Fans were given a glimpse into the “truly extraordinary” way Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher would record songs for the band in “one take”.
Gallagher wouldn’t waste time in the studio, with his speediness leaving documentary crews in shock. A recording of Oasis recording Champagne Supernova saw Gallagher wrap up his vocal work with a surprising speed. Record producer Owen Morris would share his amazement at just how quickly the Gallagher brothers could turn a song around. In an interview clip breaking down the usual process in the studio for Liam and Noel Gallagher, Morris would say the brothers had a “freaky thing” which sped up their recording process. It would take just “five days” to nail “five songs” which Liam Gallagher had only just heard, and it would take Noel even less time to check the vocal work.
Morris said: “Liam was extraordinary and they had this freaky thing where Noel would play the song once on acoustic guitar in the control room to Liam, give him the words, and he’d fucking sing it. Noel would listen to it once to check Liam’s got the phrasing for the entire song that he’s only just heard the once. Noel would go, ‘Nice one, Liam’.”
Not only that, but there were always distractions which would usually impede the recording process. But even with the football on in the background and Noel disappearing for portions of the recording, Oasis managed to keep a surprising pace.
Morris added: “There was always football on when Oasis were recording. Noel would fuck off, Liam would bang another four tracks down. This would be like, one in the afternoon. Cup of tea, lead vocal, done. Like, what the fuck? He’s only heard the song once. Five songs, five days. Man, fucking amazing.”
It comes as the Wonderwall singer, who is touring with a reformed Oasis on the Live ’25 tour, confirmed a deep cut song had been written thanks to a John Lennon classic. Gallagher would confirm that both Beautiful Boy and Hey Jude were the key songs he took influence from when writing the Oasis deep cut.
There’s slim, if any, chance of the song being performed by the band on their recent tour, and not even Gallagher performed the song on his solo tour. The song, Little James, has been played just once by the band and even then, it was not part of a wider show, but an OBP Radio performance for Portland, United States listeners.
Gallagher said: “[It] was inspired by Beautiful Boy and Hey Jude. More Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy). People who’ve got any soul will realise that there’s a day when you go home and put your feet up and cuddle your kids. If anyone slags it off, they’ve either got no heart or they don’t know what the meaning of life is.”
Gallagher shared his thoughts on the songs inspiration during an interview with Uncut Magazine. The frontman has made it clear Lennon was a huge influence on his career, but also on his early years. Gallagher reflected on the time he first saw Lennon, saying he saw The Beatles member on the TV.
He said: “I was eight. Imagine is the song for me, because I was putting the TV on and I remember that song being on all the time and just thinking, ‘Who’s this guy?’ and all that and then obviously you forget about it and go to school. Later on in life, I got into the Beatles, the whole band and stuff.”
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