The Beatles: Yellow Submarine EP

Don't have the box with me at the moment to check the number. Most of the mono tracks were transferred on a stereo deck (DOH!), so a lot have artifacts from that. However, that edit in YKMN does sound more prominent in one channel, as I remember. Does anyone know if EMI were still mixing anything to a mono tape machine by late 1969?

 

The A Hard Day's Night (extracts from the film) EP didn't include the title track either.

 

A correction.

I've been checking the dates and it seems that the March 1969 date for the compiling of the unreleased Yellow Submarine EP must be correct.
The final mono mix of It's All Too Much was done at the same time as the stereo, at the 'White Album' compilation/mixing sessions on 16/17 October 1968.
So unless the EP used the earlier 1967 full-length mix of this song (which is unlikely, since 'Mono Masters' doesn't include it), then the EP can't have been compiled in March 1968 (regarding speculation that '1969' should really read '1968').

So was the EP idea more of an EMI plan? Did the Beatles say no to the idea? It would certainly have alienated most people who'd already bought the Soundtrack Album, as the EP would have also included the previously unavailable Across The Universe (although the LP would still be the only place to get the other 4 tracks in stereo).

Unless, of course 'Mono Masters' DOES use the wrong mix of IATM (which would then also leave a question mark about the 'correct' mix of ATU). I doubt this is the case though.

 

Apple should do a deluxe YS box along the lines of the new Magical Mystery Tour, with a replica EP included.

 

I would have liked it in the EP Collection box. In fact my own 2 CDR compilation of the box includes the YS EP instead of the Stereo Bonus CD. Works great after the MMT EP. Probably too late for a deluxe YS box now anyway.

 

"...Unless, of course 'Mono Masters' DOES use the wrong mix of IATM..."

Why is it a wrong mix ??? The mix itself is very similar to the stereo mix, made in 1968 and included in the YS LP (with the additional hand claps as you can also hear on the stereo version, but not included on the 1967 mix)...maybe a FULL version WITH the hand claps could be the real one, made in 1968 for the planned E.P. ???

 

Just saying that IF it turns out that the EP WAS compiled in March 1968, that would have to mean that the 'Mono Masters' version is wrong. But that is very unlikely. March 1969 seems to be correct as the compilation date.
I would guess that the decision to edit IATM had been made by the time of the Oct.68 mix, as both the mono and stereo mixes were the same length.

 

I think that they shortened the original mixdown tape BEFORE they did the stereo and mono remixes in 1968...so the only exisiting long version is available on THE LOST PEPPERLAND REEL in unbutchered original studio sound - as flat transfer of the master tape.

 

ACROSS THE UNIVERSE, released on MONO MASTERS, is the real mix as planned for the E.P. ???

 

Nobody has heard the actual EP tape, but surely the 'Mono Masters' versions are the correct mixes.

Here's the timeline of mono mixing and tape copying done for Yellow Submarine 1967-68.

21st APRIL 1967
Only A Northern Song

12th MAY 1967
All Together Now

12th OCTOBER 1967
It's All Too Much (unedited first mix)

1st NOVEMBER 1967
All You Need Is Love (extended mix)
Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds (with 'Boob' vocal)

10th-23rd NOVEMBER 1967
Mono tape copying of -

It's All Too Much (x2)
All Together Now (x2)
Only A Northern Song
Sgt Pepper
Sgt Pepper (Reprise)
Nowhere Man (x2)
Yellow Submarine
All You Need Is Love
Eleanor Rigby
A Day In The Life
With A Little Help From My Friends
Yesterday
Strawberry Fields Forever
Michelle
When I'm 64
Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds
You Know My Name (rhythm track only)
Help!
Love You To

Presumably the 'sound effects' on the 'Pepperland'
tape must be from the above dates as well.

8th FEBRUARY 1968
Across The Universe (is this the Mono Masters mix?)

11th FEBRUARY 1968
Hey Bulldog

16/17th OCTOBER 1968
It's All Too Much (new edited mix)

 

Very interesting - thanks !!!

 

About ACROSS THE UNIVERSE: In the booklet of the MONO boxset you can read the following lines:

"...the song had been mixed in MONO on the day recording was completed. This mix had sound effects added to the beginning and end of the song in January, 1969 and was intended to accompany the four YELLOW SUBMARINE songs on the projected EP mentioned earlier. This previously unreleased mix of "Across The Universe" is exclusive to MONO MASTERS..."

So it should be the one for the abandoned EP.

 

Mono tape copying dates should actually be 15th-23rd November 1967. No mention of 'Baby You're A Rich Man' or the rehearsal snippet of 'Think For Yourself', but these must have been copied at some point.

The MONO MASTERS notes seem to confirm that everything is as it should be then.

 

The PEPPERLAND tape has 1-11-67 written on the box...

 

Yeah, that's when mixes of AYNIL and LITSWD were done, according to Lewisohn's 'Chronicle'. Also just seen this is the date of the 'sound effects' too.

 

Okay...this makes sense...

 

...Apart from the fact that a release of this EP after the already issued Soundtrack LP would have forced everyone who had bought that 'not very good value for money' album to now buy the EP as well because of Across The Universe!

 

Of course !!! And last but not least for the different mixes in MONO !!!

 

The 'Yellow Submarine' EP has been discussed before and I managed to find the old thread.
I think there are some interesting comments along the way ...:

http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=103307&highlight=

 

THX !!!
Just checked that old thread some days ago....but it's in the archives, so we have to continue here...

 

Thanks for the link Jim. Interesting.

 

Whenever discussion of the Yellow Submarine EP comes up, it always makes me wonder about the earlier mixes of Across the Universe. Thanks to the clarification in the Mono Masters notes and elsewhere, it's now known (or at least generally accepted) that the bird sounds and other remixing was done in January 1969, and this "Wildlife Version" was then intended for both the Yellow Submarine EP (mono) and the World Wildlife LP (stereo).

So, whatever happened to the final mix that was prepared in February 1968? Was it wiped/replaced with the remix? Or does it still exist? If it still exists, I would think it would have been unearthed by now. But I've never even seen it on grey market releases, except in fan-created approximations (slowed down and edited, but with the remnants of the bird noises still audible).

 

I think the Mono Masters notes posted earlier indicate that the mono mix is from Feb.68 with the addition of the bird sounds overlayed in Jan.69. The stereo Wildlife version was done in Oct.69.

 

The Mono Masters notes do specify that the bird sounds were added in January 1969, but they do not specify when the track was sped up (probably because it wasn't properly documented at the time).

Mono Masters states: "When mixed, 'Across The Universe' was speeded up by a semi-tone." But this doesn't clarify if it was sped up during the February 1968 mixing sessions, or the January 1969 remixing sessions.

So I guess the only question is, when was the track sped up? Was it sped up in February 1968, or in January 1969? According the wikipedia, "After the effects were added, the track was sped up..." Of course this is wikipedia I'm talking about, and there is no source listed for that claim.

 

Technically, the track was mixed in Feb.68, so if the Mono Masters notes aren't misleading, I suppose it must have been done then. I don't think anything was remixed in Jan.69, the bird sounds were most likely just superimposed over the original mix. It would have been possible to speed the track up at this point, but the notes do say "When mixed...", so I'd say the speeding-up was done in Feb.68.