Beatles in Mono. - Page 9

Carlo,

I just checked -- I own six Sgt. Pepper LPs (three mono and two stereo copies, and one I am unsure of at the moment).  Some are from the U.K. and North America, and two have the titles of the songs in Spanish on the reverse side.  Not all of them have the original cut-outs, but the majority of my copies do.  Which brings me to my main point.

I am a member of four or five Beatles sites.  One of these in particular allows for the trading of albums (most often LPs).  If you joined, and if you still had some LPs to trade (selling is not allowed on most of these sites), you might be able to find one of those albums with the cut-outs.  Just a thought. :)

Edit: One of the Spanish-titled albums is distributed in Uruguay.  I don't know if that copy is mono or stereo, and I can't find any indication on the LP.  I will have to listen to it to know for certain.

Edited by Ockeghem - 9/9/09 at 5:01pm

Joe,

Thanks for the info.  I wish the Fabs had continued with the harmonica in later albums.  Beatles For Sale has a generous portion on it, but it's relatively scarce after that (The Beatles Again being an exception).

I'm really pleased that there are some fans of The Beatles Second Album.  It is probably my favorite North American offering, excluding albums that are not legitimately-released.

Joe,

Have you checked out the book I mentioned above by David Marsh?  It's devoted to The Beatles Second Album.  It's a fun and informative read. :)

The version of Thank You Girl you speak of does show up elsewhere, but one has to go outside of the easily obtainable albums to find it.  Incidentally, The Beatles Beat is another album I mentioned recently, but it may have been in the "Oldie of the Day" thread.  I love the look of those numbered import albums, and the work that went into the cover art.  I remember being very, very impressed with those Japanese and German imports when they were first released.

BTW, I guess it's a bit redundant of me to say I am a huge fan of With the Beatles as well (I'm a fan of every Beatles album); however, I have to add that All I've Got To Do, Don't Bother Me, and Not A Second Time are IMO ambitious songs for their time musically: the first track for reasons of cleverly-syncopated rhythm (thank you Ringo!) and usage of parallel fourths -- with impeccable intonation -- in the vocal harmony; the second track for its modal construct and lowered (albeit subtle) melodic second degree (often referred to in the conventional sense as the Neopolitan) in the descending guitar line which lends the song a lot of bite; and the third track for reasons of melodic contour and such an awesome piano fill.  I do wish that the Beatles had thought of double-tracking (harmonically) Lennon throughout on Not A Second Time.  We only get a snippet of it at the very end.

Edited by Ockeghem - 9/9/09 at 7:46pm

Joe,

And when you think of the tunes that aren't necessarily your (or my) favorites from the album, one begins to see just how amazingly talented and consistent the group was, even in 1963.  (BTW, I refrained from writing about the aeolian cadence, but I did think about it. ;))

Philip,

Are you asking where one can find the Magical Mystery Tour and Yellow Submarine remastered albums individually?  If you are, then check here:

http://music.barnesandnoble.com/search/results.asp?qsrch=A&WRD=beatles+remastered&box=beatles%20remastered&pos=-1

The entry for Yellow Submarine is on the second page.

Mike,

I see.  Thanks.

Is anyone curious why the Yellow Submarine mono album (PMC 7070 for the Millenium U.K. Collection and EAS 70138 for the Millenium Red Collection) is not being included in the mono set?  I'm guessing it is probably because these are not legitimate mono mixes.

The first album is the mono version sourced from the early 1980's U.K. mono LP box set, which some believe is superior to the Japanese red vinyl version.  The second album is from the Millennium Remasters Collection of audiophile archival recordings (part of the Millennium Remasters "Japan Red Collection").

Edit: Okay, I have my answer (Disc 13).  I should have dug a bit more deeply. :)

Edited by Ockeghem - 9/10/09 at 9:45am

"Taunting me."  LOL.  You need to go back and get it! :)

FWIW: I noticed something the other day on a mono vinyl copy of Magical Myster Tour.  On I Am the Walrus, the drums drop out a minute or two for two measures.  I had never noticed that before.  I hope I wasn't hearing things--it was very interesting.  I'm really looking forward to listening more intently to the monos from this new set to compare.

Last night, I played eight cuts from The White Album for our oldest children.  I played Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da, I Will, Julia, Sexie Sadie, Helter Skelter, Honey Pie, Mother Nature's Son, and Revolution 9.  They mentioned, independently of my thoughts on the matter, that the styles of music were to their ears very different.  I told them that the last cut was in some respects an avant-garde work, and athough somewhat unique to the Beatles, experiments like this were being carried out musically with other 'classical' composers from the decade and earlier.  Then I played a couple of cuts from Sgt. Pepper, and wrapped up the session with four or five cuts from With the Beatles.  Being For the Benefit of Mr. Kite is a fine example for teaching (to a degree) aleatoric music, and the orchestral build-up and relative chaos created prior to the resounding E-Major chord (before "Woke Up ... " and again at the conclusion of the piece) in A Day In the Life piqued their curiosity quite a bit.

Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da was perfect for teaching polyphonic writing in pop music.  The three contrapuntal lines (McCartney's bass, the text on "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da," and the brass lines) all work interdependently and very effectively in combination.  I like how we first hear McCartney's triadic bass early on, then a variation of this bass line (how about that sixteenth note flourish!) together with the text of the tune later, and finally the brass even later.  It helps one's ears to assimilate (and in some cases, memorize) the individual lines before the cumulative effect of all three elements is experienced and appreciated.  Another fine example of this type of writing may be heard in McCartney's gem, Silly Love Songs, although the three differing lines in that tune are far more protracted.  (Interestingly, there is also a fourth melodic line that is introduced, but is not used in combination with the other three.  When I listen to that work, I have attempted to determine if all four lines would have worked together in conjunction with one another.  I have concluded that the four lines would not have worked nearly as well, as the level of dissonance would have been too great.)  In any event, a splendid time was guaranteed by all. :)

Edited by Ockeghem - 9/11/09 at 9:46am