With the advent of the digital remasters on 09 September, 2009, the Beatles catalog is now available once again in mono and stereo -- just as the records were once available in both mono and stereo. This means that the first four albums are now available in stereo, and the remaining albums through The Beatles are now available in mono -- after a long absence.
Most people who have the Beatles CD's know that in 1987 it was decided to release the first four CD's, Please, Please Me through Beatles For Sale, in mono rather than in stereo. That decision annoyed many Beatles fans at the time, while others were pleased to hear the mono mixes that had been out-of-print for a while. Later on, that decision in favor of mono-only was reversed gradually, as later releases on CD began to contain early tracks in stereo.
With the issue of the Capitol Albums, Vol. 1 boxed set on November 16, 2004, and Capitol Albums, Vol. 2 on April 11, 2006, finding stereo and mono versions of songs became a much easier task. Those releases were very successful, and the new digital remasters have also proven to be enormously popular.
With that said, the original scope of this article must change. Instead of pointing out where the early songs are available in stereo, let's look at songs that have limited or no availability in stereo (and mono). Any songs from singles that are not mentioned here are assumed to be available in stereo on the new Past Masters compilation and in mono on the Mono Masters compilation.
"Love Me Do" & "PS I Love You" do not exist in stereo. In fact, neither version of "Love Me Do" is known to exist in stereo. It is presumed that the original two-track master was destroyed once the mono mixes were made. At the time, this was the practice at EMI. Every other song on the first four UK LP's was originally released in both mono and stereo; consequently, true stereo mixes do exist of each of those songs -- even though they were ignored for about 20 years.
"She Loves You"
This song has never been available anywhere in stereo. According to Beatles legend, the original master tapes were either destroyed or stolen. It is likely that a stereo mix could be compiled by combining the instrumental channel of "Sie Liebt Dich" with the single mix of "She Loves You," but this would require separating both tracks into a number of pieces, since the mono mix of "She Loves You" contains many edits.
"I'll Get You"
An interesting Duophonic mix is available on the CD, The Beatles Second Album. The harmonica appears to be an overdub, and its placement appears to be centered. This may mean that a twin-track tape exists or existed having the harmonica isolated on a single track. Depending on what still exists, a true stereo mix of this song could be created; otherwise, this mix may be the closest to true stereo that we'll ever hear.
"You Know My Name (Look Up the Number)"
No stereo mix was ever released of this song while the Beatles were together, and no stereo mix is found on Past Masters. However, in 1996 a new stereo mix of the song appeared on Anthology 2. This mix differs considerably from the original mix, however. No stereo mix has been created of the song in the same form in which it appears on the single.
Beatles Songs in Mono and Stereo