Red and Blue remasters

Apple has announced the release of remastered editions of the Beatles red and blue albums (1962-1966 and 1967 – 1970) on CD on October 18th (19th in North America). They will be as they were, but this time using the newly remastered versions of the tracks from last year’s Beatles catalogue release. There will be no bonus tracks and they will still both be 2CD releases. The first time these 1973 compilation albums were released on CD was in 1993, and the complaints were that the red album would easily have fittet on a single CD. After all, the Beatles were always about value for money, but with the red album, people thought they were cheating us by spreading one CD worth of material over two CD’s. The answer from Apple was that they didn’t want to mess with the integrity of the original LP release of the red album, which was a double album. This logic was not applied when John and Yoko’s “Some Time In New York City” was released in remastered form a few years ago. In fact, they even cut away some of it’s tracks in order to present the original double album as a single CD!

We’d like to present Apple and The Beatles with our idea: how to maintain the red album’s status as a double album and still give the people value for money. Release the red album as a 1CD + 1DVD package! The DVD (or, in a deluxe version, the Blu-ray) should hold the promotional videos for all these hits.

Of course, we’re dreaming.

The new releases will feature booklets with newly written liner notes by Bill Flanagan and some “rare” photos.

Here’s the press release from yesterday (August 10):

The Beatles’ Classic 1973 ‘Red’ and ‘Blue’ Collections Remastered by Apple Corps Ltd. and EMI Music for Worldwide Release in October.

In Stores: October 18 (October 19 North America)

The September 2009 release of The Beatles’ remastered original albums and new boxed collections in stereo and mono was one of the year’s top entertainment events, breaking chart records around the world. Apple Corps Ltd. and EMI Music are pleased to announce that The Beatles’ original 1973 compilations, 1962-1966 (‘Red’) and 1967-1970 (‘Blue’) have been digitally remastered for worldwide CD release on October 18 (October 19 in North America). Both 2CD packages include expanded booklets with original liner notes, newly written essays by Bill Flanagan, and rare photos.

The first Beatles compilations to be released after the band’s 1970 disbandment, the popular ‘Red’ and ‘Blue’ collections each feature a selection of singles and album tracks written by the band’s members.

‘Red’ and ‘Blue’ have been remastered by the same dedicated team of engineers at EMI Music’s Abbey Road Studios responsible for remastering The Beatles’ original UK studio albums, carefully maintaining the authenticity and integrity of the original analogue recordings. The result is the highest fidelity the catalogue has seen since its original release.