I Need You - The Beatles - Full Instrumental Recreation (4K)

A 1965 George Harrison song with John Lennon on drums? Enough said!

I love this song. The volume pedal swells, Ringo slapping away on the back of an acoustic guitar, George's excellent rhythm playing on the nylon string classical guitar, and, almost unbelievably (but confirmed by George Martin's contemporaneous notes), John Winston Lennon on drums!

I really loved studying this track. There's certainly more complexity here than there seems at first blush. My favorite moment is at 1:47. George somehow created a second tone in a chord without strumming a second time (the pick noise would be obvious, given the volume pedal swells ). The technique he used was not to play a new string, but to mute the ringing high-E string with his strumming hand. Take a look and listen for yourself, but this is hella neat! He basically found a new way to subtly change chords and add texture to the song while using the volume pedal (and avoiding fret/strumming noise).

More Trivia:

- Recorded on Monday, February 15 and Tuesday, February 16, 1965, with 5 takes needed on Monday and overdubs added Tuesday. On that Monday, the Beatles also recorded "Ticket To Ride" and "Another Girl." Productive session(s)!

- Yes, those slightly off-kilter snare drum beats are played by the one and only John Winston Lennon. I channeled his drumming by acting like a bad drummer, but as you can hear, I pretty much gave up after the first verse. It's really hard to intentionally drum badly.

- Ringo, off the drums for once, is apparently playing the back of a Gibson J-160E. Not wanting to damage my Gibson, I'm playing the back of my Lucero classical guitar here. Not sure what inspired this particular rhythm section experimentation, but by god, it works!

- George is playing his first Rickenbacker 12 for the last time on record, through a volume pedal, with some incredibly fun to replicate chimey chords. The pedal really makes those chords sound magisterial, almost like an organ.

- Some fun, bouncy bass playing from Paul here! He adds some spicey little fills here and there, keeping things moving.

Let me know what you think!

Major props to covers by "ManWithNoExpression" and "Mattiboo," both of which were quite helpful when choosing some chord choices, particularly the former. Great job guys!

ManWithNoExpression -    • The Beatles - I Need You - Guitar Cov...  
Mattiboo -    • The Beatles - I Need You - Guitar Cov...  

Instruments:
- Lucero LC1505 Classical Guitar
- 2018 Rickenbacker 360-12c63, strung w/Pyramid .10 flats
- Ernie Ball VP Jr. P06180 250K Potentiometer for Passive Electronics (Volume Pedal)
- Hofner HCT-500/1-SB (Labella flats)
- 60's Ludwig No. 980 Super Classic Outfit 9x13 / 16x16 / 14x22 kit (Black Oyster Pearl)

Recording Equipment & Miscellaneous:
- Beatles Drop-T #4 drumhead courtesy of Russ Lease (beatlesuits.com)
- Vox Valvetronix VT100X Guitar Combo Amp
- PreSonus Studio 1824C Interface (6 microphones used)
- Cad Audio Stage7 7-Piece Drum Microphones (toms, snare & bass drum)
- MXL V250 Condenser Mic: drum overhead mic & acoustic guitar
- Drums recorded and mixed with PreSonus Studio One
- Shure SM57 (under hi-hat, bass)

Waves Abbey Road Plugins used on this track:
- Abbey Road RS124 Compressor Stereo
- REDD37-51 Stereo
- Abbey Road Vinyl Stereo
- Abbey Road Plates Stereo
- J37 Tape Stereo
- RS56 Passive EQ Stereo

Video Equipment:
- Camera: Canon M50
- Edited with Adobe Premiere Pro on HP Envy 32'' All in One

Feel free to leave comments, I'll respond to as many as I can.