Beatles For Sale was released in December 1964 and quickly took the top spot on the UK charts (taking it from A Hard Day’s Night). At this point Beatlemania was just past is prime, but the goups was still on a major high. The demand for songs was so great that they could not fill up a full album with new songs quick enough for a December release. So the album contains six covers and is essentially their stage show recorded. The songs were released in the US on two different albums, Beatles 65 and Beatles VI. Like the first three albums Beatles For Sale was released as a mono and stereo recording. The CD was released in 1987 like the rest of the Beatles albums, and again it was only released as a mono, so the new remaster is the first time the stereo recording has been released on CD.
Eight Days a Week – Tie. No real difference
Words of Love – Tie. I had a real difficult time with this one. The guitar is so much better in the stereo mix but I find the vocals a bit better in the mono. So I call it a tie.
Honey Don’t – Stereo again. This wonderful forgotten song is a great cover of the Carl Perkins song. I guess you can call it rockabilly. The wonderful bass and guitars make the stereo much better.
Every Little Thing – Stereo wins. This is a perfect mix.
I Don’t Want To Spoil The Party – Mono wins! This is the only song on the album where I find I like the mono better. The stereo starts well, but something in the mix is distracting, so I vote mono here.
What You’re Doing – Stereo again has more depth and the guitars are much cleaner.
Everybody’s Trying To Be My Baby – Another great Carl Perkins song where the stereo is much better. I must note though that even though I like the stereo better, the mono mix here is fabulous! There is a lot of depth to it.
Here are the two versions of Every Little Thing. You choose!
Enjoy!
Mono
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucP5a0bNbGY]
Stereo
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXb7PbDdBh4]