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The Apple Jigsaw of Rare Beatles Recordings in Mono

Mono Mixes of Let It Be and Abbey Road
Mono Mixes of Let It Be and Abbey Road
Mono Mixes of Let It Be and Abbey Road
Mono Mixes of Let It Be and Abbey Road

Rare Beatles Recordings in Mono

This gives us all concrete proof that rare Beatles recordings in Mono mixes were done, mixed and produced for Abbey Road and the Let It Be albums. Although these mixes have never been officially released, here are my personal CD copies of both of those mixes and the EMI Tape boxes used to house them in. The labels are shown here for those stored recordings, and as per their contract situation prevailing at the time they were seeded to Parlophone Records. The recordings actually are excellent as well!!  Should be available to purchase, I 100% believe.

Badfinger

Badfinger in Concert
Badfinger in Concert
Badfinger in Concert
Badfinger in Concert

This CD came direct to me from a contact at the BBC. This is straight from their archives and is a copy of a live concert programme for Badfinger. Recorded and Broadcast from Wales in 1972. It is an extremely good concert with only possibly two songs that might need some editing or enhanced production. Badfinger was indeed a well-knitted and tight band, and this is one of the few excellent recordings of them in concert. It would have made an excellent live album !! It might have given the band a big push!! 

Balls

Fight For My Country by Balls
Fight For My Country by Balls

This is another rare to find, and well-lost Apple Studios demo recording. The artist is Balls, and the song is titled Fight For My Country. Its a good progressive slab of rock, quite well played, and it is well produced in Mono. Again there is no details of personnel of the Band, and finding them is very difficult, or perhaps nigh on impossible. Another one from that under the Floor No 3 Savile Row Vault.

Paul McCartney The White Album Interview

Paul and John Interviews
Paul and John Interviews

John Lennon Abbey Road Interview

Paul and John Interviews
Paul and John Interviews

These are really the Pieces de Resistance of this little bunch. The ideals of Apple were to promote the product as works and pieces of art, for that is what they most certainly were. It was EMI etc that counted the money that was to be coming in from each well-made product! 

The Beatles at this time undertook a lot of promotion in order to fulfill that Operational Mendi of giving the artist a better deal. They were also doing this to their own products, and we have two fine examples here. The first one is an interview by Paul to promote the White Album released in November 1968. He gave an exclusive interview to Radio Luxemburg Host/ DJ Tony Macarthur, with sponsorship from the Daily Express. The discussion is very open and he concentrated on his tracks but gave a lot of mention to John’s Goodnight.

The second one is John accompanied by Yoko giving a discussion on Abbey Road just after the album was released, and again the discussion was very warm and open, with no hints of the problems at Apple which were bubbling away. Both interviews are given in full, but the tracks have been cleaned to provide pure listening pleasure, and they most certainly do just that. John also mentions the version of Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight from the album covered by Trash, Apple 17, and that single is also contained here, which is a very rare occurrence. The cases and labels are complete and unaltered, as per the originals, and they make a wonderful extra to these albums. 

One wonders why they could not have been included in the re-boxed sets. They would have made an excellent addition or side dish as Paul likes to call odd examples. If anyone is listening, I have my copies stored safely away

This is a great little set of demos and extras from Apple Records at No 3 Savile Row, and there is still more to have, all in good time too!!

Nigel Pearce

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5 thoughts on “The Apple Jigsaw of Rare Beatles Recordings in Mono

  1. According to Wikipedia, Balls was a quartet featuring ex-Moody Blues and future Wings guitarist Denny Laine on guitar, Trevor Burton (the Move) on Bass, ex-Apple artist Jackie Lomax on vocals and ex-Plastic Ono Band drummer Alan White. Steve Gibbons (the Uglys) and Mike Kelly (Spooky Tooth) replaced Lomax and White in early 1971, before “Fight For My Country” (their only record) was released; I don’t know which line-up is on the record.

    1. neither do we the line was always shifting and changing, and that was the major reason for them slitting. The album is good though
      the group or a version did get one story in the NME though. Its a very good record should have been released.

  2. very nice to see them in public, and so very rare and desired it seems!!

    1. yes indeed it was a very good album indeed glad I have a copy.

  3. very nice to see them in public!!

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