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Abstract 0334

Heinonen, Yrjö (1998), "Creative energy at Abbey Road. The changing roles of the Beatles and the EMI recording staff." Paper for the "Popular Music and Technology" Conference. Salford, England, 3-4 April, 1998.

The aim of the paper is to offer a systematic survey on how the division of labour between the Beatles and the EMI staff changed during 1962-70 with respect to the main stages of the releasing process. The releasing process is divided here to the following four main stages: (1) songwriting, (2) arranging, (3) recording and mixing, and (4) releasing. It is assumed that the changes in the division of labour coincide roughly with the main style periods of the Beatles' recording career. These periods are: the early period (1962-65), the middle period (1965-67) and the late period (1967-70). The sources consist of interviews of the members of the Beatles and the EMI staff as well as descriptions of the recording sessions (Lewisohn 1988). The method is a combination of qualitative discourse analysis and simple statistic operations.

During the early period (1962-65) there was a clear-cut division of labour between the Beatles and the EMI staff. The final sound as well as the format of the records was to a relatively great degree created by George Martin, with the help of the recording engineer Norman Smith, after the songs were recorded. During the middle period (1965-65) the Beatles took over the studio and also took more part in the producing process. The fascinating soundscape of Revolver and Sgt. Pepper as well as the single "Strawberry Fields Forever" / "Penny Lane" was created through a close-knit cooperation of the Beatles and the EMI recording team: George Martin (producer), Geoff Emerick (recording engineer), Phil McDonald (2nd engineer). Emerick's work in Sgt. Pepper was awarded by a Grammy as the best engineered album in 1967. During the late period (1967-70) the Beatles in practice wrote, arranged, recorded and produced much of their songs. There was neither clear division of labor nor close-knit cooperation between the Beatles and the EMI staff. There was no fixed EMI recording team either. There were several producers — although George Martin was still the main producer. Recording engineers and 2nd engineers came and went. Abbey Road was the swan song of the Beatles. It was, again, produced by George Martin and engineered mainly by Geoff Emerick and Phil McDonald. The result was, again, awarded by a Grammy as the best engineered album in 1969.

The "commercial statement" character of the early period records of the Beatles was to a relatively high degree created in the studio by the producer George Martin and the recording engineer Norman Smith. Much was done in the control room after the songs were recorded — in the absence of the Beatles. The "art rock" character of the middle period records was, in turn, created by the Beatles and the EMI recording staff (Martin, Emerick, McDonald) during the lengthy sessions where all the four stages of the releasing process constantly overlapped. The "let-it-be" character of the late period was partly due to the conflicts within the Beatles but also to the fact that there was neither clear division of labour nor close-knit cooperation between the Beatles and the EMI staff (with the exception of the recording of Abbey Road). There is no reason to underestimate the contribution of the Beatles on their records. The point is that the contribution of the EMI staff should not be underestimated either. There was a lot of creative energy at Abbey Road during the Sixties.