When David Crosby visited The Beatles in the studio during the recording of ‘Sgt. Pepper’
The Beatles were magicians in the recording studio, and even their peers were desperate to get a glimpse behind the curtain. In 1967, the band were operating in a league of their own, changing the musical landscape with every album, and during a visit to London, David Crosby had the pleasure of seeing them create Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band at EMI Studios.
The session occurred on February 24th, reportedly beginning at 7pm and running into the early hours of the following morning. Crosby was joined on his expedition to the studio with The Hollies’ Tony Hicks, and a photograph of the meeting later appeared in the music magazine Beat Monthly, which captured a magical moment in time.
At the time, Crosby was a member of The Byrds, who were going through a similar period of reinvention as The Beatles and adopting psychedelic elements into their sound. On a personal note, Crosby was growing disenfranchised with the musical direction of the band, which ultimately led to him exiting the group later in 1967.
While he was with The Beatles, they were recording the track ‘Lovely Rita’, and according to Beat Monthly, Crosby contributed backing vocals, but it didn’t make the final cut. Although he ultimately didn’t feature on Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band track, Crosby only had wonderful memories from the time he shared with the ‘Fab Four’ at EMI Studios.
When asked by a reader of Uncut about his favourite encounter with a fellow musician, Crosby recalled the incident: “One time, Stills and Hendrix and I played for a while at Stills’ beach house. That was pretty good. But probably the best was visiting The Beatles when they were making Sgt Pepper. I came in, and I was very high. They sat me down on a stool in the middle of the studio and rolled up two six-foot-tall speakers on either side of me.”
On top of hearing ‘Lovely Rita’, Crosby was also given an exclusive preview of ‘A Day In The Life’, which instantly struck a chord with him. He continued: “Then, laughing, they climbed the stairs back to the control room and left me there. And then they played ‘A Day In The Life’… At the end of that last chord, my brains just ran out my nose onto the floor in a puddle. I didn’t know what to do, I was just stupefied.”
While Crosby realised at the time he was witnessing something special, he could never have foreseen the cultural impact of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. The album is undeniably one of the most influential records of all time, and Crosby was fortunate enough to see The Beatles craft their masterpiece.
Never Miss A Beat
The Far Out Beatles Newsletter
All the latest stories about The Beatles from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.