Poll--The Weakest Link: YESTERDAY AND TODAY, Round 4

Exactly. It wasn't an official album that followed up Rubber Soul. No more so than a compilation that could have had a poor cover anywhere else in the world.

 

The very NOTION of US-only versions is soft. Not blaming the Beatles.

Shoulda been original versions all along. At the Beatles' discretion. Just because Capitol got away with pressuring the Beach Boys for (what seemed like) an album every month, it doesn't mean all artists play along.

The Beatles were releasing smart, well-thought-out albums in England. Including cover art.

Typical suit: "artist-schmartist, how can I squeeze more cash outa this cow?"

 

It was beneficial to fans to have at least some of the singles released on albums.

But I agree that you can't blame the Beatles for Capitol using lousy artwork on the US-only albums.

 

Capital started the nonsense by not getting in on the Beatles from day 1 and allowing their music to go to other labels first. By the time they came around it was too late to release the proper albums.

 

Not completely. For some reason they limited the albums to 11 or 12 songs even after they came around. Otherwise they could have released the proper albums - without the singles - by the time of With the Beatles.

 

Nope, the American albums are better than the Parlophonies.

 

My "not like" buttons is broken.

 

Of course...

 

I know I've been out of town, but wow -- Yesterday and If I Needed Someone before I'm Only Sleeping?

 

We live in a world where the amount of times something is heard or seen becomes inversely proportional to one's opinion of the quality.

 

Drive My Car again for this round.
I've never had a butcher cover.
Don't see the need to own one (it's just a cover), though I wouldn't turn
one down if I found one really cheap.

Darryl

 

I've always preferred the United Artists US "A Hard Day's Night" cover to the UK one... it's iconic. I also love the cover to THE BEATLES' SECOND ALBUM.

 

It had something to do with the royalty rate. If I recall correctly, and I don't know that I am, there was a flat rate for up to 12 songs, and anything over that received extra compensation. Still, with MEET THE BEATLES and the American RUBBER SOUL both having 12 songs, there was no reason most of the albums couldn't have also had 12. After all, "I'm Down" "From Me To You," "Misery," "There's A Place" and at the time this album came out "Paperback Writer/Rain" were all unreleased on LP in the USA.

JcS

 

I voted for We Can Work it Out. I do own a butcher in peeled state with minor repairs. I've done a fair bit of research on whether the original cover was a response to Capitol's butchering of their '62-'66 releases. A few points:

1. Does it strike anyone as odd that the next album released after the Y&T/Revolver time frame marked a notable change in that, from that point on, the the US and UK releases were identical (save the UK MMT EP vs. the US LP)?
2. I've read various and numerous materials that discusses the purposes of the Robert Whitaker photo shoot that produced the Butcher shot. When asked about the butcher cover, band members have responded that the purpose of the photoshoot was not to produce an album cover, let alone an album cover that would comment on what Capitol US had been doing. So, the question hasn't been answered, although the answers appear to address the topic, they merely deflect it. The questions isn't whether the Robert Whitaker sessions in question were conducted for the purposes of creating an album cover, the question is, at any time, were the photos shot at that session chosen for the release of Y&T as a commentary on what Capitol was doing? I read answers to this question that don't answer the question; they answer a question that was not asked, and one that does not shed light on how the original Y&T cover was selected.

Now, no doubt I've missed some info on this. Just sayin'. I have no doubt that the photoshoot in question was not undertaken with the purpose of commenting on Capitol's practices, but I have a very hard time believing that once George or John saw the photos, one or both of them neglected to see an opportunity to make a statement.

 

I remember reading that Paul pushed for Capitol to use the photos.

 

Drive to go. Never owned any of the US versions but I like the butcher cover.

 

Drive My Car, for me.

 

Never owned a butcher cover. An interesting thing is that I picked this album out as my second Beatles album when I was 5 after closely examining all their covers and determining that this was the least scary looking one. So they definitely increased their sales by at least 1 by not going with the butcher cover, which might have scared me off the Beatles all together at that age.

This was the hardest vote I have ever cast in a weakest link, and I came real close to abstaining. I ultimately voted for Day Tripper. While this is a great great great track riff and arrangement and sound-wise, it is one of the two of the six remaining tracks which is not that great as a song (that is, as a melody and lyric). And the other one which fits in that category (AYBCS) is my favorite Beatles recording period. So it's Day Tripper to go.

 

These are all really good songs, it's already "flip a coin" time for me.

 

Never abstain! I often have an impossible time deciding between some songs myself, but it's a "lesser favorite" to "most favorite" exercise. It's not as if voting for something means we think it's a "garbage" song, or that our voting will cause the master tapes to no longer exist!

 

That sounds reasonable to me but I have no idea. I think I read something on this forum - maybe from Steve Hoffman himself? - that said this wasn't the reason it was selected. But the "actual" reason wasn't mentioned.

Or I might just be misremembering it.

 

Been gone on vacation, but I must add that it seems crazy to me that "Yesterday" was voted out so early. One of the greatest songs of all-time. All I can guess is overexposure.
Other than the Ringo songs, though, the songs on this album are all very good to excellent!

 

My guess is Yesterday got the axe due to the "rocking tunes are better and strings are wimpy" mindset

 

A rather simplistic and juvenile mindset in my opinion!