Preview: “With The Beatles” – Stereo Remix v.1

With the Beatles is the second studio album by the English rock band the Beatles. It was released in the United Kingdom on 22 November 1963 on Parlophone, eight months after the release of the band’s debut album, Please Please Me.  Stereo or Mono… whatever your preference… the mix was shit.  The 2009 Remasters were heavily compressed and distorted… due in large part to Ringo’s bass drum being over-driven from the very start of the recording and/or mixing process wayyyy back in the days of 1963. On the LP it didn’t much matter, because all the bottom end was pretty much toast by the time they pressed the records. But then that left the second problem… that fucking RIDE.  Because Ringo was a one-trick pony when it came to that era of his career: HAMMER THAT RIDE… and the engineers didn’t really (yet) have a clue how to mic the damned drum kit. There was more ride than anything else GLARING through. Which brings us to now:

This is my remix of With The Beatles. AKA: The “Kiss My Ass Giles Martin” remix. V1. If this meets with your approval… I will call it a day and will make it available this week in the podcast.  If not… frankly… I’ll probably STILL make it available this week for my podcast… but I’ll be bitchy about it. As you know… I only post these to one group… which I affectionately refer to as “The Beatles Bar….and Gil”.  So… here ya go… a sneak preview. Please note I have done everything in my power to reduce the crashing of the ride… and increase the rest of Ringo’s kit in volume… while attempting to de-compress the recording and, of course… clean up the hiss from the overdubs, because…. damn…. they were bouncing from twin-track to twin track so many times… that the tracks were 4 generations down before they were even mixed/mastered. And they were horribly lopsided mixes, as well. Here, I’ve tried to create a balance that won’t hurt your ears (much). Enjoy.  Or not… I really don’t give a flip. 🙂