The Beatles’ Red And Blue Albums – My Review

This month has started off quite nicely for Beatles fans! Last week we got to hear the premiere of "Now And Then," a simply gorgeous track. Now our attention gets turned to the reissue of 1973's "red and blue" albums, out this Friday (11/10/23). Known officially as The Beatles 1962-1966 and The Beatles 1967-1970, the set is getting a complete makeover for 2023. There are more songs, and every track on the set is a remix done by Giles Martin. Many mixes in the set are brand new for 2023. The entire first disc of 1962-1966 has been remixed, as have 11 of disc two's 19 tracks. On the 1967-1970 set, six songs have been given the Giles Martin treatment. Since I was lucky enough to grab a copy a bit early, I thought you'd like to read my review of the new set.

Before I begin, in the interest of full disclosure, I have to say that I am generally not a fan of remixing Beatles songs. Or any songs, for that matter. I've always felt that the original mixes speak for themselves and needn't be altered.

Peter Jackson's MAL audio technology was used on this set, making it possible to separate two sounds playing at once on a single track. This really opens up the individual instrumentation on the set and allows for a nice, balanced stereo picture. I think it is particularly effective on the first disc of the red album. I was happy Giles didn't exploit this "mono to stereo" technology too far. His "stereo" mixes of "Love Me Do" and "She Loves You", two songs whose master tapes have long been lost, are tastefully done. The stereo separation totally works in these cases.

Where I think the technology falls a bit short, at least in this case, is with Ringo Starr's drums. Either that or Giles Martin became infatuated with Ringo's playing while remixing. I tell you, my friends, Ringo's drums never sounded more crisp than on these songs. But they're mixed TOO LOUD in many of the 2023 remixes on the red album! In some cases (including "Roll Over Beethoven", "This Boy" "A Hard Day's Night" and even "Michelle"), they're downright distracting. Yes, it's cool to hear the bass drum so well now, but not at the expense of hearing the song the way we've heard it for the last half-century.

On the blue set, there are six newly mixed songs and even more on the Dolby Atmos mixes. This is where my disdain for remixes hits me square in the face. To say that the 2023 remix of "I Am the Walrus" is a train wreck would be an insult to train wrecks. The end part, with the King Lear BBC broadcast, is completely botched. Parts are missing, and new elements are added that were not present in any earlier mix. Who approved this mix? Yikes.

- sadly, Giles has done a disservice to "Old Brown Shoe," totally forgetting to bring up a fader on a guitar line after the words "from worse and tried to drag me down," 0:41 into the song. I cannot believe no one caught that.

- a rhythm guitar has magically appeared in the right channel of "Magical Mystery Tour." It stands out because it had been previously buried in the mix. Since The Beatles were quite involved in the mixing process by 1967, one must deduce there was a reason the guitar was not so prominently featured. This is why I am not a remix fan. there are too many liberties/decisions being made without all the participants' input.

- the inclusion of "Now And Then" on this set is odd. First of all, it undermines the title of the set, since it was recorded between 1979 and 2022. It would have been nice to release it as a standalone single like they did back in the day.

- one hilarious part of this remixed blue set is on "Hey Bulldog." Again, a few changes were made to the chatter John and Paul do at the end of the song, and I SWEAR I can hear someone (John?) say "sod off" at 2:34 into the song. See what you think! **UPDATE 11/9: I listened again and it's "what's up, boy?"

Sonically, the sets do suffer from some heavy-handed limiting in the mastering. Of course, that's how almost all songs are mastered these days...loud! In closing, I can say that there is something for everyone in this 2.0 version of the red and blue album. You will definitely hear these songs in a whole new way, but is that really a good thing? Granted I have not heard the Dolby Atmos surround mixes, but the remixing errors and decisions made here have left me more disappointed than excited.

My rating: 4 Ringo Starrs out of 5, and only because the songs are so damn good.

The Beatles have definitely set their share of records over the decades, but I swear one of them must be the number of errors you find on their albums and singles. It's as if the labels were in such a rush to release this stuff that they forgot to have one last look at the final packaging before sending a cherished Beatles product out to the world.

From their very first single, "Love Me Do," which had the songwriter co-credit listed as "McArtney," to this latest gaffe, misspelling "REVOLVER" as "REVOLER" on some LP bundles of the 2022 reissue, there's been a long history of Beatles 45s, album, CDs and cassettes having mistakes on them. Some are relatively common, amazingly, and don't necessarily fetch a whole lot of dough. Others, however, can net huge cash. If you have any Beatles vinyl in your collection, take a look at the mistakes below and see if you're in possession of one of these gems. You might have a Beatles album mistake that could net you a bit of cash! An extremely rare copy of The "Love Me Do" with the misspelled "McArtney" sold in 2017 for almost $15,000!

Most of these pieces shown below are taken from the collection of my friend and fellow collector, Charlie Leonard, and several are from my collection. How some of these made it past the record label's quality control department is a mystery to me! Then again, that's what makes record collecting so much fun for me - finding gems out there that may or may not be worth a lot monetarily, but have interesting or sentimental value.

Below are some more examples of mistakes, omissions and errors on Beatles records. It's a partial list as, sadly, there are many more out there. Check your collection - you may have one of these hiding amidst your vinyl or CDs!

Just out this past October, some copies of the Target-exclusive vinyl LP bundle of the album, with t-shirt included, got the name of the album wrong on the spine of the outer box. Really?? Some reports also have the similar Amazon bundle suffering from the same fate, but I've yet to hear of anyone who has gotten such an item from them.

Promo and first U.S. pressings of the Vee Jay Records single have them listed as "The Beattles."  Usually sells in the $2000-$6000 range, depending on condition, so finding one "in the wild" would be quite a feat.

Imagine my shock when I put on the mono mixes of Rubber Soul and Help! and heard that they weren't the right mixes at all; they were the stereo mixes "folded down" into mono.  I happened to be the first person to notice this major faux pas and immediately contacted the record company.  They reissued the set with the correct mixes but, even today, it's hard to tell which set is more collectible.

You can tell if you have a U.S. first pressing of The Beatles' White Album by all the mistakes! There are a half dozen on the White Album alone and this is one of them. They forgot "The Continuing Story Of.." part! Also missing are the hyphens in "Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da." You can pick up a fairly beaten up copy of this for under $50, but a nice copy with the inserts will run you higher.

Charlie Leonard Collection. Used with permission.

They were only a minute off on the run time of "Yesterday!"  Someone got to typing too fast and, there you go, instant collectible.  This was from the Beatles compilation album 20 Greatest Hits that was released in time for the 1982 Christmas season in the U.S.  This particular album has yet to be released on CD, and the vinyl can be found for a very reasonable price in the $25-$35 range.

Another of the errors that are all over first U.S. pressings of The Beatles is a "c" missing in "Rocky Raccoon."  Notice also there is no question mark after "Why Don't We Do It In the Road?" either. Other mistakes on some first pressings of The White Album include the titles "Obladi Oblada" instead of "Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da," "Revolution No. 1" rather than "Revolution 1," and "Revolution No. 9" in place of "Revolution 9."

This one's great because it appeared for YEARS on several different pressing runs of the movie's soundtrack album, released on United Artists Records. "Tell Me Why" is called "Tell Me Who" on some pressings! And that's not all..

Charlie Leonard Collection. Used with permission.

On some pressings of that same album, where the "Tell Me Why" is correct, "I'll Cry Instead" is shortened to "I Cry Instead."  Mint copies of this could cost you just over $100. I know some hardcore collectors who have to have every one of these pressing variations!

Charlie Leonard Collection. Used with permission.

It's Ringo Starr yelling out "I've got blisters on my fingers" at the end of "Helter Skelter," but, on certain first pressings of the 1980 compilation The Beatles Rarities, the liner notes on the back cover credit John.  Later pressings omit John's name but still doesn't credit Ringo!  This is another Beatles compilation that has yet to see a CD release, and either vinyl version goes for $35 to around $50.

Charlie Leonard Collection. Used with permission.

Who's this producer named "Pual" McCartney?  This one is found on the hit single's b-side "Too Many People" on some Jacksonville pressings of Paul's first #1 solo single from 1971. Interesting that the b-side doesn't have the sliced Apple label, which could be another mistake.

Charlie Leonard Collection. Used with permission.

Take a look at disc 2, track 17 of the back cover of this CD copy of The Beatles Live At The BBC.  It's supposed to be called "So How Come (Nobody Loves Me)."  Where the "Top" at the beginning of the title comes from is anyone's guess!