So I've been really fucked up about The Beatles lately.
There's just been too many wierd coincidences that have shaped their music.
Wierdly enough, there has been too many coincidences between what's going on in my life right now and the Beatles albums I've been discovering - with every new Beatles album I hear, the songs have been describing or bearing close relation to what I've been going through at that moment. It's like when you play Dark Side of the Moon with The Wizard of Oz, only its every Beatles song and my life.
I know this sounds creepy like I'm some stalker fan, but I promise I'm sane.
I heard about a year ago that some fans who apparently have access to professional recording equipment took pristine copies of all the Beatles albums on vinyl and remastered them all to ridiculous clarity. The story goes that, in 1987, EMI (who publishes all the Beatles' albums) released the Beatles catalogue on the modern CD format. However, if you have ever listened to CD's released in the 80's (i.e. when the format was still incredibly new and uncharted), what you usually hear is the straight up master tapes of the original album, which before the 80's were mastered specifically for vinyl - a BIG difference from what would be known as "redbook" CD standards. The result was a quiet, muddy, inferior version to the original analog vinyl releases. The Beatles' albums were no exception to this practice. Gradually, all these shitty albums pressed to CD in the 80's have been undergoing modern facelifts, as technology progressed and people learned more about mastering to CD. All the record companies began to reissue all these classic albums in remastered form to fit the fidelity of the CD format.
Unfortunately, one of the few bands that have not recieved this repolishing is The Beatles. Why wouldn't EMI put everything aside in order to cash in once again on quite possibly the biggest band in the history of music recording? Well if you know anything about The Beatles, you know that the four members would eventually grow apart at the end of their career together, citing artistic and financial differences as the culprite. This inability to come to a common concensus has continued to exist to this day between the remaing two (Paul and Ringo) and the proprietors of the estates of George and John (aka their widows). So it has proven to be very difficult to release anything Beatle related today due to this seemingly childish bickering of rights and whatever, not to mention the fact that Michael Jackson bought almost the entire Beatles catalogue, giving him full control at his crazy-ass discresion.
Back to the fan remasters, in becoming interested in The Beatles again (as I still own somewhere a copy of Revolver on tape from back in the day), I have been downloading them one album at a time. The completely free internet-based releases are courtesy of the ominous producer "Purple Chick" with new hi-res artwork and everything. And if the incredible audio quality of these recordings aren't enough, this "Purple Chick" group or person has somehow got his/her/their hands on hours and hours of outtakes, different versions, and even just general studio recording minutiae that The Beatles have recorded spanning their entire career together. These "releases" are simply the best versions of any Beatles recordings available right now, period. (aside, of course, from the original vinyl versions...however it's almost not even close I'm sure)
So I'm gonna stop rambling and give you some links so you can discover/re-discover/or blow your mind out to this wierd cosmic force also known as The Beatles.
Reference Information For Purple Chick Series
Hi Res Artwork for Purple Chick Series
Please, Please Me - Stereo & Mono
Please, Please Me - Alternate Takes
With The Beatles - Stereo
With The Beatles - Mono
With The Beatles - Alternate Takes
Hard Days Night - Stereo
Hard Days Night - Mono
Fix for errors with track 12 & 30 of HDN (stereo)
Hard Days Night - Alternate Takes
Beatles For Sale - Stereo
Beatles For Sale - Mono
Beatles For Sale - Alternate Takes
HELP! - Stereo
HELP! - Mono
HELP! - Alternate Takes
Live At The Hollywood Bowl
Rubber Soul - Stereo
Rubber Soul - Mono
Rubber Soul - Alternate Takes
Revolver - Stereo
Revolver - Mono
Revolver - Alternate Takes
Sgt. Pepper - Stereo
Sgt. Pepper - Mono
Sgt. Pepper - Multitracks
Magical Mystery Tour - Stereo
Magical Mystery Tour - Mono
Magical Mystery Tour - Alternate Takes
The Beatles - Disc 1 - Stereo
The Beatles - Disc 2 - Stereo
The Beatles - Disc 1 - Mono
The Beatles - Disc 2 - Mono
Fix for errors with Revolution Number 9 (Mono)
Let It Be - Stereo & Mono
Get Back Book
Abbey Road - Stereo
Abbey Road - Alternate Takes
Extra special thanks to Ben Walters and his blog for unintentionally providing me these links.
