Beatles

[Don Grossinger]

Does anyone out there have an opinion (and I'll bet some of you do...) on the new "Get Back-Naked" release?

I guess this could also be answered from a producer's point of view as well as mastering.

I wonder why they didn't release this in SACD / DVD-A as a superior quality disc, with 5.1 capabilities. It seems to be a natural for this treatment as it was recorded "live". I wish the Beatles catalog was remastered in one of the new formats (in it's entirety). It's just begging for an upgrade!!!

Also, any words on the "Number Ones" greatest hits release of a year or so ago from a mastering point of view? Does that remastering serve the true sound of the music or is it hyped?

 

[joe lambert]

Don,

I'm not familiar with it. What is it? As far as the catalog being released on a high res. format, I'm sure Capital Records is salivating at the chance to give people another reason to buy the whole Beatles cataloge again.

It won't be long before they re-release it all. They may be waiting to decide which format.

 

[Don Grossinger]

"Get Back - Naked" is a remixed version of "Let It Be" without Phil Spector's wall of "strings" production. It's an attempt to return the album to it's original concept of the Beatles playing live without overdubs, strings, horns, etc: just the core group (with Billy Preston on Kbds).

I think it's a huge improvement, but I wish they would have put on some bonus trks as the CD is album length (only 38 min. or so). Song lineup differs fron "Let It Be" as do edits, eq, etc....

 

[joe lambert]

Wow. That sounds interesting. I'll have to check it out.

 

[Tore Nylund]

Well, the whole "Get Back" project ( yes... that was the original name) was put together to an album before Spector made his production, and they even did a test-pressing of it... and since they were not satisfied with the results...fed up with the hard work they ended up leaving the project to do some proper recordings instead... Ending up as Abbey Road.
I haven't heard the whole Naked album yet... expect to get it for X-mas instead.
BUT I do have a Bootleg of that testpress of the Get Back album... High quality!!! And I really like it. One thing that struck me was how present the reverb on the vocals was in the mix... is it still there on the naked album? I really like that reverb...
I also wonder why Paul went back to use his Hoffner bass on that album... after doing so much nice things with the Rickenbacker 67-68....
Does the naked album include the final takes/overdubbs on "I Me Mine"... Since this was the last time they recorded in the studio ( early -70)
And I really share your opinion that we want more new remixed/ refreshed Beatles albums... everything between 66-69 would be nice. From Revolver to Abbey Road.

 

[Sebatron]

Yeah , they always say Revolver will be hard to remix because of the tape loops in 'Tommorrow never knows ' ... which were a live feed during mixing.

I've got 'Let it be Naked' and have been listening quite a bit to it.

I like it a lot now , but took a while .
I thought it sounded a bit pokey ,.. lower end of top mids seemed to be a bit pushed ... it could be a bit warmer/rounder.
It's very clean with detail on Beatles guitars i'd never heard.
Boy you can really hear those 'wet tea towels ' on Ringo's drums....

:w:

 

[cjenrick]

"One" took me a while to get used to. At first I was dissappointed. I liked the original better.
The CD sounded a bit stark. Kind of like tracks that needed to be sweetened up during mastering.
I kept wondering what they could do to improve it if the tapes were so old.


Poor Phil.
Fist, the murder charge, then the record.

 

[Linwood]

For me it was worth the price just to hear Two of Us and Across the Universe. I got chicken skin.

 

[joe lambert]

I picked up the Naked CD this weekend. I like it a lot. I then went back to listen to the original and thought on a couple tracks that the orchestration didn't sound as good as I remembered.
I thought the sound quality was very good. The first half balance of the record seemed left heavy to me. Then it seemed better after 4 or 5 songs. Maybe I was still a little tired!

 

[Don Grossinger]

I guess you just had to wait awhile before it sounded "right", huh???

 

[cprieb]

Hi
I also bought it this weekend and I wished I liked it more. Some of the mixes sounded better (than the previous versions) to me (in the sense of transparency, as For You Blue and Two Of Us), probably more due to the new mixing than the mastering. In others, the "modern techniques of mastering" didn't work well and sometimes they seem to be overcompressed. The ending of the Let It Be song is even more "dressed" than the Phil Spector version and the coda of Across The Universe, with John's voice sinking in a sea of reverb, sounded too artificial. The same for the abrupt and non-musical fade out of Get Back.
That's just my opinion, but don't you worry. I guess that maybe in 20 years or so, just when the Beatle sea seemed to be dried, EMI will keep the machine running by releasing the individual tracks and all the George Martin wannabees (me included) could finally do their own mixes and be happy for evermore.
César