Beatles Dr Ebbetts Japan Cd - Sgt Pepper (Mono)

Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (DBM-009)

Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, With A Little Help From My Friends, Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds, Getting Better, Fixing A Hole, She’s Leaving Home, Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite, Within You Without You, When I’m Sixty-Four, Lovely Rita, Good Morning Good Morning, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise), A Day In The Life

The first compact disc release of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (CDP 7 46442 2) was released twenty years to the day of the vinyl, on June 1st, 1987. Published in stereo, this album is among the least frequent needle drop transfer. Millennium Remasters (PMC 7027/MFQR 1-100) released a version in 2002 as part of a seventeen disc set covering all of the albums, limited to one hundred copies. This contains both the mono version, sourced from the early eighties UK mono LP set, and the stereo sourced from the Mobile Fidelity Ultra High Quality Record. The following year a transfer of the MFSL (DLH-1-100) was issued promising a superior signal-to-noise ratio over previous MFSL transfers. The same year saw a version by Mirror Spock, who produced a DTS 5.1 surround sound mix and, despite the panning, received many positive comments.

Millennium Remasters released two versions of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band in 2004. The Millennium Red Collection (EAS-70137 /EAS 80558) contains both the mono and stereo formats. The mono comes from the Japanese red was mono LP (EAS 70137) which was originally released on January 21, 1982. The stereo comes from the black vinyl stereo reissue (EAS-80558) released originally on June 20, 1976. The second Millennium Remasters is the U.K. Collection BM-1/BC-13 (PMC 7027/PCS 7027), which contains a transfer from the rare mono BM1 “black” box set of 10 mono albums released in 1982 limited to 1000 sets and the popular “blue” box set of 13 albums BC 13 released in 1978. Also in 2004 Mirror Spock issued Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (UHQR Stereo and ‘Red Wax’ Mono) (MFQR1-100/EAS70137), utilizing MFSL’s MFQR 1-100 half-speed mastered high quality stereo release plus EMI/Odeon Japan EAS-70137 “Red Wax” mono release on one disc.

This was cleaner than the official release although some claim there is too much noise reduction used and high-end distortion is present, for example during the piano solo in “Lovely Rita.” Dr. Ebbett have released Sgt. Pepper’s seven times covering the US and UK mono and stereo editions. Three previous releases document the UK stereo version. The first two were in 2000 when they issued copies of both the original EMI / Parlophone release (PCS 7027) and the Mobile Fidelity Stereo Lab edition (MFSL-1-100). In 2006 the label issued their blue box remaster transfer (PCS 7027) on cdr. As one collector says, it is “super sound, well mixed and crystal clear.” There is no hint of distortion and no hint of vinyl noise present, and is very detailed down to the run-off after “A Day In The Life.” The DBM series is the same but pressed on silver disc and issued with MFSL inspired artwork. Again, this is a flawless transfer of what is of course a classic album and is worth having.