Statement from Capitol Records on THE BEATLES "The Capitol Albums Vol. 2" set

Well, you should getter better signal-to-noise with digital domain fold-downs. However, I would rather they used original 1965 fold-down masters if they exist. As Steve has pointed out, the original tube Ampex tape machines and tube consoles used at Capitol in 1965 will contribute a certain something to the sound. Whether you like that certain something is a personal choice but I just feel they should present these re-issues as they sounded in 1965 as much as they can - and using the original 1965 masters will go a long way towards to achieving that goal.

On a more general point - in my opinion analogue to digital conversion should be the very last step in the creation of a CD (or any other digital audio format). Any manipulation of the audio should be done in the analogue domain prior to conversion if you want to achieve the best results. Digital signal processing kills the famous "breath of life" that drew so many of us to this site in the first place.....

 

I think it's pretty clear that they are all incorrect. Capitol only became aware of this last week, as far as we know, and they have not had enough time to ship the corrected discs. Plus I would think that no corrected discs will be shipped until they exhaust the initial run of discs.

 

Thanks for answering

It would be pretty tacky if they try and "sell out" of the bad pressings...If they were any kind of professional company they would demand a recall of all the sets.

 

Its funny but I dont ever "recall" someone like Dr. Ebbett's manufacturing the wrong version of the discs, and the lp's were made by Capitol! We need more people like him working for Capitol

 

Not sure if all of this has been posted. I know Wollensack had most of it (and thanks a million!), but a little more has turned up on What Goes On, courtesy Bruce Spizer:

 

Now that's more like it.

 

I got kicked in the teeth myself when I suggested that all this wallowing in low-fi "nostalgia" exercise
pushes us at least one year farther away from a properly handled set from the low-generation , hi-fidelity UK tapes.

I guess that I am in the minority in not considering study of the Beatles and their music to be nostalgic in any way.
Merely, they are the apex of western pop music, and their catalog should be treated as such (in my mind, in John Hunter's and in SH's) but 'The Capitol Beatles Albums' Vol 1-3 is not the proper treatment, despite the obvious skillful work by the mastering engineer.

 

Thanks for the threadcrap . . . if you don't care about the Vol.2 set, why are you wasting time reading this thread and posting things that are sure to draw ire from the contributors and the Gorts?

Please, no more of these threadcraps! This is neither the time nor place to discuss the merits of the Capitol releases as part of the catalog.

To get back on track, my intention is to refrain from purchasing the set until I know that sets with the corrected discs are the ones on the shelves. I, for one, am pretty p.o.'ed that Capitol/EMI has not pulled the set worldwide and instead placed the onus on the customer to exchange the defective discs. I don't want to engage in this crapshoot and risk buying a defective set and go through all the hassle of obtaining replacement copies. If I am going to plunk down $59.00, I want to be sure that I am getting what I paid for (and what was repeatedly promised to me) from the outset.

 

Admit it though If Ted Jensen remastered fold-downs in the way that we both know it can be done...........You gotta want a taste? Huh?

 

I seem to recall when the album "Please Please Me" came out in the U.K., what could be "considered" the STEREO mix, was a twin track rudimentary mix which had the instruments placed on one channel, and the vocals placed on the other channel. As we all know, the U.S. counterpart to this LP on Capitol is "The Early Beatles, minus a few tracks.

I am wondering if the MONO mix of "Please Please Me" is just a "fold down" of the twin track recordings, or is it a UNIQUE mono mix? If the first choice is correct, then I can understand the Early Beatles being a fold down, but if the mono mix is unique, then why the fold down? Was Capitol not supplied with actual mono mixes of the tracks?

As for the U.S. Help! album, excepting Ticket To Ride, is the mono mix just a fold down? In the U.K., was there a unique mono mix of the album?

Anybody know? Wait, I have a book that might explain it. It's called "The Beatles Mixes" by Holger Schoeler & Thorsten Schmidt. I will look. In the meantime, if anybody has any ideas, I would appreciate it. Thanks

Greg

 

I always thought that maybe Please Please Me was just a fold-down of the stereo. It's not much different at all other than the actual mono mix of Love Me Do & PS I Love You ( the stereo was duophonic). However, I believe "With The Beatles" was actually remixed for mono...there is more "punch" to it and a drier sound, as well as the mono mix of Money having a different intro than the stereo.

Speaking of mixes..Does Bruce Spizer really know his stuff when it comes to the Capitol albums ? In the latest announcement he mentions "subtle" difference in the mono US Rubber Soul, but makes no mention of the mono US mix of "Michelle" being different from the UK mono, or the "cough" in Norwegian Wood". He almost makes it sound as if Capitol could have gotten by with this error, but I know the difference. The mono mixes are drier and do have differences that are noticeable to my ears.
I dont mean to doubt an authority such as Bruce...He did author the Capitol albums books but I hope he's not covering for Capitol

 

No, the UK mono Please Please Me is not a fold down of the stereo. There was no compelling reason for Capitol to have folded down the stereo masters (including the fake stereo Love Me Do and PS I Love You).

All of the US Help! mono is a fold down of the stereo including the duophonic Ticket to Ride. The UK mono LP is a dedicated mix.

 

You sure about that?

 

100% positive.

 

I cant' imagine there is any serious music/Beatles scholar or audiophile that would not prioritize properly remastered original UK albums above the Capitol sets. But the Capitol albums are not simply nostalgia. They are a big part of the legacy of the Beatles, as they represent what the Beatles' first impression in their largest market in the world was. To borrow a phrase from the slightly lame Capitol "statement", it is about historical significance, not nostalgia.

Even from a scholarly point of view, there are little bits and pieces on the US albums that aren't available on any UK master (alternate mixes, etc.).

Also, I've closely studied how Apple functions. Believe me, these Capitol sets have no impact on the issue or non-issue of remastered UK albums. Apple works on their own crazy reasoning when it comes to when and how to put various releases out. We're talking about people like Neil "a DVD of Beatles promo films is too obvious" Aspinall (or, alternatively, Neil "there is no market for the release of the Beatles' 1966 Japan shows on video other than Japan" Aspinall.) Certainly, Apple tries to space releases out somewhat. If they had actually planned UK remasters for 2006, then an argument could perhaps be made that the Capitol set would dictate that UK remasters be issued after a certain amount of time has passed. But there is no firm indication that UK remasters are imminent, let alone that there was any specific plan to issue them that was somehow postponed by the release of the Capitol set.

I was totally taken aback by the uproar when the Capitol Vol. 1 set came out. Seeing the people speaking out against the Capitol sets, you would have thought that Capitol was deleting the UK albums forever and replacing them with only US albums. It's history. It's nostalgia for some as well, I'm sure. But Capitol sees the releases as profitable because of the people that buy the sets for nostalgia, so the people who buy the sets as completists and for historical/scholarly reasons benefit as well.

The bottom line is that, whether it's due to improvements in technology and/or better engineers, the 2004 Capitol remasters taken from tapes that are one or more generations away from the original UK masters, sound better than the existing UK albums on CD. So for me, that's reason enough to be content with these sets.

If EMI and Apple had made some big announcement about how they mulled over either remastering the UK or the US albums, and went with the US albums and cancelled UK remasters, then I would be complaining as much as anybody. It seems the Capitol sets weren't even instigated by EMI or Apple. It was Capitol in the US, and they got Apple to go along with it, which is something I'm still amazed at.

 

Im sure if Apple issued a remastered UK mono & stereo catalog, there would be less desire for the fans of the UK mixes to buy the inferior Capitol albums. They (Apple) know that for now, these are all we will have for official versions of the stereo mixes of Please Please Me, With The Beatles, Beatles 4 Sale, etc.... and the mono mixes of Rubber Soul (when it's fixed ). Im sure there is a sales strategy behind all of this

I myself am a fan of the US lp's, but I would love to see a complete overhaul of the entire mono & stereo UK catalog. If they could only release the stereo versions as nicely remastered as the Yellow Sub Songtrack

 

This is just my own opinion: I own and have read all of Spizer's "on.....Records" books, and my feeling is that he is perhaps the number one authority when it comes to discussion of label variations, pressing plants, the internal politics at the various US labels, and things of that nature. My feeling was that the only slightly weak spot in his books was that when it comes to discussion of the actual music, whether from a critical point of view or a scholarly point of view in terms of sonic variations, Spizer didn't seem to be quite as much of an authority and seemed to not offer any new information. Which wasn't and isn't a big deal to me, because so much of everything else in the books is absolutlely fascinating and some of the best new, first-hand research done on the Beatles in years. But the books seems to spend more time on the slightest, tiny label variations than anything else. I'm as big of a Beatles scholar as anybody, but I'm really not interested in like ten different variations of a 45 label, all of the variations consisting of the font style and size of the "all rights reserved" perimeter print on the labels.

Certainly, by the time one gets to the "Solo Beatles on Apple Records", Spizer has a clear lack of interest in some of that music, which, to be fair, he admits at the outset in the book. (My recollection without having the book in front of me is that he states that he wasn't as big of a fan of their solo work, but doing the book allowed him to appreciate some of that work more.)

 

A good thing to do might be to buy it on release day anyway, just to take advantage of the usual day-of-release sales. Then, you can just have it replaced through the Capitol replacement plan, so you're assured of the correct discs.

 

That was my actual point.....It seems that he's not actually as knowledgable (or as much as he probably should be) on the actual music & mixes of the US lp's.

 

Me too. I already have Vol 2 with the "bad" discs, and I will very happily buy the "corrected" version whenever it comes out.

 

So they are probably not going to ship the corrected versions for the US release, and instead make those who want it replaced to have to request it ? That would really suck! They should issue the correct cd's for the April 11 release. Afterall, the press release date is April 11 ?!?

 

and burn a copy of the fold-downs
Assuming that you have to send the CD's back. May just be proof of purchase.

 

I just wonder if there's a way to tell the difference in the boxes if they issue a corrected complete box set for April 11 ? I got mine off Ebay and should have it by the weekend...However if they issue a corrected box i may just leave it sealed

 

(This whole fiasco compelled me to finally register here after reading these forums for a long time. So hello to everyone!)

Anyway, so from Wollensack's post it looks like we're still getting new fold-downs for "The Early Beatles" and "Help!"? "Love Me Do" and "P.S. I Love You" will be folded-down from fake stereo?? Is it too late for Capitol to be alerted that the problem is on all 4 discs?

 

Well Early Beatles & Help were originally fold-downs in 1965, but I dont want "new" versions, just the Capitol masters