By Bruce Spizer, Beatles author and historian

The recent internet chatter regarding the mono glitch appearing on the initial production run of The Capitol Albums Volume 2 shows how confusing listening to the Beatles can be when the focus is on the mixes rather than the music. To appreciate the subtle and sometimes not subtle variations between different mixes of the same song, one needs to understand the mixing and mastering processes.

When tape was first used to record music, it had only one track. That meant that once a song was recorded on tape, the volume of each of the instruments and voices could not be adjusted. If the music drowned out the vocals, there was no way to change the balance. With the advent of the two-track recorder, producers and engineers had two independent tracks upon which to record. This gave them the ability to achieve a proper balance between the two tracks when the tracks were reduced down to one track for the master tape. For example, if the instruments were recorded on one track and the vocals on another, the engineer could achieve the desired balance between the vocals and instruments. This process of reducing a multi-track tape onto a master tape is known as mixing.

An EMI one-track tape machine

In the early sixties, many studios used two-track recorders. The first four Beatles singles and first two Beatles albums were recorded on a two-track recorder at EMI's Abbey Road studio. By late 1963, the Beatles began recording on a four-track recorder. During The White Album sessions in 1968, the Beatles began using eight-track recorders for the first time. Songs recorded during the Get Back sessions had additional instruments added in 1970 when Phil Spector transferred the original eight-track tapes onto a 16-track recorder. Today's studios have up to and even beyond 64 independent tracks.

The master tape is used in the production of the format that reproduces the music. This was initially shellac or vinyl records, but later grew to pre-recorded tape formats (reel-to-reel, 8-track, cassette, DAT and others), CDs and DVDs.

At first, playback systems could only deliver one track of music, so the mixed-down master tape only had one track. But this began to change with the coming of more sophisticated playback systems. Since the early 1950s, master tapes have been either monaural (mono) or stereophonic (stereo). Mono recordings have only one track of music. If a mono record or CD is played through a system with two speakers, the sound coming out of each speaker will be the same. Stereo recordings have two separate tracks of music. If a stereo record or CD is played through a system with two speakers, the sound coming out of each speaker will be different.

THE WAY IT WAS IN THE SIXTIES

Each of the Beatles albums issued by Capitol Records from 1964 through 1967 was issued in both mono and stereo versions. All but one of these albums, Sgt. Pepper, had song configurations different than the albums issued in England. In the sixties, these unique Capitol albums were how Americans were exposed to the wonderful music of the Beatles. Most Americans were blissfully unaware that the Beatles albums issued the U.S. were different than those issued in England.

During the seventies, Beatles fans began learning about and buying import copies of the U.K. albums. They noticed that the Parlophone albums had either 13 or 14 songs as opposed to the 11 or 12 songs found on the Capitol albums. The Parlophone LPs for A Hard Day's Night and Help! each had the Beatles songs from the film on side one and other Beatles songs on side two. These British discs did not have the film score instrumentals found on the U.S. soundtrack albums. The Parlophone albums also sounded different, and to some listeners, better than the American albums.

The Capitol albums began falling out of favor with those in the know. So-called purists quit listening to the American discs, which were suddenly branded inferior. The party line was that all of the Capitol albums were poorly programmed records full of echo-drenched duophonic crap and drastic remixes. Such statements are unfair and inaccurate.

CAPITOL IMPROVEMENTS OR CAPITOL CRIMES?

Before discussing the mixes appearing on the Capitol albums, it is important to understand what Capitol did and did not do. Because Capitol was not sent multi-track master tapes of Beatles recordings, its engineers could not alter the balance of the instruments and vocals to create new mixes from multi-track masters. However, the engineers could alter the sound of the recordings in other ways.

In the sixties, record companies believed that all songs on a stereo album should sound like stereo. If a stereo master was not available, companies would often create a simulated stereo mix. This was achieved by transferring the mono master to two separate channels and then boosting the low bass frequencies in one channel and emphasizing the high treble frequencies in the other. In addition to boosting the bass and tweaking the treble, Capitol often ran the separate tracks slightly out of sync and added reverb. These simulated stereo mixes were described by Capitol as "duophonic recordings."

The Beatles often recorded songs specifically for release as singles. Because the group's singles through 1968 were issued only in mono, producer George Martin normally did not make a stereo mix for such songs. Capitol's strategy of placing songs on its albums that were released exclusively as singles in England resulted in the company receiving only mono masters for some songs. When these songs were selected to appear on an album, Capitol created duophonic mixes. Capitol's detractors often claim that the company's albums are full of duophonic mixes; however, Capitol only prepared a duophonic mix if it did not have a stereo master at the time the album was compiled.

Although Capitol was sent mono masters for all of the EMI Beatles recordings up until The White Album, the company sometimes chose not to use the mono masters, instead creating its own mono mixes by combining the left and right channels of the stereo masters into single-track mono mixdowns. Internal Capitol documents and acetates identify these stereo-to-mono mixes as "2 to 1 mixdowns" or "mono Type B." The industry often refers to such mixes as fold-down mixes. Apparently Capitol believed that mono Type B mixes gave recordings a fuller sound.

Other differences took place during the mastering process. Capitol's engineers occasionally added echo and reverb to some of the songs. This was done to make the recordings sound hotter.

THE CAPITOL ALBUMS VOLUME 1

The Capitol Albums Volume 1 contains the first four Beatles albums issued by Capitol. Each of these 1964 albums is presented first in stereo and then in mono. Because the first four British albums issued on CD in 1987 are mono only, many of the songs in this box set had previously not been issued on CD in stereo. Many of the stereo and mono tracks in the box set are different than the versions appearing in the standard Beatles catalog.

Meet The Beatles! With the exception of duophonic mixes made for the songs appearing on the U.K. single "I Want To Hold Your Hand" b/w "This Boy," all of the songs on the stereo version of the album are the same stereo mixes used on the British album With The Beatles (except for "I Saw Her Standing There," which was on the U.K. Please Please Me LP). The stereo album was mastered by Hal Muhonen on December 19, 1963.

The mono version of the album has Capitol-created mono Type B mixdowns for all of the songs except for "I Want To Hold Your Hand" and "This Boy," which are the same mono mixes as the U.K. single. Lee Minkler made the stereo-to-mono mixdowns on December 19, 1963. The mono album was mastered by Billy Smith later that day.

British counterparts: With The Beatles LP and Long Tall Sally EP

The Beatles' Second Album This uniquely-configured album is full of unique sounding tracks, particularly on the stereo version. The five leftover cover songs from With The Beatles, namely "Roll Over Beethoven," "You Really Got A Hold On Me," "Devil In Her Heart," "Money" and "Please Mister Postman," are the same stereo mixes used on the British album; however, Capitol added a very noticeable amount of reverb to these songs during mastering. Three songs appearing on singles in England, "She Loves You," "I'll Get You" and "You Can't Do That," are duophonic mixes. The other three songs, "Thank You Girl," "Long Tall Sally" and "I Call Your Name," are stereo mixes prepared by George Martin. The stereo album was mastered by Maurice Long on March 17, 1964. The tape box indicates that the songs were "dubbed with E/Q and limiter plus echo."

The mono version of the album uses Capitol-created mono mixdowns for "Thank You Girl" and the five leftover cover songs from With The Beatles. The mono mixes for "She Loves You," "I'll Get You" and "You Can't Do That" are the same as the mono mixes used for the British singles, while the mono mixes for "Long Tall Sally" and "I Call Your Name" are different than the mono mixes that later appeared on the British Long Tall Sally EP. These unique U.S. mixes were prepared by George Martin. The mono album was mastered on March 17, 1964, by Don Henderson, who chose not to add reverb to the songs. Thus, the stereo and mono versions of this Capitol album have a totally different sound.

Something New All of songs on the stereo version of the album are true stereo mixes. The stereo album was mastered by Maurice Long on July 1, 1964. He did not add echo to the songs as he had done with the previous stereo album.

All of the songs on the mono version of the album are true mono mixes; however, four of the songs, "I'll Cry Instead," "And I Love Her," "Any Time At All" and "When I Get Home," have mixes different than those appearing on the mono Parlophone A Hard Day's Night LP. These unique U.S. mixes were prepared by George Martin. "I'll Cry Instead" is an edit of two takes. The mono version appearing on the Capitol album has an extra verse not present on the stereo mix or the U.K. mono mix. The mono album was mastered by Billy Smith on June 29, 1964.

Beatles '65 For this December, 1964, release, Capitol combined the Beatles latest single and a leftover track from the British A Hard Day's Night album with eight songs from Parlophone's Beatles For Sale LP. The stereo mixes for the latter eight songs are the same as those on the Parlophone LP. "I'll Be Back" is the same stereo mix appearing on the British A Hard Day's Night LP. "I Feel Fine" and "She's A Woman" are duophonic mixes prepared from George Martin's mono mixes for the U.S. single. While most of Capitol's duophonic mixes sound great, these two mixes are muddy-sounding echo-drenched disasters. The stereo album was mastered by Maurice Long on November 9, 1964.

The mono mixes for the eight songs from Beatles For Sale are the same as on the U.K. album. "I'll Be Back" appears in a slightly different mono mix made by George Martin specifically for the American market. "I Feel Fine" and "She's A Woman" are the same mono mixes prepared by George Martin for the U.S. single. Both have more reverb than the U.K. mono mixes. The mono album was mastered by Maurice Long on November 10, 1964, the day after he mastered the stereo album.

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