Note: Trying to do this one post per day for the whole month is a bit difficult for a Sabbath observing Jew. I am writing this on Friday afternoon and will post Saturday evening after the Sabbath.
Six days after the final takes for A Hard Days Night, the Beatles went back in to start recording Beatles For Sale. Prior to these sessions they toured Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, The Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden. They also had numerous TV, Radio and live appearances in the UK as well. It was grower clear that this hard schedule was becoming difficult for the Beatles and as such six of the fourteen songs on the Album were covers. It would be the last album to contain significant covers (Help! Has a few covers as well as one little ditty on Abbey Road). Like Please Please Me, Beatles For Sale is essentially their live show recorded in the studio.
The recording sessions for this album were beginning to take longer as Lennon and McCartney were being to experiment with different arrangements of each song. Eight Days A Week is one of the first songs with seven different takes done in the studio. By the time they get to Rubber Soul and Revolver, despite still during some touring, they would become an experimental studio band.
Now that stereo was becoming a more popular format around the world, and now that they were more comfortable mixing in stereo, I find that the stereo mixes are becoming superior to the mono. There are still some standout mono recordings, but by and large the stereo will consistently win out over the mono.
No Reply Tie. I cannot hear much of a difference at all.
I’m A Loser Tie. Both seem to be the same.
Baby’s In Black Stereo. Much more depth in the stereo and the guitar is much cleaner.
Rock And Roll Music Stereo is far superior here. The depth is quite impressive and they even sound better. Like Roll Over Beethoven this is one song then lends itself to a good stereo mix.
I’ll Follow The Sun Stereo wins. Impressive depth and everything is so clean it sounds as if I am in the studio.
Mr. Moonlight Stereo wins again. The vocals are so crisp and the guitar is perfect.
Kansas City/Hey-Hey-Hey! The stereo here is so far superior; it may be the best example so far of the differences between mono and stereo mixes.
Here are both versions of No Reply. Choose for yourself!
Enjoy!
Mono
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdCqn4Xykws]
Stereo
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1oFkHWD9k4]