A cornerstone of the legendary Abbey Road Studios, record producer and engineer Ken Scott played an instrumental role in the careers of David Bowie, Pink Floyd, Mahavishnu Orchestra, and the Jeff Beck Group, to name a select few.
He was also one of the five main engineers for the Beatles, learning the ropes alongside the band's ascent to fame. His first gigs as an assistant engineer included working on several tracks on the A Hard Day's Night album and Long Tall Sally EP.
“I remember absolutely nothing about it,” he says matter-of-factly. “But I'm not the only one. When I was writing my book, I've been asked the question, ‘What was it like Eric coming and playing on that? How did they react…’ and all of that, and I've just had to answer, ‘I can't remember.’
Scott even admits he “actually tried hypnotherapy” to try and bring back memories from those sessions specifically, so he could answer that million-dollar question, but nothing came up.
“I went to John Smith, who was my assistant engineer, my button pusher at that point [who said], ‘I don't remember anything about it.’ I went to Chris Thomas, George Martin's assistant, who was producing at that point because George was on holiday, and [he said], ‘I don't remember anything about it.’
“The one thing I vaguely remember – Chris and I have talked about it – is Eric saying that the only way he'd play on it is if he sounded like the Beatles, as opposed to Eric Clapton,” he recalls.
The technique they employed to achieve that effect? “We used ADT,” he explains. “ADT is either artificial double tracking or automatic double tracking, whichever you choose to use.”
He continues, “It stemmed from John [Lennon] not wanting to sing the song twice. He went to Ken Townsend, who was one of the amp room guys, and said, ‘Is there a way you can come up with something so that I don't have to sing it twice?’ Ken went away, and as brilliant as he was, he came back and said, ‘I may have got it.’”
Indeed, in a Guitar Player interview from 1987, George Harrison himself actually confirmed that this technique was used to make the solo sound... well, more Beatles-esque.
“Eric played that, and I thought it was really good,” he said. “Then we listened to it back, and he said, ‘Ah, there's a problem though. It's not a Beatle-y enough’ – so we put it through the ADT to wobble it a bit.”
And, speaking of George Harrison and Fab Four solos, in a 1988 Guitar World interview, the famed guitarist revealed that, while he typically sketched out his solos in advance, there was one classic Beatles track that was a notable exception.
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