The Beatles: The Definitive Versions?

Effective a couple of weeks ago, I now have all of the new Beatles CDs that came out on September 9 -- mono and stereo. So now I can begin my Beatles project:

determining the definitive CD versions of every single Beatles song (at least from the core collection of the albums Please Please Me through Let It Be).

I should add that I mean legitimate CD releases. I'm not talking about the home-made desktop pirate remasters from Mirrorspock, Dr. Ebbetts, Purple Chick, and whatever else have you. I'm talking stuff you could walk into any record/CD store and buy legally at some point in history. Perhaps I will try to do a comparison of all the "underground" remasters, needledrops, etc., and then perhaps have a show-down between the best of the pirates and the best of the legits. But man, that's going to be a lo-o-o-o-o-o-o-ong time coming.

I'm not counting Anthology, though, as that series pretty much consists of outtakes. I'm talking about actual final official takes. That means that Yellow Submarine Songtrack is fair game: they're the same exact recordings, just new mixes.

So, this all means that all of the following releases will be used for this intense study:

• The original 1987 CD releases of the standard albums I mentioned before


• The 2009 remastered reissues, both mono and stereo


• "new generation" Beatles compilations on CD, such as Yellow Submarine Songtrack, 1, and perhaps any of the few tracks on the Love that were simply remixed and not mashed up.


• The Beatles tracks on the Imagine: John Lennon soundtrack


• The Complete Compact Disc EP Collection -- word is that these 1992 CDs sounded a bit better than the 1987 CDs. Is everybody right? :)


• Of course, The Complete Compact Disc Singles Collection, for the same reason.


• The CD reissues of the "red" and "blue" albums


• The 1983 Toshiba release of Abbey Road. Yes, technically it wasn't a totally legit CD, but it was available as a mainstream CD until EMI got all legal-like on 'em, reminding Toshiba that they only had the rights to put it out on cassette.


• The two The Capitol Albums box sets


• And let's not forget the 1987 and 2009 CDs of Past Masters and Mono Masters.

Now, what I'm really struggling with is what to do about the Let It Be album. I'm trying to ponder whether I should include Let It Be...Naked. The Let It Be album was highly unusual in that it wasn't recorded in a formal way; most fans know the complicated story of this album. And what about the single versions of "Let It Be" and "Get Back," produced by George Martin -- is it fair to put them against the Phil Spector productions? Are they too different? And if I do include Let It Be...Naked in the running, should I also include the Let It Be outtakes that are on Anthology 3?

Anyway, I know one thing for sure: I'm going to start off easy. I'll start with the Long Tall Sally EP released in the United Kingdom in 1964. With only four tracks, Long Tall Sally will be a fairly not-so-involved study. The contents:

• Long Tall Sally
• I Call Your Name
• Slow Down
• Matchbox

That's a heck of a lineup, really -- three great covers (at least two of which were recorded and nailed in one take) and a unique Lennon original with a ska break. Now, to do this study of Long Tall Sally, I will be listening to the following CDs:

• Past Masters Vol. 1 from 1987
• Mono Masters
• Past Masters from 2009
• The Long Tall Sally disc from The Compact Disc EP Collection
• Second Album (both mono and stereo) from The Capitol Albums Vol. 1
• Something New (both mono and stereo) from The Capitol Albums Vol. 1

So, yeah. Every bullet point you see represents one CD. Not all four songs are on all CDs, though -- let's remember that the contents of the EP are spread over two different US albums. But even with just four songs, it's still a lot of listening.

Oh...and okay, I use the term "CD" loosely...I'll actually be using my iPod, as that's my main way of listening to music these days. (Let's face it, it's a lot easier than carrying a CD player and a bunch of CDs around all day!) I have ripped all this material in Apple Lossless format and will be listening through a $25 pair of Sony studio-style headphones that have really good frequency response; they're also good at blocking out sound. The iPod in question is a current-generation 160-gigabyte iPod Classic, using the Apple factory-installed operating system. (Besides, I don't think RockBox is yet compatible anyway.) The EQ will be set to "Rock," which I find is the optimal setting for almost all music I've ever heard through an iPod. I may or may not use "Treble Boost" for the mono albums to compensate for their lack of treble.

The CD ripping was done with a piece of software called Max via my MacBook. Max is a good ripping program -- it has a lot of error correction, unlike iTunes, which is the worst program to use for ripping. (The best, for the record, is Exact Audio Copy for PCs. It's very unforgiving. But I really didn't want to boot my PC for this project; besides, I take good enough care of my CDs that Max should have no problem at all.)

I think what I'll do is determine first of all what the definitive mono version is, what the definitive stereo version is, and which of those two I deem the more definitive.

Please understand that I recognize that at best this is a very, very obsessive project, and I'm sure that if I weren't already married, this would pretty much guarantee that I'd remain a lifelong bachelor eating stale tiramisu under a bare lightbulb while wearing nothing but underwear. And at worst, this is a highly controversial project that will make me look like a pompous ass (more than I already am, that is) and will more than likely incite war among pointy-headed Beatles fans.

Let the insanity begin.