|
From: Bengt Wärmlind, To: Sir George Martin Dear Sir Martin, On Sunday the 8th of October in 1995 I had a most wonderful evening with you and Malmö Symfoni-orkester at Göteborgs konserthus. I was sitting very near you in the middle of the 2nd row. You didn’t see me, because you very politely looked higher up at the audience, that were sitting further back. I remember that you made one teenage girl very happy, when you grabbed one of her hands, which she stretched up to you. The performance was very entertaining with many musical peaks. Thank you very, very much! Also, thank you ever so much for all the wonderful music you have produced with The Beatles. I don’t know if you and "the boys" really understand how much happiness the music has given to millions of people, and still does, after all these years! I myself listen to them every day. There is no other music that makes me so happy! I can listen to it over and over again. Marvellous quality! It must be classical now! Therefore I have purchased every LP and CD that EMI has released over the years. And also since 1988, (something that I do NOT think you like) have been listening to hundreds of high-quality bootleg CDs with The Beatles. The reason for that is, that I love the music so much - so EMI's releases have not been enough. It has been very interesting for me and other fans to listen to all "complete" outtakes on bootleg labels like 'Yellow Dog', 'Swingin' Pig', 'Vigotone', ‘Spank’, 'Great Dane', 'Big', 'Chapter One' and others. After having listened to that much Beatles music, I must say that you, Geoff Emerick and the rest of the staff at EMI have done a superb job with 'ANTHOLOGY 1, 2 & 3'! Having read about "new" remixes and assembles on "ANTHOLOGY 2", I must admit that I had some mixed feelings, before I had heard them. But now, when I have done so, I am very impressed! After listening to all the "complete" versions on bootlegs during the last ten years, I must confess, that I prefer these "new" versions. The assembles are made with real good musical taste. It is also fantastic to hear all the acoustic demos on 'ANTHOLOGY 3'. And the sound-quality is wonderful all over. (Thank you, Geoff!) Most of the digital remastering on CD is very good. I know, that the first albums from 'PLEASE PLEASE ME' to 'SGT PEPPER' were originally recorded on 2-track and 4-track machines, and were properly mixed in mono only, with The Beatles present. The stereo mixes were made very hastily, and I have heard you say, that they were not in true stereo. But with the beginning of 'HELP' we have been able to enjoy true stereo on the remastered CDs. But not on 'A HARD DAY'S NIGHT' and 'BEATLES FOR SALE' (which were also recorded on 4-track). Nor on 'PLEASE PLEASE ME' and 'WITH THE BEATLES' (which were recorded on 2-track). I have been told, that it is impossible to remix them in stereo today from the original 2-track and 4-track masters, as many overdubs were made late, and sometimes even directly on the mastertape. And that is audible on several stereo tracks on CD (which I unfortunately do not think sound so good), for instance the beginning of 'ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE', 'PAPERBACK WRITER', 'LADY MADONNA', 'RUBBER SOUL' and some tracks on 'SGT PEPPER' with a peculiar "emptiness" on the channel, where occasionally there is no music. Nothing of that is audible on the wonderful double-CD I purchased in August 1995...! Yes, I know you are tired of all fans, who require stereo CDs of the first four Beatles albums, which nowadays are only available in mono. But in the summer of 1995 I purchased the rare double-CD 'ORIGINAL MASTER RECORDINGS' (BEAT CD 013-2). It contained 'PLEASE PLEASE ME', 'WITH THE BEATLES', 'A HARD DAY'S NIGHT' and 'BEATLES FOR SALE' in STEREO, in a sound-quality I thought was impossible! I listened to it more than a week, before I understood what I owned! The mastering was perfect with great dynamics and fidelity. The stereo-mixes sound wonderful. And still it looks as if the stereo-mixes are in their original form. But the sound-quality is much better than on the original vinyl LPs. I have many friends who have listened, and they all say, that they have never before heard The Beatles in such superb sound-quality! And now I know, why the sound-quality is so great!... These CDs were not copied from vinyl LPs, but made from tape source, originally mastered by Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab in USA in 1980, for their halfspeed mastered pressings released that year. I know that you didn’t approve of these pressings. Because in February 1987 you were interviewed about the first four Beatles CDs in mono, released by EMI: Q: "Okey, but now people have heard those mixes on the Mobile Fidelity halfspeed mastered pressings, which are probably as clean an LP as you’re going to hear, and you can hear quite a lot of what’s on those masters." GM: "I don’t think those master pressings are right. I don’t approve of those master pressings." Q: "Really?" GM: "Really. What they were trying to do there - and again those were done without either The Beatles or myself being involved - was to get the same kind of thing you have on CD, but without the CD itself. And I think they forgot that in translating those to the master pressings , the EQs that were being used were appropiate not for that medium (meaning the Mobile Fidelity LPs), but for the earlier medium (meaning CDs, unavailable in 1980). In other words, what you tend to hear in that way, and in fact what you’re hearing even on the CDs you’re getting now (meaning the 1987 Beatles CDs) is a rather harsher sound than was intended." Now, in 1997, I find this interview sensational! The point is, that in 1980, when the CD medium was not available, these masters were by mistake (according to you) EQ’d in the same way as the CDs released by EMI 7 years later. This, together with the fact that they used the best master tapes available from EMI, explains why these CDs sound so wonderful. They must have exactly the same quality as all the other Beatles CDs released by EMI! And if you accept a "harsher sound" on them, I can’t understand why you should not do the same with the 'ORIGINAL MASTER RECORDINGS' stereo CDs! As you understand this is a bootleg. Probably only 1500 copies were made, so few persons have heard it. But I thought, the rest of the Beatles fans in the world should be able to listen to this musical treasure! So when I was sitting there in Göteborgs Konserthus on 8th of October, 1995, a few meters away from you, the only thing I could think of was: "Think, if I had had enough money to purchase one more copy of 'ORIGINAL MASTER RECORDINGS' and hand it over directly into George Martin's hands! Hopefully he would then take the CDs home and listen to them in peace and quiet. Become impressed, 'feel shivers down his spine'. Perhaps even play them for Paul, George and Ringo. And then reconsider his decision not to release them on stereo-CDs". As you can understand this was just a much too expensive dream! But I didn’t give up so easily. So the last years I have written dozens of letters to music magazines like: "THE BEATLES MONTHLY BOOK", "RECORD COLLECTOR", "MOJO", "VOX", "Q", "MELODY MAKER", "BEATLES UNLIMITED", "ICE", "BELMO'S BEATLEG NEWS", "BEATLEFAN", "GOLDMINE", "ROLLING STONE", "BILLBOARD" and "TOKYO BEATLES FAN CLUB MAGAZINE" (phew!). At least 5 of these letters have been published, so I enclose copies of: * 3 letters in 'THE BEATLES MONTHLY BOK' which preceded * My 2(!) letters in 'THE BEATLES MONTHLY BOK'. (The last letter got a very exposed place in the magazine. 32 other letter-writers had to share the space on 7 compact pages. And they published my new letter after only 4 months!) * A review in the American bootleg magazine 'BELMO'S BEATLEG NEWS' * My letter in 'BELMO'S BEATLEG NEWS'. * My letter in 'TOKYO BEATLES FAN CLUB MAGAZINE'. * My letter in 'BEATLES UNLIMITED MAGAZINE'. * A new article, published in 'BEATLES UNLIMITED MAGAZINE', March, 1997. (It contains interviews about the mono CDs from 1987, superlative reviews of the 'ORIGINAL MASTER RECORDINGS' CDs, my efforts to get them released, etc.) And now, very proudly, I have got the possibility to send you, Mike Heatley and Neil Aspinall perfect CD-R copies of 'ORIGINAL MASTER RECORDINGS'. I can no longer get hold of the original CDs, since they are now out of stock. (But I know, that they were re-released recently!) These CD-Rs were very expensive. Each double-CD costed £50 to make in my local CD store. They are made with professional equipment and are direct digital copies of my original CDs. The sound-quality is exactly as good as on the originals. The somewhat dizzy booklet photo has been copied from a home page on Internet. The rest of the cover has been restored on my PC. I sent you CD-Rs (by registered mail) already on December, 2nd, 1996. Unfortunately, the post probably lost them! They have now payed me money back, as compensation for the supposed loss. Therefore, I have now got a new chance to send CD-Rs to you. This time I have sent them by courier post ("Sky Pak"), which is much safer. This project has been made in co-operation with XXX, whose presidents very kindly took their time to listen to these CD-Rs. They also agree, that they sound excellent! And don't worry! We have not made any more CD-Rs, and certainly not sold any! And notice: I am not a bootleg dealer! Just a dedicated fan! As the booklet says: "ENJOY! PLAY IT LOUD! And if you think you've heard it all before, you're in for a pleasant surprise!" WE WOULD BE VERY HAPPY, IF YOU WOULD BE SO KIND, AS TO TAKE SOME OF YOUR PRECIOUS TIME, AND LISTEN TO THESE WONDERFUL CDs! And please play them for Geoff Emerick, Allan Rouse & Rupert Perry at EMI, Derek Taylor at Apple and Mark Lewisohn! And what about PAUL, GEORGE and RINGO? We could not afford to send CD-Rs to them all. We would be very grateful if you would answer this letter with your comments on the enclosed CD-Rs. (What did Geoff Emerick, Mike Heatley and Neil Aspinall say?) And..... PLEASE, LET THE WORLD HEAR THEM! This year it is 10 years since EMI released the Beatles CDs. The digital technology has improved a lot since then. So it would be wonderful, if you would release new remastered CDs of all Beatles albums. It would also be nice if you could make new deluxe booklets with lyrics, liner notes by Mark Lewisohn and new photos. I enclose 1 IRC for your answer. April, 21st, 1997 Kind regards, Bengt
Wärmlind, Simular letters were also sent to: GEOFF EMERICK, engineer PHEW!! Back to First Four In Stereo!
|