3CD+blu-ray box • 3LP vinyl • 2CD deluxe • vinyl picture disc • 5.1 & Dolby Atmos surround mixes • Two discs of outtakes in both CD and vinyl sets
The Beatles‘ 1969 album Abbey Road will be reissued for its 50th anniversary in September. All six physical formats offer a brand new Giles Martin (& Sam Okell) stereo mix and for the first time all the bonus sessions are available on vinyl and CD. Full format details below…
The 3CD+blu-ray super deluxe edition delivers Giles Martin’s new stereo mix on CD 1 with two further CDs of outtakes and unreleased rarities (‘sessions’). A blu-ray audio is the fourth and final disc and it delivers two separate surround sound mixes – a standard 5.1 and a Dolby Atmos mix (along with a hi-res stereo version of the new Giles Martin stereo mix).
The super deluxe is packaged as a 100-page hardcover book which slots into an outer slip case. The volume features chapters written by Beatles historian Kevin Howlett, track-by-track details and session notes, the cover art and photo shoot, and the album’s reception upon its release; plus an essay by music journalist and author David Hepworth looking at the album’s influence through 50 years. The book is illustrated with rare and previously unpublished photographs (including many by Linda McCartney) plus images of handwritten lyrics, sketches, Beatles correspondence, recording sheets, and tape boxes; and reproduced original print ads. Unlike The White Album package, this is a square 12″ x 12″ set.
As well as the standard vinyl LP of the album remix, a 3LP vinyl box is offered which includes all the sessions (from the two CDs in the super deluxe) in their entirety. A 12-inch vinyl picture disc is the third vinyl option available.
Additionally, a 2CD deluxe edition offers the new stereo mix on CD 1 with an alternate version of the album (drawn from the sessions) on disc two. A single CD with the stereo mix of the album will also be issued.
Abbey Road was recorded in 1969 after Let It Be, although as is now reasonably well known, the album was actually released seven months before Let It Be, on 26 September 1969 (largely because no one could face the arduous task of going through those Let It Be tapes and trying to salvage an album out of them).
Incredibly, work on songs that would end up on Abbey Road started just three weeks after the Let It Be sessions finished at 3 Saville Row. The fact that one-time ‘fifth Beatle’, Billy Preston, was still around for the recording of ‘I Want You (She’s So Heavy)‘ – in Trident Studios – underlines that fact. A different take of this song, with Billy letting loose at the end, is one of the outtakes included in the super deluxe and 3LP vinyl.
Other bonus material of interest (let’s face it, it’s ALL of interest) includes Take 7 of the non-album track ‘The Ballad Of John And Yoko‘ – The Beatles’ last UK number one (and the only one to feature just John Lennon and Paul McCartney playing on it) – and an alternate reading of that song’s B-side, the George Harrison composition ‘Old Brown Shoe‘.