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

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by audiotom, Aug 9, 2019.

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  1. Gila

    Gila Forum Resident

    I stumbled on this studio photo, which is apparently from 1969 / Abbey Road sessions.

    Are there more like that? It looks like he is using tapewound strings on Ric.
     
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  2. SBK

    SBK Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Maine, USA
    Good to know. It’s so odd that it’s not on the spine of the lip or anywhere else. The 2014 stereo remaster and 2019 remix are identical. There are no distinguishing attributes to tell them apart.
     
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  3. A well respected man

    A well respected man Some Mother's Son

    Location:
    Madrid, Spain
    It's in the book of the Deluxe edition. Paul must have been getting fat by then (unbottoned trousers).
     
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  4. weaselriot

    weaselriot Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago, IL
    At the risk of "thread-crapping" a thread that I thought (from the title) was supposed to also include sound quality, but lately has little or none of that even though some of us are still on the fence for more information about the pressings, I offer the following additional information on the two alternate pressings.

    After hearing things about a pervasive background "swooshing" sound on the USA stand-alone QRP pressing, I ordered from CD Japan hoping that I would get at least a supposedly better German Optimal pressing if not a full blown perfect Japan pressing.
    Well, my order from Japan arrived, and it is German Optimal. But the disc emerged from its inner sleeve looking for all the world like some claimed VG+ used from eBay, with several surface marks and one particularly concerning area at the end of side two that looked like some had gone at it with some steel wool, in the quietest part of the whole album ("The End"). It almost looked similar to what I sometimes see as non-fill, but I don't think it is. On play after full cleaning by Spin Clean, there were several ticks and pops throughout both sides that did not clean out, one or two repeating rotationally two or three times. In that one area that particularly concerned me, there were in fact audible rotational ticks throughout "The End" at the same location (bottom left "cheek" of the apple on that side). Otherwise on the whole it sounded "good", but to me that's a big otherwise. Even during the golden age of noisy recycled vinyl back in the 1970s, I returned better looking records (and not even that many at that).

    So then I went to Barnes and Noble to try out a QRP despite what I had already heard from some about the "swooshing", since the opinion sample size was very small despite 335 pages on this thread, most recently devoted to masturbation of the issue concerning who played drums on this or that track. So, after cleaning, my first QRP from Barnes and Noble likewise had numerous surface marks like the Optimal did, but no nasty looking scuff (or something) at the end of side two. I returned it right at the register for another copy of the QRP, and that one at least LOOKED dead flat perfect, passing all of my visual checks for signs of non-fill, centered pressing, no dish warp, and not looking like it had survived heavy play through several dorm room parties in the early 1970s.
    After cleaning, and first play, only three or four ticks. As for "swooshing", I think I would better describe it as a background that is not all black like the Japanese have proven can be done (and perhaps therefore SHOULD always be done). The difference is that in this case the "lack of pure black" background surface noise has a rotationally undulating quality, rising and falling (relatively speaking) on each rotation, and by no means audible through much of the album, but mostly between tracks and during the quietest passages. I supposed that was what was meant by others describing a "swooshing".

    That rotationally undulating quality of the background "non-black" I think makes it more noticeable than it might otherwise be if it were more constant. And make no mistake that the German Optimal also has no black background either, with the same faint background surface noise most audible in quieter passages, just not rising in prominence on each rotation like it does on the QRP. To me, my samples of both pressings present somewhat of a trade-off. For the QRP, I could at least pass it off as near mint at a record show or on eBay, which I could never do with my well cleaned and once played Optimal. And to me, neither one sounds very different from what I came t routinely expect from 1970s LPs that were well recorded and pressed, but on noisy recycled vinyl so popular during that era.

    At this juncture, I would say that the buyer's best bet would be on the German Optimal, IF you can get a clean one without nasty looking scuffs and surface marks. At least for the 2019 remix, it is starting to look like my go-to just might be the Blu-Ray of same, in addition to enjoying the 5.1 as well. My recommendation, then, is to go with the deluxe 3 CD plus Blu-Ray deluxe, and the book that comes with it, as the first purchase, Then just play roulette on the Optimal vinyl (one LP or 3 LP) if you don't mind doing that. Should you get lucky on the latter, then you should be all set for the 2019 remix.

    AS far as the remix itself, I would say that I like the 2019 stereo remix slightly better, but there was nothing wrong with the 1969 original stereo mix at all. There are a number of minor points, some almost nit picking, with both mixes, but it really comes down to a fair tradeoff. Quite unlike comparing, say, George Martin's bad 1987 remixes of "Help" and "Rubber Soul" with the original 1965 stereo mixes, or even the original and anniversary stereo remixes for Sgt. Pepper's.
     
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  5. AFOS

    AFOS Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brisbane,Australia
    Didn't Paul say he took his sandals off because it was hot?
     
  6. AFOS

    AFOS Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brisbane,Australia
    Not sure why the beetles owner would park half on the footpath to begin with. Seems to be a thing in the UK
     
  7. CokeMachine

    CokeMachine Forum Resident

    It still is a 'thing', although they made it illigal in London to park on the footpath a few years ago and are thinking of making it illigal for the rest of the country soon! Think parents with pushchairs going around a car parked on the footpath and into the road.
     
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  8. DragonQ

    DragonQ Forum Resident

    Location:
    The Moon
    A lot of our road system was designed when there were maybe a dozen cars per street. Now the average number of cars per household is well over 1, there is often either no space to park, no space to drive, or both. Particularly in London. In some areas you pretty much have no choice but to park partially or wholly on the pavement, although obviously it should only be done when the pavement is wide enough that a wheelchair or push chair can still get past.
     
    andrewskyDE, theMess, supermd and 5 others like this.
  9. Ken Wood

    Ken Wood Forum Resident

    Can anybody understand what is being said at the end of The End (Take 3)? This is what I hear though it makes no sense:
    Ringo: They did my good. Well, I do. I work it. Carry on.
    John? Paul?: What was that was like?
    Ringo: Three
    Ringo + unknown: John
    unknown: knew
    Paul?: What`s that noise of
    George (at the same time): It`s even
    Both?: conts luck (???) (George laughing)
    unknown: Stop to I prefer you
    Are they refering to the small beeping sound (like a electric alarm clock) at the end of the take (before the funny/corny end)?

    Native english speakers, I need your help!
     
  10. Ern

    Ern Senior Member

    Location:
    Portugal
    Yes, it's from July 1969
    There are two photos, that I know of, from this session
     
    Gila likes this.
  11. weaselriot

    weaselriot Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago, IL

    I hate to say that it's a thing in some parts of Chicago also, and has been for years, especially in the high end Lakeview/Lincoln Park West area, where brownstone-lined streets themselves are very narrow to begin with and little off street parking is available except at exorbitant cost. The typical resident gets home from work then spends a half hour or more just driving around hoping to catch somebody leaving within a block or two of the destination residence. Many of the streets are one way, but still so narrow with parking on both sides, that getting sideswiped by a car squeezing through is a real risk. And if the Abbey Road that I see in the cover shot were, say, Oakdale or Pinecrest in Lakeview neighborhood, that VW would probably be parked not just partly up on the curb but also up at the intersection blocking the crosswalk as well. It's like that now, and it was like that in, well, 1969 too, when my sister lived there. She even usually left her car at Mom's house out in the suburbs most of the time, only coming out to get it when she really needed to drive somewhere. It was that bad.

    Come to think of it, that sort of thing was a frequent sight in the "student ghetto" of Madison, Wisconsin when I was a UW student there also. Today, motorized scooters (mopeds and Vespa types) have become super popular there for that reason, and can be seen laying all over the parkways and other grass patches next to the street.
     
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  12. supermd

    supermd Senior Member

    Location:
    San Jose, CA
    Wait, are you talking about London or the Moon? ;)
     
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  13. letmerollit

    letmerollit Forum Resident

    Location:
    West Texas, USA
    Hi Ken Wood... :wave:

    The first voice is George Martin saying,
    "Take 4 I guess" to Ringo, and they are talking about his drum solo. Ringo says "Alright George."
     
    Ken Wood likes this.
  14. Exotiki

    Exotiki The Future Ain’t What It Use To Be

    Location:
    Canada
    I’m usually pretty good at recognizing different voices even when they are talking together. I’ll give it a try
     
  15. anth67

    anth67 Purveyor of Hogwash

    Location:
    PNW USA
    Does anyone else feel the blue packaging is a subtle nod to the 67-70 album (complete with '69 cover photo), as indicating "late Beatles"? I notice myself automatically making the connection with barely conscious thought.

    (And, no, converse logic does not apply to 62-66 and the Pepper box, as Pepper's back cover always rendered it red-themed. Obvious, but just to pre-empt the wiseacre who would've derided with that argument just to do so....)
     
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  16. Ken Wood

    Ken Wood Forum Resident

    Thanks, I am listening to it again and can`t quite understand how I arrived at some of the crap I wrote earlier.
    Probably zooming into bits and endlessly repeating them to find out what is being said messes up with your head after a while.
    Anyway, let me update what I hear now:

    GM: Take 8 I guess. [yes, I do hear 8, but 4 would make more sense]
    R: Well, I don`t
    GM: I`ll work it (?) / Not worth it (?)
    R: Carry on
    G?/P?: What was that all like?
    J?: Me and you / R: Gimme a jump (simultanious)
    P?: Was that (or: what`s that) cont off (or: constant?) call?
    J: It`s even constant
    G: (laughs)
    unknown: Half the afront (or: effort?) for any of it
     
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  17. Exotiki

    Exotiki The Future Ain’t What It Use To Be

    Location:
    Canada
    here's my first crack at it

    GM: Take 8 I guess.
    R: all right George
    GM: I`ll work it in
    R: Carry on
    P: What was that one like?
    J: its Me and you / R: Gimme a jump
    P: What's that.... constant
    R: its easy (laughs)
    unknown: ... don't stop till halfway through

    ... means i dont know what is said

    hope this helps ken
     
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  18. letmerollit

    letmerollit Forum Resident

    Location:
    West Texas, USA
    Can anyone listen to the 5.1 to see if the voices are more separated as I don't have the capability?

    GM: "Take it again, I guess."
    R: "Alright George."
     
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  19. Gila

    Gila Forum Resident

    The outtakes aren't mixed in 5.1
     
  20. letmerollit

    letmerollit Forum Resident

    Location:
    West Texas, USA
    D'oh! Thanks, my bad... :o:(
     
    Ken Wood likes this.
  21. Paul H

    Paul H The fool on the hill

    Location:
    Nottingham, UK
    Purely in the interests of accuracy - because we like accuracy on this forum - the side of the public highway on which pedestrians walk is actually the footway (not pavement - pavement is the top surface of the highway, usually made of tarmac, sometimes of concrete, sometimes of, well, paving). This differentiates it from the carriageway. Footpaths are a whole other legal "thing". In the UK.

    Regardless of where you live in the UK it is an offence to drive (and hence park) on a footway. However, the police won't prosecute because, unless they actually witness you driving onto the footway, there is the possibility that your vehicle was lifted onto it. Be warned: if you park entirely on the footway when there are double yellow lines on the road, you are still liable to a fine: those yellows also cover the footway.

    Now back to your regular scheduled viewing :)
     
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  22. Arnold Grove

    Arnold Grove Senior Member

    Location:
    NYC
    And why, at least in the USA, do cars drive on the parkway, but park in the driveway? :wtf:
     
  23. Somerset Scholar

    Somerset Scholar Ace of Spades

    Location:
    Bath
    After promising myself I would only get the 1CD version, I wilted due to enjoyment and bought the 1LP version. I am in the UK and it is an Optimal pressing and it is as perfect as a record can be. Flat, centred, no visible marks. Shiny black vinyl. Sounds great on my system. Perhaps the slightest boominess but great clarity of vocals and hugely enjoyable.
     
  24. theMess

    theMess Forum Resident

    Location:
    Kent, UK
    This is why I love this forum! (God I am sad..:D:laugh:).
     
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  25. Dee Zee

    Dee Zee Once Upon a Dream

    It’s a bit like “Do I want a bottle in front of me or a frontal lobotomy.”
     
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