George Martin RIP

You seriously never had a Beatles phase, Tom?

Not sure why anyone would be surprised by that.

Because he was 90, and a producer, not a musician.

― flappy bird,

are you fucking kidding me

― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, March 10, 2016 4:16 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

that's the public perception - i know how important he was and how much he played on Beatles' records. Should've clarified. Feathers were ruffled.

Should've said he wasn't a performer.

Isnt that a farfisa on the Word...?

― Οὖτις, Thursday, March 10, 2016 5:21 PM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

according to Lewisohn it's a harmonium.

B-b-but what does he know?

W that bright overdriven tone? Huh

It's credited as a harmonium on the record sleeve!

That is the one album i do not own a physical copy of tbf

there are also the actual session notes printed to the right of that claim in pg. 68 of "Complete Beatles Recording Sessions".

you can find the book in full for free on a Peruvian Beatles site. not gonna link it though, use your google.

As an aside, I maintain that Rubber Soul sounds the best in its mono version. That's the way that I first heard it, and it sounds really thick and punchy in mono. I remember being sorely disappointed when I heard the stereo mix, because it sounded less powerful to me.

There's two stereo mixes: the original, and a digital remix Martin did in 1987 for the CD. Haven't compared them back-to-back myself, but the '65 stereo sounds decent (prefer mono, though).

Martin did the same with Help!.

Guys i believe u no need to freak out

not sure if they were still working this way as of rubber soul, but in the early days they spent their time on the mono mix, since that was considered the main version, and then they would toss off a stereo mix as an afterthought in a matter of minutes. which has a lot to do, presumably, with why their mono mixes tend to sound better.

Maybe you guys could help with this: a while back on one of the Beatles threads somebody shared some YouTubes of some taped sketches from a British comedy show that were about "What If The Beatles Never Took Drugs", showing them as old men still in the grey suits and playing Merseybeat songs. They were pretty funny, but I've had a hard time finding them again (taken down perhaps?).

Oh man yeah i remember those

x-posts:

The mono is the primary mix up until and, yes, including Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Stereo was the primary mix from The Beatles onwards.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgnaAiAi1Pk

The mono version of SPLHCB is fucking revelatory....it's like, Oh! This is what this record is supposed to sound like

for some reason i watched The Rutles again today and was in absolute hysterics for much of it.

Trivia question for y'all: what is the name of The Rutles equivalent of George Martin?

to whoever it was that said the Big Train sketch was 'affectionate' yep yr right:

Kevin Eldon ‏@ItsKevinEldon

Thank you Sir George Martin for your wonderful life that gave ours so much joy.
We love you and we'll never forget you.
-KE

The mono version of SPLHCB is fucking revelatory....it's like, Oh! This is what this record is supposed to sound like

― Iago Gladstone, Thursday, March 10, 2016 6:51 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Yeah I hadn't heard it until like three years ago. The vocals on Lucy in the Sky are incredible, all that flange.

late to this thread, but yeah, massive respect to Sir Martin. As a musician, I wish I had a George Martin. Imagine someone whose entire M.O. was making you sound good, better than you had any right to sound, translating all your wildest ideas into viable, effective arrangements-- and who btw happened to know all the best classical and session players, should you ever want, say, a piccolo trumpet solo on your psyche pop track (which happened to utilize a chain of 4-track recording modules you didn't even realize was possible, much less available). Not to mention, WAY more emotionally stable than Phil Spector. RImfnP

xpost - and yeah, he was obv a fine musician. Never mind his piano playing, you don't write string arrangement like the one on Eleanor Rigby without a DEEP knowledge of not just basic orchestration, but aesthetic nuance (eg writing in the vein of Bartok and Herrmann, as opposed to slapping together 4 lines and calling it a quartet).

^^^real shit

Yup

glumdalclitch: That's It! Thank You!

As an aside, I maintain that Rubber Soul sounds the best in its mono version. That's the way that I first heard it, and it sounds really thick and punchy in mono. I remember being sorely disappointed when I heard the stereo mix, because it sounded less powerful to me.

― // 166,000 W A N K E R S // LOVE (Turrican), Thursday, March 10, 2016 2:48 PM (6 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

There's two stereo mixes: the original, and a digital remix Martin did in 1987 for the CD. Haven't compared them back-to-back myself, but the '65 stereo sounds decent (prefer mono, though).

― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Thursday, March 10, 2016 3:12 PM (5 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Martin did the same with Help!.

― Now I Know How Joan of Arcadia Felt (C. Grisso/McCain), Thursday, March 10, 2016 3:17 PM (5 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I had forgotten that the official stereo versions of both albums are now the '87 mixes. I've got the Help! CD, but not sure I ever heard the Rubber Soul and it is sounding really nice on the Spotify right now. Compare with the archaic sounding stereo mixes of "Paperback Writer" and "Rain" on Past Masters.

"Paperback Writer" stereo was apparently done for A Collection of Beatles Oldies and "Rain" was done for Hey Jude.

archaic sounding stereo mixes of "Paperback Writer" and "Rain" on Past Masters

Or "Eleanor Rigby!" Compared to how it sounds on Yellow Submarine Songtrack...

they better curate the music for his funeral just right. send that man off with a dope orchestra imo

also sidebar, the remix stuff he & his son did for the Love thing in Vegas was kinda great

Or "Eleanor Rigby!" Compared to how it sounds on /Yellow Submarine Songtrack/...
--timellison

The "Love" album SOUNDS so good !
it made me enjoy songs I never liked before ("Back in the USSR" for instance).
And the version of "While my guitar" with strings is lovely.

i think everything until The White Album is vastly preferrable in mono compared to the stereo mixes

I don't think I have ever listened to their albums in mono (and I have always loved to put the balance fully right or left to isolate some tracks !).
I might have to download them since I don't think I'll buy again the albums (and they're only stereo on spotify)...

Mono White Album is interesting, but it's the first one that just doesn't sound right in mono. And as it turns out, "Revolution 9" was only mixed for stereo, and the mono is just a fold-down; loses much of its effectiveness.

Yeah, there's some very interesting differences between the stereo mix and the mono mix on The Beatles, but it's definitely the first album of theirs where the mono version was considered to be secondary to the stereo mix. If I remember, there's small parts of 'Helter Skelter' and 'Don't Pass Me By' which sound very different, but it's been years since I last heard it.

I listened to Revolver this morning for the first time in a very, very long time and was surprised by how much I enjoyed it... I thought I'd burned out on that album a long time ago.

Played those records so often that it this point it is very difficult to listen to any one from beginning to end.

If I remember, there's small parts of 'Helter Skelter' and 'Don't Pass Me By' which sound very different, but it's been years since I last heard it.

"Helter Skelter" is way different and, for me, significantly inferior in mono -- it's missing "I'VE GOT BLISTERS ON MY FINGERS!" [clang-ang]

Mono Revolver is the best. Not only does it sound so much punchier and immediate than the stereo, but there's so many more little differences to notice.

I recommend that anyone who is tiring or has tired of the stereo Revolver to give the mono a listen. The way the tape loops fade in and out of 'Tomorrow Never Knows' is different, for one!

otm

Early albums sound way better to w/o all that arbitrary pan one thing hard left pan the next thing hard right stereo mixing

I couldn't listen to, say, A Hard Day's Night in stereo, it wouldn't feel right at all!

Musical excerpts and good conversations here, with Beatles engineer Geoff Emerick, Emerson College music prof/ Beatles book writer Tim Riley, and maura:
http://onpoint.wbur.org/2016/03/11/george-martin-obituary-beatles (stream or download)

http://s3.amazonaws.com/media.wbur.org/wordpress/12/files/2016/03/Beatles.jpg

(Riley makes fun of "Goldfinger," but it's always been awes in its own right---still got the 45)

For some reason I prefer the stereo of Beatles for sale to the mono but otherwise yeah mono all the way up through mmt.

I'm really surprised nobody has mentioned Martin's arrangement on 'Good Night', which is so wonderfully over the top.

& "Glass Onion," the creepy strings make it, the solo Lennon version is garbage

and how he made the Mike Sammes Singers do batshit things on "I Am The Walrus."

Talking about The Beatles, George Martin was always part of the "should have been a single LP" camp regarding that album, but I don't think he ever divulged which songs he would have chosen if he had to make a single LP out of it. I've always wondered how he would have tackled that.