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The Beatles – remastered – to be released 09-09-09

retroDan — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 16:00:34 +0000

Like most Beatles fans, I’m a bit torn about the remastered albums being released in September. I mean, do I really need to purchase ANOTHER set of CDs that I already own? As a fan, I really DO want to get the newly remastered versions but I don’t think my wallet can take the hit. I’ll definitely wait to hear the verdict on whether there’s a clear distinct difference in the audio quality. and although it would be great to just get the whole entire set, I might just end up choosing specific titles that are my personal must-haves: Abbey Road, Revolver, Sgt. Peppers and the White Album.

additional tidbits about the CDs:
- release date: September 9, 2009
- each release features extended liner notes, original artwork and additional rare photos
- each release will contain a short “making of” documentary
- besides the original studio albums, Past Masters Vol. I and II will be released as well
- a box set of the CDs will be released. one set in stereo. a separate set in mono.
- the complete remastered titles are: Please Please Me, With the Beatles, A Hard Day’s Night, Beatles for Sale, Help!, Rubber Soul, Revolver, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, Magical Mystery Tour, The Beatles (The White Album), Abbey Road, Let It Be, Past Masters, Yellow Submarine

And here’s some additional info on the remastering process from the official press release:
The re-mastering process commenced with an extensive period conducting tests before finally copying the analogue master tapes into the digital medium. When this was completed, the transfer was achieved using a Pro Tools workstation operating at 24 bit 192 kHz resolution via a Prism A-D converter. Transferring was a lengthy procedure done a track at a time. Although EMI tape does not suffer the oxide loss associated with some later analogue tapes, there was nevertheless a slight build up of dust, which was removed from the tape machine heads between each title.

From the onset, considerable thought was given to what audio restorative processes were going to be allowed. It was agreed that electrical clicks, microphone vocal pops, excessive sibilance and bad edits should be improved where possible, so long as it didn’t impact on the original integrity of the songs.

In addition, de-noising technology, which is often associated with re-mastering, was to be used, but subtly and sparingly. Eventually, less than five of the 525 minutes of Beatles music was subjected to this process. Finally, as is common with today’s music, overall limiting – to increase the volume level of the CD – has been used, but on the stereo versions only. However, it was unanimously agreed that because of the importance of The Beatles’ music, limiting would be used moderately, so as to retain the original dynamics of the recordings.

When all of the albums had been transferred, each song was then listened to several times to locate any of the agreed imperfections. These were then addressed by Guy Massey, working with Audio Restoration engineer Simon Gibson.

Mastering could now take place, once the earliest vinyl pressings, along with the existing CDs, were loaded into Pro Tools, thus allowing comparisons to be made with the original master tapes during the equalization process. When an album had been completed, it was auditioned the next day in studio three – a room familiar to the engineers, as all of the recent Beatles mixing projects had taken place in there – and any further alteration of EQ could be addressed back in the mastering room. Following the initial satisfaction of Guy and Steve, Allan Rouse and Mike Heatley then checked each new re-master in yet another location and offered any further suggestions. This continued until all 13 albums were completed to the team’s satisfaction.
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You can pre-order the remastered Beatles CDs at CD Universe

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Paul McCartney – Ringo Starr – Radio City Music Hall – 2009

retroDan — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 16:48:03 +0000

Paul McCartney got back together with Ringo Starr on stage this past weekend to benefit The David Lynch Foundation’s
drive to bring Transcendental Meditation to our troubled schools. The April 4th concert was held at New York’s Radio City Music Hall and the event was hosted by Mr. David Lynch himself.
the highlight was of course reuniting Starr and McCartney on stage. The former Beatles performed separate sets during the evening and then got together for three songs that concluded the event: With a Little Help from My Friends, Cosmically Conscious and I Saw Her Standing There.

Other artists that performed at the show included: Eddie Vedder, Ben Harper, Moby, Donovan and Sheryl Crow.

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Cosmically Conscious

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I Saw Her Standing There

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Ringo Starr – peace and love but no mail please

retroDan — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 19:54:00 +0000

Ringo Starr recently announced that he will no longer be responding to any fan mail after October 20th. I’m not sure if this is some sort of elaborate PR scheme to get some buzz going but I’ve got a feeling that Starr won’t be getting any sort of positive buzz from all this. According the AP news story, the 68 year old former Beatle posted an angry video clip on his website saying that he will not autograph any fan-sent items nor respond to any letter addressed to him. He goes on to say “I’m warning you with peace and love, I have too much to do. So no more fan mail. Thank you, thank you. And no objects to be signed. Nothing. Anyway, peace and love, peace and love.” This comes as a bit of a shock to me. I mean, who knew an actual rock icon sorted through, read and responded to all of his fan mail???? I’ve always assumed celeb fan mail went directly into the dumpster. or at least sorted and then tossed by a lowly personal assistant. And why did he feel the need to even announce this to the world? Didn’t his handlers warn him about all the bad press he’d receive for dissing his fans? And it seems he’s only referring to physical mail. What about email? Will Ringo respond to email?

For further information, read the original news article from the Associated Press.

mix tape: Beatles covers

retroDan — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 17:37:39 +0000

how about some fun Beatles covers for today’s edition of the Retroblog mix tape.

Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs – And Your Bird can Sing : With the splendid guitar riff and wonderful harmonies, you simply can’t go wrong with covering this song.

the Smithereens – Hold Me Tight : from their 2007 Beatles cover album – Meet the Smithereens. the whole album is fun to listen to every now and then.

Sara Gazarek – Junk : sorta counts as a Beatles cover since Paul McCartney worked on an early version of this song during the filming of Let it Be. Garzarek performs a nice lounge version of it here.

Todd Rundgren – While My Guitar Gently Weeps : It simply isn’t a Retroblog mix tape without me trying to insert Rundgren somewhere. here he is performing a searing guitar solo at the end of the track. lovely.

Laurence Juber – Oh Darling : yup, an ex-Wings member doing a Beatles cover. it’s actually pretty good. Juber shows off his acoustic guitar chops here with an instrumental version of one of my all time favorite Beatles song.

Paul McCartney – P.S. Love Me Do : yes, even old sir Macca can’t help but do a Beatles cover. actually a re-recorded “mash-up” of P.S. I Love You/Love Me Do! It’s a rare late 80’s track that is absolutely CRINGE-Tastic!!

enjoy!

if you like the music, please consider purchasing the albums at amazon.com: