Beatles,Stones MFsl Lp's why no 24k gold cd's

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by spotlightkid, Feb 8, 2002.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. spotlightkid

    spotlightkid Senior Member Thread Starter

    Can anyone answer why MFSL pressed beatles and rolling stones audiophile lp's but never audiophile gold cd's.
     
  2. mcow1

    mcow1 Sommelier Gort

    Location:
    Orange County, CA
    I believe MOFI only had the rights for a limited time and there weren't any cd's around at the time
     
  3. Sckott

    Sckott Hand Tighten Only.

    Location:
    South Plymouth, Ma
    Licensing, timing, money, and lots of it. You realize the Beatles and Stones on MFSL was released when the LP was king, and the CD wasn't introduced and embraced as a format yet. In order to have re-established rights for the Beatles, Stones...ect... MFSL would have to re-apply. It's not that they didn't, it's that they *could not*. Besides, it took years and years after the CD was embraced that we even saw legitimate Stones and Beatles Cds hit retail stores (non imports, if you want to stretch things). MFSL coulnd't get the Beatles or the Stones out, and neither could their own record company until 5-8 years later (depending on Import arguments, or being Beatles or Stones). Heck, "Pet Sounds" by the Beach Boys wasn't available on CD until MUCH later too!
     
  4. Jeffrey

    Jeffrey Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    South Texas
    Hi,

    Well if we could only have just one, I'm really glad we got what we did. Having both MFSL boxsets, I can burn all the gold cd's I want to but I certainly do not (and never will) have the hardware to do it the other way around. Thank the rock gods for this one.

    The Music Never Stops,
    Jeffrey
     
  5. Andrew

    Andrew Chairman of the Bored

    Wasn't the MSFL deal made before Apple Corps. got it's claws into everything EMI can or can't do involving the Beatles' catalog?
     
  6. Paul L.

    Paul L. New Member

    Location:
    Earth
    Whoa, there, Andrew. Apple Corps is essentially THE BEATLES (& widows). It is a great thing for the creators of the product to be in control of it. You would prefer the record company to be in charge?
     
  7. mcow1

    mcow1 Sommelier Gort

    Location:
    Orange County, CA
    There are some supposed MFSL CDs floating around from Japan. Not cd-r discs. The story I have been told by some friends dealing in "import" CDs is that somebody got hold of the MOFI masters. I picked up a few and listened side by side, even some of the same errors so who knows. I understand however that even these are out of print now.
     
  8. Sckott

    Sckott Hand Tighten Only.

    Location:
    South Plymouth, Ma
    They're needle drops. VERY clever ones though and they sound very good. Get copies made, don't spend $50 a wack on em. Not worth it.
     
  9. Paul Chang

    Paul Chang Forum Old Boy, Former Senior Member Has-Been

    Jeffrey,

    Did you get your MFSL box sets long time ago? Their prices have skyrocketed since the orginial MoFi closed its door. Wish I have bought them years ago. Sigh. :(
     
  10. czeskleba

    czeskleba Senior Member

    Location:
    Seattle
    In the case of the Beatles, yeah, I would. Things are apparently so beaureacratic at Apple that it's almost impossible to get anything done. If EMI was in charge, I suspect that the first four albums would be out in stereo, and they probably would have licensed the Beatles catalog (or at least some of it) to DCC, and for that matter, Let it Be would probably be available on DVD right now. Because decisions would be made based on supply and demand and giving the public what it wants, rather than the politics that guides the current regime.
     
  11. Andy

    Andy New Member

    So all those Beatles MFSL gold discs on Ebay are boots? I have yet to have one of those sellers reply when I sent them a link to the gold cd realm.
     
  12. joachim.ritter

    joachim.ritter Senior Member

    All Beatles MFSL CDs are bootlegs.

    a) The "Italian" versions - gold CDs in jewelcases,
    b) the "Japanese" versions - aluminium CDs in LP replica covers.

    As Sckott wrote the Japanese version CDs sound quite fine. They can be ordered from Singapore for US$ 22 each.

    Joachim
     
  13. Andrew

    Andrew Chairman of the Bored

    That was my point exactly. :)
     
  14. Paul L.

    Paul L. New Member

    Location:
    Earth
    The Beatles do not consider the rest of their material worthy of release. During the Anthology time they made it clear that what was left over was, to them, junk. Now there may be a few thousand fans (including me) who want to hear everything, but the Beatles don't make their decisions based on fanatics. If the record companies were in charge, they'd release 30-CD box sets of Let It Be film sessions, like the bootleggers do. But to the Beatles, that would be diluting the value of their released product.

    The first four CDs are out only in mono because that's what The Beatles felt best represented what they wanted the recordings to sound like. They think it would be wrong to release what they consider second-rate, the stereo mixes. Where's there any politics in that?

    Since the very beginning the Beatles wanted to deliver value to their fans. Their 45s were generally not included on their albums. The b-sides were a-side quality. That is unprecedented and unique to this day. Everybody knew b-sides were supposed to be throw-aways. Everybody but the Beatles. They didn't have greatest hit package after repackage. When most groups had an album with one good song on it, and the rest so-so, the Beatles had 14 good songs. I could go on and on.

    All this is just to say that the Beatles have millions of fans in mind when they decide what to release and what not to release. It is amazing that they do have control, and it wasn't won without a great struggle. Don't you remember how there was litigation for years and years against Capitol for ripping off the Beatles for many many millions of records that were unreported? The Beatles won, thank goodness.

    I don't care if the Beatles decide not to ever release another second of material. They've given more to the world already than any group in history.
     
  15. lukpac

    lukpac Senior Member

    Location:
    Milwaukee, WI
    Well, maybe not. I know Ringo has said a few times that they should just release everything to beat the bootleggers at their own game.

    No, the first four CDs are mono because George Martin made a silly decision back in 1986. The Beatles had nothing to do with it.

    Note that those tracks ARE in stereo on 1 and the Red CD. So much for "second-rate".

    That's fine, but decent issues of their existing catalog would be nice.
     
  16. Paul L.

    Paul L. New Member

    Location:
    Earth
    Come on, you think George Martin told the boys: These first four are coming out in mono whether you like it or not! I've decided!

    Fact is, Martin and the Beatles all agreed the first four CD titles should come out in mono.

    Ringo may want *more* to come out, but I'm sure he was exaggerating when he said everything.
     
  17. John Carsell

    John Carsell Forum Resident

    Location:
    Northwest Illinois
    Yes indeed! The deal for the MFSL LP's was mace back in '82.
    Jump ahead to 1989 or so when they wanted to get a deal for the rights on gold CD's Apple was now actively involved and the surviving Beatles had full control in the say so.

    Actually Mo-Fi somewhat jumped the gun back then and mentioned to a Rolling Stone Magazine reporter that they had the licenses in the bag but told them not to announce it till' they gave their O.K. Well guess what Rolling Stone did anyway.

    As far as George Martin wanting mono for the 1st four titles, he originally told EMI that that PPL and WTB should be mono only and that AHDN and BFS go out in stereo but the tapes needed more work (filtering, EQ adujustments etc.) EMI's response was "We don't Have time for that".
     
  18. lukpac

    lukpac Senior Member

    Location:
    Milwaukee, WI
    "The boys" were not involved. Martin wasn't even involved until the last minute. EMI was prepared to issue the stereo versions, and they brought in Martin at the last minute. That's when he nixed their plans. As John said, he didn't want the first 2 in stereo at all, and didn't want the current stereo mixes of the second 2. Of course, they *did* use those stereo mixes on Red and 1 (as well as a narrowed stereo mix of All My Loving on Red).
     
  19. Paul L.

    Paul L. New Member

    Location:
    Earth
    Okay, I re-read a George Martin interview from 1987 about the CDs and I had misremembered parts. Martin states categorically that the Beatles were not involved in putting the music out on CD.

    Although I was wrong about the extent of their involvement, the Beatles still had to sign off for anything that was released. I imagine they trusted Martin to do the right thing. Since everybody knows the Beatles spent most of their time on the mono mixes, not the stereo, the mono are their definitive statements. Therefore it just isn't right to categorize Martin's decision to go mono as "silly."

    Lukpac, I don't know what you mean about "As John said . . ." Do you mean "As Martin said . . ."?
     
  20. lukpac

    lukpac Senior Member

    Location:
    Milwaukee, WI
    Well, keep in mind that for the most part, the only real differences between most of the mono and stereo mixes early on are some are mono and some are stereo. And the stereo mixes have better fidelity. There wasn't much complicated mixing going on. And, of course, The Beatles themselves weren't involved with mixing until Rubber Soul or so anyway.

    Yes, I'm aware of such differences as the "fixes" in the mono mixes of If I Fell and I Should Have Known Better. Then again, those "fixes" could easily be done to the existing stereo mixes as well - I should know, I've done it!

    Also, in light of the fact that 1) the stereo mixes have been used on subsequent CDs and 2) Martin used the stereo mixes of Revolver and Pepper for CD, yes, Martin's decision to issue the mono mixes of the first four WAS silly.

    No. John Carsell.
     
  21. Vivaldinization

    Vivaldinization Active Member

    Joachim, how does one order 'em for $22? I suspected you were referring to Music Specialists, but they're out of business, no?

    -D
     
  22. jligon

    jligon Forum Resident

    Location:
    Peoria, IL
    I don't think the most important Beatle, and founder of the group, had much of a say in the matter
     
  23. pauljones

    pauljones Forum Chef

    Location:
    columbia, sc
    Regarding the first four Beatles' albums on cd, I have a collection which incorporates them on two cd's, and they claim to be MFSL masters. I do not hear any groove distortion. The sound is very crisp and dynamic. It is "The Beatles--Original Master Recordings", BEAT CD013-2. Product of Italy. Also, I have purchased most of the "Capitol Versions" cd's on BEAT. They, according to Beatlefan magazine, were mastered from the absolute best condition Capitol commercially available (from retail) reel-to-reel tapes they could find. The sound is amazing. I have listened through headphones and with excellent equipment, and it is apparent that whomever did the remastering did so with incredible care and undoubtedly hit pot gold in acquiring tapes in unbelievably good condition. I was able to find these CD's at various record/CD conventions in the early-to-mid 1990's.
     
  24. joachim.ritter

    joachim.ritter Senior Member

    David,

    http://come.to/collectors (in the Beatles ONLY section)

    Regards, Joachim
     
  25. lukpac

    lukpac Senior Member

    Location:
    Milwaukee, WI
    All dubs from the MoFi LPs... Some versions of that set even have some poor mastering and/or noise reduction.
     
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.

Share This Page

molar-endocrine