Beatles’ Next Expanded Reissue Project Will Focus on the White Album
The Beatles have already set their sights on the next expanded reissue project after this month's look back at Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Producer Giles Martin, son of the late Beatles collaborator George Martin, confirms they'll focus on the band's 1968 self-titled release, better known as the White Album.
He admits that the task is far more daunting this time – despite the fact that the upcoming super-deluxe Sgt. Pepper's set includes a whopping 100 minutes of outtakes, many previously unheard and unreleased.
"The White Album, which is the next release – that is where they started becoming indulgent," Giles told the BBC in a new interview. "There are 70 takes of 'Sexy Sadie,' for instance. The efficiency went slightly out the window. There's a lot of stuff. So, it's getting the balance right."
That said, Martin finds the process meaningful, no matter how long it takes. "It's really trying to sort of humanize it in some way," Martin said. "That gives you added respect. We've convinced ourselves that singers don't really sing, and producers do it – or it's all done with buttons and faders. But, really, it's down to them performing in the studio."
The younger Martin came into these new reissues with a deep list of Beatles-related credentials: He remastered 2016's Live at the Hollywood Bowl, and also collaborated on the George Harrison documentary Living in the Material World and on Paul McCartney's most recent studio album, New.
The Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band sets arrive on May 26.
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