Emerick worked as an assistant engineer to Smith on several of the Beatles' early recordings, including "She Loves You" and "I Want to Hold Your Hand". From early in 1964, his involvement with the band was limited due to his training program at EMI, as he progressed to lacquer cutter, mastering engineer and then balance (or recording) engineer. During that time, he helped record other artists for the label, including Judy Garland, After working his way up to the recording engineer's position, Emerick engineered the 1966 Manfred Mann single "Pretty Flamingo", which became a number 1 hit in the UK.