Solo Beatles Studios

Yoko Ono and John Lennon in the Live Room of Studio A6 at The Hit Factory during the Double Fantasy/Milk And Honey sessions. In the background are arranger Tony Davilio on the left and pianist George Small on the right. I'm pretty sure this is 19 August when they tracked "Hard Times Are Over" and various vocal overdubs.

This is one of the only photos from the sessions where we can see the Hammond Organ USA B3 organ which Small played with such finesse on tracks such as "I'm Losing You". The Leslie speaker is probably behind the gobo just behind the organ. It was mic'ed with a stereo pair of Neumann U 87's on top and an Electro-Voice RE20 on the bottom.

More information at: solobeatlesstudios.com/johnlennon/doublefantasy

📸: unknown

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Solo Beatles Studios Announces Planned Relaunch of McCartney-Focused Content

2 June 2026

Solo Beatles Studios, an independent blog dedicated to the study and discussion of the Beatles' solo-era studio work and equipment, announced plans to gradually restore content to its website following a period of voluntary suspension.

Originally launched in 2020 as Hog Hill Mill Blog, Solo Beatles Studios focused on documenting and analyzing the equipment and creative environment of McCartney’s personal recording studio, Hog Hill Mill. In November 2022, the site was taken offline after the founder, Alex Herd, received informal correspondence from a third party suggesting that an individual associated with the studio believed the blog infringed upon McCartney’s privacy by sharing details about it's recording and musical equipment.

Despite not being provided with direct contact information or an opportunity to address the concern, Herd elected to remove the site “out of an abundance of caution” and initiated efforts to seek clarification. Multiple outreach attempts were made via email, social media, and physical mail to contacts associated with McCartney Productions Ltd. and Hog Hill Mill. No response was received.

Given the lack of direct communication, Solo Beatles Studios has identified three possible interpretations:
-McCartney representatives were aware of the blog and had no objection
-McCartney Representatives were aware of the blog but chose not to pursue action
-McCartney Representatives were not aware of the blog

After allowing significant time for a response, Solo Beatles Studios has decided to begin reinstating McCartney-related content on a gradual basis. The relaunch will involve transferring and reformatting archived material to a new platform, with initial pages expected to go live in autumn 2026.

Solo Beatles Studios remains open to dialogue and encourages representatives of Sir Paul McCartney to make contact if there are any concerns regarding the content.

Contact:
[email protected]

John Lennon, Yoko Ono , assistant engineer Steve Marcantonio, producer Jack Douglas and assistant engineer Sam Ginsberg in the 10th floor mix room at the Record Plant, December 1980. This would likely have been a listening/overdub session for "Walking On Thin Ice". A few months earlier, a pair of sounds for Double Fantasy were mixed in the very same room.

Marcantonio, who went on to be a renowned engineer in his own right, says he was chosen for the John and Yoko sessions for his fluency with the BTX SMPTE Tape Controller that was was used to synchronize the two 16-track tape machines "Along the way I got to learn about a very valuable piece of equipment back then it was called the BTX. It was this white little console that held two tape machines together. Well in September of that year Jonny and Yoko were working on Double Fantasy and they booked the studio and they wanted me because I knew how to use the BTX."

More info at solobeatlesstudios.com/johnlennon/doublefantasy

📸: Bob Gruen

Yoko Ono and John Lennon in the control room at The Hit Factory studio A6 during the Double Fantasy/Milk and Honey sessions. There are so many great pieces of gear to analyze in this one photo. The centerpiece is of course the Neve 8068 console, but what I'm more intrigued by is the outboard behind the console.

We see what I'm almost sure is a Pultec EQP-1A and Teletronix LA-2A facing the wall. The vocal chain for Double Fantasy was U 87 > 8068 > LA-2A > EQP-1A > A80. My theory is that maybe they set up "permanent" vocal chains for John and Yoko during the overdub phase. Once they had the settings dialed in (probably just a touch of EQ and compression), they could push the units up against the wall and know that the chain would stay consistent from day to day. Like I said, this is just a guess, but I think it would explain the extra outboard behind the console.

More info at solobeatlesstudios.com/johnlennon/doublefantasy

📸: Bob Gruen

John Lennon in the live room of Studio A6 at The Hit Factory during the Double Fantasy/Milk and Honey sessions. This is one of the only photos I've found of the sessions that show drum overhead mics.

Before I found this photo my original guess was that, like so much else on the sessions, they may have used Neumann U87's as overheads. But this photo the overheads look to me like they could be ELA M 251's. What do you think? 251's? Something else?

More info at: solobeatlesstudios.com/johnlennon/doublefantasy

📸: David M. Spindel

Yoko Ono, John Lennon, and producer Jack Douglas (and Yoko's assistant Yoshi in the background, I believe) in the control room of Studio A6 of The Hit Factory during the Double Fantasy/Milk And Honey sessions. The room behind John in Yoko was a small machine room that Jack Douglas used to make "secrete" recordings of all the conversations in the control room.

Early in the sessions John mentioned that it was a shame that they weren't able to capture all the chatter in the studio and Douglas sprung into action (John apparently promptly forgot about this). Several hidden microphones and feeds from the Neve console were routed to tape recorders in the machine room. Assistant engineers Juile Last and Jon Smith were tasked with switching out tapes in the machine room every few hours. Edited versions of the tapes were presented to John on cassette for his 40th birthday by Douglas. Presumably the masters and edits are in Lennon's archive.

More info at: solobeatlesstudios.com/johnlennon/doublefantasy

📸: unknown

A lesser-known Bob Gruen photo of John Lennon and Sean Lennon at the Neve 8068 console in the control room of Studio A6 at The Hit Factory during the Double Fantasy/Milk and Honey sessions. Photo two is of Sean in that very same control room 31 years later with a similar Neve 8038 console.

Not long after the Double Fantasy sessions the Hit Factory left the studios on West 48th Street and moved to a new location on West 54th Street. Studio A6 on W. 48th was eventually purchased by Walter Sear and has operated as Sear Sound Studio A for almost 40 years now. The second photo is of Sean working on Yoko Ono's album Yokokimthurston in 2011.

More info at solobeatlesstudios.com/johnlennon/doublefantasy

📸1: Bob Gruen
📸2: BP Fallon

John Lennon leaning on the Neve 8068 console in the control room of Studio A6 at The Hit Factory during the Double Fantasy/Milk And Honey sessions.

Typically when we see '80s-'00s studio pictures, a CRT monitor in the background like this one is part of the console automation/recall system. As far as I'm aware, the original Neve NECAM system (which this console had) did not use a video monitor, nor did the Audio Kinetics Q-Lock Synchronizer system, so I'm not sure what purpose it was serving during these sessions. It could have been closed circuit video to the hallway or front door, or we all know that John was a TV ju**ie, of course... 😂

More info at: solobeatlesstudios.com/johnlennon/doublefantasy

📸: unknown

#1980

John Lennon at The Hit Factory's Steinway & Sons grand piano. It's one of my favorite photos from all of the Double Fantasy/Milk And Honey sessions. L>R we see Yoko Ono, guitarist Hugh McCracken, unknown (possibly Earl Slick (official), but I think the hair is too long), producer Jack Douglas, arranger Tony Davilio, and bassist Tony Levin Official Page.

There are very few kind of well-lit, zoomed out photos from these sessions and I think that's why I like this one so much - you're really able to see how the live room of studio A6 was set up for these sessions. Amps, drums, keys, all in one room, the only booth was for vocals. It's kind of surprising how sonically tight the record sounds. Great playing, great engineering, great room.

More info at: solobeatlesstudios.com/johnlennon/doublefantasy

📸: unknown

John Lennon and Jack Douglas in the control room of studio A6 at The Hit Factory during the Double Fantasy sessions. This one was just posed by Bob Gruen, a photo I've never seen before.

"I once asked him, I said -well into the album, we’re sitting there and mixing and I said to him “I meant to ask you, why am I doing this record with you?’ I said, “I just wanted to know…”He said, “Because you have good antenna and that works for me because you always can read me, you know what this is about’ and that s pretty cool because I always felt that was one of my strong points but it was very important to him to be able to so easily communicate with his producer. And again, like I said, because he was so without ago when he was working, he would just take a direction- If I told John, ‘For this vocal, I need you to stand on your head,” he’d say, ‘if you think that’s better, I’ll do it.’ I mean, he was like that." -Jack Douglas on working on Double Fantasy

Rest in peace, Jack.

solobeatlesstudios.com/johnlennon/doublefantasy

📸: Bob Gruen