Hey folks, Was there someone who posted their custom art for the SDE on Imgur, with a sepia photo of George's bungalow for the Esher Demos, and Paul's boot sole and John's hand on the mixing console and mixing knobs for the Sessions discs? Could anyone perhaps link that post if it still exists?
Hey, there. Pretty sure this was me. For some reason those are long gone (don't know why) excepting the Esher one. They were easy enough to make, I'll do them over.
Patient: It's so embarrassing when my wife and I go to an orgy. Doctor: A party? Patient: No, an orgy. We live in Esher. Doctor: Croyden.
That final sentence in the Lewisohn quote shows that stereo was more than just an afterthought. It’s often been said that The Beatles didn’t even bother being around for the stereo mixing; there could be any number of reasons for this but it’s hard to believe that a forward thinking band like them would have no interest at all in advancing the sound of their records; especially once they gave up touring and had more time to be a part of the process.
EXACTLY. The "the Beatles only cared about mono" myth is an old wives' tale and *really* contradicts reality. Nothing against older wives...
Yup. And, it can’t be overstated, allow us our childish obsessions (like spending money on thirty copies of same albums!)
True However George Harrison , for some reason went to the Capital plant and when he heard the White Album that Capital was just about to press, told them to stop ( such is the power of a Beatle at the time). It was said there was too much compression. The problem was addressed and the U.S. version as we know it today was released. Not as good as the U.K. but better than it would have been.
True..but how does that relate to their involvement with the mono/stereo mixing (just asking…maybe I’m missing something in your post).
More of side note, that the Beatles didn't care about Stereo, only mono. Which was true, except for this happenstance. Consider it an anomaly. I don't think you missed anything DK.
The book notes that the Beatles were very keen to be present for the stereo mixing of Sgt. Pepper's. Stereos just started to be a thing in the late Sixties. Young people started buying stereos with separate components. Not buying all in one units. Pepper's is extraordinary in stereo. Music and psychedelic music was exploding in 1967 and stereo enhanced that significantly. George Martin from the start was working toward stereo only. Even very early on...he separated sounds into one track or the other. Pamned the sounds. Yes early on the vocals may have all been on one side...but that didn't mean he put ALL of the instruments on the other side. Some he put on the other side but sometimes he put an instrument part on the same channel as the vocals. Early Beatles stereo didn't require THAT much attention because Sir George Martin had already separated the sounds via different tracks. So creating the stereo was easy...relatively speaking...once the sounds had already been separated into tracks. It's only when the highly innovative, trippy, extraordinary, psychedelic, and sound effects loaded Sgt. Pepper's was being made, recorded, mixed, and produced was the notion of making the stereo an EXPERIENCE a thing that needed attended to and planned out. To have a sound panning from left to right within 5 seconds. Stereo got creative, music got creative and innovative, and Pepper's was out in front of that...in 1967. People's minds were "blown" with *stereo* Sgt. Pepper's. Way beyond Pet Sounds territory and a step above Revolver. Pepper's affected the CULTURE and the Summer of Love was born. Paul being deeply immersed in London culture in 1967 enabled this. So did a great studio, a great Beatles team, John and Paul working so well together, Geoff Emerick creatively recording instruments in a whole new way, and George Martin putting it All. Together. By the next year...1968...and the White Album...it was ALL about stereo. A 1987 Interview with George Martin by Allan Kozinn
Double “like”; excellent synopsis. One small thing to add (actually, support)…the quality of the equipment at EMI (not yet named Abbey Road) cannot be stressed enough. While on the one hand they were rather slow at graduating to eight track, what they did have, going back to its earliest days, was of the highest quality (this is explained in great detail in Recording The Beatles by Kehew and Ryan). I think this had a lot to do with the exceptional sound of their earlier records which were sonically miles ahead of much of their “competition”.
Not a Myth. The Fabs only cared about Mono up through Sgt Pepper. John was livid when he heard Pepper being played on the radio when he was at the Dakota and they were playing the Stereo mix. George Martin didn't even attempt a Stereo mix of the first couple of albums until a couple weeks after the albums (in Mono) were released, IINM. The White Album was the first time the Beatles became interested in the Stereo version, doubtless do to improving playback systems in the UK at the time. In the early-mid 60's, England was only about 20 years on from having the Sh1t blasted out of it by the Germans -- money wasn't growing on trees in those days for high-end playback set-ups. (Not an Old Bachelor's [that's me! ] tale)
In 1967 most UK record players were Mono as were Radio broadcasts. My family and friends all used mono players at that time. I didn’t own a stereo record player until 1971.