Editing Between the Buttons (section)

==Recording and background==
On the previous album, ''[[Aftermath (The Rolling Stones album)|Aftermath]]'', Brian Jones introduced a large number of different instruments to the recording sessions, a trend he continued on this album. Jones only contributed electric guitar on one track apiece on the American release and the British version. [[Bill Wyman]] plays bass on all except three tracks (which instead feature Richards on bass), and drummer [[Charlie Watts]] and lead singer [[Mick Jagger]] appear on all tracks. Piano duties were split by two session players: original Rolling Stones member [[Ian Stewart (musician)|Ian Stewart]] and frequent contributor [[Jack Nitzsche]].

Early sessions for the album occurred between 3 August 1966 and the 11th at Los Angeles' RCA Studios during the Rolling Stones' [[The Rolling Stones American Tour 1966|1966 American Tour]]. [[David Hassinger]] was the engineer for the album. Several songs were worked on; the backing tracks of six songs that would appear on the album were recorded, as were those of "Let's Spend the Night Together" and "Who's Driving Your Plane?", the B-side of "[[Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing in the Shadow?]]", released as a single in late September. During this time, [[Brian Wilson]] of [[the Beach Boys]] was invited down to RCA Studios during the recording of "My Obsession", which remains one of his favourite Rolling Stones songs.

The band returned to London, and sessions continued at IBC Studios from August 31 to September 3. "Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing in the Shadow?" was completed and released on 23 September before the Stones embarked on their seventh British tour, which lasted into early October and was their last UK tour until 1971.

The second block of recording sessions for ''Between the Buttons'' began on 8 November at the newly opened [[Olympic Sound Studios]] in [[Barnes, London|Barnes]], London, alternating between Olympic and [[Pye Studios]] until 26 November. During this time, the bulk of the album was completed, including vocal and other overdubs on the previously recorded backing tracks and mixing. "Ruby Tuesday" was also completed.

Around the same time, producer Andrew Loog Oldham was also preparing the US-only live album ''[[Got Live If You Want It! (album)|Got Live If You Want It!]]'', a contractual requirement from [[London Records]] that contained live performances from their recent British tour as well as studio tracks overdubbed with audience noise. After that album's release on 10 December, a final overdubbing session for ''Buttons'' was held at Olympic Studios on 13 December 1966 before Oldham took the tapes back to RCA Studios in Hollywood for final mixing and editing.

The album was recorded using [[Multitrack recording|four-track]] machines, with tracks of the initial sessions mixed down in order to free the tracks for use as overdubs. Mick Jagger felt this process lost the clarity of the songs, commenting during an interview that "we bounced it back to do overdubs so many times we lost the sound of it. [The songs] sounded so great, but later on, I was really disappointed with it."<ref name=Davis>{{cite book |last=Davis |first=Stephen |title=Old Gods Almost Dead: The 40-year Odyssey of the Rolling Stones |publisher=Broadway Books |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-7679-0956-3}}</ref> He commented further: "I don't know, it just isn't any good. 'Back Street Girl' is about the only one I like."<ref>{{cite book |last=Torres |first=Ben Fong |title=The Rolling Stone Interviews: 1967-1980 |publisher=Rolling Stone Press |year=1981 |location=New York |pages=48–49 |isbn=0-312-03486-5}}</ref> In an interview with ''[[New Musical Express]]'', he even called the rest of the album "more or less rubbish."<ref>{{cite book |last=Bronson |first=Fred |title=The Billboard Book of Number 1 Hits |publisher=Billboard Books |edition=5th |year=2003 |location=New York |pages=1301 |isbn=0-8230-7677-6}}</ref>

''Between the Buttons'' would be the last album wholly produced by Oldham, with whom the Stones fell out in mid-1967 during the recording sessions for ''[[Their Satanic Majesties Request]]''.