film “How I Won The War” in Almeria, Spain. After John's return home, he continued a series of demo recordings at his Kenwood residence to nail down more of the arrangement for his latest song. These recordings included single guitar demos and even attempts at overdubbing other instruments by himself (guitars and then keyboards) while also double-tracking his vocals. A sample of these Kenwood recordings is included in the 1996 “Anthology 2” album, which some suggest resembles Bob Dylan's song “It's All Over Now, Baby Blue,” as well as on the 2006 released album “Love.”

Having finalized the arrangement, Lennon debuted the song in EMI Studio Two on November 24th, 1966, just over five months since their last recording session there. This session started around 7 pm but, since they had hardly been in each other's company for months, a lax atmosphere ensued with much conversation taking up a good portion of time.

Engineer Geoff Emerick related many of the details in his book “Here, There And Everywhere.” “It had been five months since I'd last seen the group, but it might as well have been five years. For one thing, they all looked very different. Garbed in colorful clothes and sporting trendy mustaches, George Harrison even had a beard, they were utterly hip, the epitome of swinging London circa 1966. John was the one who had changed the most: having shed the excess weight he had put on throughout the 'Revolver' sessions, he was trim, almost gaunt, and he was wearing granny glasses instead of the thick horn-rimmed National Health spectacles I was used to seeing. He also had very short, distincly non-Beatlish hair.”

“It was our first night back in the studio, and we all were huddled around the mixing console, discussing how they wanted to approach the new album...John Lennon was even more agitated than usual. 'Look,' he said to George Martin, 'it's really quite simple. We're fed up with making soft music for soft people, and we're fed up with playing for them, too. But it has given us a fresh start, don't you see?' From the expression on his face, it was quite clear that George Martin did not see. 'We can't hear ourselves onstage anymore for all of their screaming,' Paul interjected earnestly, 'so what's the point? We did try performing some songs off the last album, but there were so many complicated overdubs we can't do them justice. Now we can record anything we want, and it won't matter. And what we want is to raise the bar a notch, to make our best album ever.'...Lennon persisted, talking rapid-fire – a sure sign that he was starting to get annoyed. 'What we're saying is, if we don't have to tour, then we can record music that we won't ever have to play live, and that means that we can create something that has never been heard before: a new kind of record with new kinds of sounds.'”

“George Martin called an end to the informal conference. 'Right, then, let's get to work. What have you got for me?' Paul started to say something, but before he could answer, John shouted out, 'I've got a good one, for a starter!' Lennon could talk over most anyone if he wanted to, and he was never shy about jumping the queue; in fact, the first session for almost every Beatles album was devoted to recording one of his songs. A half smile went across Paul's face as he shrugged his shoulders, backing down gracefully.”

Geoff Emerick continued, “Phil McDonald (2nd engineer) and I strained to hear what was going on downstairs. Down in the studio, George Martin was perched, as usual, on his high stool, positioned in the midst of the four Beatles. John was standing directly in front of him, playing an acoustic guitar and singing softly. Because he wasn't close to any of the microphones we had arranged around the room, I had to push the faders up quite high to hear him. From the very first note, it was obvious that this new Lennon song was a masterpiece. He had created a gentle, almost mystical tribute to a mysterious place, a place he called 'Strawberry Fields.' I had no idea what the lyric was about, but the words were compelling, like abstract poetry, and there was something magical in the spooky, detached timbre of John's voice.”

Geoff Emerick then added: “When John finished, there was a moment of stunned silence, broken by Paul, who in his quiet, respectful tone said simply, 'That is absolutely brilliant.' Most of the time when Lennon played one of his songs through for the first time on acoustic guitar, we'd all think, 'Wow, that's great,' but this song was clearly something special. 'I brought a demo tape of the song with me, too,' John stated, offering to play it, but everyone agreed there was no need – they wanted to get straight into recording it. The energy in the room was staggering: it was almost as if the band's creative energies had been bottled up for too long.”

The Beatles then started to put all their heads together to create an appropriate arrangement for the song. George Harrison began working out some “long, Hawaiian-style swoops,” as Geoff Emerick referred to them, that John wanted in strategic places. (We can hear Lennon himself experimenting with this on the demos of the song he had made in his Kenwood music room.) A newer instrument was brought into the studio on this day by Mal Evans, this being a Mellotron that he transported from Lennon's Weybridge home. This was a keyboard John acquired in the summer of 1965 but had brought into the studio for the first time on this day. Lennon described it as “a machine some guy in Britain invented, and it had tape loops on jazz bands, trumpets, flutes and rhythm sections on it.” Geoff Emerick described this as “a cumbersome keyboard in a polished wood cabinet...each key triggering a tape loop of a real instrument playing the equivalent note. There were three sets of tape loops installed, so you could have flutes, strings, or choir at the touch of a button.”

The model was a “Mellotron Mark II,” as described by Andy Babiuk in his 2001 book “Beatles Gear,” he adding that John “finally found the time to experiment with the tape-replay instrument as he looked for a way to include its distinctive sounds...Ironically, it was Paul who played the Mellotron on the recording.” Geoff Emerick recalled: “It was Paul, as usual, who discovered the musical potential instead of just the novelty value...Within a remarkably short time, he had worked out an arrangement that beautifully complemented Lennon's haunting vocal line.

In his 2021 book "The Lyrics," Paul described the Mellotron to be "a tape sample playback keyboard that The Beatles had used back in the mid sixties on 'Strawberry Fields Forever.' I remember being in Abbey Road, and we were all introduced to this big, grey Mellotron that looked like something out of wartime, although this was brand spanking new. (EMI) put this Mellotron in the middle of Studio Two for our use, and we all went, 'Ooh.' We were all over it. 'Wow, amazing!' So that was fascinating, just seeing if we could use it in our songs. We were always looking for new sounds and elements." Paul here remembers that EMI Studios supplied the Mellotron and not John, but either way, this innovative instrument was now at their disposal.

Geoff Emerick recalled that “several hours” were needed for the group to write and rehearse an arrangement for the song, Ringo even “arranging towels over his snare drum and tom-toms in order to give them a distinctive muffled tone.” As for the Mellotron, Paul went for the “brass” setting which he thought would work nicely in the arrangement, which was, as stated in the book “Beatles Gear,” “a recording of close-miked trumpet, trombone and saxophone.”

With the tape rolling at “53 cycles per second so that it sounded faster on replay” (according to Mark Lewisohn's 1988 book “The Beatles Recording Sessions”), the band recorded "take one" of the song. The rhythm track consisted of John on rhythm guitar, Paul on Mellotron, George on slide guitar and Ringo on muffled drums. Overdubs consisted of John's stunning lead vocal, which he then double-tracked in spots, and vocal harmonies by John, Paul and George. (No maracas can be heard on the recording as indicated in the "Recording Sessions" book.) 

As gorgeous as this recording was, it was apparent that it could easily be improved upon, especially because of George's jarring slide guitar parts and Paul's Mellotron flubs at the end. The session concluded at 2:30 am the following morning with a general idea of what could be done with John's song but with nothing releasable as of yet. This recording, however, did finally see an official release within their compilation “Anthology 2," as well as the "Super Deluxe Edition" box set of the "Sgt. Pepper" album,” minus John's double-tracked vocals as well as the harmony vocals. A portion of this recording was also used in the mash-up of the song utilized in the album “Love,” this time with the harmony vocals and some of John's double-tracked vocals restored.

Four days later, on November 28th, 1966, the group returned to EMI Studio Two at around 7 pm for another attempt at recording “Strawberry Fields Forever.” With the identical team of George Martin, Geoff Emerick and Phil McDonald at the controls, they started from scratch, discounting entirely the recording they had labored over just a few days before.

“The big break-through that night,” recalled Geoff Emerick, “was Paul's coming up with the stunning Mellotron line that opens the song. His inspiration really set the stage.” However, when we observe a particular candid scene in the Beatles movie “The First US Visit,” a film that documents the group in February of 1964, John can be heard playing on a Melodion what uncannily seems to be the opening notes of what now became the Mellotron introduction to “Strawberry Fields” as played by Paul.

Had this intro “been in John's head for years,” as Bruce Spizer insinuated in his 2000 book “The Beatles' Story On Capitol Records, Part One,” or was this just an eerie coincidence? This small segment of the film was more recently included in the 2016 Documentary film "Eight Days A Week - The Touring Years." Look it up – it's worth a listen.

There were other alterations to the arrangement on this day in the studio, including the sequence of their verses and choruses. After the Mellotron intro, which was now on the "flute" setting, we go straight into the chorus and then to the first two verses in a row. After a repeat of the chorus, the third verse appears before the chorus is repeated. Then they go into an instrumental version of another verse which was intended to be faded out.

The Beatles recorded three takes of the rhythm track at this session, which were numbered two through four. The takes featured John on guitar, Paul on Mellotron, Ringo on drums and Harrison on maracas. “Take two” nearly made it all the way through to the end but was deemed unusable even more so by John coming in a bit late with his guitar parts on many occasions (as well as some McCartney Mellotron flubs). “Take three” didn't get past the Mellotron introduction as John comes in complaining about it being too “loud.”

“Take four” made it through until the end of the song and, although still having noticeable flubs by both John and Paul, it proved to be suitable enough to add overdubs. Lennon added a slightly sped-up lead vocal (which sounded somewhat "dragged out" when played back at regular speed), Paul added bass, and George replicated his guitar “swoops” on the Mellotron using the "electric guitar" setting while manipulating the pitch bend feature whenever "going to" is heard in the choruses. Interestingly, this Mellotron setting created a Morse code-like beeping sound which can be heard on these takes as well as on the released record. This overdubbed “Take four” was then given three rough mono mixes at the end of the session for acetate cutting purposes. By 1:30 am the next morning, the session was complete and the group left for the night to mull over whether this version was suitable enough to be the finished version. However, we should remember, as Mark Lewisohn stated in “The Beatles Recording Sessions,” “For the first time there was no real pressure on The Beatles to deliver a product to a preset deadline. They could, and would, work on a song until they and only they were satisfied with it, irrespective of time." This version, "take four," did eventually receive an official release on the "Super Deluxe Edition" of the "Sgt. Pepper" album in 2017.

After a good night's rest, The Beatles reconvened at EMI Studio Two at 2:30 pm the next day, November 29th, to once again re-record Lennon's “Strawberry Fields Forever.” George Martin made the decision to record the group rehearsing the song for a little bit, rewinding the tape periodically to record over these run-thoughs. When it appeared that they all were ready to record a proper take, George Martin had the tape rewound again to record over the rehearsals.

Just after an engineer called out “Take five,” we hear Paul and John still going through their Mellotron and guitar parts. Paul finalizes the melody line he's going to play for the introduction of the song so as to sound precisely as we're all used to hearing it, this rehearsal being here committed to tape. “Take five” turned out to be only a false start, not getting past the Mellotron introduction. “Take six” followed shortly afterwards, this amounting to an almost identical rhythm track as performed the previous day. It once again consisted of John on electric guitar, Paul on Mellotron, Ringo on drums and George on maracas. This take made it through to the completion of the song and was deemed the best. Interestingly, after this take wound down, the tape was stopped, thus revealing segments of rehearsals of the song that it had recorded over. We immediately hear the end of a rehearsal that humorously went into double-time, sounding not unlike their rhythm track for “What Goes On” from the previous year. After the tape cuts this off, we hear yet another quick snippet of a rehearsal that only lasts a moment or two.

Overdubs then started, Lennon recording his lead vocal and Paul adding bass guitar to “take six.” Then, a tape reduction was made of “take six” to open up more tracks on the four-track machine for overdubbing, this now designated as “take seven.” According to Kevin Howlett's liner notes in the 50th Anniversary release of the "Sgt. Pepper" album, they mixed all of the instruments recorded thus far onto track one of the new tape and John's vocals onto track three. Onto track two of the tape was overdubbed what Kevin Howlett described to be "mellotron generated guitar and piano sounds," thus referring to George's Mellotron utilizing the "electric guitar" setting, John double-tracking his vocals on track four.

It appeared that the song was now complete. Three additional mono mixes were therefore generated by the engineering team of George Martin, Geoff Emerick and Phil McDonald in the EMI Studio Two control room, the third of these mixes being used to cut four acetate discs, one for each Beatle. This version of the song was included on the 1996 compilation "Anthology 2" as well as some releases of the 50th Anniversary edition of "Sgt. Pepper." “All in all, three long sessions were devoted to recording that one track,” remembers Geoff Emerick, “which seemed like a lot at the time. Lennon seemed to be having a lot of trouble making up his mind about how he wanted the song recorded, but...it was deemed finished.” At 8 pm that evening, the session was over.

However, George Martin sensed that Lennon was not happy with the song. “Before the very first recording of 'Strawberry Fields Forever,' John stood opposite me in the studio and played me the song on acoustic guitar,” George Martin recalled. “It was absolutely lovely. Then when we actually taped it with their usual instruments it began to get heavy. Lennon did not say anything but I knew it wasn't what he originally wanted. So, I metaphorically shrugged my shoulders and said: 'Well, that really was not what I had thought of, but it's OK.' And off John went”

George Martin's intuitions were proven to be right. “John went away and listened to the lacquers we had made of it and a week later he came back and said...,'George, I'm not very happy about that record we just made. It's not exactly what I had in mind when I first wrote it. I'd like to do it again.' But I had to admit, '...I thought it was going to be a little more flowing than it has been,' John said, 'That's the point. I wanted it a little smoother. Can you do a score for me and we'll do a new record?' I said, 'What do you want to use on it then?' And he said, 'Well, strings and a bit of brass.' So I scored it for some cellos and trumpets and various things, and we made another record.”

This conversation probably took place exactly “a week later,” December 6th, 1966, during the session used to start Paul's latest contribution titled “When I'm Sixty-Four.” The conversation, however, was explained a bit differently by engineer Geoff Emerick. In reference to this conversation between Lennon and George Martin, Geoff Emerick depicted the song's writer to have been inarticulately “mumbling, 'I don't know; I just think it should somehow be heavier.' George (Martin) asked, 'Heavier how, John?' 'I dunno, just kind of, you know, heavier.' Paul did his best to translate Lennon's abstract notion into concrete musical form. Pointing out how well the flute sound on the Mellotron had worked, Paul suggested that perhaps some outside musicians be brought in, that this song be scored for some orchestral instrumentation. John loved the idea and specifically requested using cellos and trumpets. 'Do a good job, George,' he instructed the somewhat uncertain producer as he departed the control room. 'Just make sure it's heavy.'”

John Lennon got his wish two days later, December 8th, 1966, as The Beatles once again re-convened in EMI Studio Two at 7 pm to record yet another version of “Strawberry Fields Forever.” There was an earlier Beatles' session on that day as well, this being a three-hour session used for Paul to record lead vocals on “When I'm Sixty-Four.” After that session ended at 5:30 pm, George Martin and Geoff Emerick left for a prior engagement even though the “Strawberry Fields” session was due to begin.

Geoff Emerick remembered: “Unfortunately, on the night they began doing the remake, George Martin and I were in London's West End at the premiere of the new Cliff Richard film 'Finders Keepers.' George (Martin) was quite adamant that we go, which really annoyed me. I felt that our place was with The Beatles, and was certain that they all were going to be unhappy about us both taking time off so early into an album project. In retrospect, I think it may have been a psychological ploy on his part to show them who was in charge.”

In their absence, technical engineer Dave Harries was there to get things going. “Soon after I had lined up the microphones and instruments in the studio that night,” Dave Harries remembered, “The Beatles arrived, hot to record. There wasn't anyone else there but me, so I had become producer / engineer. We had recorded Ringo's cymbals, played them backwards, Paul and George were on timps (timpani) and bongos, Mal Evans played tambourine, we overdubbed the guitars (on to "Take 15"), everything. It sounded great. Then, when George (Martin) and Geoff (Emerick) came back, I had scuttled upstairs because I should not really have been recording them.” Their guitar phrases, described by Ian MacDonald in his book “Revolution In The Head” as “sitar-like guitar fills in the fade,” were played by Paul. Kevin Howlett's liner notes in the 50th Anniversary release of "Sgt. Pepper" sheds a little more light on this day's session. "A new rhythm track was recorded with a performance of drums, cymbal, hi-hat, snare drum, bongos, maracas and tambourine recorded to a mono tape machine."

Geoff Emerick continued his account of the story: "It was at midnight when we finally returned to the studio only to discover the four Beatles still hard at work with Dave Harries, who had been recruited to start the session in our absence. In the end, only a portion of what he had recorded ever made its way onto the final release version; George (Martin) and I stayed on until nearly dawn and ended up redoing most of it."

According to Mark Lewisohn's 1988 book “The Beatles Recording Sessions,” this was not entirely true. “There was still a very long way to go before 'Strawberry Fields Forever' was ready for record release but (Dave) Harries' version – or part of it, anyway – was a vital part of that record.” The documentation reveals that three-quarters of “Take 15,” produced by Dave Harries, was used in the mix made on that day. “I am very proud of that,” says Dave Harries, “it was a very good record. Geoff (Emerick) was moaning because there was a lot of top (treble) on the cymbals. I said it was the only time there had been top on any Beatles records!”

There were 15 takes of the song recorded on this day, numbered nine through 24 (numbers 8 and 19 being skipped, most likely in error). Nine of these takes made it through the entire song, but a decision was made to splice together two incomplete takes, "take 15" and "take 24," to create a suitable rhythm track.

After the editing work on “take 15” and “take 24” was performed by the engineering team of George Martin, Geoff Emerick and Phil McDonald, they attempted to remix this into “take 25,” but because of the lateness of the hour, they decided to wait till the next session. This session finally concluded at 3:40 the following morning.

That next day, December 9th, 1966, starting at 2:30 pm, the identical team of George Martin, Geoff Emerick and Phil McDonald continued work on creating “take 25” from the edited "take 15" and "take 24" of the previous day, resulting in all of the previous day's work being mixed down to one track of a four track tape. This left three open tracks for overdubbing on this day.

“The Beatles Recording Sessions” described the overdubs that were performed at this session: “Onto track two Ringo added various bits of percussion, including some decidedly heavy drum sounds.” As indicated in the liner notes of their album “Anthology 2,” which included the last minute or so of what was created at this session, John Lennon was standing nearby a live microphone uttering some nonsensical vocalizing. After some nondescript utterances were made, he clearly states twice (rolling his “r”s, no less) “Cranberry sauce.” Then, when the percussive rhythm track from the previous session runs out revealing Ringo still performing his “heavy drum sounds,” Lennon exclaimed, “All right, calm down, Ringo, the song's over.”

As for the mysterious meaning of the phrase “Cranberry sauce” that actually made it onto the released recording during the fade (appearing twice on pressings in certain countries), Paul himself puts the rumors to bed. “At the end of 'Strawberry Fields,' that wasn't 'I buried Paul,' at all. That was John saying 'Cranberry sauce.' That was John's humor. John would say something that was totally out of sync, like 'Cranberry sauce.' If you don't realize that John was apt to say 'Cranberry sauce' when he feels like it, then you'd start to hear a funny little word there, and you think, 'Aha!” For many in late 1969, playing this song at a faster speed revealed John saying “I buried Paul,” which became an “Aha!” moment for the rumor mill who insisted from various clues that the cute Beatle had been deceased since late 1966, or around the time that this song was recorded. 

Geoff Emerick went even further in explaining this mysterious lyric: “John was actually saying 'cranberry sauce,' not 'I buried Paul,' for the simple reason that they were recording around the time of the Thanksgiving holiday, and just before that take, we were chatting about turkey and all the trimmings and how Americans will traditionally eat such a meal at that time of the year. That's the way John was – he would often work little phrases or snatches of conversation about something he had been recently reading or talking about into the music that he was recording...I am sorry to disappoint anyone who ever bought into this rubbish, but Paul was, in fact, very much alive and well, and there was never any kind of plan to fool the public by scattering clues about his supposed demise.”

Also on track two was overdubbed George Harrison playing an instrument not appearing on any other Beatles song. The 2001 book “Beatles Gear” refers to the exotic instrument as a "surmandal" (which is spelled sometimes as swordmandal or swarmandal). "This Indian/Pakistani instrument is quite similar to a board zither, usually with around 40 metal strings played with a plectrum or plectrums, and provides a sound that is something similar to a high-pitched harp. (The surmandal) is prominently heard just before the start of verse two (1:18) and verse three (2:04), and also during the end of the song (from 3:06 and prominently from 3:15).”

It may be surprising to some that Harrison's contribution to Beatles recordings at this point involved Indian instruments, such as the surmandal or the sitar, whenever he could work it in, even relinquishing guitar work to McCartney without hesitation. “I'd just got back from India - my heart was still out there,” Harrison recalled. “I was losing interest in being 'fab' at that point.”

Another quick mono mix was then made because they saw a need to create some more acetates. Afterwards, another overdub was done on this day, which was the very complicated endeavor of recording the backwards cymbals. Mark Lewisohn explained in his 1988 book “The Beatles Recording Sessions”: “Rather like their two backward guitar solos in 'I'm Only Sleeping,' the taping of these cymbals was no easy task. The pattern was worked out in the normal manner but it was then written down in reverse so that when recorded and the tape was played backwards, these sounds would fit the bars precisely.” Since all the overdubs done on this day occurred in different parts of the song, they all appeared on track two of the tape, leaving tracks three and four available for further overdubs. When all of this was done, the session ended at 10 pm, actually finishing for the day before the next day began.

Nearly a week later, on December 15th, 1966, The Beatles entered EMI Studio Two once again to add more overdubs to this new rendition of “Strawberry Fields Forever.” The session began at 2:30 pm with the first thing on the agenda being recording the distinctive brass and string score that George Martin had prepared for the song. The trumpets and cellos were recorded onto tracks three and four of the tape, which once again called for another tape reduction to open up more tracks for more overdubs. After all, John had not yet recorded any vocals for this re-make of the song. Interestingly, there were some elements of George Martin's score for the conclusion of the song that ended up being omitted later on, these trumpet parts being heard at the conclusion of the mix done on this day.

The existing elements of the song were then reduced down to tracks one and two of what now became “Take 26.” Onto track three was recorded an exceptionally speedy Lennon vocal, which John then double-tracked during the choruses onto track four. Five mono mixes were then created by the same engineering team of George Martin, Geoff Emerick and Phil McDonald, these mixes being numbered 5 through 9 and undoubtedly made for acetate cutting purposes. This session ended approximately at midnight.

Their final overdubs were added to “Take 26” a week later in EMI Studio Two, on December 21st, 1966. After they worked a little more with “When I'm Sixty-Four” early that evening, attention was given to “Strawberry Fields” at 10 pm. John did more vocal work, this time a harmony to the first line of the final chorus (“Let me take you down) while Paul plunked piano chords during the finale of the song, this making it onto the released recording.

Another disjointed overdub was also recorded at this session as heard in the song's closing moments. There are two differing accounts about this overdub, Kevin Howlett, in the "Sgt. Pepper" 50th Anniversay edition liner notes stating "George Martin added Mellotron, as did John using the 'Swinging Flutes' setting for the end of the song." Andy Babiuk's 2001 book “Beatles Gear” described this overdub differently and in more detail, identifying it as “swirling Mellotron. This time McCartney played the...left-hand keyboard, selecting the tape of an entire passage of ensemble flutes. This passage was played in a random, repetitive fashion, without necessarily waiting for the internal tape to return to the start after releasing a key. The result sounds something like looped flutes, but is pure Mellotron.” Funny enough, if this was indeed Paul doing this Mellotron overdub, and considering all the contributions that he made to this final version of the song, McCartney never laid down a bass track!

With this complete, this session ended at about 11:45 pm. Upon listening to this completely new remake, which can be heard in its entirety on various editions of the 50th Anniversary release of "Sgt. Pepper," it appears that Lennon got the “heavy” version of “Strawberry Fields Forever” he requested. Surely, now he would be happy.

“A few days later he rang me up,” George Martin related in his book “All You Need Is Ears,” “and said: 'I like that one, I really do. But, you know, the other one's got something, too,'” referring to the newly recorded heavier version of the song as compared to the earlier version. “'Yes, I know,' I said, 'they're both good. But aren't we beginning to split hairs?' Perhaps I shouldn't have used the word 'split,' because John's reply was: 'I like the beginning of the first one, and I like the end of the second one. Why don't we just join them both together?' 'Well, there are only two things against it,' I said. 'One is that they're in different keys. The other is that they are in different tempos.' 'Yeah, but you can do something about that, I know. You can fix it, George.'”

Geoff Emerick explained this conversation as, not a phone call between Lennon and George Martin, but as an interchange in the studio, the engineer hearing and participating in the conversation. Geoff Emerick wrote: “Lennon continued, 'So what I would like our young Geoffrey here to do is to join those two bits together...You can do it,' he said simply. With that, he turned and headed out of the door. 'What do you think, Geoff?' a deflated George asked me after John had gone. My reply was noncommittal. 'I'm not sure; I guess all we can do is have a go.'”

George Martin continued: “John always left this kind of thing to me. He never professed to know anything about recording. John was the least technical of The Beatles. He had a profound faith in my ability to cope with such problems, a faith that had been sometimes misplaced, as I certainly felt it was on this occasion. He had presented me with an almost insuperable task. But I had to have a go.”

December 22nd, 1966, was the day that George Martin and Geoff Emerick had “a go” at accomplishing this impossible task. Along with the 2nd engineer Phil McDonald, they met in the control room of EMI Studio Two at 7 pm to see what they could do at creating a mono mix with John's stipulations.

Mono mixes for both recordings of the song needed to be created first. “Take seven” was the finished master of the slower rendition, and from this they created mono remix 10. “Take 26” was the master for their "heavier" rendition, and from this they created mono remix 11. Now all they needed to figure out was how to edit remixes 10 and 11 together efficiently. Since they did not want to repeat any verses on the finished product, the first step was to delete the second verse of the slower rendition, which was done just after remix 10 was created. This would bring in the second chorus right after the first verse ended in the slower version. That second verse, containing the lyrics “no one I think is in my tree,” would be heard in the faster version later in the finished song. Now to actually make the crucial edit that combined the two versions.

“I listened to the two versions again,” recalled George Martin, “and suddenly realized that with a bit of luck I might get away with it, because, with the way that the keys were arranged, the slower version was a semitone flat compared with the faster one. I thought: If I could speed up the one, and slow down the other, I could get the pitches the same. And with some luck, the tempos will be sufficiently close not to be noticeable. I did just that, on a variable-control tape machine, then selecting precisely the right spot to make the cut for joining them up as nearly perfectly as possible.”

Geoff Emerick added: “John's request, on the face of it, appeared as to be completely unfeasible given the technology of that time. Today, a computer can quite easily change the pitch and/or tempo of a recording independently of each other, but all that we had at our disposal was their pair of editing scissors, a couple of tape machines, and a varispeed control. The problem was that as soon as we would speed up a tape, the pitch also goes up; slowing down the tape has the opposite effect, slowing the tempo, but also lowering the pitch. We all had our work cut out for us...After some trial-and-error experimentation, I'd discovered that by speeding up the playback of the first take and then slowing down the playback of the second, I could get them to match in both pitch and tempo.”

Geoff Emerick then recalled, “Next, I had to find a suitable edit point, one that was not obvious. The idea, after all, was to make the listeners imagine they were hearing a complete performance. The one that I picked happened to fall almost exactly sixty seconds in, right at the beginning of the song's second chorus, on the word 'going' ('Let me take you down 'cause I'm going to...'). Now it was a matter of figuring out exactly when to alter the playback speeds. George (Martin) and I decided to allow the second half to play all the way through at the slower speed; doing so gave Lennon's voice a smoky and thick quality that seemed to complement these psychedelic lyrics and swirling instrumentation. Things were a bit trickier with the beginning section; it started out at such a perfect, laconic tempo that we didn't want to speed it up all the way through. Luckily, the EMI tape machines were fitted with very fine varispeed controls. With a bit of practice, I was able to gradually increase the speed of the first take and get it to a certain precise point, right up to the moment where we knew we were going to perform the edit. The change is so subtle as to be virtually unnoticeable.”

The actual physical splice was also of great concern. Geoff Emerick related: “I found that I could not cut the tape at a normal forty-five-degree angle because the sound there just kind of jumped - I was, after all, joining together two totally different performances. As a result, I had to make this cut at a very shallow angle so that it was more a crossfade than a splice. It took me quite a few hours to get everything to work perfectly.”

No Beatles were present while this landmark editing job was being performed but, lo and behold, one did show up moments later. "John popped by to see how we were getting on – I had literally finished the edit just a few moments before he arrived. As we played the results of our labors to John for the first time, he listened carefully, head down, deep in concentration. I made a point of standing in front of the tape machine so that he couldn't see the splice go by. A few seconds after the edit flew past, Lennon lifted his head up and a grin spread across his face. 'Has it passed yet?' he asked. 'Sure had,' I replied proudly. 'Well, good on yer, Geoffrey!' he said. He absolutely loved what we had done. We played (it) over and over again that night for John, and at the conclusion each time, he'd turn to us and repeat the same three words, eyes wide with excitement: 'Brilliant. Just brilliant.'"

Interestingly, as brought out in Albert Goldman's 1988 book "The Lives Of John Lennon," the ex-Beatle met with producer Jack Douglas on November 10th, 1980 and talked about re-recording many of his classic '60s hits, "Strawberry Fields Forever" being among them. "He denounced the old arrangements," Jack Douglas recalled, "particularly George Martin's famous splice on 'Strawberry Fields,' which Lennon castigated as a 'stupid mistake.'”

“The Beatles Recording Sessions” stipulated that “they did it so well that few people, even today, know exactly where the edit is. 'That's funny,' says George Martin, 'I can hear it every time. It sticks out like a sore thumb to me!'” Since their control room session didn't end until 11:30 pm, it took a total of four-and-a-half hours to perform this masterful edit.

Two weeks later, on December 29th, 1966, the very same engineering team assembled in the control room of EMI Studio Three to create a tape copy of the mono mix of “Strawberry Fields Forever” (labeling this “remix mono 13”) for the North American market. This copy, as well as their doing a mono mix of “When I'm Sixty-Four,” took them from 2:30 to 4:45 pm. Then they immediately tackled doing the first stereo mix of “Strawberry Fields,” working hard to mimic what they accomplished with the mono mix. While it took them approximately four-and-a-half hours to create the mono mix, they got this stereo mix done in less than an hour (4:45 to 5:40 pm) since they now knew what they were doing.

They created a stereo mix from the slower version of the song (“Take seven”) and a stereo mix of the faster version (“Take 26”). They then attempted to edit them together, which they called “remix 3,” but thought it might be able to be improved upon. A second stereo mix of the faster version was then done, and then they worked at editing together the stereo mix of the slower version with their new stereo mix of the faster version, calling this “remix 5.” In the end, they decided that their first attempt, “remix 3,” was the better one. An interesting effect was made on this stereo mix in order to distract the listener from the edit between the two versions of the song, this being that the cello and trumpet track (featuring Greg Bowen) was panned quickly from left to right and then stays there for the rest of the song.

Two more tape copies of the mono mixes of the song were created by the same engineering team in EMI Studio Two; one on December 30th, 1966 (between 7 and 8 pm) and the other one on January 2nd, 1967 (between 2:30 and 4 pm). Their intended destination for both of these tape copies was Capitol Records in the US.

Towards the end of 1967, a decision was made that “Strawberry Fields Forever” would be featured on the US album “Magical Mystery Tour.” Since the stereo mix of the song was already made, all EMI needed to do was send over a tape copy of stereo “remix 3” to Capitol Records in the states. This was done by the engineering team of George Martin, Geoff Emerick and 2nd engineer Graham Kirkby on November 7th, 1967 in the control room of EMI Studio Two, along with many other songs that would appear on this album.

Interestingly, on June 6th, 1968, John and Paul did touch on "Strawberry Fields Forever" in EMI Studio Two, but not in a conventional way. During the band's recording of Ringo's "Don't Pass Me By," radio personality Kenny Everett stopped by to interview the group for his BBC Radio 1 series "The Kenny Everett Show." Silliness ensued throughout the interview and, at one point Kenny Everett requested John and Paul to offer up "a rousing chorus of 'Strawberry Fields Forever' in jazz tempo." With John humorously scat singing, snapping his fingers and slapping his knees, Paul sings the chorus in his best improvised lounge voice, not unlike what is heard on their song "You Know My Name (Look Up The Number)." Obviously, this silly version never saw the light of day but is good for a laugh.

The next year, on January 27th, 1969 during one of the final rehearsals at Apple Studios for what became the "Let It Be" album and movie, Paul sat down at the piano and started singing and playing a brief version of "Strawberry Fields Forever" with John chiming in on his Epiphone Casino in an attempt to play George's surmandal part. Shortly after this, the group got down to brass tacks and recorded the official version of their new song "Get Back."

A further stereo mix of the song was created nearly four years later, or on October 26th, 1971, at AIR Studios in London. George Martin used the original tapes to start from scratch, creating new stereo mixes of both the slower and faster versions of the song and then editing them together. Some of the noteworthy differences heard in the new mix include more vibrant percussion quality, the panning from left to right of the surmaldal as heard at the end of the second and third choruses, and the slightly longer fade out at the end of the song (so you can actually hear “cranberry sauce” repeated twice instead of once in the previously released US mix). Lennon can also be heard quietly counting down the bars of the song during these quiet sections. The cello and trumpet track, however, comes in on the right channel this time around just after the main edit, the panning detail probably forgotten by George Martin in the making of this new stereo mix. Nonetheless, this mix is superior to the original stereo mix in many ways and, while it had only been available on German pressings of the “Magical Mystery Tour” album for many years, has become the standard version in subsequent CD releases from 1987 onward.

Sometime in 1995, George Martin and Geoff Emerick reunited for creating new mixes of the slower, faster and demo versions of the song, as detailed above, for “Anthology 2.” Also, George Martin and his son Giles Martin revisited all these master tapes sometime between 2004 and 2006 to create a new version of the song for the 2006 released album "Love."

Sometime in 2015, Giles Martin was commissioned to create yet another new stereo mix of "Strawberry Fields Forever" to pair up with the Beatles film of the song for the DVD and Blu-ray box set entitled "Beatles 1+." Giles Martin and Sam Okell created this excellent stereo mix in Abbey Road Studios, the result being a dynamic mix using the highly sophisticated technological advances of the time, spanning the elements of the recording with less drastic separation. The length of the song is still extended to include two vocalizations of "cranberry sauce," which is good. And while the surmandal is still panned from the left to right channel before the final two verses, Giles Martin was late in fading this instrument up during its appearance towards the end of the song. Otherwise, it's a breathtaking stereo mix.

The new stereo mix described above was eventually released as part of the 50th Anniversary "Sgt. Pepper" LP in many editions. Giles Martin and Sam Okell also saw fit to create mixes for "take one," "take four," "take seven" and "take 26" for inclusion on some editions as well, "take 26" also being released in 2025 on "Anthology 4."

Song Structure and Style

Despite the song's highly elaborate production, it has a rather simple structure. Apart from an inventive introduction and a high-energy rambling conclusion, it parses out as 'chorus/ verse/ chorus/ verse/ chorus/ verse/ chorus' (or abababa). The song has a standard 4/4 time signature but, as was typical for John Lennon, this will vary periodically as described below.

McCartney's districtive Mellotron introduction, which is a shortened version of what he will be performing in the first verse, appears here by itself and is four measures long, the first three being in 4/4 time and the fourth measure being in 2/4 time. The ten-measure chorus starts out with a chord played on bass guitar as the downbeat, followed by John's double-tracked vocal as Paul's Mellotron holds out a single note and the bass guitar chord rings out. An introductory drum fill from Ringo comes in at the beginning of measure two as Harrison's Mellotron guitar first enters the scene on the three beat of the measure.

George's sliding Mellotron guitar descends down until the downbeat of the third measure along with Ringo's cymbal crash, Paul's bass guitar, John's finger-picking rhythm guitar and George's maracas from the rhythm track. Paul's Mellotron holds out chords for measures three through six but then changes to chopped chords in the seventh and eighth measure. As the Mellotron's sliding chord is held out for measures three and four, the Morse code-like beat as mentioned above is heard pulsing in a rhythmic pattern. Measure seven changes the time signature to 2/4 during the words “nothing to get,” but then immediately changes back to 4/4 for the eighth measure (“hung about”). Then the ninth measure changes to 6/8 time while Lennon sings triplets with the lyrics “strawberry fields for-”, this being accompanied by John's chord strumming rhythm guitar, Paul's Mellotron chords and overdubbed bass notes, and Harrison's maraca accents on the 1-2-3-5-6 beats of the measure. The tenth and final measure of the chorus reverts back to 4/4 time once again and consists of John singing “-ever” while the Mellotron holds out a single low note, John's final rhythm guitar chord rings out and Paul's bass note adds a lower end to the sound. Ringo stops playing altogether for the last two measures of the chorus.

Each one of the three verses is a standard eight-measures in length and remains in 4/4 time throughout. The first measure of verse one starts out with Lennon's single-tracked vocals on “living is easy...” while Paul reprises his Mellotron intro phrases and George performs a steady rhythm on maracas. Another introductory drum fill is played by Ringo in measure two while the full band arrangement is resumed in measure three and throughout the remainder of the verse, this comprising John's rhythm guitar, Paul's bass and Ringo's drums. Paul holds out Mellotron chords throughout except for the sixth measure where he returns to playing quarter-note chops during John's lyric “-one but it all works out.” Another added element is Ringo's drum fill at the end of measure four, his third for the song so far. John sings single-tracked through the verse as he did on every verse of the released version, all choruses featuring double-tracked vocals.

The second chorus appears next and is structurally identical with the exception of it being eleven-measures long instead of ten. Since the transition between the slower version and the faster version occurs in this chorus, the instrumentation and arrangement could hardly be any more different. This first measure consists of John's double-tracked vocals and McCartney's single-note Mellotron by itself. Measure two begins yet another introductory drum fill by Ringo which is cut off midstream on the third beat of this measure at the lyric “going to...” Ringo's drum fill in the slower version of the song is completed by the one he performed in the faster version, a difference in drum tone being detected here because of this recording utilizing a substitute producer/engineer as well as the track being slowed down substantially to match up both the tempo and key of the song. John's vocals also noticeably sound eerily lower in tone here, which creates a menacing feel to the mind-altering experience one may have in this mysterious “Strawberry Fields” place!

Other elements that appear at this point include George's Mellotron guitar falling from the second into the third measure and Paul holding out a single Mellotron note in the third and fourth measure. Also, the cellos play a low foreboding score by George Martin while Paul comes in on timpani, George Harrison on bongos, Mal Evans on tambourine and Ringo on drums who now is even more generous with drum fills. Also adding to the percussive din is backward drumming as produced by Dave Harries on December 8th, this being heard in all the remaining choruses of the recording. The trumpets appear for the first time in measures seven and eight. The climactic ninth measure displays the cellos underlying John's very British-sounding lyric “strawberry fields foreveh!” with a deep bass resonance that is held out commandingly through the tenth and eleventh measures of the chorus. Ringo and Mal Evans accent John's final lyrics percussively, this falling off for the remainder of the chorus. The added eleventh measure is filled out by Harrison's descending surmandal eighth-note melody line while the cellos still hold down the low end.

The second verse is extremely different from the first verse instrumentally although it is identical structurally. There are no keyboards or guitars of any kind, the trumpets and cellos being the main instruments. John sings single tracked while the trumpets hold out a structured chord throughout. On the three beat of the first measure we hear a stray final note from George's surmandal (on the word “think”) and then Ringo's carefully planned backwards cymbals are panned in by the conclusion of the second measure, which become louder as the verse continues. On the third beat of the fourth measure the cellos enter the picture holding out harmonized notes through the fifth and sixth measures. The cellos then change to eighth notes for the seventh and eighth measures while a crashed cymbal dissolves at the fourth beat of the eighth measure.

The third chorus then begins with the cellos holding out their low notes as a pad for John's double-tracked vocals. George's descending guitar and surmandal performances, McCartney's single note Mellotron performance, Ringo's drum playing (frontwards and backwards) and the heavy percussion are done quite similarly to what was heard in the second chorus, but George Martin's cello and trumpet score is more elaborate and is put more in the foreground this time around.

Verse three, while similar to verse two, has some noticeable differences as well. The trumpets are the first to appear as a backdrop this time, playing a quarter-note pattern for the first three measures. They disappear in the fourth measure to allow the cellos to play in quarter-notes for the second half of the measure, but then perform a triplet pattern for the fifth measure and the first half of the sixth measure, returning back to quarter-notes in the second half of the measure. The trumpets come back in playing half-notes for the seventh and eighth measures while the cellos play eighth-notes throughout the seventh and eighth measures, changing to sixteenth-notes on the final beat of measure eight. Also noteworthy are Ringo's backwards cymbals that alter from quarter-notes to sixteenth-notes from the measure six until the verse completes.

The fourth and final chorus then appears, this one being fifteen-measures long. All of the elements of the previous two choruses (except the surmandal) are kept intact but the cello and trumpet score was changed up a little once again. The first vocal line this time, however, is sung in harmony, the only harmony vocals that are in this otherwise elaborate arrangement. The added measures in this chorus feature the following: The last phrase “strawberry fields forever” is repeated three times and the eleventh surmandal measure was omitted, this resulting in measure eleven now being in 6/8 time to accommodate Lennon's repeating the song's title a second time. The twelfth measure is in 3/4 time as a space-keeper, while the thirteenth measure is also in 6/8 time for the third repeat of the song's title. Two measures of 4/4 end this chorus, the second featuring a lead guitar figure from Paul as a segue into the meandering ending of the song. The cello and trumpet score, Ringo's drum fills and assorted percussion follow along as the ending pattern of this chorus unfolds.

Now the song jumps into the psychedelic twenty-seven measure finale. The heavy percussion and the double-tracked drums propel all of these measures while other elements are added in an arbitrary way. Paul plunks out quarter-note chords on a piano, which he continues to do until the song fades. George Martin had the cellos perform a simple score for measures one through four and then on the sixth measure. Paul plays a simple guitar passage in the fifth measure while George Harrison reprises his surmandal in measures seven through twelve, the instrument also being detected in measures three and five among the cellos. During these measures, this song begins to fade away, fooling the listener into thinking the song is complete. In these quiet moments, in measures twelve through fourteen, we start to hear Lennon's indistinguishable vocal hi-jinks, which carry on through to the end of the recording.

Upon examination (especially of the bootleg recordings), the exactness of the song's downbeat becomes somewhat obscured, creating a disorienting feeling, which may have influenced George Martin to reduce the song's volume at this point to hide the sloppiness. During this sloppiness, in measure fifteen, is the first appearance of the “looped flutes” Mellotron from Paul (or possibly George Martin or Lennon), which signals the song to be faded up once again, the highest volume being reached through multiple quarter- note trumpet blasts in measures eighteen through twenty. The Mellotron dissipates with the appearance of the trumpets, but then reappears for measures twenty-one through twenty-three. As the Mellotron disappears, the song begins to fade again while John mutters “cranberry sauce” for the first time in measure twenty-four and then again in measure twenty-six (as heard in some versions of the song). As Paul's fiddling on piano and drums/percussion finally winds down, this history changing recording finally fades from view.

After the engineering team's excellent editing and tape manipulations, John's lead vocals never sounded more menacing or hypnotic, this contributing perfectly to the song's lyrical mystery. John's competent finger-picking electric guitar work in the first segment is proof of his adeptness with the instrument, if anyone ever doubted his ability as a guitarist. Paul, as usual, stirred various ladles in this pot with his masterful Mellotron playing, as well as his contributions on bass, piano, lead guitar and timpani. Ringo shines brightly with his double-tracked drums, flamboyant fills, and strategic backwards cymbal work. George Harrison may be thought to have taken a back seat on the song, but his contributions include the Mellotron, surmandal, bongos and even maracas, all done well.

As far as George Martin's role, he stated: “In John's case, his ideas weren't all that concise, so I had to try to realize what he wanted and how to effect it, and I would do this either by means of an orchestra or by sound effects or a combination of both. My role was an interesting one...it presented many challenges for me. I would come up to new problems every day because John's songs themselves presented those problems. John's songs in the early days were straightforward and you could not play around with them too much. Here we are building sound pictures.” George Martin and Geoff Emerick established the knack for transforming John's ideas into masterpieces, evidenced best in “Strawberry Fields Forever.”

Conclusion

“I was at a cocktail party which was given by an art critic and he said, 'Listen to this,' and he put (“Strawberry Fields Forever”) on, and he said, 'Can you imagine, pop songs coming to this?' So I just thought, 'Wow!' Even now, I get emotional when I hear the song. This was the first Beatles song I ever heard.” This quote from Yoko Ono encapsulates the overall effect this song has had on the history of popular music.

Only recording artists with this degree of foresight, as well as sufficient influence on the current culture, could break wide open the boundaries of the typical three-minute popular radio format and be welcomed with open arms (eventually if not immediately). The Beatles were able to accomplish this with virtually every release from this time onward. They were not content with following the status quo and it resulted in their development of the musical landscape into whatever was deemed to be palatable for the general public. And what became palatable kept growing and flourishing until today. I'd say it's undeniable that it was The Beatles alone who made it fashionable for recording artists to express themselves openly and without constraint. “Strawberry Fields Forever” played a big part in helping pop music leave conformity behind forever!

Song Summary

“Strawberry Fields Forever”

Written by: John Lennon / Paul McCartney

• ^{Song Written: September and November, 1966}
• ^{Song Recorded: November 28, 29 and December 8, 9, 15 & 21, 1966}
• ^{First US Release Date: February 13, 1967}
• ^{US Single Release: Capitol #5810}
• ^{Highest Chart Position: #8}
• ^{First US Album Release: Capitol #SMAL-2835 “Magical Mystery Tour”}
• ^{British Album Release: Apple #PSCP 718 “The Beatles/1967-1970”}
• ^{Length: 4:05}
• ^{Key: B flat (generally)}
• ^{Producer: George Martin, Dave Harries}
• ^{Engineers: Geoff Emerick, Dave Harries, Phil McDonald}

Instrumentation (most likely):

• ^{John Lennon - Lead and Harmony Vocals, Rhythm Guitar (1965 Epiphone ES-230TD Casino)}
• ^{Paul McCartney - Mellotron (Mark II), Lead Guitar (1964 Fender Esquire), Piano (Hamburg Steinway Baby Grand), Bass (1964 Rickenbacker 4001 S), timpani}
• ^{George Harrison - Mellotron (Mark II), surmandal, maracas, bongos}
• ^{Ringo Starr - Drums (1964 Ludwig Super Classic Black Oyster Pearl)}
• ^{Tony Fisher - Trumpet}
• ^{Greg Bowen - Trumpet}
• ^{Derek Watkins - Trumpet}
• ^{Stanley Roderick - Trumpet}
• ^{John Hall - Cello}
• ^{Derek Simpson - Cello}
• ^{Norman Jones - Cello}
• ^{Mal Evans - Tambourine} 

"Clarity" by Dave Rybs

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