Talk:List of people who performed on Beatles recordings/PR

Copied from Peer review/List of people who performed on Beatles recordings/archive1


 * Sources - the balance seems to be tipped more towards Lewisohn than MacDonald. I don't know if that's necessarily a problem, but MacDonald would be my "go to source" as it lists just about every person who turned up to a session ever. It specifically credits The Mike Sammes Singers for Good Night, for instance.


 * Lead - is it worth talking a bit more about the development of the band's studio career, which helps the reader understand why there are so many people listed. Mention that early on it was just the four of them with George Martin occasionally contributing to keyboards, then gradually, and especially when they stopped touring, increasing in arrangements. Also worth mentioning that Martin was vitally important in arranging and selecting musicians, the band couldn't have done it on their own.


 * Voices and "found sounds", mostly on Revolution Number 9 - obviously listing every voice ever is just not practical, but it might be worth having a separate section listing some of the sound clips that MacDonald mentions? Same for Tomorrow Never Knows (not sure if there is anything on the loops that wasn't actually recorded by the band themselves though) Also worth crediting BBC Third Programme on I Am The Walrus (Lewishon p.128)


 * Omissions - worth also mentioning why Jimmie Nicol is not in the list (because he never played with the group in the studio)


 * Do we really need all those redlinks? I'd only include the link if there's a reasonable chance they are independently notable outside, say a single cello or horn part to one track.


 * Billy Preston - you'll want a cite for Fifth Beatle, earlier I claimed Martin was just as important. There's an old copy of Mojo which actually had an article on various claims "The Fifth Beatle" (sorry, don't have it anymore) which would be an excellent source in that respect


 * Chris Thomas also played keyboards on Savoy Truffle (according to MacDonald)


 * Is it worth mentioning the group members in the context of unusual instruments outside their standard live set-up or tracks they don't play on? For instance, not McCartney on bass, not Starr on drums, any of Lennon, McCartney and Harrison on piano / keyboards. For example, MacDonald credits both Lennon and Preston for organ on I Want You (She's So Heavy)


 * Are you sure Kim Moon actually sang on All You Need Is Love or did she just turn up to support her husband? The source doesn't look particularly reliable, particularly when it says "I posted a video but I could not locate Keith in it"


 * Could we add some context to the use of Mellotron, most obviously the "Spanish Guitar" piece that leads into Bungalow Bill, which is a stock sound on the original instrument, recorded under the direction of Eric Robinson (see the Mellotron article for a source)


 * Mike McCartney was, of course, better known as Mike McGear at the time

More later if I can think of anything.... Ritchie333 (talk)  (cont)   12:45, 5 September 2013 (UTC)