| Title: | Dear Prudence |
|
| Credits: | John Lennon - Paul McCartney | |
| Recorded: | EMI Studios, London, 28 August 1968 | |
| Producer: | George Martin | |
| Location: | The Beatles - track 2, disc 1 |
A John Lennon song about Prudence Farrow, sister of the actress Mia Farrow, both of
whom attended the course of Transcendental Meditation in Rishikesh, India during February,
March and April of 1968 at which the Beatles were also students. Prudence, it seems, was
intent on meditating much more determinedly than anyone else, rarely venturing out of her
chalet to "greet the brand new day".
The Beatles began rehearsal sessions at George
Harrison's home in Esher on May 20, 1968, during which they recorded a demo of
'Dear Prudence'. This recording has been bootlegged and is available on
"Unsurpassed Demos" (CD) and "The 1968 Demos" (CD).
The Beatles began recording 'Dear Prudence' August 28,
1968. Ringo Starr had quit the group a few days before, so for this recording,
Paul McCartney was on drums while John Lennon and George Harrison played
guitars. This song was recorded on eight-track in many, unnumbered takes, each
new take wiping away the previous. The completed take was labelled take 1. An
alternate take from this day has been bootlegged and can be found on
"Strawberry Fields Forever" (CD).
On August 29 Paul added bass and John double-tracked his
lead vocals. Backing vocals, handclaps and tambourine were also added,
supplied by Paul, George and Mal Evans, with Paul's visiting cousin John, and
Jackie Lomax joining in. Paul provided a piano track and a flugelhorn overdub
on August 30. A mono mix was prepared October 5 but never used. Both the
stereo and mono mixes used for release were prepared October 13. The stereo
mix was completed in one remix from take 1. The mono mix was completed in five
attempts (remixes 1 - 5) from take one. It has been reported that the US
open-reel tape of "The Beatles" contains a slightly different edit
of this song.
A different mono mix from that released on "The
Beatles" has been bootlegged and can be found on "Gone Tomorrow Here
Today" (CD).