Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

CD? I bought the LP, haha!
I was cruising Ebay last night and found a CD with "Meet The beatles" and "The Beatles Second Album" on it along with bonus cuts (BBC? don't know). Was pretty cheap too, I wasn't sure whether to trust it or not so I didn't bid. The same place had the first two British LP's on CD with bonus cuts. They were from Russia or very close to it. Russian Federation. I have the stuff on vinyl anyway.

I have an old half speed master recording LP of Abbey Road, sounds great, better than a CD to my ears. I like some of the CD's though, the dynamic range is better, and I know that the bass is much better on for example "Magical Mystery Tour" than on my vinyl version.
but I love the old LP's if they are in nice shape, very realistic sounding.

I have a bunch of those MFSL half speed mastered Beatles LPs and they sound great. I've had a high end CD recorder for quite a while and have been lazy about transfering the old U.S. LPs to CD but I'll get around to it soon. It sucks that we got different versions of the Brit LPs in the U.S. but those are my memories so that familiarity whith those mixes/treatments are what brings it all back.

I would think that transferring LP's to CD is kind of defeating the purpose. You lose the advantages of both.

In this case I'm not doing it for fidelity but for convenience. I can listen to the CDs in my car, on a boom box and in my bedroom where I don't have a turntable. In my office and living room I can listen to the real thing.

I remember those 45 players they had for cars, (I never really saw one though) the tone arms must have been light as a feather.... made of lead. Three plays, time for a new record, haha! Hey I forgot to use that there banjo talk.

According to Beatlefan/Extra the boxed edition of the 4 U.S. Beatles albums is going to be released on November 16th. Still no details as to which 4, but as more info becomes available I'll be more than happy to pass it along. Sounds like it's going to be a rather expensive Xmas season especially if the Let It Be DVD comes out around the same time. What would a Xmas season be without The Beatles though? I shutter to think!

I think all Beatle CD's are expensive, like around 18.99 here. I'll buy stereo albums off of ebay instead, to me they sound better anyway. Although I did just buy Magical Mystery Tour again on CD (got it just for baby You're a Rich Man), you can't beat the bass response of CD's or of half speed masters.

Update: The four albums I've heard that will be in the set are; "Meet The Beatles!", "The Beatles Second Album", "Something New", and "The Beatles Story". I will be interested to see how Capitol will handle the packaging on these. I hope they opt for mini CD sized cardboard jackets replicating the original artwork. Sources say the songs will be remastered, but not remixed. We shall see.

I like the song sequencing on those three albums. It would be fun to hear them again. I have them in vinyl but nothing on which to play them!

I just bought a $90 Grado cartridge for my old Technics turntable that I've had for twenty years. I'd rather listen to records now than CD's, much smoother and more lifelike. CD's have their advantages but so do records.

UPDATE: Well, here it is gang, the official release date for "The Beatles 'The Capitol Albums' Vol. 1" box set is November 15th! This will be a limited edition set including "Meet The Beatles", "The Beatles Second Album", "Something New", and "Beatles '65". Each will contain both the original stereo and mono mixes using custom valve playback. Packaging features the original American album sleeve designs in card wallets, plus a brand new 60 page booklet in the style of a scrap book with comprehensive liner notes by noted Beatles expert Mark Lewisohn. Artwork on the box features the Fab Four and the Capitol rainbow label in a long box/slipcase format which folds to CD size when the long box is removed. Don't know how limited this set is going be. List price is $69.98. Amazon.com is taking pre-orders right now. I'm guessing Vol. 2 will happen next year?

Actually, mark that down as November 16th! I was looking at the UK release date.

From Yahoo News:


Capitol Boxes Up Early Beatles Albums

Tue Oct 12, 1:46 PM ET Entertainment - Reuters

By Jonathan Cohen

NEW YORK (Billboard) - The Beatles' first four U.S. albums -- "Meet the Beatles," "The Beatles Second Album," "Something New" and "Beatles '65" -- will be bundled together in the boxed set "The Capitol Albums Volume 1," due Nov. 16. All were originally released in 1964 as Beatlemania swept the United States.

"In the '60s, American record labels often chose to reformat British records to suit the needs of the U.S. market," says Capitol president Andy Slater. "In America, singles were generally included on current albums, where in the U.K. albums and singles were most often separate releases. Higher music publishing costs in the U.S. also made it impractical to include as many songs on American albums. In addition, in the case of the Beatles, some of the recordings on the American albums were given more echo than the British versions, to 'Americanize' their sound."

The albums, which have been remastered from the original tapes, include stereo and mono versions of each song. Each album is housed in a miniature replica of its original album cover, while the box will feature a 48-page booklet chronicling the Beatles' unprecedented 1964.

"Meet the Beatles" (originally issued Jan. 20, 1964, in the United States) begins with what was at the time the group's latest single, "I Want To Hold Your Hand," and its U.S. and U.K. B-sides, "I Saw Her Standing There" and "This Boy." The bulk of the remaining tracks were taken from the U.K. version of the album "With the Beatles."

"The Beatles Second Album" (April 10, 1964) is a grabbag of such tracks as the "She Loves You" single and its B-side "I'll Get You," additional songs from "With the Beatles," cuts from the "Long Tall Sally" EP and a German version of "I Want To Hold Your Hand."

"Something New" (July 20, 1964) includes eight songs from the soundtrack to the Beatles' first film, "A Hard Day's Night," although not the title track or "Can't Buy Me Love." The album was denied the No. 1 spot on Billboard's Top LPs chart by the movie's proper soundtrack, issued by United Artists.

"Beatles '65" (Dec. 15, 1964) boasts the "I Feel Fine"/"She's a Woman" single, the "A Hard Day's Night" leftover "(I'll Be Back)" and eight songs from the U.K. album "Beatles for Sale," including three particularly dark John Lennon (news) tunes, "No Reply," "I'm a Loser" and "Baby's in Black."

It is unknown if Capitol plans to re-release additional titles such as "Beatles VI" or "Yesterday ... and Today."

Reuters/Billboard

what is parlophone doing ? The beatles really should start re-issuing these british records the way other labels, including capital have done for other icon groups such as the BeachBoys or Elvis. The Anthology series & BBC cd were great but only the iceberg of what EMI could do with the beatles early work and later stuff as well IMHO. I recognize that EMI has made efforts with the white album rerelease, yellow sub & let it be ... naked.