George Harrison All Things Must Pass 50th Anniversary Edition - contents, outtakes & sound quality

This seems like much like Sgt. Pepper 50 with main album tracks compressed but the outtakes thankfully left relatively untouched. Unfortunately, the stereo mix on the Blu-ray also seems to be compressed like the CD (as indicated by previous post here).

So for those who value DR, it’s looking like either the surround mixes on the Blu-ray or hopefully a less compressed version on vinyl (as usually is the case). For those who don’t play vinyl, a needle drop may be the way to go for stereo listening.

 

Mine arrives tomorrow via UPS, in celebration of Sir @Mazzy ‘s colonoscopy.

 

Not so sure about that. The competition will be very fierce:

Pink Floyd: The Wall -- Uber Set --- Contained in a 12-foot-high stone block made from actual pieces of the Berlin Wall.
Fleetwood Mac: Tusk -- Uber Set -- Contained in a life-size ceramic elephant.
Cream: Wheels Of Fire -- Uber Set -- Contained in a Firestone tire that burns electronically when you plug it in.
Neil Young: Harvest -- Uber Set -- Contained in a bale of hay being pulled by a tractor.

 

I would debate the technical aspects. Have you checked Billy Preston's over abundance of fingers? It's fun, it sums up the sessions and I'm sure George would see the humour. I'm fine with it. I would rather have this than someone producing some photorealistic compilation. We can all sit there counting Billy's fingers and any other injokes and smile at Klaus's view of the recordings. I'm guessing that the Revolver cover raised a few eyebrows in its day but it is an all-time classic sleeve. This is a cartoon-like sketch and I think is a fine addition to an eclectic crate of goodies.

 

Mist!! I certainly know the outtake from Early Takes and hoped, this one is different. Which is my favorite version, love the guitar on this one.

 

WahWah take 1 sports a lovely haircut. They can't leave well enough alone. Sigh.

What's the second picture ("track 8")?

Thanks for posting them, by the way.

 

Ironic that the new Prince album, Welcome 2 America, is a DR12 (mastered by Bernie Grundman), but had it been released in 2011, when it was recorded, it would surely been brickwalled.

Meanwhile, All Things Must Pass, recorded in 1970, would never have been mastered this hot during its day, but in 2021, it gets the full-on red-brick treatment, with Dhani Harrison & crew being mindless chimps in today's shifting paradigm back to dynamic mastering.

All Things Must Pass now joins the ranks of Electric Ladyland, whose 50th annivery's release also containes blu ray audio that's just as dynamically compromised as the CD release.

I would have loved to have purchased this set, but now, in full disclosure, I simply cannot pay for the blu ray 5.1 audio, only, not knowing whether it will downmix properly to 2.0, as the process is hit and miss. I'll have to borrow this from the Russians instead.

Oh well. You can't please all of the people all of the time. (and not even some of the people, some of the time.)

 

I agree. It conveys a good time and a positive atmosphere and I think it's quite appropriate. Great illustration, I really like it. Klaus hasn't lost a speck of talent.

 

... and the 83 stack of 12 inch vinyl records in an oversized digestive biscuit packet for the Uber Get Back edition!

 

And it still won't include the 5.1 or the original concert footage...

 

I think Klaus always comes over as a really nice guy. I can see why he has remained in the Beatles orbit throughout all these years.

 

Yes, now you can shuffle All Things Must Pass and Slayer's latest in your iPod. Don't tell me that doesn't make you happy.

 

After the Uber edition sells out, do you think they'll release a budget Ikea edition?

 

Why not a more appropriate Acme Brick edition? This way people could really feel that they got what they paid for. A box of bricks.

 

How do you think they achieved the wall of sound?

 

OK, a few comments, per several listenings / samplings on my non-audiophile platforms -- Forester (Harman-Kardon) and Apple Lossless / AirPods Max -- so comments relate to general enjoyability, and not to any technical critique. (CDs ripped via Apple Lossless to Apple Music for loading to iPhone.)

First, gotta say "WOW!" - what an incredible master work! What an incredible band! Whatever version / mix you listen to. From the more intimate Dylan tunes to the grandiosity of the full-blown WOS, it is just one remarkable album. And, frankly, would NOT be the same with out Phil Spector to blow it out on some of the tracks.

It is really great that at this point George, at the absolute pinnacle of the commercial rock-pop music game, had the clout, connections and respect to assemble and lead such a powerhouse band - and the suitable material to make it worthwhile - to so fully realize his musical vision, with a power and impact that might not have been achievable with the Beatles, who had developed more as a studio entity at the expense of being cracker-jack performers. (Having said that, i still cannot listen to a solo / demo version of All Things Must Pass without hearing their Twickenham harmonies.) Again, the core band was awesome, and incorporated that classic piano-organ format that graces the classic Dylan recordings, as well as The Band and Procol Harum.

Listening to the main album, it is a good mix. I've not done a direct back-to-back with the original, but find this one enjoyable. It seems that some of the most egregious uses of later-stage reverb have been tamed a bit (Wah-Wah, Let It Down intro, Hear Me Lord) but the Wall of Sound stands, maybe with a blanket pulled from the speakers.

For those looking for a more "de-Spectorized" experience, the 2 discs of "George Harrison and Co." demos will provide that stripped-down approach. Day 1 recorded on 8-Track, Day 2 on 2-Track. Note that these (Day 1 at least) are generally free of any overdubs, except for What is Life (Take 3) on disc 3, which includes overdubs for piano, (Klaus) guitar and second vocal. (I've not yet fully dug into these 2 discs.)

Disc 5 (Session Outtakes and Jams) - the sweet spot of the release for me (ymmv) are the 10 alternates from the album. A big takeaway is that it would appear - from what is included - that they did a lot of routining on the numbers, as the multiple takes seem to reveal that the parts, even George's and EC's, were worked out and tightly arranged, to better support that live-in-the-studio approach. Notes / comments indicate that EC was on most everything, and the George typically overdubbed his slide parts.

A few initial observations on the Outtakes disc, including comments from the Archival Notes, which does include tape boxes:

Spoiler

1. Isn’t It A Pity (Take 14) - a brief take w throwaway vocal overdub (frankly, don't find it a great way to open the disk)
2. Wah-Wah (Take 1) - the fully-developed guitar parts (fuzz-only, EC wah) are hard-panned left and right, bongoes and full-band, w a lot going on but no wall effect (that is, no diffuse cloud)
3. I’d Have You Anytime (Take 5) - a heavier rockier version, with same guitar arrangements and some double-timed changes; this is quite good, but the quieter languid intimacy of the OG version w liquid tones from EC remains the right choice, and is just sublime
4. Art Of Dying (Take 1) - George instructs Ringo to start w a snare pop, full band, electric AND acoustic guitars, great piano fills. (this is NOT the amazing acetate version where Clapton is totally on fire and scorching the tape heads)
5. Isn’t It A Pity (Take 27) - the slower version
6. If Not For You (Take 2) - a bigger punchier full-band take, with piano & organ to the fore.
7. Wedding Bells (Are Breaking Up That Old Gang Of Mine) (Take 1) - surprisingly well-executed with the full-band, including Peter Drake
8. What Is Life (Take 1) - brisk version, complete run-through, with chording electrics and short EC lead but no main fuzz riff.
9. Beware Of Darkness (Take 8) - very nice version, complete, w vibes and Clapton on Leslied guitar
10. Hear Me Lord (Take 5) - this 9-minute version is great, with a more staccato approach to electric guitar stabs and really cool piano (assume Whitlock) propelling things forward; again - what a group! This sounds similar if not identical to the 7-min acetate version that has been around, without the skip of course.
11. Let It Down (Take 1) - so nicely textured, a simpler arrangement w piano and atmospheric B-3
12. Run Of The Mill (Take 36) - very interesting overdubs, with "Wishbone Ash"-style dual guitars (EC, Dave Mason); personally, I don't think the dual guitars work well to support the song, and are too repetitive, sounding like some cut-n-paste here
13. Down To the River (Rocking Chair Jam) (Take 1) - this honky-tonk version w piano and trumpets includes George on vocal and yodel
14. Get Back (Take 1) - nice vamp, well-executed by this amazing band, with great horn pads, galloping drums and nice acoustic picking, assume Clapton
15. Almost 12 Bar Honky Tonk (Take 1) - a nice blues-based romp, showcases the band and multiple guitars, but more akin to a Dominoes outtake, and not high-priority here
16. It’s Johnny’s Birthday (Take 1) - with acoustic slide guitars
17. Woman Don’t You Cry For Me (Take 5) - early version, NOT the same as Early Takes, more D&B-influenced w acoustic bottleneck guitars and vocals

 

I know, right?

 

You know, that probably doesn’t seem like it would sound that bad. Down mixing could potentially sound like trash depending on the mix.

 

Well the compressed stereo is disappointing, but not surprising ... hopefully the 5.1 is more realistic... that's probably all I'll listen to anyway

 

Yeah, I've had more downmixes from 5.1 to 2.0 that sit right in the pocket like a stereo mix should, with very few that sound totally off kilter.

 

After hearing how Dolby Atmos sounds via an Apple TV, That's my plan as well

 

Compressed, maybe. Brickwalled, absolutely.

 

Downmixing dedicated surround mixes to stereo would never recreate a dedicated stereo mix just by happenstance; the mixing engineer would have to specifically design the surround mix to achieve that result. Doing so would limit the creative choices available for the surround mix, and would require a lot of extra effort, and there’s frankly very little reason to do it, so it would be an exceedingly rare thing.

 

You might want to read what I was replying to more closely: