Please Please Me

[nyfan(41)]

alexis, it seems to be the same take for stereo and mono - you can tell by comparing subtle nuances in the vocal
it's just that the one 'flubbed' part was covered with a 'band aid' for the mono

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there's actually a really good book on this topic called "Please Please Me; The Last 35 Seconds {What Went Wrong}"
chapter four uncovers alot of speculation that a fly in the studio had landed on john lennon's nose while he sang that part. the rest, of course, is music history

[peterbell1]

there's actually a really good book on this topic called "Please Please Me; The Last 35 Seconds {What Went Wrong}"
chapter four uncovers alot of speculation that a fly in the studio had landed on john lennon's nose while he sang that part. the rest, of course, is music history

That's a great book - they have interviews with Lennon, McCartney, AND the fly.

As a Beatles reference book it's right up there with "Across The Universe - The Beatles In Space: A Study of The Fab Four's Intergalactic Travels".

[alexis]

alexis, it seems to be the same take for stereo and mono - you can tell by comparing subtle nuances in the vocal
it's just that the one 'flubbed' part was covered with a 'band aid' for the mono

------------------------------------------------
there's actually a really good book on this topic called "Please Please Me; The Last 35 Seconds {What Went Wrong}"
chapter four uncovers alot of speculation that a fly in the studio had landed on john lennon's nose while he sang that part. the rest, of course, is music history

Hi nyfan41 - thanks for the reference!

Even though another take can be spliced in for just even a word or two, I have a feeling that you are right, that this isn't the explanation for the differences in John's vocal between the mono version (no mistake) and stereo version (vocal flub).  If that were the case, since the mono would have been the 1st one to be worked on, it's hard to imagine why they would use a "worse" take when putting together the stereo version - they already had a good take from the mono version!  Unless they were just in such a hurry, and put so little work into the stereo version that they just grabbed the most available take to use.

I've heard that the stereo versions were afterthoughts way back then, but that would be a bit much.

[nyfan(41)]

found this on another site regarding the recording of p.p.m.

26th November 1962 in 18 takes
(A slower version was recorded 11th September 1962, but erased)
Final mix - mono was one single take, whereas stereo was takes 16/17/18 edited

. . . The Beatles FIRST official L.P. release
For the ONLY time, the mono version was issued 6 weeks BEFORE the stereo version . . .


not sure about the accuracy of this info because it says the slow version was erased and everyone's heard the slow version on anthology
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this is alot of attention paid to a small detail. on the other hand - it's one of their best songs, so why not

[peterbell1]

Thanks to our friends at Google I found this page ....

http://www.norwegianwood.org/beatles/disko/uklp/please.htm

... which contains the following info:

Please Please Me

basic recording- 26 Nov 1962
additional recording- 26 Nov 1962
master tape- twintrack 2d generation

mono mixed: 26 Nov 1962. edited.

stereo mixed: 25 Feb 1963. edited.


Please Please Me (mono) and (stereo) were made from different takes, although the five sections of harmonica are the same on both. The harmonica overdubbing was only done once.

The stereo version has the famous collision in verse 3 on "You know you never even try"/"Why do I never even try", followed by the laugh on "Come on come on". Some have explained this difference by saying the mistake was repaired for the mono version by editing in a replacement for just this section. However, the two versions have differences all the way through, so they must be two different complete takes. For example, in verse 1, compare the sound of the word "try" in the second line, and in the bridge, compare "reason with you, oh yeah" in the stereo version against "reason with you, whoa oh yeah" in the mono version. John's voice is rougher all the way through the mono take.

In stereo, the harmonica appears in the right channel, the same as the vocal. During the first 4 segments, which occur between vocal lines, the bass guitar sound also comes way up on the right, and the whole ambience changes much more than in mono. During the last segment, which overlays vocals, the harmonica is less audible than in the mono mix, which is puzzling.

Lewisohn reports in Recording Sessions that the mono mix was from "unknown takes", meaning he saw no studio documentation for takes. The easiest explanation is to suppose that the mixing information was already missing in February 1963 and that it led to the staff accidentally editing the pieces into the wrong take when they did the stereo mix, three months after the mono. The changes in ambience therefore are the difference between two takes.

David Prokopy on r.m.b. has proposed that a tape reel was lost, so that the harmonica survived only on the mono mix itself, and that therefore the stereo mix was made by synchronizing the mono mix with an alternate take. This explains why the first 4 segments don't have just the harmonica by itself on the right, but have bass and some of the other sound as well (i.e. the right channel is a processed version of the mono mix), and why the last harmonica segment is at lower volume, namely to hide that it doesn't really match. The last particularly would mean they were deliberately using a different take for want of the correct one.

So there's two suggested answers there:

1. The two versions of PPM are different takes, with the same harmonica overdub added to both.
2. The stereo version was created by synching the mono take with another, different, take.

[nyfan(41)]

i don't believe they are completely diferent vocal takes as i mentioned in my post with the two videos.
compare them side by side using the pause button -
the mono version at 1:40
and the stereo version at 1:12

john is minutely flat on the word "hard" (from "hard to reason with you") in both versions to an identical degree and i can't believe they are different takes

i also can't believe one of my favorite songs is proving to be a frankenstein hybrid of lies and studio trickery ! !
(^^ nah, just kidding about that part)

[alexis]

i don't believe they are completely diferent vocal takes as i mentioned in my post with the two videos.
compare them side by side using the pause button -
the mono version at 1:40
and the stereo version at 1:12

john is minutely flat on the word "hard" (from "hard to reason with you") in both versions to an identical degree and i can't believe they are different takes

i also can't believe one of my favorite songs is proving to be a frankenstein hybrid of lies and studio trickery ! !
(^^ nah, just kidding about that part)

Hi NYfan41 - I think almost every song is an amalgam of different takes ... Lewisohn illustrates this a lot, it's a common studio/engineering/production technique.

Doesn't make it any less of a great song though!

[Hello Goodbye]

I think almost every song is an amalgam of different takes ... Lewisohn illustrates this a lot, it's a common studio/engineering/production technique.

Doesn't make it any less of a great song though!

I agree, alexis.  I've never cared to dissect the studio productions of The Beatles' early songs.  The "Alternate" series of Beatles albums on the Pear label demonstrate how their songs were put together utilizing different takes.

Fortunately, we have live performances of their early catalog for comparison. 

[Hello Goodbye]

Paul can still make girls scream...and cry...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3NTVkHwD5I#


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MWVo1fjRsQ#

[Normandie]

Paul can still make girls scream...and cry...

Nice to see that there are young fans as well as older ones.