George Harrison - The Apple Years Box Set (Part Two)

The Amazon Italy description has also been changed from 9 to 7 discs. Based on the information shared here, I think 7CD + DVD is what we'll be getting here.

 

I agree, good news at last (j/k). I'm turning around on this a little. The description from Wollensack about the artwork and book sounds pretty good.

Regarding ATMP, most likely just the original album and none of the 2000 bonus tracks right? (Sorry if the answer has been given already)

 

Original album + same bonus tracks from 2000

 

I would love to see mini LP set packaging for ATMP and CFB like the originals.

 

Nice! With 2014 mastering on these track I imagine too. Wow, this might be an upgrade. Maybe time to sell my 2000 reissue? Oh but what would I do without the weird coloring and alternate covers? Is having 5 versions of this album too much?

 

Hopefully NOT the same mastering.

 

I'm sad that there aren't more bonus tracks for Extra Texture - I was really hoping we might get a demo. Hopefully they're just waiting for the next Early Takes...

Have all of the bonus tracks been listed then, or are there still one two missing?

 

It has been mentioned (by insiders) that there might be some omissions from the bonus tracks already bandied about. One of them "appears" to be the studio version of "Bangladesh". But also the song "Sound Stage of Mind", which was listed as a bonus track on the Dark Horse CD, might have been listed in error. So we're at a wait-and-see stage right now. There won't be a lot of differences---maybe 1 or 2 or 3---but it's all guesswork until we get an official announcement.

Arnie

 

Why but oh why?
Are we getting too much interesting George Harrison material that some people think that, after all, we should be given less than initially planned?

 

Well, George was usually only allowed two songs per LP back in the Beatles. So that "stingy mentality" has carried over into the realm of bonus tracks. It's hard to break old bad habits...

Arnie

 

I don't mind that much if there aren't more bonus tracks than I expected as long as there's a new Early Takes or something coming soon.

 

Be very careful with those words "coming soon" when posting around here. It might have drastic repercussions... Arnie

 

Do we really need the updated My Sweet Lord and overdubbed ATMP era stuff in a package chronicling the Apple years. Clearly that was music made to promote and celebrate George's initial re-issue project. It doesn't need to be rehashed here surely. Especially for such a masterpiece album. Same goes for Platinum Weird.

 

I for one want all of those tracks included. Just because George added some overdubs in 2000 to a few of them doesn't lessen their value (for me), and since these are among the last recordings he ever made, it would feel disrespectful if they were discarded. Besides, we're all complaining about how few bonus tracks there are, and you want to throw out SIX of them? There's no guarantee that they'd be replaced with six new tracks -- it could easily have been 1-3 tracks like the other albums. Also, I'd like to hear these bonus tracks with a fresh 2014 remaster that would hopefully improve their sound.

As for the Platinum Weird "This Guitar" -- I want that too. Yes, it would be better suited to a box set of rarities, or maybe a themed album of songs George re-recorded in the 1990s -- but who knows if anything like that will ever happen? I want the PW track properly mastered and released on CD, so I can replace the leaked MP3. Do I wish that we were getting something contemporary to the Extra Texture album as bonus tracks? Of course. The Ronnie Spector "You" -- or even George's early version from 1971 -- would have been great. But honestly, does anyone think there are undiscovered gems in George's vault from the ET sessions? I frankly doubt it, considering the period in George's life and the resulting album. So if the PW "This Guitar" is the best they can offer, I'll take it.

 

Of course, by "coming soon" I really mean "in about ten years"

 

All albums in the box are 2014 remasters. It's interesting to note that the remastering was not done at Abbey Road but, rather, here:

http://lurssenmastering.com/

 

You got the time scale right. Enjoy posting ... Arnie

 

Also I assume that ATMP 2001 canonised My Sweet Lord 2000 and I Live For You so to speak as "regular" songs seeing as George himself personally included them. So you know I'd expect them on the new reissue personally.

 

A "Universal" development? The remastering team goes wherever the Beatles go (or at least not tied to a traditional EMI location)?

 

Interesting. I suppose it makes some sense, since Dhani lives in Los Angeles now. It's not really the location that matters, it's the philosophy of the mastering engineer -- and since Dhani's original Instagram post mentioned that he and "PH" (Paul Hicks, presumably) had been working for months on the Apple Years box, I don't care where the work was done.

 

Actually only five bonus tracks on the 2001 ATMP, three of them having later (c.2000) overdubs. But there's a perfectly decent undubbed 'I Live For You' in circulation that I'd MUCH prefer on there, and the 'Let It Down' demo doesn't NEED extra guitar and organ (it's a demo!). The overdubs just take away something, rather than add anything IMO.

 

Yes, you are correct -- only five bonus tracks on the 2001 ATMP. While I generally prefer that all "vault" material be left untouched, I've accepted the overdubbed "Let It Down" demo as a nice alternate to the perfect-sounding booted demo. Those overdubs were among the last musical acts of George's life, and they were tastefully done -- and we know he liked his demos to be "posh"! The booted "I Live For You" is nice, but I suspect George wanted something more "finished" sounding, and again I have no problem with his overdubs -- if anything, I wish he'd put a little bit of the dreaded reverb on his vocals, because it doesn't really have that ATMP sound. Either way, these tracks already exist, and I'll be glad to have them remastered according to the prevailing standards at Apple/FPSHOT.

 

I prefert the other version of I Live For You, which appear on some bootlegs, which is in the key of C, not D, lile in the 2000 ATMP, Georges voice soud much better to my ears in the other version

 

Hopefully that version will show up on an "immersion" set for All Things Must Pass someday -- perhaps in 2020 for its 50th anniversary. Other than an "Anthology" type of rarities box, I think this is the last opportunity for a big, lavish, splashy music product for George Harrison. I could probably come up with a five- or six-disc set without even thinking too hard -- let's see:

1. ATMP album (sides 1-4)
2. ATMP album remixed (de-Spectored)
3. Apple Jam + Apple Jam outtakes (if any)
4. Complete "Beware of ABKCO" demo tape
5. Alternate takes, "stripped" tracks, live versions (Bangla Desh "Hear Me Lord" anyone?)
6. DVD -- Any videos, the 2001 EPK, or even a full "Classic Albums" doc (do be released separately later)

 

Yeah, I was surprised that George, after deciding to overdub ILFY for the 2001 ATMP, chose what is IMO the inferior take. It also has what sounds like a drop-out on the vocal track, present on both the boot of that 'inferior' take and the 2001 ATMP. The other take is great as-is to my ears, it doesn't need anything extra.

Of course, Dhani is featured on the overdubs of this song, and also the remade 'My Sweet Lord'. Another possible reason for keeping them?