Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Hey, does anyone know about the first 4 USA Beatles LP's being released on CD? I thought I heard a buzz about them being released in Feb 04 or March 04- but I haven't seen them. Does anyone have any info? Thanks!

Don, the last I heard was that they probably won't be released as a boxed set now, but as individual releases. Still no definite release date either. You should know by now when it comes to Capitol, or actually APPLE to be more exact, one can guess until they're blue in the face as far as release dates go. I get Beatlefan EXTRA! every couple of weeks, so if I hear anything at all I'll be more than happy to pass it along.

For the record, I'm really against such a release. The albums were an abomination in the 60s - and they are an even worse one today. Best left on vinyl, forgotten about, IMO.

I hate to totally disagree with you and actually maybe I don't disagree but I am so used to the running order of those old LP's (even after all these years) that The British CD's just don't sound right to me. I have always wished that they would release the Capitol US versions on CD, even though we have to buy one more CD (I think)

I can understand if you grew up with them, sure, but you can see that to anyone who didn't grow up in the US in the 1960s, the Parlophone albums are the "real" albums, as the artists intended?

Rob and Bob. Both convincing arguments. It is also worth adding perhaps that the real albums are what the corporate world intended. An example of this is the "Let It Be" release. Is this what the artists intended?

I grew up on the North American releases but have found that a large part of the world heard things as Rob has indicated. While all the songs are there in one form of release or another, the feel of the albums, UK versus US is different.

"Long Tall Sally" and "Something New" for example, offer a very different experience that t UK listeners did not get. Also, "Beatles For Sale" offered an experience for those in the UK that we missed out in North America.

OK, so you want to listen to "Slow Down." What album or CD do you first want to reach for?

About the only original US release I'd like to see is Live at the Hollywood Bowl. Even though I grew up with the US albums, I've had copies of the British release LPs for years, long before the CDs were released. It didn't take me long to get used to those as the real releases intended by the Beatles. If the original US releases came out, they'd almost have to put two albums together, as they were so short.

What I'd really like to see is the stereo versions released on the originals---to hear Lennon's mixup on Please Please Me, McCartney's voice crack on If I Fell, etc. Also, the James Bond style lead-in to Help (most have probably forgotten about that), which is on the US stereo releases, I think added by Martin when he did the orchestral arrangements for the Help movie. To me, it was so much a part of Help, I always miss it when I hear the song on today's cds. Listen to a stereo LP of 62-66, the James Bond intro is on there.
Andrew Messer

The first couple US releases I'd reach for on cd are the Second Album and Beatles '65. I love the saturated reverb on those particular releases.. I agree to a point that the US releases were not the way the Beatles intended them to be released, but they still mark a point in US history that will never change.. I didn't grow up with the Beatles in the 60's but I surely do remember saving up weeks of an allowance to buy "Meet the Beatles....etc" No one can replace that feeling... When the cd's came out in the late 80's it was the new thing to buy, we were all amazed that a full album's worth of tunes it on a disc the size of a coaster, but you have to admit before Past Masters came out- we all wondered where was "I Want to Hold Your Hand" on cd....

My hope is that Capitol will be somewhat creative with these U.S. versions perhaps packaging them in mini LP jackets or cardboard digi-packs similar to the Rolling Stones remasters that came out back in '02. Also open to debate is the sad fact that the entire Beatles catalog is in desperate need of a complete overhaul in terms of NEW remastering. What's on the shelves still to this day is the same product that came out 17 years ago. Look at the leaps and bounds that other artist catalogs have undergone in the past decade (Jimi Hendrix, The Who, Stones, Dylan, etc.). To know how cutting edge The Beatles once were, they are sadly bringing up the rear in terms of viable repackaging and remastering today.

I think the only American version that works is the Rubber Soul album. Starts with I've Just Seen A Face, and continues the less rockin' thread thoughout. But, there's really no need to reissue other than makin' a buck. Speaking of reissuing to make a buck, we could use more of those 4001v63's...

Andrew I remember the James Bond beginning to help, I don't miss it at all, haha!
I don't even know if that early stereo is considered true stereo, I think they just threw some mono tracks on the right and threw the others on the left. All the drums in the right channel, that sort of thing. I don't think the early albums were recorded in stereo. I think they are mono tracks split up, I could be wrong but that's what they sound like to me.
Early stereo albums (at least the jazz albums) have a very "live" feel, you can actually feel and hear the room.

OK, so you want to listen to "Slow Down." What album or CD do you first want to reach for?

Past Masters Volume One for me... but I know it appeared on a truckload of weird and wild vinyls throughout the 70s, too.

Past Masters for me too Rob at this point. But it was "Something New" in Canada that introduced me to "Slow Down."

Yeah! Same here in the USA - "Something New" - I did get a kick out of the ****** stereo mix of "Komm Gib Meir Diene Hand" - vocals on one side and everything else on the other...

I would rather see EMI spend time remastering the british albums for a high definition format like SACD or DVD Audio, and give us something like they did with the Beach Boys Pet Sounds. Original Mono remastered and a modern stereo mix on the same disk.
I know this a controversial opinion but it will give you the best of both worlds. The Beatles were involved in the Mono mixing and the Stereo was left to the engineers until Abbey Road. The purists would have the "true" mono mix and the stereo would bring a new more modern feel. It would be nice to hear the vocals in the center of the mix, ala the Yellow Submarine Songtrack.
Revolver, Sgt. Pepper and the White Album are different experiences in mono and it would be great to hear them on official cd releases.