Yellow Submarine album questions

Why did the LP come out such a long time after the film had come out?

R.A.G. Seely...

So long? Movie in '68, LP in '69. If that seems long to you,
consider that they wouldn't want to compete with themselves, and
the White Album came out in '68 (in fact, the UK liner notes for
YS are mainly an ad for the WA).

Why were the George Martin orchestral songs only in mono? That's why

R.A.G. Seely...

Re-recording them in stereo was probably not worth it?

they weren't on the newer CD.

mdspiro...

George Martin's original orchestrations from the first Yellow Submarine
Soundtrack LP & CD (first released in 1969 not long after the release
of the film in theatres) were in full stereo on that record -- not
mono. They took up the entire 2nd side of that LP, which only featured
6 Beatles tracks on the 1st side -- 4 new songs written for the film,
and 2 recycled from before. Those original orchestrations were not

Joe B...

The four songs were not really written for the film. They were
leftovers from other projects.

mdspiro...

Correct. The 4 original songs were various studio outtakes and
leftovers from prior sessions that the Beatles gave to the animators to
use in the film as it was being created. The film was then animated to
that music. The Beatles didn't really have any other involvement with
the creation of the film until it was nearly done. Then, when they saw
a rough cut and got excited about the results, they filmed a brief live
cameo that was tagged on to the end.

included on the newer Yellow Soundtrack Soundtrack CD (released in
1999) that accompanied the DVD re-release of the film because that CD
was re-imagined as a full collection of newly re-mixed Beatles songs
heard in the movie. However, those Martin orchestrations are still
present in full 5.1 surround stereo on the DVD of the movie, and can be
heard in isolation by turning off the dialogue and sound effects in the
DVD menu. There is also an option on the DVD of hearing the original
1969 mono soundtrack -- in case you are nostalgic for the low-fi
version.

R.A.G. Seely...

No - the newer CD isn't really an album of new songs (which -
almost! - the original one was intended to be, it seems), but a
collection of songs that appeared in the movie (which is what
the original should have been, probably). Of course, the whole
thing was and is a mess. The film is mainly older songs set to
a cartoon story, and doesn't need a separate LP or CD, never
did. An EP would have been appropriate at the time, and now we
really don't need anything (well, we wouldn't have if Past
Masters contained the few extra songs from YS). But you can't
rewrite history, so we have those extra LP/CDs.

John was dismissive about the song Hey Bulldog but I think it's a funky

R.A.G. Seely...

It's a great song. A throwaway maybe (which is I think all John

godismycodependent...

These days, everything is coordinated by marketing departments, but the
Beatles seemed to be from an older era. I wonder if soundtrack albums
back then were generally coreleased with the pictures, or if they
waited to see if there was demand.

The Beatles released Revolver during their 1966 tour, but didn't play
any songs from it live. I can't imagine any band doing that nowadays.

fattuchus...

John tended to be dismissive about many of his songs.

ever suggested), but a great one, with an excellent "feel". The
video is excellent too (better than when it had Lady Madonna
attached to it I think).

fishandchips...

Hey Bulldog, great song

song.