Title:	Helter Skelter
Credits:	John Lennon - Paul McCartney
Recorded:	EMI Studios, London, 18 July and 9 September 1968
Producer:	George Martin (18 July), Chris Thomas (9 September)
Engineer:	Geoff Emerick
Location:	The Beatles - track 6 disc 2

If Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da is Paul's reggae song, Helter Skelter is his turn at heavy metal. Recoded during a less than disciplined session on 9 September (acting producer Chris Thomas remembers George Harrison running around the studio with a flaming ashtray held above his head) it features a somewhat odd instrumentation line-up, with John Lennon playing an unskilled saxophone track and group assistant Mal Evans doing likewise on trumpet, and with a considerable degree of feedback and distortion deliberately applied to the sound in keeping with Paul's premise that Helter Skelter be one of the dirtiest and most raucous songs ever made. Ringo drums with steely determination through, prompting his preserved shout at the end of the song, "I've got blisters on my fingers!".

The Beatles recorded three takes of 'Helter Skelter' on July 18, 1968. These takes lasted 10'40", 12'35" and 27'11". All three versions were similar; drums, bass, lead and rhythm guitars played live, with a heavy drum sound, heavy guitars and a vocal. None of these three takes was ever released in their entirety, however take two was edited to under 5 minutes and released in both the US and the UK on October 29, 1996 on "The Beatles Anthology Volume 3."

The Beatles recorded 18 more takes (4 - 21) on September 9. Take 21, with additional overdubs taped September 10, was the released take. John Lennon played bass guitar and saxophone, Mal Evans played trumpet, there were also two lead guitars, heavy drums, a piano, built-in distortion, backing vocals by John and George Harrison, and Paul McCartney's lead vocal. The mono mix was prepared September 17, in one attempt, the stereo mix was completed October 12 in five attempts (remixes 1 - 5 from take 21).

The stereo version runs considerably longer than the mono due mostly to the two versions' different endings. In mono, there is no second fade-out, and Ringo's line "I've got blisters on my fingers" is missing. In the spring of 1976, George Martin remixed a stereo version of this track in Los Angeles for the US release of the "Rock 'N' Roll Music" album. This album was released in the US on June 7, 1976. The UK release of this album features the original stereo mix of this track.

An unidentified rehearsal take from the June sessions was recorded when Tolly Bramwell shot a private 16-mm film inside Abbey Road Studios. This film has never been broadcast publicly, however, this take has been bootlegged and can be found on "The Beatles: The Ultimate Collection Volume 1" (CD).

The Beatles recorded an acoustic version of this song in July of 1968 which was aired on Dutch television's "Vara Puntje" on September 27, 1968. This recording has been bootlegged and can be found on the "1989 Beatles News Christmas Record."