When thinking of The Beatles, the world thinks of four musicians: Paul McCarney, John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. They’re the men who changed music history forever, becoming the biggest band to ever exist and gifting the world a long list of timeless hits. But in the studio, their music was always bigger than just them, given that they invited a cast of top-class collaborators.
Some of them are known and celebrated. Their producer, George Martin, was deemed the fifth Beatle for his vital contributions to the band. Members of their management and tour teams, like Mal Evans and Brian Epstein, are also held up as cornerstones of the operation. Other names, like keys player Billy Preston, engineer Geoff Emerick, and even the band’s partners, Linda McCartney and Yoko Ono, are essential pieces of the puzzle, too.
But there were always far more names in the studio. Credit rarely stretches to the lengthy list of session musicians and staff involved in a Beatles record. Beyond the unknown names working behind the scenes, there were often instances where a big name in music would dip in, help the group out with a harmony or two, and then wander off.
In their mid-1960s period, The Beatles were especially keen on collaboration as they opened their doors to their fellow music makers to stop in and either witness a recording session or get involved. Leading to a series of surprising or unknown involvements, here are five of the biggest names who crop up in Beatles’ tape notes.
Five covert Beatles collaborators:
Eric Clapton
Clapton’s relationship with the Beatles is a complex and tumultuous one. In the late 1960s, Clapton and George Harrison became fast friends, bonding over their instruments, love for music and passion for pushing their guitar playing further and further. But on Clapton’s side, there was another reason for their closeness as he was falling fast and hard for his friend’s wife, Pattie Boyd. After a secret affair and a love song so powerful it made Boyd leave her husband upon hearing ‘Layla’, the love triangle supposedly climaxed in a guitar duel as the two friends battled it out for their love’s affection.
However, before the drama overflowed, Clapton contributed to one of Harrison’s best tracks for the band. While the guitarist was met with apathy from his bandmates towards the track, he brought in his external friend to help him out. Clapton contributes guitars to the song, helping to give it the epic end result that’s still beloved today.
Donovan
‘Yellow Submarine’ is undeniably one of The Beatles’ silliest songs. During the band’s trippy LCD period, their lyrics wandered off into fantasy lands as McCartney composed what is essentially a children’s nursery rhyme, then gathered the top class of countercultural musicians to contribute to it.
The full records of the names that were involved in the making of the track were somehow lost to time, but from the scraps that remain, it feels like anyone who was anyone happened to be in the studio that day. When it came to adding some sound effects and layered details to the track, they invited in a whole host of guests, including Marianne Faithfull, Pattie Boyd, Brian Jones and Donovan, with the folk legend’s voice joining the choir on the choruses.
Donovan also got a writing credit with the line, “Sky of blue and sea of green”, as Lennon said: “’Yellow Submarine’ is Paul’s baby. Donovan helped with the lyrics. I helped with the lyrics too. We virtually made the track come alive in the studio.”
Brian Jones
As well as being alongside the rabbling during the recording of ‘Yellow Submarine’, the original Rolling Stones leader was called back in later on for a track that was years in the making. Though initially recorded during the Magical Mystery Tour sessions, when the Beatles and the Stones were becoming friends amidst their mutual drug-fuelled musical chaos, the track, ‘You Know My Name (Look Up the Number)’, didn’t see the light of day until after the musician had passed. It was finally released in 1970 as the B-side to ‘Let It Be’.
Jones contributes alto saxophone to the song, stepping away from his usual instrument of the guitar to offer up something different. He was brought in for the final recording session of the track, adding some woodwind flair to the track at the last minute.
Keith Moon
While Ringo Starr was the band’s resident drummer, he caught a lot of slack. Between Lennon claiming he wasn’t even the best player in the group and McCartney replacing him on tracks like ‘Dear Prudence’ and ‘Back In The USSR’, Starr’s position behind his kit often felt rocky.
For one of the band’s biggest anthems, he was replaced once again as The Who’s wild drummer Keith Moon stepped in for ‘All You Need Is Love’. However, the track famously has no traditional drum line. Instead, Starr was busy hitting a double bass with a drum stick to create a unique percussion sound, while Moon was scrapping brushes against hi-hats. For one song, the band seemed able to tame the famously frantic player.
Graham Nash
For this final slot, the name could be interchanged with seemingly any 1960s star. It seems that during their acid days, The Beatles were feeling incredibly sociable as their studio doors were thrown wide open for friends and peers to wander in and out. Around the time of Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band especially, their recording sessions were regularly visited by a wide cast of stars.
For the making of ‘All You Need Is Love’, the invite list was long as plenty of names are credited as guest vocalists on the track. Pattie Boyd was there, along with the other Beatles’ wives and girlfriends. Mick Jagger and his then-girlfriend Marianne Faithfull came along. Eric Clapton stepped in. However, the most surprising addition was Graham Nash, who was in the Hollies at the time. Given the legacy that he’d built in Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, and then in his solo career as a musician with a keen ear for harmonies and vocal composition, perhaps it’s his involvement that held the whole rag-tag choir together.
