Short Variations Guide

Joe Brennan's Variation Guide, officially named The Usenet Guide to Beatles Recording Variations is one of the most extensive, detailed and informative documents about The Beatles on the Internet. It points out every variation of every Beatles song, listing the most important records where they can/could be found in the US and UK (and sometimes other countries), and most of the times describing the differences between variations.

Based on Brennan's work, here I list the most important (or, at least, the most noticeable) variations and the records where they can/could be found, including Brazilian ones.

This list doesn't include the Anthology variations.

The Official Variations

These are the songs which had intentional variations, that is, the producers actually wanted to make different versions of the songs. Three of them are songs that Phil Spector re-produced for the album Let It Be. All these variations currently available on CD.

Across The Universe

  1. "Wildlife" version: runs faster than the recording, has backing vocals (by "two young fans"), and had animal sounds overdubbed for the first release of the song, on the charity album No One's Gonna Change Our World issued in 1970 in Britain.
  2. "Spector" version: runs slower than the recording, re-produced by Phil Spector in 1970 for the album Let It Be having some instrumentation removed and orchestra and chorus overdubbed.

Get Back

  1. Single version: only the song, has a coda at the end, edited in after the "woo" at 2:33.
  2. Album version: re-produced by Phil Spector, has studio talk edited at the beginning and instead of coda has ambient noise and talk from the Rooftop session mixed in.

Let It Be

  1. Single version: has less horns and the first taped guitar solo.
  2. Album version: has more horns, cymbal overdubs, a new, different guitar solo and a repeat of the last chorus edited in

Love Me Do

  1. First version: Ringo on drums, no tambourine, released on the first issue of the first Beatles single. The tape was lost in 1962 so the other version replaced it, appearing on all following releases. The original tape was found in 1982 and remastered for CD.
  2. Second version: Andy White on drums, Ringo on tambourine.

Other Variations

Most of these variations can be considered "accidents": the differences were not desired by the producers and appeared because different mixes (usually mono and stereo), weren't done the same way for some reason. Sometimes an improved mix was made later for a compilation, also creating a new variation. Most of the times, only one variation of each song was considered "official" and released on CD.

Curiosity: The original mixes of almost all Beatles songs until 1969 are mono, and the group used to take part in the process; the stereo mixes were usually made later (sometimes years later), without the participation of the group.

A Day In The Life

  1. Original, crossfaded: For "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band", it was crossfaded with Sgt. Pepper's ... (Reprise). When issued on the "Blue" album, the crossfade was cut out and the song started fading in, with a crowd noise that belongs to Sgt. Pepper's ... (Reprise).
  2. Clean intro: Mastered from the original tape, not from the album master, for the compilation Imagine - John Lennon (motion picture soundtrack).

And I Love Her

  1. Standard version (mono and stereo): Four guitar riffs at the end.
  2. German Extended Version (mono): Six guitar riffs at the end - extended by editing. Released only in Germany.

Baby You're A Rich Man

  1. Mono: with "spinning" echo effects after lines "enough to know", "I can see".
  2. Stereo: without effects.

Can't Buy Me Love

  1. Mono version: Has a drum overdub.
  2. Stereo version: No drum overdub.

Dizzy Miss Lizzy

  1. Original: without echo on vocal
  2. Remastered: Echo added on vocal

Don't Pass Me By

  1. Stereo version:
  2. Mono version: Issued only in the UK, has different fiddle and runs faster.

Drive My Car

  1. Original stereo: vocal far right, cowbell mixed out between lines of the refrain.
  2. Remastered: vocal right-center, cowbell continuously in the refrain.

From Me To You

  1. Mono version: Has harmonica at the intro.
  2. Stereo version: No harmonica at the intro, sounding similar to live versions.

Girl

  1. Original stereo:
  2. 1977 mix: vocal centered.

Help!

  1. Stereo version:
  2. Mono version: Different vocal, with some differences in the lyrics. No tambourine during the chorus.

Helter Skelter

  1. Stereo version: After a pause at 3:10, it continues fading out then in again and ends at 4:29 with the famous shout "I've got blisters on my fingers!"
  2. Mono version: After the pause, it is edited into another part of the take and fades at 3:36. Issued only in the UK.

I Am The Walrus

  1. Standard stereo: Has six beats at the intro, and a section between "I'm crying" and "Yellow matter custard" edited out. (this section can be heard in the Anthology 2 version.)
  2. British mono: Has four beats at the intro, the edit before "Yellow matter custard", and also a cymbal crash at the first "Goo Goo Gajoob" mixed out.
  3. American mono single: Similar to British mono, has the beats before "Yellow matter custard". Issued only on single in the US (the mono LP "Magical Mystery Tour" had a version similar to the British mono).
  4. Fake complete stereo version: A forgery made by Capitol, copying the beats before "Yellow matter custard" from the version above and editing them into the standard stereo mix, in mock stereo.

I Call Your Name

  1. Stereo version: With a new, better intro edited in. Doesn't have cowbell during the intro.
  2. Mono version: Original intro with cowbell
There were two additional mixes (mono and stereo) issued only in US and Canada: they are similar to the standard ones listed above, but the edits were done differently.

I'll Cry Instead

  1. Original mono:
  2. American extended version: has an extra verse edited in, repeating the lyrics but not the recording of the first verse. Issued only in the US.

I'm Looking Through You

  1. Original mono:
  2. Original stereo:
  3. Remastered: vocal closer to the center.
  4. American stereo: has two false starts with guitar. Issued only in the US.

I'm Only Sleeping

This song had four mixes: UK mono and stereo, US mono and stereo. Each one has the backwards guitar mixed differently. Only the UK stereo was released in Brazil, on Revolver, currently available on CD.

In My Life

  1. Original mono:
  2. Original stereo: without reverb
  3. Remastered: reverb added at the center.

Norwegian Wood

  1. Original: vocal far right.
  2. 1977 mix: vocal centered.

Nowhere Man

  1. Original: all sounds either far left or far right.
  2. Remastered: lead vocal centered.

Penny Lane

  1. Standard version (stereo):
  2. Mono version: doesn't have the trumpet after "clean machine".
  3. Brazilian edited (mock stereo): The mono version, with the words "in summer" (at the line "Four of fish and finger pie in summer") edited out.
  4. American promo (mono): Similar to the mono version, has a trumpet at the end, that appears in the Anthology 2 version. Issued only on promo copies of the single in the US.
  5. Fake complete stereo version: A forgery made by Capitol, mixing the trumpet ending of the promo version into the standard stereo version.

Please Please Me

  1. Mono version:
  2. Stereo version: Made from another take, although it uses the same harmonica overdubs as the mono version. A distinction is the collision "You know you never"/"Why do I never" on third verse.

Thank You Girl

  1. Mono version: No harmonica.
  2. Stereo version: With harmonica overdubs in the middle and end. Issued in the US and Germany.

The Inner Light

  1. Mono version: Uses an edit piece for the intro in which the shennai performs a more elaborated pattern.
  2. Stereo version:
Back To The Beatles In Brazil