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Beatles
"Producing "Sgt. Pepper" Was Like Producing A Peter Sellers Album"
Michael Fremer  |  Nov 18, 2012  |  First Published: Dec 31, 1969  |  11 comments
Yesterday was a waste case for listening. I powered up the stereo and what came out was so bad I couldn't review anything. I'm not kidding. I tried everything: various turntables, cartridges, digital and nothing sounded good......So I went upstairs and watched this fascinating BBC documentary on the life and times of George Martin. There's been an anti-George Martin backlash of late from people who think he takes too much credit for their success, but watching this makes obvious that these people are making stuff up. He certainly doesn't here.
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Beatles
Is "Beatles For Sale" Sellable?
Michael Fremer  |  Nov 17, 2012  |  13 comments
This fourth Beatles album didn't exist in America because it didn't contain any hit singles. In England, hits were singles, sometimes issued as four song E.P.s. In America hits were the bait to get teens to buy albums, but in England you got fourteen songs for your money. In America you got twelve but you got the hits.
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Beatles
Rubber Souled Out?
Michael Fremer  |  Nov 16, 2012  |  27 comments
As expected, Rubber Soul, sourced from George Martin's 1987 16 bit, 44.1k remix sounds like a CD. Why should it sound like anything else? That's from what it was essentially mastered.
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Beatles
An Abbey Roadblock?
Michael Fremer  |  Nov 14, 2012  |  34 comments
If you're looking for a quick and easy answer to the question "How good is The Beatles box set?" you've come to the wrong place. Each album deserves to be evaluated individually and that's what I intend to do, though the lesser ones (if there is such a thing among Beatles albums) will get less attention.
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Beatles
Abbey Road Studio's Sean Magee Talks About Mastering The Beatles LP Box
Michael Fremer  |  Nov 13, 2012  |  First Published: Dec 31, 1969  |  35 comments
I spoke today with Sean Magee about the just released Beatles LP box set. Magee's resume is impressive. He's cut both lacquers and DMM and does a great deal of AAA cutting for Pure Pleasure among other labels.
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Beatles
Beatles Box Arrives!
Michael Fremer  |  Nov 13, 2012  |  First Published: Dec 31, 1969  |  37 comments
The Beatles box arrived today, oh boy.
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News
(Corrected) Beginning to Get Answers on Bert Jansch Vinyl Mystery (Apologies to Lurssen Mastering)
Michael Fremer  |  Nov 13, 2012  |  First Published: Dec 31, 1969  |  4 comments
My apologies to Gavin Lurrsen, who did respond immediately to my email via email. Unfortunately his email got trapped in the overaggressive corporate spam filter.
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Album Reviews
"Heartbreak" Is Right! How Did This Happen???? (Pressing plant correction)
Michael Fremer  |  Nov 10, 2012  |  7 comments
The backstory here is almost as interesting as the music on this just reissued, long out of print record first released in 1982.
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Album Reviews
Chicago "Field Recordings" Continue to Excite the Senses
Michael Fremer  |  Nov 08, 2012  |  13 comments
When we think of "field recordings" we often think of Alan Lomax trudging through the South with a tape recorder, setting up shop wherever he found the music.
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Album Reviews
"Rock Of Ages" Even Better in Retrospect
Michael Fremer  |  Nov 08, 2012  |  15 comments
Recorded late 1971 during a multi-night gig at New York City's Academy of Music and released the next summer, Rock of Ages was intended to be a celebratory send-off for one of the greatest bands of that era as it contemplated a long touring and recording break that went on for far longer than expected.
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