How involved were the Beatles in mixing/mastering their songs?
Conventional wisdom teaches that Beatles mono records (at least their records up to and including the White Album) are the ones to listen to because that's the way the Beatles wanted us to hear them. In support of that theory, we are given evidence that the four Beatles were attending the mixing and the mastering of their songs in mono, after which they'd leave the studio. The stereo mixes were subsequently left to some junior sound engineers to cobble up.
But is that really how the mixing/mastering of the Beatles material happened? We can assume, with high degree of probability, that at least after the boys completed recording their first LP, "Please Please Me", they had absolutely no say in how should their recorded material be mixed and mastered. They were just given 13 hours to rush through 14 songs, and that was it. So claiming that mono version of that record is how the Beatles themselves wanted us to hear them is a definite stretch.
What about their next album then ("With the Beatles")? Were they given more leeway to hang around and do a bit of good old mixing/mastering after they recorded all 14 songs for that album? I honestly doubt it. EMI was a very structured organization, with carefully divided professional roles. Sound mixing and mastering was the jurisdiction of the sound engineers, period.
I'd venture out to guess that similar arrangements applied to many of their subsequent records. "A Hard Day's Night", "Beatles For Sale", "Help", all those records were done in a pretty traditional, conservative fashion. The musicians (even the star musicians) get some studio time to move in and record their material, then they leave, go on a tour, while the 'grownups' roll up their sleeves and mix, master and package the merchandise.
The Beatles explained how by the time they started recording "Rubber Soul" in the fall of 1965, they were given more rope by the EMI bosses (on account of their phenomenal financial success), so they were emboldened to start experimenting in the studio. Still, they were on the clock, rushing to cobble up the next release in time for the Christmas season. So I'd think that little time was left for them to pour over the minutia after they've recorded their song, deliberating on how to mix and master the material. They were still heavily relying on the paid professional help.
I've read how the Beatles (in particular John and Paul) have been complaining to EMI staff regarding how polite and wimpy their songs sound compared to the material they've been hearing coming out of Motown and Stax. Their complaints were falling on deaf ears, because EMI was an extremely risk averse organization, and instead of letting the full blown bass be mastered on the records they were releasing, they were in favour of attenuating the bass. That was done to avoid any possibility of the stylus on lousy turntables skipping, and causing people to return the records and ask for their money back.
Obviously, John and Paul didn't have sufficient clout to twist the EMI execs' arms and force them to boost the bass on their records, the way Motown/Stax were doing on their records. Knowing this, it invalidates the conventional wisdom statement which claims that mono mixes were the final product, presenting the sound the way the Beatles themselves wanted us to hear. Not even close, because the Beatles did not want us to hear their records with such weak, wimpy bass.
It is therefore not so easy/simple to claim which version of the Beatles material is the intended version. It wasn't before the Beatles reached their final stage, while producing "Abbey Road", that they managed to gain full control over their output. It was only on "Abbey Road" that they finally managed to get the full blown bass to get engraved into the grooves of their records. And the gorgeous, super warm, super deep and muscular bass on "Come Together", "Something", "Here Comes The Sun" and all other songs on that album finally showcases the sound they wanted to have from the beginning, but were not allowed by the bosses to pursue.
Anyway, that's my theory, without a doubt full of holes. Discuss...
Don't you just hate it when you cannot detect where the post ends and a signature line begins?
Alex.