The Beatles in Mono

Last updated

The Beatles in Mono
The Beatles in Mono.jpeg
Box set by
Released9 September 2009
Recorded11 September 1962–30 April 1969 at EMI, Trident, Olympic, Apple, Chappell, De Lane Lea and Regent Sound studios, London; Pathé Marconi Studio, Paris; HMV Studios, Bombay
Genre Rock
Length9:37:46
Label Apple, EMI
Producer George Martin
Simon Gibson, Paul Hicks, Sean Magee, Guy Massey, Sam Okell, Steve Rooke, Allan Rouse (remaster engineers)
The Beatles chronology
The Beatles (The Original Studio Recordings)
(2009)
The Beatles in Mono
(2009)
Tomorrow Never Knows
(2012)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [1]
The Austin Chronicle Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [2]
Classic Rock 9/10 [3]
The Guardian Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [4]
Mojo Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [5]
Pitchfork Media 10/10 [6]
Uncut 9/10 [7]

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 (The Original Studio Recordings) 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. [8]

Contents

The boxed set was released on 180-gram heavyweight vinyl on 9 September 2014, with each disc mastered directly from analog tape sources, rather than the digital remasters used for the CD release. [9]

Intention

The Beatles in Mono was released to reflect the fact that most of the Beatles' catalogue was originally mixed and released in the monophonic format. Stereo recordings were a fairly new concept for pop music in the 1960s and did not become standard until nearly the end of that decade. This explains why the Beatles' earlier album releases were mixed for mono. By the late sixties, however, stereo recording for pop music was becoming more popular and, thus, the new standard. Therefore, the last few Beatles LPs— Yellow Submarine , Abbey Road and Let It Be —were mixed only in stereo. Many feel that the mono mixes reflect the true intention of the band. For example, in the case of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band , all the mono mixes were done together with the Beatles themselves, throughout the recording of the album, whereas the stereo mixes were done in only six days by Abbey Road personnel George Martin, Geoff Emerick and Richard Lush after the album had been finished, with none of the Beatles attending. [10] George Harrison commented:

At that time [...] the console was about this big with four faders on it. And there was one speaker right in the middle [...] and that was it. When they invented stereo, I remember thinking 'Why? What do you want two speakers for?', because it ruined the sound from our point of view. You know, we had everything coming out of one speaker; now it had to come out of two speakers. It sounded like ... very ... naked. [11]

John Lennon did not like the stereo mix of his song "Revolution" on the 1967–1970 compilation album. Lennon stated during a 1974 interview:

The fast version was destroyed. It was a heavy record, but the stereo mix made it into a piece of ice-cream. [12]

Limited edition

Amazon.com advertised the set as a limited edition item in the United States. Less than a month prior to the set's release it was announced that the site had sold out of units. [13] [14] Less than two weeks before 9 September, many other online retailers announced the selling out of units from their inventories, including the Canadian Amazon.ca site. [15]

EMI announced on 3 September 2009 that more mono boxed sets were to be pressed due to high demand from online pre-orders. [16] It was still to remain a "limited edition", but since it had already been certified platinum by the RIAA it was not limited to 10,000 copies as originally stated. As of July 2018, the CD set was still readily available but the vinyl box set was out of print.

In 2014, five years after the initial CD release, mono editions of each of the albums were released individually in vinyl format, though the mono editions for CD were still available only in the box set. All of the USA albums were released individually on CDs containing both the mono and original stereo mixes; this is the only other way to acquire the mono mixes on CD.

Disc listing

The thirteen-disc (fourteen on LP) collection contains the remastered mono versions of every UK Beatles album released in true mono, plus Magical Mystery Tour , which in 1967 was only issued as an LP (in mono and stereo mixes, and augmented with the A- and B-sides of their recent singles) in the USA, Canada and a few other countries; in the UK and many other countries it was originally only issued as a 6-track double soundtrack EP (in both mono and stereo versions) and the album version wasn't issued until 1976, and then only in stereo.

The box contains a new two-disc compilation album titled Mono Masters , which compiles all the mono mixes of singles, B-sides and EP tracks that did not originally appear on any of the UK albums or Magical Mystery Tour.

The albums Yellow Submarine , Abbey Road and Let It Be are not included in this set, as no true mono mixes of these albums were issued. The same holds true for the songs "The Ballad of John and Yoko", "Old Brown Shoe" and the single mix of "Let It Be", which were also omitted. A mono version of the Yellow Submarine album was released in the UK, but it was simply a fold-down (two stereo channels combined into one channel) from the stereo mix, not a unique and separate mono mix. Abbey Road and Let It Be were issued in the UK in mono on reel-to-reel tape and on LP in Brazil and other countries but, again, only as fold-downs from the respective stereo versions.

The previously unavailable true mono mixes of the four new Beatles songs released on the Yellow Submarine album ("Only a Northern Song", "All Together Now", "Hey Bulldog" and "It's All Too Much"), originally intended for a separate, but ultimately scrapped mono EP which would have also included a mono mix of "Across the Universe", are included on the Mono Masters compilation. Also omitted from this set, but included in the stereo box set, is a DVD containing the mini-documentaries included with the stereo remasters of the different albums.

The Beatles (commonly referred to as The White Album) was originally released in mono and stereo in the UK and several other countries, but in the United States, it was released only in stereo. However, the mono mixes of "Don't Pass Me By" and "Helter Skelter" had been previously issued in the US in 1980 on the Capitol Records Rarities compilation album.

All CDs replicate their original album labels as first released, from the various Parlophone Records label variations, to the Capitol Records label (for Magical Mystery Tour) and the UK Apple Records side A and B labels for discs 1 and 2 respectively for The Beatles. For Mono Masters, disc 1 uses a mid-1960s Parlophone label design and disc 2 uses the unsliced Apple label design. All vinyl labels use the Apple label design.

The CD set also includes a 44-page booklet with an essay on the important role that the mono mixes played in the Beatles' recording career, notes on every track featured in Mono Masters, and a track-by-track listing of the recordings. The vinyl set includes a 108-page book which also includes many rare photographs of the Beatles in Abbey Road Studio, fascinating EMI archive documents and evocative articles sourced from 1960s publications.

Chart performance

The set debuted at number 40 on Billboard's Top 200 chart and the magazine reported that 12,000 copies were sold in its first week of release. [17] [18] In Japan, it debuted at number 10, selling over 20,000 copies in its first week on the Oricon album charts. [19] The set was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America in April 2010. [20]

Charts

2009 chart performance for The Beatles in Mono
Chart (2009)Peak
position
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) [21] 51
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) [22] 89
Danish Albums (Hitlisten) [23] 36
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [24] 41
Italian Albums (FIMI) [25] 70
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE) [26] 72
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) [27] 15
UK Albums (OCC) [28] 57
US Billboard 200 [29] 40
2024 chart performance for The Beatles in Mono
Chart (2024)Peak
position
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [30] 13
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [31] 80

See also

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's 14 tracks include cover songs and original material written by the partnership of band members John Lennon and Paul McCartney.

<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 including some from George Martin's film score. Unlike their first two albums, all 13 tracks on A Hard Day's Night were written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney.

<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.

This is the discography of Apple Records, a record label formed by the Beatles in 1968. During its early years, the label enjoyed a fair degree of commercial success, most notably with Mary Hopkin and Badfinger, as well as discovering acts such as James Taylor and Billy Preston who would go on to greater success with other labels. However, by the mid-1970s, Apple had become little more than an outlet for the Beatles' solo recordings. After EMI's contract with the Beatles ended in 1976, the Apple label was finally wound up. The label was reactivated in the 1990s with many of the original Apple albums being reissued on compact disc, and the company now oversees new Beatles releases such as the Anthology and 1 albums as well as the 2009 Beatles remastering programme. In 2010, Apple set about remastering and reissuing its back catalogue for a second time.

<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 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>Live at the BBC</i> (Beatles album) 1994 live album / compilation album by the Beatles

Live at the BBC is a 1994 compilation album featuring performances by the Beatles that were originally broadcast on various BBC Light Programme radio shows from 1963 to 1965. The mono album, available in multiple formats but most commonly as a two-CD set, consists of 56 songs and 13 tracks of dialogue; 30 of the songs had never been issued previously by the Beatles. It was the first official release by the Beatles of previously unreleased performances since The Beatles at the Hollywood Bowl in 1977 and the first containing previously unreleased songs since their final studio album, Let It Be, in 1970.

<i>Merry Christmas</i> (Bing Crosby album) 1945 compilation album by Bing Crosby

Merry Christmas is a Christmas-themed compilation album by Bing Crosby that was released in 1945 on Decca Records. It has remained in print through the vinyl, CD, and downloadable file eras, currently as the disc and digital album White Christmas on MCA Records, a part of the Universal Music Group, and currently on vinyl as Merry Christmas on Geffen Records. It includes Crosby's signature song "White Christmas", the best-selling single of all time with estimated sales of over 50 million copies worldwide. The album was certified 4× Platinum by RIAA for selling over 4 million copies in United States. The original 1945 release and subsequent re-releases and re-packages spent a total of 39 weeks at no. 1 on the Billboard pop albums chart.

<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 (The Original Studio Recordings)</i> 2009 box set by The Beatles

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. 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.

<i>Mono Masters</i> 2009 compilation album by The Beatles

Mono Masters is a compilation album by the Beatles, and is an alternate, all-mono version of the album Past Masters. Mono Masters was originally a two-CD set included as part of The Beatles in Mono box set. The premise of this box set was to compile only Beatles material which was released or prepared for release with a dedicated mono mix. As a result, the track listing for Mono Masters differs from Past Masters on the second half of disc two, omitting some later songs that never had a mono mix, and adding several songs released on stereo-only albums that had unreleased mono mixes. Tracks 9–12 and 15 of disc two were prepared in March 1969 for release as a 7" mono Yellow Submarine EP, two months after the release of the similarly titled soundtrack album, but the project was scrapped, although the EP was mastered. Subsequently, the tracks were only released in stereo, while the true mono mixes remained unreleased. "Get Back" was the final Beatles single mixed for mono format. It was released in the UK in mono, though the US release was in stereo. Thus, the songs that were originally released on stereo singles in the UK are omitted on this release.

<i>John Lennon Signature Box</i> 2010 box set by John Lennon

The John Lennon Signature Box is an 11-disc boxed set of remastered John Lennon albums and new collections, released on CD and digital format, as part of the "Gimme Some Truth" collection. The albums released in the boxed set are digital remasters of the original recordings and mixes, done by John's widow Yoko Ono and the same team of engineers at Abbey Road Studios who worked on the 2009 remasters by the Beatles, in London and Avatar Studios, New York. The set also includes home demos and non-album singles. The boxed set was released on vinyl in June 2015 by Universal Music Catalogue without the two additional discs.

<i>The Beatles Mono Collection</i> 1982 box set by the Beatles

Released in 1982, The Beatles Mono Collection is a boxed set of all Beatles' albums which were originally issued on mono LPs in the UK. EMI reportedly pressed a total of 10,000 copies of each reissue mono LP for sale individually. An unknown quantity of unnumbered red boxes were issued in the UK, while 1000 numbered black boxed sets were assembled and issued in the United States by the Dutch East India Trading Co. These US sets originally sold for $79.00 and included a numbered certificate and an order blank for additional sets.

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>Abbey Road: 50th Anniversary Edition</i> 2019 compilation album by the Beatles

Abbey Road: 50th Anniversary Edition is an expanded reissue of the 1969 album Abbey Road by the English rock band the Beatles. It was released in September 2019 to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the original album. 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. The Beatles in Mono at AllMusic
  2. Hernandez, Raoul (2 October 2009). "Review: The Beatles, The Beatles in Mono". The Austin Chronicle . Retrieved 19 November 2014.
  3. Stubbs, David (October 2014). "The Beatles: The Beatles Mono Vinyl Box Set". Classic Rock . p. 97.
  4. Petridis, Alexis (4 September 2009). "The Beatles: The Beatles in Mono – CD Review". The Guardian . London.
  5. Gilbert, Pat (October 2014). "The Beatles In Mono Vinyl Box Set". Mojo . p. 80.
  6. The Beatles: Stereo Box / In Mono | Album Reviews | Pitchfork
  7. Robinson, John (October 2014). "The Beatles – The Beatles in Mono". Uncut . Retrieved 19 November 2014.
  8. Lewis, Anthony (30 August 2009). "Meet (and be) the Beatles". Los Angeles Times . Archived from the original on 7 September 2009. Retrieved 28 August 2009.
  9. Caro, Mark (30 September 2014). "Going Mono a Mano with the Beatles", Chicago Tribune . Retrieved 1 October 2014.
  10. Lewisohn, Mark: The Beatles Recording Sessions. The Hamlyn Publishing Group Ltd., London 1988, ISBN   0-600-55798-7. P. 108.
  11. The Beatles Anthology. Bonus-DVD, Take "Back at Abbey Road, May 1995."
  12. Unterberger, Richie (2006). Unreleased Beatles Music and Film. San Francisco: Backbeat Books. p. 167. ISBN   978-0-87930-892-6.
  13. "Amazon.com: The Beatles Mono Box Set (LIMITED): The Beatles: Music". Amazon.com . Retrieved 11 July 2009.
  14. Haber, Dave (17 August 2009). "Beatles Remastered Mono Box sold out at Amazon US" . Retrieved 28 August 2009.
  15. Haber, Dave (26 August 2009). "Update: Beatles Mono Box sold-out at more retailers now" . Retrieved 28 August 2009.
  16. Morris, Christopher (3 September 2009). "EMI to press more 'Beatles in Mono'". Variety. Retrieved 5 September 2009.
  17. "Billboard 200". Billboard . Retrieved 17 September 2009.
  18. Goodman, Dean & Zargham, Mohammad (16 September 2009). "The Beatles Turn US Charts Back to 1960s". Reuters . Retrieved 17 September 2009.
  19. "Oricon Weekly Album Charts for the third week of September 2009". Oricon (in Japanese). Retrieved 1 October 2009.
  20. "RIAA G&P certification count for April 2010". Recording Industry Association of America . Retrieved 14 September 2010.
  21. "Ultratop.be – The Beatles – The Beatles In Mono" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
  22. "Ultratop.be – The Beatles – The Beatles In Mono" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
  23. "Danishcharts.dk – The Beatles – The Beatles In Mono". Hung Medien. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
  24. "Dutchcharts.nl – The Beatles – The Beatles In Mono" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
  25. "Italiancharts.com – The Beatles – The Beatles In Mono". Hung Medien. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
  26. "Spanishcharts.com – The Beatles – The Beatles In Mono". Hung Medien. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
  27. "Swedishcharts.com – The Beatles – The Beatles In Mono". Hung Medien. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
  28. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
  29. "The Beatles Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
  30. "Offiziellecharts.de – The Beatles – The Beatles in Mono" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 29 November 2024.
  31. "Swisscharts.com – The Beatles – The Beatles in Mono". Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 December 2024.