Red and blue remixes imminent?
The 1973 collections about to be released for 50th anniversary?
The internet is rife with rumours stemming from a now deleted episode of Penn Jillette’s podcast on Apple Music.
Long story short: U.S. magicians Penn and Teller, known from television, put on a series of shows in London and Giles Martin was in the audience. After the show, Martin met Penn and invited him to come and see the studios at Abbey Road.
In Abbey Road, Giles treated Jillette to a playback of the upcoming final Beatles song he had been working on, with Paul McCartney. He also told him about upcoming Beatles releases.
Returning home, Jillette used the information in an episode of his podcast. Not being an expert of all things beatle, Jillette probably misremembered some of the information Martin had given him, but here’s some of it:
1. There is guitar from George recorded for “Anthology”.
2. Paul’s new vocals have the AI treatment to make him sound younger.
3. John, Paul and George harmony vocals from “Because” have been repurposed as backing vocals for “Now and Then”.
4. There are orchestral and horns overdubs.
5. Ringo didn’t want to drum on it initially but eventually came around to it.
6. The Red and Blue albums are being remixed.
Adressing these points:
1. Ringo has already confirmed that George plays rhythm guitar on the track. Of course, prior to him abandoning further work on the track and calling it “rubbish “.
2. We have our doubts, but he has been using autotune lately, so who knows?
3. A YouTuber previously did just that. Weird if they repeated that in the studio. Also, George and Paul already recorded harmony vocals back in the nineties.
4. Ringo also revealed that Paul and Giles came to Los Angeles to record strings for the track.
5. Maybe the initial approach was from Giles and was rejected by Ringo? Ringo himself said that it was Paul who asked him, to which he replied “Sure!”.
6. Not surprised, after all it’s a fiftieth anniversary thing. It’s Peter Jackson’s MAL software which has been employed to separate instruments and voices, which means we may now be treated to true stereo mixes of “Love Me Do” and “She Loves You”. Perhaps the new song will appear as a blue album bonus track? Alongside “Free As A Bird” and “Real Love”?
No release date given, but other rumours say September 29.
If the Red Album remix is true, I think that would be a good idea because it will address people who wanted a Please Please Me remix and for other people who wanted a Rubber Soul remix this year. I’m certainly excited to hear a new stereo mix of Norwegian Wood 🥰
If the Red Album remix is true, that would be a good idea since it would address those who wanted a Please Please Me remix and for those who wanted a Rubber Soul remix. I think it would also be a good idea for them to add a Purple Album that focuses on the 1990’s tracks so like:
1. Free As A Bird (2023 Mix)
2. Real Love (2023 Mix)
3. Now and Then
Anyways, I am very much excited to hear the new single and a stereo remix of Norwegian Wood 🥰
Apparently, Day Tripper also has ‘hidden’ or ‘buried’ guitars in it. So, like the 2022 remix of She Said She Said, Day Tripper could also get a new lease of life.
I’m VERY excited for tracks from the Rubber Soul sessions the most since it’s my 2nd favorite Beatles album. The 2022 Remix of She Said She Said didn’t hit hard so I made a remix using the Dolby Atmos mix of it. Hopefully Giles did a better job with the Red Album this time 🙂
how did you extract the dolby atmos file when its only available on apple music and other streaming platforms? also i’d love to hear your remix of she said she said, if your willing to share it.
Would be great if they could employ the same demixing tech on the Free as a Bird and Real Love demos and then remix. Just to get John a bit clearer. I know this was done for the 1+ DVD set, but could be even better now. I would also hope that Red and Blue might be expanded a little to pick up a few obvious omissions.
True… would make sense since they did that with 1 back in 2015
🟥 For the Red Album, I wish This Boy, She’s a Woman, and Long Tall Sally would be included
🟦 For the Blue Album, I wish The Inner Light, You Know My Name (Look Up The Number), and Across the Universe (World Wildlife Fund Version) would be included
True… that would make sense since 1 had 1+ in 2015. I hope they add
🟥 This Boy, She’s a Woman, Long Tall Sally
🟦 The Inner Light, Across the Universe (World Wildlife Fund Version), and You Know My Name (Look Up The Number)
Glaring omissions from the Red album: I Saw Her Standing There, Twist & Shout, This Boy, Long Tall Sally, Shes A Woman, REVOLVER
The relevant section of the Jillette podcast discussing all this is available on YouTube at:
https://youtu.be/o0BzapO81bc
There’s still the thorny issue of having the Red album on two CDs, when it could fit on one.
I’d be fine with a CD of the 1+ mixes of FAAB and RL, plus Now And Then. Of course, I’ve also been asking for the Xmas album on CD for 30 years, so nobody listens to me.
As ever, thanks for the info and insight, Roger!
It would’ve been really interesting to bring the Beatles full circle if Ringo refused to play on the track. They could’ve gotten Pete Best to do the drums and have the Beatles start and end with Pete. I definitely hope Real love and Free As A Bird can come out with new AI mixes. Lennon’s voice sounds like a reverbed tin can on those songs.
The Beatles (1) okayed them in 1973 individually, and (2) have continued to use that track listing in the two CD issues. If the added rumour that some writers throw in without proof that John helped pick the tracks is true, that would be added incentive not to change the track listing.
That said, it makes sense to revisit the sound on these with the industry move to Atmos mixes — especially as Giles Martin and/or someone else recently enough remixed some of the cuts for 1+, the special anniversary editions, and the MMT home video release. This would allow for a “remixed” red and blue that keeps the original from 2010 intact too.
Delaying further reissues allows the software to get better before tackling very early material too.
I would love to see the two versions of Love Me Do, P.S.I love you, She Loves you, & I’ll get you transformed into stereo. The technology exists including AI to use on those tracks. It would complete the stereo catalog. All Beatles fans been waiting for this for 53 years!!
Another thing to think about is that Penn G is a fine musician on the side (went from punk rock bass to bebop upright bass)so he’s a reliable witness.He also has a brain the size of a planet so he knew damn well he was not to speak of this.Penn is famous for not following rules.
Other than its not Rubber Soul reissue time,this is awesome news.
1. We already know this as it was a part of the Anthology work.
2. I’ll believe it when I hear it. They had worked vocals on it way back in ’94
3. Unsure why’d they repurpose vocal from anywhere else. Wouldn’t that be considered a mash-up?( is it Love 2 perhaps? ha!)
4.This one I can fully believe Orchestra and horns.
5. Not like I know the man but, hard to imagine Ringo telling Paul no to a Beatles project(the supposed LAST one).
6. These will be welcomed. Still have the big double jewel box versions.
I guess I’ll take this report with a grain of salt. Beyond my doubt of the reporting, once I have my hands, eyes and ears on it I’ll be a skeptic to most media reports about it.
Thinking further about this…. I’m not sure that the Red and Blue are even coming.(at this time) Their releases really don’t correspond to ‘Now and Then’. Unless I’m overthinking this. Seems to me that Now and Then would be tied to an Anthology(redux) in some form. Feels like it would be out of place on a greatest hits disc.True stereo mixes of the songs mentioned would be better at home on the impending(inevitable) box sets of the early discs.(PPM WTB AHDN) that I’m sure Apple will get around to at some point. Don’t think they’d give that away on Red and Blue.
Okay that’s my Beatle sleuthing. I have nothing to back up my thoughts. Just pure speculation.Thanks for the time..
why again 1993, 2011,2012,2014,2017,2018
I’d rather have Past Masters re-mixed, no overlap with (future) album boxes. Or a re-arranged Anthology. Away with interview snippets and Frankenstein mixes. Now And Then, Real Love and FAAB remixed included, as well as Carnival of Light on Anthology 2 and Puttin’ On The Style on Anthology 1.
As the technology evolves with sound and video, I hope the remasters keep coming of all the Beatle releases. I have wondered if the Anthology TV series could be remastered with Peter Jackson’s help or his techniques to improve the sound and video quality. They could actually add some new footage to give it a “director’s cut” update and market appeal.
I reckon that the Red and Blue albums could be expanded to triple disc sets. The Red could include This Boy, Twist and Shout, I’m Down, I’m A Loser, I’ll Follow The Sun. While the Blue could have the full length It’s All Too Much, Hey Bulldog and a new complete stereo mix of I Am The Walrus.
Allen Klein actually had a lot to do with the Red and Blue albums. It was his last major act for Apple, and there were no ABKCO labels on the compilations. The albums became so well received and loved by fans, the Beatles themselves were only too pleased with how well they did and what huge sellers they were. It was apparently John’s idea for the Angus McBean photos to be used for the albums and (so legend goes) the red and blue supposedly represents Liverpool and Everton FC.
I suppose it depends on what part of Because is used and how much of it. The three Beatle voices in 1969 were tracked nine times (3 voices X3), so the harmonies could maybe now be demixed or the voices seperated. Also, the harmonies could be wordless. The (in)famous Youtube video sampled the ‘Love is you’ part of the song. While Now and Then could just have a subtle ‘Ahhh’ type harmony. If they use it at all, of course.
I wondered why so many tracks were left off the deluxe reissues in recent years. No ‘clean’ A Day In The Life on Pepper, no Hey Jude and Revolution on the White Album, no Ballad and Old Brown Shoe on Abbey Road and no single Get Back on Let It Be. It makes sense, if they’ve all been saved for a Blue Album deluxe reissue/remix.
What a bore.
I’d much rather see a fourth volume of Anthology with all the outtakes, demos and acetates discovered since the original series, that haven’t been on the Super deluxe boxes, like the demo of Misery with different lyrics for Helen Shapiro.
In regards to omissions. Take 1 and 2 and the orchestral overdub of A Day in the Life are on the Deluxe Box of Sgt Pepper. Take 1 of Hey Jude and numerous takes of Revolution are on the White Deluxe Box. Take 7 of The Ballad and Take 2 of Old Brown Shoe are on Abbey Road Deluxe Box and a 2021 remix of the Get Back single is on the Let It Be Box. So far Apple has been really good about including time specific singles that weren’t on the original LP’s The songs that have slipped through the cracks are Magical Mystery Tour related and I don’t doubt that will be fixed at some point in time I’m still skeptical of a Red and Blue release at this time. But, rest assured, I sure don’t mind being wrong!.
The Get Back single didn’t get a 2021 Remix. The last time it was remixed was in 2015 on 1. The 2021 Let It Be boxset only had the single version of Let It Be and Don’t Let Me Down in a 2021 Mix
It’s not something I’d argue very strongly, but I suppose that since it was released in the spring of 1969, the Get Back single wasn’t strictly connected to the Let It Be album.
Don’t Let Me Down was the B-Side to the Get Back single, but the single version of Don’t Let Me Down was included on the Let It Be box set. The ‘clean’ A Day In The Life (first heard on John Lennon’s Imagine soundtrack in 1988) was last restored in 2010 for the Blue CD reissue. The 2014 vinyl version features the original ‘reprise’ fade-in on the original 1973 version. There have been no remixes/restorations of the definitive single versions of Hey Jude, Revolution, Get Back, Ballad of John and Yoko and Old Brown Shoe since the 2009 remasters.
Correction: they were actually done (except Revolution and Old Brown Shoe) for the 2015 ‘1’ compilation. But they haven’t been remixed like Giles and Sam have done with Pepper, Revolver and so on.
Yes, they haven’t got around to brickwalling those songs to the point that they’re unlistenable yet
Agreed. Loud with boosted bass and boosted highs and with marginal dynamic range doesn’t make them sound better. It makes them sound like they were mixed for MP3 players.
Agreed Tim. A brickwalled Revolution will be the stuff of nightmares.
It begs the question, where would a remix of the Red Album leave a Rubber Soul reissue? When half of Rubber Soul is on the 1962-1966 compilation.
I think it’s okay since it would give us an early preview of how a remix would sound. Either way for me, it’s a win-win situation since my favorite Rubber Soul song Norwegian Wood is on the Red Album and I would definitely be excited to hear a remix of it
Honestly – why revisit a 50 year old compilation that seems to have been superseded by a collection like 1? It’s not like the 50 year old copyright protects these songs as they have been already released – unless we get outtakes of some of these songs; which have already passed into public domain if they were not released already on the SDE sets. We’ll get about half of Rubber Soul remixed on this set – if this reissue/remix release happens – at that point just release the Rubber Soul SDE set. I heard that Now and Then will be it’s own separate release from this compilation. 2023 would have been a great year to start from the beginning on remixing Please Please Me and With The Beatles (the future is now here for those to get proper stereo remixes). I get a feeling that a 1964 (60th Anniversary) campaign will keep up something bigger – hopefully a little bit more substance than the 50th campaign with faux US album reissues with the 2009 remaster mixes.
I get that back in 2010 the Red and Blue albums were updated with the 2009 remasters. It makes sense why this is the rumor for the remixes but I’d love to have Rubber Soul come out as well. Two major releases can still happen a la 2017 (Pepper50 / Xmas 45s) and 2019 (AR50 / Singles box set). But it rumors point to Red/Blue Remix and the Now & Then release.
I think the Red & Blue LPs are a great idea. I don’t think anyone really wants to slog through de-mixing and then re-mixing the entire back catalog, and these two compilations should cover most of what people want to hear
The great avdantage: the outtakes and recordings from the Rubber Soul sessions, demos, maybe a Mono version, the original stereo mix as a bonus and (please-this-time) a Blu Ray with Dolby Atmos mix… The Red and Blue albums should be released once again for the copyright extension issue and try to set a precedent: “All my Loving” newly remixed, and Love me do”, “She Loves You” for the first time on stereo!!!
Since a Blu-Ray version of the Anthology project hasn’t been produced yet and Now and Then has an affiliation with the project, I’m guessing that will be next up. With longer running times.(added material) Perhaps a new volume of material as a CD companion? ( It could be home to Now and Then as well) I just don’t feel the Red and Blue vibe. Especially before Rubber Soul?
A Disney Plus 4K release with added material to each of the eight parts could be fantastic.
And it would be even better without the involvement of Disney or Giles Martin.
Rumor is release date will be Sept. 29th 2023. Announcement with almost a two month lead time would be next week. Maybe hype for the upcoming BeatleFest in Chicago (sorry Fest of Beatle Fans; old habits die hard).
my guesstimate: 4cd Super Deluxe Edition of 1962-1970 (maybe with an blu-ray of the atmos, and high rez of the albums) housed in a 100 page hardback book, 2cd: 1962-1966 digipak remix set, 2cd: 1967-1970 digipak remix set, 4LP (black vinyl) Super Deluxe Edition with 100 page hardback book, 2LP Red Album in Red vinyl, 2LP Blue Album in Blue Vinyl, digit, & atmos streaming of the set.
I think a Purple EP containing the 1990’s era of The Beatles containing Now and Then, Free As a Bird (2023 Mix), and Real Love (2023 Mix) should be part of the boxset
I hope that it includes a 3rd disc with every song post Revolver that hasn’t received a recent remix yet (Blue Jay Way, Inner Light, All Together Now, You Know My Name (Look Up The Number) etc. and a 4th disc with Real Love, Free as A Bird, and Now And Then remixed for 2023 as well. This could be the perfect catch-all before working on remix packages for Rubber Soul back to Please Please Me.
It’s going to look silly if the Blue Album is retitled ‘The Beatles – 1967-2023’. So maybe the idea of a bonus EP for the 95-23 will be in there.
A DVD/Bluray of the promos could be included. But there isn’t really a point after 1+.. Unless they release the stuff that’s been on the TMOQ DVDs officially.
I met with a friend visiting from LA last week who knows the head of Apple marketing very well and also frequently works with Sam Okell so naturally I made enquiries about this putative Red and Blue remix but my pal either quite rightly wouldn’t be drawn or didn’t know. (He’s not a Beatles nut like me but he did give me a Yellow Submarine watch and cup which he’d been given in a huge box of free merchandise that’s back in the States.)
I think a remixed Red and Blue is a nice idea. I used to get these LPs out of the local library in 1977 when I was 10 so after The Hollywood Bowl they were my introduction to the Fabs. We’ll all buy the individual album box sets when they arrive anyway so this more general market item can only help to spread the word to newbies. There’s loads of Rubber Soul outtakes for a box set but I take the point there’ll be a lot of crossover.
Rumour now is that the sets have been expanded to 3LP sets.
meaning 3LPs for The Red and 3LPs for The Blue?
I think it would be easy enough to expand the Red album. With tracks like Twist and Shout, This Boy, I Call Your Name, Rain and others.
But the Blue could be more difficult. Yellow Submarine numbers like Hey Bulldog, Baby You’re A Rich Man and It’s All Too Much could go on there. But tracks like You Know My Name and The Inner Light wouldn’t really work. And there almost certainly won’t be any Carnival Of Light.
Mind you, the bonus record/CD could be outtakes, I just hope the extra disc isn’t a U2 style remix record done by trendy ‘name’ DJs.
And I also hope that somebody right on and currently hip doesn’t do the Red and Blue sleevenotes or a daft essay. Like they did with Revolver.
Get somebody who knows the band. Like Barry Miles, Mark Lewisohn or Keith Badman.
Wouldn’t this be the best opportunity to finally give us “The Beatles’ Movie Medley” on CD? But then again, why would The Beatles camp actually give us something that fans wanted (Live At Shea Stadium, the original Let It Be movie, Anthology on Blu-ray, the complete uncut rooftop concert, Love Songs, Reel Music, Rock ‘n’ Roll Music, Rarities, etc.)?
I always had a soft spot for the ‘Love Songs’ album. But I doubt we fans will ever see it again.
I assume the titles of these releases will be changed. 1962-1966 and 1967-1970 probably won’t work with the addition of the new tracks. And I wonder if we’ll get 24 bit, 96 kHz downloads like we did with the other remixed disasters from Giles Martin.
My criticism of the Red Album is its over-reliance of John songs from Rubber Soul and not enough Paul songs from Revolver e.g. Here, There and Everywhere and For No One. And I’d like to see She’s Leaving Home and the Golden Slumbers medley on the Blue Album. Other possible inclusions for the Red Album: I Saw Her Standing There, I’ll Get You, Baby’s in Black, Yes It Is. The trinity of ‘Threetles’ songs (Free as a Bird, Real Love and Now and Then) should be a separate E.P.
Quite how the ‘Beatles camp’ can be construed as not releasing ‘something that fans want’ is perplexing at the least. The last 5 years have seen actual fans ‘given’ “Revolver”, “Sgt Pepper”, “The Beatles”, “Abbey Road” and “Let It Be” Super-Deluxe Box Sets, plus 8 hours of “Get Back”. If ‘fans’ don’t want those, one might posit that they really are on the wrong website.
With regards to the supposedly withheld items, Shea Stadium is still tied up in litigation, hence its non-appearance on “The Touring Years”. “Let It Be” will not appear whilst George’s wishes are still being upheld. “Anthology” on Blu-Ray would indeed be most welcome, and its non-appearance thus far has given rise to more conspiracy theories than the Kennedy assassination. The “Get Back” footage is still under license to Disney so the complete rooftop concert will not appear until that reverts. “Love Songs”, “Reel Music”, “Rock ‘n’ Roll Music” and “Rarities” were all non-Beatle-sanctioned releases, and, having fought an extensive (and expensive) battle through the early 80’s to ensure that any Beatles release has to have the unanimous approval of the band/representing executor, it is unlikely that any release that was used in court papers to show WHY they should have such approval, is going to occur. All but 3 songs from “Rarities” are now available in any case. ‘Wants’ are always subjective, but I am feeling pretty spoiled this last half-decade.
I agree, Paul. Beatles fans have been very lucky. There’s also the 1+ DVD as well.
Rolling Stones fans have had next to nothing from the band’s 60s glory years. Due to the stand off between Jagger/Richards and ABKCO, there was no deluxe reissues of Satanic Majesties, Beggars Banquet, Let It Bleed or the Rock ‘N’ Roll Circus, just straight reissues. There are lots of unreleased Circus outtakes, but nothing unreleased can come out without Mick or Keith’s approval. And they don’t want ABKCO to make any more money off the Rolling Stones. So that leaves Stones fans without any of the great deluxe box sets or DVD/Blurays that Beatles fans have now.
Apparently the Red and Blue albums are going to keep their original tracklistings.
So, the extra disc for each? Who knows? But I hope it isn’t yet another ‘EP’ with just four tracks on them.
Yes, ‘E,P.’ seems to stand for ‘Extreme Pisstake’ in terms of the price of the Super-Deluxe Box Sets [although I note that “Let It Be” is now down to a mere £41 on Amazon for the CD version].
Given The Beatles’ contracted stipulation that all [re]releases must adhere to the original track-listing, one might posit that any expansion will see the sets released as “1962-1966 +” and “1967-1970 +”, and include “Anthology” and possibly BBC material [for the former] on the ‘+’ disc. There is still the issue of the reworked John Lennon demos, which make for an extremely ungainly title, let alone canon-ing, if one or more are indeed to be used.
Depending on the quoting and/or recollection of Penn, there are some further question marks arising; Penn and Teller’s shows were the end of June, and if ‘R&B’ were “being remixed” then – as opposed to “have been” – that does not compute to a 2023 release, given the lead time for producing vinyl these days [Bob Dylan’s 2022 Xmas market release, the “Fragments” box set, not appearing until February this year after being told there was no room at the pressing plant]. We do know, from both Paul and Ringo, that the ‘final’ Beatles song will be out this year – but what [and where] it will be placed on, is still rife for speculation.
I have heard some strange stuff about this alleged release. Well for a start, cancelling an announcement because it clashes with Taylor Swift? I laughed my socks off at that one. It’s supposed to be The Beatles for God’s sake! On their own terms. A law unto themselves. Second to none. The Fab Four. If Apple have delayed this reissue because they are scared of competing with Taylor Swift of all people, then the mighty have truly fallen. Can anyone imagine Mr Aspinall pulling a Beatles release announcement in 1995 because it ‘clashed’ with Oasis? No, me neither.
It all goes down with media coverage, I myself am a fan of both The Beatles and Taylor Swift. Seeing how strong the media covered the announcement for 1989 Taylor’s Version is not a good thing for Apple to announce on the same day and I am actually glad they held back for the meantime. Take note, Paul and Taylor who have been friends for a long time contacted each other back in 2020 to make sure that their album releases McCartney III & Evermore did not clash on the same day.
I know Keith Richards said that in the 60s he and John Lennon had a no Beatles and Stones clashing policy. Like Aftermath wouldn’t clash with Revolver. But it seems silly that The Beatles and Taylor Swift should be in ‘competition’ with one another. Taylor’s time is now, and the Beatles had their time from 1963 to 1970. There was also the Anthology inspired renaissance of the 90s, of course. Any Beatles reissue is great for us fans, but Apple acting like it’s still 1966 and also with two of the band sadly long gone, it all seems a bit tasteless to me.Pop moves on all the time, and Taylor is No.1 right now. Apple and the Beatles (much as I love them) should grow old gracefully and act like the legendary band and label that they are.
Well,it looks like September 26th will pass and nothing will happen.
After a load of anticipation and speculation,the whole Red/Blue/Now & Then thing has either shuddered to halt or it never existed anyway. And maybe Penn Thingy talks a load of cobblers.
Maybe Now & Then will appear on something entirely new and different? But we’ll be lucky to see any Beatles reissue this year.
I am so sick and tired of checking and checking for an official announcement regarding the red and blue albums and the upcoming release of “Now and Then.” A september 29 release date seems very unlikely in my opinion.
That was the date in Universal Music’s schedule when we wrote the story, but it’s now no longer set for a specific date.
Any update on the release? It is now October 13th, and no official announcement yet.
It’s the Stones week to celebrate their album NOW..THEN it’s the Beatles turn…it’s coming.