Baby's in Black

Story

Recording

• Baby’s in Black was recorded in a single evening session on 11 August 1964 (Tuesday) in Studio Two at EMI, Abbey Road: takes 1–14, plus 13 unnumbered edit pieces. “A Hard Day’s Night had been out just two months when the Beatles began recording another LP, in keeping with the formula of two per year, the second always aimed at the Christmas sales market. ‘Baby’s In Black’, one of the LP’s strongest songs, was the first to be recorded.” It was the opening session of what would become the Beatles for Sale album.¹
• 14 takes, 13 edit pieces — “It took 14 takes before the Beatles were satisfied, although only five of those were complete, and five more barely got beyond the first note, a rather distinctive George Harrison guitar twang.” After the 14 numbered takes, Harrison recorded several variations of the opening guitar note for the edit pieces, bending it with his tremolo arm.¹
• Evolving studio dynamic — After Harrison tried his tremolo variations, “George Martin replied ‘You want the beginning like that, do you?’ Clearly, the roles between the Beatles and Martin were beginning to change, with Martin no longer entirely dictating proceedings.” The session captures a pivotal moment in the band’s transition from performers following a producer’s direction to artists directing their own sound.¹
• Double-tracked guitar solo — Baby’s in Black is one of six 1964 recordings documented as featuring a double-tracked guitar solo: “‘Can’t Buy Me Love’, ‘Baby’s In Black’, ‘Words Of Love’, ‘Matchbox’, ‘She’s A Woman’ and ‘I Feel Fine’ all had double-tracked guitar solos. Again, the fourth track of the tape machine made this a relatively simple task, and double-tracking instruments would become a common practice from this point on.”²
• Standardised four-track layout begins — According to the tape-box documentation, Baby’s in Black marks the point at which the four-track tape layout became standardised: “beginning 11 August with the recording of ‘Baby’s In Black’, all stereo mixes for the remainder of the year would take place in Studio Two.” The layout for this song was Track 1: drums, bass, acoustic guitar, electric guitar; Track 2: electric guitar, tambourine; Tracks 3 and 4: vocals. This arrangement was “strictly adhered to” through the rest of 1964.²

Equipment

Recording Timeline

• 11 August 1964 (Tue) — recording, takes 1–14 + 13 edit pieces, EMI Studio Two — Studio Two, 7.00–11.00pm. P: George Martin. E: Norman Smith. 2E: Ron Pender. Recording: Baby’s In Black (takes 1–14, and 13 [unnumbered] edit pieces). Only five of the fourteen takes were complete; five more “barely got beyond the first note.” After take 14, John commented “Can we hear that rubbish back?” and George then tried several variations of the opening guitar twang, bending the note with his tremolo arm. The session ran four hours and was the very first recording date for the Beatles for Sale album.¹
• 14 August 1964 (Fri) — mono mixing from take 14, Studio Two control room — Studio Two (control room only), 9.00–10.00pm. P: George Martin. E: Norman Smith. 2E: Ron Pender. Mono mixing: Baby’s In Black (remix 1, from take 14). Mixed in the same session as I’m a Loser (remix 1 from take 8). “Both songs were later returned to and given improved remixes for record release.”¹
• 26 October 1964 (Mon) — mono remix 2 from take 14, Studio Two control room — Studio Two (control room only), 10.00am–12.45pm. P: George Martin. E: Norman Smith. 2E: Tony Clark. Mono mixing: Baby’s In Black (remix 2, from take 14). Part of a major mixing session that also produced mono mixes of I Don’t Want To Spoil The Party, Rock And Roll Music, Words Of Love, I’m A Loser and Kansas City.¹
• 4 November 1964 (Wed) — stereo mixing from take 14, Studio Two control room — Studio Two (control room only), 10.00am–1.00pm. P: George Martin. E: Norman Smith. 2E: Mike Stone. Stereo mixing: Baby’s In Black (from take 14). Part of the session that stereo-mixed the remaining Beatles for Sale LP tracks.¹

Studio Notes

• Waltz time — rare metric choice — Baby’s in Black is one of very few Beatles songs in 3/4 time, a metric rarity in their catalogue. The waltz signature demanded careful coordination from the rhythm section and gave the mourning-themed lyric its distinctive swaying character. The 3/4 metre would not reappear prominently until Your Mother Should Know in 1967, underlining how unusual the choice was for popular music of this period.¹
• Lennon–McCartney duet vocal — John and Paul shared the lead vocal, singing in close harmony throughout. The duet format places Baby’s in Black among a small set of genuine Lennon–McCartney dual-lead performances. The vocal overdubs occupied two of the four available tracks (Tracks 3 and 4), leaving the instrumental backing compressed onto Tracks 1 and 2.^1,2
• George Harrison’s opening guitar twang and tremolo-arm experimentation — The distinctive opening guitar note was a Harrison contribution. Five of the fourteen takes “barely got beyond the first note, a rather distinctive George Harrison guitar twang.” After the takes, Harrison experimented with bending the note using his tremolo arm, trying “a few variations on this note (none of which was chosen for the finished article).” Martin’s response — “You want the beginning like that, do you?” — illustrates the shifting power dynamic in the studio.¹
• REDD.51 console + RS124/Fairchild compressor chain — The same REDD.51 desk and outboard patching documented across the Beatles for Sale era applies: “Each of the four Main Fader channels on the REDD.51 desk had an item of outboard gear inserted into it: Main Faders I and II always had RS124 Altec compressors inserted; III and IV always used… Fairchild 660 limiters (after early 1964). This patching arrangement was directly tied to the four-track tape layout.” Drums, bass and guitars (Tracks 1 and 2) passed through the Altec compressors; vocals (Tracks 3 and 4) through the Fairchild limiters.²
• Four-track tape layout (documented by K/R) — Track 1: drums, bass, acoustic guitar, electric guitar. Track 2: electric guitar, tambourine. Track 3: vocals. Track 4: vocals. This layout was notable for compressing the entire rhythm section plus acoustic guitar onto a single track, reflecting the constraints of the four-track format: the available headroom on the Telefunken M10 made this feasible but left little room for individual instrument separation.²
• First BFS session — opening a new album cycle — As the very first song recorded for Beatles for Sale, Baby’s in Black set the tone for the album’s sessions. The LP would be the final Beatles album to include cover versions, with the original material — including this song — generally regarded as stronger than the six cover tracks that filled the remaining slots.¹
• Improved remix for release — The initial mono mix made on 14 August was superseded: “both songs were later returned to and given improved remixes for record release.” The replacement mono mix (remix 2) was made on 26 October, over two months later, suggesting the production team felt the first attempt was inadequate for the final LP master.¹

Releases

• 1964 UK LP Beatles for Sale (4 December 1964, Parlophone PMC 1240 mono / PCS 3062 stereo, track 3) — Released mono master from take 14, mixed 26 October 1964 (remix 2) by Norman Smith with Tony Clark as 2E. The stereo mix was made on 4 November 1964 by Norman Smith with Mike Stone as 2E, also from take 14.¹
• 1964 US LP Beatles ’65 (15 December 1964, Capitol ST 2228) — Included on the US-only Capitol compilation alongside other Beatles for Sale tracks and the I Feel Fine / She’s a Woman single.¹
• 1965 UK EP Beatles for Sale (No. 2) (4 June 1965, Parlophone GEP 8938) — Included as one of four tracks on the second EP drawn from the Beatles for Sale LP.¹

Sources

1. Mark Lewisohn, The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions (New York: Harmony Books, 1988), 47–48, 51–52.
2. Kevin Ryan and Brian Kehew, Recording the Beatles: The Studio Equipment and Techniques Used to Create Their Classic Albums (Houston: Curvebender Publishing, 2006), 380–84.