From: dmaclaug@agsm.ucla.edu (saki)
Subject: Re: The Old Mixmaster
Summary: Which George Was It?
Organization: UCLA, Anderson Graduate School Of Management
Date: 27 Jul 92 21:21:47 PDT

In article <1992Jul24.193320.14902@rice.edu> edc@dawn.cs.rice.edu (Edward Chen) writes:
>In article <7119987467177@c00015-118dan.eos.ncsu.edu> jcsmith@eos.ncsu.edu (Jay C. Smith) writes:
>>I distinctly remember a possibly apocryphal story of how George Harrison
>>heard Capitol's mix of The Beatles (the white album) while he was visiting
>>the US before its release.  He thought Capitol had really mucked it up,
>>and aided in remixing performed at the last minute by Capitol.... 

>That story is indeed one of those pesky "Beatles urban legends", that
>gets re-circulated from time to time (and has even made it into a
>few bios of the quiet one).   It never ceases to amaze me, since the
>timeframe usually indicated is *weeks* prior to release.  Such a remixing
>of the entire record would mean new masters would need to be pressed (etc),
>delaying the final release by several *months*.  Further, the idea of George
>deciding the mix on JOHN and PAUL's songs was abysmal is absolutely
>ludicrous....	  

It does sound a bit odd that George Harrison of Speke would be trusted
with the task of remixing such a monumental work as "The White Album"
(even if he *was* one of the Fabs). Whence would have come George's
sudden talent for engineering work? His arrangements were beginning
to really shine at this period in Beatles history, but actual board-
work on this album is not credited to Harrison, to my knowledge. On
the other hand, in terms of chronology, George *was* in Los Angeles
to continue overseeing production for Jackie Lomax, his musical
protege, in mid-October 1968; the White Album (so-called) wasn't
released in England till November 22, in the US on November 25 of
that year. Could he have fiddled with the White Album tapes a month
before their release in Los Angeles? Or as Mr. Chen suggests, isn't
that a bit too tight a turnaround?

I wonder whether this "urban legend" didn't arise from the story
George *Martin* tells (in "All You Need Is Ears", p. 146) about
remixing the compilation album "Rock and Roll Music", when he
himself was visiting L.A. in 1976? Is there a confusion afoot?
Martin recalls spending several days redubbing, filtering, and
cleaning up mixes, despite the fact that he didn't work for EMI
anymore, nor for the ex-Beatles...apparently no one could get
ahold of the ex-Fabs to ask for their input. Martin says "At least
the record [Rock and Roll Music] went out in America in its modified
form, so that it was acceptable, but I have a nasty feeling that it
went out in England in the original version, which is horrifying"
("Ears", p. 147). 

Could this be the source of the mixed-up Georges? Or does the
Harrison/White Album legend have more basis in fact than is
evident?

BTW, before anyone asks, "Rock and Roll Music" is *not* available
on CD; it was a collection of earlier Beatles work repackaged
rather crassly. You're all lucky it's out of print. :-)

--
"Modern music is, however, the groups' delight, and as if to prove the
point, John and Paul have written over 50 tunes, ballads & faster
numbers, during the last three years!"_________________________________
                                        saki (dmaclaug@agsm.ucla.edu)
Newsgroups: rec.music.beatles