When The Beatles' "I Am the Walrus" was released in 1967 as a B-side to "Hello, Goodbye" (and later on the Magical Mystery Tour double-EP/album), it had different versions released separately. For example, the 6-beat intro usually heard in stereo was cropped to a 4-beat intro heard in mono mixes. An early stereo mix also includes the same 4-beat intro while an early mono mix usually heard on the US single has an extra bar as an instrumental intermission right before the words "Yellow Matter Custard". All other stereo versions starting with the UK restore the first 2 beats as a 6-beat intro again. Since no complete version of this song with the missing examples has ever been released, Capitol Records created its own stereo mix by using the UK stereo and the US mono mixes for the Rarities album released in 1980, coincidentally the same year that John Lennon was murdered.
Lost Media Archive