I'm Only Sleeping

Story

Recording

Equipment

Recording Timeline

• 27 April 1966 — rhythm track, Studio Three — the basic track was recorded at Studio Three (takes 1–11); the song was mostly acoustic at this stage, with an extra few bars of strumming at the top that were later lopped off in the remix.¹
• 29 April 1966 — first overdubs — the start of the elaborate overdub sequence that followed the rhythm-track session.¹
• 5 May 1966 — backwards-guitar overdub, Studio Three — the near-six-hour session for the two stacked backwards-guitar parts (one ordinary, one fuzz).¹
• 6 May 1966 — vocal harmonies + reductions, Studio Two — Paul and George added vocal harmonies behind John; tape reductions took take 11 → 12 → 13 to free tracks, and the first rough mono remixes (1–4) were made from take 13.¹
• 12 May 1966 — mono master — the mono mix used on the released LP was remix 5 from take 13.¹

Studio Notes

• Backwards tape — the “hard method” — rather than record the part forward and reverse the tape, the band notated the desired melodic run, transcribed it in reverse, and Harrison performed the reversed transcription against the four-track; played forward, the backwards sound is preserved while the underlying note sequence is the intended melody. Kehew & Ryan catalogue both methods; I’m Only Sleeping is the canonical Beatles example of the hard-method approach.^1,2
• Two stacked backwards-guitar parts (ordinary + fuzz) — the band made the overdub doubly difficult by recording two backwards-guitar parts in series — one ordinary, one fuzz — and superimposing them; the session ran nearly six hours for the guitar overdub alone.¹
• Artificial Double Tracking — ADT was in service during the Revolver sessions and runs on Lennon’s lead vocal.²
• Studer J37 four-track — the basic track and overdubs all ran on the J37 with multiple reduction mixes (takes 11 → 12 → 13) to free tape tracks for the backwards-guitar overdubs.²
• REDD.51 — the Studio Three valve desk in operation during the Revolver sessions, with the house EQ curve that gives the record its valve-midrange character.²
• EMT 140 plate — the reverb tail under the vocal and the backwards-guitar parts.²

Releases

• 1966 UK mono LP (Revolver, Parlophone PMC 7009, 5 August 1966) — the band-attended mix and the reference master; the backwards-guitar parts sit centre with the lead vocal, ADT audible across the verses.¹
• 1966 UK stereo LP (Parlophone PCS 7009, 5 August 1966) — not band-attended; mid-1960s EMI stereo convention places vocal and rhythm on opposite sides and spatialises the backwards-guitar overdubs across the image rather than stacking them centre.¹
• 1966 US LP (Yesterday and Today, Capitol T-2553, 20 June 1966) — the first US release; Capitol’s mono fold predates the UK LP by six weeks, cut with the heavier compression typical of US mid-1960s mastering.¹
• 2009 mono remaster (The Beatles in Mono, Allan Rouse / Guy Massey) — flat transfer of the 1966 UK mono master; the closest available representation of the band’s reference mix.
• 2009 stereo remaster (Allan Rouse / Guy Massey) — re-EQ’d from the original four-track tape; preserves the 1966 stereo spatialisation, the backwards-guitar overdubs brighter against the vocal.
• 2022 Giles Martin remix (Revolver 2022 Super Deluxe) — a from-the-stems remix using machine-learning source separation; the two backwards-guitar parts and the vocal are isolatable and rebalanced.