The Long and Winding Road

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]

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]

Aside from the new technology used on this recording, another first was that all of the music was original. All of the songs were written by Lennon and McCartney, one of the only albums without a Harrison song and the only album without a song with Ringo singing lead. The album was released in July of 1964 as the soundtrack to the movie. In the US the album was released a month early with a different track listing. A Hard Day’s Night is also significant as it shows the Beatles developing their talents, especially Lennon and McCartney’s song writing talents. The songs still stick to the standard rock and roll format with perhaps the greatest rock and roll song ever recorded, the title song, A Hard Day’s Night.

In 1987 the album was released on CD in mono as well as a new US release copying the original UK version rather than the earlier US version. The 2009 Stereo version is the first time the stereo mix has appeared on CD.

I’ll cry Instead – Tie. Actually the stereo may be slight bit better than the mono, but the mono version here is so crisp and clean that I can hear the dept that is missing in some of the other mono songs on this album.

Things We Said Today – Stereo edges out the mono just a bit. The harmonies are just a bit better on the stereo version. There is so much more you can do with beautiful harmonies in a stereo mix so it almost like the mono had no chance even though it is a great mix.

When I Get Home – Mono edges out the stereo here. I find the lead vocal a bit better on the mono.

You Can’t Do That – Stereo. This one was an easy choice. Clearly they did a lot of work on the stereo, perhaps experimenting with what sounds better out of which channel. The result is great depth and wonderful sound.

I’ll Be Back – Stereo again. It seems to me that they made this stereo mix at the same time as You Can’t Do That. These are the best two stereo mixes on the album.

Here are the two versions of You Can’t Do That. You choose!

Enjoy!

Mono
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBYWryLP_QQ]

Stereo
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIDN8yd6O6k]

Movie Version!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k20imqxPFig]

A Hard Day’s Night was the first album recorded on a four track tape recording system. This gave George Martin greater ability to make a stereo mix as well as add nuances to a mono mix. You will see in my notes below that I like more of the stereo songs here as they have learned not only to use the better technology but also they have all come to learn how each other plays, sings, works, etc.

With the four track recording, they were able to separate out different instruments and voices to create a fuller sound. They were also able to learn how to take four tracks, record them onto a single master and do the same three more times. The four masters could then be mixed together as four different tracks to simulate 16 track recordings. They also started putting the vocals in the center of a stereo recording rather than out of just one track (although they would still experiment with this in the future).

A Hard Day’s Night – Stereo wins. The vocals in the center coupled with the ability to hear some music that you cannot in the mono make the stereo version shine.

I Should Have Known Better – Stereo wins. John’s harmonica is so much clearer and cleaner in the stereo and the vocals again in the center push the stereo above the mono.

If I Fell – Mono wins. This song is mostly about the Beatles singing rather than playing instruments, and I find a little too much reverb in John’s opening on the stereo version. Ringo’s drums are perhaps cleaner in the stereo but overall I choose the mono.

I’m Happy Just To Dance With You – Stereo. Both recordings sound so similar, but I think of this like washing a dirty window. You can see everything through the windows, but when you clean it you suddenly can see so much more and here you can hear so much more in the stereo.

And I Love Her –Tie. The song is more vocals than instruments, and I find both mixes equal

Tell Me Why -Stereo. Again everything is a bit clearer in the stereo and I can hear each instrument distinctly.

Can’t Buy Me Love – Stereo. The stereo is far superior here. The one word I can use is depth. I feel like there is so much more depth in the stereo version and I can hear everything. The guitar solo in the middle of the song puts the stereo version on top all by itself

Any Time At All – Tie. Both mixes are great!

Here are the two versions of If I Fell plus the scene from the movie. You choose!

Enjoy!

Mono
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJyoRQ_KShc]

Stereo
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKO0RK_oOZI]

Movie
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ot_AqGfTjjg]

After the success of Please Please Me, the group recorded the next album, With the Beatles, four months after they recorded the first one. Like the first album, this one was a mix of original material and covers. 8 new songs appear here including the first from George Harrison (with the exceptions of A Hard Day’s Night and Beatles for Sale there would always be at least one Harrison song on each album).

Like Please Please Me, the album was recorded on a two track tape recorder with the vocals on one track and the instruments on the other. They were mixed into a mono version as well as a stereo. The album was released in the UK on November 22, 1963 on the Parlophone label. In the US most of the songs were on the album Meet the Beatles!, released on January 20, 1964 with a few on the next US Capitol release, The Beatles’ Second Album. The album quickly displaced Please Please Me on the UK charts in the number one spot which it held for 21 weeks (together with Please Please Me, the Beatles held the top spot for 51 consecutive weeks). This was also the second album to sell over a million copies in the UK, and the first rock album (the previous was the South Pacific soundtrack).

The album was released as a mono LP in the US in 1987 as well as a mono CD at the same time. Like with Please Please Me, the current stereo re-master is the first time the stereo mix has been released on CD.

One final note, I think that as George Martin became more comfortable with the group and learned how they operated, the stereo mixes start to become as good as the mono.

Roll Over Beethoven – Stereo wins. Being a great R&B/Rock song from Chuck Berry, I really wanted to choose stereo over the mono here, and I was happy to do so. This wonderful cover of the Chuck Berry hit is a standard rock and roll song so dependent on the guitars. At the beginning of the song, I was about to pick Mono because the guitar solo only came from the one side, but later there is a wonderful mix of the instruments on both sides.

Hold Me Tight – I was never a big fan of this song, until I heard a great cover of it (in the movie Across the Universe) which I feel is the best version of the song! But choosing between the two here, I pick the Stereo because the wonderful guitars and bass are balanced on the two sides perfectly.

You’ve Really Got a Hold On Me – I just have to use the first few bars to pick the stereo version here. The piano is so much cleaner on the stereo mix.

I Wanna Be Your Man – Mono is far superior. I find no difference between the two except that the vocals are in the center on the mono so that makes it win.

Devil In Her Heart – Tie. The drums and guitars are so much better in the stereo but the vocals better in the mono.

Not A Second Time – Tie. There are things in the stereo that you just cannot hear in the mono but again the vocals in the center bring up the mono.

Money – Stereo wins. This is perhaps the best of the stereo mixed songs from the early albums. Although the vocals are only on the right the far superior bass and piano make the stereo the winner here.

Here are the two versions of Money, and as an added bonus, Hold Me Tight from the movie “Across The Universe.”

Enjoy!

Mono
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQCb6s9A6mw]

Stereo
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEY20X55Dqw]

Hold me Tight from Across The Universe (extended version – you may need to turn up the volume for this) I can write a whole posting just on this one scene!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8oOk26Q24g]

After listening to pretty much all of the re-mastered music (I have yet to listen to Yellow Submarine) I have come to the realization that they may have made some mistakes. Unfortunately, they may have had no choice. You see The Fab Four in all of their wisdom made sure that their songs could not be changed in the future. That meant that after the original mix was made, no one was permitted to change it. So while these re-mastered versions have corrected problems and brought out sounds that were not discernable in the original masters, they could not make changes to the mix, so my big problem with the vocals coming only out of one side in many of the stereo songs could not be changed.

Here lies the mistake. With two of the Beatles not with us anymore, and the music being firmly in control of EMI, would it not have been better for EMI to take a leap and say “let’s make these a tad better than they were. Sir George Martin was a genius, but we have more technology at our fingertips, and had Sir George had this technology, surely the songs would have turned out different. Let’s make these songs really sound like they were recorded today.” This could have been done by taking the original separate tracks and re-mixing them at the same time they digitally re-mastered them. But, alas, this did not happen. So although the music sounds far superior to what we have heard in the past, we are left with the same mixes which sometimes could have been done better.

One other thing to note is that I am reviewing all of this music using an iPod. The iPod is a great music machine and can play the digital music almost as good as anything, but it will never be close to what you can get from listening through a high quality stereo system. So when a stereo mix song has all the vocals out of one side, when listening through headphones, it just sounds weird sometimes. However, it I were to listen through a high quality system (like in my Father-In-Law’s basement!) and positioned myself in the listening sweet spot (the right distance from the speakers and equidistant between them) I might have a different story to tell. Since most people today, especially people in my generation or younger, are listening through iPods or other MP3 players, I have chosen to use that as my playback device for these reviews. Perhaps they could have made a separate iPod version!

Anyway, here is my thought on the first half of With the Beatles.

It Won’t Be Long – Mostly I think the Mono is better here with the vocals in the center, but the wonderful base throughout is much cleaner on the stereo. I will have to call it almost a tie, with the mono version just a bit better than the stereo.

All I’ve Got To Do – Stereo wins, despite the vocals only on the right, they are so much cleaner in the stereo version that I find it superior.

All My Loving – Tie again. The crispness of the stereo makes it equal to the mono.

Don’t Bother Me – Mono wins. I find the vocals to low from the right only and that is very distracting.

Little Child – Tie. The mono again is better for the single channel mix but the harmonica is so much cleaner on the stereo that I find them equal.

Till There Was You – Mono wins here because of the mix, but in the stereo mix you can hear the instruments a bit better. This almost makes the stereo even. The song is most Paul’s beautiful voice and I find it better from the center.

Please Mr. Postman – Again it is the mono that is superior, but like most of the songs on this album, the music is a tiny bit better on the stereo making it almost as good.

Here are the two versions of It Won’t Be Long. You be the Judge!

Enjoy!

Mono
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8HQM211RZ4]

Stereo
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5drpgVPusVg]

Yesterday I wrote about the first six songs on the album Please Please Me. Today I will include my thoughts on the second half of the album. But before I get to that, I want to talk about the album itself. George Martin, who would produce almost all of the Beatles albums, brought the group into the studio after having heard their Cavern Club performance. The recording was to basically be their live 1963 act. They had already recorded Love Me Do in October of 1962 and it reached number 17 on the UK charts. That song, along with seven others was an original Lennon/McCartney song. The album was rounded out with six covers (most notably the famous Twist and Shout). The entire album was recorded on one 9 hour session on a two track tape recorder. The vocals were recorded on one track and the instruments on the other. This allowed for a nice balance on the final mono mix especially in places where the music would overpower their voices. There was a stereo mix made as well, but there are very few of these remaining as stereo was a very new and niche market at the time. The album was released on March 22, 1963 in the UK on the Parlophone label and hit the top of the charts in May. It remained at the top of the UK charts for thirty weeks until it was replaced by the Beatles second album, With The Beatles. The album was not released in the US and most of the songs can be heard on the Vee-Jay Records Introducing The Beatles released in 1964, and once Capitol records took over all of the Beatles releases, they were released again on the album The Early Beatles in 1965. In 1987, the album was released on LP for the first time in the US as well as on CD. These 1987 releases were in Mono only, making the new stereo remix the first time this albums was released on CD in stereo.

Now to the rest of the songs:

Love Me Do and P.S. I Love You are in mono even on the stereo mix, so there is no comparison.

Baby Its You – Even. The vocals out of the right don’t sound so bad in the stereo mix here and the guitar is cleaner. The vocals in the center of the mono mix make this a tie.

Do You Want To Know a Secret – Stereo wins. The guitar is just so much cleaner here is makes it sound like it is right in the room with you. The vocals are out of the right, but there is a slight echo or reverb of them through the left that makes it sound good.

A Taste Of Honey – Even – Again, the vocals out of the right are balanced out with great guitar and the slight echo out of the left in the stereo. The mono sounds more together with the vocals in the center.

There’s a Place – Mono wins. Vocals in the center again make this a superior version

Twist and Shout – Mono wins, probably because this is such a well known song (and a favorite of mine). The stereo version is so foreign to what we know of this song, that I have to go with the mono.

Here are both versions of Do You Want To Know a Secret. You be the judge!

Enjoy!

Mono
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYxzswPZ_D8]

Stereo
[youtube= http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wmc8WkNP91g]

Welcome to NaBloPoMo! National Blog Posting Month. This year I have decided to throw my hat in and attempt to post every day this month! If you want to learn about NaBloPoMo, I encourage you to visit their site. Click the banner above to get to their site and learn all about it. Each month they usually have a theme that people can write about (although totally optional) but in November, which is the big month, they leave it up to people to write about whatever they feel. Being that this is my first attempt at being involved, I have decided to go to my roots and write about the Beatles. Of course if there are any important updates about Avi or anything else, I will have extra postings.

In the meantime, let’s get started! On September 9^th, EMI records released new digitally re-mastered versions of all of the Beatles albums. Back on September 15^th, I wrote about the release of these albums and a little about the two sets that were created, the stereo and the mono. I don’t want to write all of that again, so here is a link back to that posting and you can read it there first. After listening to most of this material it struck me not only how different the new mixes were but how some songs were better on the stereo mix and some on the mono mix. So my goal of this month is to post my picks of which songs are better on which mix. There are 14 albums in the official Beatles canon. From earliest to latest they are: Please Please Me, With the Beatles, A Hard Day’s Night, Beatles for Sale, Help!, Rubber Soul, Revolver, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, Magical Mystery Tour, Yellow Submarine, The Beatles (the White Album), Let It Be, Abbey Road and Past Masters. The first two were only done as a mono mix, Yellow Submarine, Let It Be and Abbey Road were only done as stereo. Finally, Past Masters, while done as a stereo mix, many of the singles that were used to create the album were originally done in mono.

So with these re-mastered albums, all but Yellow Submarine, Let It Be and Abbey Road were created in both a Stereo and Mono Mix. Please Please Me and With The Beatles appear in Stereo for the first time and Past Masters for the first time in Mono (called Mono Masters). That of course leaves 11 albums in both the Stereo and Mono mix. Two of them are double albums so that leaves us with 13 disks. My plan each day is to post my comparison for ½ of each album. 13 albums 26 days. I will work on something special for the final four days.

One final note. Neither stereo nor mono is superior to the other in any way. It is just a different way of mixing the music. And what we call stereo is not really stereo anyway. True stereo would require two microphones or inputs from each person or instrument. Still to this day we record with one mic per person. So what we do is take each track and put some of all of it through one side, (right or left) to simulate a stereo sound. As you will see this will make some stereo songs superior, and some not so superior.

With all of that administrative work now out of the way, here is my comparison of the first half of Please Please me.

I Saw Her Standing There – Mono wins. In creating the stereo they chose to put all of the vocals out of the right side and some of the instruments out of the left. I find that a bit distracting. Perhaps having lead vocals on one side and backup on the other?

Misery – Even. Vocals out of right only on Stereo, but the guitar sounds much cleaner in the stereo.

Anna (Go To Him) – Stereo wins. Lead vocal out of right and backup is in both sides. The Creative use of drum in both sides makes the stereo edge over the mono.

Chains – Mono wins. I find it a fuller sound than the stereo and I prefer the vocals in the middle here.

Boys – Mono wins. The left side has almost nothing out of it until the guitar solo, which does sound better in stereo, but as a whole mono is better.

Ask Me Why – Mono wins. There is almost nothing out of the right side at all.

Here are the two versions of I Saw Her Standing There.

Enjoy!

Mono
[youtube= http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-aMmwV1q7VI]

Stereo
[youtube= http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SM81BvrQX_c]