Beatles Remasters coming! 09/09/09

[Quincy]

For those who are on a budget have patience with the stereo albums that are less important to you as they will show up used once the iPod kids have dumped their Xmas gift discs after they've ripped them.

Or...

Target is selling the remasters for $11.98 (The White Album sale price is $16.99). The sticker price will be higher, but excluding the White Album they ring up at $11.98. Buy 2 and you get a $5 gift card good for your next purchase. So buy 'em 2 at a time getting a $5 gift card each time. Just mentioning it as I doubt many people think of buying CDs at Target - I know I don't. I think this lasts until October 10th but don't hold me to it.

[vajerzy]

I'm ready to get the Mono Box now!

[JSngry]

Jeez...that's a lot of money...I mean, I obsessed over this stuff as a kid, studied it as an adolescent, evaluated it as an adult...I mean, I saw the first Sullivan show in '64 and can unambiguously say that it changed my life forever...just don't really know if I need to pay almost $250 just to reach the same conclusions through a different way...but I sure would like to hear Please...and With... as kickass mono Power Pop albums, just becuase I think it would be really big fun.

One thing that bugged me about the old CDs was that all the edits and punch-ins were really, really obvious (if you know what/how to listen for in that regard...), kind of distracting really. That's true for a lot of pop from that era too...digital proved to be a little too "realistic" and "faithful"...

[Aggie87]

Jeez...that's a lot of money...I mean, I obsessed over this stuff as a kid, studied it as an adolescent, evaluated it as an adult...I mean, I saw the first Sullivan show in '64 and can unambiguously say that it changed my life forever...just don't really know if I need to pay almost $250 just to reach the same conclusions through a different way...but I sure would like to hear Please...and With... as kickass mono Power Pop albums, just becuase I think it would be really big fun.

One thing that bugged me about the old CDs was that all the edits and punch-ins were really, really obvious (if you know what/how to listen for in that regard...), kind of distracting really. That's true for a lot of pop from that era too...digital proved to be a little too "realistic" and "faithful"...

It's actually not that expensive if you break it out on a per-disc basis ($230/13 = $17.70 per disc), for Japanese LP reproductions. The packaging and detail is wonderful.

I bet some of you have spent more than $17.70 for Monday Michiru albums from Japan?

[7/4]

One thing that bugged me about the old CDs was that all the edits and punch-ins were really, really obvious (if you know what/how to listen for in that regard...), kind of distracting really. That's true for a lot of pop from that era too...digital proved to be a little too "realistic" and "faithful"...

I was listening to either Revolver or Rubber Soul in mono this afternoon and I thought the vocal on a verse suddenly sounded different. First thing I thought was it must have been a punch in.

[JSngry]

I bet some of you have spent more than $17.70 for Monday Michiru albums from Japan?

I've spent 2-3X that more than once...and been amply rewarded...but I'd not been hearing that stuff for 45 years already when I did... :g

[JSngry]

One thing that bugged me about the old CDs was that all the edits and punch-ins were really, really obvious (if you know what/how to listen for in that regard...), kind of distracting really. That's true for a lot of pop from that era too...digital proved to be a little too "realistic" and "faithful"...

I was listening to either Revolver or Rubber Soul in mono this afternoon and I thought the vocal on a verse suddenly sounded different. First thing I thought was it must have been a punch in.

The earlier albums are the "worse"...you routinely hear vocal and instrumental splices/punch-ins etc. quite clearly... I mean, it's ok, that's how those records were made, and lord knows you never heard all that on a portable AM radio or a Sears home "record player" with a 100 gram tracking force tone arm, which is how I got "imprinted" on this stuff...I'm just saying...don't know it there's sufficient technology available to smooth all that stuff out now, but if not, there needs to be...

Or is that what MP3s are for?

[WorldB3]

Jeez...that's a lot of money...I mean, I obsessed over this stuff as a kid, studied it as an adolescent, evaluated it as an adult...I mean, I saw the first Sullivan show in '64 and can unambiguously say that it changed my life forever...just don't really know if I need to pay almost $250 just to reach the same conclusions through a different way...but I sure would like to hear Please...and With... as kickass mono Power Pop albums, just becuase I think it would be really big fun.

One thing that bugged me about the old CDs was that all the edits and punch-ins were really, really obvious (if you know what/how to listen for in that regard...), kind of distracting really. That's true for a lot of pop from that era too...digital proved to be a little too "realistic" and "faithful"...

You can also wait for individual Mono remasters on Vinyl to come out later this November, I will most likely be picking up Peppers and Hard Days Night.

EMI wants everybody to buy these in as many formats and times as possible. I think limiting the original mono boxes to build up a demand/frenzy from a marketing standpoint worked out well for them.

I am sure they sound great, especially over the original 87 CD releases but I think people going nuts over the Mono as the masters as Beatles/George Martin intended are forgetting at the time their focus was probably more for AM radio transmission then the wanabe's Hugh Hefners with the big hi fi's.

I think anyway you go stereo box, single remaster or mono box will make even the casual Beatle fan happy.

Edited September 25, 2009 by WorldB3

[7/4]

One thing that bugged me about the old CDs was that all the edits and punch-ins were really, really obvious (if you know what/how to listen for in that regard...), kind of distracting really. That's true for a lot of pop from that era too...digital proved to be a little too "realistic" and "faithful"...

I was listening to either Revolver or Rubber Soul in mono this afternoon and I thought the vocal on a verse suddenly sounded different. First thing I thought was it must have been a punch in.

The earlier albums are the "worse"...you routinely hear vocal and instrumental splices/punch-ins etc. quite clearly... I mean, it's ok, that's how those records were made, and lord knows you never heard all that on a portable AM radio or a Sears home "record player" with a 100 gram tracking force tone arm, which is how I got "imprinted" on this stuff...I'm just saying...don't know it there's sufficient technology available to smooth all that stuff out now, but if not, there needs to be...

Or is that what MP3s are for?

Now I'm going to notice them all the time!

[JSngry]

Are you old enough to remember these?

iPod that shit bay-bee!

[7/4]

I used to listen to one of those when I was a kid!

z

[JSngry]

So did I - and I didn't hear nary a punch-in or nary splice!

[7/4]

So did I - and I didn't hear nary a punch-in or nary splice!

or consider the fidelity of car AM radios back then. Now that was some fine quality!

[JSngry]

Ya' know, we like to talk about "the way it was MEANT to sound"...well...let's just say that up until 1967 or so, AM radios - car (only one speaker, remember, in the dashboard), portable, or home - WERE how it was "meant" to sound far more often than not.

Talk about "punchy", try remembering "I Feel Fine" in a car with the windows rolled down and the volume turned up and the static crackling just a little bit...WHOO BOY!!!!

Now, if I could get this Mono box in a format that played them through a transistor radio, that two-fitty would have done BEEN spent!

[7/4]

I think in the mid '70s, we had three cars - a '62 Ramblerwagon that was replaced by a 4 door '67 Rambler Rebel (my Dad's cars that were for commuting into NYC) and my Mother's '71 Ford Torino.

The Ford had that kind of radio too.

The '67 Rambler was my first car, so I was listening to '77 AM when I was first driving. I ultimately ended up with the Ford too.

Party on Garth!

[Alexander]

Not sure if it's already been discussed, so I'll risk asking a second time: since these are the original stereo mixes, does this mean that "I Am the Walrus" still ends in fake stereo, and "It's All Too Much" is entirely in fake stereo?

I'm still gonna get the Yellow Submarine album (and MMT) regardless; yes, I'm one of those nuts that actually enjoys side 2 of YS!

As far as I can tell, "I am The Walrus" now ends in mono. "It's All Too Much" is in real stereo, while "Only A Northern Song" (which WAS in fake stereo) is now in mono only.

[Jim R]

Jeez...that's a lot of money...

This still "sums" it up for me. For now, at least.

Re the first Sullivan show, for some reason I don't remember it as having a big impact on me. Maybe because I was only 8. My brothers and I still went out and bought the records, but the awareness of the "mania" sort of came on gradually for us, as I recall.

Since I've never bothered to buy a Beatles songbook (probably because those things typically get so many chords wrong), I've been having fun writing out some guitar chord sheets for my son (17) and I to work on. The theory has been floated that this music has the potential to bring different generations together musically, and so far I find that to be quite plausible.

[Jim R]

I think in the mid '70s, we had three cars - a '62 Rambler wagon...

My GOD- somebody besides our family owned one of those?! Ours was a '62 also... white, and we added air conditioning for those 4,000-mile trips to hit every national park in the western U.S. (with all our gear on top, it was about the same size and weight as the space shuttle ). It became the butt of many a joke in later years, but I must say it got the job done.

[Big Al]

Now, if I could get this Mono box in a format that played them through a transistor radio, that two-fitty would have done BEEN spent!

Tell you what: buy the mono box, send it to me, and I will convert the CDs to AM-quality sounding WAV files. At no charge, I might add, since I'm still riding the high (and sporting the blisters!) from last Wednesday!

[neveronfriday]

Are you old enough to remember these?

iPod that shit bay-bee!

I immediately focused on the lower left-hand image. I remember my dad bringing a single earbud like that home from some transcontinental flight to Asia for me. Actually, he had amassed several of them for himself. I had this portable radio cassette recorder (Grundig) which I was totally in love with and that earphone allowed me to listen to late-night radio broadcasts (I loved listening to radio plays after 23:00 in the evening) without my parents noticing (at least that's what I thought back then).

Memories.

P.S.: It's nice to see that the Beatles thread took off here as well, although we're still 73451 posts behind the sh.tv site. I've spent a lot of time listening to the Mono box and I'm very happy with it. For me it was money very well spent.

[king ubu]

Picked up my mono box at the post office on the way home - will disappear now...

[felser]

Are you old enough to remember these?

They had to just about surgically remove the earphone from my ear. Saw the Beatles on Sullivan at 9 years old, it was a near-religious experience, got a transistor radio/earphone for my next birthday, lived with that thing and it's replacements day and night for years. Everywhere I walked, under the pillow in bed etc. etc. KQV in Pittsburgh, WAAY in Huntsville, Alabama (where "Eve of Destruction" was banned, probably for the line about "turn around and look at Selma, Alabama), WSAI in Cincinnati, WFIL (WIBG was already past it's prime) in Philly. At home I was listening to WEBN in Cincy and WMMR in Philly to get the FM progressive stuff, but didn't have FM on a transistor radio for a good while.

[Chuck Nessa]

I hope some company takes the time to transfer these to acetates so we can buy them again on 78s.

[Alexander]

My daughter and I were out at the mall this afternoon (had to pick up my paycheck from Borders). We stopped in Best Buy to price the Beatles Rock Band game (the cheap version, without the Ringo bass drum and the Paul Hofner bass) and, well...

You guys with kids, you know the look on their faces when you do something just completely out of character and wonderful? Something that fulfills their wildest dreams when they didn't even dare hope for something to happen?

THAT'S the look on my daughter's face when I said, "What the hell. Mommy will probably kill us, but let's get it."

We've been playing since we got home from gymnastics this evening (with a brief dinner break). And yeah, her mother's not too happy with me (but, hey...we're getting divorced, so what's she going to do about it?). We started out with me on guitar and my daughter on drums (her choice. Apparently, she's had some bad Rock Band/Guitar Hero experiences at friends houses that have convinced her that she's no good on guitar). She quickly got frustrated with the drums and switched to vocal. We're up to the "White Album"/"Let It Be"/"Abbey Road" period. My left arm ACHES!

I did try to play bass on one song: "Paperback Writer." Didn't do so well. Switched back to guitar. I also tried drums on one track. Very hard. I'm looking forward to eventually learning to play all the instruments on this!

Oh, and I also did vocals on "Helter Skelter" and "Taxman." Did really well on "Helter Skelter" and got a PERFECT SCORE on "Taxman"! My encyclopedic knowledge of Beatles lyrics in finally paying off!

[Matthew]

Have any of you read the Jonathan Gould book, "Can't Buy Me Love." I picked it up tonight and find it hard to put down.

Anthology (which should be called Mythology but makes a nice coffee table book)

Just curious about your take on the Anthology book. I purchased it some 8 years ago, however, it has pretty much sat on the coffee table since then; I've never spent any time reading it, though I have perused the images from time to time.

I was under the impression that just like the similarly named documentary the Anthology text was supposed to be the Beatles "in their own words" so I guess I'm wondering in what sort way embellishment / mythologizing takes place. I hadn't heard this before so I'm quite curious.

Oh, and thanks for your other reading recommendations.

The one thing I got from the Anthology book, (which mostly I use for the pictures) is McCartney speaking about the Music Hall influence upon the Beatles, which I thought interesting. In fact, thinking about it, you could say that all of Sgt. Pepper takes place in a music hall. The other topic I always wondered about is the Art School influence, sort of why is it that every rock musician in 1960's England attended art school? I'm just starting MacDonald's book, and he talked a little bit about the art schools, but I still would like to read more on this area, and also the music hall aspect of the Beatles.

Edited September 26, 2009 by Matthew