Here, There and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of the Beatles [Mass Market Paperback]

Geoff Emerick (Author), Howard Massey (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 15, 2007

Geoff Emerick became an assistant engineer at the legendary Abbey Road Studios in 1962 at age fifteen, and was present as a new band called the Beatles recorded their first songs. He later worked with the Beatles as they recorded their singles “She Loves You” and “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” the songs that would propel them to international superstardom. In 1964 he would witness the transformation of this young and playful group from Liverpool into professional, polished musicians as they put to tape classic songs such as “Eight Days A Week” and “I Feel Fine.”

Then, in 1966, at age nineteen, Geoff Emerick became the Beatles’ chief engineer, the man responsible for their distinctive sound as they recorded the classic album Revolver, in which they pioneered innovative recording techniques that changed the course of rock history. Emerick would also engineer the monumental Sgt. Pepper and Abbey Road albums, considered by many the greatest rock recordings of all time. In Here, There and Everywhere he reveals the creative process of the band in the studio, and describes how he achieved the sounds on their most famous songs. Emerick also brings to light the personal dynamics of the band, from the relentless (and increasingly mean-spirited) competition between Lennon and McCartney to the infighting and frustration that eventually brought a bitter end to the greatest rock band the world has ever known.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Emerick was a fresh-faced young engineer in April 1966 when producer George Martin offered him the chance to work with the Beatles on what would become Revolver. He lasted until 1968, when tensions within the group, along with the band members' eccentricities and the demands of the job, forced him to quit after The White Album, exhausted and burned out. In this entertaining if uneven memoir, Emerick offers some priceless bits of firsthand knowledge. Amid the strict, sterile confines of EMI's Abbey Road studio, where technicians wore lab coats, the Beatles' success allowed them to challenge every rule. From their use of tape loops and their labor-intensive fascination with rolling tape backwards, the Beatles—and Emerick—reveled in shaking things up. Less remarkable are Emerick's personal recollections of the band members. He concedes the group never really fraternized with him—and he seems to have taken it personally. The gregarious McCartney is recalled fondly, while Lennon is "caustic," Ringo "bland" and Harrison "sarcastic" and "furtive." Still, the book packs its share of surprises and will delight Beatle fans curious about how the band's groundbreaking records were made. (Mar.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Emerick was only 15 when he began working with the Beatles as an assistant engineer at Abbey Road Studios. Later, as a 19-year-old full engineer, he was on board for the seminal Revolver and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Always aiming for perfection, the Beatles never took no for an answer, and he did his best to oblige by developing innovative recording techniques, some simple (e.g., using a loudspeaker as a microphone), others more sophisticated. Being the Beatles' engineer wasn't entirely pleasant. Eventually, during the tense and uncomfortable White Album sessions, the Beatles barely spoke to one another without anger, and Emerick quit before recording was finished. But he returned to work on Abbey Road and several McCartney solo records, including Band on the Run. Anyone interested in the Beatles and their music ought to love Emerick's as-told-to insider's account of working with the world's most famous band when they made their most famous music. June Sawyers
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Gotham (February 15, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1592402690
• ISBN-13: 978-1592402694
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (246 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #20,700 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #6 in Books > Humor & Entertainment > Pop Culture > Beatles
  • #12 in Books > Arts & Photography > Music > Recording & Sound
  • #41 in Books > Arts & Photography > Music > History & Criticism

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

142 of 149 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars FINALLY A BEATLE BOOK ABOUT SOMETHING NEW, March 25, 2006

By 

Mitchell Cassman (BUFFALO GROVE, IL United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Here, There and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of the Beatles (Hardcover)

When it comes to books about The Beatles, they usually fall in one of two categories: "memoirs" and "archives" (including timelines, analysis, photos, recording info, etc). Now Geoff Emerick has joined the throe of Beatles authors by publishing his account that actually falls in between the memoir/archive genre. His new book "HERE THERE AND EVERYWHERE-My Life Recording the Music of The Beatles" is no "cash in", but a valuable insight to the workings of the group. While there are no real "Beatles revelations" contained other than those that true Beatle aficionados already know, such as the working title of the "White Album", John's accidental acid trip on the rooftop of EMI etc), the true value of this book is the first hand observances of the Beatles in their most important environment: the recording studio!

Some people are lucky enough to realize their "calling" early in life - and Geoff Emerick was one of those lucky few. An early love of music caused a natural fascination with the mechanics behind recording. His experiments with tape recording and his persistence led him to a job at EMI! While Geoff Emerick wasn't the Beatles recording engineer during their early years at EMI (he started as an assistant engineer), his employment there did grant him occasional views of The Beatles at work during the time of 1962-1966 when Norman Smith was their engineer. However, when Smith left to become a producer (going on to produce Pink Floyd's first two albums at EMI) it was Emerick who was promoted to the position of Beatles' engineer. So, Emerick was there during the true renaissance of the Beatles studio years: Revolver, Sgt. Pepper, Magical Mystery Tour, (part of) The White Album, and Abbey Road.

What about Let It Be, you ask? Well, it is well documented how bad tensions were during the recording of The White Album, prompting Ringo Starr to be the first Beatle to quit the group at the time. Further evidence of the bad feelings during this album can be seen in the departure of Emerick - he also quit halfway through the recording (but unlike Ringo, didn't come back for the album). So, he missed the whole Let It Be fiasco, until being asked to return for Abbey Road. He went on to design the Beatles personal recording studio, which sadly wasn't finished in time for The Beatles to actually use!

As witness to one of the Beatles first recording sessions ("How Do You Do It?"), Emerick paints a fascinating picture of the individual dynamics and personalities of each Beatle in the recording studio. Paul was the easiest to get along with, a true workaholic in the studio who, curiously enough was pegged as "the leader" by Emerick during the early sessions. John was often impatient, but curiously enough - it was always a new Lennon song that was first recorded for each new album session! Later, John's impatience actually paid off when they discovered they were one song short for completion of Revolver - they quickly finished John's "She Said She Said". Other tales include a funny story of the "fan siege" during the recording of "She Loves You" in which fans were running loose at EMI - which gave Emerick a first-hand view of Beatlemania and he comments that this "atmosphere" seemed to lend to the electricity of the recording. George Harrison was probably the least 'at ease' in the recording studio and had problems nailing his solos, such as his solo on "A Hard Day's Night". Ringo was basically quiet in the studio.

I read as quickly as possible to get to the Revolver/Sgt. Pepper recording sessions, and Emerick's descriptions did not disappoint! I was in Beatles heaven hearing how each song was recorded and the whole spirit of invention that went into Beatles' records - not just by the Beatles themselves, but by Emerick's ingenious solutions to the seemingly impossible requests of the Beatles, especially John. It was Emerick who came up with a solution for Lennon, who wanted his voice to sound like the "Dahlai Lama chanting from a mountaintop" on "Tomorrow Never Knows". His solution? Using a Leslie speaker(Which rotates) to achieve the proper effect on John's voice. Also, in regards to Revolver, I wasn't aware that the tape trick (cutting up random bits of tape and putting them back together) that George Martin used on "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite" was first used on "Yellow Submarine"!

Of course, Sgt. Pepper was the pinnacle of the Beatles collective studio experimentation and it is amazing to hear the casual attitude the Beatles had during the sessions - it being the very first time that they weren't under any time restraints. George Harrison's lack of participation in this groundbreaking album is discussed. Fresh from his trip to India, George just wasn't interested, especially with Paul taking a lot of the lead guitar breaks and his first contribution to Pepper ("Only a Northern Song") being kindly put aside. The mysterious, still unreleased Beatles song, "Carnival of Light" (recorded during a five-hour session that also included vocal overdubs for the then-unreleased "Penny Lane") is discussed.

It is amazing how the Beatles went from the happy, creative Pepper sessions to the dreary White Album sessions in just one year! While Emerick left EMI for Apple, he avoided the bad scenes of the White Album and Let It Be, to concentrate on building the Beatles recording studio. However, he did get to attend one Phil Spector Let It Be session and his observations are contained within the book. Finally, the Beatles swan song, Abbey Road is detailed, from John's sometimes lack of interest (and Yoko's bed being brought into the studio!) to George's emergence as a studio talent.

Geoff Emerick went on to win a total of 3 Grammy awards for his Beatles work. While most of the book concentrates on The Beatles, he does mention some of his other projects, such as Paul McCartney's Band on the Run, as well as his work with The Zombies and Elvis Costello. Finally, he comes full circle with his involvement with the "Threetles" reunion sessions for the Beatles Anthology.

"HERE THERE AND EVERYWHERE-My Life Recording the Music of The Beatles" is truly a Beatles' book that delivers! A descriptive story of the Beatles in the recording studio has been sorely missed...until now.
Ronnie

86 of 97 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally, A Book About the Beatles, March 27, 2006

By 

Mark D Burgh "Music, Writing, Art, Film, Hist... (Fort Smith, AR United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Here, There and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of the Beatles (Hardcover)

Other recent books about the Beatles,like Spitz's biography or Bramwell's gossip collection, had tended to be more about group politics than about the one thing that made the Beatles great: their music. In his book, Here There and Everywhere, Geoff Emerick, along with music journalist Howard Massey, correct this trend, presenting Beatles fans with a memoir of how the Beatles, along with the production team of George Martin and Geoff Emerick pushed the boundries of recording during act of creating the greatest music of the 20th century.

Beginning as an extremely young boy, Emerick learns the ropes of recording according to EMI policies, which he shows are anti-intunitive and throttling. Using their financial clout, the Beatles override all sense about the technology, allowing Emerick to experiment in various dire ways, trying (and mostly suceeding) to please the Princes of Pop. He is plainspoken about the musical deficiencies of the band, showing Paul McCartney to be the consummate music within the group. The rise of George Harrison from the fumbling guitarist who had his solos rerecorded by the ever more invented McCartney, to the writer of his later hits is one of the more interesting pieces of the book. Happily, Emerick is light on the Lennon/Ono debacle, although perforce by his observation of the recording studio during the White Album and Abbey Road session, we see how Lennon's new obsession ruined the band. Interestingly, the only verge into rancor is directed towards Ringo, who unforgivingly to Emerick, ruined the new Apple recording studios. Et tu, Rings?

Having now read many many books on the Beatles, I can say that Emerick's memoir is among the best. Compare this book, if you will, with George Martin's two slight memoirs, and you may find yourself agreeing with me, especially if you want to know about the music, as opposed to the mayhem.

34 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Insider's View of Beatle Music Making!, October 11, 2006

By 

Michael OConnor "Wordsmith" (Wausau, WI USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Here, There and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of the Beatles (Hardcover)

In the early 1960s Geoff Emerick landed the dream job music fans would have killed for; assistant recording engineer at EMI Studio working with George Martin. It was a dream job because one of the first groups Emerick worked with was the Beatles. The next seven years of musical magic and misery Emerick spent in the control room are wonderfully chronicled in this book.

Though Emerick was a Beatles insider, he wasn't the 'Fifth Beatle' and makes no claim to that title in this book. Rather he was a young, impressionable teenager who worked with the Beatles for thousands of hours and occasionally helped them in realizing the musical vision they heard in their heads.

What was most enjoyable about Emerick's book was his recounting of the group's musical development, the friendship and chemistry between John, Paul, George and Ringo and especially those magical moments when a song came together. Later on, when the group started to self-destruct, the magical moments were much fewer but even then, as for instance when recording 'Abbey Road,' making the music would melt away the animosity.

Emerick was never a confidant or even a friend of any of the Beatles. He was an employee working in the control booth and the Beatles were down in the studio and the twain didn't meet that much. Some may object to his opinions about the four but, given his vantage point, those opinions are perfectly valid. Having read lots of Beatle books, I didn't come across any smoking guns in Emerick's book. Could John be short-tempered and nasty? Sure. Could he be a wonderfully funny and compassionate man? Yup. Was Paul the most approachable Beatle? Well, duh! And on and on.

What I find most impressive about the Beatles in the studio was this fact. Despite being virtual prisoners in the drab, soul-deadening EMI studios, they still managed - with some help from their friends - to create some of the most inventive, joyous pop music the world has ever seen!

I enjoyed Emerick's book immensely. It's an eminently readable, affectionate, warts-and-all record of the high spots, low points, craziness and tedium and you are there! Thanks, Geoff!