纪录片自媒体解说素材-新闻动态参考-吉尔斯·马丁（Giles Martin）在重新混合和扩展甲壳虫乐队的“让它成为”以及他们的豪华版本的未来/Giles Martin on Remixing and Expanding the Beatles’ ‘Let It Be’ — and What the Future Holds for Their Deluxe Editions
https://cdn.6867.top:6867/A1A/hddoc/news/2022/07/0504/2024s2orrxvoir2.jpg吉尔斯·马丁（Giles Martin）在重新混合和扩展甲壳虫乐队的“让它成为”以及他们的豪华版本的未来
Giles Martin on Remixing and Expanding the Beatles’ ‘Let It Be’ — and What the Future Holds for Their Deluxe Editions
吉尔斯·马丁（Gils Martin 。在这种情况下，为1970年的专辑提供了更统一的声音，该专辑在其原始化身中遍布整个地图，这足以将其提交混音。但是除此之外，甲壳虫乐队的粉丝尚未渴望获得著名的餐厅的高质量版本 - 无论是一个半小时的价值还是52小时的价值？发布的“ Let Be”特别版不是52盘套装。但是马丁认为，新盒子中包含的两次复古餐厅CD是对粉丝们希望从1969年会议中听到的内容的必要蒸馏。他设定了高度的酒吧，甚至希望这些奖金收藏是对从未听过甲壳虫乐队的人的聆听。 - 原始甲壳虫乐队制片人乔治·马丁（George Martin）的儿子，现在是一位受到追捧的制片人，编曲和音频专家的人 - 坐下来与Variety进行交谈，最近一次访问洛杉矶。这位英国人在美国各地的景点之间进行了访问，其中包括与他在旧金山的Sonos团队会面，并看一下拉斯维加斯披头士乐队的“爱”节目“ Love”。他还与朋友埃尔顿·约翰（Elton John）（马丁（Martin）拍摄了《火箭》（Rocketman）电影），为百老汇改编“魔鬼穿着普拉达”（The Devil Prada）进行了安排。不过，更紧急的是，当时，马丁仍在为彼得·杰克逊（Peter Jackson）的“ get back” docu系列撰写，该系列涵盖了与“ Let It Be Be Be”的大部分领土，即使他包装了工作大约一年半前。也许最重要的是，对于某些不耐烦的兽人，我们问：在目前的活动结束之后，他会让“左轮手枪”成为“左轮手枪”？请仔细阅读，找出答案。 （问答已为Len编辑gth and Clarity。）品种：您在电影和盒装套装上的工作是多少，或者您认为它们是完全独立的过程？将作为盒装套装的额外添加，如果电影中的东西看起来真的很好，但听起来不太好，那么您将其保留在电影中。但是，如果应该记录在记录中，则应该记录下来。当您考虑从户外活动中包括多少钱时，有52个小时的材料。我可能会更积极地（为盒装套装）编辑内容，因为我们有六个小时的胶卷了。但是我正在与彼得（杰克逊）合作，讨论我正在选择的音频钻头，并向他发送东西。这是他们发现有趣的东西，这是一种来回的。我们正在混合电影，所以我们也知道他们在做什么。 …盒装套装几乎试图讲述（Enti重新记录，包括Phil Spector的东西。显然，这部电影纯粹是在Twickenham（电影制片厂）和（在Apple Corps总部）的Savile Row的那段时间里绑架的。它以屋顶结尾 - 这个故事的自然结束。您在Twickenham Film Studios上录制的内容面临特殊挑战，并使该材料听起来像在Apple A Apple A中完成的多轨唱片一样好稍后？嗯，这是一个很好的问题。 “让它成为”只是（记录在）相对较短的时间内 - 这是三个星期。所有（Twickenham的材料）都在Nagra上，这是录制胶片的旧格式。这是一种单声道，狭窄的磁带格式。当他们离开特威克纳姆（Twickenham比利·普雷斯顿（Billy Preston）就是嘿，有（多轨）录制。然后，屋顶（音乐会）显然是8轨。就是这样，是的，我们会尽可能多地投入这些技术，但是在进行恢复工作时，您必须小心。这就是为什么与彼得和他的团队合作的原因，因为他们真的非常擅长这些东西。我以为我擅长这些东西，它们比我好。音频的内容也非常了不起。这是一个协作过程。但是，您必须谨慎清洁东西，以免使事情变得太有光泽和数字化。您不想更改声音，因为（混音）实际上可以很快约会，就像我们过去在旧版中所经历的那样。 …您总是走一条精美的线条，并发行不打算发布的内容。您觉得自己正在经历一个肮脏的内裤抽屉。y的性能，不仅仅是音质。有一些绝对需要一切的甲壳虫迷。他们想要全部52个小时的镜头。但是，公平地说，盗版的方式是，大多数人实际上都有材料 - 您可以在互联网上找到它。所以我的工作是以最好的方式呈现它。我是一个忠实的粉丝，但是在盗版CD的日子里，当我去村里的一家商店时，看到一套盗版的盒子，我想，物质上看起来像30张圆盘的餐盘，这是我想对这些东西掉下来的兔子洞有多深的限制。它确实很快就会变得无聊。你知道，我和保罗谈过了。我以为我们要去年发行纪录。我认为我的截止日期是一年多以前的5月（2020年）。我正在打电话给他们（甲壳虫乐队和他们的幸存者），因为我在家工作，从我家给他们发送音乐。我记得保罗说：“好吧，有多少版本的'get back'做peoPLE实际上想要吗？”我只是笑了，走了，“好吧，有些人想要每个版本的'Get Back'。但是我不知道那是正确的事情。”因此，您必须走那条细线。我的信念一直是：如果有人从未听过甲壳虫乐队，那么他们应该对听到的内容感兴趣。拥有纪录是没有意义的，所以您拥有它。您打算听它。你懂我的意思吗？有些人只想拥有东西。这不是为什么我们要做的事情。整个过程第二次。好吧，就是这样。当我想到我们对白色专辑（Esher Demos和类似内容）所做的事情时，这些专辑本身就站起来了。他们是有趣的记录；他们有效。但是我们要做的另一件事是，您正在尝试打破D拥有并讲述歌曲如何发展的故事。因为对我而言，这很有趣，而不是另一个版本。对于那些期望一切垃圾的人来说，很难接受存在策展过程，即使大多数人很乐意让您筛选一切黄金。谁做出了最终选择？是你和保罗一样，是的，是的，是我，然后我得到了他们的认可。他们没有筛选一切。我的意思是，这是他们真正想做的最后一件事，我并不感到惊讶。我会做出最终决定 - 好吧，我会暗示最终的（轨道摘要），然后他们做出最终决定。您对在此套装中拥有两张Outtake感到非常满意。 ，我实际上是这样。这很有趣，因为我有点忘记了它们，因为在这个陌生的世界中已经一年了 - 我在不得不谈论它的过程中回去了，我当时想，“出色地，这有点有趣！”乔治（George）播放“某事”或歌曲的妊娠之类的东西，您会听到它的样子。这是我在记录中获得的短时间内要代表的另一件事 - 在一定程度上，气氛和氛围。因此，我非常喜欢听它，这总是一个好兆头。您有演奏或排练中最喜欢的时刻吗？即使只是对话，也有一些大声说话的话，或者突然约翰谈论在……（“她进来”）中间离婚的那一刻，“浴室的窗户， “ 是的。好吧，有很多事情。在对“让它成为”的看法中，感觉就像是一个持续的主题，我们正在掩盖甲壳虫乐队的痛苦和破坏。但是“让它成为”真的还不错。我（早期）对“让它成为”的看法就像，这是甲壳虫乐队的分手。但是当然，这是甲壳虫乐队的分手，因为它是发行的最后一张专辑并不是他们录制的最后一张专辑。他们要回去，开始记录“让它成为”之后将要成为“修道院之路”。直到我做（盒装套装的）“修道院路”时，我才意识到他们回到了所有地方的Trident Studios，在大约两三个星期后做“我想要你（她很重）屋顶音乐会。因此，这几乎不是甲壳虫乐队的分手，也是对话……我喜欢“ Let It”的是，即使这是另一种甲壳虫乐队，它也会向您展示他们的合作方式。就像约翰和保罗一起玩“吉姆”。即使显然（最终）出现在约翰的专辑“ Imagine”上，我喜欢他纯粹对Paul的建议开放的事实……他们是歌曲创作的合作伙伴关系。这就是为什么乔治被孤立了。在电影中，他们互相说：“我们需要更多的歌曲。”约翰会走，“好吧，我星期天休假了。我会尝试写一个摇滚乐。”保罗会走，“Ell，我也会尝试这样做。因此，我们将看到您得到的。”然后保罗开始演奏“让它成为”，约翰走了，“好吧，你只需要一些话。”两者之间仍有这种合作 - 彼此之间的尊重是令人惊讶的。他们中的许多人都在继续前进。但是，他们正在努力保持在一起，这就是为什么他们要回去尝试现场演奏，成为甲壳虫乐队，做洞穴俱乐部，做“ 909之后的一个”以及所有这些事情 - 他们想去回到那个氛围。当然，您不能，因为您是一个与众不同的人。它行不通。但这就是一定程度的“让它成为”。他不是列侬和麦卡rtney。乔治甚至被约翰称为“哈里斯蒙斯”。显然，他还写了非常好的歌曲，“一切都必须过去”（在最形成性的阶段中听到的是在布景上听到的），这是一个很好的例子。但是，当他做“某事”然后他走时，“‘像石榴一样吸引我’ - 我想不出那个词会是什么，我认为这真的很有趣。约翰正试图教他如何写。他说：“好吧，只是用言语一遍又一遍地做……或者不做。” [笑。]这是列侬的建议：“这样做……或者不做！”我喜欢那个。我喜欢那个经历的同志，这对“让它成为”很奇怪。因为人们对“让它成为”的看法是发生了这种严重的功能失调的混乱。我认为是什么：这只是一个坏主意。那就是“让它成为”。我的意思是，想想这些天的任何乐队，尤其是世界上最大的乐队 - “您知道我们将要做什么吗？我们没有写任何歌，但是我们E将在三个星期的时间内与许多新歌一起演唱会。”而且我认为他们可能会在1965年或'66或'64上实现，但这是因为他们一直在同一个房间里在一起，约翰和保罗在那里扑打（歌曲）。布莱恩·爱泼斯坦（Brian Epstein）会说：“您有两个星期的专辑”，然后他们去做“ Revolver”或“橡胶灵魂”。在这种情况下（到1969年），他们拥有大房子，然后回家看电视。但是在那些早些时候，他们会乘货车，他们会被卡住，他们将完成歌曲。因此，当您听到“ Gimme一些真相”时，您会认为，如果您只花这两个小时，他们就可以完成。但是他们没有。我以前曾与林戈谈过一些，他和保罗一样，非常开放，不喜欢原始的“让它成为”电影……[笑。]他讨厌原始电影。但是现在有些人担心：彼得·杰克逊（Peter Jackson）的电影中，这种紧张感会代表吗？是幸运的人，那是世界上最美好的时光吗？我不这么认为。我的意思是，让我们面对现实吧，这是六个小时 - 三个小时（情节）。我必须说，彼得喜欢三部曲！ …你知道，我看过所有的镜头。原始电影很无聊。我的意思是，这就是问题所在，而且技术受到限制。彼得·杰克逊（Peter Jackson）所做的事情真是太神奇了。他们将所有音频录像和录像带同步在一起，这并不容易。因为例如，相机是电池操作的摄像头，并且随着它们的进行而放慢脚步。因此，这很棘手。不，我认为这是诚实的。我愿意。我认为人们看着它时会看到。 Twickenham的东西正在征税，因为您正在看着那些在他们手工艺中寻找创意的人，这很难观看。但是，在苹果（Corps总部，完成的大部分录音都完成了），他们似乎更快乐。这就是旅程。和屋顶OP…我真的不知道屋顶表演在专辑中构成了四首曲目。我应该知道这些东西；人们发现我和我为记录的人走了同样的旅程，这令人惊讶。 …但是他们显然表现非常好，他们知道自己的表现非常出色。 …我认为当您像乔治和保罗之间的著名爆发时，乔治说：“我会玩你想要的，否则我不会玩任何乐趣 - 无论您是什么乐趣”……我的意思是，我是在乐队中 - 我们的爆发要比这更糟糕。老实说，这并不是那么糟糕。乐队中任何人对另一个成员说的最严厉的事情。我的意思是，他们确实谈论即将离婚，但以一种欢乐的方式。他们非常了解甲壳虫乐队是什么。他们仍然是保罗和林戈。 - 就像所有这些成功的艺术家一样，他们非常了解自己在心理中的地位。我认为保罗说：“爸爸离开了”- 谈论布莱恩·爱泼斯坦（Brian Epstein） - “我们不一样。”是的没错，它们并不相同。正如您所说，新电影中没有涵盖的“让它成为”的故事的一部分，而是盒装套装的一部分，这是Phil的参与专辑完成后，Spector。在您的新产品的班轮笔记论文中，您提出了一个很好的观点，这基本上是专辑中的四个制作人。有你的爸爸。后来有菲尔·斯佩克特（Phil Spector）。在早期阶段就有格林·约翰斯（Glyn Johns），有点像工程师，而不是他的头衔。然后，您说，甲壳虫乐队最终创造自己的“让它成为”项目有一种感觉。当然，当涉及到这三个生产商时，他们的生产方法非常不同。我的意思是，他们都很出色。我父亲是一个蓝图人。我和父亲有过的最大争论是……您知道PIMM是什么吗？这是一种英国饮料，您将柠檬水与这种称为Pimm's的东西混合在一起。反正，我没有正确地测量如何将它们放在一起。我认为它太强壮了，需要更多的柠檬水。好吧，他只是输了。那是我父亲。他喜欢组织的事情。这是一件有趣的事情，因为白色专辑和“ Let It Be”不是，而是“修道院路”。据您所知，他的儿子伊桑·约翰斯（Ethan Johns）告诉我，他父亲给他的建议是：“当头发站在手臂的后部时，你有很好的看法。”这就像是本能的事情，反对我父亲更有条理。他想将艺术家塑造成自己的视野。那是菲尔·斯佩克特（Phil Spector）。因此，当混合“让它成为”时，您必须牢记这一点。您正在尝试将其统一，以获得一张凝聚力的专辑。我不得不对保罗说：“我们要混合专辑，我们将与您不喜欢的所有内容混合。”他说：“这足够公平。它在上面。”哟你知道，他们确实“让它成为……赤裸裸的”（专辑的脱颖而出的版本，于2003年发行，由麦卡特尼（McCartney）煽动，以纠正Spector的“感知过分”）。 …我们混合了这些东西，人们真的不在乎。粉丝并不真正在乎何时做事或如何完成。他们只想听一些音乐，试图将所有内容统一。因为回到您使用“ Sgt的第一个完整的混音”。 Pepper的寂寞Hearts Club乐队。当您在游戏中获得这一点时……好吧，没有人给我简要介绍。我不得不给自己简要介绍。正如我所说，我的简介几乎是为了统一专辑的音调。您有屋顶；您有苹果（总部）录音；你有杂乱无章的。您有“跨宇宙”，在其他所有事物（1968年）之前分别记录在其他一切之后。 （在发布“修道院路”之后，在1970年的头几天，披头士乐队的三个没有列侬，只是为了获得适当的录音室版本的“我我是我的”，这是他们的最后录音。）工作就是就像在同一时间一样对其进行处理，这是相同的记录，听起来应该是同一记录的所有部分。听起来不应该像是分散的。因此，这是我在一定程度上尝试使Phil Spector OverDubs觉得它们与乐队其他成员同时完成的。我认为原来的确没有；它们听起来像是在一定程度上被添加的。因此，它更加和谐 - 我想，如果这是正确的词，我想知道您是否会淡化某些人认为Phil Spector在“ Let It Be”或“漫长而蜿蜒的道路上”过度生产的内容。透明似乎您可能已经有点了但是一切仍然存在。是的，不是真的。 [长时间的停顿。]我认为它的声音，菲尔·斯佩克特（Phil Spector）的东西也不那么侵入性……意图只是将其像对待专辑一样，而不是在云下构建艾伦·克莱恩（Allen Klein保罗·麦卡特尼（Paul McCartney）不知道和所有这些东西。忘记所有这些……这很有趣。人们认为“让它成为”不是最好的甲壳虫乐队唱片。可能不是。但是您考虑一下：它上面有“让它成为”，这是有史以来最听听的甲壳虫乐队的歌曲之一。它具有“恢复”，它具有“跨宇宙”，它有“漫长而曲折的道路”。实际上，我喜欢“挖小马”之类的歌曲。然后人们谈论这是甲壳虫乐队的分手。好吧，如果这是甲壳虫乐队的分手，为什么他们会写“我们两个人”- 约翰和保罗的分手？是否有想过要使用前谱系，更多的歌曲剥离版本作为起点为了新的混音，而不是忠实地坚持1970年的熟悉版本？好吧，是的，这就是我在阿比路（Abbey Road）与保罗（Paul）谈论的。 …我没有参与“让它成为……赤裸裸的。”大约在我做“爱”的时候，或者我不知道可能是以前的。但是我没有参与“让它成为……赤裸裸的”，我认为（包括）替代方案。不，这是没有道理的。因为我们一直在旅途中 - 几乎是偶然的，没有任何计划，以甲壳虫乐队的方式进行。 “中士。 Pepper的“出现了（作为混音和盒装套装的前景）。我真的不想这样做。我想，好吧，我们为什么要这样做？然后我对甲壳虫乐队说：“让我们做三四个混音，看看听起来像什么。”这听起来不错且有效，因此我们最终做到了。然后，白色专辑出现了，还有我们发现的Esher Demos和所有类似的东西，您就可以了，好吧，让我们来做。然后是“修道院路”……这样尝试重写历史学不是很有意义。它被释放，很多人喜欢它。我喜欢。我个人对Phil Spector的东西没有问题。 …是的，确实改变了。有趣的是，听到“宇宙中的宇宙”，没有约翰的声音，没有菲尔·斯佩克特的东西，这听起来像是一首民歌！听起来完全不同。但是我没有任何抓地力（专辑首次发行）。我们这样做是没有任何意义的。这不是我们要做的。这盒套装标记了Glyn Johns组合的专辑的第一个授权发行 -BBASIC专辑。您如何看待Glyn Johns对专辑的愿景？好吧，我认为Glyn为甲壳虫乐队提供了他们想要的东西 - 然后当他们得到它时，他们真的不想要它。 Glyn Johns专辑是代表他们当时所做的一切。我认为他们当时所做的不在他们希望的水平上。 …。我认为Glyn与他拥有的专辑一起制作了一张精美的专辑，因为他们要去了，“我们不想要任何OverDubs。我们希望它能活着，这就是应该的。”我很高兴它在那儿，因为这是很多人知道的事情之一，而且很多人都……它已经被盗版了，但我认为在一个糟糕的版本中。 ……而且，这有助于讲述这个故事，因为这就是触发艾伦·克莱因（Allen Klein）走的原因：“听，让我们去找菲尔·斯佩特（Phil Spector），他可以完成。”这是专辑的替代版本，这真的很有趣。但是，如果1969年以这种形式出现，即使这很有趣，也会有一种很大的失望感。是的，我真的很喜欢。听起来很酷。这是非常格林·约翰斯（Glyn Johns）。格林（Glyn）的出色表现是在唱片中捕捉现场表演的精神。这就是为什么谁是如此出色的原因。 （Johns继续进行工程师，制作或共同制作了所有WHO的70年代和80年代初期的专辑。）他对Vibe非常出色。我的意思是，他看起来像是奥斯汀在电影的一半中掌握了一个问题。有些人坚持认为，在4轨披头士乐队的专辑中无法进行变革性混音，因为将许多元素融入了两个基本曲目中。但是，当然，甲壳虫乐队的粉丝确实在全面推测了很多东西：现在您已经经历了甲壳虫乐队的时间表“ Sgt”，这是否有机会用“左轮手枪”和“橡胶灵魂”做某事。胡椒”前进？我认为有。我认为我们必须这样做，而且我之前已经说过……如果您从“左轮手枪”（通常以其奇异的立体声分离引用的曲目）中拿出类似“税务员”的东西，“税务员”是吉他，贝斯和鼓上的吉他，一首曲目，人声以及一种摇晃和吉他独奏（右边）。听起来不错；它们是令人惊叹的唱片，也是令人惊叹的混音。你知道，我们必须研究我们可以做什么技术来制造我正在研究的所有这些东西都充满了混杂。因此，我正在寻找可以做到这一点的技术，可以用“橡胶灵魂”和“左轮手枪”做一些真正创新的事情，而不是仅仅是重新制作的工作，因为它已经被修复了。所以我想我们会的。我认为我们也会考虑淘汰，粉丝们对他们做某事的压倒性渴望。与此同时，您的脑海中有些事情：仅仅这样做是为了赚钱或作为销售的东西，或者因为我们做了其他事情，这是没有意义的。出于正确的理由，我们这样做更重要。所以有您的答案：是的。如果，则与“中士相同。胡椒，”我可以找到这样做的理由，然后是的。仅仅因为我们已经这样做的是一个实际的经验理由，但您确实认为迟早会做某事，即使难以解开这些有限的曲目？是的，我认为我们正在借助技术。我想我们是回覆。不过，我目前没有这样做，我可以告诉你很多。但希望。所以，是的 - 看这个空间。
Giles Martin just couldn't let "Let It Be" be — even though, as he has with each of the deluxe Beatles packages he's worked on, he challenged himself to make sure a fresh mix and expanded boxed set had a raison d'etre. In this case, giving a more unified sound to a 1970 album that was all over the map in its original incarnation was reason enough to submit it to a remix. But above and beyond that, what Beatles fan hasn't yearned to get high-quality versions of the famous outtakes — whether it was an hour-and-a-half's worth or 52 hours' worth?
For better or worse, the just-released "Let It Be" special edition is not a 52-disc set. But Martin believes the two CDs of vintage outtakes that are included in the new box are an essential distillation of what fans will want to hear from those 1969 sessions. And he sets the bar high, wanting even these bonus collections to be something that would make a great listen for somebody who'd never heard the Beatles before.
Martin — the son of original Beatles producer George Martin, and now a sought after producer, arranger and audio expert in his own right — sat down to talk with Variety on a recent visit to Los Angeles. The Englishman was between visits to spots around the U.S. that included meeting with his Sonos team in San Francisco and taking a look at the relaunch of the Beatles show "Love" in Las Vegas. He's also working on arranging music for a Broadway adaptation of "The Devil Wears Prada" with friend Elton John (Martin worked on the "Rocketman" film). More urgently, though, at the time, Martin was still working on the mix for Peter Jackson's "Get Back" docu-series, which covers much of the same territory as the "Let It Be" boxed set, even though he wrapped up work on the latter about a year and a half ago.
Maybe most importantly for some impatient Beatlemaniacs, we asked: Will he be letting "Revolver" be, after the current flurry of activity ends? Read on to find out. (The Q&A has been edited for length and clarity.)
VARIETY: How much did your work on the film and on the boxed set overlap, or did you think of them as completely separate processes?
MARTIN: You do approach things differently, because when you think about what you’re going to add as extras to a boxed set, if something is on the film and looks really good but may not sound that good, you keep it to the film. But if it’s something that should be on a record, it should be on a record. When you’re considering how much to include from outtakes, there was, like, 52 hours of material. I was probably more aggressively editing stuff down because we have six hours of film coming out. But I was collaborating with Peter (Jackson) on what audio bits I was selecting, and sending stuff over to him. It was a constant sort of back and forth as what they were finding interesting. And we're mixing the films, so we knew what they were working on as well. ... The boxed set is almost trying to tell the story of the (entire) record, including the Phil Spector stuff. And obviously the film is just purely tied to that period of time in Twickenham (Film Studios) and (at Apple Corps headquarters) in Savile Row. It ends with the rooftop — the natural end of that story.
Did you face special challenges with the stuff that was recorded on film at Twickenham Film Studios, and making that material sound as good as the multi-track recordings that were done at Apple a bit later?
Well, that's a good question, actually. “Let It Be” was only (recorded over) a relatively short period time – it was three weeks. All of (the material from Twickenham) is on Nagra, which is the old format of recording film. It's a mono, single, narrow tape format. When they move out of Twickenham — because that’s when they’re getting pissed off at everything, and it's cold, and they start at 10 in the morning, and George walks out and all that sort of stuff — they go to Savile Row, where Billy Preston is, and that's where they have the (multi-track) recording. And then the rooftop (concert) obviously is 8-track. It is what it is, and yeah, we throw as much technology at these things as you can, but you have to be careful when you're doing restoration work. And that's why it's been good collaborating with Peter and his team, because they're really, really good at this stuff. I thought I was good at this stuff, and they're way better than I am. The audio stuff as well — it's really remarkable what they can do. It's a collaboration process.
But you have to be careful with cleaning stuff up, that you don't make things too shiny and too digital. You don't want to want to change the sound, because (remixes) actually can date very quickly, as we've experienced on legacy stuff in the past. ... You're always walking a fine line with releasing stuff that wasn't intended to be released. You feel like you’re going through a dirty underpant drawer.
(Selectivity about outtakes) also quite often has to do with the quality of the performance, more than sound quality. There are Beatle fans that want absolutely everything. They want all 52 hours of footage. But to be fair, the way that bootlegging goes, most of those people actually have the material anyway — you can find it on the Internet. So my job was to present it in the best possible way.
I’m a huge fan, but in the days of bootleg CDs, when I would go into a shop in the Village and see a bootleg boxed set of “Let It Be” material with what looked like about 30 discs of outtakes, I would think, there is a limit to just how deep a rabbit hole I want to go down with this stuff.
It does get boring very quickly. You know, I talked to Paul about this. I thought we were going to release the record last year. I think my deadline was May (of 2020), over a year ago. I was phoning them (the Beatles and their survivors) up and sending them music from my house, because I was working at home. And I remember Paul goes, “Well, how many versions of ‘Get Back’ do people actually want?” I just laughed and went, “Well, there’s people who want every single version of ‘Get Back.’ But I don’t know that that’s the right thing to do.” So you have to walk that fine line. My belief is always: If someone had never heard the Beatles before, then they should be interested in what they're hearing. There's no point in having a record just so you have it. You’re meant to listen to it. Do you know what I mean? There’s people that just want to own stuff. And that's not why we're doing what we’re doing.
I have the Bob Dylan boxed set that has every note that was played in the studio over the course of 1965, but I can’t say I’ve gone back and played the whole thing through a second time.
Well, that's the thing. When I think of the things that we did with the White Album — the Esher demos and that sort of stuff — those stand up in their own right. They're interesting records; they're valid. But the other thing we're trying to do is, you are trying to sort of break down and tell a story of how a song evolved. Because that's quite interesting, to me, as opposed to just another version.
For the people who expect a dump of everything, it can be hard to accept that there's a curatorial process, even though most people are happy to have you sifting through everything for the gold. Who makes those final selections? Is it you along with Paul and…
Yeah, it's me, and then I get the approval from them. They don't sift through everything. I mean, that's the last thing they really want to do, and I’m not surprised. It'll be me that makes the final decision — well, it will be me that suggests the final (track rundown), and then they make the final decision.
You feel really comfortable with having the two discs of outtakes in this set.
Yeah, I do, actually. It was funny because I kind of forgot what was on them, because it’d been a year in this strange world we're living in — and I went back during this process of having to talk about it, and I was like, “Well, this is kind of interesting!” Things like George playing “Something,” or the gestations of songs, and you hear the vibe of what it's like. That's the other thing to represent in that short space of time that I get given on a record — the atmosphere and the vibe, to a certain extent. So I quite enjoyed listening to it, and that's always a good sign.
Do you have favorite moments from the outtakes or rehearsals? Even just dialogue-ise, there are some laugh-out-loud things they say, or the moment where suddenly John is talking about getting his divorce in the middle of…
… of (“She Came In Through”) “The Bathroom Window,” yeah. Well, there's lots of things. In the perception of “Let It Be,” it feels like there’s a continuing theme that we're glossing over the pain and destruction of the Beatles. But “Let It Be” really wasn't that bad. My (early) perception of “Let It Be” was like, it’s the breakup of the Beatles. But of course it's as the breakup of the Beatles because it's the last album that came out, but it wasn't the last album they recorded. They were going back and started recording what was going to be “Abbey Road” after “Let It Be.” It was only when I was doing (the boxed set for) “Abbey Road” that I realized that they were back in Trident Studios, of all places, doing “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” about two or three weeks after the rooftop concert. So it’s hardly the breakup of the Beatles.
And the conversations... What I like about “Let It Be” is that, even though it's a different Beatles, it shows you the way they collaborated. Like John playing “Gimme Some Truth” with Paul. And even though it obviously (eventually) appears on John's album, “Imagine,” I like the fact that he's just purely open to Paul’s suggestions… They’re a songwriting partnership. That's why George got isolated. In the film they say to each other, “We need more songs.” And John would go, “Well, I’ve got Sunday off. I’ll try and write a rock ‘n’ roller.” And Paul would go, “Well, I’ll try and do that as well. So we’ll see what you got.” And then Paul starts playing “Let It Be,” and John goes, “Well, you just need some words for it.” There's still that collaboration that happens between the two — a respect for each other that you hear that’s surprising.
From exposing myself to this, I think that with “Let It Be,” they're aware of the failings in their marriage, and the fact that a lot of them are moving on. However, they’re trying to stay together, and that's why they're going back to try and play live and be the Beatles and do the Cavern Club and do “One After 909” and all that kind of stuff -- they want to go back to that vibe. And of course you can't, because you're a different person. It doesn’t work. But that's what “Let It Be” is, to a certain degree.
George starts singing “Something,” and it becomes apparent from listening to it that John and Paul would have helped each other, but they wouldn't necessarily help George, because he’s not Lennon-and-McCartney. George is even referred to by John as “Harrisongs.” He's also writing very good songs at this point, obviously, and “All Things Must Pass” (heard on the set in its most formative stages) is a good case in point. But then when he's doing “Something” and he goes, “’attracts me like a pomegranate’ -- I can't think of what that word's going to be,” I think that's really funny. John is trying to teach him how to just write. He says, “Well, just do it over and over again with words… or don't.” This is the advice from Lennon: “Do this… or don't do it!” And I like that.
I like that comradery that comes through, which is strange for “Let It Be.” Because people's perception of “Let It Be” is there's this hugely dysfunctional chaos that happened. I think what it was is: it was just a bad idea. That's what “Let It Be” was. I mean, think of any band these days — especially the biggest band in the world — going, “You know what we’re going to do? We haven't written any songs, but we’re going to do a concert in three weeks’ time with a bunch of new songs.” And I think they probably would have achieved that in 1965 or ‘66 or ‘64, but that's because they were all in the same room together all the time, where John and Paul were bashing out (songs). Brian Epstein would say, “You've got two weeks to do an album,” and they go and do “Revolver” or “Rubber Soul.” In this case (by 1969), they had their big houses, and they went home and watched TV. But in those earlier days they’d be in a van and they'd be stuck and they would be finishing songs. So when you hear ”Gimme Some Truth,” you think, if you would just spend those two hours, they could probably get it done. But they don't.
I've talked with Ringo about some of this before, and he, like Paul, is very open about not liking the original “Let It Be” film…
He hates the original film.
But now some people are worried: Will none of that tension be represented in the Peter Jackson film, and will it be like everyone was happy-go-lucky and it was the most wonderful time in the world?
I don't think so. I mean, let's face it, it's six hours -- three two-hour (episodes). I’ve got to say, Peter loves a trilogy! … You know, I've seen all the footage. And the original film was just boring. I mean, that's the problem.
And there were limits to technology. What Peter Jackson has done is amazing. They’ve synched all of the audio footage and video footage together, which is not easy. Because the cameras, for instance, were battery-operated cameras, and they’d slow down as they went on. So it's tricky to do.
No, I think it's honest. I do. I think people will see that when they watch it. The Twickenham stuff is taxing to get through, because you're watching people who are geniuses in their craft looking for ideas, and that's hard to watch. But then at Apple (Corps headquarters, where the bulk of the finished recordings were done), they seem much happier. That's what the journey is. And the rooftop… I didn't really know that the rooftop performance made up four tracks on the album. I should know this stuff; people find it surprising that I'm on the same journey as the people I'm doing the records for. … But they obviously played really well, and they knew they played really well. … I think when you look at like the famous flare-up between George and Paul, where George says, “I’ll play what you want, or I won’t play at all -- whatever pleases you”… I mean, I was in a band — we had much worse flare-ups than that. In all honesty, it’s not that bad.
Not the harshest thing anyone in a band ever said to another member.
Yeah. I mean, they do talk about their impending divorce, but in a kind of jovial way. They're very much aware of what the Beatles are. They still are, Paul and Ringo. –Like all those hugely successful artists, they're very aware of their own position in the psyche. And I think Paul says, “Once daddy left” — talking about Brian Epstein — “we’re not the same.” And it's true, they weren’t the same.
There’s that extended part of the “Let It Be” story that, as you say, isn’t covered in the new film, but is part of the boxed set, which is the involvement of Phil Spector as the album gets finished. In your liner notes essay for the new set, you make a good point, which is basically that there were, like, four producers on the album. There's your dad. There's Phil Spector, later on. There’s Glyn Johns in the early stages, sort of acting in that role, even though, as engineer, producer is not his title. And then, you say, there’s a sense with the “Let It Be” project in which the Beatles were ultimately producing themselves.
Certainly when it comes to the three producers, as it were, they have very, very different approaches to production. I mean, they're all brilliant. My dad was a blueprint man. The biggest argument I ever had with my dad was… Do you know what Pimm's is? It’s an English drink where you mix lemonade with this thing called Pimm’s. Anyway, I didn't measure out properly how to put it together. I thought it was too strong and needed more lemonade. Well, he just lost it. And that was my dad. He liked things to be organized. Which is a funny thing, because the White Album and “Let It Be” were not, but “Abbey Road” is.
And Glyn Johns is an engineer-producer, but very, very good. Ethan Johns, who is his son, as you may know, told me that the advice his dad gave to him was, “When the hair stands up on the back of your arm, you've got a good take.” It's like an instinctive thing, opposed to my dad being much more organized.
And Phil Spector was Phil Spector. He wanted to mold an artist into his own vision. That was Phil Spector.
And so when mixing “Let It Be,” you have to bear that in mind. You're trying to get some unification to it, to have a cohesive album. I had to say to Paul, “We're going to mix the album, and we’re going to mix it with all the stuff you didn't like on it.” And he goes, “That's fair enough. It's on it.” You know, they did “Let It Be… Naked” (a stripped-down version of the album, released in 2003, instigated by McCartney to correct Spector’s perceived excesses). … We mix these things, and people don’t really care. Fans don’t really care when things were done or how they were done. They just want to listen to some music, to try to unify everything together.
What do you think your brief was, in doing a remix on “Let It Be”? Because going back to the first full-album remix you did with “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” it was said to be partly to clear up the mono/stereo differences. When you're getting at this point in the game…
Well, no one actually gives me a brief. I had to give myself a brief. My brief was almost, as I say, to unify the tone of the album. You have the rooftop; you have the Apple (headquarters) recordings; you have overdubs. You have “Across the Universe,” which was recorded separately before everything else (in 1968), and you have “I Me Mine,” which was recorded separately after everything else. (After “Abbey Road” was released, three of the Beatles reconvened — without Lennon — in the first days of 1970 just to get a proper studio version of “I Me Mine,” which turned out to be their final recording.) And my job was to just approach it like it's all done at the same time, it's all the same record, and it should sound all part of the same record.
It shouldn't sound like it's fragmented. So that was my brief, to a certain extent, to try and make the Phil Spector overdubs feel like that they were done at the same time as the rest of the band. Which I think on the original they don't, really; they sound like they’ve been added on, to a certain degree. So it's more harmonious — more homogeneous, I suppose, if that’s the right word.
I was wondering if you might have toned down what some people would consider Phil Spector’s over-production on “Let It Be” or “The Long and Winding Road.” It seemed like you might've, just a little bit, but everything is still there.
Yeah, not really. I think maybe it's less intrusive in its sound, the Phil Spector stuff... The intent is just to treat it like an album, as opposed to the way it was constructed, under a cloud, by Allen Klein getting Phil Spector in and Paul McCartney not knowing and all this sort of stuff. To forget about all of that … It's funny. People sort of perceive “Let It Be” as not the best Beatles record. Which it probably isn't. But you think about it: It has “Let It Be” on it, which is one of the most listened-to Beatles songs of all time. It has “Get Back,” it has “Across the Universe,” it has “The Long and Winding Road.” And I like songs like “Dig a Pony,” actually. And then people talk about it being the breakup of the Beatles. Well, why would they write “Two of Us” if it was the breakup of the Beatles — the breakup of John and Paul?
Was there any thought of using the pre-Spector, more stripped-down versions of the songs as a starting point for the new remix, rather than sticking faithfully to the familiar 1970 version as the basis of it?
Well, yeah, that's what I talked to Paul about at Abbey Road. … I wasn't involved in “Let It Be… Naked.” It was around the time I was doing “Love,” at the same time, or it might've been just before, I don't know. But I wasn't involved in “Let It Be… Naked,” which I think (included) alternate takes as well. No, it wouldn't have made sense.
Because we’ve been on this journey -- almost by accident, without any planning, in a classic Beatles way. “Sgt. Pepper’s” came up (as a prospect for a remix and boxed set). I didn't really want to do it. I thought, well, why are we doing this? And then I said to the Beatles, “Let’s do three or four mixes and see what it sounds like.” it sounded good and valid, and so we ended up doing it. And then the White Album came along and there were the Esher demos we found and all that kind of stuff, and you go, okay, let's do that. And then “Abbey Road”… And so it wouldn't have made sense to try to rewrite history.
You know, the “Let It Be” album is the “Let It Be” album. It was released, and lots of people like it. I like it. I don't have a problem with the Phil Spector stuff, personally. … Yeah, it does change. And it's interesting hearing “Across the Universe” without the ADT-ing on John's voice, without the Phil Spector stuff — it just sounds like a folk song! It sounds completely different. But I don't have any gripes about (the album as first released). It wouldn't have made any sense for us to do that. That was not what we’re trying to do.
This boxed set marks the first authorized release of the early version of the album that Glyn Johns put together, when it was still going to be called “Get Back” and be a back-to-basics album. What do you think of the Glyn Johns vision of the album?
Well, I think Glyn provided the Beatles with what they wanted — and then when they got it, they didn't really want it. The Glyn Johns album is a representation of what they did at that time. I think what they did at that time wasn’t at the level they hoped it would be. …. I think Glyn made a fine album with what he had, because they were going, “We don't want any overdubs. We want it to be live, and this is what it should be.” I'm pleased it's on there, because it's one of those things that a lot of people know about and a lot of people have… It has been bootlegged, but I think in a bad version. … And also, that helps tell the story, because that's what triggered Allen Klein to go, “Listen, let's go and get Phil Spector and he can finish it.”
It’s really enjoyable as an alternate-universe version of the album. But if had come out in that form in 1969, there would have been a big sense of disappointment, even though it's fun.
Yeah, I really enjoy it. It sounds cool. It's very Glyn Johns. What Glyn is brilliant at is capturing the spirit of live performance on a record. That's why the Who is so good. (Johns went on to engineer, produce or co-produce all the Who’s ‘70s and early ‘80s albums.) He's very good with vibe. I mean, he looks like Austin Powers through half of the film.
One last question. There are people who insist a transformative remix couldn’t be done on the pre-4-track Beatles albums because of so many elements being blended into the two basic tracks. But of course, Beatles fans do speculate pretty much across the board: Is there an opportunity to do something with “Revolver” and “Rubber Soul,” now that you've gone through the Beatles’ timeline from “Sgt. Pepper” forward?
I think there is. I think we have to do it, and I’ve said this before… If you take something like “Taxman” from “Revolver” , “Taxman” is guitar, bass and drums on one track, and vocals and a sort of shaking and guitar solo (on the right). And it sounds good; they’re amazing recordings, and amazing mixes. You know, we have to look into what technology we can do to make things de-mixed and all this kind of stuff, which I'm looking into. So I'm looking for the technology to do it with, to do something really innovative with “Rubber Soul” and “Revolver,” as opposed to just a remastering job, because it's been remastered already. So I think we will. I think we also will look at outtakes as well.
There’s such an overwhelming desire to do something with them, by fans. And at the same time, there's the thing in the back of your mind: There’s no point in just doing this to make money or as a sales thing, or because we'd done the others. It's more important that we do it for the right reason. So there’s your answer: yes. If, the same as “Sgt. Pepper,” I can find a reason to do it, then yes. An actual experience reason to do it, as opposed to just because we've done it.
But you do think it'll be possible to do something, sooner or later, even with the difficulty of untangling those limited tracks?
Yeah, I think we're getting there with technology. I think we are. I'm not doing it at the moment, though, I can tell you that much. But hopefully. So, yeah — watch this space.
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太好了，终于找到宝藏论坛了！ 感谢分享，下载收藏了。最喜欢高清纪录片了。
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