It was not until around 1968 or ‘69 that The Beatles started to take their stereo mixes seriously. Up until that time the mono mixes were what the band spent most of their time working on because mono was considered the “standard.” It was the way most people listened to music. While stereo was a new “experimental” thing that wasn’t given a lot of thought at that time.
These original mono mixes are finally being released on CD (for the first time ever) on 9/9/9. Many Beatles fans are excited to hear these mono mixes because they could be considered to be the “real” versions of these classic albums, after all they are the mixes that the band worked on the most.
The Beatles Mono Box Set is coming out on 9/9/9 and it will include the band’s first 10 studio albums in their original mono mix on CD for the first time ever. Along with those 10 studio albums, the box set will also include the original stereo mixes of Help! and Rubber Soul along with a non-album song compilation called Mono Masters.
The Beatles last three albums (Yellow Submarine, Let It Be, and Abbey Road) are not in the mono box set because they were never mixed in mono.
So why are Help! and Rubber Soul included in a stereo mix along with their mono mix? Because these original mono mixes (the ones released on LP in 1965) have actually never been released on CD before (because new stereo mixes were made in the ’80s when the albums were first put on CD.) They are included in this box set because this box set is really all about preserving the history of The Beatles original 1960s releases.
For many years now someone would have had to find an original vinyl copy of Help! and Rubber Soul in order to hear their original stereo mixes, that could be quite difficult (and quite expensive) to do. With this new Mono Box Set, it will be easy.
Mono Masters is a collection of all of The Beatles non-album tracks and as it’s name implies, all of the mixes on this album are mono mixes.
“Hey Jude,” “Paperback Writer,” & “Day Tripper” are among the many Beatles hits included in mono in the Mono Masters set. Interesting B-sides like “Rain,” “This Boy,” & “Yes It Is” are on it too.
The Beatles Mono Box Set is the only place you can find these mono versions of The Beatles albums because they are not being sold separately.