The Evolution of Strawberry Fields Forever
The 1966 EMI Recording Sessions
On November 24, 1966, The Beatles returned to EMI for the first time since completing work on Revolver on June 21.
The five-month recording hiatus had spurred the band to greater heights of creativity. As Lewisohn (1988) remarked, The Beatles were ready to put everything they “had learned in the [past] four years” into their new recordings. The first song to be recorded was a John Lennon composition, “Strawberry Fields Forever.”
The EMI Sessions
Almost all The Beatles' music was recorded at Abbey Road Studios. In the studio vaults, hundreds of hours of alternative takes (outtakes) and unreleased tracks exist. Only a small portion of those working sessions has been released to the public.
“Strawberry Fields Forever” is one of the few Beatle compositions where the song's evolution can be traced from the earliest composing demos to the final released version. Pegboy 1008 contains not only all the known Santa Isabel and Kenwood demos, but also unreleased EMI outtakes of the work in progress. The Beatles recorded three distinct versions of “Strawberry Fields Forever,” which can be found on this bootleg CD.
Version One (November 24-29, 1966)
On November 24, 1966, The Beatles met at Abbey Road to record the first version of “Strawberry Fields Forever.” Take 1 (3:15) begins with the engineer's slate announcement and continues with some instrumental doodling. At the 0:29 mark, Lennon starts singing a new first verse, not previously heard on the Santa Isabel or Kenwood demos. Verse one flows directly into verse two, without a separating refrain (chorus). The vocals last about 2:00 before fading into an extended coda.
The instrumentation on Take 1 is sparse, and the feel of the song is hypnotic and dreamy. Paul McCartney plays a mellotron (an early version of an electronic synthesizer), which is capable of simulating the sound of a flute as well as other instruments. George Harrison plays an electric slide guitar. Ringo Starr provides backing rhythm with maracas and tom-toms.
On November 28, The Beatles recorded Takes 2-4 (3:11). Take 2 is entirely instrumental, but is slightly heavier in sound with the addition of full drums, bass, and electric guitars. Take 2 begins at 0:23 with a new mellotron introduction, but comes to an abrupt halt at 3:07. Take 3 lasts only 0:10 and ends when Lennon shouts, “Too loud!” Take 4 commences at 0:25 with Lennon singing the refrain, but still merging verse one with verse two. The coda meanders through 0:30 of mellotron, guitar, and drum improvisation.
On November 29, two more takes (4:41) are laid down in an effort to improve the rhythm track. Take 5 is a false start, lasting about 0:20. Take 6 is complete, starting at 0:47, and using the same musical structure as Take 4. Lennon's vocal is less dreamy than Take 4 and more 'spaced out.' The coda lasts 1:13 before coming to an end.
Later that day, Take 6 was remixed into a new Take 7. Lennon's vocal was double-tracked, bass and extra guitars were added, and the coda faded out more quickly than on Take 4. Take 7 was marked as the temporary 'best' version.
Version Two (December 8-21, 1966)
Lennon, however, wasn't happy with the first version. The song had progressed from something dreamy in Take 1 to something far more psychedelic by Take 7. Lennon went to producer George Martin and said that he wanted to make another version of the song using outside musicians. Lewisohn (2008) notes that Martin agreed and began to prepare a new score “for trumpets and cellos.”
On December 8, The Beatles recorded 15 more instrumental takes (9-24), although there was no official Take 8 or Take 19. Additional instruments were used, such as timpani, tambourine, and bongos. Starr's cymbals also were recorded normally but then played backwards on tape to achieve an eerie swooshing sound.
The next day, two incomplete takes (15 and 24) were edited together. The new Take 25 then became the basic track for version two of the song. Starr added more percussion, and Harrison played an Indian swordmandel (a table harp).
On December 15, Martin brought four trumpeteers and three cellists into the studio, where they superimposed their instruments onto a portion of Take 25 (3:48). After a count-in, the new instruments start playing at 0:20. Take 25 is faster than the original and entirely instrumental. At the 3:00 mark, however, Lennon begins shouting indistinct phrases throughout the coda — most noticeably, “cranberry sauce” at 3:26, and then, “All right, calm down Ringo” at 3:45, after Starr's frenetic drumming ends. Take 25 was then remixed into a new Take 26.
On December 21, Lennon added more vocals to Take 26 (3:47), as well as a new piano track. At the 0:30 mark, stray lines from verse one can be heard, which suggests that the instruments were recorded over the vocal track without entirely wiping out the previous version. Take 26 opens with the refrain and then moves right into verse two. Lennon says “cranberry sauce” twice, once at 3:25 and again at 3:31; his “calm down” remark remains, followed by an extra 0:05 of instrumental doodling.
Neither Version Satisfies Lennon
Version two was no longer the same dreamy ballad from Take 1, but had morphed into a stupefying collection of backwards instruments, frantic drumming, sped-up vocals, distorted sounds, blaring trumpets, and intense cellos. Once again, Take 26 was marked as the 'best' version.
Lennon, however, was still not satisfied. Neither version matched his earlier inspiration. The third (and final) version was still to come.
References
-------. 1997. It's Not Too Bad:The Evolution of Strawberry Fields Forever. [CD] Pegboy 1008.
Lewisohn M. 1988. The Beatles Recording Sessions. London: EMI Records, Ltd.
Early Mellotron
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