So, September 9 has come and gone, and plenty of time has passed for us fans to absorb and enjoy the new stereo and mono remasters. We can now buy all the Beatles' core collection of albums in stereo and mono, and in two cases, two different stereo mixes.
Of course, there's still a lot that's not out yet. Pointy-headed fans like me find it to be a huge, gaping hole; other fans may find the gap trivial at best; and casual listeners just don't care.
So, what's still missing? Well, there are things that we still don't have on CD but have been released, as well as stuff still in the vaults that could easily fill at least one CD.
Please be assured this is not meant to come across as a complaint essay; rather, just an enumeration of what is still begging for an audio release.
Here's what we're missing, starting with...
Released Tracks Yet To Appear (legally) On CDMind you, I'm only referring to material that is officially in the hands of Apple, EMI, Capitol, etc. Let's disregard, for now, the Star-Club tapes, the Decca audition, the Tony Sheridan recordings (which are available in full anyway on the
Hamburg Days compilations), and videos. I'm just talking audio.
The Beatles' Christmas Album -- Why has this not been available legally since 1970? 'Nuff said.
The Capitol Albums, Vol. 3 -- In 2004, two box sets containing eight U.S. Capitol albums were released. We're still missing some key albums.
"Yesterday"...and Today contained some mixes that you can't get on any other album, particularly the odd "I'm Only Sleeping" mixes. There's an entire pressing of the U.S. version of
Rubber Soul, made at Capitol's East Coast facility, that has reverb all the way through; this version was not used in
The Capitol Albums. People argue for the release of the U.S. version of
A Hard Day's Night, arguing that although United Artists originally released the album, Capitol reissued it. And what about
The Beatles' Story? And a big, gaping hole:
At The Hollywood Bowl.
Some argue for the release of the
Rock And Roll Music albums for the new mixes. Okay, but the problem is that the remixes were done from the final stereo mixes: George Martin took the existing U.S. stereo mixes, flip-flopped the stereo channels for some reason, added reverb, and in some cases attempted to center any panned vocals. Should this be a release candidate for CD? Maybe, maybe not.
But most of the tracks that are still missing from the Beatles' CD catalog are those that have been scattered about various global releases of Beatles compilations:
"Strawberry Fields Forever" -- I became a Beatles fan in 1987, and before everything was available on CD. My first exposure to this song was a stereo vinyl copy of
Magical Mystery Tour on Capitol. However, since the Beatles' catalog was officially released in 1987, the German stereo mix of the album on the Odeon label was declared to be the official version. Now, this was a good idea, because the German mix was the first version to have true stereo versions of "Penny Lane" and "Baby, You're A Rich Man" instead of that godawful highs-in-one-channel, lows-in-the-other fake stereo. "Strawberry Fields Forever," although always available in stereo, now sounded different, however. What's cool is that the German mix is a bit longer, meaning that we hear John say "cranberry sauce" twice. Unfortunately, the vocals in this mix are pretty dry; the version I first became familiar with had slightly reverbed vocals that added a bit to the trippiness of the lyrics.
"I Should Have Known Better" in stereo -- The standard stereo mix has the famous harmonica drop-out in the intro. However, in 1982, the
Reel Music compilation fixes this mistake. The completist will want both versions. Which brings me to...
"Day Tripper" -- The version that's been available on CD since 1987 -- on both the original and 2009 releases -- fixes the famous instrumental dropout of the third verse, much to many fans' chagrin. So...why did the powers-that-be fix that error but not the "I Should Have Known Better" harmonica error? Let's have 'em both!
"And I Love Her" -- What about the longer stereo mix from the Odeon version of
Something New that has the main riff iterated six times at the end instead of four?
"Penny Lane" -- we have two different versions with the piccolo trumpet ending that have yet to appear on CD: the original mono mix used as a promo single, and a stereo mix done years later that has the trumpet ending tacked on. Why not put one -- or both -- of these on a buyable CD?
"I Am The Walrus" -- admittedly, there are more variations of this song than you can shake a stick at. To this day, I don't think there's a version on a legal CD that contains the extra beats between "I'm crying" and "yellow matter custard." Mono or stereo.
"All My Loving" -- we're still missing the version with the five-high-hat-tap intro.
"I Feel Fine" -- yep, the infamous "whisper version" found on European vinyl pressings of
1962-1966.
"A Hard Day's Night" -- there's a version of this song that, believe it or not, has only been released on 8-track tape. The last line is repeated several more times.
So, these are at least the highlights that I can think of, so now let's consider:
Tracks Yet To Appear (legally) On Any Audio ReleaseA Facebook friend recently commented that while the remasters are nice to have, Apple needs to release more unreleased stuff. I commented that they pretty much did release everything releasable, that everything else is pretty much bottom-of-the-barrel. He said I was kind of harsh with that statement, so I decided to reevaluate things that I've read about, heard on Beatles radio specials, and heard on various bootlegs.
First off, I was shocked at the 1968 demos recorded at Esher that did
not make it to
Anthology 3. Why no "Child of Nature?" Fans would have eaten it right up, hearing an early version of "Jealous Guy." What about "Circles?" And "Sour Milk Sea?"
Live At The BBC, Volume 2 -- Not that there necessarily
was a second volume planned, but it has been approximated that there are at least 30 unique songs not included in the original collection that could make up a second volume.
"It's All Too Much" -- Somehow, the version in the movie
Yellow Submarine with the "time for me to look at you" verse has inexplicably escaped legal audio release, including
Yellow Submarine Songtrack.
"You Know My Name, Look Up The Number" -- Although there's a stereo mix on
Anthology 2, we don't have a stereo mix of the single version. The original tapes still exist, so there's no reason this shouldn't eventually see a release.
"This Boy" -- According to Mark Lewisohn's must-own book
Recording Sessions, "This Boy" was recorded with a complete ending, although the released version fades out. Heck, even the outtake released on the
Real Love E.P. fades out. Let's have a studio version that comes to a complete ending.
"Strawberry Fields Forever" -- version 1 -- As most fans know, the "Strawberry Fields Forever" we all know and love is a combination of versions 2 and 3 as recorded in the studio. Version 1 has been heavily bootlegged in pristine sound quality, and it actually saw a legal release in 1995 on the
Anthology 2 release; however, Apple inexplicably mixed out the nice background harmonies. Let's get a release
with the missing background harmony vocals!
"Let It Be" -- Yeah, I know, we already have about seventeen different versions to pick one; problem is, none of those versions contain the line "There will be no sorrow," recorded in the basement of Apple Records on January 31, 1969, and as seen in the movie of the same title. The lyrics work better, IMHO, at the very least because they rhyme and have a nice message.
"Get Back" -- So, we have "I Want To Hold Your Hand" and "She Loves You" in German, and if you want to go outside of what Apple controls, we also have a legally-released version of "My Bonnie" in which Tony Sheridan sings the intro in German. Well, in the vaults exists a version of "Get Back" sung in (most likely intentionally badly faked) German and French. Let's round out the Foreign Fab Four collection!
"Tip Of My Tongue" -- Lewisohn doesn't make it clear as to whether this 1962 outtake still exists in the vaults, but if it does, it'd probably make an interesting addition to a Beatles compilation, if not (according to Lewisohn) a very, very bad one.
"Helter Skelter" -- yes, the 27-minute version, which I admit I'm only mentioning because so many fans are rabid for this elusive track that hasn't even made its way to a bootleg yet. Mind you, it's an earlier version than what was released, and we were given a sample of an early version of "Helter Skelter" on
Anthology 3. And you know what? That early version was B-O-R-I-N-G. I suspect the 27-minute version might be along those same lines, so I for one am not foaming at the mouth in anticipation of its eventual release. (Mind you, I'm not saying I won't be running out to buy it if it
does see a legal release!)
"Revolution 1" -- Of course, I'm talking about the extended version that goes on for several additional minutes. It recently leaked out over the Internet, so naturally this would be a natural track for a boot killer.
"Goodbye" -- Apple's reason for not including this nice demo on
Anthology 3 was that it's a McCartney solo demo, not a demo for the group. But that doesn't explain why they
did include his demo for "Come And Get It," recorded for reference for Badfinger.
"That Means A Lot" -- Apple did release arguably the better version on
Anthology, but there's a re-make sitting in the vaults as well. Maybe good for historic purposes, but admittedly not for entertainment purposes.
"Bad To Me" -- How did
Anthology 1 manage to get released without John's demo?
"Christmas Time (Is Here Again)" -- This is mainly for the fans who want the 27-minute "Helter Skelter." People like that will also want the complete, unedited version of this 1967 song.
"Rocker" -- a short track that's really Fats Domino's "I'm Ready." Because it was included in both of Glyn Johns' proposed lineups for the
Get Back album, this is arguably a historically important unreleased track.
"Isn't It A Pity" -- Apple gave us George's demos of "Something" and "All Things Must Pass" on
Anthology 3, so why did they leave this one out?
"Besame Mucho" -- On gray-market releases, we have the Decca audition version as well as a performance from the Star-Club. On
Anthology 1, we have the version from the June 1962 EMI audition/recording session. I can think of two reasons to release the silly
Let It Be-era version: 1) when the
Let It Be album was released, it included "Across The Universe," which the Beatles did not formally record during those sessions, but they were seen playing it in the movie when they were rehearsing at Twickenham (ditto "I, Me, Mine"); and 2) Beatles fans can make their own montages that demonstrate some sort of insane evolution of the Beatles performing this song.
"Love Me Do" -- So, we have the single version, the album version, the Pete Best version, and a BBC version. It only makes sense to release yet another version! Much has been written about the slower, bluesier version recorded in January 1969 during the
Let It Be sessions, so why not release it?
"Dig It" -- yet another for the obsessive completists; nay,
two for the obsessive completists: the 12-minute jam partially shown in the movie
Let It Be (edited down to five minutes by Glyn Johns, then under a minute by Phil Spector), and the
other "Dig It" song from the same time, "Can You Dig It," the original source of the "Georgie Wood" dialog.
"Her Majesty" -- Okay, everybody, say it with me: "Missing final chord."
Candlestick Park 1966 concert -- Now, this is where things get a bit questionable, admittedly. No Beatles fan can deny the importance of this historic concert. It was not recorded formally, but a press agent was in the crowd recording it on a portable tape recorder, sometimes interjecting comments. That tape has made the rounds on bootlegs. I say, it might be a good idea to make this available perhaps as a download for the true die-hard fans for historic purposes. Word on the street is that after The Beatles finished performing "Long Tall Sally," John played the opening riff of "In My Life" before they all left the stage; if true, what a bittersweet way to end a touring career. Too bad the tape ran out before this moment happened.
"Something" -- with the little vamp-jam at the end.
"Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" -- in the vaults exists a mono mix with the first half of the first verse sung by no other than...Jeremy Hillary Boob! I think Apple missed a big opportunity by not including this on the
Songtrack.
"Dear Prudence" -- with a clean opening. The song is just too good only to be available with a jet engine interfering with the intro.
That's all I can think of at this point. I'm sure many will comment on this with some criticism and an endless supply of "What about [x] song?" ponderings, but hey, it's what I could do before falling asleep. Time now for bed before either my wife wakes up wondering where I am or the sun comes up, whichever comes first.
