Details of Eight Years in the Life Of the Beatles as They Worked (Published 1988) (2024)

''Imagine what it was like for me, walking into Abbey Road Studios, opening tape boxes that had not been touched since they were shelved 20 years ago, and listening through professional equipment to the Beatles' recording-session tapes,'' said Mark Lewisohn, describing the major part of his research for his new book, ''The Beatles Recording Sessions: The Official Abbey Road Studio Session Notes 1962-1970.''

''I was able to sit in a control room at the studio where the Beatles worked, doing my own mixes and isolating tracks,'' he explained the other day in a telephone interview from his home in Berkhamsted, England. ''And I can honestly say I was surprised by everything I heard. The Beatles were brilliant in the studio. Their sheer industry was amazing.'' Mr. Lewisohn spent two years listening to 400 hours of tape: raw material that had yielded 10 hours of officially released Beatles music. Included were early versions of familiar songs, more than a dozen songs that were never released, an album's worth of avant-garde experiments (along the lines of ''Revolution 9''), and between-takes studio chatter that throws light on the band's working process.

The Abbey Road Studios in London where Mr. Lewisohn did his listening were opened in 1931 and were once known primarily for the classical records made there. The Beatles began recording at Abbey Road in 1962 and by the mid-1960's, the group's financial clout within EMI (their record company, which owned the studios) was such that it could commandeer Abbey Road's facilities for weeks at a time for sessions lasting 12 hours or more. Himalaya Trip Canceled

In 1969, the group named its final album after the studios, although Mr. Lewisohn said the name was not so much a tribute as a matter of convenience. The group had originally decided to call its swan song ''Everest'' and planned to have a cover photo taken in the Himalayas. But as the release date approached, none of the four wanted to make the trip, so Paul McCartney suggested that they have a photo taken in the crosswalk outside the studios and that the album be called ''Abbey Road.''

From the session tapes, Mr. Lewisohn writes, a listener gets a clear impression of the differences in the working methods of the group's two principal composers, John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Lennon, the tapes show, liked to work quickly and was often satisfied with performances of his songs after comparatively few takes. McCartney, by contrast, often reworked and rearranged his tunes, sometimes starting over after dozens of takes and trial mixes. At times, the clash between these approaches yielded the sparks that gave the recordings their final touch.

After several nights of work on Mr. McCartney's ''Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da,'' for example, Lennon stormed into the studio, yelled ''Come on, this is it,'' and whacked out the brisk piano flourish that proved to be just the touch Mr. McCartney was looking for.