Post by paulclarkson on Feb 5, 2006 12:34:45 GMT
A HARD DAYS NIGHT
STUDIO 1
2ND APRIL 2005
Since 1929 number 3 Abbey Road in St Johns Wood has been a recording studio. Such names as Edward Elgar, Glenn Miller, Peter Sellers, Spike Milligan, Cliff Richard & The Shadows, to name a few, had already recorded there before The Beatles made their mark on the British and then World music scene. Since the 1960’s, Abbey Road has been home to Paul McCartney & Wings, Pink Floyd, Queen, Radiohead and The Manic Street Preachers. The list is endless, as over the years Abbey Road has become one of the leading recording studios in the world.
Of course it was the arrival in 1962 of the Beatles that really put the studio on the map. With the help of producer George Martin, The Beatles went on to change the way groups recorded forever. Over 7 years they dominated the music world from number 3 Abbey Road.
From 19th March to 3rd April this year Abbey Road held its own film festival. All the films shown during this period had their soundtracks recorded at the studio. Some of the film soundtracks recorded in Abbey Road were ‘The Raiders of the Lost Ark’, ‘Aliens’ and ‘Lord of the Rings’. The film we were to see was ‘A Hard Days Night’ which was recorded in 1964 in studio 2. We’ve stood outside Abbey Road Studios on several occasions, never imagining that we would ever get to go inside. The feeling of going into a building that has so much history was breathtaking, so you can imagine how we felt when we found ourselves going through the doors of studio 2 and into the very room where the Beatles made history. The films were being shown in studio 1 where a cinema-style seating plan had been erected. In studio 2 there was an exhibition of pictures and instruments that had been used over the years, this included the piano that Paul had recorded ‘Lady Madonna’ on and the organ that Billy Preston had played on the ‘Let it Be’ LP. There was also a short film being shown of the history of the studios narrated by Paul Jones.
We were totally in awe to see the staircase, that we have seen in so many pictures, that John, Paul, George and Ringo would have mounted several times to hear playbacks in the mixing room overlooking studio 2. I thought of the day in February 1963 when they recorded the LP ‘Please Please Me’ in one day and the stories surrounding that recording, John with his bad cold and the large jar of ‘Zubes’ throat lozenges that he kept taking to help him through the day and that brilliant recording of ‘And Your Bird Can Sing’ from the Anthology CD’s where they couldn’t sing for laughing so much. We could have stayed in there for hours and it still wouldn’t have been long enough. Time was getting on though and it was near to the film starting so we made our way to studio 1, thoughts of the ‘All You Need Is Love’ worldwide screening were coming to mind now and Pink Floyd recording ‘Dark Side of the Moon’.
We had a lovely surprise before the film started as we were treated to a performance by Neil Innes of The Rutles fame of the songs ‘I Must Be In Love’ and ‘Back in ‘64’. The lights dimmed and the film started, we love ‘A Hard Days Night’ as it sums up the ‘Beatlemania’ era perfectly, has lots of comic moments and of course a brilliant soundtrack. The film finished, all too soon, with a round of applause and then we were introduced to two actors from the film, Victor Spinetti (the TV director in the film) and David Janson, credited as David Jaxon (the little boy who befriended Ringo by the riverbank). Also there were Roy Benson (assistant editor) and David Millings (son of Dougie Millings, the Beatles tailors). Victor was on good form, his love for The Beatles is obvious, not just the group but the individual people. He talks with great fondness about them and is always at pains to state that they were just ordinary people who were never affected by their fame. As John said in the film ‘I could listen to him for hours’. It was great to see David Janson as well, as a small boy at stage school he was chosen from hundreds of hopefuls for the part, he said it was just another audition and he wasn’t told until the day he was chosen what film it was for. Roy Benson told us that although he was over qualified for the position of assistant editor he was desperate to land the job when he found out just what it was. He told us he went on to be the editor on The Magical Mystery Tour film. David Millings had some great stories about when The Beatles were having fittings for their suits and how his father was roped in for a small part in the film. They all agreed that The Beatles were a very close knit group, when all the madness was going on around them they seemed to be able to shut it all out and stay level headed. During the interview session we were told that the filmmakers wanted the film shot and in the can within 3 months, which is amazing, as they were sure the ‘Beatlemania’ bubble was going to burst any day. To be in Abbey Road studios 31 years later, listening to people who were involved in the film and knowing that the Beatle legacy is still going strong, was absolutely brilliant.
The evening had passed all too soon, as we made our way back out into the corridor between studios 1 & 2, my mind went back again, this time to 1972, is this really where Henry McCullough was asked by Pink Floyd to do a voice recording while he was on a break from recording with Wings. There is so much history in this building it was all just buzzing around in my head and I was reluctant to leave. We left number 3 Abbey Road after a fantastic evening and made our way back across the famous zebra crossing and home.
Paul and Pam Clarkson
STUDIO 1
2ND APRIL 2005
Since 1929 number 3 Abbey Road in St Johns Wood has been a recording studio. Such names as Edward Elgar, Glenn Miller, Peter Sellers, Spike Milligan, Cliff Richard & The Shadows, to name a few, had already recorded there before The Beatles made their mark on the British and then World music scene. Since the 1960’s, Abbey Road has been home to Paul McCartney & Wings, Pink Floyd, Queen, Radiohead and The Manic Street Preachers. The list is endless, as over the years Abbey Road has become one of the leading recording studios in the world.
Of course it was the arrival in 1962 of the Beatles that really put the studio on the map. With the help of producer George Martin, The Beatles went on to change the way groups recorded forever. Over 7 years they dominated the music world from number 3 Abbey Road.
From 19th March to 3rd April this year Abbey Road held its own film festival. All the films shown during this period had their soundtracks recorded at the studio. Some of the film soundtracks recorded in Abbey Road were ‘The Raiders of the Lost Ark’, ‘Aliens’ and ‘Lord of the Rings’. The film we were to see was ‘A Hard Days Night’ which was recorded in 1964 in studio 2. We’ve stood outside Abbey Road Studios on several occasions, never imagining that we would ever get to go inside. The feeling of going into a building that has so much history was breathtaking, so you can imagine how we felt when we found ourselves going through the doors of studio 2 and into the very room where the Beatles made history. The films were being shown in studio 1 where a cinema-style seating plan had been erected. In studio 2 there was an exhibition of pictures and instruments that had been used over the years, this included the piano that Paul had recorded ‘Lady Madonna’ on and the organ that Billy Preston had played on the ‘Let it Be’ LP. There was also a short film being shown of the history of the studios narrated by Paul Jones.
We were totally in awe to see the staircase, that we have seen in so many pictures, that John, Paul, George and Ringo would have mounted several times to hear playbacks in the mixing room overlooking studio 2. I thought of the day in February 1963 when they recorded the LP ‘Please Please Me’ in one day and the stories surrounding that recording, John with his bad cold and the large jar of ‘Zubes’ throat lozenges that he kept taking to help him through the day and that brilliant recording of ‘And Your Bird Can Sing’ from the Anthology CD’s where they couldn’t sing for laughing so much. We could have stayed in there for hours and it still wouldn’t have been long enough. Time was getting on though and it was near to the film starting so we made our way to studio 1, thoughts of the ‘All You Need Is Love’ worldwide screening were coming to mind now and Pink Floyd recording ‘Dark Side of the Moon’.
We had a lovely surprise before the film started as we were treated to a performance by Neil Innes of The Rutles fame of the songs ‘I Must Be In Love’ and ‘Back in ‘64’. The lights dimmed and the film started, we love ‘A Hard Days Night’ as it sums up the ‘Beatlemania’ era perfectly, has lots of comic moments and of course a brilliant soundtrack. The film finished, all too soon, with a round of applause and then we were introduced to two actors from the film, Victor Spinetti (the TV director in the film) and David Janson, credited as David Jaxon (the little boy who befriended Ringo by the riverbank). Also there were Roy Benson (assistant editor) and David Millings (son of Dougie Millings, the Beatles tailors). Victor was on good form, his love for The Beatles is obvious, not just the group but the individual people. He talks with great fondness about them and is always at pains to state that they were just ordinary people who were never affected by their fame. As John said in the film ‘I could listen to him for hours’. It was great to see David Janson as well, as a small boy at stage school he was chosen from hundreds of hopefuls for the part, he said it was just another audition and he wasn’t told until the day he was chosen what film it was for. Roy Benson told us that although he was over qualified for the position of assistant editor he was desperate to land the job when he found out just what it was. He told us he went on to be the editor on The Magical Mystery Tour film. David Millings had some great stories about when The Beatles were having fittings for their suits and how his father was roped in for a small part in the film. They all agreed that The Beatles were a very close knit group, when all the madness was going on around them they seemed to be able to shut it all out and stay level headed. During the interview session we were told that the filmmakers wanted the film shot and in the can within 3 months, which is amazing, as they were sure the ‘Beatlemania’ bubble was going to burst any day. To be in Abbey Road studios 31 years later, listening to people who were involved in the film and knowing that the Beatle legacy is still going strong, was absolutely brilliant.
The evening had passed all too soon, as we made our way back out into the corridor between studios 1 & 2, my mind went back again, this time to 1972, is this really where Henry McCullough was asked by Pink Floyd to do a voice recording while he was on a break from recording with Wings. There is so much history in this building it was all just buzzing around in my head and I was reluctant to leave. We left number 3 Abbey Road after a fantastic evening and made our way back across the famous zebra crossing and home.
Paul and Pam Clarkson