011 Nothing is Real: Strawberry Fields Forever, take 26

About this episode

Recording Strawberry Fields Forever was a complicated, layered process, famously requiring the cutting together of two different takes in two different keys and tempos. Today we put our magnifying glass on the second of those takes, take 26, with special attention given to George Martin’s dramatic score for three cellos and four trumpets. We go into the recording studio with seven musicians to re-record Martin’s complete score, and cellist Karen Ray returns to help us deconstruct the arrangement and understand what Martin was doing with this composition.