On This Day in Beatles History: Mixing for the Get Back Album – 11 March 1969

On Tuesday 11 March 1969, mixing sessions continued at Olympic Sound Studios in Barnes, London, for the proposed Get Back album. The session was produced by George Martin, with Glyn Johns working as the recording engineer and compiler of the project.

This was the second mixing session for the album, which John Lennon and Paul McCartney had recently asked Glyn Johns to assemble using recordings made during the January 1969 Get Back sessions at Apple Studios.

Mixing the Get Back recordings

During the session at Olympic Sound Studios, stereo mixes were created for three Beatles recordings:

• ‘Two Of Us’
• ‘The Long And Winding Road’
• ‘Lady Madonna’

Although the songs had been recorded earlier, the mixing work formed part of the attempt to produce a new Beatles album built around the idea of capturing the band performing live with minimal studio overdubs.

The concept behind the Get Back project was to return to the group’s early recording style, avoiding the elaborate production techniques that had characterised albums such as Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and The Beatles (The White Album).

Olympic Sound Studios

The mixing took place at Olympic Sound Studios, one of London’s most respected recording studios during the late 1960s. Located in Barnes, the studio had hosted sessions by many major artists and was frequently used for high-profile mixing work.

By March 1969, The Beatles were no longer recording together regularly as a full band, so much of the work on the Get Back project involved reviewing and mixing previously recorded material.

The unfinished Get Back album

The album Glyn Johns was preparing in March 1969 was intended to be titled Get Back. However, his compilation was ultimately rejected, and the project remained unreleased in that form.

The recordings from the January 1969 sessions were eventually revisited and reworked by Phil Spector, who produced the final album Let It Be, released in May 1970.

Songs mixed during the 11 March 1969 session would later appear in revised form on that album.

Why 11 March 1969 matters

The mixing session on 11 March 1969 illustrates the complicated and evolving nature of the Get Back project. What began as an attempt to produce a stripped-down live album eventually transformed into the final Beatles album Let It Be, released after the band had effectively stopped working together.

For historians of The Beatles’ recording sessions, these Olympic Studios mixing dates provide valuable insight into the transitional final phase of the band’s career.

Recording Session – Quick Facts

Date: 11 March 1969

Location: Olympic Sound Studios, Barnes, London

Producer: George Martin

Engineer: Glyn Johns

Project: Get Back album

Songs mixed: ‘Two Of Us’, ‘The Long And Winding Road’, ‘Lady Madonna’

Studio Location

Olympic Sound Studios – Barnes, London