imagine the raw studio mixes

Record Store Day 2019
Imagine — Raw Studio Mixes will be pressed on Limited Edition audiophile grade 180 gram black vinyl.
Available this Record Store Day, 13th April 2019.
Experience the moment John and The Plastic Ono Band record each song, raw and live, from a sonic soundstage at the centre of Ascot Sound Studios at John & Yoko’s home in Tittenhurst. The tracks are devoid of effects (reverb, tape delays, etc.) offering a unique, unparalleled insight & an alternate take on the record. These mixes have been pressed in the original album sequence appearing for the first time on vinyl.
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Tracklisting:
Side A
- Imagine – Take 10
- Crippled Inside – Take 6
- Jealous Guy – Take 29
- It’s So Hard – Take 11
- I Don’t Wanna Be A Soldier Mama
I Don’t Wanna Die
– Take 4, Extended
I Don’t Wanna Die
– Take 4, Extended
Side B
- Gimme Some Truth
– Take 4, Extended
- Oh My Love – Take 20
- How Do You Sleep?
– Take 11, Extended
- How? – Take 40
- Oh Yoko!
– Take 1, Extended
– Take 4, Extended
– Take 11, Extended
– Take 1, Extended
Live at the centre of Ascot Sound Studios
• Original Recordings Produced by John & Yoko and Phil Spector
• 2016-2018 Remixes Produced by Yoko Ono
• Mixed by Rob Stevens
• Mix Engineer: Paul Goodrich at Merlin Studios
• Mastered by Ryan Smith at Sterling Sound, New York & Nashville
• Compilation Producer & Production Manager: Simon Hilton
Recording ‘How Do You Sleep?’ – George Harrison (electric guitar), Ted Turner and
Rod Lynton (twelve-string acoustic guitars), Klaus Voorman (bass), Alan White (drums),
John Lennon (electric guitar and vocals), Nicky Hopkins (wurlitzer electric piano),
John Tout (upright piano), Ascot Sound Studios, 26 May 1971.
From the book Imagine John Yoko
Before the strings and the saxophone, before the brilliant application of sound shaping techniques that were used to produce the iconic album, there were the original, unadorned performances that were the foundation of the Imagine album. So Yoko and I set to work, mixing versions of the Imagine album and select out-takes in a way that’s being presented as ‘Raw’.
John is directly in front of the listener, and the imperfections are chillingly perfect; the flaws flawless. John’s voice, which in the height of irony, he himself wasn’t fond of and often sought to mask with the above-mentioned reverbs and delays, is both ferocious and painfully vulnerable, at times within the same composition. The intention was to separate the players, even in stereo, as much as possible in order to hear the performances without them being part of the eventual wall of sound. We intentionally left in the buzz of amps and other imperfections that the musicians would have heard in the room. The album was recorded in what was, essentially, a makeshift home studio, so there is extraneous noise and requests like, ‘all quiet in the kitchen, please.’ It was an intensely intimate setting, and as a result, at times there will be, say, drum leakage on John’s vocal mic. Our reaction to that, while mixing, was ‘Great! This is what happened!’ There’s also the the ‘pre and post roll’ chatter before and after most of the takes.
Stripped down, the songs and performances are put into sharp focus: Listening to ‘Gimme Some Truth’ with no slap echo on the voice, you can feel the froth coming out of John’s mouth. The song could have been written and recorded this morning. On some of John’s guide vocals, say ‘How Do You Sleep? (takes 5 and 6)’, the outtake vocal is arguably more effective than the final version. If one takes the Raw Studio Mix of ‘I Don’t Wanna Be A Soldier Mama I Don’t Wanna Die’ and lines it up with the Ultimate Mix of the song, then switches back and forth between the two, there’s no better demonstration of how the vitality of a live performance can be turned into a masterful record that feels very little like that of the original performance.
Text and music from Imagine The Ultimate Collection
Video and video stills from Imagine/Gimme Some Truth BluRay/DVD