Blog: More Beatles

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For Christmas I got a copy of The Beatles' 1+ DVD which has ALL the tracks from their "1" album plus a whole other DVD of extra stuff. For some reason I didn't sit down and watch it IMMEDIATELY, but when I eventually did this last weekend I was GOBSMACKED. I've read and watched a LOT about The Beatles but usually you only ever see their "videos" in tiny sections. Here was all of them, not only in FULL but sometimes in different versions. It was AMAZING!

The best thing about these videos (or short films really) is that it pretty much always looks like The Beatles themselves are having a BRILLIANT time. "Hello Goodbye", for instance, appears to be a FESTIVAL of TITTING ABOUT with them all dancing around and making each other LARF - it's lovely! The video for "Hey Bulldog" is also INCREDIBLE - when they wanted a video for "Lady Madonna" they filmed the band at work in the studio. I think the idea was they'd pretend to be doing "Lady Madonna" but, being The Beatles, they had a whole other song (i.e. "Hey Bulldog") to record and got on and did THAT instead. Here in The Distant Future the DVD people re-cut this footage to make a whole OTHER video for "Hey Bulldog"and it's sort of MIND BLOWING. It's actually footage of them recording the song, and as well as sounding AMAZING it looks like a RIGHT LARF. HOORAH!

Inspired by all this a couple of days later I thought I'd treat myself to "Sergeant Pepper" on the commute to work. I've recently got the MONO versions of their albums and have been ASTONISHED by how different they sound. I know for decades people have been going on about it, but I thought it was the equivalent of vinyl bores droning on about how much better actual LPs are, but NO! They genuinely definitely sound SO much better, especially "Sergeant Pepper" which is suddenly A LOT more PSYCHEDELIC than I ever knew. The stereo versions have been the STANDARD ever since CDs came in, even tho THOSE mixes were knocked up after the Mono ones, often on a different day, usually without The Beatles themselves present, which means that we've been given an INFERIOR version - a much LESS Far Out and AMAZING version - for the past twenty years!

This made me WONDER about my own opinion of the album. I've always liked it but never thought it was REALLY the best one like so many LISTS claim, but now I'm starting to reconsider!

Also, hearing it like this, I suddenly found myself listening to the words to "She's Leaving Home" and having a small CRY! On the tube train! That's never happened to me before - it must be THE MONO!

Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that The Beatles are ACE and I like them. REVELATIONS!

posted 21/1/2016 by MJ Hibbett

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Comments:

agreed - my (4yo) daughter's favourite Beatles song is currently "Hey Bulldog" so when my copy turned up we went straight there - it is brilliant. also for Christmas i got the Complete Recording Session log AND the first volume of All These Years. mega beatles nerding - and i don't even like them! (lie)
posted 21/1/2016 by stevedomino

You are right about the mono versions; a friend persuaded me to buy the mono box set a few months after I'd got the stereo one (fortunately I got that one cheap!) and it was a revelation. I now listen to all up to the White Album in mono and to Abbey Road in stereo, which was the mix they did themselves for that one. Mind you I listen to the "naked" version of Let It Be for all but "... Winding Road" as Phil Spectre did over bloat the rest of it so not sure if that makes me a purist or nor!
posted 22/1/2016 by Matthew

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