Recording: Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da — 5 July 1968

July 5, 2026

On Friday 5 July 1968, The Beatles recorded a series of overdubs for 'Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da' at EMI Studios, Abbey Road. The session ran from 5pm to 1.30am and was produced by George Martin, engineered by Geoff Emerick. Despite the extensive work done that night, Paul McCartney took away a rough mono mix at the end of the session and decided over the weekend that the song required a complete remake, which began on Monday 8 July 1968.

The session

The session took place in Studio Two at Abbey Road. Between 6pm and 10.30pm, three saxophonists and a percussionist were brought in to add to the track. The saxophonists were James Gray, Rex Morris, and Cyril Reuben. The percussionist was Jimmy Scott, who played bongos.

Additional percussion — maracas, marimba, and claves — was also added from the second chorus onwards. All of this was recorded onto track three of the eight-track tape, alongside the saxophone and bongos.

Between 10.30pm and 11.45pm a piccolo was overdubbed onto track two. This was subsequently wiped and replaced by a guitar part played by McCartney, added towards the end of the session. The guitar was distorted to make it sound like a bass guitar.

Jimmy Scott and the song's title

The percussionist Jimmy Scott — full name Jimmy Anonmuogharan Scott Emuakpor — had a personal connection to the song's title. The phrase 'Ob-la-di, ob-la-da' was his pet phrase, which Paul McCartney had borrowed for the song. It was said to be a Urhobo colloquialism meaning 'Life goes on', though it was actually just a family phrase of Scott's.

Paul McCartney on the recording technique

McCartney later gave a detailed account of the guitar technique used on 'Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da', and more broadly on the creative possibilities of the era's recording equipment, in an interview with Guitar Player magazine in July 1990:

There were a lot of primitive things that we used to use in the Beatles — prehistoric machines. One of my theories about sound nowadays is that the machines back then were more f**k-upable. I'm not sure if that's in the dictionary. But they were more destructible. You could actually make a desk [recording console] overload, whereas now they're all made so that no matter what idiot gets on them, they won't overload. Most of the old equipment we used, you could get to really surprise you. Now a brand-new desk is built for idiots like us to trample on.

We used to do a great trick with acoustic guitars, like on 'Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da'. I played acoustic on that, an octave above the bass line. It gave a great sound — like when you have two singers singing in octaves, it really reinforces the bass line. We got them to record the acoustic guitars in the red. The recording engineers said, 'Oh my God! This is going to be terrible!' We said, 'Well, just try it.' We had heard mistakes that happened before that and said, 'We love that sound. What's happening?' And they said, 'That's because it's in the red.' So we recorded slammin' it in the red. And these old boards would distort just enough, and compress and suck. So instead of going [imitates staccato 'Ob La Di' riff] dink dink dink dink, it just flowed. So, a new fuzz box just won't go as crazy as an old one would. And it does make it all a little bit cleaner, which I'm not wild on, actually. I'm a big fan of blues records and stuff, where there's never a clean moment. Nothing was ever clean. It was always one old, ropey mike stuck somewhere near the guitar player, and you could hear his foot more than some things.

Paul McCartney, Guitar Player, July 1990

The remake and Anthology 3

At the end of the 5 July session, McCartney took away a rough mono mix of the track. After reviewing it over the weekend, he decided the song required a remake. A new version was begun on Monday 8 July 1968, and it was this later version that appeared on The Beatles (the White Album), released in November 1968.

The version recorded on 5 July 1968 was not lost, however. It was released on Anthology 3 in 1996, giving listeners a rare opportunity to hear the song at an intermediate stage of its development — complete with the saxophone overdubs, bongos, and the distorted guitar McCartney added that night.

Abbey Road Studios, 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood, London — where The Beatles recorded overdubs for 'Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da' on 5 July 1968, in Studio Two.

Summary

Date	Friday 5 July 1968
Studio	Studio Two, EMI Studios, Abbey Road, London
Session times	5pm–1.30am
Producer	George Martin
Engineer	Geoff Emerick
Overdubs added	Saxophones (James Gray, Rex Morris, Cyril Reuben), bongos (Jimmy Scott), maracas, marimba, claves, piccolo (later wiped), distorted guitar (McCartney)
Outcome	Remake begun 8 July 1968; this version released on Anthology 3 (1996)

Frequently asked questions

When was Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da recorded?

Recording of 'Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da' began in early July 1968. The 5 July 1968 session at Abbey Road added saxophone, bongos, and guitar overdubs. After reviewing a rough mix over the weekend, Paul McCartney decided a remake was needed, which began on 8 July 1968. The remake became the White Album version; the 5 July version was released on Anthology 3 in 1996.

Who played saxophone on Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da?

Three session saxophonists played on the 5 July 1968 recording: James Gray, Rex Morris, and Cyril Reuben. Their parts were recorded between 6pm and 10.30pm alongside bongos played by Jimmy Scott.

Who was Jimmy Scott and what is his connection to Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da?

Jimmy Scott — full name Jimmy Anonmuogharan Scott Emuakpor — was a Yoruba musician and percussionist. The phrase 'Ob-la-di, ob-la-da' was his pet phrase, which Paul McCartney borrowed for the song's title. Scott played bongos on the 5 July 1968 session.

What does Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da mean?

The phrase 'Ob-la-di, ob-la-da' was said to be a Urhobo colloquialism meaning 'Life goes on', though it was actually a family phrase used by Jimmy Scott, the percussionist who played on the recording.

What is the Anthology 3 version of Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da?

The version of 'Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da' on Anthology 3 (1996) is the take recorded on 5 July 1968, complete with saxophone overdubs, bongos, and McCartney's distorted guitar. Paul McCartney decided after the session that the song needed a remake; the new version, begun on 8 July 1968, became the White Album release.

What guitar technique did McCartney use on Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da?

McCartney played acoustic guitar an octave above the bass line, recorded deliberately “in the red” — overloading the recording console to create natural distortion and compression. He described the technique in detail in Guitar Player magazine in July 1990.