Global InformationList of people who performed on Beatles recordings information
Aside from John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, numerous musicians and other people featured on official recordings by the Beatles. These include friends and family of the group, the band's entourage, and numerous session musicians. Original members Pete Best (drums) and Stuart Sutcliffe (bass guitar) appeared on early recordings; the former on the group's recording of "My Bonnie" with Tony Sheridan, and both on various tracks released on Anthology 1.
The instruments contributed to Beatles recordings range from traditional orchestral instruments—such as violin, viola and cello[1]—to an alarm clock and a pile of gravel.[2][3]
The first half of the Beatles' career—from the early 1960s until 1966—rarely saw the band use any extra musicians, though George Martin (their producer) occasionally added keyboard instruments to augment their sound.[4][5] As their career progressed and their influences widened, the group began to experiment in the studio. Martin started to orchestrate for the band; his first major orchestration for the group was the string quartet on "Yesterday".[6] In 1966, the band stopped touring and concentrated on studio experimentation,[7] creating soundscapes and orchestrations that required numerous musicians (the orchestra on 1967's "A Day in the Life" was accommodated in Abbey Road's large Studio One, rather than the group's usual room in Studio Two[8]). It was also around this time that the Beatles visited India, and—particularly Harrison—became influenced by Indian culture and music,[9] leading to the group's use of traditional Indian instruments in their arrangements. Shortly before the group's demise at the end of the decade, keyboardist Billy Preston was brought in to add to their sound while they tried to return to their rock 'n' roll roots.[10] The group wanted what was to become their final album, Let It Be, to be raw with minimal overdubs.[11][12] After producer Glyn Johns left the project, Phil Spector hired in numerous session musicians to provide orchestral overdubs, in contrast to the group's original back-to-basics ideas.[13]
- ^ Lewisohn (1988, p. 77)
- ^ Lewisohn (1988, p. 94)
- ^ Lewisohn (1988, p. 93)
- ^ MacDonald (2005, p. 87)
- ^ MacDonald (2005, p. 88)
- ^ MacDonald (2005, p. 157)
- ^ Julien (2008, p. 3)
- ^ MacDonald (2005, p. 231)
- ^ Huntley (2004, p. 10)
- ^ Womack (2006, p. 91)
- ^ Ingham (2003, p. 363)
- ^ Matteo (2004, p. 25)
- ^ Womack (2009, p. 60)