“We had a blast in the studio. I know that stories have been out over the years about what a horrible experience the White Album was, but we had so much fun. It was great.

“Sure, there were arguments. I haven’t worked on any project where somebody doesn’t lose their temper. They’re artists; they’re going to get temperamental – it happens. But to say that the whole thing was dour and terrible, that’s bullshit.

“Even when Ringo walked out, which he did for a couple of days, it wasn’t out of anger. He was feeling unloved. He didn't feel like he was needed. The Beatles were at the point where they were talking one another for granted.

“From an engineering standpoint, working with them was easy. I couldn’t make a mistake if I tried. The Beatles never wanted anything to sound the same, so if I chose a completely off-the-wall mic, put it on a piano in a very strange position, pulled up the fader and it sounded terrible, there was every likelihood The Beatles would say, ‘That’s great! It sounds like anything but a piano. We’ll use it.’

“On Savoy Truffle, one of George Harrison’s songs, I got what I thought was a really good sax sound. George came in, listened to it and said, ‘That’s great – distort it.’ For a second, I was like, ‘Oh, noooo.’ But it worked.

“It was a big album. Right from the start, we could tell there was a lot of material. It was more basic than Sgt. Pepper, more rock ‘n’ roll. Luckily, I didn’t do Revolution 9. That’s one of the tracks Geoff Emerick did before me. Maybe that’s why he quit!”