The Beatles (The Original Studio Recordings)

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The Beatles
(The Original Studio Recordings)
The Beatles.Original Studio Recordings.Box.jpg
Box set by
The Beatles
Released9 September 2009
Recorded1962–1970, at EMI, Trident, Olympic, Apple, De Lane Lea, Chappell and Regent Sound studios, London; Pathé Marconi Studio, Paris; EMI Studios, Bombay
Genre Rock
Length10:19:33
Label Apple, Parlophone, Capitol
Producer George Martin, Phil Spector ( Let It Be )
Simon Gibson, Paul Hicks, Sean Magee, Guy Massey, Sam Okell, Steve Rooke, Allan Rouse (remaster engineers)
The Beatles chronology
Love
(2006)		The Beatles (The Original Studio Recordings)
(2009)		 The Beatles in Mono
(2009)

The Beatles (The Original Studio Recordings), also known as The Beatles: Stereo Box Set, is a box set compilation comprising all remastered recordings by English rock band the Beatles. The set was issued on 9 September 2009, along with the remastered mono recordings and companion The Beatles in Mono and The Beatles: Rock Band video game. The remastering project for both mono and stereo versions was led by EMI senior studio engineers Allan Rouse and Guy Massey. [1] The Stereo Box also features a DVD which contains all the short films that are on the CDs in QuickTime format. The release date of 09/09/09 is related to the significance to John Lennon of the number nine.

Contents

It is the second complete box set collection of original Beatles recordings after The Beatles Box Set (1988). Two earlier album collections, The Beatles Collection (1978) and The Collection (1982) did not contain all of the Beatles' recordings. Although sales were counted as 1 unit for each box set sold in the mono and stereo format, total individual sales exceeded 30 million.

The Beatles (The Original Studio Recordings) received the Grammy Award for Best Historical Album at the 53rd Grammys. [2] The box set was issued on vinyl in 2012.

Album listing

The sixteen-disc collection contains the remastered stereo versions of every album in the Beatles catalogue. The first four albums (Please Please Me, With the Beatles, A Hard Day's Night and Beatles for Sale) made their CD debut in stereo, though most songs from those albums have previously appeared on CD in stereo on various compilations. Both Help! and Rubber Soul use the remixes prepared by George Martin for the original 1987 CD releases (the original 1965 stereo mixes were released on The Beatles in Mono ). Magical Mystery Tour is presented in the sequence and artwork of its original North American Capitol Records album release, as opposed to the UK six-song EP.

All CDs replicate their original album labels as first released, from the various Parlophone Records variations, to the Capitol Records label (for Magical Mystery Tour) and the UK Apple Records side A label from Yellow Submarine through Let It Be, and with the side A & side B Apple labels for discs one & two respectively for The Beatles. For Past Masters , disc one uses a mid-1960s Parlophone label design and disc two uses the (side A) Apple label design. Each of the albums except Past Masters includes a mini-documentary, mainly drawing from The Beatles Anthology (with a few animated 3D scenarios made up of original photos thrown in), about the album in QuickTime format. The Beatles and Past Masters are two-disc sets.

Missing stereo session tapes

No stereo mixes exist for the 1963 single "She Loves You" and its flipside "I'll Get You" or the 1962 single "Love Me Do" and its flipside "P.S. I Love You". It was the practice at Abbey Road Studios prior to early 1963 to wipe and reuse master tapes once they had been mixed down to mono for single release. [3] For this reason there will never be true stereo mixes of "Love Me Do" or "P.S. I Love You" except through the use of technology that separates out the components of mono mixes. Although the practice had stopped by the time of the release of the "She Loves You" single, and although it is possible that the master tapes were in EMI's possession in January 1964, when the German language version was recorded, it is commonly believed that those tapes were either stolen or destroyed. [4] Competent-sounding stereo versions of "She Loves You" have been created unofficially using the backing track from "Sie Liebt Dich", but the engineers who prepared the remasters elected not to do this. Every release of these four songs has been in mono (or simulated stereo) and they appear in mono on the stereo version of Past Masters and Please Please Me. This is also the case for the single version of "Love Me Do" with Ringo Starr on drums but at some point, even the mixed down mono tape of this version of the song was lost. Some authors have expressed the opinion that the original version of "Love Me Do" was intentionally destroyed in order to alleviate possible confusion between it and the more common version of the song. [5] Since 1980, new transfers sourced from reasonably clean 45rpm mono singles from private collectors have been used as the master for this version of the song. [6] [7]

Two other songs in the Beatles' catalogue which also appear in mono on the stereo CDs are "Only a Northern Song" and "You Know My Name (Look Up the Number)". Neither of these songs received stereo mixes at the time they were recorded, although other songs that were similarly not mixed into stereo during The Beatles' recording lifetime were not excluded from the set: the stereo mixes of "Strawberry Fields Forever", "Penny Lane" and "Baby, You're a Rich Man" all made in 1971, the stereo mix of "Yes It Is" that was given a very limited UK release in 1986 on a mail order cassette promotion that Apple and the Beatles did not authorise [8] and was commercially released in 1988 on Past Masters; and the 2000 edit of "Day Tripper" from 1 . "Only a Northern Song" was first mixed into stereo and 5.1 surround for the Yellow Submarine Songtrack album in 1999 and a differently-edited stereo mix of "You Know My Name (Look Up the Number)" appeared on Anthology 2 in 1996. "You Know My Name (Look Up the Number)" is the only track left in the Beatles' catalogue of which the original edit has never received a stereo mix despite the multi-tracks being available.

Bonus features

Included in the set is a DVD called The Mini Documentaries compiling all the short documentaries released on the individual albums in QuickTime format. The DVD features narration from all four Beatles as well as George Martin as the opening on each of the individual albums. Each documentary contains rare footage and previously unheard dialogue. There are sound excerpts from various songs, accompanied by still photos, clips of television appearances, footage from inside recording sessions, film footage from their final photo session, and material from the five Beatles films A Hard Day's Night , Help! , Magical Mystery Tour , Yellow Submarine , and Let It Be . The DVD has a red Apple label (similar to that on the original US Let It Be LP). This DVD is exclusive to the Stereo set, and is not included in the Mono version.

Limited edition USB flash drive

Apple-shaped USB flash drive The Beatles - Limited Edition USB Stick.jpg
Apple-shaped USB flash drive

On 7 December 2009, The Beatles (The Original Studio Recordings) was also released as a limited edition of 30,000 apple-shaped USB flash drives. This event marks the first appearance for the Beatles catalogue in a high-resolution digital format being encoded in 44.1 kHz/24-bit FLAC format. CD-standard is 44.1 kHz/16-bit. The 16 GB flash drive also includes 320  kbps MP3 copies of the albums, a specially designed Flash interface, and all the visual elements from the boxed set – the mini-documentary films, original UK album art, rare photos and expanded liner notes. [9]

Vinyl

On 12 November 2012, the set was released on 180-gram vinyl, specially prepared for vinyl, with a 252-page book included. Also included are the inserts which were included in the original LPs such as the cardboard cutout sheet included in Sgt. Pepper plus the photos and poster included in The Beatles. [10]

Chart performance

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [11]
The Austin Chronicle Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [12]
Entertainment Weekly A [13]
Pitchfork Media 10/10 [14]
Rolling Stone Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [15]
Spectrum CultureStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [16]

On the United States Billboard Top 200 albums chart the set debuted at number 15. On the Japanese Oricon weekly album charts, it debuted at number 6, selling over 35,000 copies in its first week. [17] The set was certified triple platinum by the RIAA in April 2010. The set was also certified Diamond in Canada in March 2010. [18]

In Germany, the box set reached number 37. [19]

Charts

Chart (2009–2014)Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA) [20] 23
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria) [21] 58
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) [22] 3
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) [23] 7
Danish Albums (Hitlisten) [24] 9
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [25] 6
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista) [26] 16
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [27] 3
Italian Albums (FIMI) [28] 16
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) [29] 32
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista) [30] 3
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE) [31] 4
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) [32] 15
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [33] 52
UK Albums (OCC) [34] 24
US Billboard 200 [35] 15

Year-end charts

Chart (2010)Rank
German Albums Chart [36] 94

Subsequent releases

The 1973 greatest hits albums 1962–1966 and 1967–1970 were re-released and remastered by the same team behind those who remastered the Beatles' Stereo and Mono box sets. [37] 1 and Yellow Submarine Songtrack have also received re-releases akin to the presentation of the 2009 remasters.

The same remastering team have also remastered all of John Lennon's studio albums plus Paul McCartney's solo albums reissued by Hear Music, as well as a handful of other albums released on Apple Records.

See also

Other complete or near-complete collections of Beatles music:

Related Research Articles

<i>Please Please Me</i> 1963 studio album by the Beatles

Please Please Me is the debut studio album by the English rock band the Beatles. Produced by George Martin, it was released in the UK on EMI's Parlophone label on 22 March 1963. The album is 14 songs in length, and contains a mixture of cover songs and original material written by the partnership of band members John Lennon and Paul McCartney.

<i>With the Beatles</i> 1963 studio album by the Beatles

With the Beatles is the second studio album by the English rock band the Beatles. It was released in the United Kingdom on 22 November 1963 on Parlophone, eight months after the release of the band's debut album, Please Please Me. Produced by George Martin, the album features eight original compositions and six covers. The sessions also yielded the non-album single, "I Want to Hold Your Hand" backed by "This Boy". The cover photograph was taken by the fashion photographer Robert Freeman and has since been mimicked by several music groups. A different cover was used for the Australian release of the album, which the Beatles were displeased with.

<i>A Hard Days Night</i> (album) 1964 studio album by the Beatles

A Hard Day's Night is the third studio album by the English rock band the Beatles, released on 10 July 1964 by Parlophone, with side one containing songs from the soundtrack to their film of the same name. The American version of the album was released two weeks earlier, on 26 June 1964 by United Artists Records, with a different track listing that included selections from George Martin's film score. In contrast to the Beatles' first two albums, all 13 tracks on A Hard Day's Night were written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, showcasing the development of their songwriting partnership.

<i>Help!</i> 1965 studio album by The Beatles

Help! is the fifth studio album by the English rock band the Beatles and the soundtrack to their film of the same name. It was released on 6 August 1965 by Parlophone. Seven of the fourteen songs, including the singles "Help!" and "Ticket to Ride", appeared in the film and take up the first side of the vinyl album. The second side includes "Yesterday", the most-covered song ever written. The album was met with favourable critical reviews and topped the Australian, German, British and American charts.

<i>1</i> (Beatles album) 2000 greatest hits album by The Beatles

1 is a greatest hits album of the English rock band the Beatles, originally released on 13 November 2000. The album features virtually every number-one single the band achieved in the United Kingdom or United States from 1962 to 1970. Issued on the 30th anniversary of the band's break-up, it was their first compilation album available on only one CD. 1 was a commercial success and topped charts worldwide. It has sold over 31 million copies. Since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking US album sales in January 1991, 1 is the fourth-best-selling album in the US, the best-selling album of the 2000s decade in the US, as well as the best-selling album of the decade worldwide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Beatles albums discography</span>

Worldwide, the British rock band the Beatles released 12 studio albums, 5 live albums, 51 compilation albums, 36 extended plays (EPs), and 17 box sets. In their native United Kingdom, during their active existence as a band, they released 12 studio albums, 1 compilation album, and 13 EPs. The early albums released from 1962 to March 1968 were originally on Parlophone, and their albums from August 1968 to 1970 were on their subsidiary label Apple. Their output also includes vault items, remixed mash-ups and anniversary box-sets.

<i>1962–1966</i> 1973 compilation album by the Beatles

1962–1966, also known as the Red Album, is a compilation album of songs by the English rock band the Beatles, spanning the years indicated in the title. Released with its counterpart 1967–1970 in 1973, the double LP peaked at number 3 in the United Kingdom. In the United States, it topped the Cash Box albums chart and peaked at number 3 on the Billboard Top LPs & Tape chart while 1967–1970 reached the top spot. The album was re-released in September 1993 on compact disc, charting at number 3 in the UK.

<i>1967–1970</i> 1973 compilation album by the Beatles

1967–1970, also known as the Blue Album, is a compilation album of songs by the English rock band the Beatles, spanning the years indicated in the title. A double LP, it was released with 1962–1966 in April 1973. 1967–1970 topped the Billboard albums chart in the United States and peaked at number 2 on the UK Albums Chart. It was re-released in September 1993 on CD, charting at number 4 in the United Kingdom.

<i>The Beatles Second Album</i> 1964 studio album by the Beatles

The Beatles' Second Album is the second Capitol Records album by the English rock band the Beatles, and their third album released in the United States including Introducing... The Beatles, which was issued three months earlier by Vee-Jay Records. Following its release in April 1964, The Beatles' Second Album replaced Meet the Beatles! at number 1 on the Billboard Top LPs chart in the US. The album was compiled mostly from leftover tracks from the UK album With the Beatles and the forthcoming UK Long Tall Sally EP, which are predominantly rock and roll and R&B covers, and rounded out with several Lennon-McCartney-penned non-album b-sides and the hit single "She Loves You". Among critics, it is considered the band's purest rock and roll album and praised for its soulful takes on both contemporary black music hits and original material.

<i>Something New</i> (Beatles album) 1964 studio album by the Beatles

Something New is an album by English rock band the Beatles, released in 1964 for the North American market only.

<i>The Early Beatles</i> 1965 compilation album by the Beatles

The Early Beatles is the Beatles' sixth album released on Capitol Records, and their eighth album overall for the American market. All eleven tracks on this album were previously issued on the Vee-Jay Records release Introducing... The Beatles, released in January, 1964. The front cover photo for this album features the same back cover photo for the British LP Beatles for Sale.

<i>Yellow Submarine</i> (album) 1969 studio album/soundtrack by the Beatles

Yellow Submarine is the tenth studio album by the English rock band the Beatles, released in January 1969. It is the soundtrack to the animated film of the same name, which premiered in London in July 1968. The album contains six songs by the Beatles, including four new songs and the previously released "Yellow Submarine" and "All You Need Is Love". The remainder of the album is a re-recording of selections from the film's orchestral soundtrack by the band's producer, George Martin.

<i>The Beatles Box Set</i> 1988 box set by the Beatles

The Beatles Box Set is a sixteen-disc box set compiling the entire recorded works of the Beatles as issued by the band between 1962 and 1970. It was released on 15 November 1988 in Britain and America, with the same catalogue number in each of those countries. While available also in vinyl LP and cassette formats, the box set was the first complete collection of original Beatles material to be released by EMI and Capitol Records on compact disc.

<i>Yellow Submarine Songtrack</i> 1999 soundtrack album by the Beatles

Yellow Submarine Songtrack is a compilation/soundtrack album by the English rock band the Beatles, released in 1999 to coincide with a re-release of the 1968 animated film Yellow Submarine that same year. The film was re-released on 13 September 1999 in the United Kingdom and the following day in the United States. In contrast with other Beatles remasters available, the songs were fully remixed by Peter Cobbin at Abbey Road Studios from the original multitrack tapes, something not done for the original CD release of the Beatles catalogue in the late 1980s, nor the 2009 remastered albums.

<i>Past Masters</i> 1988 compilation album by The Beatles

Past Masters is a two-disc compilation album set by the English rock band the Beatles. It was originally released as two separate volumes on 7 March 1988, as part of the first issue of the band's catalogue on compact disc. The album contains all songs released commercially by the band that were not available on the Beatles' 12 original UK albums or the US Magical Mystery Tour LP. It was compiled by Beatles historian Mark Lewisohn, who also wrote the liner notes. The majority of the Past Masters set consists of A- and B-sides from the band's singles, including single versions of songs that appeared in a different form on the band's albums. Also included are the full contents of the UK-only Long Tall Sally EP, two German-language tracks, a song recorded for the American market, and a track released on a charity compilation album.

<i>The Beatles in Mono</i> 2009 box set by The Beatles

The Beatles in Mono is a boxed set compilation comprising the remastered monaural recordings by the Beatles. The set was released on compact disc on 9 September 2009, the same day the remastered stereo recordings and companion The Beatles were also released, along with The Beatles: Rock Band video game. The remastering project for both mono and stereo versions was led by EMI senior studio engineers Allan Rouse and Guy Massey.

Rarities is the name of two separate and unrelated compilation albums by the English rock band the Beatles. The first was released in the United Kingdom in December 1978, while the second album was issued in the United States in March 1980.

<i>The U.S. Albums</i> 2014 box set by the Beatles

The U.S. Albums is a box set compilation comprising the remastered American albums released by the Beatles between 1964 and 1970. The box set was released on 21 January 2014 in the United States, marking the fiftieth anniversary of the Beatles' first trip to the US and first American album from Capitol Records, Meet the Beatles!

<i>Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band: 50th Anniversary Edition</i> 2017 compilation album by the Beatles

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band: 50th Anniversary Edition is an expanded reissue of the 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band by the English rock band the Beatles. It was released on 26 May 2017, the album's 50th anniversary. It includes a new stereo remix of the album by Giles Martin, the son of Beatles producer George Martin.

<i>Revolver: Special Edition</i> 2022 compilation album by the Beatles

Revolver: Special Edition is an expanded reissue of the 1966 album Revolver by the English rock band the Beatles. It was released on 28 October 2022, and includes a new stereo remix of the album by Giles Martin, with the help of de-mixing technology developed by Peter Jackson's WingNut Films, as well as the original mono mix, session recordings, demos, and an EP including new mixes of the non-album single "Paperback Writer" and its B-side, "Rain", recorded during the Revolver sessions.

References

  1. ↑ Lewis, Anthony (30 August 2009). "Meet (and be) the Beatles". Los Angeles Times . Archived from the original on 3 November 2012. Retrieved 28 August 2009.
  2. ↑ "Past Winners Search". GRAMMY.com. Archived from the original on 8 August 2014. Retrieved 30 July 2014.
  3. ↑ Please Please Me booklet, p. 18
  4. ↑ "The Mystery of the Lost Beatles Track - Internet Beatles Album". Beatlesagain.com. Archived from the original on 14 May 2011. Retrieved 12 March 2011.
  5. ↑ "UK single: Love Me Do/PS I Love You". The Beatles Bible. 5 October 1962. Archived from the original on 20 September 2010. Retrieved 12 March 2011.
  6. ↑ The Beatles In Mono box set booklet
  7. ↑ "Beatle variations". Columbia.edu. Archived from the original on 21 February 2011. Retrieved 12 March 2011.
  8. ↑ Perry, Rupert (11 November 2009). Northern Songs: The True Story of the Beatles Song Publishing Empire - Rupert Perry. ISBN   9780857120274. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013.
  9. ↑ Tito, Greg (14 December 2009). "The Escapist : News : Unboxing The Beatles Limited Edition Stereo USB". Escapistmagazine.com. Archived from the original on 8 May 2013. Retrieved 24 April 2013.
  10. ↑ Knopper, Steve (12 November 2012). "Inside the Beatles' Vinyl Album Remasters | Music News". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 11 April 2014. Retrieved 13 November 2012.
  11. ↑ The Beatles: Stereo Box Set at AllMusic
  12. ↑ Hernandez, Raoul (2 October 2009). "Review: The Beatles, The Beatles in Mono". The Austin Chronicle . Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 19 November 2014.
  13. ↑ Vozick-Levinson, Simon (9 September 2009). "The Beatles Stereo Box Set". Entertainment Weekly . Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 19 November 2014.
  14. ↑ Richardson, Mark (7 September 2009). "The Beatles: Stereo Box / In Mono". Pitchfork . Archived from the original on 17 September 2012. Retrieved 22 August 2011.
  15. ↑ DeCurtis, Anthony (8 September 2009). "The Beatles The Beatles: Stereo Box Set Album Review". Rolling Stone . Archived from the original on 20 September 2012. Retrieved 19 November 2014.
  16. ↑ Harris, David (19 September 2009). "The Beatles: Reissues". Spectrum Culture. Archived from the original on 2 June 2021. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
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  18. ↑ "Gold & Platinum Certification - March 2010". Canadian Recording Industry Association. Archived from the original on 26 August 2011. Retrieved 20 June 2010.
  19. ↑ "Album Top 50 KW 10 | charts". MTV. 14 January 2011. Archived from the original on 15 December 2009. Retrieved 12 March 2011.
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  21. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – The Beatles – The Beatles In Stereo" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 20 September 2023.
  22. ↑ "Ultratop.be – The Beatles – The Beatles In Stereo" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 20 September 2023.
  23. ↑ "Ultratop.be – The Beatles – The Beatles In Stereo" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 20 September 2023.
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  25. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – The Beatles – The Beatles In Stereo" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 20 September 2023.
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  27. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – The Beatles – The Beatles In Stereo" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 20 September 2023.
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  30. ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – The Beatles – The Beatles In Stereo". Hung Medien. Retrieved 20 September 2023.
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  32. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – The Beatles – The Beatles In Stereo". Hung Medien. Retrieved 20 September 2023.
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