It was about a month later [in early 1964] that The Beatles came in to record the songs for their film A Hard Day’s Night. There I was carrying a tape up to the library from Number 3 control room when I noticed coming towards me the two Georges, Harrison and Martin. I freaked and almost screamed like one of the many girls outside, but managed to bite my tongue, a feat for which I would become extremely grateful, especially when considering my many future associations with the two of them. It wasn’t long before I met Norman Smith, the great engineer who worked on The Beatles’ sessions from the first test recording through Rubber Soul, and I began to get friendly with him. I amazed myself by being very up front and asked him if there was any chance of me poking my head in the door so I could watch the band record for a bit. He hesitated for a second, then told me, “Yes, but keep to the back and don’t let anyone notice you’re there. They can be a bit touchy about new people, so just be a part of the furniture.” Well, of course a cocky 16-year-old couldn’t stop there. “Maybe I could take some pictures?” I asked, assuming I would never get this opportunity again. “Just be part of the furniture and don’t make it obvious,” Norman warned. Come the day and I have this cheap old camera in hand, and whilst watching the session, I started to take some pictures. There were a number of people there having to do with the movie, including someone who was filming on an 8-millimetre camera (some of this footage has only recently come out on YouTube). After a while The Beatles decided they wanted to try some handclaps on a song and said to the room, “Come on. Everyone down to join in.” I looked over at Norman and he looked over at me and sort of nodded his head to let me know it was OK to do it. “Blimey, I’m gonna go down and clap with The Beatles,” I thought. Could it ever get any better than this? There were eight or nine of us, including Ringo and Paul, gathered around the mic clapping along to “I Should Have Known Better.” After the take, the two of them went upstairs while the rest of us stayed there looking up at the glass waiting for a decision, then someone came out to the top of the stairs and yelled, “It doesn’t work so forget it. Just come back up here.” “The moment I set foot in the control room, George Martin came up to me and politely asked, “Excuse me, but who are you?” Caught off guard, I sputtered, “Mr. Martin, sir, I just started up in the tape library a couple of weeks ago … ” and George immediately stopped me mid-sentence and said rather sternly, “Get out!” I thought to myself, “Oh, hell. This is it. I’m going to get fired,” but at least I’d had a chance to be in the studio with The Beatles. Did anything else really matter? I heard nothing about being fired, and a couple of days later George Martin came up to the tape library and asked me, “So how did the pictures turn out?” Of course I showed him, with much relief, now figuring my job was actually safe. Unfortunately this was just the first of many incidents at EMI where I thought my job was in jeopardy, all of them having to do with The Beatles.
[—from Abbey Road to Ziggy Stardust, Ken Scott]
