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Comparing the old and new stereo mixes

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Frank Daniels is one Beatles aficionado who has listened carefully to the new stereo mixes as featured on the Beatles 1 CD as well as the new mixes featured on the Beatles 1+ video disc and compared these to the familiar stereo mixes from the past. He has published his comments and comparisons as a pdf-file on his website.
Here is the start of his document:

“Love Me Do”– This is the take with Andy White on drums and Ringo on tambourine. It is the same mix that we hear on the British Please Please Me album and is the mix that was released as an American single. Therefore, it is the “hit” version of the song. This version sounds like the 2009 remaster, but there is a slight difference. This mix has a slightly longer fade; we hear about half a second more than we do on PPM.

“From Me to You”– The song disappoints me by being the mono mix. The original tapes exist, so it would have been possible to compile a stereo mix that included the harmonica intro, but they didn’t do it. With so many songs being remixed just for the heck of it, I had hoped that the one song that could use a remixing would have been remixed from scratch.

“She Loves You”– The mono mix is the tape extant. The edits are quite clean here, but it sounds like parts of the song have been re‐EQ’d in order to make the track’s eight edits less noticeable. I prefer the original mix unaltered.

“I Want to Hold Your Hand”– The mix is almost identical to the remaster, but the hand claps sound quieter. The remaster also had a little echo on the vocals, and that’s absent here. The vocals sound more clear and distinct in the second chorus, too. Could be the same mix with a bit of sonic tweaking.

“Can’t Buy Me Love”– The vocals on this mix are spread out across the stereo image with the drumming in the center, and the main guitar overdub at right. The percussion is somewhat muted at the top end, but the original stereo mix (1964) also had the top end muted.

“A Hard Day’s Night”– The bongos are mixed further back, the vocals are spread out, and the guitars at the left are louder. So, while the arrangement is similar to the 1964, this is definitely a new mix.

All 27 tracks from the CD is analysed in a similar way, and from the Beatles 1+ disc, the new stereo mixes of “Strawberry Fields Forever”, “A Day in the Life”, “Hey Bulldog”, “Come Together”, “Free as a Bird” and “Real Love”.

To read all these reviews, we direct you to his pdf file.

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