Let It Be And Abbey Road

[SgtPepper1965]

Hello Beatle fans....my name is Richard from NYC and i just joined in. Nice to be here. As the topic above states and since there has been so many different stories, can someone please clarify for me once and for all if there are any know TRUE mono mixes of the Let It Be and Abbey Road LP's? We all probably have seen like myself the mono versions of these 2 from Brazil and I often wondered if they were in fact real mono mixes or folded versions and if not real, why even bother? Also, is the Japanese SINGLE of Let It Be a true mono mix? Againsomething that was never really discussed much about. I have that supposedly rare mix on a bootleg CD titles "Casualties" which features an alternate shot of the Butcher Cover and also has the complete version of Her Majesty with the final chord intact. So, can someone tell me about mono mixes of Let It Be single and LP and which if any are real?

[chris]

far as i know, they were recorded in stereo. if there is a mono version of either out there, it is news to me.

[oldasSoul]

My understanding is that Yellow Submarine, Let It Be and Abbey Road were all recorded in mono. In the Past Masters discs from the mono box, there is only one song from LIB, "Get Back", which must have been recorded in mono. Any mono versions of these 3 lps are just folded mixes from the stereo, according to everything I've read.

[chris]

wouldn't yellow submarine, abbey road and let it be have been included in the mono box if they were recorded in mono?

Amazon.com
The Beatles Mono Box Set was compiled as a special interest package for the hard-core fan. It presents the first ten albums in re-mastered mono (the final 3 albums made their debuts in stereo only), and a double album of singles and EPs, called "Mono Masters". At the time of writing, the mono albums are not available individually. Why would anyone want a newly minted mono collection? The final mono songs were sometimes different. Stereo mixes were usually done days, if not weeks after the original mono mix, and could include different takes when the engineers made the overdubs. Stereo mixes, particularly for the first five albums, did not include as much critical listening from George Martin, and almost none from the Fab' Four. Also, stereo in early 60's England was not broadcast over the air, and the format was largely the preserve of the hi-fi snob. For more than half The Beatles recorded repertoire, the most affordable "weapon of choice" for the twisting, shouting teenage market was the mono mix. Ironically - this box set is the best The Beatles have ever sounded. Like the stereo sibling these are re-mastered, not re-mixed, but unlike the stereo, they have not been clipped or limited to push levels closer to current music ingested through our MP3 players. These albums are cleaner than ever before and compared to the 1980s CD editions you're taken aback by how much dynamic range is on those original tapes. Nothing in this box sounds like a 45 year old recording. Each disc is presented as if it were a miniature "33", replete with plastic anti-scratch sleeve, inner paper sleeve, original album cover, inserts and all original text rendered frustratingly small for anyone old enough to have bought the LPs the first time around. -- Hugo Munday