Beatles Sgt. Pepper Quad??

bizmopeen · Aug 7, 2003

I’m not sure if this is the forum to post this in, but I’ve been curious about this for a long time and figured this would be an interesting discussion.

I remember reading in an old issue of the 910 (devoted to the minutae of Beatles recordings for “Beatards” such as myself. The name refers to “One After 909”. Geddit?) and in passing they mentioned the legendary shelved quad mix of “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” slated for CD-4 release back in the ‘70s. Apparently at least one LP test pressing and one Q8 made it out to a member of the general public through a Capitol executive, but the person who has it now was never going to let it be heard by the general public…

Can anyone confirm this? Have there been any other similar stories/rumors out there? Is there any way we can find this person and make them listen to old Pauly Shore comedy routines until they give in and send what they have to Tab for archiving?

deepsky4565 · Aug 7, 2003

Its been a tantalizing rumor for years. It was talked about in the late 70's as a quad release, but no official announcements were made. It was pointed out that in the MFSL LP box, the tape box for Sgt Pepper stereo master lists a use for a "quad mix". This could mean it was just a fake quad from the stereo master, or it may have been used as a comparison to a true quad made from the multitracks. Over at the Steve Hoffman forum this came up a short time ago. I'd suggest reading the entire thread http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=15670. The upshot is Steve claims that Geoff (presumably Emerick) made a true quad mix in the 70's and that copies did get out, but only with industry professionals. They don't seem like the type that will freely let it out.

I have high hopes that a true 5.1 modern remix will see the light of day in the next few years. The Anthology mixes shows this is possible, and was permitted by the powers that control this stuff, so I don't think its far fetched. It has been strongly suggested that Abbey Road will be remixed by Elliot Scheiner in the near future.

Those two albums would be great in an aggressive surround mix!!!

deepsky4565 · Aug 8, 2003

I downloaded this title, and its not bad. The first track sounds lifted from the Yellow Submarine DD track. The rest of the album sounds no better than a pretty good matrix decoder would give to me. His latest project leaves my head scratching, Abbey Road in MONO! I think he's been hanging around Hoffman's site too much. OOH its not a simple fold down though! Seems like a waste of his time as well as ours. His Mixing Impossible disc and Beatles Remixes discs show he has a talent for rearranging mixes, but I think he is getting lazy now. Sorry for the tangent here. Hopefully will show Capitol the hunger for the real deal.

MMM · Oct 5, 2003

deepsky4565 said:
His latest project leaves my head scratching, Abbey Road in MONO! I think he's been hanging around Hoffman's site too much.

What's that supposed to mean?

JonUrban · Oct 5, 2003

I got a copy of the Mirror Spock Sgt Pepper. It was interesting to say the least, but no where near the quality of the DVD-V anthology tracks (obviously).

As Dan said, Steve Hoffman has said that he has heard and had in his possesion the original '70s quad mix of Sgt Pepper. From what I can gather, Steve is not a big proponent of surround sound, and he sort of gave a "thumbs down" to the listening experience of Sgt Pepper in 4 channel.

There must have been a lot of separation in it!

Gee, I think I would have loved it!!!!

bizmopeen · Oct 7, 2003

JonUrban said:
I got a copy of the Mirror Spock Sgt Pepper. It was interesting to say the least, but no where near the quality of the DVD-V anthology tracks (obviously).

As Dan said, Steve Hoffman has said that he has heard and had in his possesion the original '70s quad mix of Sgt Pepper. From what I can gather, Steve is not a big proponent of surround sound, and he sort of gave a "thumbs down" to the listening experience of Sgt Pepper in 4 channel.

There must have been a lot of separation in it!

Gee, I think I would have loved it!!!!

I think we all would have. And still would!

A man can dream, can't he?...