Thursday, August 8, 2019

The Beatles announce Abbey Road 50th anniversary releases



The Beatles will mark the 50th anniversary of “Abbey Road” this fall with a series of expanded releases.

Due September 27, the legendary record will be reissued with a new 2019 mix alongside 23 session recordings and demos, most of which are previously-unreleased.

A Super Deluxe Box Set delivers 40 tracks – including “The Long One” Trial Edit & Mix for the album’s epic Side 2 medley – on three CDs (stereo) and one Blu-ray disc (Dolby Atmos, 96kHz/24 bit high resolution stereo, and 96 kHz/24 bit DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1). A 100-page hardbound book – with foreword by Paul McCartney – traces, among other things, notes from recording sessions to the cover art photo shoot on the famous sidewalk outside the London studio.

A Super Deluxe digital audio edition presents all 40 tracks for download and streaming in standard and MFiT formats, as well as in high resolution audio (96kHz/24 bit) for download.

A limited edition “Abbey Road” Deluxe vinyl box set features all 40 tracks from the Super Deluxe collection on three 180-gram vinyl LPs, while a Deluxe 2CD set pairs the new stereo mix with versions taken from the session takes and demo recordings of its 17 songs, sequenced to match the album’s running order.

The album’s new stereo mix is also available in 1CD and 180-gram 1LP vinyl packages, for digital download in standard and MFiT audio, and on a limited edition picture disc vinyl LP illustrated by the album’s front and back cover art images.

The Beatles’ eleventh album, “Abbey Road” topped the charts in several countries on its way to eventual worldwide sales of more than 31 million copies; the project was inducted into the US Recording Academy’s Grammy Hall Of Fame in 1995.

“The Beatles recording journey had gone through many twists and turns, learning curves and thrilling rides,” writes McCartney in his foreword. “Here we were – still wondering at the magic of it all.”

“The magic comes from the hands playing the instruments, the blend of The Beatles’ voices, the beauty of the arrangements,” Giles Martin explains in his written introduction for the new edition. “Our quest is simply to ensure everything sounds as fresh and hits you as hard as it would have on the day it was recorded.”

The 50th anniversary “Abbey Road” packages are being previewed with an official video trailer, an unboxing video, and streaming audio of three versions of the George Harrison classic, “Something”, including a 2019 stereo mix, a demo and an instrumental take featuring strings only.





The Beatles
“Abbey Road” Super Deluxe Box Set
(3CD/DVD)
Release date: September 27

CD1: 2019 Stereo Mix

01. Come Together
02. Something
03. Maxwell’s Silver Hammer
04. Oh! Darling
05. Octopus’s Garden
06. I Want You (She’s So Heavy)
07. Here Comes The Sun
08. Because
09. You Never Give Me Your Money
10. Sun King
11. Mean Mr Mustard
12. Polythene Pam
13. She Came In Through The Bathroom Window
14. Golden Slumbers
15. Carry That Weight
16. The End
17. Her Majesty

CD2: Sessions

01. I Want You (She’s So Heavy) (Trident Recording Session & Reduction Mix)
02. Goodbye (Home Demo)
03. Something (Studio Demo)
04. The Ballad Of John And Yoko (Take 7)
05. Old Brown Shoe (Take 2)
06. Oh! Darling (Take 4)
07. Octopus’s Garden (Take 9)
08. You Never Give Me Your Money (Take 36)
09. Her Majesty (Takes 1–3)
10. Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight (Takes 1–3 / Medley)
11. Here Comes The Sun (Take 9)
12. Maxwell’s Silver Hammer (Take 12)

CD 3: Sessions

01. Come Together (Take 5)
02. The End (Take 3)
03. Come And Get It (Studio Demo)
04. Sun King (Take 20)
05. Mean Mr Mustard (Take 20)
06. Polythene Pam (Take 27)
07. She Came In Through The Bathroom Window (Take 27)
08. Because (Take 1 – Instrumental)
09. The Long One (Trial Edit & Mix – 30 July 1969)
(Medley: You Never Give Me Your Money, Sun King, Mean Mr Mustard, Her Majesty, Polythene Pam, She Came In Through The Bathroom Window, Golden Slumbers, Carry That Weight, The End)
10. Something (Take 39 – Instrumental – Strings Only)
11. Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight (Take 17 – Instrumental – Strings & Brass Only)

Blu-ray: Abbey Road

Dolby Atmos
96kHz/24 bit DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
96kHz/24 bit High Res Stereo (2019 Stereo Mix)

See also:

VIDEO: Steven Tyler performs Beatles classic with Paul McCartney in Las Vegas
VIDEO: John Lennon supergroup performs Beatles classic on Rock And Roll Circus reissue
VIDEO: Rob Zombie performs Beatles classic with Marilyn Manson and Nikki Sixx at Ozzfest
Paul McCartney streams Dear Friend demo from Wild Life reissue
Search The Beatles at hennemusic