Any news on the beatles release of "let it be" this year? (1 Viewer)

[wayne pal]

I remember hearing of a possible 2 or 3 disk special edition of the beatles film "let it be" being released on dvd this year and was wondering if anyone has heard any news on this. Also i hear they may re-release "help" as a 2-disk special edition this year (this year being the 40th anniversery of helps release. I have help on dvd already but i would gladly double dip on this title if they release it with 5.1 audio and remastered picture (current dvd of help is not that bad but i don't think it's presented in it's oar)plus it's out of print. also i wonder if we will ever see magical mystery tour digitally restored. current print of mmt looks awful.

 

[AnthonyC]

I have heard about Help! being reissued by Miramax. We've been hearing about a LIB DVD since 1998; I've really given up hope. I remember back when LIB...Naked was being prepared, the movie was going to be released alongside it. Then it was promised for 2004. Now, we haven't heard about it in months.

Of course, we may have a situation like the Anthology book which was only four years late.

 

[wayne pal]

thnx for the reply anthony----i have been waiting for let it be it seems like forever---I'm sure we'll see it someday
but when?---i remember hearing that some footage was recovered from the let it be outakes that has never been seen before. I remember reading about it in rolling stone magazine a couple of years ago---hopefully we'll see that footage when the film finally makes it to dvd.

 

[Joe Karlosi]

LET IT BE was the very first VHS tape I ever bought, back in 1981 - and before I ever had a VCR! The crazy thing is, I still have it and watch it occasionally because there has never been a DVD.

I really don't understand the long delay in getting a real nice version of this film with a ton of extras. God knows there are reels and reels of footage. I'm sure Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr have expressed interest in the project. Maybe there is a problem involving Olivia Harrison and Yoko Ono's involvment on behalf of George and John? I have no idea.

 

[Al (alweho)]

We'll just have to settle for the new Rutles 2 release this week I guess...

 

[AnthonyC]

I know that George had a problem with the film because he, John, and Paul didn't get very good portrayals (I don't agree with that but I do agree that Ringo definitely came off the best in the film). However, he did approve of a DVD release before he died in 2001.

 

[Paul D G]

Most recent word is that it's targeted for Fall '05.

Source: Link Removed

-paul

 

[dany]

Anyone know which beatle cd's has been remastered?

 

[Colin Jacobson]

None? Unless you count the Yellow Submarine "songtrack" and LIB... Nekkid as remasters, but I don't - they're different product.

 

[Joe Karlosi]

I believe that some of the early tracks were remastered (or at least in stereo) on the 1962-1966 compilation CD some years back?

The Beatles' CD catalog has been long overdue for remastering; they came out in 1987! But I don't want them to go too far, just boost 'em up a bit.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

Yup. There are also different masterings used for 1. But the question asked about the Beatles catalog, and the various anthologies don't really count - there've been no remasterings of the original albums released from 1963-1970...

 

[Steve Tannehill]

Technically true, but check this out...we have not even had the original U.S. albums represented on CD until recently:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...l/-/B00065XJ48

- Steve

 

[Colin Jacobson]

I'm fully aware of the Capitol CDs from November - I own them! But again, when I think of "Beatles remasters", I consider that to mean the original "real" - ie UK - albums that were originally on CD in 1987. (Not counting the briefly-available Japanese Abbey Road, of course, that predated those.) The Capitol set isn't a remaster, technically, since those four albums never came out on CD in the first place. The mixes are also often very different.

Call me Nitpicky Joe if you'd like, but even if eventually every Beatles song was available in remastered form on some kind of compilation or another, I still won't call their catalog "remastered" until we get new versions of the original albums. The compilations and Capitol set don't cut it...

 

[Steve Tannehill]

Well, just spot-checking the multiple versions of some of the early songs--mono, stereo, American, British, even Japanese--these latest recordings have a lot of umph.

IMO, the Capitol albums released so far on CD--which many of us grew up with--are outstanding, and very promising. And they sound awesome.

I can't wait for George Martin to come in and do the 5.1 remix! (ducking)

- Steve

 

[Joe Karlosi]

I have to make a confession of sorts -- I'm starting to prefer the U.S. albums! I'm 43 and grew up with the U.S. Capitol albums as a child, but when I was around 15 I started to search out Japanese and U.K. imports of the "real" British albums and I loved the cleaner sound and different mixes, as the Beatles originally intended...

Now, every self-respecting Beatles fan would prefer the original British albums, right? Well, that was the case with me for the past 30 years, but NOW the Capitol Albums Collection has taken me down Memory Lane and I've come to think I prefer the albums the way Capitol set them up! I even like the echo on SHE'S A WOMAN after I'd worked so hard as a teenager trying to locate an import with the "cleaner" version. Those American mixes just give many tracks a lot more "oomph" -- and THE BEATLES' SECOND ALBUM just may be my all time favorite rock LP, American or British.

Also interesting is that I just never got used to "Drive My Car" opening up the RUBBER SOUL album, even though that's how the Beatles intended it to be. I've always felt the American RUBBER SOUL was superior, and that "It's Only Love" fit the mood of that record very well (I never adjusted to it on the British HELP! album, even for the past 30 years).

The one album which I feel is superior in the British format (ie: the currently available CD) would be REVOLVER.

 

[Sam Favate]

I haven't read anything recently, but last I heard both Help and Let It Be were due on DVD this year. My guess is that unless one of them comes out soon (before summer), we won't see both of them this year.

As for the album remasters, I believe it was Musictap.net that reported a while back about an SACD version of Abbey Road being worked on. I'd guess that Capital will also put out Vol. 2 of their US editions this year.

Things will surely heat up later this year when McCartney begins his world tour (coming to the US in the fall) and Ringo puts out a new album. That's when you'll see more Beatle-stuff coming out.

 

[Paul D G]

Then again, maybe not. Apple has a track history of delaying things so they don't compete with other Beatle projects. For example: If they schedule Let It Be for an October release, then McCartney announces his album will come out in Oct as well, Apple would then delay the DVD until next year sometime.

Personally, they need to get off their asses and start releasing this stuff! Where's Shea Stadium on DVD? Hollywood Bowl on CD? The core Beatle fan base is getting older and older. 1/2 of the Beatles themseleves are gone. What are they waiting for? I doubt my kid will get excited when they release Shea Stadium on it's 50th anniversary.

-paul
I feel better now. And chalk me up for thinking the Capitol box set has a kicking sound!

 

[Sam Favate]

I think Paul's album is scheduled for Aug.-Sept., in advance of the US tour. I can see the DVD (of Let It Be or Help) coinciding with the tour in October, and the next box of US albums on CD in November. I agree that there should be more releases than what can be stuffed into the fourth quarter. With (an expended?) Hollywood Bowl waiting for release on CD and so many other projects for CD and DVD, they'd have no problem keeping the fans happy. And the next time someone speaks to Yoko, please ask her when we'll see the 1988 Imagine John Lennon film on DVD. (I know it was released once, for about 10 minutes in 1997 or so, but it is long out of print).

 

[wayne pal]

I would love to see "imagine" released on dvd. I'm also anxious to see shea stadium on dvd one day along with their tokyo 66 concert at buddakon. some of the buddakon footage was used in the anthology film and it looked pretty good.
I was reading an artical in the calandar section of the los angeles times today regarding george's widow olivia. The artical said that she is currently working on george's "concert for bangladesh" dvd release this spring. This is really good news as i've always loved that concert film but i've never been able to find a copy of it. As far as "let it be" is concerned, i'm hoping that the dvd will be worth the wait.

 

[Nathan Phillips]

I don't know how many people here have seen "Let It Be," but elsewhere I've seen many who have been looking forward to it for ages and are expecting it to be much more revealing than it actually is. I'm afraid a lot of people are going to be disappointed when the movie actually comes out, which is another reason I wish Apple wouldn't take forever on everything they attempt.

I'm really eager for a rerelease of "Help!". I missed the MPI disc and I LOVE the movie. (Naturally, I'm sure some people hate it and would defend "Let It Be"...) And count me in for "Imagine," Shea Stadium and a CD of Hollywood Bowl as well. Plus, Apple doesn't control this, but how about the excellent documentary "The Compleat Beatles"? I've yet to see a better general introduction to their history, the Anthology included.