Here, There and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of The Beatles - Geoff Emerick and Howard Massey

While only a teenager, Geoff Emerick had the privilege of sitting in on the Beatles' very first studio session as assistant engineer. He also was there at the final studio session with the Beatles as engineer. Along with producer George Martin, the Beatles' sound owes a lot to Emerick. It was his innovative and creative skills that graced the songwriting talents of the Beatles. Emerick is not simply a great technician, but a sensitive artist. He describes how he "hears" music: "I'd always viewed making records as painting pictures, with the sounds of musical instruments as my palette. I think of microphones as lenses and the different frequency areas seem like colors to me: high-pitched strings as a silver shimmer, mid-range brass as golden, the low tones of a bass as dark blue. That's actually the way I hear things" (108). Emerick shares a lot of great stories about his time with the Beatles. One of the most interesting involves Yoko in the studio during the recording of "Abbey Road." Just before recording began, John and Yoko had a car accident. When John was finally able to record, he brought along a bed into the recording studio where Yoko reclined during the sessions. In the end, Emerick concludes that the Beatles did not break up over business differences or Yoko, but over irreconcilable artistic differences. "John, Paul, and George Harrison simply wanted to follow different paths. John wanted to make art; Paul wanted to continue doing pop music; and George just wanted to pursue his Eastern interests. Sadly, inevitably, there was no common ground anymore, only a common history" (324). This is a great book for any Beatles fan!