Why do people spend good money collecting Capitol Beatles' albums?

I have to respectfully disagree. IMO these are just generalizations that don't *always* hold true. I recently sold off a green/white Odeon German WTB that made the recording sound like it was piped in from another planet. Nothing even close to "master tape sound." I've also heard several Japanese Beatles pressings that have the midrange goosed-up, and the bass virtually non-existent. Now, THAT's "wonky!"

And to add to that, I'll just say that I recently pulled out a 70's orange label Capitol Rubber Soul that didn't sound half bad in my opinion -- "one generation removed, nothing above 14k, extra added grunge" or whatever. Maybe not an audiophile grade pressing, or up to UK snuff, but a heckuva lot more livable sound than some German/Japanese pressings that I've heard!

Also, there's some STEREO pressings of "Something New" (and subsequent CD needle drops made from them floating around) that I'll bet many audiophiles would be fooled by in blind tests -- thinking they were of a more politically correct lineage -- both tonally and due to a surprising lack of the usual "Dexterization."

Yeah, most of the processing on the US versions, when it occurred, did suck. All of the frequency-banded, fake stereo stuff sounds like **** (i.e. Beatles '65 IFF and SAW), but there are even one or two charming US mix exceptions to that rule. In fact, I'll go to my grave saying that I prefer the US, TRUE STEREO mix of "Thank You Girl" over the UK mix. Those extra harmonica flourishes and the dense reverb just add to the excitement for me. : )

Just my opinion, of course.

 

The Capitol American Beatles records will always have a space in my heart. It's those albums I grew up on. Sure the Capitol records have there problems, but at the time the U.S. market didn't see it or I should say hear it. We had nothing else to compare it to. As for Dave Dexter Jr. doing what he did to the tapes, you have to remember during the first few months of "Beatlemania," they (Capitol) were putting out product as fast as they could to meet the demand. Adding reverb, eqing, and re-channeling the tapes in their minds, they were sprucing it up for the teenage market. What difference would it make to them, hell the Beatles were only going to be around for a year or two and then fade into obscurity.
As for the sound quality of the Capitol albums (minus the Dave Dexter Jr. treatment) I don't think they sound all that bad. I find the U.S. "Rubber Soul" sounds quite pleasing and like many here prefer the U.S. line up of the songs. As for Capitol's vinyl, I always had good luck with their records. I can't remember ever returning a Beatles record for having a skip or stick on it.
As for Capitol *butchering* the Beatles records, one has to realize that the U.K. and the U.S. had totally different markets. After the "Please Please Me" album the Beatles did not want their singles to be on the Long Player's, they felt that they were cheating the fans if they did. As for the U.S. market, the fans would of felt cheated not to have the 45's on the LP's. You also had different royalty payments involved. The U.K. labels paid a flat fee to the publishers know matter how many songs were on any particular album. The U.S. labels had to pay the publishers so much per song. That's why the U.K. market had an average of fourteen songs per album, the U.S. had 11 or 12.
I still occasionally listen to the Capitol records, I like to put on "Meet the Beatles" or "Beatles Second" despite their sound quality. I also like "Beatles IV" and I simply love "Yesterday and Today." That's the record were "Drive My Car" should open up!

 

Wow, what an interesting read!

I grew up with the Capitol albums so I still enjoy listening to them from time to time. My mother has given me all of her Beatle albums which covers Meet the Beatles through Revolver, plus the VJ release of Introducing the Beatles, all in mono. Most of the LP's are in very good condition and none have serious scratches.

I spent a couple evenings last week transferring the mono Something New to CD-R. It came out very well and I'm my own worst critic. The tracks were definitely futzed with by Capitol though. Lots of compression and added reverb creating a sound that's short on detail and LOUD.

I'm just trying to preserve these for history's sake and my own nostalgia. Some of the U.S. mixes are unique; not to be read as "better".

 

Yep I'd go along with that too Ed. Great LP, even with the false start. More like a folk-rock album than the UK version. Ain't no bad thing.

Yeh, I'd agree with that too. John Cusack obviously likes it as well...just look at the cover of the High Fidelity DVD or soundtrack CD!

I actually think some of the other US covers are pretty good too. The gatefold Help! sleeve is one of my faves.


Cheers

 

From a collecting point of view, the Capitol albums are interesting and (for serious Beatles collectors) essential items for any Beatles collection. I don't believe anyone buys them for sound quality...I know I didn't.

I own only reissues (mostly early 70s Apple or late 70s purple Capitol pressings) and didn't pay much for any of mine.

When I first came across the US Beatles LPs in the early 80s (in a long-gone record store near me that used to sell loads of imported vinyl from Japan and the US) I became real curious about them and decided to buy a few. I was a young kid at the time so I didn't really notice they'd messed with the sound in a big way until I was a litte bit older and had better playback equipment.

It's a shame that Capitol futzed with the sound because I think that - as a product aimed specifically at the American youth market at the time - quite a few of those LPs are pretty good in terms of sleeve design (ignoring the corny liner notes!) and song selection. I do think they should have matched Revolver to the UK version though.

Cheers

 

Larry, on the U.S. Capitol Ticket To Ride, they used the mono singles master and rechanneled it for the Help LP. To me this seems like more work than sending a request to England for a true stereo tape. The other songs I used for example are because they are all singles. So was Ticket To Ride.

It's irrelevant that they were not on any UK LP. She's A Woman and Yes It Is were both singles and not on a UK Lp until the 1980's, but they were both mixed for stereo shortly after they were recorded.

As far as the length of Ticket To Ride is concerned only the UK stereo version is longer (by about 5 seconds.)

 

I have to agree about the German WITH THE BEATLES. The German Odeon A HARD DAY'S NIGHT sounds just as bad. These albums sound much worse than MEET THE BEATLES or the United Artists A HARD DAYS NIGHT.

However, all of my German Apple pressings are very quiet and sound absolutely superb.

As for Capitol albums, the first three Canadian realeases, BEATLEMANIA, TWIST AND SHOUT and LONG TALLY SALLY sound quite good. They are the dry British mono mixes without any of the "Dexterization" Unfortunately, subsequent Capitol of Canada LPs are the same as the US albums.

 

I'm one of those who think the U.S. Rubber Soul is really the better one, I like the sound of The Word and of course the false start, and the overall acoustic feel of that album. I like starting side 2 and hearing It's Only Love kick things off, not buried in the middle of a side.
I also like starting side 2 of Yesterday and Today and hearing the blast of And Your Bird Can Sing. I like hearing it that way rather than coming after Good day Sunshine. I also like the mixes of Dr. Robert and I'm Only Sleeping on that album as well. As for the soundtracks, I really prefer the U.S. versions because I actually -like- the incidental music. Help was my first encounter with Indian music when I was all of 5 years old....heady stuff.
If you hear a really clean issue of Rubber Soul in stereo, it ain't half bad sounding. Sure, the U.K. copies are generally cleaner but there is a warmth in the U.S. version lacking in the UK...the U.S. is like sitting by the fireplace near Christmastime (which is how I first heard it).
I also like the raucous Money on the 2nd album. I think Long Tall Sally kicks ass as well. I appreciate the clean UK, German and Japanese issues, but some of the early Capitols have a charm all their own. I also like the sound on Meet The Beatles and some of the tracks on Something New and Beatles '65. With the exception of the mono Magical Mystery Tour, everything post Revolver sounds kinda krap, but even with Revolver I dig that 'live' sound sometimes....Tomorrow Never Knows is absolutely obnoxious and I LOVE IT!
There's also something beautiful about those original Capitol rainbow records, far more beautiful labels than Parlophone IMO, and holding a pristine Near Mint one in your hands nearly 40 years down the line is still an experience to be treasured.

 

You LIKE mono rechannelled for stereo???!!!

Isn't this grounds for suspension here?

Surely I have entered the bizzarro world!

 

Dang, and I just bought a Capital Sgt Peppers Mono LP too. Oh well, I do have a UK Stereo Pepper LP

 

I was talking about the mono issue, not the stereo of Y&T.

yes you have, your post proves it.

 

lennonfan, I agree with a lot of your post and I would also add that IMHO the Capitol yellow and orange swirl 45's are the coolest looking record ever made. Maybe they don't sound as good as their British counterparts but I wouldn't give mine up for anything.

 

Glad you mentioned that. I would like to add that my 1973 2nd pressing of MMT on the German Apple label is outstanding. All true stereo and great bass on BYARM. The mid 1970s German Revolver on the Apple label that I have, I like a bit better than my two box EMI UK pressing from the same period. Even some of the late 1960s pressings on the sky blue Odeon label are pretty good too such as The Beatles Beat. It's the early brown/white/red Odeon pressings (stereo) and the green/white (mono) that you want to avoid and some of the early sky blue Odeons from the mid 1960s.

Mike, really?

 

The recent mono U.K. Pepper's matrix -1 that I won on eBay, as beat up as it is, it sounds way better than my original Capitol Canada rainbow mono pressing. The U.K. version is louder, brighter, better bass, etc. Try to find one if you can. It's well worth it. I hope to find a better copy one day. :

 

Yeah, they hypnotize, don't they?
also, some are cool, and that label has the only version of I am The Walrus with the extra beats in the middle (outside of reissues).
I loved the apple 45 label too when it came out. I think the Parlophone labels are absolutely boring in comparison.

 

I can't explain why, exactly, but when I was a kid in Scotland, already deeply into records, and they brought out that uniform EMI 45 label for Parlophone, Columbia, HMV, Tamla_Motown, etc. I thought it was really cool. (Of course I liked the coloured labels that preceeded them as well.) Those EMI singles were my standard definition of what a record "should be". I thought the American 45's were poorly made because they did things differently - different run-ins, big holes, different labels, sometimes bevelled edges, no "gearwheel" around the label, etc. (Silly, but there you go.)

 

I hate to admit it, I mean I *really* do, but it's true. The Capitol cutting chain seemed to have a warmth to it lacking in the UK chain, and *once in a great great while* I like the Capitol EQ better. Doesn't happen often, and I'll never admit it again!

 

"Dr. Robert" & "And You Bird Can Sing" were only re-channeled on the first run of "Yesterday & Today." As a matter of fact the Capitol Record Club issues were true stereo from the get go!

 

My Apple reissue copy of Yesterday and Today I purchased in 1973, still had And Your Bird Can Sing, Dr. Robert and I'm Only Sleeping in fake stereo.

 

Some Apple pressing was, you are right. It depended on what pressing plant the Apple records came from. My mistake!

 

As luck would have it, I got stuck with that crappy reprocessed stereo junk.

Didn't know anything about that back then, but I always wondered why that stuff plus side 2 of Mystery Tour, The Beatles Second Album and I Feel Fine and She's A Woman on Beatles '65 sounded so rotten.

It wasn't 'til about 1979 when I read Nicholas Shaffner's book, The Beatles Forever that I discovered why. That was one Beatles book that stood out for me at the time.