THE BEATLES
Abracadabra: A Hard Day's Night
Lord Reith Stereo Remix
1 Can't Buy Me Love [single mix in stereo]
2 A Hard Day's Night
3 I Should Have Known Better
4 If I Fell
5 I'm Happy Just To Dance With You
6 And I Love Her
7 Tell Me Why
8 Can't Buy Me Love
9 Anytime At All
10 I'll Cry Instead
11 Things We Said Today
12 When I Get Home
13 You Can't Do That
14 I'll Be Back
15 Long Tall Sally
16 I Call Your Name
17 Slow Down
18 Matchbox
19 Komm Gib Mir Deine Hand
20 Sie Liebt Dich
21 Can't Buy Me Love [take 2]
22 Can't Buy Me Love [take 3]
23 Can't Buy Me Love [take 4 first vocal only]
24 Can't Buy Me Love [second vocal only]
25 I Should Have Known Better [first vocal only]
26 Anytime At All [first vocal only]
27 And I Love Her [take 2]
28 I'll Be Back [take 3]
29 Long Tall Sally [no piano]
Here is a more detailed rundown of the contents:
1 Can't Buy Me Love (single mix in stereo)
The mono single has some extra drumming. Since it is not present on any mix ever made after that point and is not even to be heard on the Rockband stems, one can only assume it was added live as the song was being mixed to mono. This overdub took the form of an open hi-hat cymbal playing crotchets (that's "quarter notes" in American parlance) through most of the song. Who exactly played this isn't known for certain, but it might have been balance engineer Norman Smith who is supposed to have been a drummer (assuming he was in the Musician's Union, which he may not have been, so it could have been a session drummer). In this instance I have simply subtracted the mono mix from a fold down of the stereo mix, leaving the bare cymbal. I then added this cymbal part to the standard stereo mix (in the centre). It begins at 0'09" and ends at 1'57" I also reduced the vocal reverb to mirror the sound of the mono mix.
2 A Hard Day's Night
John and George's live electric guitars remain on the left; drums and bass moved from left to centre; vocals panned in narrow stereo; acoustic guitar, bongos, cowbell, piano and 12 string electric guitar remain on right.
3 I Should Have Known Better
John's acoustic guitar remains on left; drums and bass moved from left to centre; vocals panned in narrow stereo; 12 string electric and harmonica remain on right.
4 If I Fell
John's acoustic guitar remains on left; drums and bass moved from left to centre; vocals remain in centre; 12 string electric remains on right. There is also a brief 12 string overdub in the centre at 0'38"
5 I'm Happy Just To Dance With You
Drums and bass moved from left to centre; John's electric guitar remains on right; George's first vocal remains in centre; George's second vocal, John and Paul's backing vocals, a large bongo drum and a muted cowbell or woodblock have been moved from centre to left.
6 And I Love Her
John's acoustic guitar remains on left; drums and bongos moved from left to centre; vocals and claves remain in centre; George's Spanish acoustic guitar remains on right.
7 Tell Me Why
John and George's live electric guitars remain on the left; drums and bass moved from left to centre; vocals remain in centre; piano and vocal overdub remain on right.
8 Can't Buy Me Love
John's acoustic guitar remains on left; drums and bass moved from left to centre; vocals remain in centre; on the right are some 12 string electric guitar parts from George and the only logical explanation is that he did them back in the UK because he didn't have that instrument in January. At any rate they are noticeably different from what he played on the other takes in Paris. The guitar solo is not a 12 string, but it is also not the original solo because a different (wiped) solo can be heard in the distance on Paul's isolated vocal track (picked up by his microphone). However he could have overdubbed this solo in Paris. But wait, it's not that simple, because there is also another guitar solo overdub in the centre! Both done in Paris? Both in London? One in Paris, one in London? Take your pick!
9 Anytime At All
John's acoustic guitar and George's 12 string electric guitar remain on left; drums and bass moved from left to centre; vocals panned in narrow stereo; piano remains on right.
10 I'll Cry Instead
George's electric guitar remains on left; drums and bass moved from left to centre; John's first vocal remains in centre; tambourine and John's second vocal moved from right to centre; John's acoustic guitar remains on left. There is a longer version of this song on the United Artists lp but so far it has resisted all my attempts to demix it.
11 Things We Said Today
John's acoustic guitar and George's electric guitar remain on left; drums and bass moved from left to centre; Paul's main vocal remains in centre; piano, tambourine and Paul's vocal overdubs remain on right.
12 When I Get Home
John's electric guitar remains on left; drums and bass moved from left to centre; vocals moved from right to centre and the reverb eased off slightly; George's guitar remains on the right (sort of... it kind of comes from everywhere at once)
13 You Can't Do That
George's 12 string electric remains on the left; bass and drums moved from left to centre; vocals, bongos and cowbell remain in centre; John's guitar remains on right, including his solo.
14 I'll Be Back
Drums and bass moved from left to centre; John's acoustic guitar remains in centre; vocals remain in stereo; George's two acoustic guitar parts remain panned left and right.
15 Long Tall Sally
John and George's electric guitars remain left; bass and drums moved from left to centre; vocals remain centre; piano and extra electric guitar overdub remain on right. Lewisohn says George Martin played the piano live but that is not possible since there is a third guitar on the same track. John plays the first guitar solo.
16 I Call Your Name
John's electric guitar remains on left; bass and drums moved from left to centre; vocals and cowbell remain centre; George's 12 string electric remains on right.
17 Slow Down
John's guitar remains on left; drums and bass moved from left to centre; vocals and George's electric guitar remain centre; piano remains on right. Reverb reduced on John's vocal.
18 Matchbox
John's electric and George's electric 12 string guitar remain on left; bass and drums moved to centre; two of Ringo's vocals remain in centre; piano and guitar overdub remain on right. Ringo's third vocal moved from right to centre. The guitar solo sounds like John on his Ricky again, and indeed he had played it on the BBC version and at the Star Club. In fact it's almost the same guitar solo as You Can't Do That.
19 Komm Gib Mir Deine Hand
In England, George Martin dubbed off two tracks of the I Want To Hold Your Hand 4 track tape onto a separate reel for The Beatles to overdub German vocals in Paris. Left out of the mix were the English vocals and the overdub track with handclaps, extra vocals and the little five note guitar figure. In Paris they added the vocals and then out of necessity redid the handclaps and the guitar figure. Here I have replaced the basic UK track because it is very poor quality, and placed it towards the left, with the vocals and the new guitar figures in the centre and the handclaps on the right.
20 Sie Liebt Dich
There was no twin track mix of She Loves You extant even in 1964, so they had to record a complete performance from scratch. There are noticeable differences in all the parts compared to the English version. Was this a four track recording like Can't Buy Me Love? It seems highly likely, given that it would have made the task of adding the German vocals infinitely simpler. The stereo mix has all the instruments on the left/vocals on the right but that doesn't necessarily mean it was recorded that way, given that the whole Rubber Soul lp was mixed like that. A few years ago an incredibly clean isolation of the lead guitar part (wrongly described as being from She Loves You, which was untrue) turned up in a lecture by Abbey Road staff so it seems very probable to me. Furthermore, in the Anthology tv series a vocal outtake can be heard. I would surmise that if there is a 4 track master then it comprises: rhythm gtr, bass, drums on one track; lead gtr on another; final lead vocal on another; and the unused vocal on another. Here I have done the only thing possible with the stereo mix: move the drums a bit left, put the vocals and bass in the centre and move the two guitars a bit right.
21 Can't Buy Me Love (take 2)
The famous Ultra Rare Trax outtake version that blew so many people sideways in 1988. Here John's acoustic guitar remains on the left; bass and drums are moved from left to centre; Paul's vocal remains centre and John and George's vocals and George's electric guitar remain on the right.
22 Can't Buy Me Love (take 3)
Ditto.
23 Can't Buy Me Love (take 4 first vocal only)
Back to mono! Difficult to do well in stereo so I have presented it like this.
24 Can't Buy Me Love (second vocal only)
Ditto. Paul claimed at the time that CBML was "a two country effort" and that they recorded "the second track" back in the UK. Did he mean this vocal? Or George's 12 string guitar contribution?
25 I Should Have Known Better (first vocal only)
Also in mono because there was no othewr way to do it.
26 Anytime At All (first vocal only)
Again, in mono. There is a word missing in each verse where the two vocals crossed over.
27 And I Love Her (take 2)
Commonly available in mono, here demixed into twin track to enable the vocal to be heard more clearly. A different mix is on Monolonger Vol.8
28 I'll Be Back (take 3)
Unfortunately incomplete but a lovely outtake in full stereo.
29 Long Tall Sally (no piano)
Same as the commercial stereo mix, but with no piano on the right and no reverb on Paul's voice. Go Macca!
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