Editing Instant Karma! (section)

==Recording==
[[File:Phil Spector.jpg|thumb|upright=.55|left|[[Phil Spector]] made his first contribution as a Beatles producer with Lennon's "Instant Karma!"]]
Although still officially a member of the Beatles, Lennon had privately announced his departure from the band in September 1969.<ref>Doggett, pp. 101, 103, 108.</ref> He was keen to issue "Instant Karma!" immediately as a single,<ref name="Womack p 468">Womack, p. 468.</ref> the third under his and Ono's [[Plastic Ono Band]] moniker.<ref name="Schaffner p 137">Schaffner, p. 137.</ref>{{refn|group=nb|While the Beatles had been inactive as a group over the ensuing months, Harrison, [[Paul McCartney]], and [[Ringo Starr]] came together for the last time in January 1970 to record "[[I Me Mine]]" and complete "[[Let It Be (song)|Let It Be]]", for their inclusion on the soundtrack album accompanying the ''[[Let It Be (1970 film)|Let It Be]]'' documentary film.<ref>Doggett, pp. 112–13.</ref> During his stay in Aalborg, Lennon kept in touch with Harrison by telephone<ref name="Winn p 367">Winn, p. 367.</ref> but he did not return to London for these sessions.<ref>Hertsgaard, p. 272.</ref>}} The recording session took place at EMI Studios (now [[Abbey Road Studios]]) in north-west London, on the evening of 27 January.<ref name="Rodriguez 2010 p 21" /> Lennon's fellow musicians at the session were Harrison, [[Klaus Voormann]], [[Alan White (Yes drummer)|Alan White]],<ref name="Ribowsky p 251">Ribowsky, p. 251.</ref> and [[Billy Preston]]<ref name="Spizer p 28" /> – all of whom had performed at the December 1969 [[Some Time in New York City#Recording|Peace for Christmas Concert]],<ref>Leng, p. 67.</ref><ref>Madinger & Easter, p. 32.</ref> as part of the [[Plastic Ono Band|Plastic Ono Supergroup]].<ref>Miles, p. 362.</ref><ref>Woffinden, p. 30.</ref> The recording engineer for "Instant Karma!" was [[EMI]] mainstay [[Phil McDonald]].<ref name="Spizer p 28">Spizer, p. 28.</ref> Spector produced the session,<ref name=Listen51/> arriving late<ref name="Williams p 143" /> after Harrison had found him at Apple's office and persuaded him to attend.<ref name="Doggett p 115">Doggett, p. 115.</ref>

According to author [[Bruce Spizer]], the line-up for the basic track, before [[Overdubbing|overdubs]], was Lennon (vocals, acoustic guitar), Harrison (electric guitar), Preston (organ), Voormann (bass), and White (drums).<ref name="Spizer p 28" />{{refn|group=nb|In Harrison's recollection, however, Preston was not present at this point. He also says that Lennon played piano rather than guitar.<ref name="Womack p 468" />}} Lennon later recalled of the recording: "Phil (Spector) came in and said, 'How do you want it?' And I said, '1950s' and he said 'Right' and BOOM! ... he played it back and there it was."<ref name=Listen50-51>Blaney, pp. 50–51.</ref><ref>Brown, p. 253.</ref> The song uses a similar amount of [[Reverberation|echo]] to 1950s [[Sun Records]] recordings.<ref name=W&MJL16>Urish & Bielen, p. 16.</ref>

{{quote box|quote= [T]here was this little guy walking around with "PS" on his shirt, and I was thinking, "Who is this guy?" … When he turned on the playback [after recording], it was just incredible. First, it was ridiculously loud, but also there was the ring of all these instruments and the way the song had such motion. As a first experience of the difference from the way you played it to the sound in the control room, it was overwhelming. And I knew immediately who he was – Phil Spector.<ref name="Leng p 70" />|source= – [[Klaus Voormann]], describing his first experience of working with Spector and his [[Wall of Sound]] technique|width=30%|align=right|style=padding:8px;}}
The musicians recorded ten takes,<ref name="Norman p 635">Norman, p. 635.</ref> the last of which was selected for overdubbing.<ref name="Madinger & Easter p 33" /> To create what Spector biographer Mark Ribowsky terms a "four-man [[Wall of Sound]]" production,<ref>Ribowsky, pp. 251–52.</ref> Lennon added [[grand piano]] onto the basic track,<ref name="Williams p 143">Wiliams, p. 143.</ref><ref name="Carr & Tyler p 86" /> while Harrison and White shared another piano and Voormann played electric piano.<ref name="Brown p 242" />{{refn|group=nb|Although authors such as [[Richard Williams (journalist)|Richard Williams]],<ref name="Williams p 143" /> [[Mick Brown (journalist)|Mick Brown]],<ref name="Brown p 242" /> [[Mark Lewisohn]],<ref name="Madinger & Easter p 33" /> and Ribowsky<ref name="Ribowsky p 252" /> state that Lennon played piano, some sources give electric piano as his keyboard instrument on the song.<ref name="Spizer p 28" /><ref name="C&P p 171" />}} In addition, Beatles aide [[Mal Evans]] overdubbed chimes (or [[tubular bells]])<ref name="C&P p 171" /> and White added a second, muffled drum part.<ref name="Ribowsky p 252" /> Rather than an instrumental solo over the third verse, Lennon vocalised a series of what Urish and Bielen term "grunts and moans".<ref name=W&MJL16/> Lennon felt that the chorus was missing something, and so Preston and Evans<ref name="Rodriguez 2010 p 21" /> were sent to a nearby nightclub to bring in a group of people to provide backing vocals.<ref name=Listen52>Blaney, p. 52.</ref> These newcomers and all the musicians, along with Allen Klein, then added chorus vocals,<ref name="C&P p 171" /> with Harrison directing the singing.<ref name="Spizer p 28" />

Although Lennon and Spector disagreed over the bass sound,<ref name=Listen51>Blaney, p. 51.</ref> Lennon was delighted with the producer's work on "Instant Karma!"<ref name="Doggett p 115" /> White's drums assumed the role of a lead instrument,<ref>Rodriguez 2010, pp. 21, 76.</ref> positioned prominently in the mix.<ref name="Brown p 242">Brown, p. 242.</ref> Spector biographer [[Richard Williams (journalist)|Richard Williams]] wrote in 1972: "No Beatles record had ever possessed such a unique sound; Spector had used echo to make the drums reverberate like someone slapping a wet fish on a marble slab, and the voices sounded hollow and decayed."<ref name="Schaffner p 138">Schaffner, p. 138.</ref> Spector wanted to add a [[string section]] to the track in Los Angeles, but Lennon insisted that the recording was complete.<ref name="Brown p 242" /><ref name="Ribowsky p 252" />

Having only recently returned to producing, after the commercial failure of [[Ike & Tina Turner]]'s 1966 single "[[River Deep – Mountain High]]" in America,<ref>Williams, pp. 129–30.</ref> Spector had "passed the audition", according to ''Beatles Forever'' author [[Nicholas Schaffner]].<ref name="Schaffner p 138" /> "Instant Karma!" was the first of many Beatles-related recordings that Spector worked on during the early 1970s.<ref name=JLBio133/><ref>Du Noyer, p. 30.</ref> Lennon and Harrison were sufficiently impressed with his production on the song that they asked Spector to work on the tapes for the Beatles' final album release, ''[[Let It Be (album)|Let It Be]]'',<ref name="Brown p 243">Brown, p. 243.</ref> and then to produce their respective 1970 solo albums, ''[[John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band]]'' and ''[[All Things Must Pass]]''.<ref name="Schaffner p 138" /><ref name="Winn p 365">Winn, p. 365.</ref>{{refn|group=nb|Lennon and Harrison had long been admirers of Spector's work in the 1960s,<ref name="Woffinden p 31">Woffinden, p. 31.</ref> with [[the Ronettes]] and other vocal groups.<ref>Schaffner, pp. 136, 137.</ref> Lennon later said that the Beatles had discussed using Spector before 1970 as an alternative to their usual producer, [[George Martin]].<ref>Williams, pp. 141–42.</ref>}}