"…Is
There Anyone Wants To Hear My Story…"
In
truth - when the Beatles 15-strong album catalogue finally went on worldwide
sale in properly remastered form on
the 9th of September 2009 - the Stereo box
set not only looked flimsy and naff - it containing little inside to
aesthetically please once opened. Inside a matt black and red lanky card
wrapper - you got the 15 piddly gatefold sleeves of the albums (as per the
individual releases - no repro artwork) and a booklet. For the money it always
felt to me like a presentation let down. But the smaller hard-card MONO variant
was an all-together different beast - not just sonically - but especially
visually. Here are the one-channel details...
Released
9 September on Apple 5099969945120 - "The Beatles In MONO" by THE BEATLES contains
the following 11 CDs (one is a double):
1.
"Please Please Me"
March 1963 UK Debut LP on Parlophone PMC 1202
(33:19 minutes):
1.
I Saw Her Standing There [Side 1]
2.
Misery
3.
Anna (Go To Him)
4.
Chains
5.
Boys
6.
Ask Me Why
7.
Please Please Me
8.
Love Me Do [Side 2]
9.
P.S. I Love You
10.
Baby It’s You
11.
Do You Want To Know A Secret
12.
A Taste Of Honey
13.
There's A Place
14.
Twist & Shout
2.
"With The Beatles"
November 1963 UK LP on Parlophone PMC 1206
(33:55 minutes):
1.
It Won't Be Long [Side 1]
2.
All I've Got To Do
3.
All My Loving
4.
Don't Bother Me
5.
Little Child
6.
Till There Was You
7.
Please Mister Postman
8.
Roll Over Beethoven [Side 2]
9.
Hold Me Tight
10.
You Really Got A Hold On Me
11.
I Wanna Be Your Man
12.
Devil In Her Heart
13.
Not A Second Time
14.
Money
3.
"A Hard Day's Night"
July 1964 UK LP on Parlophone PMC 1230 (31:01
minutes)
1.
A Hard Day's Night [Side 1]
2.
I Should Have Known Better
3.
If I Fell
4.
I'm Happy Just To Dance With You
5.
And I Love Her
6.
Tell Me Why
7.
Can't Buy Me Love
8.
Any Time At All [Side 2]
9.
I'll Cry Instead
10.
Things We Said Today
11.
When I Get Home
12.
You Can't Do That
13.
I'll Be Back
4.
"Beatles For Sale"
December 1964 UK LP on Parlophone PMC 1240
(35:09 minutes):
1.
No Reply [Side 1]
2.
I'm A Loser
3.
Baby's In Black
4.
Rock And Roll Music
5.
I'll Follow The Sun
6.
Mr. Moonlight
7.
Kansas City/Hey Hey Hey Hey
8.
Eight Days A Week [Side 2]
9.
Words Of Love
10.
Honey Don't
11.
Every Little Thing
12.
I Don't Want To Spoil The Party
13.
What You're Doing
14.
Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby
5.
"Help!"
August 1965 UK LP on Parlophone PMC 1255 (also includes the Stereo Mix originally on Parlophone PCS
3071) (69:14 minutes):
1.
Help! [Side 1]
2.
The Night Before
3.
You've Got To Hide Your Love Away
4.
I Need You
5.
Another Girl
6.
You're Going To Lose That Girl
7.
Ticket To Ride
8.
Act Naturally [Side 2]
9.
It's Only Love
10.
You Like Me Too Much
11.
Tell Me What You See
12.
I've Just Seen A Face
13.
Yesterday
14.
Dizzy Miss Lizzy
Tracks 15 to 28 are the 1965 STEREO MIX of 1 to 14
6.
"Rubber Soul"
December 1965 UK LP on Parlophone PMC 1267 (also includes the STEREO mix originally on Parlophone PCS 3075) (72:50 minutes):
1.
Drive My Car [Side 1]
2.
Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)
3.
You Won't See Me
4.
Nowhere Man
5.
Think For Yourself
6.
The Word
7.
Michelle
8.
What Goes On [Side 2]
9.
Girl
10.
I'm Looking Through You
11.
In My Life
12.
Wait
13.
If I Needed Someone
14.
Run For Your Life
Tracks
15 to 28 are the 1965 STEREO MIX of 1 to 14
7.
"Revolver"
August 1966 UK LP on Parlophone PMC 7009 (35:33 minute):
1.
Taxman [Side 1]
2.
Eleanor Rigby
3.
I'm Only Sleeping
4.
Love You To
5.
Here, There And Everywhere
6.
Yellow Submarine
7.
She Said, She Said
8.
Good Day Sunshine [Side 2]
9.
And Your Bird Can Sing
10.
For No One
11.
Dr. Robert
12.
I Want To Tell You
13.
Got To Get You Into My Life
14.
Tomorrow Never Knows
8.
"Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band"
June 1967 UK LP on
Parlophone PMC 7027 (39:50 minutes):
1.
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band [Side 1]
2.
With A Little Help From My Friends
3.
Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds
4.
Getting Better
5.
Fixing A Hole
6.
She's Leaving Home
7.
Being The Benefit Of Mr. Kite
8.
Within You, Without You [Side 2]
9.
When I'm Sixty-Four
10.
Lovely Rita
11.
Good Morning, Good Morning
12.
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)
13.
A Day In The Life
9.
"Magical Mystery Tour"
First released as a 10-track album ONLY in
the USA in November 1967 on Capitol MAL 2835. It was a Mono and Stereo Double
7" EP in the UK released in December 1967 with only 6 tracks. "Magical
Mystery Tour" finally made it onto a 10-track album in November 1976 in
the UK (37:07 minutes)
1.
Magical Mystery Tour [Side 1]
2.
The Fool On The Hill
3.
Flying
4.
Blue Jay Way
5.
Your Mother Should Know
6.
I Am The Walrus
7.
Hello Goodbye [Side 2]
8.
Strawberry Fields Forever
9.
Penny Lane
10.
Baby You're A Rich Man
10.
"The Beatles" [aka "The White Album" because of the plain white LP sleeve]
November 1968
Double-Album on Apple PMC 7067-8
(Disc 1: 46:20 minutes - Disc 2: 46:37 minutes):
1.
Back In The U.S.S.R. [Side 1]
2.
Dear Prudence
3.
Glass Onion
4.
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
5.
Wild Honey Pie
6.
The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill
7.
While My Guitar Gently Weeps
8.
Happiness Is A Warm Gun
9.
Martha My Dear [Side 2]
10.
I'm So Tired
11.
Blackbird
12.
Piggies
13.
Rocky Racoon
14.
Don't Pass Me By
15.
Why Don't We Do It In The Road?
16.
I Will
17.
Julia
1.
Birthday [Side 3]
2.
Yer Blues
3.
Mother Nature's Son
4.
Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except Me And My Monkey
5.
Sexy Sadie
6.
Helter Skelter
7.
Long, Long, Long
8.
Revolution 1 [Side 4]
9.
Honey Pie
10.
Savoy Truffle
11.
Cry Baby Cry
12.
Revolution 9
13.
Good Night
What's
missing? Although issued in MONO in the UK - only 4 tracks from the
"Yellow Submarine" album are included (see 9, 10, 11 and 12 on Disc 2
of "Mono Masters" listed below) because the other mixes were
essentially a 'fold-down' of the Stereo version (not true mono in other words).
Both "Abbey Road" and "Let It Be" were only ever issued in
STEREO - hence their exclusion.
Fans will also notice that the "Help!"
and "Rubber Soul" CDs listed above also feature (as bonuses) the 1965
George Martin STEREO MIX of those albums - mixed presumably from Mono sources.
The "Mono Masters" double CD compilation mops up the British 7"
single and EP sides and any other stragglers - and is laid out as follows...
11.
"Mono Masters"
Disc
1: 42:39 minutes (black and yellow Parlophone label on the CD)
1.
Love Me Do (Original Single Version)
2.
From Me To You
3.
Thank You Girl
4.
She Loves You
5.
I'll Get You
6.
I Want To Hold Your Hand
7.
This Boy
8.
Komm, Gib Mir Deine Hand (German sung "I Want To Hold Your Hand")
9.
She Liebt Dich (German sung "She Loves You")
10.
Long Tall Sally
11.
I Call Your Name
12.
Slow Down
13.
Matchbox
14.
I Feel Fine
15.
She's A Woman
16.
Bad Boy
17.
Yes It Is
18.
I'm Down
Disc
2: 56:26 minutes (Apple label on the CD):
1.
Day Tripper
2.
We Can Work It Out
3.
Paperback Writer
4.
Rain
5.
Lady Madonna
6.
The Inner Light
7.
Hey Jude
8.
Revolution
9.
Only A Northern Song
10.
All Together Now
11.
Hey Bulldog
12.
It's All Too Much
13.
Get Back [with BILLY PRESTON]
14.
Don't Let Me Down [with BILLY PRESTON]
15.
Across The Universe
16.
You Know My Name (Look Up The Number)
Some
rumours have said that the box is a limited edition of 10,000 - but EMI has never
confirmed this - and in 2025 (updated review) - it's still available to buy and for a lot less than its original cost (if you get my drift). The visuals are the bomb. Beautiful card
repro sleeves contained within ape the British original vinyl albums with tasty
details like inner EMITEX bags, black and yellow Parlophone Records labels,
flip-back laminate sleeves and the full 'white album' compliment of fold-out
lyric poster and the four gorgeous photos. A tasty attention to detail sees "Please Please Me" reflect its very first 'Black and Gold' Parlophone Label design before it was replaced with the more common 'Black And Yellow' labels. That Gold Label design for both Mono and especially the STEREO variant of English "Please Please Me" LPs is worth a lot of money because they were on sale only a short time and the band hadn't broken yet.
Little things impress. The way the flip-backs on the rear then go from gloss to matt like the original Parlophone LPs did is superb attention paid. Continuing with 'meticulous' - they even aped the black inners of The White Album, its top-loading sleeve (rather than from the side like all the others) with its Mono and Stereo catalogue number references on the spine, its fold-out lyric poster and those four iconic colour photos of the matured Fabs. But not surprisingly I suppose - The White Album repro doesn't do the numbered sleeves on the front like the original Apple Records double of 1968 - too difficult to reproduce I guess.
The info/photo crammed 44-page booklet explains how The
Beatles recorded in MONO and why (it was their preferred tipple) - and for fact-nerds like me - it's 44-pages of scholarship is a seriously sweet read.
The sturdy hard card white box was done in Japan so the attention to detail is
magnificent (even if I think the title page on the rear is a faff I could do without). The sound quality is a typically 'oh my giddy aunt' experience. GUY MASSEY, PAUL HICKS and SEAN MAGEE - Grammy nominees for their
beautiful and sensitive handing of such a precious catalogue - carried out the
remasters at Abbey Road from original master tapes - and what a job they've
done...
Right
from the opening bars of "I Saw Here Standing There" - the raw power
and central channelling of the MONO mix slams in the solar plexus. It's like
hearing these overly familiar gems anew. It continues that way to a point where
"Taxman" on Revolver and "Getting Better" on "Sgt.
Peppers" are almost different animals to their Stereo counterparts. But I would say that I've been taking in "Sgt. Peppers" in STEREO for the whole of my life and I prefer it - STEREO for "Peppers' is a far better and more expansive listen for me. "Within You Without You" has some punch in MONO for sure, but the STEREO LP is HUGE and that's what I want to hear whether the Mono variant is rare or not. Others may disagree, but for most of us - the PCS mix is always going to be the dogs.
In
fact, to my ears - of the later albums - it's "Revolver" and especially
"The Beatles" double that benefit the most. The White Album always had a
'weedy' weak-assed mix in Stereo - here "Back In The U.S.S.R" and
"While My Guitar Gently Weeps" come at you with unbelievable power.
Particular favourites of mine are the delicate and lovely melodies of
"Mother Nature's Son" and "Blackbird" and the sheer balls-to-the-wall
menace of "Revolution" (released as a single around the album). Not
to be outdone by the later years - the three-part harmony vocals on those
gorgeous B-sides "This Boy" and "Yes It Is" are so direct
too and the jangly guitar on "Ticket To Ride" sounds so clear.
"Yesterday" and " Norwegian Wood" are startling in MONO
too. And what a tune the "Let It Be" album outtake "Don't Let Me Down" is (B-side or not).
The "Magical Mystery Tour" album (which was initially only issued in the States) is such a better listen than the British 2 x EP set it was based on - arguably an equal in terms of sheer song quality to both Peppers and Revolver. The Booklet is intact, complete with cast details and silly Psych-moment Walrus photos. And (look closely) - in there is Avant Gard singer IVOR CUTLER as Buster Bloodvessel (is that where the Bad Manners lead singer took his name from?). "Magical Mystery Tour" was (fun fact) first issued as an actual LP in Britain as late as November 1976 and then only as a STEREO issue. The original American album was issued 1967 in MONO and STEREO - we're getting the MONO variant here.
Fans will know that in December 1969 EMI put out the British LP "Nothing's Gonna Change Our World" with an exclusive Beatles song of the same name on it - five months ahead of its "Across The Universe" incarnation debut on the "Let It Be" LP in May 1970. That Charity LP (made to benefit The World Wildlife Fund) was only ever issued in STEREO. But on the day the Stereo version was done at Abbey Road, there was also a mixed MONO variant done with the bird sounds also included at the beginning and the end of the song - unlike the Phil Spector version on the May 1970 "Let It Be" LP which layered string arrangements onto the ballad (something Lennon said he detested). The point is that without saying so anywhere on the outside of the Box - this MONO Mix of "Nothing's Gonna Change My World" is exclusive to "The Beatles In Mono".
Throw in the four from the "Yellow Submarine" LP - which you almost never hear in Mono - and the 2CD set "Mono Masters" becomes very interesting listening indeed. Unfortunately, it ends on the rubbish B-side that is "You Know My Name (Look Up My Number)". But for many fans - that 2CD Bonus Set "Mono Masters" is the bee's knees - a fabulous play you won't get anywhere else (it has never been sold separately).
"The Beatles in Mono" (like The Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan period equivalents) is a wonderful reissue then - beautifully presented. And in 2014 it was followed by the
sensational VINYL LP equivalent of "The Beatles In Mono" that's been rightly heaped with praise. What a
band and what a great way to celebrate their enduring legacy...
