Abbey Road 50th contents, outtakes and sound quality thread .. only

BC the Beatles ( @bcthebeatles )
SPOTTED in downtown Los Angeles!! .



BC the Beatles on Instagram: “SPOTTED in downtown Los Angeles!! . . #abbeyroad50 #abbeyroad2019 . . #thebeatles #paulmccartney #johnlennon #georgeharrison #ringostarr…”

 

Someone chop off Paul's head for old times sake.

 

So - yeah - the full rooftop concert. I've thought about this a lot. I'm not sure if this has been discussed in this thread - and I'll keep this short to not derail.

Basically - the rooftop concert has multiple takes of a few songs (Get Back, Don't Let Me Down, I've Got A Feeling). If you include the full rooftop concert - you'll hear some pretty glaring mistakes - hence why some of the re-takes. And the retakes were made to only correct the errors - they have their own different errors. But - the spirit of the performance is superb!

However - if you edit it down to a perfect performance - like the well done edit of Don't Let Me Down on Let It Be... Naked - then you're missing history.

You can assemble a fairly nice polished edit of the rooftop concert from Let It Be, Let It Be... Naked and Anthology. There are also boots that have the full concert from the Nagra reels - which could serve as a guide for a mix from the 8 track reels.

To be honest - I can't decide which I like better. A polished concert - or warts and all.

Okay - back to Abbey Road.

Cheers,
Paul

P.S. My "polished" recreation of the concert based on setlist and reference tapes here: The Beatles - Rooftop Concert 30 January 1969, a playlist by weasel_bot on Spotify

 

I'm pretty sure the guitar is ADT'd for the entire song

 

It may be, but the intro is doubled using a part flown in from the outro.

 

Not just the ADT but the preponderance of low end which totally obliterates the floor tom part Paul was playing. The vinyl master is at least listenable. A real shame what he did to that song.

 

Source?

 

It's one of the songs I had really high hopes for.

 

I don't know what you're talking about. I don't hear any phasing effects on the clarinets.

 

Have a listen to the Good Morning Good Morning remix with headphones and tell me that having drums, horns and backing vocals delayed and split to stereo all at once doesn't just make for a big mess.

Even on simple tracks like Martha My Dead, is there a reason for the piano intro to be split into treble / bass like a 60s fake stereo mix? It doesn't add realism to the mix, it sounds fake and cheap.

 

An easily made typo, but one I don't think I've seen before!

 

Because it sounds great!

 

Now I'm gonna have to listen to the d*m thing in mono

 

Let's go over the complaints here.
"It's too loud!"
Well, unfortunately the two living Beatles played instruments that share the low end of the audio spectrum, and one easily can overpower the other. Combine this with Yoko and Olivia and you've got a tough job making a mix that can appeal to all 4 parties AND the public.

"x instrument isn't the same exact place it was before!"
This is what a remix does usually. Ironically, last year I saw more complaints that the While My Guitar Gently Weeps mix sounded basically unchanged from the original!

"Giles isn't the best option for Beatle remixes!"
Now this is a complaint I have too, the nepotism is obvious. But, I also think long time fans would be turned away by an outsider holding such sacred tapes. It's a topic worthy of another thread.

 

For those who say the inclusion of the original mix in the Blu-ray would mean no extra cost: it's not a question of space. Every track that you include in a release (even if it's the same track you have included in a different mix) means extra cost in publishing rights.

And you guys don't need to worry: the original mixes will always be in print or accesible in any format that comes next.
In any case, do you really believe the kids of the future will not like The Beatles if they listen to the remixes? It's all about the music, guys. It's only us music nuts that care about mixes. The general public can't even tell mono from stereo. Many people fell in love with The Beatles listening to crappy tapes recorded from the radio, dexterized US albums... you name it. If you like the music, you will end up looking for the best sources.

Or: they could still buy the box set, and then buy the 1987 CD for $1. It sounds almost identical to the mythical Black Triangle, it's just not so scarce.

 

So they really are doing something different!! The nerve! (And maybe they really couldn't back in the day, as a practical matter).

To each his own? "To me"? What have you done with laservampire?? This is not at all how he makes comments!

 

Well just stop making sense!

 

I think the reissue schedule going forward will be:
2020 Let It Be/ plus new filmy thing and deluxe album

2022 Please Please Me Deluxe
2023 With the Beatles Deluxe
2024 A Hard Day’s Night and Beatles For Sale Deluxe
2025 Help! And Rubber Soul Deluxe
2026 Revolver Deluxe
2027 MMT Deluxe

 

Beats the hell out of the original stereo mix, though.

 

I don’t want to add any fuel to the flames here, the discussion is getting uncomfortably personal by this point, but I do have to say that I agree with @Laservampire on a lot of points. I by no means want an overly conservative remix, but some of the digital jiggery-pokery absolutely prevents these new mixes from being the new go-to’s that I want them to be.

What I expect (or at least hope for) from these remixes…

• the ability to sync up low generation workparts and effectively “unbounce” tracks

• elimination of generational losses that were present by necessity in the original mixes

• the opportunity to improve on original mixing decisions that were arguably made in poor judgement, or simply due to technical limitations.


But when you start doing things like layering later parts of the recording over earlier parts, cut/pasting, making mono mix elements out of phase just to make them sound “bigger”... it’s at that point that I really tune out and don’t want to listen anymore. That’s just going too far for my personal tastes.

I’m not overly upset about it, the original mixes are still on my shelf, and there’s plenty of other stuff in the box that I do find enjoyable to listen to. And I still appreciate what Giles & co. are doing, I understand they are walking a very fine line with every choice they make. But they do seem to be pulling a lot of tricks that weren’t really utilized in prior remix projects, even as recently as 1+. Projects that provided a tantalizing peek at a “what-could-be” that we aren’t getting with these anniversary issues. And it’s unlikely the full albums will ever be remixed again for a long time, if ever.

 

Really? That's a brilliant idea! A very creative way to expand the stereo image using original elements.
I love that remix.

 

As usual Laservampire nails it. Add me to the small contingent of fans that dislike smeary fake stereo.

 

Well if they had a FLAC of Abbey Road for $20, that would be great.

 

I completely understand and respect this take, and wish this was what was originally said by laser in the first place. Just out of curiosity, what mixing techniques do you think you'd want used on an Abbey Road mix if you had the tools in front of you? Just want to get an understanding of what counts as conservative and what doesn't.

 

Why do you think PPM and WTB will get the deluxe treatment? There is very little to no unreleased studio material from those sessions.

Apple dropped the ball on Revolver. A shame as those sessions have the most interesting uncirculating material of all.