Geoff Emerick with his Grammy for engineering “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”
Why all the talk these many years about “Sgt. Pepper” in mono? Here’s an A/B comparison. Both of these 90-second excerpts from “She’s Leaving Home” are in mono, but one of them is the original 1967 monaural mix from the new CD set, and the other has been folded into mono from the 1987 stereo CD.
Denro visited today, which is always fun, bringing with him the new mono Beatles CD set. We listened to “Sgt. Pepper’s” and realized that mono is indeed the best way to hear the Lonely Heart’s Club Band. The experience really was as if we were hearing it almost for the first time.
I always expect Dennis to bring a stack of old comic books, and he didn’t disappoint. One story in particular caught my eye. Take a look at this drawing.
Gil Kane drew this picture of a smartphone in 1965! He really nailed it in every way. Very impressive.
Once again it is my pleasure to present Prue Bury, with Pattie Boyd and Paul McCartney, on the set of “A Hard Day’s Night.” This picture is found in the big “Anthology” book, and I haven’t seen it anywhere else.
Would the Beatles have succeeded without Brian Epstein? Yes, I think so, because talent will out, but without Epstein their story would not have turned out the way it did. I really don’t think Brian exploited the Beatles financially, but it does seem that he could have been tougher in some of his business negotiations with others.
Last year, Epstein’s copy of his contract with the Beatles was put up for auction, and it sold for $211,000. It’s dated October 1, 1962, a few days before the release of “Love Me Do.” It’s been said that the contract was actually drawn up on January 23, but as far as I can determine, that was a different document, in whole or at least in part. Ringo’s name can be seen, and he didn’t join the band until August. Either way, Epstein didn’t actually sign a contract with the Beatles until October 1.
I would be interested in seeing the entire text of the document. It reportedly gives Brian’s percentage as 25% of the gross, and Paul McCartney confirms that amount in “Anthology.” Yet because of the fantastic success of the Beatles, there were some in the business who assumed Brian was taking advantage of them above and beyond what was agreed upon. Brian denied that, as seen in this brief video clip.
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In 1964, Brian made an appearance on the American TV game show, “What’s My Line.” The host, John Daly, refers to Epstein as “Barry,” and Brian makes a rather quiet correction.
