Beatles Capitol Albums - quick question

Ok so I'm a UK Beatles fan - I've heard snippets of these US albums with all the duophonic stereo and added reverb. I haven't got any emotional attachment to them and I don't think they're "better" mixes.

What I would welcome is a chance to buy songs from the first 4 albums on cd and in stereo.

My question is this -

Do I need to buy this box set? Are there any "untampered" with stereo songs in there? Will I be able to compile decently mastered versions of my favourite UK albums (where material allows)?

I'm not looking forward to hearing the US "You Can't Do That"..... but is there anything on there I might enjoy?

 

Here you go, Tom.

http://home.comcast.net/~ecmahart/capitolrecords.htm

Should tell you all you need to know.

Several unique mixes, both stereo and mono, will be available on CD for the first time!


Also take a look at http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=41544 if only for the link to the Spizer article

 

No.

 

Thanks Nobby! Ok so kinda confused.....

Reading that article and taking Bruce with a pinch of salt it seems that "Second Album" in stereo has added reverb. Otherwise - where they had stereo - they left it alone. I'm excluding "You Can't Do That" and "I Feel Fine" / "She's A Woman" here.

Correct?

Mike says "no"....

 

Hi Tom,

It's a difficult call....

The US albums tend to get tarred with the "Second Album" brush. A majority of the stereo mixes won't be too far off. Clearly, in a perfect world we'd have all UK CDs in stereo.

Patience is required and then come Nov 15th (UK)/Nov 16th (US) all hell will break loose and neither of will know which way to turn!!


I'll be getting them for the alternate mixes

 

Do you NEED to buy it? Well....no. Do I need to go for chili at lunch? No.....Do I want to? Yes. If you have the extra money and are a Beatles fan, what the heck!

 

All of the Capitol songs from 1964 (and most if not all from 1965) have extra echo and reverb added to them. Some more than others. The Beatles Second Album has the most, but it is present on all of them. It becomes more obvious when one does a direct comparison to the stereo UK versions. I remember the first time I heard the stereo UK With The Beatles a few years ago - I was stunned. Ditto Beatles For Sale.

That's not to say you won't enjoy the Capitol box, just do not expect it to sound anything like the UK stereo and mono versions.

 

Now, that's just NOT a true statement!! The true stereo mixes from Meet The Beatles are the same ones as on the UK With The Beatles. Furthermore, the AHDN stereo songs that were put on Something New are the same great versions that are found on the great UK stereo AHDN (not to be confused with any US AHDN release). No added anything. And that's 1964.

In 1965 the unaltered gems available for the first time on this boxset are few: No Reply and I'll Follow The Sun are great stereo tracks found for the first time on CD (I think) but that's about it. So I'll mostly agree with your 1965 assesment ("most, not all").

 

Ted - I'm afraid it's true. Every one of the songs on Meet The Beatles has extra reverb and echo added. Play them side by side with the UK WTB and it will be obvious.

I say it again - EVERY ONE OF THE 1964 CAPITOL SONGS HAD EXTRA ECHO AND REVERB ADDED.

 

This is absolutely true. I have A-B'd these tracks for dozens of people over the years, and EVERY one is different (and the UK is ALWAYS better). I have always felt that The Second Album was the worst offender because they tried to make the leftover tracks from WTB sound like they were recorded at a diffrent session to mask the fact that they split up WTB in such a crass manner. My question, to Steve, is--will the mono MTB be a needle drop?

 

I stand corrected. I have a/b'd the '65 stuff (Ebbetts Capitol vs Ebbetts stereo UK) but don't have UK stereo to a/b the '64 stuff, only Ebbetts Capitol. Only went from what I'd read. Thanks for clearing it up. What a catalog mess.

 

The same thing holds for the '65 stuff. In fact the 1st LP that remotely sounds like it's UK equivalent is Revolver (and the UK is still better due to better pressings & mastering, but at least it's close).

 

All my Beatles stuff (including Ebbetts, etc) is on foobar in flac files so a/b'ing is now very easy. I just a/b'd the '65 stuff again and, yes, things like I'll Follow The Sun and No Reply are slightly altered, although the gain difference was initially masking it a bit. I guess I never did a good enough a/b before.

However, just for a laugh I a/b'd was has to be the biggest difference in any Beatle song, She's A Woman. The EP version is one of the cleanest stereo tracks in their entire CD catalog; the Beatles 65 version is probably their worst. Interesting that both ends of the spectrum are revealed in the same song.

 

Nobby,
GREAT link!
This should have been the 'review' on the "Good article on the Beatles Vol 1 box set" thread.

 

So there may be some 'true' gems on this set.
However, few and far between.
What would one guess, five, seven, or more cuts???
So I would end up paying $8 or $10 per cut!
Ouch.

 

I did a quick count and came up with at least 30.

 

I came across this interesting article by the Beatles American Album historian Bruce Spizer. http://www.whatgoeson.com/story.20041020.html He puts the release of the box set in prospective.

 

That would be thirty mono/stereo tracks that are new too CD?
Thirty that aren't futzed with?
Thirty songs you like (just joking).
This would be great news!
Thanks.
B.S.
That's down to two bucks a song!
Not bad.

 

What's that B.S. for? Thirty stereo mixes that aren't futzed with too badly and if the mastering is done well that could end up closer to 60 since the mono mixes might end up sounding better than the same tracks on the Parlophone cds do (other than the fold downs of course).

 

Already being discussed with, um...mild contention:

http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=41544

 

I will ask you this, my friend: Do you have the original vinyl for reference? Or any of the boots of this material(these are mainly from stereo sources, in my experience)?

SOMETHING NEW is the least futzed of the albums being reissued, but the other three, well.....very futzed, as experienced listeners are aware, and no matter the quality of the digital remastering, they is what they is. And they isn't of Parlophone UK vinyl quality. The CD's? Can't tell ya until we all have our copies and report back....

 

B.S. is my personal P.S..
Not to offend anyone.
Just in my case P.S. will lead to a lot more B.S..
It's a personal jab at me, and me alone.

 

Oh, and too get on your 'good' side;
I was rooting for The Socks, since Game Four.
B.S.
For my own selfish reasons of coarse. Big blow to The Yankee Empire & to make Baseball History!
Great one, two, combination.
When The Rocket goes against your beloved Bean towner's though...

 

Hey, ED....relax. You made some very good points here! At the end of the day, Mr. Spizer's conflict-of-interest is as blatantly transparent to you as it was to me, but those who want to justify this box set's existence of course, must resist this reality. I've no problem with it at all: I'll still buy my copy, because this is the kind of 'Exhibit A' that will come in handy in the future when EMI sits on its collective seats forgetting the truly important aspect of the Fabs' catalog: the UK masters.

Good news: you can now root with us! For Roger will, sadly, not be going to the Series, the Cards are....a bit surprising to me but, hey, winner take all.....