June 29, 2014

Vinyl Albums Being Re-Released in Mono 09-2014


With an audiophile audience in mind, The Beatles’ mono albums have been newly mastered for vinyl from quarter-inch master tapes at Abbey Road Studios. While the corresponding CD boxed set from 2009 was created from digital remasters, these new vinyl versions have been cut without the use of any digital technology.  Manufactured for the world at Optimal Media in Germany, The Beatles’ albums are presented in their original glory, both sonically and in their packaging


London – June 16, 2014 – The Beatles in mono

This is how most listeners first heard the group in the 1960s, when mono was the predominant audio format. Up until 1968, each Beatles album was given a unique mono and stereo mix, but the group always regarded the mono as primary. On September 8 (September 9 in North America), The Beatles’ nine U.K. albums, the American-compiled Magical Mystery Tour, and the Mono Masters collection of non-album tracks will be released in mono on 180-gram vinyl LPs with faithfully replicated artwork. Newly mastered from the analogue master tapes, each album will be available both individually and within a lavish, limited 14-LP boxed edition, The Beatles In Mono, which also includes a 108-page hardbound book.

The Beatles, 1968. © Apple Corps. Ltd.

In an audiophile-minded undertaking, The Beatles’ acclaimed mono albums have been newly mastered for vinyl from quarter-inch master tapes at Abbey Road Studios by GRAMMY®-winning engineer Sean Magee and GRAMMY®-winning mastering supervisor Steve Berkowitz. While The Beatles In Mono CD boxed set released in 2009 was created from digital remasters, for this new vinyl project, Magee and Berkowitz cut the records without using any digital technology. Instead, they employed the same procedures used in the 1960s, guided by the original albums and by detailed transfer notes made by the original cutting engineers.

Working in the same room at Abbey Road where most of The Beatles’ albums were initially cut, the pair first dedicated weeks to concentrated listening, fastidiously comparing the master tapes with first pressings of the mono records made in the 1960s. Using a rigorously tested Studer A80 machine to play back the precious tapes, the new vinyl was cut on a 1980s-era VMS80 lathe.

Manufactured for the world at Optimal Media in Germany, The Beatles’ albums are presented in their original glory, both sonically and in their packaging. The boxed collection’s exclusive 12-inch by 12-inch hardbound book features new essays and a detailed history of the mastering process by award-winning radio producer and author Kevin Howlett. The book is illustrated with many rare studio photos of The Beatles, fascinating archive documents, and articles and advertisements sourced from 1960s publications.

Available now for preorder at www.thebeatles.com.

The Beatles In Mono
* Available individually and collected in a limited 14-LP boxed edition, accompanied by an exclusive 108-page hardbound book.
  • 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
  • The Beatles (2-LP)
  • Mono Masters (3-LP)

"The Beatles", affectionally known as "the White album". © Apple Corps Ltd.



Official promotional film for the mono vinyl releases.


The prices from Amazon in USA for the boxed set is $409.26, single-LPs are $26.60, the 2LP "The Beatles" $43.97 and the 3LP "Mono Masters" $77.52.

Official press release.

Source: http://wogew.blogspot.com/2014/06/the-beatles-mono-vinyls-press-release.html

June 26, 2014

Alternate Abbey Road

Alternate takes and mixes from Abbey Road era. All the material presented here has already been bootlegged before. This CD circulates in two versions. The contents are the same (the two medleys have been separated in tracks) but the art is different.




Alternate Abbey Road - Tracklist - Pear Records
August 1972 - "One To One" rehearsal

1     Come Together  - Take 37
2     Something Take 21 - Piano notes at the start, different vocals, no ynth and guitar overdubs
3     Maxwell's Silver Hammer - Early version - different vocal
4     Oh! Darling -  Take 32 - no sound effects, different vocal
5     Octopus's Garden - Experimental take - lead vocal by Paul (22/02/69)
6     I Want You (She's So Heavy) - Live - 18th November 1976, George with Paul Simon live on the Saturday Night Live show
7     Here Comes The Sun - Isolated vocal for the first minute of the song, made for the 1983 Abbey Road Video show
8     Because - Alternate take with instrumental jam at the end
9     You Never Give Me Your Money - Alternate take, starts with organ note, no sound effects
10     Sun King - Alternate take, different ending
11     Mean Mr. Mustard - Original
12     Her Majesty - Alternate take, different beginning
13     Polythene Pam - Alternate take
14     She Came In Through The Bathroom Window - Alternate take, different vocals, no chorus, no strings, more piano
15     Golden Slumbers / Carry That Weight - Alternate take from the Anthology video
16     The End - Acetate - as used for Anthology in an earlier stage, this lasts a few seconds longer
17     Something - Alternate take
18     Oh! Darling - Alternate take
19     Because - Original Abbey Road mix
20     The Huge Melody (Part 1) - Original Abbey Road mix
21     A Huge Melody (Part 2) - Alternate take, with final guitar chord
22     Her Majesty - Medley of Abbey Road tracks
23     Abbey Road Medley - Instrumental of "Because" with comments by all four Beatles
24     The End of The Beatles