Up next – Revolver?
Revolver. The front cover collage drawn and assembled by Klaus Voormann.
U.S. Beatles fan magazine “Beatlefan” are writing on their Facebook page that they are hearing rumours from several sources that the next album out in the Giles Martin remixes is to be “Revolver” from 1966. Like the previous remixed Beatles albums, “Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” (2017), “White album” (2018), “Abbey Road” (2019) and “Let It Be” (2021) there will likely also be a multi-disc DeLuxe edition with bonus material.
The “Revolver” album was a milestone for The Beatles in its time, and showed a band that had matured considerably since their previous album, “Rubber Soul”. Fans found it so difficult to follow the Beatles on this album that many fell off the Beatles train and stuck to the more innocent pop that was now represented by younger bands. In retrospect, however, it is “Revolver” that has scored the highest among Beatles albums in record reviewers’ polls.
Beatlefan also operates with tentative release dates for the new editions of “Revolver”: October 26 or 28.
As not much material from the Revolver sessions have leaked and appeared on bootlegs to date, it’s hard to speculate what the bonus material will consist of. One rarity which was never re-released was the RM 11 mono mix of “Tomorrow Never Knows” which appeared on the initial mono pressings of the British album. Upon discovering that the mono master tape included the wrong mix of the song, from the second run this was corrected. As evidenced by “Anthology”, they probably have more outtakes up their sleeve, remember the laughing version of “And Your Bird Can Sing”?
In a Q&A with Rolling Stone magazine a year ago, Giles was asked about remixing “Rubber Soul” and “Revolver”, and he indicated that the technology of separating instruments and voices from the tracks that feature these interlocked, isn’t there yet.
“The software is getting a lot better. I’m constantly looking at how we would approach it if I ever get to [remix] Revolver or Rubber Soul, early albums, which a lot of people want me to do. That’s a good example of, “How do we do that?” How do I make sure that John or Paul’s vocal isn’t just in the right-hand speaker, but also make sure that his guitar doesn’t follow him if I put it in the center? On “Taxman,” the guitar, the bass, and drums are all on one track! That’s why the record is basically on the left-hand side, and then there’s a shaker on the right-hand side of the center.”
RS: So you want to wait for the source-separation software to continue to improve.
“That’s right. Despite the constant requests I get on Twitter or whatever to do these albums, I want to make sure that we can do a good job, and do a beneficial job. You’ve got to make sure that you’re doing things at the right time for the technology”.
Nevertheless, as early as 1999, several tracks from “Revolver” (“Yellow Submarine”, “Eleanor Rigby” and “Love You To”) were remixed in stereo and 5.1. surround sound for the restored “Yellow Submarine” film and corresponding album, “Yellow Submarine Songtrack”. Reportedly, George Harrison himself was involved in these remixing sessions at Abbey Road studios. Check it out!
Robert Freeman’s original cover design for the Revolver LP. Copyright © Robert Freeman.
Beatlefan also mentions that they are hearing that the 1972-album “Some Time In New York City” by John Lennon and Yoko Ono will be out in an “Ultimate mix” for John’s “heavenly” birthday, October 9.
All the talk about technology and remixing or bonus material from Revolver. It is part of a deliberate marketing ploy. Anthology proved there interesting bonus material. And by the way ‘Beatlefan’ increasingly they function as part of the Apple Corps marketing machine and with their inadequate review of ‘In Your MInd’ Madeline Bocaro’s overview of Yoko’s life they have lost credibility.
Beatlefan is Beatlefan…and they are getting older in age just like all Beatles things. So a new fresh approach is needed for marketing and they are doing that with younger people getting involved at Sony to bring the Catalog up to speed which is way behind schedule. As for the Ono book; it is a brand new look at Ono’s fascinating body of work. Rest assured there are many new projects coming down the pipeline. Get ready for a couple of film announcements.
Those Revolver tracks you mention that are remixed on the Yellow Submarine album are often overlooked but very impressive, especially for late 90s technology that was available (very well-defined sound in both the vocals and instruments). I hope if they remix Revolver that they also include a new mono master. The White Album mono master included in the previous deluxe reissue was very disappointing. It sounded highly compressed. (It almost seemed like they forgot to remove the RIAA equalization before mastering it).
I loved the new mono master from White Album Deluxe. It’s my favorite mix and favorite sounding version. It sounds better to me than the one in the 2009 mono box set.
Are you sure about that? I am referring to the Bluray that was included in the White Album archive collection where the direct mono transfer is. It sounds compressed….lacks dynamic range. I listened to it on a very good system on the disc’s PCM setting.
I was really hoping for something celebrating ’62. And wasn’t Peter Jackson pretty much saying he had the tech to separate the different elements from the recordings.
he stated this back in 2021, so this is kinda old news
The Beatles Channel on Sirius XM has been quietly playing a few of the new “Revolver” remixes (unannounced, of course). “Tomorrow Never Knows” is basically the mono mix version but in stereo.
I thought the big news with Pepper’s 2017 remix was that Giles was now able to use directly early tapes just before the bouncing down to 1 track. I don’t know why Revolver should be different. Where they avoiding the bouncing track and directly record everything live?
I don’t believe that technique was used prior to Pepper. I think the bass, drums and guitar were still recorded in one pass to one track during Revolver.
Rockall and Glenn please check The Beatles recording reference manual Volume 2, by Jerry Hammack and Gillian G. Gaar… and you have all the answers.
It’s just the continuation of fixing Geoff Emerick’s inventions from the era. Look, he made it work. In Mono, it’s incredible. In Stereo it’s a curiosity. But for today’s technology they have to peel it all away and separate and remix. The technology is finally there and in a way that it does not take forever to do.
Let’s keep focused on the release of the original ‘Let It Be’ movie on dvd.
Yeah. Yeah… The crazy weather we’ve been having these days, Hell might freeze over. Fingers crossed!
Sam Okell confirmed on a podcast epiosde that was released this past week stating that they are starting at the middle (Revolver) and working backwards since the 50th Anniversary SDE editions are done. You could very well see Revolver (2022), Rubber Soul (2023), and HELP! (2024) in remix form.
I hope they remix Rubber Soul in its American lineup too. I love opening the album with I’ve Just Seen A Face.
You Can listen to the Sam Odell podcast here:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/7e4lL6ayAnUTX91Vob0UC0?si=3mEI4MEISrK-gcAro-Aeuw&utm_source=copy-link&t=2866&nd=1
I only see rubber soul and revolver being remixed as they are hard panned in the stereo mix.
I dońt see any sense in remixing help and beatles for sale. these two have mostly the voice in the middle and r they only two album, beside let it be, that u can listen to with cans on. why these two r mixed in a modern way and the rest not is a riddle to me.
Don’t forget a hard day’s night stereo is centered vocals
I’d never seen Robert Freeman’s original cover design before. Now that would make a crazy remix picture disc!
Poor Magical Mystery Tour album!! It is continually overlooked in these deluxe remix/reissue projects!! But we need this!!
Back when the Blu-Ray box set of the movie was released, it was really absurd that the CDs in the set were not remixes, but were instead just the 2009 remaster versions. The Blu-Ray had remixes of the audio tracks, yet they couldn’t be bothered to put those mixes onto CD? I sometimes can’t figure out what drives the management decisions at Apple.
Maybe the mixes weren’t put on cd because mmt box set didn’t have CDs in it…
You’re right, Mike! I misremembered the records as CDs. Oh well, either way there wasn’t any point in playing them since old mixes were used on the records.
No we don’t.
Oh yes. Yes we do.
I agree – still missing a decent remix of I am the Walrus in particular
Exactly. I was expressly thinking of this track (but want them all)!
Giles can stop with these now. The 2009 remasters are to me the definitive tracks, stop messing with them.
As a 16 year old myself, I genuinely enjoy the new remixes more than the original mixes. They breathe more life into the songs and makes things that I’ve never heard before more prominent. Even when introducing my friends to The Beatles, I always give them the remixed versions since they sound “fuller” in sound.
If Audrey you are indeed 16 years old, and this represents your opinion genuinely, then this is the ultimate argument why remixing is smart. The Beatles’s catalogue deserves a sound fitting the current younger audience / generation.
Right. And I think it would be ‘smart’ that the Mona Lisa is altered, with tattoos and facial piercings added for the younger generation’s liking.
This was not to please just the young but to bring out the beauty of the music which improved mixing technology facilitated. Two of the four Beatles still with us seem to be happy with the alterations to their Mona Lisa’s. John talked of songs needing remixing before his death. George was happy with them when they were coming out in earlier versions. I can guarantee you if they had the current means to mix them, they would have. Think about it: given the choice would they have opted for older less clear masters over what is available now?
George H was involved with the mixing of the songs of Yellow Submarine Songtrack, so he certainly not only approved but took an active part.
Come on, William, you are comparing apples and onions. The Mona Lisa being the onion here. Music for a new audience that aims to be listened to (commercial mechanisms) will only reach that audience if is revered by those dominating the commercial channels and if it helps to forward their business goals. The Mona Lisa lives in an entire different eco-system.
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But if you want to have it your way… you have to surrender your experience with the music for the original artist’s intent. Which means bass and drums much wilder on at least Rubber Soul. There is a mix with rougher than Tamla Motown bass, but that was not doable for the audio-equipment available at the time.
The Beatles themselves were making compromises all the time while recording, mixing, mastering, printing vinyl records- and later the media caused them to make compromises… or they were without compromise because they felt at home in the contemporary audio-technology eco-systems.
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So to reach the audience we have the original recordings played by The Beatles helped by those they sometimes could or could not chose, and these sounds are presented in ways they or their company-folks deem have high potential attracting a younger audience.
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And just check Peter Jackson’s roof-concert – even listening on a JBL blue tooth speaker it sounds way more rockier and powerful than another version… as such much closer to the power McCartney conveyed at the time in his music. Very very impressive… with all that modern sounds technology and the mix by the son of George Martin.
@Rob… Yes (I’m now 17 as of this week lol) I very much enjoy the new remixes and I do agree that it fits the younger audience deserves to hear the Beatles in a modern way. Audio devices will continually evolve and we they certainly need to update the catalogue to keep up with the times. In fact, my non-Beatle fan friends prefer the remixed versions I gave. One even mentioned that they thought the 2018 mix of Dear Prudence was a song recorded by a modern band until I mentioned that it was a remixed version of a song from 1968. That’s how much these remixes matter. They still retain the content and actually make it clearer to the 2020 listeners’ ears.
You don’t need to be 16 to enjoy these, I’m 49 and prefer the remixes. It’s strange that people get so emotional about this, it’s not like the older mixes aren’t available as well.
Despite what all of you may say, I don’t mind the Beatles getting deluxe reissued with new remixes of the albums which I know may never replace the original mixes. It’s the bonus material, which would mostly be studio outtakes and whatever, that interests me.
Exactly!
Um si mehr, desto besser!
I like some of the new mixes better; some of the old mixes better. You can’t argue with using seven tracks to remix Sgt Pepper. Obviously the Beatles couldn’t get that mix in ’67. But on Abbey Road, the Beatles mixed that album in Stereo, using eight tracks. I guess if they had Dolby Noise Reduction back then, the may have mixed it different. But what will they do with Tomorrow Never Knows? If they go back to the original tape loops, it would have to be “replayed”.
Would be nice to have the tape loops revolving around the surround sound speakers 😉
Wow! This is getting fun!
Are we looking at more of a package in the Abbey Road style with fewer discs than the extravagant Pepper, White Album and Let It Be sets? Is that more or less how it will be going forward, or backwards in this case?
Looking at Lewisohn’s book, it looks like Anthology probably gleaned the most interesting outtakes from the sessions. Though, I’d like to hear one of the earlier acoustic guitar takes of “Love You To” with George singing and Paul doing harmony. Also, one of the earlier instrumental takes of Taxman and Rain would be interesting. A well mixed version of the early take of “And Your Bird Can Sing” without the laughing, would be great (though bootleggers have done a good job removing the laughs). An absolute must would also be hearing the take 2 breakdown of “Tomorrow Never Knows”. Rounding it out, take one of the strings from Eleanor Rigby, and later instrumental takes of “Good Day Sunshine” might also be revelatory. Though, I think the “Love You To” outtake might be the only really nice addition to the outtakes we’ve already heard, since vocals are present on the takes. I also wonder if take two of “Tomorrow Never Knows” sounds more like take one or take three before it breaks down.
One way of exploring what the interesting possibilities are both technically and musically is to dig into Jerry Hammack’s ‘The Beatles Recording Reference Manual’ Volume 2, which includes every thing from Help! through Revolver. The relevant chapter is from page 103-156, including those wonderful and informative diagrams. To avoid speculation and false conclusions based on technological ignorance, please also check Jerry’s Appendix 1 (pp.157-163) and read it meticulously..
Assuming early take and tapes were not destroyed, Hammack’s Recording Reference Manuals show the potential for a wide variations of takes, take reductions and remixes (mono and stereo) even for Revolver.
I don’t have that Hammack book, but thanks for the information.
Hopefully some or all of those show up on the session discs.
I hope they’ll release details by this week like last year with the Let It Be Boxset. The announcement last year was around late August 2021.
One thing that threw me was the 2022 Official Beatles Calendar. In the past the calendar has featured an album that would be reissued later that year (2017 and Pepper. Right up to 2021 and Let It Be). Only this year’s calendar featured ‘Rubber Soul’.
I never liked Giles response that he would wait for better software for tackling these early Beatles albums. Check out many YouTubers who have wonderful separations of early Beatles albums. Secondly I think he had already done many separations for the Love album to be able to lift a guitar from here or a vocal from there. In fact in the show, as the audience are taking their seats he has a completely isolated “I should have known better”without any vocals and johns beautiful acoustic guitar upfront. Finally I always thought the yellow submarine song track were the most superior remixes to date. Giles remixes do sound nice but nowhere close to the sonic clarity of the yellow submarine song track remixes.
Indeed, once the hackers managed to decrypt the individual “mogg” tracks of the Beatles RockBand game – remixing those tracks became a favourite pastime for audio fiddlers.