Eight Days a Week - The Beatles - Full Instrumental Recreation (4K)

Ain't got nothing but love, babe. And a Rickenbacker 12-string!

Another perfect piece of Beatle pop from 1964. Recorded on Tuesday, October 6, 1964, in the middle of the "Beatles For Sale" sessions, "Eight Days a Week" is a deceptively simple sounding pop gem.

A harbinger of things to come - this was notable for being the first Beatles song brought incomplete into the studio and workshopped into final form at Abbey Road. While I didn't feature it here, this is also the only Beatles song with a fade-in!

John Lennon never thought this song reached its potential, calling it "lousy." On the inspiration, he later said "I think we wrote this when we were trying to write the title song for 'Help!' because there was at one time the thought of calling the film Eight Arms To Hold You." McCartney took credit for the title, which was apparently a line from his chauffer.

Instrumentally, we have some interesting little bits, as always.

On guitar, George's overdubbed Rickenbacker parts are VERY distinctive and chimey, almost sounding like a bell. I got a close sound by playing very close to the bridge, which you can see in the video. George is also playing some rhythmic lead "chops," likely using the Tennessean, but maybe the Gent, with some adroit volume pedal swells. John's rhythm is classic Lennon - aggressive, perfectly in sync with the band rhythmically, and underrated.

For drums, this is a great example of the benefit of isolated tracks. The session photos show Ringo with a covering on the rack tom and snare, but the snare sound from the isolated drum track is, to my ears, unmuffled and quite clear. The isolated track was extremely useful for learning Ringo's perfectly placed fills throughout the song - if you listen closely, you can hear three versions of the same fill.    • The Beatles - Eight Days A Week - Isolated...  . Also, there's handclaps. Yep.

On bass, this is a second consecutive cover of mine with a fantastic McCartney walking bassline. Listen also to Paul's aggressive octave D's in the intro and outro. Phenomenal.

Thanks for listening! This was a second straight fun/easy cover. We'll see what's next!

Instruments:
Rhythm Guitar: Gibson J-160E Custom Shop 1962 Reissue (Pyramid .13 flats)
Lead Guitar: Gretsch Country Gentleman (Pyramid .11 flats)
Overdubs: 2018 Rickenbacker 360-12c63 (Pyramid .11 flats)
Bass: 2020 Hofner Contemporary Series (Labella Beatle Bass flatwound strings)
Drums: Ludwig Black Oyster Pearl 1969 No. 980 Super Classic 9x13 / 16x16 / 14x22

Recording Equipment & Miscellaneous:
PreSonus Studio 1824C Interface (6 microphones used on drums)
Cad Audio Stage7 7-Piece Drum Microphones
MXL V250 Condenser Mic
Shure SM57
Recorded and mixed with PreSonus Studio One
Beatles Drop-T #4 drumhead courtesy of Russ Lease (beatlesuits.com)
Track assembled in Audacity

Plugins used on this track:
Waves Abbey Road RS124 Compressor Stereo
Abbey Road Plates Stereo
EQ

Video Equipment:
Camera: Canon M50
Edited with Adobe Premiere Pro on HP Envy 32'' All in One