Yellow Submarine was the first Beatles album not mixed in mono. It was also the worst selling of all of their albums, despite the fact that the movie of the same name was so well received. The album had six songs on the first side, four of which were recorded in previous sessions but left unreleased. Only two of the songs, Hey Bulldog and All Together Now were recorded specifically for the film. Only A Northern Song was recorded during the Sgt. Pepper’s sessions but left off the album. It’s All Too Much was recorded after Sgt. Pepper’s but not for any specific project. Yellow Submarine, of course, had been heard on the Revolver album and All You Need Is Love was released as a single in 1967.
The film of course had other music. Some was orchestral music written and arranged by George Martin for the film, and some were other Beatles songs. Eleanor Rigby, Nowhere Man, Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds, Think For Yourself, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and With A Little Help From My Friends were all found on other albums.
I cannot compare this album to a mono version as it does not exist, but in 1999, when the film was being re-released on DVD, the music was remixed into a new version called Yellow Submarine Songtrack. This version differs from the 2009 re-masters as it is a re-MIX. The engineers took the original track recordings and remixed them to create the new CD. This was the first time a Beatles album was remixed, mostly because the Beatles themselves had asked that their music not be remixed. This CD left off all of the orchestral pieces and added in all of the other songs that were in the movie, all remixed into a digital master. The results are astonishing, and it is amazing that this is not talked about more. There are cases where I wish they did this type of remix with some of the re-mastered material.
So I will do a short comparison of the six songs that are on the original album with what is on the remix. Then I will comment on the rest as a whole.
Yellow Submarine – Remix. Lead vocal now in center and sound effects are clearer.
Only A Northern Song – Remix. This song was the only song on the original album in mono (actually mixed in stereo and then made into mono). On the new remaster it is in true mono and the 1999 remix is the first time it is heard in stereo.
All Together Now – Remix. The vocals are so much clearer.
Hey Bulldog – Tie. The piano and drums were not separable so the remix is not too different
It’s All Too Much – Remix. Totally different version and much better.
All You Need Is Love – Remix. This shows what can be done with a remix. It makes a good song great!
As you can see the remix is basically superior to everything that came before. This is true for the rest of the material as well. The first song on the remix that is not on the original album is Eleanor Rigby. When I was discussing Revolver, I chose the mono version of Eleanor Rigby mostly because of the lead vocal coming out of the right only. A huge mistake is also heard at the beginning of the first verse when the separation of the voices occurs for Paul’s solo and it happens a second too late. This is all corrected in the remix and it sounds wonderful in stereo. The same can be said about all the others. This stereo remix is better than any other version of these songs!
Here are both versions of All You Need Is Love. You Choose!
Enjoy!
Re-Master
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnQSKfWDR7s]
Remix
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrnPtgPDngA]