OB-LA-DI, OB-LA-DA AND ITS INCREDIBLE RECORDING PROCESS.

On May 29th, 1968, as on the previous day, The Beatles met at 'Kinfauns,' George's home in Surrey, to record demos for all the songs they had recently written in preparation to officially start recording their next album. On this second day at 'Kinfauns,” Paul recorded a very charming acoustic guitar rendition of “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da,” overdubbing himself on guitar and vocals as well as beating on what sounds like bongos (but what may very likely have been the back of his acoustic guitar). Paul convincingly demonstrates the Jamaican-flavored imagery he envisioned for the song, complete with vocal “chick-a-boom, chick-a-boom...” expressions in the bridges of the song. The primitive recording made on this day easily gets out of sync during double-tracking at times, but nonetheless shows the enduring quality of the song.

The Beatles didn't bring the song into EMI studios until a little over a month later, or July 3rd, 1968, arriving around 8 pm in Studio Two. Although documentation shows George Martin to be present on this day as producer, Geoff Emerick remembers otherwise: “George happened to be absent on the first night The Beatles started running down 'Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da,' so Chris (Thomas) was the de facto producer. Initially, we all enjoyed doing the track because of its lighthearted up-tempo feel.”

It appears that only Paul and Ringo actually worked at attempting to lay down the rhythm track on this day, Paul on acoustic guitar while singing lead vocals off microphone as a guide vocal, and Ringo on drums. Seven takes were recorded, the seventh take being considered 'best' at first, upon which Paul overdubbed his lead vocals and then a second acoustic guitar. Paul then reconsidered his choice of 'take seven,' thinking 'take four' was best after all. Onto this take, Paul overdubbed a second acoustic guitar, abandoning 'take seven' forever. Since the hour had reached 3:15 am the following day, Paul decided to leave off recording his lead vocals until the next day.

That next day, July 4th, 1968, saw The Beatles re-enter EMI Studio Two for more overdubs on the song. The session was said to have started at 7 pm but, given that not much occurred on this day, it's more likely that they arrived later. First on the agenda was for Paul to record his lead vocals onto the previous days' 'take four,' followed by John and George recording their “la-la” backing vocals on the last open track. “Even Lennon got into it – at first, anyway,” Geoff Emerick explains, “because it gave him a chance to clown around with his silly voices.” Since the four-track tape was now full, a reduction mix was made to open up new tracks, allowing Paul to double-track his lead vocals onto what was now considered 'take five.' By 2:15 am the following morning, the session was complete.

More overdubs were recorded that following day, July 5th, 1968, once again at EMI Studio Two. The overdubs this time, however, were not performed by The Beatles but by session musicians brought in at the request of Paul, playing a score worked out by Paul and transcribed by George Martin. The session was scheduled to begin at 5 pm, but the bulk of the recorded overdubs happened between 6 and 10:30 pm. Three saxophonists, James Gray, Rex Morris and Cyril Reuben, recorded their parts as well as, none other than, Jimmy Scott (the same person who coined the “Ob-la-di...” phrase) on bongos, no doubt as a concession from Paul for his inspiration to the song. Rex Morris, acknowledging his performance on “Ob-La-Da, Ob-La-Da” as “the reggae one,” remembers: “Yoko Ono was there at the session.”

Then, between 10:30 and 11:45 pm, a piccolo overdub was performed. (Documents do not reveal the identity of this musician.) It appears that Paul decided that this piccolo part was not suitable for the song, so he instead recorded another guitar overdub on the same track as the piccolo, recording over this musicians' performance.

Chris Thomas, who was also present at this session, recalls the uniqueness of this guitar overdub: “Paul was deliberately overloading the sound through the desk so that it sounded like a bass.” Paul remembers some technical details about this overdub: “You can defeat the machine. For example, one trick of ours – 'Ob-La-Di' is one of the songs I did this on – was to over-record an acoustic guitar, so you'd swing the needle into the red, and it'd be there, hard, every time you'd played it. The engineer would say 'No, no, no this is not allowed, we have to keep it just before the red or a little into the red!' and we'd be firm and say 'No.' And the acoustic would come back like an electric; it wouldn't distort too much, it would just mess around with that original sound. It'd make it hot. You'd defeated the machine; you'd actually screwed it up a bit. They're harder than ever to defeat now. They've thought of all that. If you're going to work in the red now, there's a little computer that comes in and says 'Limit!,' stops it and brings it back. They're all so clever these days, and you can't actually screw up.”

As far as all the effort put into recording “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da,” things started getting somewhat tense in the studio on this day, as explained by Geoff Emerick. “It started going on and on, dragging out over three nights. Paul wasn't happy with the rhythm of the track or with the way his vocal lay. He was after a Jamaican reggae feel, and he wasn't satisfied that the band had nailed it. The problem intensified by the fact that even Paul didn't quite know how to lock it in rhythmically, and so he grew pretty frustrated with himself. Paul was something of a perfectionist by this point, but he also had to think that perhaps that had something to do with why he was so fussy about the recording of the song – maybe he did that just to annoy John, just to teach him a lesson.”

“Throughout the preceding weeks I had noticed that John's behavior was becoming increasingly erratic – his mood swings were more severe, and they were occurring more frequently. That was definitely the case with the recording of (this song). One moment he'd be into it, acting the fool and doing his fake Jamaican patois, the next minute he'd be sulking and grumbling about how the song was more of Paul's 'granny music sh*t.' You never knew exactly where you stood with Lennon at any given time, but things indeed got worse.”

In any event, under these strained circumstances, after a short playback of the day's work, this session was complete, everyone gone by 1:30 am the next morning.

During the next three days, Paul decided that, upon his hearing the last playback of the song, that he wanted to start from scratch. This was a first for The Beatles; to have spent the money and taken the time to recruit outside musicians for a particular song and then decide not to use anything they'd contributed. If things were tense in the studio before, things were bound to be unbearable now!

And so it was, on July 8th, 1968, when The Beatles returned to EMI Studio Two at 5 pm (or so) to find out that Paul wanted to begin again on the same song that has been getting on everyone's nerves! “John went ballistic,” Geoff Emerick relates. “Ranting and raving, he headed out the door, with Yoko trailing closely behind, and we thought that we'd seen the last of him that evening. But a few hours later he stormed back into the studio, clearly in a highly altered state of mind.”

“'I AM F*CKING STONED!!' John Lennon bellowed from the top of the stairs. He had chosen to make his entrance through the upstairs door, presumably so that he could quickly gain the attention of the three startled Beatles below. Swaying slightly, he continued, waving his arms for emphasis. 'I am more stoned than you have ever been. In fact, I am more stoned than you will ever be!'...'And this,' Lennon added with a snarl, 'is how the f*cking song should go.' Unsteadily, he lurched down the stairs and over to the piano and began smashing the keys with all his might, pounding out the famous opening chords that became the song's introduction, played at a breakneck tempo. A very upset Paul got right in Lennon's face. For a moment I thought fists might fly.”

“'Okay, then, John,' he said in short, clipped words, staring his deranged bandmate straight in the eye. 'Let's do it your way.' As angry as he was, I think that deep down inside Paul was flattered that his longtime collaborator had given the song any thought at all...even though he had obviously done so while getting out of his skull.”

It's funny how, when two different people witness the same event, they may have completely different takes on what occurred. In his book “Many Years From Now,” Paul describes this development like so: “I remember being in the studio with George and Ringo, struggling with an acoustic version of the song. John was late for the session, but when he arrived, he bounced in, apologizing, in a very good mood. He sat down at the piano and instantly played the blue-beat-style intro. We were very pleased with his fresh attitude. It turned us on and turned the whole song around. He and I worked hard on the vocals, and I remember the two of us in the studio having a whale of a time.”

Although both of these eyewitness events sound convincing, the “whale of a time” appears when listening to the uncut introduction of this song on a rough mix which Ringo presented to his friend Peter Sellers, this mix made available on bootlegs.

Having established how to proceed with recording this new version of the song, twelve takes of the rhythm track was recorded on this day with John on piano, Paul on fuzz bass, George on acoustic guitar and Ringo on drums. One additional element from the original version was the inclusion of the phrase “and if you want some fun” at the conclusion of the song. Having filled all four tracks of the tape with this performance, a tape reduction was made of 'take 12', which made it 'take 13', this backing track reduced to track one of a new tape. Paul overdubbed lead vocals while John and George overdubbed backing vocals, this taking up tracks three and four of the tape, while 'Latin American percussion' (maracas and other assorted instruments) were added onto track two. The “other assorted instruments” may very well have included the small intricate piano overdubs heard in the last verse, these most likely being played by Paul.

Engineer Richard Lush relates the overall tension of the day: “Looking back now it was great to be involved with The Beatles, but there was a negative side. They spent so much time doing each song that I can remember sitting in the control room before a session dying to hear them start a new one. They must have done 'Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da' five nights running and it's not exactly the most melodic piece of music. They'd do it one night, and you'd think 'that's it.' But then they'd come in the next day and do it again in a different key or with a different feel. Poor Ringo would be playing from about three in the afternoon until one in the morning, with few breaks in between, and then have to do it all over again the next night.”

Just before the session dispersed for the evening at 3 am the next morning, a rough mono mix of the song was created by the engineering team of George Martin, Geoff Emerick, and Richard Lush to be taken away by Paul for his inspection. Surely he would be happy with the song now! Emerick stood convinced the song was complete at this point: “The remake was, I had to admit, quite good. It had a bouncier feel to it than the original version, which seemed a bit leaden by comparison, and when it was completed, we all breathed a sigh of relief that we wouldn't have to be working on the song anymore.”

However... “Sadly, Paul returned to his nitpicking ways the very next afternoon,” Emerick continues, “announcing peremptorily that he was still dissatisfied and wanted to remake the song yet again...despite the fact that Ringo wasn't even there.” On this day, July 9th, 1968, The Beatles arrived this time in EMI Studio Three for a late afternoon session from 4 to 9 pm, Ringo possibly not being informed they were meeting so early. Emerick relates: “Paul got behind the drums instead and led a clearly steamed Lennon and Harrison through another couple of run-throughs (takes 20 and 21) before he finally capitulated and gave up.”

Ringo, probably arriving at the usual 7 pm, reported to have walked into a session (presumably in the usual EMI Studio Two) for singer Solomon King. Not knowing where his bandmates were, he contributed a handclapping performance for his song “A Hundred Years Or More.” At some point, he must have realized that the rest of The Beatles were waiting for him in EMI Studio Three, their evening session beginning at 10 pm. Poor Ringo!

With all four Beatles now present, they worked at making the previous attempt at “Ob-La-Da, Ob-La-Da” the finished product after all. A decision was made to replace the vocals recorded on tracks three and four the previous day, them “gathered around the microphone,” as Emerick relates, to record a lot of what is heard on the finished version, such as the laughing, joking, ho-hos and he-hees.

Included here is after Paul sings “lend a hand,” John replies “arm,” and then George cries “leg.” In the second bridge, after Paul sings “home sweet home,” John spells out “h – o – m – e – home.” Then, in the final verse, after Paul again sings “lend a hand,” George retorts “foot.” Emerick continues, “Interestingly, all the bad feelings of the past weeks seemed to evaporate as soon as they gathered around the mic and I fed tape echo into their headphones. That's all it took for them to suspend their petty disagreements; for those few moments, they would clown around and act silly again, like they did when they were kids, just starting out. Then as soon as they'd take the cans off, they'd go back to hating each other. It was very odd – it was almost as if having the headphones on and hearing that echo put them in a dreamlike state.”

With this, another tape reduction was necessary, which turned 'take 13' into 'take 22.” Onto this, this four Beatles overdubbed some vocal percussion and handclaps (Ringo did a lot of hand clapping on this day!). John then announced that he wanted to record another version of the previously recorded song “Revolution,” which ushered in some rehearsals that eventually ended the session at 3:30 am the following morning.

More attention was given to “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da,” however, a couple of days later, July 11th, 1968, as the group reassembled in EMI Studio Three at around 7 pm. Three saxophonists were once again employed to perform on this new version, two of which are thought to be Rex Morris and Ronnie Scott as well as an unnamed third musician. After their recorded contribution ended, another tape reduction was needed, two attempts made resulting in the first attempt (take 23) being the keeper. Onto this, Paul overdubbed another bass guitar track, but apparently not with an actual bass guitar.  In a 1994 interview with Tony Bacon, Paul explained that, concerning the bass on "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da," he "double-tracked it with an acoustic guitar, which is a cool idea: an octave up from the bass, playing exactly the same on acoustic."

The night was then finished off with the team of George Martin, Geoff Emerick and 2nd engineer Phil McDonald creating yet another rough mono mix of the song, two attempts being made of this as well. By 3:45 am the next morning, this session was also then complete.

The following day, July 12th, 1968, The Beatles met in EMI Studio Two at around 3 pm to complete work on Ringo's composition “Don't Pass Me By,” afterwards sticking around to oversee two more attempts at a mono mix of “Ob-La-Da, Ob-La-Da.” Evidence of Paul, Ringo and George in the control room during this mixing session lingers on a tape of out-takes and studio chatter compiled at The Beatles' request, the three of them announcing “remix ten” with various humorous accents when this song's mono mix took shape. By 11 pm this session was over, the newly created mono mix of Paul's song being taken away by him for more scrutiny.

Three days later, on July 15th, 1968, Paul's scrutiny revealed that he still wasn't satisfied with his lead vocals. That being the case, he gave his vocals another go in EMI Studio Two at an afternoon session held between 3:30 and 8 pm.

Geoff Emerick recounts the details of this day. “After setting up the vocal microphone for Paul down in Studio Two and getting a headphone mix together, Richard (Lush) and I began the long, tedious process of rolling and re-rolling the tape as he experimented endlessly, making minute changes to the lead vocal, in search of some kind of elusive perfection that only he could hear in his head... 'Paul, can you try rephrasing the last line of each verse?' George Martin asked in his gentle, slightly aristocratic voice...He was still trying to do his job, still trying to steer his charges toward increased musical sophistication and help push them to their best performances. 'If you think you can do it better, why don't you f*cking come down here and sing it yourself?' he snarled as he whipped off his headphones and glared up at the control room.”

“Stunned, I looked over at George. Even he couldn't understand why Paul was still trying to redo the vocal track; in those days you simply didn't spend huge amounts of time doing that sort of fine-tuning. But as the ferocity of McCartney's verbal attack sunk in, he turned pale, clearly choking back his anger and humiliation. What happened next shocked me to the core: in sheer frustration, quiet, low-key George Martin actually began shouting back at Paul. 'Then bloody sing it again!' he yelled over the talkback, causing me to wince. 'I give up. I just don't know any better how to help you.' It was the first time I had ever heard George Martin raise his voice in a session. The silence following the outburst was equally deafening.” It was this event that was the last straw for engineer Geoff Emerick, who decided that he no longer wanted to work with The Beatles anymore. He showed up for their session on the following day and then, after a long history of working with the band, abandoned his role as engineer for the rest of the “White Album.” (He eventually resumed working with The Beatles nine months later.)

Paul finally completed his lead vocal track to his own satisfaction on this day, leaving in a particular lyric flub.  Friend Pete Shotton was present on this day and, in his book "John Lennon: In My Life," relates the following eyewitness account of this lyrical mistake:  "After finally turning in what sounded like a flawless performance, (Paul) burst out laughing.  'Oh, sh*t!' he said.  'We'll have to do it again!'  'Well, it sounded OK to me,' John yawned.  'Yeah,' George agreed.  'It was perfect.'  'But didn't you notice?' Paul demanded.  'Notice what?' said John.  'I just sang "Desmond stays at home and does his pretty face"...I should've sung "Molly!"'  The others refused to believe him - until George Martin played back the tape and proved Paul was right.  'Oh, it sounds great anyway,' Paul concluded.  'Let's just leave it in - create a bit of confusion there.  Everyone will wonder whether Desmond's a bisexual or a transvestite.'"

Ten attempts at creating a mono mix of the now completed song took place, although none of these sounded right for the released album.

Apparently, Paul did not receive any of the mono mixes created on this day so, on August 27th, 1968, a tape copy was made in the control room of EMI Studio Two of the song, as well as three others, which were taken away by Mal Evans then given to the group. This was probably the mix that eventually ended up in the hands of Peter Sellers, as mentioned above.

Both the stereo and mono mixes that surfaced on the released album were created on October 12th, 1968 in the control room of EMI Studio Two by the team of George Martin, Ken Scott, and John Smith. This team worked from 7 pm to 5:45 am the next morning creating mixes also for various other “White Album” tracks. The stereo mix came first, four attempts, followed by the mono mix which they accomplished in one try. One noticeable difference between the two is the absence of handclapping at the beginning of the mono mix.

Snatches of the Beatles performing the song during the “Get Back/Let It Be” sessions trickled on tape during January of 1969.  There were four times that “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da” was touched on, the dates being January 3rd at Twickenham Film Studios, and the 13th, 14th, and 24th at Apple Studios.  One silly version features John taking most of the lead vocals, singing “Oh, my God, Oh, my God” where the song's title should be, as well as a verse that contains the lyrics:  “Desmond has a sparrow in his pocketbook / Molly had an eagle in the sand / Molly said to Dezzy, 'My, I like your hook / And when you hit me I believe your in the band.'”  John then concludes the song with “Well, if you want some jam...”

A stereo mix of the original version of “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da” was created sometime in 1996 for inclusion on the compilation album “Anthology 3.” Edited onto the beginning of this mix is John shouting “Yes sir, Take one of the Mighty Jumbo Band,” as well as John's exclamation “Ob-la-di, ob-la-da, brother” at the song's conclusion.

Although it's not very noticeable, piano from “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da” is featured in the mash-up of “Lady Madonna” created by George Martin and his son Giles Martin sometime between 2004 and 2006. This creation lulls on the album “Love.”

As for the song structure, it follows a simple pattern of 'verse/ chorus/ verse/ chorus/ bridge/ verse/ chorus/ bridge/ verse/ chorus' (or ababcabcab) with a simple introduction and conclusion thrown in and no solo or instrumental section required therein.

As for the style of the song, Paul was working hard to capture a Jamaican-flavored sound. Around the time of the album's release, when asked about the reason he chose a Jamaican style for this song, Paul stated: “I've no idea why it's Jamaican or anything, it's just because I like that kind of music. I think this was mainly me; John's a bit more Nigerian influenced.” Paul was attempting to emulate the pseudo-reggae style of music coined “ska,” which had become quite popular in Britain in the 60's as commonly found on the record label “Blue Beat.” With the accents on the offbeats, John hit upon it nicely with his piano playing on the released version of the song, something not quite captured in The Beatles' first recorded version. An interesting note is that The Beatles touched on the “ska” craze much earlier in their career, the solo portion of the song “I Call Your Name” capturing this feel quite nicely.

“Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da” starts off with a five-measure introduction, the first measure consisting fully of John's piano chords, this startling the listener away from the spooky gloominess of the faded orchestral score that concludes the previous track “Glass Onion.” The second and third measures feature John's syncopated piano chording along with Paul's bass guitar performance on acoustic guitar, the third measure including a spot of handclapping (stereo version only). The fourth and fifth measures bring in Ringo's drums, George's acoustic guitar and Paul's actual bass guitar performance, which is mimicking the simple pattern played by the acoustic bass guitar overdub.

The first verse, like all the verses, repeat a uniform eight measures long, this one continuing the same instrumentation from the introduction with the inclusion of Paul's single-tracked lead vocal, treated nonetheless with much ADT (Artificial Double Tracking). The first eight-measure chorus enters next which continues the same instrumentation with the only addition being John and George's backing vocals sung in unison with Paul's lead vocals.

The second verse then commences which is identical to the first except for the new lyrics and a couple of word insertions, this being John repeating the words “ring” and “sing” at the end of those lyric lines. The chorus that follows has all the elements of the first with the addition of overdubbed falsetto vocals singing “la, la, la....bra, la, la, how the life goes on” twice. With some commotion going on throughout, such as assorted clicks and pops from one of the vocal overdub tracks, we hear Paul exclaim “yeah” along with the first drum break from Ringo in the eighth measure.

The first occurrence of the eight-measure bridge comes next, which contain the same instrumental elements as heard in the song thus far. After the subtle sound of someone saying what sounds like “Go” on the downbeat of the first measure, Paul sings solo single-tracked lead vocals throughout while adding in some “chicka-chick, chicka-chick...” reggae-sounding vocal percussion in the third and fourth measures. Also added here are overdubbed quickly shaken maracas (possibly by Ringo) in the second through sixth measures as well as harmonized saxophones in measures three through five. Measures seven and eight show all instruments cutting out except for John's syncopated piano chords. Paul continues singing to finish out the bridge, complemented by John's “oooooh, ho-ho-ho-ho” in the final measure, this quietly continuing into the first measure of the verse that follows.

The third verse comes next, following the same format instrumentally as the others but with a slight drum fill from Ringo in the fourth measure. This measure also includes the “arm” and “leg” vocal hi-jinx as mentioned above. Paul adds a few additional extraneous notes on one of his bass performances during measures two and three. The saxophones enter in again in the eighth measure of this verse with a counter-melody line that continues throughout the chorus that follows. Paul excitedly raises the range of the chorus melody line in the final measure of the verse but maintains the true melody throughout this third chorus as it is sung in unison with John and George as before. John adds a little “hee-hee-hee” in the background of the chorus's fourth measure and a piano thumb roll in the eighth measure.

The second appearance of the bridge then appears, the maracas appearing again in the second through sixth measures but being played in a standard way this time around instead of shaken vigorously. The saxophones appear again in the third and fourth measures as before but also interject a melody line in the seventh and eighth measures this time as well. In the far background, during the first saxophone line, one can hear John's “h-o-m-e, home” mumble as mentioned above. Also heard in the seventh and eighth measures are what sound like bongos, Paul harmonizing with himself on the line “Desmond and Molly Jones,” and John singing “ha-ha-ha-ha...” in the background.

The fourth verse appears next which is lyrically a repeat of the third verse. Assorted squeaks and background vocalizations occur during this verse, including some “ha-ha-ha”s in the fourth and fifth measures and George's reply of “foot” in the fourth measure as an answer to Paul's “lend a hand” in the lead vocals. A touch of bongos is still apparent in the second measure as are two overdubbed piano phrases in the fourth and sixth measures. Paul's character mix up occurs in this verse, humorously exchanging “Desmond” and “Molly” as mentioned above, the eighth measure also including a tom-tom break from Ringo to usher in the next section.

The final chorus then appears which includes Paul's higher pitched vocalization whenever the words “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da” occur. The saxophone counter-melody line returns throughout this chorus, as does the continuation of assorted “ha-ha-ha”s in the fourth and fifth measures. This chorus is seven measures long, however, the final measure clipped off to bring in the song's three-measure conclusion. The chord goes minor for the first two of these measures, Ringo performing a drum break at the end of the first measure where the eighth measure of the chorus would have been. Some tinkling percussion and high pitched “ha-ha-ha”s appear in these measures as does Paul's new lyric “and if you want some fun...take ob-la-di-bla-da” performed double-tracked this time. The song ends suddenly on the fourth beat of the third measure with John's final piano chord, the laughter continuing afterward for a moment or two. John is heard saying “thank you,” as if he is relieved that the song is now complete.

Despite all the aggravation the recording of this song produced, taking the longest of all the tracks on the “White Album” to record, the listener is treated to the illusion of frivolity between the four happy-go-lucky boys from Liverpool, hamming it up with their “Goons”-like humor similar to their early Christmas messages to fan club members. Paul may be the driving force on the song, but John plays a vital role in giving it the “ska” feel on the piano, something Paul had been reaching for all along. Paul's bass work is rudimentary throughout but purposely planned that way as to give the song that easy accessibility he desired. Ringo and George put in suitable performances as well. Overall, the listener is treated to a fun Jamaican-style song that, once gets inserted into the brain, isn't easily removed.

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