Allan Rouse

From the Beatles 2009 remasters’ press release:

Allan joined EMI straight from school in 1971 at their Manchester Square head office, working as an assistant engineer in the demo studio. During this time he frequently worked with Norman (Hurricane) Smith, The Beatles’ first recording engineer.

In 1991, he had his first involvement with The Beatles, copy­ing all of their master tapes (mono, stereo, 4-track and 8-track) to digital tape as a safety backup. This was followed by four years working with Sir George Martin as assistant and project coordinator on the TV documentary ‘The Making of Sgt. Pepper’s’ and the CDs ‘Live at the BBC’ and ‘The Anthol­ogy.’

In 1997, MGM/UA were preparing to reissue the film ‘Yellow Submarine’ and, with the permission of Apple, asked that all of The Beatles’ music be mixed for the film in 5.1 surround and stereo. Allan requested the services of Abbey Road’s senior engineer Peter Cobbin and assistant Guy Massey and, along with them, produced the new mixes.

Two years later, he proposed an experimental stereo and surround mix of John Lennon’s song ‘Imagine’ engineered by Peter Cobbin. Following lengthy consultations with Yoko Ono, the album ‘Imagine’ was re-mixed in stereo and the Grammy award-winning film ‘Gimme Some Truth’ in surround and new stereo. This led to a further five of John’s albums being re-mastered with new stereo mixes and the DVD release of ‘Lennon Legend’ being re-mixed in 5.1 surround and new stereo.

Further projects followed, including The Beatles ‘Anthol­ogy’, ‘The First US Visit’ and ‘Help’ DVD and the albums ‘Let It Be…Naked’ and ‘Love’ along with George Harrison’s ‘Concert for Bangladesh’ DVD and album. For a number of years now, Allan has worked exclusively on Beatles and related projects.

Our thoughts are with the family and friends of Allan Rouse, who passed away yesterday and in particular Fiona his wife who cared for him with such tenderness and consideration following his illness.

Allan joined Abbey Road studios in 1972 and during his time there made an invaluable contribution towards preserving the music and legacy of The Beatles. He worked on all the releases with extraordinary dedication and loyalty.

We will also miss his acerbic wit that was actually part of his charm. Allan did not suffer fools gladly but once you earned his respect he could not have been more co-operative and helpful.

Allan was a true friend of the band and of everyone at Apple, and will be remembered with great affection by those of us who were lucky enough to spend time working with him.

From Paul, Ringo, Olivia, Yoko and everyone at Apple – From In Memory of Allan Rouse | The Beatles

It’s very sad to hear about the passing of Allan Rouse, known as the “gate-keeper” for The Beatles at Abbey Road.  He looked after and cherished everything that was recorded by the band and my father all those years ago. Only Allan knew where everything was and only Allan was trusted with preserving the tapes and the legacy of the most successful band in the history of recorded music.

My father spent hours with Allan working through the tapes for The Beatles Anthology. From the outset my dad loved his deadpan humour. It was this, linked to his incomparable knowledge of the music, that made trawling through all of the tapes a pleasure for my father during the project.

When embarking on The Love show I worked with Allan very closely. It was he that developed the technique of using vari-speed to manually lock each four track generation. This enabled me to create the multi-channel mixes that we used to create the new surround mixes of The Beatles. Having Allan come to my room and react to the work I was doing was always a pleasure. His honesty in everything made me respect his opinions that were always based on his love and respect for the band.

More than anything else we will miss Allan as a friend. Our best wishes are with his wonderfully compassionate wife Fiona who cared so well for him during his illness. 

Giles Martin – From In Memory of Allan Rouse | The Beatles

Albums, EPs & singles which Allan Rouse contributed to

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