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U.S. Albums
Limited Edition
Box Set
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Track Listings
Disc: 1
| 1 | I Want To Hold Your Hand (mono mix) |
| 2 | I Saw Her Standing There (mono mix) |
| 3 | This Boy (mono mix) |
| 4 | It Won\'t Be Long (mono mix) |
| 5 | All I've Got To Do (mono mix) |
| 6 | All My Loving (mono mix) |
| 7 | Don\'t Bother Me (mono mix) |
| 8 | Little Child (mono mix) |
| 9 | Till There Was You (mono mix) |
| 10 | Hold Me Tight (mono mix) |
| 11 | I Wanna Be Your Man (mono mix) |
| 12 | Not A Second Time (mono mix) |
| 13 | I Want To Hold Your Hand (stereo mix) |
| 14 | I Saw Her Standing There (stereo mix) |
| 15 | This Boy (stereo mix) |
| 16 | It Won\'t Be Long (stereo mix) |
| 17 | All I've Got To Do (stereo mix) |
| 18 | All My Loving (stereo mix) |
| 19 | Don\'t Bother Me (stereo mix) |
| 20 | Little Child (stereo mix) |
| 21 | Till There Was You (stereo mix) |
| 22 | Hold Me Tight (stereo mix) |
| 23 | I Wanna Be Your Man (stereo mix) |
| 24 | Not A Second Time (stereo mix) |
Disc: 2
| 1 | Roll Over Beethoven (mono mix) |
| 2 | Thank You Girl (mono mix) |
| 3 | You Really Got A Hold On Me (mono mix) |
| 4 | Devil In Her Heart (mono mix) |
| 5 | Money (That\'s What I Want) (mono mix) |
| 6 | You Can\'t Do That (mono mix) |
| 7 | Long Tall Sally (mono mix) |
| 8 | I Call Your Name (mono mix) |
| 9 | Please Mister Postman (mono mix) |
| 10 | I'll Get You (mono mix) |
| 11 | She Loves You (mono mix) |
| 12 | Roll Over Beethoven (stereo mix) |
| 13 | Thank You Girl (stereo mix) |
| 14 | You Really Got A Hold On Me (stereo mix) |
| 15 | Devil In Her Heart (stereo mix) |
| 16 | Money (That\'s What I Want) (stereo mix) |
| 17 | You Can\'t Do That (stereo mix) |
| 18 | Long Tall Sally (stereo mix) |
| 19 | I Call Your Name (stereo mix) |
| 20 | Please Mister Postman (stereo mix) |
| 21 | I'll Get You (mono mix) |
| 22 | She Loves You (mono mix) |
Disc: 3
| 1 | A Hard Day's Night (mono mix) |
| 2 | Tell Me Why (mono mix) |
| 3 | I'll Cry Instead (mono mix) |
| 4 | I Should Have Known Better (instrumental) (mono mix) |
| 5 | I'm Happy Just To Dance With You (mono mix) |
| 6 | And I Love Her (instrumental) (mono mix) |
| 7 | I Should Have Known Better (mono mix) |
| 8 | If I Fell (mono mix) |
| 9 | And I Love Her (mono mix) |
| 10 | Ringo's Theme (this Boy) (instrumental) (mono mix) |
| 11 | Can\'t Buy Me Love (mono mix) |
| 12 | A Hard Day's Night (instrumental) (mono mix) |
| 13 | A Hard Day's Night (stereo mix) |
| 14 | Tell Me Why (stereo mix) |
| 15 | I'll Cry Instead (mono mix) |
| 16 | I Should Have Known Better (instrumental) (stereo mix) |
| 17 | I'm Happy Just To Dance With You (stereo mix) |
| 18 | And I Love Her (instrumental) (stereo mix) |
| 19 | I Should Have Known Better (stereo mix) |
| 20 | If I Fell (stereo mix) |
| 21 | And I Love Her (stereo mix) |
| 22 | Ringo's Theme (this Boy) (instrumental) (stereo mix) |
| 23 | Can\'t Buy Me Love (stereo mix) |
| 24 | A Hard Day's Night (instrumental) (stereo mix) |
Disc: 4
| 1 | I'll Cry Instead (mono mix) |
| 2 | Things We Said Today (mono mix) |
| 3 | Any Time At All (mono mix) |
| 4 | When I Get Home (mono mix) |
| 5 | Slow Down (mono mix) |
| 6 | Matchbox (mono mix) |
| 7 | Tell Me Why (mono mix) |
| 8 | And I Love Her (mono mix) |
| 9 | I'm Happy Just To Dance With You (mono mix) |
| 10 | If I Fell (mono mix) |
| 11 | Komm, Gib Mir Deine Hand (I Want To Hold Your Hand, sung in German) (mono mix) |
| 12 | I'll Cry Instead (stereo mix) |
| 13 | Things We Said Today (stereo mix) |
| 14 | Any Time At All (stereo mix) |
| 15 | When I Get Home (stereo mix) |
| 16 | Slow Down (stereo mix) |
| 17 | Matchbox (stereo mix) |
| 18 | Tell Me Why (stereo mix) |
| 19 | And I Love Her (stereo mix) |
| 20 | I'm Happy Just To Dance With You (stereo mix) |
| 21 | If I Fell (stereo mix) |
| 22 | Komm, Gib Mir Deine Hand (I Want To Hold Your Hand, sung in German) (stereo mix) |
Disc: 5
| 1 | On Stage with the Beatles |
| 2 | How Beatlemania Began |
| 3 | Beatlemania in Action |
| 4 | Man Behind the Beatles: Brian Epstein |
| 5 | John Lennon |
| 6 | Who's a Millionaire? |
| 7 | Beatles Will Be Beatles |
| 8 | Man Behind the Music: George Martin |
| 9 | George Harrison |
| 10 | A Hard Day's Night: Their First Movie |
| 11 | Paul McCartney |
| 12 | Sneaky Haircuts and More About Paul |
| 13 | The Beatles Look at Life |
| 14 | Victims of Beatlemania |
| 15 | Beatle Medley |
| 16 | Ringo Starr |
| 17 | Liverpool and All the World! |
Disc: 6
| 1 | No Reply (mono mix) |
| 2 | I'm A Loser (mono mix) |
| 3 | Baby's In Black (mono mix) |
| 4 | Rock And Roll Music (mono mix) |
| 5 | I'll Follow The Sun (mono mix) |
| 6 | Mr. Moonlight (mono mix) |
| 7 | Honey Don\'t (mono mix) |
| 8 | I'll Be Back (mono mix) |
| 9 | She's A Woman (mono mix) |
| 10 | I Feel Fine (mono mix) |
| 11 | Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby (mono mix) |
| 12 | No Reply (stereo mix) |
| 13 | I'm A Loser (stereo mix) |
| 14 | Baby's In Black (stereo mix) |
| 15 | Rock And Roll Music (stereo mix) |
| 16 | I'll Follow The Sun (stereo mix) |
| 17 | Mr. Moonlight (stereo mix) |
| 18 | Honey Don\'t (stereo mix) |
| 19 | I'll Be Back (stereo mix) |
| 20 | She's A Woman (stereo mix) |
| 21 | I Feel Fine (stereo mix) |
| 22 | Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby (stereo mix) |
Disc: 7
| 1 | Love Me Do (mono mix) |
| 2 | Twist And Shout (mono mix) |
| 3 | Anna (Go To Him) (mono mix) |
| 4 | Chains (mono mix) |
| 5 | Boys (mono mix) |
| 6 | Ask Me Why (mono mix) |
| 7 | Please Please Me (mono mix) |
| 8 | P.S. I Love You (mono mix) |
| 9 | Baby It\'s You (mono mix) |
| 10 | A Taste Of Honey (mono mix) |
| 11 | Do You Want To Know A Secret (mono mix) |
| 12 | Love Me Do (mono mix) |
| 13 | Twist And Shout (stereo mix) |
| 14 | Anna (Go To Him) (stereo mix) |
| 15 | Chains (stereo mix) |
| 16 | Boys (stereo mix) |
| 17 | Ask Me Why (stereo mix) |
| 18 | Please Please Me (stereo mix) |
| 19 | P.S. I Love You (mono mix) |
| 20 | Baby It\'s You (stereo mix) |
| 21 | A Taste Of Honey (stereo mix) |
| 22 | Do You Want To Know A Secret (stereo mix) |
Disc: 8
| 1 | Kansas City / Hey - Hey |
| 2 | Eight Days A Week (mono mix) |
| 3 | You Like Me Too Much (mono mix) |
| 4 | Bad Boy (mono mix) |
| 5 | I Don\'t Want To Spoil The Party (mono mix) |
| 6 | Words Of Love (mono mix) |
| 7 | What You're Doing (mono mix) |
| 8 | Yes It Is (mono mix) |
| 9 | Dizzy Miss Lizzy (mono mix) |
| 10 | Tell Me What You See (mono mix) |
| 11 | Every Little Thing (mono mix) |
| 12 | Kansas City / Hey - Hey |
| 13 | Eight Days A Week (stereo mix) |
| 14 | You Like Me Too Much (stereo mix) |
| 15 | Bad Boy (stereo mix) |
| 16 | I Don\'t Want To Spoil The Party (stereo mix) |
| 17 | Words Of Love (stereo mix) |
| 18 | What You're Doing (stereo mix) |
| 19 | Yes It Is (stereo mix) |
| 20 | Dizzy Miss Lizzy (stereo mix) |
| 21 | Tell Me What You See (stereo mix) |
| 22 | Every Little Thing (stereo mix) |
Disc: 9
| 1 | Help! (mono mix) |
| 2 | The Night Before (mono mix) |
| 3 | From Me To You Fantasy (instrumental) (mono mix) |
| 4 | You've Got To Hide Your Love Away (mono mix) |
| 5 | I Need You (mono mix) |
| 6 | In The Tyrol (instrumental) (mono mix) |
| 7 | Another Girl (mono mix) |
| 8 | Another Hard Day's Night (instrumental) (mono mix) |
| 9 | Ticket To Ride (mono mix) |
| 10 | The Bitter End/you Can\'t Do That (instrumental) (mono mix) |
| 11 | You're Going To Lose That Girl (mono mix) |
| 12 | The Chase (instrumental) (mono mix) |
| 13 | Help! (stereo mix) |
| 14 | The Night Before (stereo mix) |
| 15 | From Me To You Fantasy (instrumental) (stereo mix) |
| 16 | You've Got To Hide Your Love Away (stereo mix) |
| 17 | I Need You (stereo mix) |
| 18 | 6 In The Tyrol (instrumental) (stereo mix) |
| 19 | Another Girl (stereo mix) |
| 20 | Another Hard Day's Night (instrumental) (stereo mix) |
| 21 | Ticket To Ride (stereo mix) |
| 22 | The Bitter End/you Can\'t Do That (instrumental) (stereo mix) |
| 23 | You're Going To Lose That Girl (stereo mix) |
| 24 | The Chase (instrumental) (stereo mix) |
Disc: 10
| 1 | I've Just Seen A Face (mono mix) |
| 2 | Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) (mono mix) |
| 3 | You Won\'t See Me (mono mix) |
| 4 | Think For Yourself (mono mix) |
| 5 | The Word (mono mix) |
| 6 | Michelle (mono mix) |
| 7 | It\'s Only Love (mono mix) |
| 8 | Girl (mono mix) |
| 9 | I'm Looking Through You (mono mix) |
| 10 | In My Life (mono mix) |
| 11 | Wait (mono mix) |
| 12 | Run For Your Life (mono mix) |
| 13 | I've Just Seen A Face (stereo mix) |
| 14 | Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) (stereo mix) |
| 15 | You Won\'t See Me (stereo mix) |
| 16 | Think For Yourself (stereo mix) |
| 17 | The Word (stereo mix) |
| 18 | Michelle (stereo mix) |
| 19 | It\'s Only Love (stereo mix) |
| 20 | Girl (stereo mix) |
| 21 | I'm Looking Through You (stereo mix) |
| 22 | In My Life (stereo mix) |
| 23 | Wait (stereo mix) |
| 24 | Run For Your Life (stereo mix) |
Disc: 11
| 1 | Drive My Car (mono mix) |
| 2 | I'm Only Sleeping (mono mix) |
| 3 | Nowhere Man (mono mix) |
| 4 | Doctor Robert (mono mix) |
| 5 | Yesterday (mono mix) |
| 6 | Act Naturally (mono mix) |
| 7 | And Your Bird Can Sing (mono mix) |
| 8 | If I Needed Someone (mono mix) |
| 9 | We Can Work It Out (mono mix) |
| 10 | What Goes On (mono mix) |
| 11 | Day Tripper (mono mix) |
| 12 | Drive My Car (stereo mix) |
| 13 | I'm Only Sleeping (stereo mix) |
| 14 | Nowhere Man (stereo mix) |
| 15 | Doctor Robert (stereo mix) |
| 16 | Yesterday (stereo mix) |
| 17 | Act Naturally (stereo mix) |
| 18 | And Your Bird Can Sing (stereo mix) |
| 19 | If I Needed Someone (stereo mix) |
| 20 | We Can Work It Out (stereo mix) |
| 21 | What Goes On (stereo mix) |
| 22 | Day Tripper (stereo mix) |
Disc: 12
| 1 | Taxman (mono mix) |
| 2 | Eleanor Rigby (mono mix) |
| 3 | Love You To (mono mix) |
| 4 | Here, There And Everywhere (mono mix) |
| 5 | Yellow Submarine (mono mix) |
| 6 | She Said She Said (mono mix) |
| 7 | Good Day Sunshine (mono mix) |
| 8 | For No One (mono mix) |
| 9 | I Want To Tell You (mono mix) |
| 10 | Got To Get You Into My Life (mono mix) |
| 11 | Tomorrow Never Knows (mono mix) |
| 12 | Taxman (stereo mix) |
| 13 | Eleanor Rigby (stereo mix) |
| 14 | Love You To (stereo mix) |
| 15 | Here, There And Everywhere (stereo mix) |
| 16 | Yellow Submarine (stereo mix) |
| 17 | She Said She Said (stereo mix) |
| 18 | Good Day Sunshine (stereo mix) |
| 19 | For No One (stereo mix) |
| 20 | I Want To Tell You (stereo mix) |
| 21 | Got To Get You Into My Life (stereo mix) |
| 22 | Tomorrow Never Knows (stereo mix) |
Disc: 13
| 1 | Can\'t Buy Me Love (stereo mix) |
| 2 | I Should Have Known Better (stereo mix) |
| 3 | Paperback Writer (stereo mix) |
| 4 | Rain (stereo mix) |
| 5 | Lady Madonna (stereo mix) |
| 6 | Revolution (stereo mix) |
| 7 | Hey Jude (stereo mix) |
| 8 | Old Brown Shoe (stereo mix) |
| 9 | Don\'t Let Me Down (stereo mix) |
| 10 | The Ballad Of John And Yoko (stereo mix) |
Editorial Reviews
On February 7, 1964, The Beatles arrived at New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport, greeted by scores of screaming, swooning fans who rushed the gate to catch a glimpse of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr as they took their first steps on American soil. Two nights later, on Sunday, February 9, 73 million viewers in the U.S. and millions more in Canada tuned in to CBS to watch The Beatles make their American television debut on ‘The Ed Sullivan Show.’ In what remains one of the world’s top-viewed television events of all time, The Beatles performed five songs on the live broadcast and ‘Beatlemania,’ already in full, feverish bloom in The Beatles’ native U.K., was unleashed with blissful fervor across America and around the world. The British Invasion had begun. The new 13 CD box set THE U.S. ALBUMS commemorates the 50th anniversary of these history-making events, spanning 1964’s MEET THE BEATLES! to 1970’s HEY JUDE. The Beatles’ U.S. albums differed from the band’s U.K. albums in a variety of ways, including different track lists, song mixes, album titles, and art. The box set includes the following titles: (Disc 1) MEET THE BEATLES!, (Disc 2) THE BEATLES’ SECOND ALBUM, (Disc 3) A HARD DAY’S NIGHT [ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK], (Disc 4) SOMETHING NEW, (Disc 5) THE BEATLES’ STORY, (Disc 6) BEATLES ’65, (Disc 7) THE EARLY BEATLES, (Disc 8) BEATLES VI, (Disc 9) HELP! [ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK] , (Disc 10) RUBBER SOUL, (Disc 11) YESTERDAY AND TODAY, (Disc 12) REVOLVER, (Disc 13) HEY JUDE. These albums were originally issued between 1964 and 1970 by Capitol Records, Apple Records, and United Artists in the United States. These new releases seek to replicate the unique listening experience heard by Americans at the time by preserving the sequences, timings, and artwork found on the albums. Capitol’s engineers in the 1960s took great care to produce what they believed to be the best possible sound for the playback equipment in use at that time. Due to the limitations of the record players of the day, engineers often compressed the sound by raising the volume of the softer passages and lowering the volume for the louder parts of the songs. They also reduced the bass frequencies since too much bass could cause the record to skip. In some cases, reverb was added to the tracks to make them sound more “American.” The CDs are packaged in miniature vinyl sleeves that faithfully recreate the original U.S. LP releases down to the finest detail, including the inner sleeves. 11 original U.S. albums presented in both mono and stereo. Hey Jude and The Beatles’ Story are in stereo only. A Hard Day’s Night [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack], The Beatles’ Story, Yesterday And Today, Hey Jude and the U.S. version of Revolver are presented on CD for the first time. Yesterday And Today features the original album cover of The Beatles posing with raw meat and baby dolls. The package also comes with a collectible sticker of the subsequent Yesterday And Today cover art. Also included is a 64-page booklet which includes a new essay examining the U.S. albums and their historical significance, written by American author and television executive Bill Flanagan. The box set’s dimensions are: 6 inches wide x 6 1/8 inches tall x 3 ¼ inches thick.
Product details
- Is Discontinued By Manufacturer : No
- Language : English
- Product Dimensions : 6.14 x 6.06 x 3.39 inches; 2.13 Pounds
- Manufacturer : Capitol
- Original Release Date : 2014
- Date First Available : December 12, 2013
- Label : Capitol
- ASIN : B00H8XF9I0
- Country of Origin : USA
- Number of discs : 13
- Best Sellers Rank: #29,246 in CDs & Vinyl (See Top 100 in CDs & Vinyl)
- #14,116 in Rock (CDs & Vinyl)
- #15,140 in Pop (CDs & Vinyl)
- Customer Reviews:
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Reviewed in the United States on February 6, 2014
As most Beatle fans know, the long-playing records (LPs) released in the United States in the 1960s differed from those issued in Great Britain, for two principal reasons: to save money on publishing royalties, Capitol (and other U.S. labels) issued their albums with only 11 or 12 songs, as opposed to 14 on the U.K. versions. Also, to meet the air play requirements of U.S. Top 40 radio stations, the American albums contained hit singles, whereas the British releases did not (with rare exceptions). Other countries, such as Canada, Mexico, and Japan, also issued their own Beatle albums. UPDATE: Five of the Japanese albums were released on CD in the
The Beatles | Japanese Box | 5 Albums + Memorabilia
box set.
In 1987, after settling long-standing legal differences with EMI, The Beatles' catalog was finally issued in the relatively new Compact Disc (CD) format. Initially, Apple decided to only issue the 12 original British albums on CD - PLEASE PLEASE ME, WITH THE BEATLES, A HARD DAY'S NIGHT, BEATLES FOR SALE, HELP!, RUBBER SOUL, REVOLVER, SERGEANT PEPPER'S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND, THE BEATLES (a.k.a. THE WHITE ALBUM), YELLOW SUBMARINE, ABBEY ROAD, and LET IT BE. Because MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR had originally been released in Britain as a two-record, six-song, 45 RPM Extended Play (EP) set, the U.S.-formatted LP version was not originally considered for CD release, even though that LP had been available in the U.K. since 1976 (and since 1973 on cassette). Worldwide demand forced EMI's and Apple's hand, and a CD version of the MMT album was added to the core Beatles catalog in either August or September 1987. The remaining 33 Beatles non-LP tracks were initially released on two CDs, Past Masters, Volume One and Past Masters, Volume Two , in March 1988. In 2009, these two volumes were combined into a remastered two-disc set . A similar collection of non-LP tracks, MONO MASTERS, was included in The Beatles in Mono (The Complete Mono Recordings) box set. A remastered stereo vinyl box set was issued in 2012; a remastered mono vinyl box set - including an LP edition of MONO MASTERS - was released in summer 2014. No word on whether there will be a box set of the remastered U.S. vinyl albums, but I doubt it.
While some American fans, including myself, had been purchasing the British albums since they became available as imports in the late 1970s, other U.S. fans were not happy with the British-only sequencing of the CDs. These fans were used to MEET THE BEATLES! and BEATLES '65, not WITH THE BEATLES and BEATLES FOR SALE. They were used to RUBBER SOUL leading off with "I've Just Seen A Face," not "Drive My Car," for example.
For many years, American fans bombarded Apple and EMI with requests for the release of the original U.S. albums on CD. In 2004, after years of resistance from Apple, a four-CD box set, The Capitol Albums, Volume One , was finally issued, containing CD versions of MEET THE BEATLES!, THE BEATLES' SECOND ALBUM, SOMETHING NEW, and BEATLES '65. It was so popular that a sequel, The Capitol Albums, Volume Two , was issued in 2006, containing CDs of THE EARLY BEATLES, BEATLES VI, HELP! (ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK), and the U.S. version of RUBBER SOUL. These were very important releases at the time - not only did American fans finally obtain CD versions of eight albums that they grew up with, but with the first four British CDs only available in mono back then, and the HELP! and RUBBER SOUL CDs in stereo, but remixed by George Martin, THE CAPITOL ALBUMS, VOLUME ONE and VOLUME TWO marked the first time that most of the band's early (1963-65) songs appeared in their original stereo mixes on CD (although a few songs that did appear in stereo on the original British CDs - "I Want To Hold Your Hand," "This Boy," "I Feel Fine," "She's A Woman," "Yes It Is," and "Ticket To Ride" - appeared in simulated stereo (Duophonic) on the Capitol CDs, exactly as they had been issued on the original albums).
Despite the success of these collections, no follow-up was issued, probably because remastering of the core British catalog in both mono and stereo - completed and issued worldwide on September 9, 2009 - took precedence. Now, for the 50th Anniversary of The Beatles' arrival in the U.S.A., Universal Music/Capitol/EMI has issued a 13-CD box set, THE U.S. ALBUMS, containing newly remastered versions of the eight albums mentioned above, plus five titles new to CD: the 1964 United Artists Records A HARD DAY'S NIGHT (ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SOUND TRACK); Capitol's 1964 THE BEATLES' STORY documentary, "YESTERDAY"...AND TODAY, and the U.S. version of REVOLVER, both from 1966; and Apple's 1970 compilation, HEY JUDE (a.k.a. THE BEATLES AGAIN). Following is a disc-by-disc rundown of all 13 albums in this set, and how these new CDs differ from previous releases.
DISC 1: MEET THE BEATLES!
Original LP issue: Capitol (S)T-2047, January 1964
ORIGINAL STEREO ALBUM/2004 CD: Simulated stereo (Duophonic) versions of "I Want To Hold Your Hand" and "This Boy"; true stereo versions of all other songs.
ORIGINAL MONO ALBUM/2004 CD: True mono versions of "I Want To Hold Your Hand" and "This Boy"; Type B Mono "fold-down" (the two-channel stereo mixes were combined onto a single track) mixes of all other songs.
NEW CD: True stereo and mono mixes of all songs, from the 2009 remasters (as are most other songs in this box set). NOTE: All the CDs in this set begin with the mono mixes, followed by the stereo versions; on the previous CAPITOL ALBUMS collections, stereo was first.
DISC 2: THE BEATLES' SECOND ALBUM
Original LP issue: Capitol (S)T-2080, April 1964
ORIGINAL STEREO ALBUM/2004 CD: Original stereo versions (with echo and reverb) of "Roll Over Beethoven," "Thank You Girl," "You Really Got A Hold On Me," "Devil In Her Heart," "Money (That\'s What I Want)," and "Please Mister Postman"; special U.S. stereo mixes (with echo and reverb) of "Long Tall Sally" and "I Call Your Name"; Duophonic mixes of "You Can\'t Do That," "I'll Get You," and "She Loves You."
ORIGINAL MONO ALBUM/2004 CD: Type B Mono "fold-down" mixes of "Roll Over Beethoven," "Thank You Girl," "You Really Got A Hold On Me," "Devil In Her Heart," "Money (That\'s What I Want)," and "Please Mister Postman"; special U.S. mono mixes of "Long Tall Sally" and "I Call Your Name"; U.S. mono mix of "You Can\'t Do That" (the cowbell is more up front than on the U.K. version); original mono mixes of "I'll Get You" and "She Loves You."
NEW CD: U.K. stereo versions (without echo and reverb) of "Roll Over Beethoven," "Thank You Girl," "You Really Got A Hold On Me," "Devil In Her Heart," "Money (That\'s What I Want)," "You Can\'t Do That," "Long Tall Sally," "I Call Your Name," and "Please Mister Postman"; original mono mixes of "I'll Get You" and "She Loves You," which appear twice, because no stereo mixes exist. U.S. mono mixes of "Long Tall Sally" and "I Call Your Name"; U.K. mono mixes of all other songs, including "You Can\'t Do That."
HISTORICAL NOTE: THE BEATLES' SECOND ALBUM was titled that way because it was a shot across the bow at Vee-Jay's INTRODUCING...THE BEATLES LP (VJLP(S)/SR 1062), which Capitol considered an illegitimate Beatle album. ("This is the real SECOND ALBUM, folks - accept no substitutes!")
DISC 3: A HARD DAY'S NIGHT (ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SOUND TRACK)
Original LP issue: United Artists UAL 3366 (mono), UAS 6366 (stereo), June 1964
Later reissued as Capitol SW-11921, August 1980 (First time on CD)
ORIGINAL STEREO ALBUM: Simulated stereo versions of the eight Beatles songs; true stereo versions of the four George Martin instrumentals.
ORIGINAL MONO ALBUM: True mono versions of all 12 tracks, including special versions of "I Cry Instead" ("I'll Cry Instead") with an extra verse, and "And I Love Her" with a single-tracked McCartney vocal.
NEW CD: Original stereo versions of all 12 songs, except for the extended "I'll Cry Instead," which appears in mono (because it was prepared for the film, not for record, the "long" version was never mixed into stereo); original mono versions of all songs, except for "I'll Cry Instead" and "And I Love Her," which are the same mixes as above.
HISTORICAL NOTE: EMI, which distributed the United Artists label in the U.K. during the 1960s, almost released this exact same album in Britain, but thought better of it and asked The Beatles to record a few additional songs to make the British version of A HARD DAY'S NIGHT a full-fledged Parlophone Beatle LP. Good move. Ironically, Capitol bought out the UA record label in 1978, which gave them the reissue rights to A HARD DAY'S NIGHT - ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SOUND TRACK, as well as LET IT BE, which was originally distributed by United Artists Records (though issued on the Red Apple label) because, at the time, The Beatles still owed UA a soundtrack LP for the U.S. market.
WHY THE SOUNDTRACK INSTRUMENTALS? The folks who made that decision are probably deceased, but my guess is that they wanted to attract adult movie-soundtrack listeners ("Beatle songs for the kids, instrumentals for the grownups").
DISC 4: SOMETHING NEW
Original LP issue: Capitol (S)T-2108, July 1964
ORIGINAL STEREO ALBUM/2004 CD: Original stereo mixes of all 11 songs, including the "short" version of "I'll Cry Instead." This was the first Capitol album to have all of the songs in true stereo (and the last, until RUBBER SOUL). Five of the songs were also on the United Artists soundtrack LP; of the three that were not included on SOMETHING NEW, "Can\'t Buy Me Love" and "I Should Have Known Better" (initially issued as Capitol singles) did not appear on a Capitol or Apple stereo LP until 1970's HEY JUDE (disc 13 in this set). "Can\'t Buy Me Love," along with its B-side, "You Can\'t Do That," also appeared on a 1964 Capitol various-artists collection, THE BIG HITS FROM ENGLAND AND U.S.A. (Capitol (D)T-2125), but that LP was only issued in Duophonic. While the U.S. vinyl version of 1973's THE BEATLES/1962-1966 hits package (a.k.a. THE RED ALBUM - Apple SKBO-3403) was the first Capitol album to contain "A Hard Day's Night," it was the mono single mix (though the British LP [Apple PCSP 717] and the later CD issues had the true stereo mix). The first Stateside stereo appearance of "A Hard Day's Night" (as well as "Ticket To Ride") was on Capitol's 1982 REEL MUSIC LP (Capitol SV-12199).
ORIGINAL MONO ALBUM/2004 CD: Original mono mixes of all songs, except "I'll Cry Instead" and "And I Love Her" (same as A HARD DAY'S NIGHT (ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SOUND TRACK)), plus special U.S. mono mixes of "Any Time At All" and "When I Get Home."
NEW CD: Essentially the same, except that on the 2004 CD, the stereo version is a little louder and faster, with a little echo added. The U.S. stereo version of "Komm, Gib Mir Deine Hand" has some crosstalk over the intro (George Martin saying, "Coming!," with one of the other Beatles saying "Whooo!"; this is not on the U.K. mix. The mono version of the same song has a more even volume level on the 2004 CD; the U.K. version (also on MONO MASTERS) varies in volume in a few places, as does the German 45 RPM single.
HISTORICAL NOTE: The other German-language track, "Sie Liebt Dich" - available today on PAST MASTERS and MONO MASTERS - appeared briefly on a 1964 Swan Records single (Swan 4182), but did not appear on Capitol - or in stereo in the States - until 1980's RARITIES album (Capitol SHAL-12060). The 1978/79 British RARITIES LP (Parlophone PSLP 261/PCM 1001) - a different collection entirely - marked the U.K. debut of both German-language songs.
WHAT CAPITOL COULD HAVE DONE BETTER: I agree with Bruce Spizer that SOMETHING NEW should have been a 12-song version of Parlophone's A HARD DAY'S NIGHT, minus "You Can\'t Do That," which was already issued Stateside on THE BEATLES' SECOND ALBUM. As Spizer put it, the "Matchbox"/"Slow Down" single (Capitol 5255), which failed to make the Top 10, would have sold a lot more as a non-LP single. Both songs could have also slotted in nicely on BEATLES '65. As for "Komm, Gib Mir Deine Hand," which is out of place on SOMETHING NEW, it could have been coupled with "Sie Liebt Dich" on a Capitol Star Line single.
DISC 5: THE BEATLES' STORY
Original LP issue: Capitol (S)TBO-2222, November 1964 (First time on CD, stereo only)
Issued on one CD, this 2-LP documentary album was assembled by Capitol Records in the fall of 1964. Many Beatles documentary LPs were issued in 1964; the best known are Ed Rudy's two Radio Pulsebeat News documentaries, issued on CD in 2004 by Rudy himself, with assistance from Joe Johnson of "Beatle Brunch," and Vee-Jay's HEAR THE BEATLES TELL ALL (Vee-Jay PRO 202), a 1964 promo LP that was also issued commercially for a brief time; it was reissued by Vee-Jay International in 1979 (it would be nice if Collectables Records, which owns the Vee-Jay catalog, would reissue it on CD this year). THE BEATLES' STORY was co-produced by Gary Usher and Roger Christian, who were songwriters who worked closely with The Beach Boys and Brian Wilson on classics such as "In My Room" and "Don\'t Worry Baby," among others. Christian, also a DJ on Hollywood's KFWB Radio at the time, shares narration duties with two newsmen at the same station: Al Wiman and John Babcock. Wiman is still living, as of this writing, but Babcock, Christian, and Usher are deceased. The documentary is not the best in the world: most of the information comes from press releases issued at the time, and there are many omissions: for example, Stuart Sutcliffe is mentioned, but Pete Best is not. Ringo Starr's original band is erroneously referred to as Rory Storm And The Texans; it\'s actually Rory Storm And The Hurricanes. There is also one error in the narration: when Al Wiman asks, "But who came up with the final name "Beatle," spelled with the B-E-A-T? Paul McCartney explains the origin." The next sound bite, containing the answer to that question, comes from George Harrison. The most hilarious moment is when the narrators explain that Capitol suddenly decided "to take over distribution" of The Beatles' records in America, because "small record companies" (read: Vee-Jay and Swan) were not "properly introducing the young singers to America." As any reader of Bruce Spizer's books knows, Capitol turned down The Beatles three times, mostly thanks to the clueless Capitol executive Dave Dexter, a big-band buff who hated rock 'n' roll music, and said of the Fab Four, "They're a bunch of long-haired kids - they're nothing! Forget it!" Finally, Beatles Manager Brian Epstein went over Dexter's head and called Capitol President Alan Livingston, asking him, "Will you please listen [to The Beatles] and call me back?" Livingston obtained some Beatles records from Dexter, listened to them, liked them, called Brian back, and made the deal - the rest, as they say, is history. The highlight of the album is the "Beatle Medley" (track 15), which works better than 1982's poorly edited "Movie Medley"; the album also features an excerpt of "Twist And Shout" from the unissued 1964 Hollywood Bowl concert (the 1977 THE BEATLES AT THE HOLLYWOOD BOWL album - still unissued on CD - features the 1965 version of the same song). Most of the background music on the album is by The Hollyridge Strings , a Capitol studio orchestra that released 5 easy-listening albums of Beatles instrumentals in the 1960s. Because this CD was mastered from the original Capitol master tape, there are Duophonic excerpts of some songs, and the quality is not as good as the other discs in the set. NOTE: While there was a mono version of THE BEATLES' STORY (Capitol TBO-2222), it was a "fold-down" Type B Mono mix from the stereo master tape, not real mono, so it was not issued on this CD. This album is nice to have for the collector, but it\'s not worth going out of your way to acquire (don\'t pay big bucks for this box set just to get this disc).
DISC 6: BEATLES '65
Original LP issue: Capitol (S)T-2228, December 1964
ORIGINAL STEREO ALBUM/2004 CD: Original stereo mixes of all songs, except for "I Feel Fine" and "She's A Woman," which are, in Bruce Spizer's words, "echo-drenched Duophonic disasters."
ORIGINAL MONO ALBUM/2004 CD: Original U.K. mono mixes of all songs, except for special U.S. mixes of "I'll Be Back," "I Feel Fine," and "She's A Woman."
NEW CD: U.K. stereo mixes of all songs, including "I Feel Fine" and "She's A Woman"; the mono version is identical to the previous CD.
DISC 7: THE EARLY BEATLES
Original LP issue: Capitol (S)T-2309, March 1965
ORIGINAL STEREO ALBUM/2006 CD: Simulated stereo mixes of "Love Me Do" and "P.S. I Love You"; true stereo mixes of all other songs.
ORIGINAL MONO ALBUM/2006 CD: True mono mixes of "Love Me Do" and "P.S. I Love You"; Type B Mono "fold-down" mixes of all other songs.
NEW CD: True mono mixes of "Love Me Do" and "P.S. I Love You," which appear twice, because no stereo mixes exist; true stereo and mono versions of all other songs.
HISTORICAL NOTE: Of the five Vee-Jay masters that did not appear on THE EARLY BEATLES, "I Saw Her Standing There" was issued on MEET THE BEATLES!, while "Thank You Girl" appeared on THE BEATLES' SECOND ALBUM. "From Me To You," "Misery," and "There's A Place" made their first Capitol appearance in 1965 on Star Line "oldies" singles. Aside from a short-lived appearance on a bizarre 1964 Vee-Jay compilation album called JOLLY WHAT! THE BEATLES AND FRANK IFIELD ON STAGE (VJLP(S) 1085), which contained only four Beatles songs and was NOT a live album (see Bruce Spizer's Vee-Jay book for further details), "From Me To You" did not appear on a U.S. Beatle LP until 1973's RED ALBUM; "Misery" and "There's A Place" had to wait another 7 years, until 1980, for their first Capitol LP appearance, on the RARITIES collection, which also contained "Sie Liebt Dich" (see above) and the original single version of "Love Me Do," with Ringo on drums.
WHAT CAPITOL COULD HAVE DONE BETTER: The running order is weak. "Love Me Do" and "P.S. I Love You" - a non-LP single (Tollie 9008) for most fans, except for those who bought the rare first edition of INTRODUCING...THE BEATLES - should have been the first two tracks on the LP, with "Twist And Shout" the last track on Side Two, as opposed to being the second track on Side One.
HISTORICAL NOTE: Due to a publishing dispute with Capitol's Beechwood Music Corporation, which published "Love Me Do" and "P.S. I Love You" Stateside at the time, later editions of INTRODUCING...THE BEATLES replaced those two songs with "Please Please Me" and "Ask Me Why" (initially published in the U.S. by Concertone Songs). This revised track listing was also used on the repackaged albums SONGS, PICTURES, AND STORIES OF THE FABULOUS BEATLES (Vee-Jay VJLP(S) 1092) and THE BEATLES VS. THE FOUR SEASONS (Vee-Jay DX(S) 30), a two-record set that also contained GOLDEN HITS OF THE FOUR SEASONS (Vee-Jay VJLP(S) 1065). Interestingly, both repackages contained leftover copies of INTRODUCING...THE BEATLES, with the original 1062 catalog number on the label.
DISC 8: BEATLES VI
Original LP issue: Capitol (S)T-2358, June 1965
ORIGINAL STEREO ALBUM/2006 CD: Original stereo mixes of all songs, except for "Yes It Is," which was issued in Duophonic.
ORIGINAL MONO ALBUM/2006 CD: Original mono mixes of all songs (the BEATLES FOR SALE tracks, except "Eight Days A Week," have reverb added). NOTE: Due to a manufacturing error, first issues of the 2006 CD mistakenly used Type B Mono "fold-down" mixes; they were later replaced by the authentic mono mixes. Capitol sent free replacement discs to those who returned the defective ones.
NEW CD: 1987 stereo remixes of "You Like Me Too Much," "Dizzy Miss Lizzy," and "Tell Me What You See"; true stereo mix of "Yes It Is"; original stereo mixes of all other songs. Original mono mixes of all songs, but with reverb removed.
DISC 9: HELP! (ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK)
Original LP issue: Capitol (S)MAS-2386, August 1965
ORIGINAL STEREO ALBUM/2006 CD: Original 1965 stereo mixes of all songs, except for "Ticket To Ride," which was issued in Duophonic.
ORIGINAL MONO ALBUM/2006 CD: Type B Mono "fold-down" mix of entire album, including a "fold-down" Duophonic mix(!) of "Ticket To Ride."
NEW CD: 1987 stereo remixes of all seven Beatles songs, including "Ticket To Ride"; original 1965 stereo mixes of Ken Thorne instrumentals. Original 1965 mono mixes of all seven Beatles songs, including "Ticket To Ride"; Type B Mono "fold-down" mixes of Ken Thorne instrumentals, as no real mono mixes were made, apparently.
WHAT CAPITOL COULD HAVE DONE BETTER: Like United Artists the year before, Capitol padded HELP! (ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK) with instrumentals to attract adult movie-soundtrack listeners. A better strategy would have been to release an 11-song version of the Parlophone LP, minus the three songs already issued Stateside on BEATLES VI: "You Like Me Too Much," "Dizzy Miss Lizzy," and "Tell Me What You See." Adding "I'm Down" as a twelfth track would have been even better.
DISC 10: RUBBER SOUL (U.S. VERSION)
Original LP issue: Capitol (S)T-2442, December 1965
ORIGINAL STEREO ALBUM/2006 CD: Original 1965 U.K. stereo mixes of all songs, except for an alternate mix of "The Word" and an alternate edit of "I'm Looking Through You" (with a false start).
ORIGINAL MONO ALBUM/2006 CD: Original 1965 U.K. mono mixes of all songs, except for an alternate mix of "Michelle" (with louder percussion). NOTE: Due to a manufacturing error, first issues of the 2006 CD mistakenly used Type B Mono "fold-down" mixes; they were later replaced by the authentic mono mixes. Capitol sent free replacement discs to those who returned the defective ones.
NEW CD: 1987 stereo remixes of all songs, except for the original U.S. stereo mix of "The Word" and the U.S. edit of "I'm Looking Through You." The mono version is the same as the previous CD.
HISTORICAL NOTE: It was the Capitol version of RUBBER SOUL, not the U.K. version, that inspired Brian Wilson to create The Beach Boys' PET SOUNDS, which in turn inspired The Beatles to create SGT. PEPPER.
DISC 11: "YESTERDAY"...AND TODAY
Original LP issue: Capitol (S)T-2553, June 1966 (First time on CD)
ORIGINAL STEREO ALBUM: Original 1965 stereo mixes of 8 songs, including "We Can Work It Out" and "Day Tripper," which are different (and better, for my money) than the 1966 echo-drenched U.K. versions. [First pressing]: Duophonic mixes of "I'm Only Sleeping," "Dr. Robert," and "And Your Bird Can Sing" (made from U.S. mono masters). [Tape issues and later vinyl pressings]: Stereo Remix 1 of "I'm Only Sleeping" and "Dr. Robert" (the U.K. REVOLVER LP used Remix 2 of these songs); U.K. stereo mix of "And Your Bird Can Sing."
NOTE: According to Bruce Spizer's The Beatles Story on Capitol Records, Part Two: The Albums book, some pressings of Y&T, made in the early 1970s, had Duophonic versions of "I'm Only Sleeping" and "Dr. Robert" on Side One, with a true stereo version of "And Your Bird Can Sing" on Side Two. Other pressings had true stereo versions of "I'm Only Sleeping" and "Dr. Robert" on Side One, and a Duophonic version of "And Your Bird Can Sing" on Side Two. Although the Longines Record Club pressings of "YESTERDAY..." AND TODAY were all-stereo, beginning in late 1969, commercial pressings of the LP were not uniformly all-stereo until the late-1970s purple-label pressings with an oversized Capitol dome logo; I own one of those copies, as well as an original 1966 mono pressing (no "butcher" cover, though).
ORIGINAL MONO ALBUM: Original 1965 mono mixes of 8 songs. Alternate mono mixes of "I'm Only Sleeping," "Dr. Robert," and "And Your Bird Can Sing."
NEW CD: 1987 stereo remixes of "Drive My Car," "Nowhere Man," "Yesterday," "Act Naturally," "What Goes On," and "If I Needed Someone." Original U.S. stereo mixes of "We Can Work It Out" and "Day Tripper." U.K. stereo mixes of "I'm Only Sleeping," "Dr. Robert," and "And Your Bird Can Sing." The mono version is the same as the original vinyl album,.
HISTORICAL NOTE: According to the late Capitol Records President Alan Livingston, based on conversations with Bruce Spizer, Paul McCartney, and Brian Epstein, the "butcher" cover was The Beatles' protest against war in general and the Viet Nam War in particular. It was NOT a protest against Capitol "butchering" the boys' U.S. albums (though the band were far from happy about the Capitol reconfigurations, which was why SGT. PEPPER and the subsequent British albums were released "as is" in the States). The "trunk cover" photo, which replaced the butcher cover, was actually taken earlier, in Brian Epstein's office. Capitol had prepared several alternate covers with the trunk cover design before The Beatles insisted on the butcher picture. Bruce Spizer's Capitol Albums book (referenced above) devotes two chapters to "YESTERDAY..." AND TODAY - one for each cover.
Capitol had to seek permission from The Beatles to add the group's five 1967 non-LP singles to the contents of the six-song MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR double EP to create a full-size 11-song LP for the States. The HEY JUDE album (disc 13 in this set) was created by Allen Klein and ABKCO, the "managers" of Apple Records at the time.
DISC 12: REVOLVER (U.S. VERSION)
Original LP issue: Capitol (S)T-2576, August 1966 (First time on CD)
ORIGINAL STEREO AND MONO ALBUM: All 11 songs on this album are also on the British version, with the same stereo and mono mixes. Capitol had already issued the other three tracks - "I'm Only Sleeping," "Dr. Robert," and "And Your Bird Can Sing" - on "YESTERDAY"...AND TODAY.
WHAT CAPITOL COULD HAVE DONE BETTER: If the label had any foresight back then, they could have filled out "YESTERDAY"...AND TODAY with "Paperback Writer," "Rain," and "I'm Down," and left REVOLVER's 14-track U.K. lineup intact for the States. But they didn\'t (can\'t have more than 11 or 12 songs on a U.S. Beatle album, can we?).
DISC 13: HEY JUDE
Original LP issue: THE BEATLES AGAIN, Apple SO-385, February 1970
Retitled HEY JUDE, Apple SW-385 (lower price code) (First time on CD, stereo only)
ORIGINAL STEREO ALBUM: Original stereo mixes of "Can\'t Buy Me Love," "I Should Have Known Better," "Old Brown Shoe," "Don\'t Let Me Down," and "The Ballad Of John And Yoko." Alternate reversed-stereo mix (with more prominent backing vocals) of "Paperback Writer." New [1969] stereo mixes of "Rain," "Lady Madonna," "Revolution," and "Hey Jude."
NEW CD: Original 1966 stereo mix of "Paperback Writer"; other songs same as on the original album.
HISTORICAL NOTE: Although the HEY JUDE album was issued in a number of other countries outside of North America, it was not originally a British release. It was manufactured by EMI as an export LP to other countries (Apple/Parlophone CPCS 106), with an exclamation point added to the title (HEY JUDE!). On May 11, 1979, HEY JUDE, with the exclamation point removed, was finally given an official British release (Parlophone PCS 7184; the Apple label was dormant by this time). Most U.K. fans had already purchased import or export copies of the LP, so most of the newly manufactured Parlophone LPs were exported to the States, where collectors like myself snapped them up.
Had this set had the same versions of the Capitol albums as the 2004 and 2006 collections, I would have bypassed it in favor of the missing individual titles (really, only three, as THE BEATLES' STORY is exclusive to the box - no big whoop - and I doubt if I would have purchased the truncated U.S. REVOLVER on its own). As for replacing the Duophonic and Type B Mono "fold-down" mixes with the real stereo and mono mixes, I have no problem with that at all; the new versions sound a lot better. While I would have preferred the original 1965 stereo mixes of the HELP! and RUBBER SOUL songs, particularly on "YESTERDAY"...AND TODAY, which has not been issued on CD before - the 1987 remixes sound great, and they really aren\'t all THAT different, for crying out loud! If you own THE BEATLES IN MONO box set, the mono CDs of HELP! and RUBBER SOUL have the original 1965 stereo mixes riding shotgun, as bonuses. If you own a multi-disc CD changer or other similar device, you can program six of those 1965 stereo mixes - in lieu of the 1987 remixes on the "YESTERDAY"...AND TODAY CD - along with the rest of the stereo Y&T songs, to create a sort-of CD version of that album that is closer to the original stereo LP (except for "I'm Only Sleeping" and "Dr. Robert"). As for the "missing" U.S. mixes, there are only a few; the Capitol stereo mixes of "Long Tall Sally" and "I Call Your Name" had too much echo for this set, and there were probably no echo-free versions in the vaults; the remastering team probably used the partially-Duophonic version of "YESTERDAY"...AND TODAY as a model, or maybe the alternate mixes were lost; and as for the alternate version of "Paperback Writer" on HEY JUDE, that was also probably lost, or may have been a mistake to begin with. But most of the U.S. mixes and edits are here.
Remember, not all of The Beatles' CDs are the same as the vinyl: for example, the MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR CD is based on the all-stereo German version, not the partially-Duophonic U.S. release; the vinyl RED ALBUM has stereo versions of "Please Please Me" and "From Me To You," which appear in mono on the CDs. The vinyl RED ALBUM also has the original 1965 stereo mixes of the HELP! and RUBBER SOUL songs; the CDs have the 1987 George Martin remixes. "Ticket To Ride" has three RED ALBUM variations - the U.S. LP has Capitol's Duophonic mix, the British album has the original 1965 stereo mix, and the CD releases have the 1987 remix. There are other differences, which I don\'t have room to mention. Four stars.
In 1987, after settling long-standing legal differences with EMI, The Beatles' catalog was finally issued in the relatively new Compact Disc (CD) format. Initially, Apple decided to only issue the 12 original British albums on CD - PLEASE PLEASE ME, WITH THE BEATLES, A HARD DAY'S NIGHT, BEATLES FOR SALE, HELP!, RUBBER SOUL, REVOLVER, SERGEANT PEPPER'S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND, THE BEATLES (a.k.a. THE WHITE ALBUM), YELLOW SUBMARINE, ABBEY ROAD, and LET IT BE. Because MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR had originally been released in Britain as a two-record, six-song, 45 RPM Extended Play (EP) set, the U.S.-formatted LP version was not originally considered for CD release, even though that LP had been available in the U.K. since 1976 (and since 1973 on cassette). Worldwide demand forced EMI's and Apple's hand, and a CD version of the MMT album was added to the core Beatles catalog in either August or September 1987. The remaining 33 Beatles non-LP tracks were initially released on two CDs, Past Masters, Volume One and Past Masters, Volume Two , in March 1988. In 2009, these two volumes were combined into a remastered two-disc set . A similar collection of non-LP tracks, MONO MASTERS, was included in The Beatles in Mono (The Complete Mono Recordings) box set. A remastered stereo vinyl box set was issued in 2012; a remastered mono vinyl box set - including an LP edition of MONO MASTERS - was released in summer 2014. No word on whether there will be a box set of the remastered U.S. vinyl albums, but I doubt it.
While some American fans, including myself, had been purchasing the British albums since they became available as imports in the late 1970s, other U.S. fans were not happy with the British-only sequencing of the CDs. These fans were used to MEET THE BEATLES! and BEATLES '65, not WITH THE BEATLES and BEATLES FOR SALE. They were used to RUBBER SOUL leading off with "I've Just Seen A Face," not "Drive My Car," for example.
For many years, American fans bombarded Apple and EMI with requests for the release of the original U.S. albums on CD. In 2004, after years of resistance from Apple, a four-CD box set, The Capitol Albums, Volume One , was finally issued, containing CD versions of MEET THE BEATLES!, THE BEATLES' SECOND ALBUM, SOMETHING NEW, and BEATLES '65. It was so popular that a sequel, The Capitol Albums, Volume Two , was issued in 2006, containing CDs of THE EARLY BEATLES, BEATLES VI, HELP! (ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK), and the U.S. version of RUBBER SOUL. These were very important releases at the time - not only did American fans finally obtain CD versions of eight albums that they grew up with, but with the first four British CDs only available in mono back then, and the HELP! and RUBBER SOUL CDs in stereo, but remixed by George Martin, THE CAPITOL ALBUMS, VOLUME ONE and VOLUME TWO marked the first time that most of the band's early (1963-65) songs appeared in their original stereo mixes on CD (although a few songs that did appear in stereo on the original British CDs - "I Want To Hold Your Hand," "This Boy," "I Feel Fine," "She's A Woman," "Yes It Is," and "Ticket To Ride" - appeared in simulated stereo (Duophonic) on the Capitol CDs, exactly as they had been issued on the original albums).
Despite the success of these collections, no follow-up was issued, probably because remastering of the core British catalog in both mono and stereo - completed and issued worldwide on September 9, 2009 - took precedence. Now, for the 50th Anniversary of The Beatles' arrival in the U.S.A., Universal Music/Capitol/EMI has issued a 13-CD box set, THE U.S. ALBUMS, containing newly remastered versions of the eight albums mentioned above, plus five titles new to CD: the 1964 United Artists Records A HARD DAY'S NIGHT (ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SOUND TRACK); Capitol's 1964 THE BEATLES' STORY documentary, "YESTERDAY"...AND TODAY, and the U.S. version of REVOLVER, both from 1966; and Apple's 1970 compilation, HEY JUDE (a.k.a. THE BEATLES AGAIN). Following is a disc-by-disc rundown of all 13 albums in this set, and how these new CDs differ from previous releases.
DISC 1: MEET THE BEATLES!
Original LP issue: Capitol (S)T-2047, January 1964
ORIGINAL STEREO ALBUM/2004 CD: Simulated stereo (Duophonic) versions of "I Want To Hold Your Hand" and "This Boy"; true stereo versions of all other songs.
ORIGINAL MONO ALBUM/2004 CD: True mono versions of "I Want To Hold Your Hand" and "This Boy"; Type B Mono "fold-down" (the two-channel stereo mixes were combined onto a single track) mixes of all other songs.
NEW CD: True stereo and mono mixes of all songs, from the 2009 remasters (as are most other songs in this box set). NOTE: All the CDs in this set begin with the mono mixes, followed by the stereo versions; on the previous CAPITOL ALBUMS collections, stereo was first.
DISC 2: THE BEATLES' SECOND ALBUM
Original LP issue: Capitol (S)T-2080, April 1964
ORIGINAL STEREO ALBUM/2004 CD: Original stereo versions (with echo and reverb) of "Roll Over Beethoven," "Thank You Girl," "You Really Got A Hold On Me," "Devil In Her Heart," "Money (That\'s What I Want)," and "Please Mister Postman"; special U.S. stereo mixes (with echo and reverb) of "Long Tall Sally" and "I Call Your Name"; Duophonic mixes of "You Can\'t Do That," "I'll Get You," and "She Loves You."
ORIGINAL MONO ALBUM/2004 CD: Type B Mono "fold-down" mixes of "Roll Over Beethoven," "Thank You Girl," "You Really Got A Hold On Me," "Devil In Her Heart," "Money (That\'s What I Want)," and "Please Mister Postman"; special U.S. mono mixes of "Long Tall Sally" and "I Call Your Name"; U.S. mono mix of "You Can\'t Do That" (the cowbell is more up front than on the U.K. version); original mono mixes of "I'll Get You" and "She Loves You."
NEW CD: U.K. stereo versions (without echo and reverb) of "Roll Over Beethoven," "Thank You Girl," "You Really Got A Hold On Me," "Devil In Her Heart," "Money (That\'s What I Want)," "You Can\'t Do That," "Long Tall Sally," "I Call Your Name," and "Please Mister Postman"; original mono mixes of "I'll Get You" and "She Loves You," which appear twice, because no stereo mixes exist. U.S. mono mixes of "Long Tall Sally" and "I Call Your Name"; U.K. mono mixes of all other songs, including "You Can\'t Do That."
HISTORICAL NOTE: THE BEATLES' SECOND ALBUM was titled that way because it was a shot across the bow at Vee-Jay's INTRODUCING...THE BEATLES LP (VJLP(S)/SR 1062), which Capitol considered an illegitimate Beatle album. ("This is the real SECOND ALBUM, folks - accept no substitutes!")
DISC 3: A HARD DAY'S NIGHT (ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SOUND TRACK)
Original LP issue: United Artists UAL 3366 (mono), UAS 6366 (stereo), June 1964
Later reissued as Capitol SW-11921, August 1980 (First time on CD)
ORIGINAL STEREO ALBUM: Simulated stereo versions of the eight Beatles songs; true stereo versions of the four George Martin instrumentals.
ORIGINAL MONO ALBUM: True mono versions of all 12 tracks, including special versions of "I Cry Instead" ("I'll Cry Instead") with an extra verse, and "And I Love Her" with a single-tracked McCartney vocal.
NEW CD: Original stereo versions of all 12 songs, except for the extended "I'll Cry Instead," which appears in mono (because it was prepared for the film, not for record, the "long" version was never mixed into stereo); original mono versions of all songs, except for "I'll Cry Instead" and "And I Love Her," which are the same mixes as above.
HISTORICAL NOTE: EMI, which distributed the United Artists label in the U.K. during the 1960s, almost released this exact same album in Britain, but thought better of it and asked The Beatles to record a few additional songs to make the British version of A HARD DAY'S NIGHT a full-fledged Parlophone Beatle LP. Good move. Ironically, Capitol bought out the UA record label in 1978, which gave them the reissue rights to A HARD DAY'S NIGHT - ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SOUND TRACK, as well as LET IT BE, which was originally distributed by United Artists Records (though issued on the Red Apple label) because, at the time, The Beatles still owed UA a soundtrack LP for the U.S. market.
WHY THE SOUNDTRACK INSTRUMENTALS? The folks who made that decision are probably deceased, but my guess is that they wanted to attract adult movie-soundtrack listeners ("Beatle songs for the kids, instrumentals for the grownups").
DISC 4: SOMETHING NEW
Original LP issue: Capitol (S)T-2108, July 1964
ORIGINAL STEREO ALBUM/2004 CD: Original stereo mixes of all 11 songs, including the "short" version of "I'll Cry Instead." This was the first Capitol album to have all of the songs in true stereo (and the last, until RUBBER SOUL). Five of the songs were also on the United Artists soundtrack LP; of the three that were not included on SOMETHING NEW, "Can\'t Buy Me Love" and "I Should Have Known Better" (initially issued as Capitol singles) did not appear on a Capitol or Apple stereo LP until 1970's HEY JUDE (disc 13 in this set). "Can\'t Buy Me Love," along with its B-side, "You Can\'t Do That," also appeared on a 1964 Capitol various-artists collection, THE BIG HITS FROM ENGLAND AND U.S.A. (Capitol (D)T-2125), but that LP was only issued in Duophonic. While the U.S. vinyl version of 1973's THE BEATLES/1962-1966 hits package (a.k.a. THE RED ALBUM - Apple SKBO-3403) was the first Capitol album to contain "A Hard Day's Night," it was the mono single mix (though the British LP [Apple PCSP 717] and the later CD issues had the true stereo mix). The first Stateside stereo appearance of "A Hard Day's Night" (as well as "Ticket To Ride") was on Capitol's 1982 REEL MUSIC LP (Capitol SV-12199).
ORIGINAL MONO ALBUM/2004 CD: Original mono mixes of all songs, except "I'll Cry Instead" and "And I Love Her" (same as A HARD DAY'S NIGHT (ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SOUND TRACK)), plus special U.S. mono mixes of "Any Time At All" and "When I Get Home."
NEW CD: Essentially the same, except that on the 2004 CD, the stereo version is a little louder and faster, with a little echo added. The U.S. stereo version of "Komm, Gib Mir Deine Hand" has some crosstalk over the intro (George Martin saying, "Coming!," with one of the other Beatles saying "Whooo!"; this is not on the U.K. mix. The mono version of the same song has a more even volume level on the 2004 CD; the U.K. version (also on MONO MASTERS) varies in volume in a few places, as does the German 45 RPM single.
HISTORICAL NOTE: The other German-language track, "Sie Liebt Dich" - available today on PAST MASTERS and MONO MASTERS - appeared briefly on a 1964 Swan Records single (Swan 4182), but did not appear on Capitol - or in stereo in the States - until 1980's RARITIES album (Capitol SHAL-12060). The 1978/79 British RARITIES LP (Parlophone PSLP 261/PCM 1001) - a different collection entirely - marked the U.K. debut of both German-language songs.
WHAT CAPITOL COULD HAVE DONE BETTER: I agree with Bruce Spizer that SOMETHING NEW should have been a 12-song version of Parlophone's A HARD DAY'S NIGHT, minus "You Can\'t Do That," which was already issued Stateside on THE BEATLES' SECOND ALBUM. As Spizer put it, the "Matchbox"/"Slow Down" single (Capitol 5255), which failed to make the Top 10, would have sold a lot more as a non-LP single. Both songs could have also slotted in nicely on BEATLES '65. As for "Komm, Gib Mir Deine Hand," which is out of place on SOMETHING NEW, it could have been coupled with "Sie Liebt Dich" on a Capitol Star Line single.
DISC 5: THE BEATLES' STORY
Original LP issue: Capitol (S)TBO-2222, November 1964 (First time on CD, stereo only)
Issued on one CD, this 2-LP documentary album was assembled by Capitol Records in the fall of 1964. Many Beatles documentary LPs were issued in 1964; the best known are Ed Rudy's two Radio Pulsebeat News documentaries, issued on CD in 2004 by Rudy himself, with assistance from Joe Johnson of "Beatle Brunch," and Vee-Jay's HEAR THE BEATLES TELL ALL (Vee-Jay PRO 202), a 1964 promo LP that was also issued commercially for a brief time; it was reissued by Vee-Jay International in 1979 (it would be nice if Collectables Records, which owns the Vee-Jay catalog, would reissue it on CD this year). THE BEATLES' STORY was co-produced by Gary Usher and Roger Christian, who were songwriters who worked closely with The Beach Boys and Brian Wilson on classics such as "In My Room" and "Don\'t Worry Baby," among others. Christian, also a DJ on Hollywood's KFWB Radio at the time, shares narration duties with two newsmen at the same station: Al Wiman and John Babcock. Wiman is still living, as of this writing, but Babcock, Christian, and Usher are deceased. The documentary is not the best in the world: most of the information comes from press releases issued at the time, and there are many omissions: for example, Stuart Sutcliffe is mentioned, but Pete Best is not. Ringo Starr's original band is erroneously referred to as Rory Storm And The Texans; it\'s actually Rory Storm And The Hurricanes. There is also one error in the narration: when Al Wiman asks, "But who came up with the final name "Beatle," spelled with the B-E-A-T? Paul McCartney explains the origin." The next sound bite, containing the answer to that question, comes from George Harrison. The most hilarious moment is when the narrators explain that Capitol suddenly decided "to take over distribution" of The Beatles' records in America, because "small record companies" (read: Vee-Jay and Swan) were not "properly introducing the young singers to America." As any reader of Bruce Spizer's books knows, Capitol turned down The Beatles three times, mostly thanks to the clueless Capitol executive Dave Dexter, a big-band buff who hated rock 'n' roll music, and said of the Fab Four, "They're a bunch of long-haired kids - they're nothing! Forget it!" Finally, Beatles Manager Brian Epstein went over Dexter's head and called Capitol President Alan Livingston, asking him, "Will you please listen [to The Beatles] and call me back?" Livingston obtained some Beatles records from Dexter, listened to them, liked them, called Brian back, and made the deal - the rest, as they say, is history. The highlight of the album is the "Beatle Medley" (track 15), which works better than 1982's poorly edited "Movie Medley"; the album also features an excerpt of "Twist And Shout" from the unissued 1964 Hollywood Bowl concert (the 1977 THE BEATLES AT THE HOLLYWOOD BOWL album - still unissued on CD - features the 1965 version of the same song). Most of the background music on the album is by The Hollyridge Strings , a Capitol studio orchestra that released 5 easy-listening albums of Beatles instrumentals in the 1960s. Because this CD was mastered from the original Capitol master tape, there are Duophonic excerpts of some songs, and the quality is not as good as the other discs in the set. NOTE: While there was a mono version of THE BEATLES' STORY (Capitol TBO-2222), it was a "fold-down" Type B Mono mix from the stereo master tape, not real mono, so it was not issued on this CD. This album is nice to have for the collector, but it\'s not worth going out of your way to acquire (don\'t pay big bucks for this box set just to get this disc).
DISC 6: BEATLES '65
Original LP issue: Capitol (S)T-2228, December 1964
ORIGINAL STEREO ALBUM/2004 CD: Original stereo mixes of all songs, except for "I Feel Fine" and "She's A Woman," which are, in Bruce Spizer's words, "echo-drenched Duophonic disasters."
ORIGINAL MONO ALBUM/2004 CD: Original U.K. mono mixes of all songs, except for special U.S. mixes of "I'll Be Back," "I Feel Fine," and "She's A Woman."
NEW CD: U.K. stereo mixes of all songs, including "I Feel Fine" and "She's A Woman"; the mono version is identical to the previous CD.
DISC 7: THE EARLY BEATLES
Original LP issue: Capitol (S)T-2309, March 1965
ORIGINAL STEREO ALBUM/2006 CD: Simulated stereo mixes of "Love Me Do" and "P.S. I Love You"; true stereo mixes of all other songs.
ORIGINAL MONO ALBUM/2006 CD: True mono mixes of "Love Me Do" and "P.S. I Love You"; Type B Mono "fold-down" mixes of all other songs.
NEW CD: True mono mixes of "Love Me Do" and "P.S. I Love You," which appear twice, because no stereo mixes exist; true stereo and mono versions of all other songs.
HISTORICAL NOTE: Of the five Vee-Jay masters that did not appear on THE EARLY BEATLES, "I Saw Her Standing There" was issued on MEET THE BEATLES!, while "Thank You Girl" appeared on THE BEATLES' SECOND ALBUM. "From Me To You," "Misery," and "There's A Place" made their first Capitol appearance in 1965 on Star Line "oldies" singles. Aside from a short-lived appearance on a bizarre 1964 Vee-Jay compilation album called JOLLY WHAT! THE BEATLES AND FRANK IFIELD ON STAGE (VJLP(S) 1085), which contained only four Beatles songs and was NOT a live album (see Bruce Spizer's Vee-Jay book for further details), "From Me To You" did not appear on a U.S. Beatle LP until 1973's RED ALBUM; "Misery" and "There's A Place" had to wait another 7 years, until 1980, for their first Capitol LP appearance, on the RARITIES collection, which also contained "Sie Liebt Dich" (see above) and the original single version of "Love Me Do," with Ringo on drums.
WHAT CAPITOL COULD HAVE DONE BETTER: The running order is weak. "Love Me Do" and "P.S. I Love You" - a non-LP single (Tollie 9008) for most fans, except for those who bought the rare first edition of INTRODUCING...THE BEATLES - should have been the first two tracks on the LP, with "Twist And Shout" the last track on Side Two, as opposed to being the second track on Side One.
HISTORICAL NOTE: Due to a publishing dispute with Capitol's Beechwood Music Corporation, which published "Love Me Do" and "P.S. I Love You" Stateside at the time, later editions of INTRODUCING...THE BEATLES replaced those two songs with "Please Please Me" and "Ask Me Why" (initially published in the U.S. by Concertone Songs). This revised track listing was also used on the repackaged albums SONGS, PICTURES, AND STORIES OF THE FABULOUS BEATLES (Vee-Jay VJLP(S) 1092) and THE BEATLES VS. THE FOUR SEASONS (Vee-Jay DX(S) 30), a two-record set that also contained GOLDEN HITS OF THE FOUR SEASONS (Vee-Jay VJLP(S) 1065). Interestingly, both repackages contained leftover copies of INTRODUCING...THE BEATLES, with the original 1062 catalog number on the label.
DISC 8: BEATLES VI
Original LP issue: Capitol (S)T-2358, June 1965
ORIGINAL STEREO ALBUM/2006 CD: Original stereo mixes of all songs, except for "Yes It Is," which was issued in Duophonic.
ORIGINAL MONO ALBUM/2006 CD: Original mono mixes of all songs (the BEATLES FOR SALE tracks, except "Eight Days A Week," have reverb added). NOTE: Due to a manufacturing error, first issues of the 2006 CD mistakenly used Type B Mono "fold-down" mixes; they were later replaced by the authentic mono mixes. Capitol sent free replacement discs to those who returned the defective ones.
NEW CD: 1987 stereo remixes of "You Like Me Too Much," "Dizzy Miss Lizzy," and "Tell Me What You See"; true stereo mix of "Yes It Is"; original stereo mixes of all other songs. Original mono mixes of all songs, but with reverb removed.
DISC 9: HELP! (ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK)
Original LP issue: Capitol (S)MAS-2386, August 1965
ORIGINAL STEREO ALBUM/2006 CD: Original 1965 stereo mixes of all songs, except for "Ticket To Ride," which was issued in Duophonic.
ORIGINAL MONO ALBUM/2006 CD: Type B Mono "fold-down" mix of entire album, including a "fold-down" Duophonic mix(!) of "Ticket To Ride."
NEW CD: 1987 stereo remixes of all seven Beatles songs, including "Ticket To Ride"; original 1965 stereo mixes of Ken Thorne instrumentals. Original 1965 mono mixes of all seven Beatles songs, including "Ticket To Ride"; Type B Mono "fold-down" mixes of Ken Thorne instrumentals, as no real mono mixes were made, apparently.
WHAT CAPITOL COULD HAVE DONE BETTER: Like United Artists the year before, Capitol padded HELP! (ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK) with instrumentals to attract adult movie-soundtrack listeners. A better strategy would have been to release an 11-song version of the Parlophone LP, minus the three songs already issued Stateside on BEATLES VI: "You Like Me Too Much," "Dizzy Miss Lizzy," and "Tell Me What You See." Adding "I'm Down" as a twelfth track would have been even better.
DISC 10: RUBBER SOUL (U.S. VERSION)
Original LP issue: Capitol (S)T-2442, December 1965
ORIGINAL STEREO ALBUM/2006 CD: Original 1965 U.K. stereo mixes of all songs, except for an alternate mix of "The Word" and an alternate edit of "I'm Looking Through You" (with a false start).
ORIGINAL MONO ALBUM/2006 CD: Original 1965 U.K. mono mixes of all songs, except for an alternate mix of "Michelle" (with louder percussion). NOTE: Due to a manufacturing error, first issues of the 2006 CD mistakenly used Type B Mono "fold-down" mixes; they were later replaced by the authentic mono mixes. Capitol sent free replacement discs to those who returned the defective ones.
NEW CD: 1987 stereo remixes of all songs, except for the original U.S. stereo mix of "The Word" and the U.S. edit of "I'm Looking Through You." The mono version is the same as the previous CD.
HISTORICAL NOTE: It was the Capitol version of RUBBER SOUL, not the U.K. version, that inspired Brian Wilson to create The Beach Boys' PET SOUNDS, which in turn inspired The Beatles to create SGT. PEPPER.
DISC 11: "YESTERDAY"...AND TODAY
Original LP issue: Capitol (S)T-2553, June 1966 (First time on CD)
ORIGINAL STEREO ALBUM: Original 1965 stereo mixes of 8 songs, including "We Can Work It Out" and "Day Tripper," which are different (and better, for my money) than the 1966 echo-drenched U.K. versions. [First pressing]: Duophonic mixes of "I'm Only Sleeping," "Dr. Robert," and "And Your Bird Can Sing" (made from U.S. mono masters). [Tape issues and later vinyl pressings]: Stereo Remix 1 of "I'm Only Sleeping" and "Dr. Robert" (the U.K. REVOLVER LP used Remix 2 of these songs); U.K. stereo mix of "And Your Bird Can Sing."
NOTE: According to Bruce Spizer's The Beatles Story on Capitol Records, Part Two: The Albums book, some pressings of Y&T, made in the early 1970s, had Duophonic versions of "I'm Only Sleeping" and "Dr. Robert" on Side One, with a true stereo version of "And Your Bird Can Sing" on Side Two. Other pressings had true stereo versions of "I'm Only Sleeping" and "Dr. Robert" on Side One, and a Duophonic version of "And Your Bird Can Sing" on Side Two. Although the Longines Record Club pressings of "YESTERDAY..." AND TODAY were all-stereo, beginning in late 1969, commercial pressings of the LP were not uniformly all-stereo until the late-1970s purple-label pressings with an oversized Capitol dome logo; I own one of those copies, as well as an original 1966 mono pressing (no "butcher" cover, though).
ORIGINAL MONO ALBUM: Original 1965 mono mixes of 8 songs. Alternate mono mixes of "I'm Only Sleeping," "Dr. Robert," and "And Your Bird Can Sing."
NEW CD: 1987 stereo remixes of "Drive My Car," "Nowhere Man," "Yesterday," "Act Naturally," "What Goes On," and "If I Needed Someone." Original U.S. stereo mixes of "We Can Work It Out" and "Day Tripper." U.K. stereo mixes of "I'm Only Sleeping," "Dr. Robert," and "And Your Bird Can Sing." The mono version is the same as the original vinyl album,.
HISTORICAL NOTE: According to the late Capitol Records President Alan Livingston, based on conversations with Bruce Spizer, Paul McCartney, and Brian Epstein, the "butcher" cover was The Beatles' protest against war in general and the Viet Nam War in particular. It was NOT a protest against Capitol "butchering" the boys' U.S. albums (though the band were far from happy about the Capitol reconfigurations, which was why SGT. PEPPER and the subsequent British albums were released "as is" in the States). The "trunk cover" photo, which replaced the butcher cover, was actually taken earlier, in Brian Epstein's office. Capitol had prepared several alternate covers with the trunk cover design before The Beatles insisted on the butcher picture. Bruce Spizer's Capitol Albums book (referenced above) devotes two chapters to "YESTERDAY..." AND TODAY - one for each cover.
Capitol had to seek permission from The Beatles to add the group's five 1967 non-LP singles to the contents of the six-song MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR double EP to create a full-size 11-song LP for the States. The HEY JUDE album (disc 13 in this set) was created by Allen Klein and ABKCO, the "managers" of Apple Records at the time.
DISC 12: REVOLVER (U.S. VERSION)
Original LP issue: Capitol (S)T-2576, August 1966 (First time on CD)
ORIGINAL STEREO AND MONO ALBUM: All 11 songs on this album are also on the British version, with the same stereo and mono mixes. Capitol had already issued the other three tracks - "I'm Only Sleeping," "Dr. Robert," and "And Your Bird Can Sing" - on "YESTERDAY"...AND TODAY.
WHAT CAPITOL COULD HAVE DONE BETTER: If the label had any foresight back then, they could have filled out "YESTERDAY"...AND TODAY with "Paperback Writer," "Rain," and "I'm Down," and left REVOLVER's 14-track U.K. lineup intact for the States. But they didn\'t (can\'t have more than 11 or 12 songs on a U.S. Beatle album, can we?).
DISC 13: HEY JUDE
Original LP issue: THE BEATLES AGAIN, Apple SO-385, February 1970
Retitled HEY JUDE, Apple SW-385 (lower price code) (First time on CD, stereo only)
ORIGINAL STEREO ALBUM: Original stereo mixes of "Can\'t Buy Me Love," "I Should Have Known Better," "Old Brown Shoe," "Don\'t Let Me Down," and "The Ballad Of John And Yoko." Alternate reversed-stereo mix (with more prominent backing vocals) of "Paperback Writer." New [1969] stereo mixes of "Rain," "Lady Madonna," "Revolution," and "Hey Jude."
NEW CD: Original 1966 stereo mix of "Paperback Writer"; other songs same as on the original album.
HISTORICAL NOTE: Although the HEY JUDE album was issued in a number of other countries outside of North America, it was not originally a British release. It was manufactured by EMI as an export LP to other countries (Apple/Parlophone CPCS 106), with an exclamation point added to the title (HEY JUDE!). On May 11, 1979, HEY JUDE, with the exclamation point removed, was finally given an official British release (Parlophone PCS 7184; the Apple label was dormant by this time). Most U.K. fans had already purchased import or export copies of the LP, so most of the newly manufactured Parlophone LPs were exported to the States, where collectors like myself snapped them up.
Had this set had the same versions of the Capitol albums as the 2004 and 2006 collections, I would have bypassed it in favor of the missing individual titles (really, only three, as THE BEATLES' STORY is exclusive to the box - no big whoop - and I doubt if I would have purchased the truncated U.S. REVOLVER on its own). As for replacing the Duophonic and Type B Mono "fold-down" mixes with the real stereo and mono mixes, I have no problem with that at all; the new versions sound a lot better. While I would have preferred the original 1965 stereo mixes of the HELP! and RUBBER SOUL songs, particularly on "YESTERDAY"...AND TODAY, which has not been issued on CD before - the 1987 remixes sound great, and they really aren\'t all THAT different, for crying out loud! If you own THE BEATLES IN MONO box set, the mono CDs of HELP! and RUBBER SOUL have the original 1965 stereo mixes riding shotgun, as bonuses. If you own a multi-disc CD changer or other similar device, you can program six of those 1965 stereo mixes - in lieu of the 1987 remixes on the "YESTERDAY"...AND TODAY CD - along with the rest of the stereo Y&T songs, to create a sort-of CD version of that album that is closer to the original stereo LP (except for "I'm Only Sleeping" and "Dr. Robert"). As for the "missing" U.S. mixes, there are only a few; the Capitol stereo mixes of "Long Tall Sally" and "I Call Your Name" had too much echo for this set, and there were probably no echo-free versions in the vaults; the remastering team probably used the partially-Duophonic version of "YESTERDAY"...AND TODAY as a model, or maybe the alternate mixes were lost; and as for the alternate version of "Paperback Writer" on HEY JUDE, that was also probably lost, or may have been a mistake to begin with. But most of the U.S. mixes and edits are here.
Remember, not all of The Beatles' CDs are the same as the vinyl: for example, the MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR CD is based on the all-stereo German version, not the partially-Duophonic U.S. release; the vinyl RED ALBUM has stereo versions of "Please Please Me" and "From Me To You," which appear in mono on the CDs. The vinyl RED ALBUM also has the original 1965 stereo mixes of the HELP! and RUBBER SOUL songs; the CDs have the 1987 George Martin remixes. "Ticket To Ride" has three RED ALBUM variations - the U.S. LP has Capitol's Duophonic mix, the British album has the original 1965 stereo mix, and the CD releases have the 1987 remix. There are other differences, which I don\'t have room to mention. Four stars.
Reviewed in the United States on March 14, 2014
Beatles fans are a passionate lot.
The U.S. Albums box set\'s detractors have called it everything from "a cash grab" to "a glorified playlist" to "a complete waste." Supporters have ranked the set from "good" to "great" -- with an occasional exclamatory "Fab!" tossed into the mix. At times the dialogue has turned into a shouting match in cyberspace. Amid all the back-and-forth, I found myself reflecting on my own deeply felt connection to the Beatles' music . . .
It started in early 1964. I walked nine blocks to a record shop and bought "I Want To Hold Your Hand" b/w "I Saw Her Standing There" with its iconic B&W picture sleeve. I returned to the shop about a week later to buy the Capitol album, Meet The Beatles!, with allowance money bolstered by the extra coin I had made shoveling our adjacent neighbors' driveways and sidewalks. For years I bought dozens of Beatles singles and albums, mostly sporting the Capitol imprint, but also essential singles such as "She Loves You" on the Swan label, "Please Please Me" on Vee-Jay, and "Twist And Shout" on Tollie. Those records were all I knew. It would be years before I fully grasped the many differences between the band's U.S. and UK releases.
By fall of 1969, I was a senior in high school and working at that same record shop when an older, more worldly coworker played the UK pressing of Rubber Soul for me. I was struck by its warm sound and fascinated by its 14-song framework. By the time side 2 finished playing, I had adopted a new mantra: "More Beatles is a good thing." In the ensuing years I acquired the band's music in nearly every configuration save for 8-track cartridges and digital downloads. I was especially happy to get the two Capitol albums box sets in 2004 and 2006 so I could finally hear on compact disc that distinctive U.S. sound of my youth. They're indispensable to this lifelong fan.
I hesitated buying this new set. I was still holding out for a CD of the original Capitol mix of Yesterday And Today, whether as a stand-alone release or as part of a third volume of original Capitol albums. Clearly, this latest box set was not going to give me that. So I read countless reviews -- pro and con and right down the middle -- to learn what other Beatles fans thought of it. For many weeks I stayed noncommittal while I remained respectful of people's viewpoints. That wasn\'t always easy for me; some of the exchanges in the various Comments sections and blog sites got pretty chippy. As I said at the beginning, Beatles fans are a passionate lot.
By now you surely know this new box set opts for true mono and true stereo mixes over Capitol's original fold-down mono and fake stereo mixes of the 1960s -- the sounds millions of us grew up with. Most of the late Dave Dexter's post-production applications are gone, too. The 2009 UK remasters were the chief source for these 2014 compact discs. Yet despite all this, I still bought a box set calling itself The U.S. Albums (after first listening to a buddy's copy). Here's why:
(1) The sound quality is excellent. No surprise there, considering the source material. But while most of the stereo tracks are more or less interchangeable with the 2009 stereo remasters, the mono mixes here have received a subtle upgrade in volume and clarity over the 2009s.
(2) Specific songs, many of them key songs for me in the band's canon, do retain their unique Capitol mixes and/or edits and/or overall sound. Yes, yes, I know 99 percent of this music is no longer awash in the Sea of Dex. And, as others have pointed out, a few unique mixes/edits in the original American versions of Beatles albums were either missed or ignored when this set was compiled. But the mono versions of "She's A Woman" and "I Feel Fine" (Awreet!) boast their echo-drenched roar of late '64/early '65 that convulsed a car's dashboard radio and punched through a 10-transistor pocket radio back in the day. (Their UK mixes have always sounded dry and listless to me . . . almost polite. Sorry -- Beatles rockers should not sound polite.) The U.S. mono mixes of "And I Love Her" and "I'll Cry Instead" on Something New are here. The slightly more prominent percussive elements and the slightly longer fade on the mono mix of "Michelle" are also present. The U.S. mono mix of "I'm Only Sleeping" is the one used here. The mono and stereo mixes of "Help!" retain the opening James Bond riff. The two false starts on the stereo mix of "I'm Looking Through You" are here. (That\'s the version I grew up with, and that\'s the one I want to hear -- not the UK version.) The U.S. stereo mix of "Day Tripper" is here, including its momentary but annoying guitar dropout after "Tried to please her."
Other than "I'm Only Sleeping," these uniquely American twists to the Beatles' recordings have long been available on The Capitol Albums Vol. 1 and the corrected edition of The Capitol Albums Vol. 2. The cool thing about the twists that were retained for this 2014 box set is that we get to hear them in true mono and true stereo mixes presented in blue-ribbon digital sound. For me, The U.S. Albums box set is simply another great way to appreciate what the Beatles gave the world. Not the only way, but a great way.
(3) Spot-on visual presentation alone was not enough for me to pop for this box set. Still, there's no denying Apple's art department did its homework. The replication of the original record labels (including that for A Hard Day's Night on United Artists), all the album jackets, and the two labels' self-promoting inner sleeves is terrific. In addition, Bill Flanagan has penned a first-rate essay for the booklet. (His amusing observation of Paul's searing rendition of the Little Richard classic, "Long Tall Sally," made me smile from ear to ear.)
Music is so personal. You will have your own valid reasons for either buying The U.S. Albums or passing on it. Either way, your decision should be respected. For me, as I listen to John, Paul, George, and Ringo rock the rafters in here -- with their songs in true mono and true stereo and in the track order I practically know by heart -- I am giving this box set 5 stars for the exceptional sound quality (especially the mono versions of the 11 albums offered in mono), for all the key U.S. mixes and edits the set\'s compilers DID get right, for the beautifully reproduced original artwork, for the thoughtful essay, and, well, because it\'s the Beatles. And more Beatles is . . .
The U.S. Albums box set\'s detractors have called it everything from "a cash grab" to "a glorified playlist" to "a complete waste." Supporters have ranked the set from "good" to "great" -- with an occasional exclamatory "Fab!" tossed into the mix. At times the dialogue has turned into a shouting match in cyberspace. Amid all the back-and-forth, I found myself reflecting on my own deeply felt connection to the Beatles' music . . .
It started in early 1964. I walked nine blocks to a record shop and bought "I Want To Hold Your Hand" b/w "I Saw Her Standing There" with its iconic B&W picture sleeve. I returned to the shop about a week later to buy the Capitol album, Meet The Beatles!, with allowance money bolstered by the extra coin I had made shoveling our adjacent neighbors' driveways and sidewalks. For years I bought dozens of Beatles singles and albums, mostly sporting the Capitol imprint, but also essential singles such as "She Loves You" on the Swan label, "Please Please Me" on Vee-Jay, and "Twist And Shout" on Tollie. Those records were all I knew. It would be years before I fully grasped the many differences between the band's U.S. and UK releases.
By fall of 1969, I was a senior in high school and working at that same record shop when an older, more worldly coworker played the UK pressing of Rubber Soul for me. I was struck by its warm sound and fascinated by its 14-song framework. By the time side 2 finished playing, I had adopted a new mantra: "More Beatles is a good thing." In the ensuing years I acquired the band's music in nearly every configuration save for 8-track cartridges and digital downloads. I was especially happy to get the two Capitol albums box sets in 2004 and 2006 so I could finally hear on compact disc that distinctive U.S. sound of my youth. They're indispensable to this lifelong fan.
I hesitated buying this new set. I was still holding out for a CD of the original Capitol mix of Yesterday And Today, whether as a stand-alone release or as part of a third volume of original Capitol albums. Clearly, this latest box set was not going to give me that. So I read countless reviews -- pro and con and right down the middle -- to learn what other Beatles fans thought of it. For many weeks I stayed noncommittal while I remained respectful of people's viewpoints. That wasn\'t always easy for me; some of the exchanges in the various Comments sections and blog sites got pretty chippy. As I said at the beginning, Beatles fans are a passionate lot.
By now you surely know this new box set opts for true mono and true stereo mixes over Capitol's original fold-down mono and fake stereo mixes of the 1960s -- the sounds millions of us grew up with. Most of the late Dave Dexter's post-production applications are gone, too. The 2009 UK remasters were the chief source for these 2014 compact discs. Yet despite all this, I still bought a box set calling itself The U.S. Albums (after first listening to a buddy's copy). Here's why:
(1) The sound quality is excellent. No surprise there, considering the source material. But while most of the stereo tracks are more or less interchangeable with the 2009 stereo remasters, the mono mixes here have received a subtle upgrade in volume and clarity over the 2009s.
(2) Specific songs, many of them key songs for me in the band's canon, do retain their unique Capitol mixes and/or edits and/or overall sound. Yes, yes, I know 99 percent of this music is no longer awash in the Sea of Dex. And, as others have pointed out, a few unique mixes/edits in the original American versions of Beatles albums were either missed or ignored when this set was compiled. But the mono versions of "She's A Woman" and "I Feel Fine" (Awreet!) boast their echo-drenched roar of late '64/early '65 that convulsed a car's dashboard radio and punched through a 10-transistor pocket radio back in the day. (Their UK mixes have always sounded dry and listless to me . . . almost polite. Sorry -- Beatles rockers should not sound polite.) The U.S. mono mixes of "And I Love Her" and "I'll Cry Instead" on Something New are here. The slightly more prominent percussive elements and the slightly longer fade on the mono mix of "Michelle" are also present. The U.S. mono mix of "I'm Only Sleeping" is the one used here. The mono and stereo mixes of "Help!" retain the opening James Bond riff. The two false starts on the stereo mix of "I'm Looking Through You" are here. (That\'s the version I grew up with, and that\'s the one I want to hear -- not the UK version.) The U.S. stereo mix of "Day Tripper" is here, including its momentary but annoying guitar dropout after "Tried to please her."
Other than "I'm Only Sleeping," these uniquely American twists to the Beatles' recordings have long been available on The Capitol Albums Vol. 1 and the corrected edition of The Capitol Albums Vol. 2. The cool thing about the twists that were retained for this 2014 box set is that we get to hear them in true mono and true stereo mixes presented in blue-ribbon digital sound. For me, The U.S. Albums box set is simply another great way to appreciate what the Beatles gave the world. Not the only way, but a great way.
(3) Spot-on visual presentation alone was not enough for me to pop for this box set. Still, there's no denying Apple's art department did its homework. The replication of the original record labels (including that for A Hard Day's Night on United Artists), all the album jackets, and the two labels' self-promoting inner sleeves is terrific. In addition, Bill Flanagan has penned a first-rate essay for the booklet. (His amusing observation of Paul's searing rendition of the Little Richard classic, "Long Tall Sally," made me smile from ear to ear.)
Music is so personal. You will have your own valid reasons for either buying The U.S. Albums or passing on it. Either way, your decision should be respected. For me, as I listen to John, Paul, George, and Ringo rock the rafters in here -- with their songs in true mono and true stereo and in the track order I practically know by heart -- I am giving this box set 5 stars for the exceptional sound quality (especially the mono versions of the 11 albums offered in mono), for all the key U.S. mixes and edits the set\'s compilers DID get right, for the beautifully reproduced original artwork, for the thoughtful essay, and, well, because it\'s the Beatles. And more Beatles is . . .
Reviewed in the United States on August 21, 2023
Great product and arrived early!
Top reviews from other countries
Víctor
4.0 out of 5 stars
IMPRESCINCIBLE
Reviewed in Spain on April 23, 2014
Fantástica colección de los de los de Liverpool, no voy a entrar en el debate de si las mezclas son de los vinilos originales si, o no, no lo sé, debido a que yo no tengo, ni de coña los vinilos originales, con lo cual me salto este tema, de lo que no sé, no hablo.
La presentación es fantástica, por lo menos a mí me gusta, hay un folleto donde explica claramente lo que tiene la caja y por supuesto esta en ingles, el librito es de unas 64 paginas, esta muy bien, también esta en ingles, hay 13 discos, presentados en fomato de vinilo por lo menos la envoltura, ademas un detalle que me gustó, es cuando saqué el primer CD, es que esta, aquel plastico que ponian para los vinilos y que también era papel, todo un detalle, ahora paso a deciros que canciones llevan, otra cosa los CD'S estan en Mono y en Stereo, primero suenan en Mono y después en Stereo.
Solo diré las canciones, así me ahorro ponerlas por segunda vez, ya que son las mismas, es muy interesante esta colección por que hay algunos albumes, que nunca han estado en CD'S, y solo por eso vale la pena, solo estaban en vinilo y además en Estados Unidos, en Europa y el resto del mundo no, hasta ahora.
DISCO 1 - MEET THE BEATLES
1 - I Want To Hold Your Hand
2 - I Saw Her Standing There
3 - This Boy
4 - It Won\'t Be Long
5 - All My Loving
6 - Don\'t Brother Me
7 - Little Child
8 - Till There Was You
9 - Hold Me Tight
10 - I Wanna Be Your Man
11 - Not A Second Time
DISCO 2 - SECOND ALBUM
1 - Roll Over Beethoven
2 - Thank You Girl
3 - You Really Got A Hold On Me
4 - Devil In Her Heart
5 - Money
6 - You Can\'t Do That
7 - Long Tall Sally
8 - I Call Your Name
9 - Please MR. Postman
10 - I'll Get You
11 - She Loves You
DISCO 3 - A HARD DAY'S NIGHT
1 - A Hard Day's Night
2 - Tell Me Why
3 - I Cry Instead
4 - I Should Have Known Better----------(Instrumental)
5 - I'm Happy Just To Dance With You
6 - And I Love Her-----------(Instrumental)
7 - I Should Have Known Better
8 - If I Fell
9 - And I Love Her
10 - Ringo's Theme (This Boy) ---------(Instrumental)
11 - Can\'t Buy Me Love
12 - A Hard Day's Night ----------(Instrumental)
DISCO 4 - SOMETHING NEW
1 - I'll Cry Instead
2 - Things We Said Today
3 - Any Time At All
4 - When I Get Home
5 - Slow Down
6 - Matchbox
7 - Tell Me Why
8 - And I Love Her
9 - I'm Happy Just To Dance With You
10 - If I Fell
11 - Knmm, Gib Mir Deine Hand
DISCO 5 - THE BEATLES' STORY
Entrevistas
DISCO 6 - BEATLES'S 65
1 - No Reply
2 - I'm A Loser
3 - Baby's In Black
4 - Rock And Roll Music
5 - I'll Follow The Sun
6 - MR. Moonlight
7 - Honey Don\'t
8 - I'll Be Back
9 - She's A Woman
10 - I Fell Fine
11 - Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby
DISCO 7 - THE EARLY BEATLES
1 - Love Me Do
2 - Twist And Shout
3 - Anna
4 - Chains
5 - Boys
6 - Ask Me Why
7 - Please Please Me
8 - P.S. I Love You
9 - Baby It\'s You
10 - A Taste Of Honey
11 - Do You Want To Know A Secret
DISCO 8 - BEATLES VI
1 - Kansas City
2 - Eight Days A Week
3 - You Like Me Too Much
4 - Bad Boy
5 - I Don\'t Want To Spoil The Party
6 - Words Of Love
7 - What You're Doing
8 - Yes It Is
9 - Dizzy Miss Lizzie
10 - Tell Me What You See
11 - Every Little Thing
DISCO 9 - HELP!
1 - Help!
2 - The Night Before
3 - From Me To You Fantasy------------(Instrumental)
4 - You've Got To Hide Your Love Away
5 - I Need You
6 - In The Tyrol----------(Instrumental)
7 - Another Girl
8 - Another Hard Day's Night------------(Instrumental)
9 - Ticket To Ride
10 - The Bitter End/You Can\'t Do That----------(Instrumental)
11 - You're Going To Lose That Girl
12 - The Chase---------(Instrumental)
DISCO 10 - RUBBER SOUL
1 - I've Just Seen A Face
2 - Norwegian Wood
3 - You Won\'t See Me
4 - Think For Yourself
5 - The Word
6 - Michelle
7 - It\'s Only Love
8 - Girl
9 - I'm Looking Through You
10 - In My Life
11 - Wait
12 - Run For Your Life
DISCO 11 - THE BEATLES YESTERDAY AND TODAY
1 - Drive My Car
2 - I'm Only Sleeping
3 - Nowhere Man
4 - DR. Robert
5 - Yesterday
6 - Act Naturally
7 - And Your Bird Can Sing
8 - If I Needed Someone
9 - We Can Work It Out
10 - What Goes On?
11 - Day Tripper
DISCO 12 - REVOLVER
1 - Taxman
2 - Eleanor Rigby
3 - Love You To
4 - Here, There And Everywhere
5 - Yellow Submarine
6 - She Said, She Said
7 - Good Day Sunshine
8 - For No One
9 - I Want To Tell You
10 - Got To Get You Into My Life
11 - Tomorrow Never Knows
DISCO 13 - HEY JUDE
1 - Can\'t Buy Me Love
2 - I Should Have Known Better
3 - Paperback Writer
4 - Rain
5 - Lady Madonna
6 - Revolution
7 - Hey Jude
8 - Old Brown Shoe
9 - Don\'t Let Me Down
10 - The Ballad Of John And Yoko
* Este ultimo CD no va en el orden que indica la contraportada, lo he puesto en el orden de la escucha.
La presentación es fantástica, por lo menos a mí me gusta, hay un folleto donde explica claramente lo que tiene la caja y por supuesto esta en ingles, el librito es de unas 64 paginas, esta muy bien, también esta en ingles, hay 13 discos, presentados en fomato de vinilo por lo menos la envoltura, ademas un detalle que me gustó, es cuando saqué el primer CD, es que esta, aquel plastico que ponian para los vinilos y que también era papel, todo un detalle, ahora paso a deciros que canciones llevan, otra cosa los CD'S estan en Mono y en Stereo, primero suenan en Mono y después en Stereo.
Solo diré las canciones, así me ahorro ponerlas por segunda vez, ya que son las mismas, es muy interesante esta colección por que hay algunos albumes, que nunca han estado en CD'S, y solo por eso vale la pena, solo estaban en vinilo y además en Estados Unidos, en Europa y el resto del mundo no, hasta ahora.
DISCO 1 - MEET THE BEATLES
1 - I Want To Hold Your Hand
2 - I Saw Her Standing There
3 - This Boy
4 - It Won\'t Be Long
5 - All My Loving
6 - Don\'t Brother Me
7 - Little Child
8 - Till There Was You
9 - Hold Me Tight
10 - I Wanna Be Your Man
11 - Not A Second Time
DISCO 2 - SECOND ALBUM
1 - Roll Over Beethoven
2 - Thank You Girl
3 - You Really Got A Hold On Me
4 - Devil In Her Heart
5 - Money
6 - You Can\'t Do That
7 - Long Tall Sally
8 - I Call Your Name
9 - Please MR. Postman
10 - I'll Get You
11 - She Loves You
DISCO 3 - A HARD DAY'S NIGHT
1 - A Hard Day's Night
2 - Tell Me Why
3 - I Cry Instead
4 - I Should Have Known Better----------(Instrumental)
5 - I'm Happy Just To Dance With You
6 - And I Love Her-----------(Instrumental)
7 - I Should Have Known Better
8 - If I Fell
9 - And I Love Her
10 - Ringo's Theme (This Boy) ---------(Instrumental)
11 - Can\'t Buy Me Love
12 - A Hard Day's Night ----------(Instrumental)
DISCO 4 - SOMETHING NEW
1 - I'll Cry Instead
2 - Things We Said Today
3 - Any Time At All
4 - When I Get Home
5 - Slow Down
6 - Matchbox
7 - Tell Me Why
8 - And I Love Her
9 - I'm Happy Just To Dance With You
10 - If I Fell
11 - Knmm, Gib Mir Deine Hand
DISCO 5 - THE BEATLES' STORY
Entrevistas
DISCO 6 - BEATLES'S 65
1 - No Reply
2 - I'm A Loser
3 - Baby's In Black
4 - Rock And Roll Music
5 - I'll Follow The Sun
6 - MR. Moonlight
7 - Honey Don\'t
8 - I'll Be Back
9 - She's A Woman
10 - I Fell Fine
11 - Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby
DISCO 7 - THE EARLY BEATLES
1 - Love Me Do
2 - Twist And Shout
3 - Anna
4 - Chains
5 - Boys
6 - Ask Me Why
7 - Please Please Me
8 - P.S. I Love You
9 - Baby It\'s You
10 - A Taste Of Honey
11 - Do You Want To Know A Secret
DISCO 8 - BEATLES VI
1 - Kansas City
2 - Eight Days A Week
3 - You Like Me Too Much
4 - Bad Boy
5 - I Don\'t Want To Spoil The Party
6 - Words Of Love
7 - What You're Doing
8 - Yes It Is
9 - Dizzy Miss Lizzie
10 - Tell Me What You See
11 - Every Little Thing
DISCO 9 - HELP!
1 - Help!
2 - The Night Before
3 - From Me To You Fantasy------------(Instrumental)
4 - You've Got To Hide Your Love Away
5 - I Need You
6 - In The Tyrol----------(Instrumental)
7 - Another Girl
8 - Another Hard Day's Night------------(Instrumental)
9 - Ticket To Ride
10 - The Bitter End/You Can\'t Do That----------(Instrumental)
11 - You're Going To Lose That Girl
12 - The Chase---------(Instrumental)
DISCO 10 - RUBBER SOUL
1 - I've Just Seen A Face
2 - Norwegian Wood
3 - You Won\'t See Me
4 - Think For Yourself
5 - The Word
6 - Michelle
7 - It\'s Only Love
8 - Girl
9 - I'm Looking Through You
10 - In My Life
11 - Wait
12 - Run For Your Life
DISCO 11 - THE BEATLES YESTERDAY AND TODAY
1 - Drive My Car
2 - I'm Only Sleeping
3 - Nowhere Man
4 - DR. Robert
5 - Yesterday
6 - Act Naturally
7 - And Your Bird Can Sing
8 - If I Needed Someone
9 - We Can Work It Out
10 - What Goes On?
11 - Day Tripper
DISCO 12 - REVOLVER
1 - Taxman
2 - Eleanor Rigby
3 - Love You To
4 - Here, There And Everywhere
5 - Yellow Submarine
6 - She Said, She Said
7 - Good Day Sunshine
8 - For No One
9 - I Want To Tell You
10 - Got To Get You Into My Life
11 - Tomorrow Never Knows
DISCO 13 - HEY JUDE
1 - Can\'t Buy Me Love
2 - I Should Have Known Better
3 - Paperback Writer
4 - Rain
5 - Lady Madonna
6 - Revolution
7 - Hey Jude
8 - Old Brown Shoe
9 - Don\'t Let Me Down
10 - The Ballad Of John And Yoko
* Este ultimo CD no va en el orden que indica la contraportada, lo he puesto en el orden de la escucha.
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Mr. L. F. G. Ballinger
5.0 out of 5 stars
THE BEATLES - FROM A STATESIDE PERSPECTIVE...
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 1, 2014
Undoubtedly, there will be those who believe that this boxed set of Beatles albums packaged together in their American configurations is a cynical attempt to eke out yet more revenue from one of the most prestigious catalogues in the history of popular music. It is also safe to assume that the majority of Beatles fans would agree with the viewpoint that these collections are artistically inferior to the original British editions upon which they were based and which, at the time of their original release, made The Beatles themselves become progressively more frustrated with the interference of their American label, Capitol Records, upon their ever-evolving sound. Nevertheless, as we look back over what is now half a century since The Beatles first landed on American soil, these albums clearly have their place in history and help to illustrate the true impact of Beatlemania, with six of these records finding their release during 1964 alone.
MEET THE BEATLES, THE BEATLES' SECOND ALBUM, A HARD DAY'S NIGHT, SOMETHING NEW, THE BEATLES' STORY and BEATLES '65 were all greeted with rapture by an insatiable public hungry for product and released by a record company which was arguably trying to glean as much as possible from the Fab Four before this presumed fad would burn itself out and a fresh, new homegrown band would usurp The Beatles' popularity. Of course, hindsight informs us that this never happened, but it was undoubtedly the "game plan" discussed by Capitol Records' executives in the board room at the time. Indeed, it was remarkable how the label was able to stretch out four British albums and half a dozen or so singles in quite the way that it did. Of these, MEET THE BEATLES and BEATLES '65 are perhaps the strongest collections in this group, resembling as they do the UK releases WITH THE BEATLES (1963) and BEATLES FOR SALE (1964) respectively. However, the likes of SOMETHING NEW and the interview album THE BEATLES' STORY (originally a double album but compressed to a single CD here) were rather more blatant cash-ins. SOMETHING NEW was issued just a month after the A HARD DAY'S NIGHT soundtrack and, what\'s more, half of its contents was already available on A HARD DAY'S NIGHT! Speaking of which, this latter album was released in the States as a genuine film soundtrack, containing just the songs from the film (plus 'I'll Cry Instead') bolstered by a crop of orchestrally arranged instrumental versions of the film songs. As the essay contained within the booklet suggests, fans were no doubt beginning to feel a little short-changed by such releases and even Capitol were relieved when they could plunder BEATLES FOR SALE - the product of the band's latest recording sessions back home in London - to assemble a whole new album entitled BEATLES '65 and get it out to the shops just in time for Christmas.
The "exploitation" continued into 1965 with the release of the somewhat implausibly titled THE EARLY BEATLES, a grab-bag of 1963 Beatles leftovers (it\'s essentially the UK PLEASE PLEASE ME album with the tracks jumbled up) which had been the property of the band's original US label, VeeJay. With VeeJay's license to issue Beatles tracks having expired, Capitol eagerly reissued them to what was now a more receptive public. Next came BEATLES VI (by and large a mash-up of the rest of BEATLES FOR SALE and the UK non-soundtrack side two of HELP!) and then the HELP! soundtrack album itself, a lavish gatefold affair featuring once again only the actual songs from the film accompanied by incidental music laced with a then unusual Indian theme, all of which was scored by Ken Thorne this time around as opposed to the perhaps more expected George Martin. Nevertheless, the US edition of HELP! spent nine weeks at Number One.
It was the release of the American version of RUBBER SOUL in December 1965 which conceivably witnessed The Beatles frustrations with Capitol over the standard of their Stateside releases come to a head. This supremely pivotal album in the group's development had such gems as 'Drive My Car' and 'Nowhere Man' removed in favour of the HELP! leftovers 'It\'s Only Love' and 'I've Just Seen A Face'; the latter track was used to open the album in place of 'Drive My Car' and it sounds very odd in this context. Beach Boy Brian Wilson claimed that hearing RUBBER SOUL for the first time inspired him to write his band's masterpiece, PET SOUNDS (1966); if so, imagine what he may have come up with had he heard RUBBER SOUL in the sequence that British fans did!
Yet despite Capitol's seemingly rapacious quest for new Beatles music, even they only managed to cobble together two Beatles albums for 1966. The infamously packaged YESTERDAY... AND TODAY arrived in June, encased in that controversial "butcher" cover (impeccably reproduced here) and comprised from bits of RUBBER SOUL, yet more numbers from HELP!, the 'Day Tripper'/'We Can Work It Out' single and three newly recorded works from the forthcoming REVOLVER which, when released in the States just two months later, featured only 11 of the 14 tracks contained on the stellar UK original. By February of 1967, The Beatles had renegotiated their contract and (MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR aside) future Beatles albums released in America would mirror their UK counterparts.
February 1970's HEY JUDE compilation was the last assemblage designed for the American market, although it saw release in many other countries too - except Britain. Allowing fans the opportunity to buy the epic title track and a number of other non-album Beatles singles like 'Paperback Writer' and 'Lady Madonna' in both long-playing and stereo formats for the first time, HEY JUDE was a huge seller, bridging the gap between the sublime ABBEY ROAD (1969) and the shambolic swansong of LET IT BE (released in May of 1970).
Of course, on a personal basis, I would never claim that any of these American Beatles albums eclipse their original British editions. But it bears testament to the power and endurance of the band's music that they are all still thoroughly enjoyable. The packaging of this set is delightful, with all of the albums presented in replica sleeves which are also made from that thicker brand of cardboard typically used on American album covers of the period. YESTERDAY... AND TODAY also comes with a stick-on replacement "packing case" cover shot which you can paste over the "butcher" sleeve if you wish (although quite who will want to risk doing this, I'm not really sure), while the box itself sits nicely alongside THE BEALTES IN MONO set.
Finally though, and with what will undoubtedly be greeted with a certain amount of controversy by the purists, we move on to the sound quality. By and large, the albums sound rich and weighty, with each one (with the exception of THE BEATLES STORY and HEY JUDE) being presented in both its mono and stereo editions and although the original Capitol master tapes have crucially NOT been used in reconstructing these albums (the 2009 remasters have been employed), the variant mixes and edits of certain tracks which were prepared in London by George Martin have, however, been utilised in order to preserve the qualities which made The Beatles' US albums unique (like, for example, the false start which occurs on the stereo version of 'I'm Loooking Through You' from RUBBER SOUL but which was absent from the UK stereo master, as well as the considerable amount of echo which is present on both 'I Feel Fine' and 'She's A Woman' from BEATLES '65). The booklet explains that the decision to not go with the original Capitol tapes was taken due to the presence of such things as "duophonic" (false stereo) tracks on a number of the original albums, along with the fact that some songs on the US LPs were apparently mastered from as much as fourth-generation tapes. Ultimately, it was felt that the Capitol tapes would not deliver the best possible listening experience and that, back in the 1960s, Capitol had also quite pertinently altered such things as the bass frequencies in order to take into account the household playback equipment of the time, along with generally doctoring The Beatles' sound with added reverb in an effort to make the band sound "more American".
True, this boxed set is pretty expensive and it is probably aimed largely at The Beatles' completist. However, these albums are unquestionably a part of Beatles history and provide us British fans with an idea of how The Beatles slammed head-on into the American consciousness. It is nice to see them available again.
MEET THE BEATLES, THE BEATLES' SECOND ALBUM, A HARD DAY'S NIGHT, SOMETHING NEW, THE BEATLES' STORY and BEATLES '65 were all greeted with rapture by an insatiable public hungry for product and released by a record company which was arguably trying to glean as much as possible from the Fab Four before this presumed fad would burn itself out and a fresh, new homegrown band would usurp The Beatles' popularity. Of course, hindsight informs us that this never happened, but it was undoubtedly the "game plan" discussed by Capitol Records' executives in the board room at the time. Indeed, it was remarkable how the label was able to stretch out four British albums and half a dozen or so singles in quite the way that it did. Of these, MEET THE BEATLES and BEATLES '65 are perhaps the strongest collections in this group, resembling as they do the UK releases WITH THE BEATLES (1963) and BEATLES FOR SALE (1964) respectively. However, the likes of SOMETHING NEW and the interview album THE BEATLES' STORY (originally a double album but compressed to a single CD here) were rather more blatant cash-ins. SOMETHING NEW was issued just a month after the A HARD DAY'S NIGHT soundtrack and, what\'s more, half of its contents was already available on A HARD DAY'S NIGHT! Speaking of which, this latter album was released in the States as a genuine film soundtrack, containing just the songs from the film (plus 'I'll Cry Instead') bolstered by a crop of orchestrally arranged instrumental versions of the film songs. As the essay contained within the booklet suggests, fans were no doubt beginning to feel a little short-changed by such releases and even Capitol were relieved when they could plunder BEATLES FOR SALE - the product of the band's latest recording sessions back home in London - to assemble a whole new album entitled BEATLES '65 and get it out to the shops just in time for Christmas.
The "exploitation" continued into 1965 with the release of the somewhat implausibly titled THE EARLY BEATLES, a grab-bag of 1963 Beatles leftovers (it\'s essentially the UK PLEASE PLEASE ME album with the tracks jumbled up) which had been the property of the band's original US label, VeeJay. With VeeJay's license to issue Beatles tracks having expired, Capitol eagerly reissued them to what was now a more receptive public. Next came BEATLES VI (by and large a mash-up of the rest of BEATLES FOR SALE and the UK non-soundtrack side two of HELP!) and then the HELP! soundtrack album itself, a lavish gatefold affair featuring once again only the actual songs from the film accompanied by incidental music laced with a then unusual Indian theme, all of which was scored by Ken Thorne this time around as opposed to the perhaps more expected George Martin. Nevertheless, the US edition of HELP! spent nine weeks at Number One.
It was the release of the American version of RUBBER SOUL in December 1965 which conceivably witnessed The Beatles frustrations with Capitol over the standard of their Stateside releases come to a head. This supremely pivotal album in the group's development had such gems as 'Drive My Car' and 'Nowhere Man' removed in favour of the HELP! leftovers 'It\'s Only Love' and 'I've Just Seen A Face'; the latter track was used to open the album in place of 'Drive My Car' and it sounds very odd in this context. Beach Boy Brian Wilson claimed that hearing RUBBER SOUL for the first time inspired him to write his band's masterpiece, PET SOUNDS (1966); if so, imagine what he may have come up with had he heard RUBBER SOUL in the sequence that British fans did!
Yet despite Capitol's seemingly rapacious quest for new Beatles music, even they only managed to cobble together two Beatles albums for 1966. The infamously packaged YESTERDAY... AND TODAY arrived in June, encased in that controversial "butcher" cover (impeccably reproduced here) and comprised from bits of RUBBER SOUL, yet more numbers from HELP!, the 'Day Tripper'/'We Can Work It Out' single and three newly recorded works from the forthcoming REVOLVER which, when released in the States just two months later, featured only 11 of the 14 tracks contained on the stellar UK original. By February of 1967, The Beatles had renegotiated their contract and (MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR aside) future Beatles albums released in America would mirror their UK counterparts.
February 1970's HEY JUDE compilation was the last assemblage designed for the American market, although it saw release in many other countries too - except Britain. Allowing fans the opportunity to buy the epic title track and a number of other non-album Beatles singles like 'Paperback Writer' and 'Lady Madonna' in both long-playing and stereo formats for the first time, HEY JUDE was a huge seller, bridging the gap between the sublime ABBEY ROAD (1969) and the shambolic swansong of LET IT BE (released in May of 1970).
Of course, on a personal basis, I would never claim that any of these American Beatles albums eclipse their original British editions. But it bears testament to the power and endurance of the band's music that they are all still thoroughly enjoyable. The packaging of this set is delightful, with all of the albums presented in replica sleeves which are also made from that thicker brand of cardboard typically used on American album covers of the period. YESTERDAY... AND TODAY also comes with a stick-on replacement "packing case" cover shot which you can paste over the "butcher" sleeve if you wish (although quite who will want to risk doing this, I'm not really sure), while the box itself sits nicely alongside THE BEALTES IN MONO set.
Finally though, and with what will undoubtedly be greeted with a certain amount of controversy by the purists, we move on to the sound quality. By and large, the albums sound rich and weighty, with each one (with the exception of THE BEATLES STORY and HEY JUDE) being presented in both its mono and stereo editions and although the original Capitol master tapes have crucially NOT been used in reconstructing these albums (the 2009 remasters have been employed), the variant mixes and edits of certain tracks which were prepared in London by George Martin have, however, been utilised in order to preserve the qualities which made The Beatles' US albums unique (like, for example, the false start which occurs on the stereo version of 'I'm Loooking Through You' from RUBBER SOUL but which was absent from the UK stereo master, as well as the considerable amount of echo which is present on both 'I Feel Fine' and 'She's A Woman' from BEATLES '65). The booklet explains that the decision to not go with the original Capitol tapes was taken due to the presence of such things as "duophonic" (false stereo) tracks on a number of the original albums, along with the fact that some songs on the US LPs were apparently mastered from as much as fourth-generation tapes. Ultimately, it was felt that the Capitol tapes would not deliver the best possible listening experience and that, back in the 1960s, Capitol had also quite pertinently altered such things as the bass frequencies in order to take into account the household playback equipment of the time, along with generally doctoring The Beatles' sound with added reverb in an effort to make the band sound "more American".
True, this boxed set is pretty expensive and it is probably aimed largely at The Beatles' completist. However, these albums are unquestionably a part of Beatles history and provide us British fans with an idea of how The Beatles slammed head-on into the American consciousness. It is nice to see them available again.
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Andy O'Boogie
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fascinating but for fans only!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 22, 2014
Beatle music has to have five stars from me. No matter what order the tracks are played the music is superb. The packaging is good. Housed in a box similar to the Beatles in Mono, are thirteen albums. Twelve of them released in the period 1964 to 1966. The Beatles released seven albums in the UK up to the end of 1966 (eight if you count Oldies but Goldies). Interesting book enclosed telling the story of the album releases in America and why they were so different. Told from the perspective of a fan at the time who only heard these versions. There is the mono and stereo versions on the same disc. I was under the impression for some reason that Capitol had messed about with the sound, adding echo for example. Not the case according to these discs*. These tracks sound the same as the remastered mono and stereo reissues from 2009.
Whether you buy the package or not would depend how much of a fan/compleatist you are. There is nothing new on here. However for a fan like myself it is fascinating to hear how the Americans first witnessed the Beatles on record. At first you think that it is incredible that the Americans were so late to come to the party. But in 1963 there was not the communications there are today. America was a long way away and had its own huge stars. Why would they be interested in anything from the other side of the pond? Particularly as the Beatles weren\'t from London. Also in retrospect the early singles and Please Please Me album were not that amazing. It only started to get amazing around the time of She Loves You. The Beatles and George Martin just got better and better in those early days.
Meet The Beatles
The Americans had joined the party so late that there was a wealth of Beatle music already available for them to play. Two albums (please please me/with the beatles plus four A sides and four b sides). It is interesting from their first album the tracks they picked. They took only one track from Please Please Me (they had given the rights away to another record company Veejay!), I saw Her Standing There, and that was probably because it was the B side of their first hit single over there, I Want To hold Your Hand (which starts the album). The rest are mainly tracks from the Beatles second UK album With The Beatles plus This Boy which was the B side of I Want To Hold Your Hand in the UK. A great track which disappeared without trace in the UK until they started releasing rarities albums in the 70's.
Second Album
Even though these albums are a mishmash of the UK releases the writer of the book does point out that even though they accept that the UK versions are the `definitive' these are the albums they were brought up on. They knew no different and the Beatles second album when you see it from that aspect is phenomenal. More tracks from With The Beatles along with a and B sides of She Loves You (I'll Get You another track that fell into obscurity in the UK until the rarities albums) and two tracks from the brilliant EP (not a concept recognised in the US) Long Tall Sally. A great collection even with side two only being 11 minutes long!
A Hard Day's Night
Here the American fans did get short changed says the author. I agree. One of the best albums in my opinion totally butchered on the American version. Only 8 of the 13 uk tracks appear on here. Padded out with instrumental versions of the film songs.
Something New
Then a month later was issued this album with 5 of the 7 film songs. Altogether there are 8 of the 13 songs from the uk Hard Days Night on here. A good collection along with the two other tracks from the Sally EP if you hadn\'t already bought the previous album!
The Beatles Story
I guarantee that I will not be taking this one out of its little packet again. A very poor, lifeless documentary amateurishly put together. Music snippets which were surprisingly good sound. Not sure that Liverpool would appreciate being described as a `slum town'!
Beatles 65
8 of the 14 tracks from Beatles For Sale plus the single and B side to I feel Fine plus the last track from the UK edition of Hard Days Night! Bizarre! They only put a maximum of 12 tracks on albums (11 on this one). The result, more mishmash albums. I do not blame EMI/the Beatles for being angry at the time and refusing, until now, to release these on CD.
The Early Beatles
Capitol had refused to issue the album Please Please Me so another record company had reaped the rewards. These songs reverted to Capitol in October 1964. So they reissued Please Please Me in this package ie without I Saw Her Standing There (already appeared on meet the Beatles) There's A Place and Misery (these tracks don\'t appear to have been released on album over there at that time, unless someone knows different?! Apart from the Veejay album of course).
Beatles VI
7 tracks from Beatles For Sale, 2 from UK Help, 2 other tracks (1 B side Yes It Is and Bad Boy).
Help
The 7 film tracks plus orchestral filler.
Rubber Soul
10 of the 14 UK tracks plus and two from the UK Help album. You would have thought that by now the releases could be the same. They are nearly there with this one, even had the same cover, but then......
Yesterday and Today
The 4 missing tracks from Rubber Soul, 2 tracks from Help, 3 from Revolver plus the single Day Tripper and We Can Work It Out. What a hotch potch! The Beatles even sent them the famous butchered photo for the cover. To let them know what they thought presumably? And they used it!!! This is in the box set along with the one used to cover it after the complaints.
Revolver
11 0f the UK tracks. Devalued by putting three great Lennon tracks on the last album. Right cover though!
Before Sgt Pepper came out the original contract with the Beatles had finished. The new renegotiated contract said that all releases had to be the same. There were two other releases that were agreed to, one of which, Hey Jude is included. Another hotch potch of old material that had not appeared on a Capitol album before. The other (not included here) was Magical Mystery Tour. The Americans did not have EP's so they were allowed to bring out an album of these tracks along with various singles. This was for once a good idea and has been incorporated into the official Beatles Catalogue.
An interesting box set but for fans only!
*I have since seen from another review that the mono versions of I Feel Fine and She's A Woman on Beatles 65 have the different sound. Air craft hanger sound is a very good description Mr R.P.Gregory! On Something New the mono version of And I Love Her has a single track Paul rather than the usual double track. There is also a piano break missing on the mono version of Any Time At All. That last one is not really noticeable. Apparently the American reviewers are very unhappy because in most cases the original 'reverb' sound has been replaced by the 2009 remaster. That sound is what they remember and what they thought they were getting.
Whether you buy the package or not would depend how much of a fan/compleatist you are. There is nothing new on here. However for a fan like myself it is fascinating to hear how the Americans first witnessed the Beatles on record. At first you think that it is incredible that the Americans were so late to come to the party. But in 1963 there was not the communications there are today. America was a long way away and had its own huge stars. Why would they be interested in anything from the other side of the pond? Particularly as the Beatles weren\'t from London. Also in retrospect the early singles and Please Please Me album were not that amazing. It only started to get amazing around the time of She Loves You. The Beatles and George Martin just got better and better in those early days.
Meet The Beatles
The Americans had joined the party so late that there was a wealth of Beatle music already available for them to play. Two albums (please please me/with the beatles plus four A sides and four b sides). It is interesting from their first album the tracks they picked. They took only one track from Please Please Me (they had given the rights away to another record company Veejay!), I saw Her Standing There, and that was probably because it was the B side of their first hit single over there, I Want To hold Your Hand (which starts the album). The rest are mainly tracks from the Beatles second UK album With The Beatles plus This Boy which was the B side of I Want To Hold Your Hand in the UK. A great track which disappeared without trace in the UK until they started releasing rarities albums in the 70's.
Second Album
Even though these albums are a mishmash of the UK releases the writer of the book does point out that even though they accept that the UK versions are the `definitive' these are the albums they were brought up on. They knew no different and the Beatles second album when you see it from that aspect is phenomenal. More tracks from With The Beatles along with a and B sides of She Loves You (I'll Get You another track that fell into obscurity in the UK until the rarities albums) and two tracks from the brilliant EP (not a concept recognised in the US) Long Tall Sally. A great collection even with side two only being 11 minutes long!
A Hard Day's Night
Here the American fans did get short changed says the author. I agree. One of the best albums in my opinion totally butchered on the American version. Only 8 of the 13 uk tracks appear on here. Padded out with instrumental versions of the film songs.
Something New
Then a month later was issued this album with 5 of the 7 film songs. Altogether there are 8 of the 13 songs from the uk Hard Days Night on here. A good collection along with the two other tracks from the Sally EP if you hadn\'t already bought the previous album!
The Beatles Story
I guarantee that I will not be taking this one out of its little packet again. A very poor, lifeless documentary amateurishly put together. Music snippets which were surprisingly good sound. Not sure that Liverpool would appreciate being described as a `slum town'!
Beatles 65
8 of the 14 tracks from Beatles For Sale plus the single and B side to I feel Fine plus the last track from the UK edition of Hard Days Night! Bizarre! They only put a maximum of 12 tracks on albums (11 on this one). The result, more mishmash albums. I do not blame EMI/the Beatles for being angry at the time and refusing, until now, to release these on CD.
The Early Beatles
Capitol had refused to issue the album Please Please Me so another record company had reaped the rewards. These songs reverted to Capitol in October 1964. So they reissued Please Please Me in this package ie without I Saw Her Standing There (already appeared on meet the Beatles) There's A Place and Misery (these tracks don\'t appear to have been released on album over there at that time, unless someone knows different?! Apart from the Veejay album of course).
Beatles VI
7 tracks from Beatles For Sale, 2 from UK Help, 2 other tracks (1 B side Yes It Is and Bad Boy).
Help
The 7 film tracks plus orchestral filler.
Rubber Soul
10 of the 14 UK tracks plus and two from the UK Help album. You would have thought that by now the releases could be the same. They are nearly there with this one, even had the same cover, but then......
Yesterday and Today
The 4 missing tracks from Rubber Soul, 2 tracks from Help, 3 from Revolver plus the single Day Tripper and We Can Work It Out. What a hotch potch! The Beatles even sent them the famous butchered photo for the cover. To let them know what they thought presumably? And they used it!!! This is in the box set along with the one used to cover it after the complaints.
Revolver
11 0f the UK tracks. Devalued by putting three great Lennon tracks on the last album. Right cover though!
Before Sgt Pepper came out the original contract with the Beatles had finished. The new renegotiated contract said that all releases had to be the same. There were two other releases that were agreed to, one of which, Hey Jude is included. Another hotch potch of old material that had not appeared on a Capitol album before. The other (not included here) was Magical Mystery Tour. The Americans did not have EP's so they were allowed to bring out an album of these tracks along with various singles. This was for once a good idea and has been incorporated into the official Beatles Catalogue.
An interesting box set but for fans only!
*I have since seen from another review that the mono versions of I Feel Fine and She's A Woman on Beatles 65 have the different sound. Air craft hanger sound is a very good description Mr R.P.Gregory! On Something New the mono version of And I Love Her has a single track Paul rather than the usual double track. There is also a piano break missing on the mono version of Any Time At All. That last one is not really noticeable. Apparently the American reviewers are very unhappy because in most cases the original 'reverb' sound has been replaced by the 2009 remaster. That sound is what they remember and what they thought they were getting.
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Osrod
5.0 out of 5 stars
US box set
Reviewed in Mexico on August 26, 2023
La explicación que contiene el libro es muy ilustrativa sobre el origen de cada uno de los CD
Toby Tambourine
5.0 out of 5 stars
Die US-Alben im zweiten Anlauf
Reviewed in Germany on January 18, 2014
Bereits 2004 bzw. 2006 kamen zwei Boxen mit je vier US-Beatles-Alben auf den Markt, die ich klanglich immer noch hervorragend finde; ich habe nie verstanden, warum diese Reihe nicht fortgesetzt wurde. Diese neue Sammlung, veröffentlicht zum 50. Jubiläum des Durchbruchs der Beatles in Amerika mit I want to hold your Hand, richtet sich zum einen an die zahlreichen Fans in Amerika, die ihre geliebten Beatles-Alben endlich mal wieder in den ihnen vertrauten Songabfolgen hören wollen, und zum anderen an Sammler wie mich, die auf der Suche nach Raritäten sind. Es war in den Sechzigern eine durchaus übliche Politik der Plattenfirmen, UK-Alben mit aktuellen Singlehits zu bestücken, zu zerpflücken und zu melken, um dadurch weitere Alben und somit mehr Absatzmöglichkeiten zu schaffen. Des weiteren wurden ohne jeden Skrupel Bänder bearbeitet; besonders bei Monoaufnahmen war es gang und gebe, im Studio "duophonische" oder aber "Schmalspur"-Stereofassungen zu kreieren und diese (neben einigen Stereomixen von z.B. Long tall Sally oder I call your Name) oft nachträglich mit gewöhnunsgbedürftig viel Hall zu versehen; im Falle von I'll cry instead wurde der Monomix sogar verlängert. Den Beatles gelang es erst ab "Sgt. Pepper's", diesem Geschäftsgebaren ein Ende zu setzen. US-Hörer werden klanglich enttäuscht sein, denn wie vorab angekündigt und im Booklet beschrieben, hat man wo immer möglich die UK-Remasters von 2009 verwendet, da den US-Plattenfirmen oft nur Bandkopien der 3. oder gar 4. Generation zur Verfügung standen, und nur in wenigen Fällen auf diese teilweise markanten Nachbearbeitungen bzw. Alternativmixe zurückgegriffen - wenn auch wiederum nicht in aller Konsequenz, wie sich zeigt.
Zu den Besonderheiten der Alben (diese Liste wird immer mal aktualisiert werden):
"Meet the Beatles": All my Loving erschien Mitte der Sechziger auf einigen deutschen LPs ("With the Beatles", "Beatles Greatest", "The World's Best") mit Ringos Einzählen auf der Hi-Hat; fehlt hier natürlich, wäre aber witzig gewesen für Sammler.
"The Beatles' Second Album": Auch beim Stereoalbum die Monomixe von I'll get you und She loves you zu verwenden, war zwar konsequent, aber witziger wären doch die verhallten künstlichen US-"Stereomixe" gewesen.
"A hard Day's Night": Den Amerikanern war I'll cry instead mit 1:43 zu kurz, weshalb man die erste Strophe bei 1:11 erneut in den Song kopierte und die Laufzeit so auf 2:03 verlängerte; allerdings scheint dies nur mit dem Monomix geschehen zu sein, denn dieser wurde auch in das Stereoalbum integriert (auf "Something New" erscheint die kurze Stereofassung). Ich habe einen glasklaren Stereomix des verlängerten Songs, der von der "A hard Day's Night"-Laserdisc stammen soll, auf den hier aber leider nicht zurückgegriffen wurde. Die Filmsongs gehen mir aber gehörig auf die Nerven. Welchen Sinn haben Instrumentalversionen von I should have known better und And I love her, wenn sie doch in den Beatles-Versionen sowieso auf dem Album sind? Die armen Amerikaner, die ja die Songs nicht so einfach überspringen konnten wie wir im CD-Zeitalter! Das war die wahre Geldschneiderei, und ich bin sicher, das hat Fans vergrault und war den Absatzzahlen nicht förderlich!
"Something New": für deutsche Pressungen hatte die deutsche Plattenfirma das Schlussriff von And I love her von vier mal auf sechs mal verlängert, hätte es ebenfalls witzig gefunden, diese Version hier einzubauen. Für uns Sammler halt.
"Beatles '65": Hier wurde die Prämisse, nur die Remasters von 2009 zu verwenden, verletzt, es wurden die verhallten Monomixe von She's a Woman und I feel fine im Monoalbum untergebracht. Nostalgisch veranlagte Amerikaner wird es freuen.
"The early Beatles": wie schon beim im Falle von I'll get you und She loves you liegen von Love me do und P.S. I love you auch im Stereoalbum die Monomixe vor. Auch hier hätte ich es schön gefunden, hätte man (wie schon bei den "Capitol Albums") im Stereoteil die duophonischen Mixe genommen, denn der von Love me do eröffnete schon die deutschen Pressungen des "Roten Albums".
"Help!" wartet mit schönem Klappcover auf. Die eingestreuten blöden Instrumentalversionen der Filmsongs nerven aber fast genau so wie auf "A hard Day's Night". Mit dem "James Bond"-Intro bei Help! kann ich aber leben.
"Rubber Soul": Wie schon bei den "Capitol Albums" hören wir auf dem Stereoalbum die beiden Fehlstarts bei I'm looking through you und Johns gedoppelten Gesang im alternativen Mix von The Word.
"Yesterday...and today": Da Capitol neue Songs von den Beatles anmahnte, schickte George Martin von I'm only sleeping, And your Bird can sing und Dr. Robert Vorab-Mixe in die USA (diese drei Songs fehlten dann schmerzlich auf "Revolver"), die sich von den endgültigen UK-Mixen in kleinen Details unterscheiden sollen. Diese habe ich nicht im Ohr; der Monomix von I'm only sleeping ist jedenfalls nicht identisch mit seinem englischen Pendant, zu hören an den unterschiedlichen Overdubs von Georges Rückwärts-Gitarre. Schmuckstück der Sammlung: 26 Jahre, nachdem der UK-Stereomix von Day Tripper auf "Past Masters" erschien, gibt es jetzt endlich auch den US-Stereomix auf CD: der rechte Kanal wird erst beim zweiten Riff hochgefahren, der gesamte Mix hat weniger Hall und läuft ca. 4 Sekunden länger. So kenne ich ihn vom "Roten Album" auf Vinyl! Von We can work it out gibt es ebenfalls den US-Stereomix: eins der beiden Harmonium-Overdubs ist nun in der Mitte des Stereospektrums platziert. Beim Cover hat Capitol Humor bewiesen: wer will, kann jetzt das "Butcher Cover" mit dem der Zweitauflage überkleben - und es vielleicht sogar nochmal abziehen! Aber wer würde das selbst beim Originalcover probieren, bei den Sammlerpreisen...
"Hey Jude" ist ein von Allen Klein zusammengestellter Überbrückungssampler, der etwas unbeholfen einige Single- A- und B-Seiten vereinte und den ich dennoch ins Herz geschlossen habe, obwohl z.B. Get back oder The Inner Light fehlten, während Can\'t buy me Love und I should have known better immer schon auf "A hard Day's Night" zu haben waren. Erst "Past Masters" führte dieses Konzept dann 1988 konsequent aus. Der Monomix von Paperback Writer wurde ab der zweiten deutschen Vinylpressung durch den Stereomix ersetzt.
Die Coverdrucke gefallen mir sehr gut; alle Alben sind in der Box mit kleinen Schaumstoffeinlagen stoßgeschützt gelagert und in Plastikfolien verpackt; zudem kann man die CDs in mit damaliger Werbung bedruckten Papierinnenhüllen oder gar in Plastikhüllen geschützt in den Mini-Replica-Hüllen aufbewahren.
Anhand dieser Box komme ich endlich an "The Beatles Story" auf CD; die US-Version von "Magical Mystery Tour" hätte uns Sammler aber um den '66er Stereomix von Strawberry Fields forever bereichern können; hier gibt es immer noch Nachbesserungsbedarf.
P.S. Gab es tatsächlich kein Capitol-Album, auf dem From me to you enthalten war? Erstaunlich!
Zu den Besonderheiten der Alben (diese Liste wird immer mal aktualisiert werden):
"Meet the Beatles": All my Loving erschien Mitte der Sechziger auf einigen deutschen LPs ("With the Beatles", "Beatles Greatest", "The World's Best") mit Ringos Einzählen auf der Hi-Hat; fehlt hier natürlich, wäre aber witzig gewesen für Sammler.
"The Beatles' Second Album": Auch beim Stereoalbum die Monomixe von I'll get you und She loves you zu verwenden, war zwar konsequent, aber witziger wären doch die verhallten künstlichen US-"Stereomixe" gewesen.
"A hard Day's Night": Den Amerikanern war I'll cry instead mit 1:43 zu kurz, weshalb man die erste Strophe bei 1:11 erneut in den Song kopierte und die Laufzeit so auf 2:03 verlängerte; allerdings scheint dies nur mit dem Monomix geschehen zu sein, denn dieser wurde auch in das Stereoalbum integriert (auf "Something New" erscheint die kurze Stereofassung). Ich habe einen glasklaren Stereomix des verlängerten Songs, der von der "A hard Day's Night"-Laserdisc stammen soll, auf den hier aber leider nicht zurückgegriffen wurde. Die Filmsongs gehen mir aber gehörig auf die Nerven. Welchen Sinn haben Instrumentalversionen von I should have known better und And I love her, wenn sie doch in den Beatles-Versionen sowieso auf dem Album sind? Die armen Amerikaner, die ja die Songs nicht so einfach überspringen konnten wie wir im CD-Zeitalter! Das war die wahre Geldschneiderei, und ich bin sicher, das hat Fans vergrault und war den Absatzzahlen nicht förderlich!
"Something New": für deutsche Pressungen hatte die deutsche Plattenfirma das Schlussriff von And I love her von vier mal auf sechs mal verlängert, hätte es ebenfalls witzig gefunden, diese Version hier einzubauen. Für uns Sammler halt.
"Beatles '65": Hier wurde die Prämisse, nur die Remasters von 2009 zu verwenden, verletzt, es wurden die verhallten Monomixe von She's a Woman und I feel fine im Monoalbum untergebracht. Nostalgisch veranlagte Amerikaner wird es freuen.
"The early Beatles": wie schon beim im Falle von I'll get you und She loves you liegen von Love me do und P.S. I love you auch im Stereoalbum die Monomixe vor. Auch hier hätte ich es schön gefunden, hätte man (wie schon bei den "Capitol Albums") im Stereoteil die duophonischen Mixe genommen, denn der von Love me do eröffnete schon die deutschen Pressungen des "Roten Albums".
"Help!" wartet mit schönem Klappcover auf. Die eingestreuten blöden Instrumentalversionen der Filmsongs nerven aber fast genau so wie auf "A hard Day's Night". Mit dem "James Bond"-Intro bei Help! kann ich aber leben.
"Rubber Soul": Wie schon bei den "Capitol Albums" hören wir auf dem Stereoalbum die beiden Fehlstarts bei I'm looking through you und Johns gedoppelten Gesang im alternativen Mix von The Word.
"Yesterday...and today": Da Capitol neue Songs von den Beatles anmahnte, schickte George Martin von I'm only sleeping, And your Bird can sing und Dr. Robert Vorab-Mixe in die USA (diese drei Songs fehlten dann schmerzlich auf "Revolver"), die sich von den endgültigen UK-Mixen in kleinen Details unterscheiden sollen. Diese habe ich nicht im Ohr; der Monomix von I'm only sleeping ist jedenfalls nicht identisch mit seinem englischen Pendant, zu hören an den unterschiedlichen Overdubs von Georges Rückwärts-Gitarre. Schmuckstück der Sammlung: 26 Jahre, nachdem der UK-Stereomix von Day Tripper auf "Past Masters" erschien, gibt es jetzt endlich auch den US-Stereomix auf CD: der rechte Kanal wird erst beim zweiten Riff hochgefahren, der gesamte Mix hat weniger Hall und läuft ca. 4 Sekunden länger. So kenne ich ihn vom "Roten Album" auf Vinyl! Von We can work it out gibt es ebenfalls den US-Stereomix: eins der beiden Harmonium-Overdubs ist nun in der Mitte des Stereospektrums platziert. Beim Cover hat Capitol Humor bewiesen: wer will, kann jetzt das "Butcher Cover" mit dem der Zweitauflage überkleben - und es vielleicht sogar nochmal abziehen! Aber wer würde das selbst beim Originalcover probieren, bei den Sammlerpreisen...
"Hey Jude" ist ein von Allen Klein zusammengestellter Überbrückungssampler, der etwas unbeholfen einige Single- A- und B-Seiten vereinte und den ich dennoch ins Herz geschlossen habe, obwohl z.B. Get back oder The Inner Light fehlten, während Can\'t buy me Love und I should have known better immer schon auf "A hard Day's Night" zu haben waren. Erst "Past Masters" führte dieses Konzept dann 1988 konsequent aus. Der Monomix von Paperback Writer wurde ab der zweiten deutschen Vinylpressung durch den Stereomix ersetzt.
Die Coverdrucke gefallen mir sehr gut; alle Alben sind in der Box mit kleinen Schaumstoffeinlagen stoßgeschützt gelagert und in Plastikfolien verpackt; zudem kann man die CDs in mit damaliger Werbung bedruckten Papierinnenhüllen oder gar in Plastikhüllen geschützt in den Mini-Replica-Hüllen aufbewahren.
Anhand dieser Box komme ich endlich an "The Beatles Story" auf CD; die US-Version von "Magical Mystery Tour" hätte uns Sammler aber um den '66er Stereomix von Strawberry Fields forever bereichern können; hier gibt es immer noch Nachbesserungsbedarf.
P.S. Gab es tatsächlich kein Capitol-Album, auf dem From me to you enthalten war? Erstaunlich!
