Christmas came early for Beatles fans this year. We’re talking about the 9th day of the 9th month of the 9th year of the 21st century, September 9th, 2009. The most impressive exhibition yet of the Beatles’ original intent in the studio, the release on that date of The Beatles In Mono is the ultimate realization of their historic studio canon. Out of sheer need and necessity sometime around ‘99 or so, Beatles diehards began locating some pretty interesting CDR and sometimes even CD bootlegs of the entire Beatles mono catalog, that was pretty impressively transferred via mostly those famous Japanese EMI red vinyl mono records Beatles collectors hoarded in the late ‘80s. Well the bootleggers are finished now because The Beatles In Mono finally sets the record straight on the group’s definitive mono masters as remastered for CD in 2009. No less an authority than Beatlesologist and author Bruce Spizer told me that one of the most respected Beatles bootleggers, after hearing The Beatles In Mono, said he would finally close his illicit business down. Including the first ten Beatles albums, each restored with magnificent details and impeccable newly remastered mono sound, the 13 CD box set also includes a double CD set of the group’s famous Past Masters albums, containing mono mix singles and Ep tracks that didn’t appear on their Lp’s. All of this makes The Beatles In Mono a most special sight to behold indeed. A 44 page booklet, featuring liner notes by Kevin Howlett, is the ultimate proof as to why the Beatles always mixed their albums in mono first, then split the studio basically leaving the stereo mixes in the hands of well respected Beatles producer George Martin and engineer Norman “Hurricane” Smith, the Abbey Road engineering genius turned pop singer who was more than a little responsible for the sound of some of the greatest music ever made. The spirit of John Lennon runs rampant throughout this incredible sounding first ever mono Beatles box. As these pristine and quite easy on the ears Beatles mono mix CDs point out, moving on half a century later, Lennon’s musical genius hasn’t diminished one iota in the 29 years since his killing. Politics aside for a second, lets and hope and pray that The Beatles In Mono continues to honor John Lennon and The Beatles in the years to come, all the while signaling the ascent of a new world order of peace and prosperity through the miracle of music. www.TheBeatles.com

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