This week on #askNat, I give my best answer to a question I received a few weeks back from Andrea T. from Wilkes-Barre, PA. Andrea asks:

Over the years, I’ve heard a number of different versions of “Across the Universe.”  Do you know exactly how many versions were recorded by The Beatles?

Officially there are five versions of “Across The Universe” by The Beatles. Here is a list in order of the date they were recorded.

1. Take 2 – Available now on The Beatles Anthology 2, this version includes two guitars, a table harp and a tamboura overlaid with a flanging effect and a superb lead vocal by John. It was recorded on February 3, 1968 and marked “best.”
2. Original mono mix of the master – This is only found on The Beatles Mono Masters double CD that is packaged with the Beatles In Mono box set. Recorded mostly on February 4, 1968 with some overdubs added on February 8, 1968. There were plans for it to be a single but later Paul McCartney’s “Lady Madonna” was chosen instead.
3. Wildlife version – The same take used on the master (take 8) but with bird sound effects added on October 2, 1969 for release on the U.K. charity LP No One’s Gonna Change Our World. George Martin also sped up the pitch a half step from the original key of D. Currently available on The Beatles Past Masters 2-CD set.
4. Stereo remix of take 7 – This version was mixed for release on the CD Let It Be…Naked and pares the song down to John’s vocal and acoustic guitar, some tom-tom from Ringo, and George’s tamboura gliding in at the halfway point. The song fades with a lot of echo.
5. LP version – The mix officially released on the Let It Be album/CD is the one that Phil Spector mixed with orchestration (cellos, violas, more acoustic guitar, violins, trumpets, trombones and harp). Phil also added backing vocals from a choir and slowed down the song from the key of D to C-sharp.

Various versions of "Across The Universe" appears on these (and other) releases

Other versions/bootlegs: While only 5 official releases of this song by The Beatles exist, there are many more accounts out there from bootlegs. Most of the bootlegged versions were sourced from the film rolls that were made during the Get Back Sessions of January 1969. Specifically, in addition to the 5 official versions of the song, there are 29 others in my personal collection (and I don’t claim to have them all!). One interesting alternate mix of the song, known as the ‘Hums Wild’ version, was featured on the BROW back in January (2012). You can check that out here.

Special thanks go out to Andrea for her interesting question!

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Here are some links to Amazon to read more or purchase some of the music related to this post:

1) Let It Be – 2009 remaster of original 1970 release featuring “Across The Universe.”

2) Past Masters – 2009 remaster of original 1988 2-CD collection of non-album tracks by The Beatles, including “Wildlife” version of “Across The Universe.”

3) Let It Be… Naked – 2003 CD with stripped down versions of songs from “Let It Be” including a remixed stereo account of take7 of “Across The Universe.” Bonus CD included with chat from Get Back Sessions.

4) The Beatles Anthology 2 – 2-CD set of out-takes and alternate versions of Beatles songs between 1965-1968, including take 2 of “Across The Universe.”

5) The Beatles Mono Box Set – 2009 13-disc collection of mono recordings by The Beatles, including the original mono mix of “Across The Universe” (previously unreleased).

6) Any of your favorite Beatles-related music: The Beatles, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr.

Visit www.thebeatlesrarity.com for a new Beatles rarity each week, plus lots more!

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Welcome to the Beatles Rarity of the Week. This week’s post is a follow up to an earlier BROW I posted way back in October of 2008, that you can check out here if you like.

The previously referenced post points out that there have been five mixes in the standard Beatles catalog of I’m Only Sleeping. Actually, I should have said there are four, since the mix on the stereo US Yesterday…And Today LP is a fake stereo mix identical to the one on the mono Y&T album.

1. Yesterday…And Today (mono) + Yesterday…And Today (stereo) which had a fake stereo mix – this mix was featured on the Oct. 2008 BROW and never released officially to CD.

2. UK Revolver mono mix – available again recently on the mono remasters box set issued last September.

3. UK Revolver stereo mix – this has been the standard mix since the CD was issued in 1987.

4. Yesterday…And Today (stereo reissue) – around 1973 the stereo Y&T album was upgraded with a newly created stereo mix of I’m Only Sleeping since early issues had ‘fake’ stereo mixes. This version has not been officially released to CD.

All four of these mixes have subtle differences to do with where the backwards guitar overdubs are faded up and down in the mix. Also, the lead guitar is mixed differently throughout the guitar solo and at the end. My earlier post included the mono US Y&T mix (#1 above). Since #2 above was recently issued and #3 above is the standard mix, I have chosen the US stereo 1973 reissued mix (#4) as this week’s BROW. In case you’re interested in comparing, I have charted specifically how these mixes differ below the photo, but, of course, you don’t have to sweat the details just to enjoy the song.

The Beatles, 1966

Note: #4 below is the characteristics for the mix featured in this post. To compare with mono Y&T version (#1), check out the earlier post. To compare with UK stereo Revolver mix (#3), play your Revolver CD. With the mono box set you can compare with your mono Revolver CD (#2).

Verse 1: no backwards guitar on any mix

Verse 2:
#1-no backwards guitar
#3-backwards guitar on “everywhere at such a speed” and “find there’s no need”
#4-backwards guitar on “running everywhere at such a speed” and “till they find there’s no need”
#2-backwards guitar on “where at such a speed” and “there’s no need”

Verse 3:
#1-backwards guitar on “time” and “ceiling”
#3, #4-no backwards guitar
#2-backwards guitar on “staring at the ceiling”

Solo:
#1-guitar continues into words “please don’t” at end of solo
#3, #2-guitar ends at end of solo
#4-guitar fades in 2 bars later, continues into “please”

Verse 4:
no backwards guitar on any mix

End:
#1-guitar starts 4 beats after the last word “sleeping”
all others- guitar starts immediately after last word “sleeping”

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Want to make a suggestion for a future Beatles Rarity of the Week? If so, I will do my best to deliver, so let me hear from you. To browse for ideas, check out this search-able listing of thousands of Beatle-related recordings to choose from. Then let me hear from you here.

Visit www.thebeatlesrarity.com for a new Beatles rarity each week, plus lots more!

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