Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

We've seen Vol. 1 with Meet the Beatles!, The Second Album, Something New and Beatles '65. We've seen Vol. 2 with Early Beatles, Beatles VI, Help! (shame the gatefold cover wasn't reproduced, though) and Rubber Soul. They were definately worth the money, and it's nice to be able to hear the Beatles in true stereo (for the most part) for the first time.

I think it's time for a Vol. 3. It should definately include "Yesterday" & Today and Revolver. How about Hey Jude and Rarities for the other two?

Jake: I'm still waiting to get a Vol. 2 set that has the correct masters on two of the discs. As you might recall 'Rubber Soul' and one of the other discs presented true stereo and fake mono (i.e. stereo fold down), instead of true stereo and true mono. I haven't ever seen the updated version with the secret code on the label in any local stores. I think the stores are stuck with their original inventory, because it didn't sell well. I wouldn't trust a web vendor to ship me the correct one either. Bummer...

Why not wait for remastered tracks to show up on Itunes, then make your own boxed sets?

To me, the Capitol Albums sets were well done, but could have been done much better. From the technical errors to the packaging, there has been little effort it seems to bring forth a really great porduct that captures the importance of the American albums to many. It seems that the powers-that-be at Capitol could have foreseen some sort of division that would have brought us a greater range of albums in each set, perhaps spanning 64-65 and had 6 albums per set. This might have made them too expensive for some, but then there wouldn't have been this issue of leftovers that there is now. If they do them, I'd like to see them done well. Maybe butcher sleeve artwork on Yesterday and Today with the replacement art on the outside packaging.

I just wish they'd packaged a magnifying glass with the box set. I can't read the darn liner notes ... at my advanced age.

I got the vol one set a little while ago. I hadn't heard the Capitol mixes in decades.

I was surprised with the heavy reverb and mixing mistakes. Still it was fun listening to them.

Les

I'm surprised at how they couldn't have released the first four albums as well as the "A Collection of Beatles Oldies" in true stereo. Hearing "Misery", "There's a Place", "From Me to You", "You Can't Do That" and "I Should Have Known Better" in true stereo would be cool!

I have heard the stereo versions of all those songs except "You Can't Do That", and I must say, we need to get them out pronto!

I've heard that the 8-track and reel to reel versions of "Yesterday and Today" have true stereo mixes of "I'm Only Sleeping", "Doctor Robert" and "And Your Bird Can Sing", but they differ from the UK versions on "Revolver" greatly (at least "Sleeping" does, for sure). Anyone have the 8-track/reel to reel version of that album to clarify this?

Jake: I've never heard the 8-track or reel-to-reel 'Yesterday And Today', but I believe 'I'm Only Sleeping', 'Dr. Robert' and 'And Your Bird Can Sing' were in stereo on the album. I don't recall any obvious differences between the UK version of 'And Your Bird Can Sing' and the US version (BTW that's one of my all-time favorite song by any band). There are many different mixes of 'I'm Only Sleeping' that can be found on various official releases. The differences mainly involve variations on the backward guitar overdubs. 'Dr. Robert' on 'Yesterday And Today' is very different from the UK version, because it's done much faster.

Volume 1 sold 230,000 copies and Volume 2 sold 78,000 copies. Those figures may be the reason we haven't seen volume 3.

TomPettyandHeartbreakersFan wrote:I'm surprised at how they couldn't have released the first four albums as well as the "A Collection of Beatles Oldies" in true stereo. Hearing "Misery", "There's a Place", "From Me to You", "You Can't Do That" and "I Should Have Known Better" in true stereo would be cool!

I have heard the stereo versions of all those songs except "You Can't Do That", and I must say, we need to get them out pronto!

I've heard that the 8-track and reel to reel versions of "Yesterday and Today" have true stereo mixes of "I'm Only Sleeping", "Doctor Robert" and "And Your Bird Can Sing", but they differ from the UK versions on "Revolver" greatly (at least "Sleeping" does, for sure). Anyone have the 8-track/reel to reel version of that album to clarify this?

There's also an issue there: A Hard Day's Night was not a Capitol album. It came out on United Artists, as they were the distributors of the film and thus it wouldn't be included in a Capitol set.

Regarding the sales figures, it only makes sense that there would be a dimished return on sales when they didn't release the right mixes and there's no confidence in the product.

You might have seen that i'm doing some fun covers of mid sixties beatles in the project studio. I found vol 1 very handy for taking apart the sounds using headphones to see who was playng what. Much easier than the mono mixes. That's why I bought it. The mixes were often awful, but hey, that's what was on my 6 transistor radio when I was a kid!

Les

lennon211 wrote:There's also an issue there: A Hard Day's Night was not a Capitol album. It came out on United Artists, as they were the distributors of the film and thus it wouldn't be included in a Capitol set.

Call me crazy, Matt, but I SWEAR that I saw an issue of the Hard Day's Night movie soundtrack on Capitol before. Not an original issue from '64, obviously, but it was a later pressing from the '80s, with a purple Capitol label, and Capitol Records logos replacing the United Artists Records labels.

I guess I can search eBay for bootlegs of the stereo version of the UK Hard Day's Night album. There was this German made CD of Hard Day's Night called "Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! The Beatles in A Hard Day's Night". It was in true stereo with bonus tracks from the sessions, and it looked worth the money. However, I was saving up for the guitar of my dreams, so I wasn't going to spend it willy-nilly. It was about a month ago, if it (or one like it) shows up, I'll post it here.

TomPettyandHeartbreakersFan wrote:

lennon211 wrote:There's also an issue there: A Hard Day's Night was not a Capitol album. It came out on United Artists, as they were the distributors of the film and thus it wouldn't be included in a Capitol set.

Call me crazy, Matt, but I SWEAR that I saw an issue of the Hard Day's Night movie soundtrack on Capitol before. Not an original issue from '64, obviously, but it was a later pressing from the '80s, with a purple Capitol label, and Capitol Records logos replacing the United Artists Records labels.

There has been a reissue of this one with the purple label, as well as the British version of the album and the single. I think that the reason that it wasn't included was the fact that it wasn't an original Capitol album which was the entire point of the sets. Maybe it will be filler if there are any additional sets issued, but I doubt it.

The last set, or Volume 3, will include Y&T, Revolver, Sgt Peppers and MMT. These are the last albums Capitol (not Apple) offered in mono/stereo. However, the release has been put on indefinite hold, or maybe, never.

I think Y & T & Revolver is where it would stop. From Sgt. Pepper's on the albums were the same on both sides of the Atlantic. Capitol released their album versions on CD with Volumes 1 & 2 while the British albums have obviously been on CD for years. Other than the compilation albums like Rock and Roll Music and Love Songs, I don't think their is anything else to release. Don't get me wrong...Love Songs is a terrific compilation. Capitol must be proud of that one. Live at the Hollywood Bowl would be fun to hear now that I think about it.