The Beatles' Magical Mystery Tour German Hörzu - You were right!

I heard a Doc Ebbett German Horzu

 

I just found the first issue SHZE 327 A-1 / SHZE 327 B-1. Is this as good as A-1/B-3 ?
Jim

 

would an Apple pressing as mentioned in the original post, the German Apple label with A1/B3, but without the HorZu on the label or outer jacket, be worth $100 in mint condition? I am thinking of doing it just to get it done on my list

 

I have a Horzu and a German Apple and they're both the same. They have the same dead wax info but the Apple has an extra set of numbers etched into it.

 

Did you like what you heard of his needledrop?

 

An extra set of matrix numbers is quite common on German Beatles reissue LPs from the 70s.

 

It was good,but sounded a little bright or something,I can`t quite put my finger on it maybe it was even the speakers,same with the Die Beatles.It did sound noticeably thicker wich I liked.I would love to hear the vinyl.Why can`t they make a cd like the Horzu today?Would it even be possible?

 

Here is an odd one. I picked this one up online on a lark because I always thought the cover was real odd.

It is a CBS Portrait pressing from Israel from what I would guess to be the late 70's to early 80's.




It uses the same stamper as my German Hor Zu w/ Apple pressing.

SHZE 327 A - 1 , SHZE 327 B - 3 matrices.

Probably as quiet as my German Hor Zu w/ Apple pressing, but not as quiet as my Apple copy with these matrices;

SHZE 327 A - 1 04449-A-1, SHZE 327 B - 3 04449-B-3

 

I just found a copy of the first pressing of the German MMT. The 2nd side doesn't contain the 1971 mixes, but the older fake stereo/1966 mixes

Strawberry Fields Forever (1966 stereo version)
Penny Lane (sim. stereo)
Baby You're A Rich Man (sim. stereo)
All You Need Is Love (sim. stereo)

http://yokono.co.uk/collection/beatles/germany/lp/ger_lp_horzu_st1.html##5-1

The 1971 mixes are on the 2nd pressing onwards.

The 1st side does sound amazing though.

 

The old "fake stereo" mixes are indeed on the SHZE 327 A-1 / SHZE 327 B-1 matrix MMTs.

You can spot the difference in the covers without knowing the matrix numbers: the less interesting 1st issue has "HörZu Langspielplatte" on the upper left cover in the same purple color as the LP background with white letters, and "Hörzu" on the label with text only; the 2nd issue, absolutely the one to get, has "HörZu Langspielplatte" with black letters and a bright yellow arc over the record shape with red center, and "HörZu" on the label with the same arc/record logo above it as on the cover, but in black. The last 1983 (not 1981) plain Apple non-HörZu German pressing of this record with printed text around the label instead of cursive is actually an unmarked DMM pressing, hence the complaints/compliments about exaggerated bass, clarity in the highs, and narrower stereo panning. Much more on that topic later...

By the way, Discogs lists the first issue as 1971 and the 2nd as 1973, so (despite Discogs' possible inaccuracy) the better remixes may actually be after 1971 or as late as 1973. yokono.co.uk gives the A-1/B-1 release date as 16 September 1971 with a question mark...

 

I bought two German Apple MMTs in or around 1980. One during the import craze, it cost $9.99 at the time, and a year later I found another one in the cutout bins for $2.99, although it did not have a cutout. I never opened that one, it still remains sealed to this day.

 

Well now, since it's been three decades since you acquired this, I'll be happy to take this off your hands and relieve you of the burden of having to store it for all of these years. Let's see, three decades...three times for what you paid, I'll give you $8.97.

 

Baby You're A Rich Man is incredible on this album!

 

It does sound great. And 'Blue Jay Way'. The drums sound awesome.

 

Well, that's kind of a downer. Turns out I got the SHZE 327 A-1 matrix with Apple in the upper left corner of the cover.
It still sounds better than any other version I've heard.
And NM for $15.00
I mean this thing was hardly played - if ever.
Unless side two sounds incredibly better, I'm very happy with this one.

 

That's absolutely correct for the later release Apple MMT stamped with A1+C/B1+C in the dead wax.

It's a DMM pressing cut no earlier than 1983 (unsurprisingly discogs is wrong with the date) and the +C in the matrix means cut on Copper.
That information comes directly from correspondence with the Electrola engineer that mastered it, as well as the 1985 DMM analogue coloured vinyl versions of the Beatles Red, Blue and White Albums.

Those 1985 coloured vinyl copies are clearly marked as being DMM on the record covers and labels along with the tell tale //D code in the run out.
Not so for this version of MMT, just the +C in the dead wax as the only indicator.

 

I bought this for about 60 bucks online and it came NM and even better, the sound always knocks me down. I love the opening burst of MMT and the Horzu second issue is one of those discoveries makes me glad I got back into vinyl. Listening to "Strawberry Fields Forever" now and WOW.

 

I've just scored an A1, B3 copy for £25. I tried knocking the price down but this copy had only just come into the shop. Having read the reviews on here, I'm looking forward to playing it. Visually the whole package looks Near Mint.

 

German Horzu A1, B3 beats all my other stereo pressings. Fantastic clarity and separation of instruments. Thanks to the tips from other members here.

 

Jaw dropping bass line, that mother goes LOW! My favorite cut!
German Apple A1/B3

 

it's deep so deep..I love it!

 

I once owned the red vinyl pressing of 1962-1966 and thought the bass sounded too boomy and eventually sold it. My system was totally different at the time.

Does the DMM pressing of the White Album version possess similar traits?

 

I don't have that one (happy with the UK white vinyl) but imagine it's very similar to the +C version of MMT.
Those earlier German DMM cuts have a particular house sound as they were all cut by the same engineer at EMI Electrola in Cologne.
Many here prefer that style but I'm with you, it seems like overkill on the bottom end and I find the sound to be unbalanced and less integrated as a whole.

 

Thanks Mr Meldner,
A very clear and distinct explanation... I am going to tell a story of how I first began seriously collecting The Beatles... While I always had every LP / 45 since 1964, it wasn't till I moved to VA. after meeting my first ever girl friend on spring break in Ft Lauderdale in 1973. This is when I really got going... I was living in Vienna, VA. just out of DC. I went to my local, very close record store "The Penguin Feather" and had ordered the German Horzu MMT. I got the call that it had arrived about 10 days later.
There was a note attached to the LP from a Chuck Lupe with his name and phone and a short msg
re: Beatle collecting, and simply saying you got a special disc here... anyway, a very long story short... I called, we bonded, and when he finally took me to his high-rise apt.. he had hundreds of LP's... he handed me the white album telling me check it out....... #0000001 . that is when the ball got seriously rolling! Thanks for your post that was the very album the note was attached to back in
late 73-early 74!

 

I thought Ringo had #0000001 and auctioned it off a few years ago.