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Sessions for The Young Ones began on May 23rd, 1961 in Studio 2 at London's EMI Studios, now Abbey Road. Most started at 7pm and lasted for a maximum of three and a half hours, during which time they would usually manage to put down three or four tracks with vocals. These could later be used as the completed master, typically with minimum overdubs. The producer was Cliff Richard and The Shadows' long-time composer Norrie Paramor. Malcolm Addy served as engineer, and was accompanied on one session by future Beatles engineer and Pink Floyd producer Norman Smith.

The work rate was often astonishing. On August the 9th, in two sessions starting at 2.30pm and totalling six and a half hours – with an hour break – Cliff Richard, the Mikes Sammes Singers and Stanley Black's Associated British Studios Orchestra recorded all of the eight-minute vaudeville routine. Later, Grazina Frame put down 'No One For Me But Nicky' and duetted with Cliff on 'Nothing Is Impossible'. They also got 'Friday Night', 'All For One' and 'Mambo' in the can – all by 10pm.

Up to June 1960 the practice at Abbey Road had been to record simultaneously on one-track and two-track tape machines for stereo or mono release (all Cliff Richard's singles around this time were released in mono). Yet The Young Ones sessions were recorded on two-track, using a BTR3 (British Tape Recorder) developed by EMI engineers as a successor to earlier BTR1 and BTR2 mono devices. This was the only stereo mix-down machine used at Abbey Road throughout the 1960s.