Las Vegas Sun

November 29, 2009

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Dennis Mitchell fires off six reasons he loves the (new) music of The Beatles

Sam Morris

Dennis Mitchell is at home with The Beatles.

Upon release of The Beatles’ remastered original albums yesterday, I asked the city’s foremost expert on Beatles music, Beatles history and Beatles trivia, “Breakfast With The Beatles” host and 963 Classic Rock Web site co-founder Dennis Mitchell, to list his highlights, so far, of the enlivened material. Mitchell, who started The Beatles radio show in 1991, hasn’t worked through all 14 CDs yet, but here are his top six highlights:

1. “Sgt. Pepper” in mono: “It shines. Every single noise is discernable and appreciable. You can't help but relive how you felt the first time you heard it.”

2. Ringo's parts, stereo and mono. “You find yourself paying more attention to them and appreciating the sum of all parts more.”

3. The closeness of the vocals, particularly in mono. “The one many have pointed to is the destruction of John's vocal cords on ‘Twist and Shout,’ but you'll feel like you're sitting next to Paul for ‘Yesterday’ and ‘I Will’ and really feel it for ‘Helter Skelter,’ especially in mono. Same with John on ‘Girl.’ ”

4. “The White Album” in mono. “An adventure for those who haven't heard it before, a thrill for those of us who have, but only by way of lower-level imports.”

5. The packaging. “The material is lovingly done and actually enhances some of the original album art with new photos and a separable book with each stereo CD.”

6. Nostalgia. “It’s just a great excuse to re-absorb this music and let it have the same effect on us once again.”

Follow John Katsilometes on Twitter at twitter.com/JohnnyKats.

Discussion: 8 comments so far...

  1. 7. To re-live the moment's when The Beatle's were guests on My Mother The Car. But they should have used The Scintas's - Las Vegas's greatest entertainer's.

    spoRt's!

  2. We forget that the Beatles recorded in stereo and mixed to mono. They only mixed in mono (other engineers were left to do the stereo mix, but no Beatles took part) so mono is the way to hear it the way the Beatles meant it to be heard. When I was a teenager in those years, we were so excited about stereo and "separation" that we forgot about the sonic sense that mono made. I will buy this just to hear these versions cleaned up. My mono records were all scratched!

  3. Go see THE FAB !!

  4. what Dennis said.....

  5. Ravoli-Sad attempt at trying to be funny.
    Spock- Yes the Fab is a nice Beatle tribute band. Always a good time for a Beatles fan.

  6. Logic: Then you've never heard The Scintas's cover of Octopuss's Garden!

    spORt's!

  7. Zzzzzz

  8. See a funny article about the missing gems on the remastered series of The Beatles @ http://www.thelintscreen.com

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