Recording

Two days after returning home, the track was recorded at Abbey Road Studios on the 14 June and 17 June 1965. There are conflicting accounts of how the song was recorded, the most quoted one being that McCartney recorded the song by himself, without bothering to involve the other band members. Alternative sources, however, state that McCartney and the other Beatles tried a variety of instruments, including drums and an organ, and that George Martin later persuaded them to allow McCartney to play his acoustic guitar, later on editing in a string quartet for backup. If so, none of the other band members were included in the final recording. However, the song was played with the other members of the band in a 1966 Tokyo concert.

McCartney performed two takes of "Yesterday" on 14 June 1965. Take 2 was deemed best and used as the master take. A string quartet was overdubbed on take 2 and that version was released. Take 1 was later released on the Anthology 2 compilation without the string overdub. On take 1, McCartney can be heard giving chord changes to George Harrison before starting, but George does not appear to actually play. Take 2 had two lines transposed from the first take: "There's a shadow hanging over me"/"I'm not half the man I used to be," though it seems clear that their order in take 2 was the correct one, because McCartney can be heard, in take 1, suppressing a laugh at his mistake.