Session Diary - Abbey Days

When it comes to nailing glam rock Adam has discovered you don’t need to sell your kidneys to get the sound

- Adam Goldsmith

To continue Neville Marten’s theme of getting close to famous guitar sounds, I’ve been in Abbey Road’s famous Studio Two this month (and yes of course I tried, and failed, to play Lady Madonna on the original piano The Beatles used) to record the soundtrack for a new Disney film. There was a lot of original music to be recorded alongside a few excerpts from famous songs.

Our rhythm section for the day consisted of myself, Strictly Come Dancing MD Dave Arch on piano, Steve Pearce on bass and Ralph Salmins on drums. The orchestra was to be recorded in the larger Studio One the following week, and I was to be on my own for a session recording guitar overdubs.

As it turned out, the afternoon with just me and the producers was useful. In the morning with the rest of the rhythm section present, we had to re-record the intro to Elton John’s classic Saturday Night’s Alright. The producers were keen to get it sounding as close to the original as possible, played by the great Davey Johnstone, who has been with Elton since the 70s, as far as I’m aware.