Life at 33 1/3: The album that doesn’t exist
This is a weird one: An official Beatles-album that doesn’t exist. Or at least that is what EMI and Apple would have us believe. A stopgap album put together just in time for Christmas 1966 as the group didn’t have any new product ready for the Christmas-stockings, breaking a tradition they started back in 1963.
EMI probably panicked when Brian Epstein (the Beatles’ manager) informed them in late October that the group hadn’t even started recording yet. So the idea for a hit-collection was born.
As some of The Beatles’ singles had only been mixed in mono (those not included on regular albums), there was some stereo mixing to be done. George Martin did the stereo mix of “Paperback Writer” on October 31, and proceeded with “I Want To Hold Your Hand” on November 7.
The following day, November 8, Geoff Emerick took care of “She Loves You”. As the original two track master had gone missing, he had to create a fake stereo mix that sounds strange to a 2015 ear, but in the 60’s this solution was quite common.
Peter Brown took over on November 10, mixing “We Can Work It Out”, “Day Tripper” and “This Boy” in stereo. The latter was done accidentally as Brown probably thought that “Bad Boy” was a typo for “This Boy”. “Bad Boy” had never been released in England, it was recorded specifically for the U.S. market and ended up on “Beatles VI” in June 1965.
By: Carl Meyer
Source: Pattaya Mail
