Vinyl Asylum Welcome Licorice Pizza (LP) lovers! Setup guides and Vinyl FAQ.

---

[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] Thread: [ Display  All  Email ] [ Vinyl Asylum ] [ Return to Search Results ]

---

[ Alert Moderator ]

---

RE: What's up with the Beatles in mono, anyway?

Posted by PAR (A) on November 16, 2021 at 22:38:14

In Reply to: What's up with the Beatles in mono, anyway? posted by Lew on November 16, 2021 at 20:44:41:

Although stereo had been available since the late 1950s it did not attain general acceptance in the UK until the late 1960s/early 1970s when there was a boom in stereo.

At the time that most of the Beatles albums were made the mass market for pop music was centred on mono discs. Although stereo versions for some (not all) pop albums were released, until around 1965 they were often put out weeks after the mono release and were often stocked by record shops only as special orders from customers. They also carried a premium price over the mono, at least during the early years of the sixties.

That market background impacted the Beatles, their record company EMI and label Parlophone.

The Beatles were heavily involved with their producer George Martin in finalising the mix of their records. The final mix was made with them present and it was the mono mix - that was the multi-million seller. The Beatles themselves were not involved in the stereo mix which was left to studio staff to concoct later.This is why the mono records have primacy amongst Beatles fans.The first Beatles album where the original artistic intention was for it to be in stereo was Abbey Road - paradoxically the last Beatles album (in production terms although Let It Be was released subsequently).

So the mono records (aside from Abbey Road) are considered as the true representations of the Beatles intentions and that is why they are valued above the stereo ones.


"We need less, but better" - Dieter Rams

This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:

Western Glow Tube Service

---

[ Top of Page ] [ Contact Us ] [ Support/Wish List ] [ Copyright © 2024, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]

---

[ General ] [ Speakers ] [ Tubes ] [ Vinyl ] [ Digital ] [ Hi-Rez ] [ Video Asylum ] [ Cables ] [ Tweaks/DIY ] [ Music ] [ Films ]

---