Beatles Mono Box Set Launch – Studio 2, Abbey Road, September 4th. Wow, what an evening. I was lucky enough to be invited to a special event inside Studio 2 at Abbey Road Studios to celebrate the release of the Beatles albums on Mono Vinyl. Before going in to the studios, I saw a guy walking across Abbey Road naked apart from a sock covering his dick - just like the Red Hot Chilli Peppers! We are led into Studio 2, which was bathed in red right, which gave it an even more cathedral like ambience than usual. There was display of instruments and equipment around the edge of the studio that the Beatles used on various recordings there. Amongst items on display was: a Hammond organ; the ‘Mrs Mills’ Steinway Verygrand upright piano, which the Beatles used on Rocky Racoon, amongst many others; a Studer 37 4 Track tape recorder; and a Schiedmayar Celeste, used by the Beatles on Baby It’s You and Goodnight and also on Pink Floyd’s Time. We were allowed to soak in the atmosphere of Studio 2, until the panel convened at about 6.30pm. The panel discussion was led by Mark Ellen and was made up of Engineer Ken Scott, author Kevin Howlett, Abbey Road engineer Sean McGee, who was responsible for the remasters, and and Toerag Studios producer and mono enthusiast Liam Watson. Mark Ellen said that the sound system we were to hear the records on cost over £300,000! It comprised of NAIM amp, Focal speakers, KJ West One turntable, and an Ortofon cartridge. Kevin Howlett pointing out that mono was the primary format on which records were sold until 1968 and that The Beatles showed little interest in the stereo mixes of their albums until that time. The first track played was You Cant Do That, as it was the first track that Ken Scott witnessed being recorded. He told us he was only 16 at the time and just started work in the Studio. He shouldnt really have been there and was asked to leave by George Martin. Of course, he was asked to be present at many sessions after that! You Can’t Do That sounded more rocky and with a much warmer sound than I’d heard it before – something that come across on all the tracks played. Next up was Helter Skelter – which nearly blew my head off. The panel told the story about Pete Townshend saying that I Can See For Miles was the loudest record ever made, and the Beatles wanted to top it. Boy, did they succeed! The mono version is much shorter than the stereo version, missing much of the fadeout. Ken Scott said that for the stereo version, Paul McCartney asked him to keep moving the faders up and down for the climax of the song to create a new mix, with Ringo’s ‘I’ve got blisters on my fingers!’ shout at the end. Paul hoped because of the differences, people would buy both the mono and stereo versions. Next up was ‘Boys’ – as chosen by Liam Watson. He actually wanted to hear both the mono and stereo versions, to compare the differences, but there was only time for the mono version. Even though the Please Please Me album was recorded in one day, the quality of the recording was amazingly good, and Ringo’s voice sounded great. The panel pointed out, that even though Ringo is often put down over his vocals, he always gave the best performance possible, and Boys was certainly a good example. Next was Revolution. Wow, was this amazing! The distortion of the guitars really came through and John’s vocals just cut through you – and boy did it rock!! Ken Scott said that because Hey Jude was so long, it had to be mixed at the lower volume than usual so it fitted on a single. People would turn the volume up on their record player to hear it. They would then turn the record over to play Revolution at the higher volume, and virtually blow their ears off, as it was mixed at usual volume. Then came the highlight of the evening, in fact one of the musical highlights of my life – A Day in the Life. Just to say it is the best recording of any song I have ever heard. Johns vocals gave me goosebumps all over, Ringos drum fills really shine through, and the orchestral build up - WOW! And the piano chord at the end, with Studio 2s amazing acoustics... amazing. At the end of A Day in the Life, Ken Scott asked if wed been passing round joints when we were listening to it. We didnt need them - it was the most incredible natural high you will ever get! There wasn’t much time to recover until we were treated with I Am The Walrus – which was also incredible – especially the end sound affects etc. It seemed to me the King Lear section was much higher in the mix – especially ‘Oh untimely death!’ Then followed While My Guitar Gently Weeps. It sounded great too, but I didn’t hear so many differences to the stereo versions as on some of the other tracks played. Ken Scott, who was an engineer on the session, admitted that neither he, or producer Chris Thomas, could remember Eric Clapton turning up for the session, but said that could be because it didn’t seem such a big deal. People were popping in and out of Beatles recording sessions all the time. Then followed a request section, I got in my request first, and asked for Love Me Do, as it was 52 years ago, almost to the minute, that Love Me Do was recorded in Studio 2. It was great hearing it on the anniversary. As with the other recordings, the sound was so good you could easily imagine you were present at the actual recording session. The last song played was Norwegian Wood, and much to early in my opinion (well, I could have stayed all night and listened to the whole Beatles catalogue!) the show was over. We were allowed to stay in the studio a while longer to bring ourselves back down to earth after such an amazing experience! After the event I was in a total daze, which I think Im still in now. Hearing such incredible music in such an incredible place, on such an incredible sound system, was...well, incredible!! Richard Porter (London Beatles Tour Guide and Owner of the Beatles Coffee Shop, St John’s Wood) beatlesinlondon
Posted on: Sun, 07 Sep 2014 19:03:35 +0000
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