"..and I'm sure, somewhere down the line, there's gonna be a t-shirt." -George Harrison |
IN REGARDS TO THE MASTERING!
"We have pretty extensive archives so not all tape masters were lost! Or at least, we have original tapes even if there were contemporary safety copies. These are a mix of original tape and the contemporary disc dubs...They were all worked on with de-noising and lots of de-clicking (especially the disc dubs) and I really think that...they are by far the quietest and best versions anyone will have heard before."
Or two. Available from the official Beatles stores. |
"We just felt that the job was to release the discs as close to the same as they were originally (with the audio cleaned up as much as possible and pressed on vinyl rather than flexi) so it never really seemed like an option to add anything 'new'!"
Source: Fab 4 Free 4 All on Facebook
So, it seems that from these statements we understand that some disc-dubs have been used as a source here. Let's hope this was from a clean copy of an LP and not from the actual flexis. And where did the master tapes for the "Christmas Album" and "From Then To You" go, Apple? These LPs (depicted below) compiled all seven Christmas singles into one album, one for each side of the Atlantic on regular vinyl. They were sent to the remaining members of the official Beatles fan clubs in Great Britain and USA in 1970 for free and are now collector's items.
From Then To You, the U.K. compilation LP of the fan club singles, 1970. Apple LYN 2153. |
The Christmas Album, the USA compilation LP of the Fan club singles, 1970. Apple Records SBC 100; |
Of course, we do realise that the Beatles' Christmas singles are best served one single at a time, a whole LP in one sitting is a bit of an overkill. However, the main complaint about the new boxed set is "Why not offer them on CD" and "why not make them downloads"?
As you may or may not be aware of, vinyl releases sell more than CD releases these days. And that's something marketing departments are acutely aware of. Also, boxed sets are de rigeur at the moment.
Still, it wouldn't surprise us if a compilation CD or downloads will show up some time after the sets are sold.