Fifty years ago today The Beatles released the Paul McCartney song “Hey Jude” as the first single on their own Apple Records label. “Hey Jude” with John Lennon’s “Revolution” on the ‘B’ side came out in North America on Aug. 26 and in the U.K. on Aug. 30.
The band rehearsed the song for two days at Abbey Road Studios before moving to Trident Studios on July 31 to use their eight-track machine for the recording. They did four takes and chose the first one as the best. On Aug. 1 they added bass and vocals before bringing in a 36-piece orchestra in the evening to finish things off. Mono and stereo mixes of the song were completed over the next week at Abbey Road.
The Beatles hired Michael Lindsay-Hogg to shoot a promotional clip for the song with a live audience at Twickenham Film Studios on Sept. 4 which was aired on The David Frost Show in the U.K. on Sept. 8, followed by The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour in the U.S. on Oct. 6.
