Golden Slumbers & The Smiley-Faced EQ

 

The Beatles - Abbey Road [MFSL 1-023 USA 1980 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC]

Originally released on Apple Records in 1969.

Cut at half-speed from allegedly an EQ'd American safety copy by Stan Ricker, the Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab Beatles reissues have proved to be somewhat controversial. I won't go into a lot of detail because this version of The Beatles eleventh studio album is wrapped in veil of forgetfulness and denial. After all, how can an American safety copy of the original master be deemed as an Original Master Recording. There was a very expensive MOFI boxed set a few years later which was 'allegedly' cut from the original UK masters.

I was intrigued by the story (and its many versions) but what we do know is that this pressing was made in Japan onto super quiet JVC opaque vinyl. Stan Ricker's MOFI remaster is not just EQ'd, I understand he also applied some compression.The playback when I ripped this album a few days ago was incredibly quiet, so after applying a few more notches in the db, expect to hear this album totally differently to the wider known releases with plenty of emphasis on the lower end with occasional sparkling highs.

You can still pick this album quite cheaply these days - mine came from a well known large store in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco last summer for not much more than forty dollars and was probably worth the investment.

It certainly sounds different!

A1 Come Together

A2 Something

A3 Maxwell's Silver Hammer

A4 Oh! Darling

A5 Octopus's Garden

A6 I Want You (She's So Heavy)

B1 Here Comes The Sun

B2 Because

B3 You Never Give Me Your Money

B4 Sun King

B5 Mean Mr. Mustard

B6 Polythene Pam

B7 She Came In Through The Bathroom Window

B8 Golden Slumbers

B9 Carry That Weight

B10 The End

B11 Her Majesty