Any love for The Beatles CAPITOL albums CD's ?

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Baba Oh Really, Mar 18, 2013.

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  1. Baba Oh Really

    Baba Oh Really Certified "Forum Favorite" Thread Starter

    Location:
    mid west, USA
    The 8 CD set THE BEATLES CAPITOL ALBUMS Volume 1 (4CD) and Volume 2 (4CD) are my "GO TO" CD's when I want to listen to the Beatles.

    I have always felt the American public was "brainwashed" with Beatles "revisionism" when the Beatles catalog was released on CD: they used the BRITISH versions of the albums, and the American public were so grateful to FINALLY have The Beatles on CD that they didn't even question it, and accepted these versions, replacing their very memories with new ones.

    But these weren't the albums Americans fell in love with. Not really. The track listings were unfamiliar, and the music sounded different. But time and revisionism took hold and resonated, and the original American releases were all but forgotten about. Until the capital releases.

    Does anybody else have great love for the Capitol CD's, viewing them as the "true" Beatles albums in favor of the British versions which were forced upon us?
     
  2. fishcane

    fishcane Dirt Farmer

    Location:
    Finger Lakes,NY
    I like Rubber Soul
     
  3. JohnnyH

    JohnnyH Senior Member

    Location:
    England
    In the 60s I as a Brit couldn't get enough of the US versions as imports; even though the sound was not up to scratch, the covers, different mixes/stereo versions unavailable in the UK and track listings were different and seemed almost exotic to us. Over time and during the CD era that feeling diminished, but I was still happy to get the US versions on CD eventually - if only Volume 3 would arrive to tidy things up nicely ;)
     
  4. peteneatneat

    peteneatneat Forum Resident

    Location:
    Liverpool UK
    Many of the mono mixes are stereo fold-downs.
    Many of the stereo mixes are faked from the mono mixes.
    Many tracks have added reverb/compression.
    Of course they're not the "true" Beatles albums. There has been no "revisionism".
     
  5. crimpies

    crimpies Forum Resident

    Getting the bad version of the second box has left me with a bad taste of these sets.
     
  6. Selteab

    Selteab Free-hand sketcher and dancer of the hokey-pokey.

    I like them, and unlike the original poster, I grew up on the UK versions so the US versions were a completely new listen for me. They will never be the "true"versions for me, but I really enjoy the alternate listening experience and some variations to the UK canon that the Capitol LPs present.

    In all seriousness: how likely are we to see Vol. 3? Yesterday and Today is a killer LP: I love that song sequence. I'd love to see a Vol. 3 Capitol CD collection.
     
  7. apileocole

    apileocole Lush Life Gort

    No, I don't feel the Capitol versions are the "true" albums, but: I do have fond memories associated with the Capitol albums; I do much prefer the reverberated, messy stereo Capitol version of MONEY - it rocks - and I find the US "soundtrack" Help! album, with its sporadic, eclectic instrumental segments, to be delightful.

    It's a pity about the mastering error in the 2nd box, as the mastering - as a presentation of the Capitol album masters, such as they are - was otherwise superb.

    Too bad they didn't continue to include the Hollywood Bowl...
     
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  8. Hey Vinyl Man

    Hey Vinyl Man Another bloody Yank down under...

    Since I was born a few years after they broke up, I was never really wedded to the US versions, although those were the first ones I became familiar with. The UK versions were released Stateside when I was a teenager and just getting interested in The Beatles, but I stuck with the US versions because they were much easier to find secondhand (i.e. cheaper for a kid living on an allowance!).

    Now, on my iTunes I list them by the UK album they're on. If they're not on any UK album, I list them by the US album. (i.e. "It's Only Love" is under Help rather than Rubber Soul, and "Slow Down" is under Something New.) Songs that were never on a canonical album on either side of the Atlantic are listed under the Past Masters albums. That said, my source for 1962-65 era songs is the two Capitol box sets. Those were a lot cheaper than buying the individual CDs (either version), which was a big plus because all of those albums have a sizeable number of songs I don't care for. The percentage of songs on each album that I liked well enough to upload to my iPod is roughly inversely proportional to the order in which they were recorded: Abbey Road is the only one I uploaded in its entirety.
     
  9. williamjoel

    williamjoel Spins At 33 1/3 RPM

    Location:
    Orlando, FL
    Those of us who grew up with them love them and now know better.
     
    Upsiditus, Tullman, Mr_Vinyl and 5 others like this.
  10. nikh33

    nikh33 Senior Member

    Location:
    Liverpool, England
    To us in the UK the Capitol albums were very exotic beasts, and in 1971 at £2.50 rather than £1.70, you had to really want them! I did- The Beatles' Second Album I needed as Thank You Girl ws on it - in stereo! The first one I had, though, was in 1968, the Magical Mystery Tour album, even at 42/6 it was worth it! Although I had the EP, that album was a big favourite from then on.
     
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  11. ibanez_ax

    ibanez_ax Forum Resident

    I grew up with the Capitol versions but I don't have any nostalgic feelings for them and prefer the British albums. I do have both Capitol sets and they are fun occasional listen for me.
     
    Guy E, Hamhead, DennisJordan and 3 others like this.
  12. Matze S.

    Matze S. Forum Resident

    Location:
    Germany
    It's a never ending subject in this forum, isn't it? I have the Capitol boxes but I rarely listen to them. Here in Germany wo got both the British albums, and the US versions. But most of them came out before I was born. So I do not share any nostalgic feelings for the US albums.

    To me, they do appear butchered (less songs, some of them sound bad). My theory is: We will never get a third Capitol set because the US "Revolver" is so blatantly butchered someone feels still shame for that. "Yesterday And Today"? Songs scratched together from 3(!) original albums. Come on!

    The British albums were the ones inteded by the Fab Four and that's what I grew up with. Fans in the US will love their domestic versions anyway and that's fine with me. I only bought them for completist reasons and for some mix variations. To me, the British (EU) CDs (both mono and stereo) as well as the EU-made vinyls sound better in most cases.
     
  13. dlokazip

    dlokazip Forum Transient

    Location:
    Austin, TX, USA
    Oh, Baba. Always the contrarian.

    I really wish Something New, Help!, and Rubber Soul were available separately. To me, those three releases offer unique experiences that cannot be recreated with the standard CDs. Actually, a box set with those three and Yesterday...and Today would be perfect.

    I have no use for the rest. The Early Beatles in particular is a ripoff when compared to the British Please Please Me album. Since many fans bought the Vee-Jay Introducing The Beatles, there is hardly anything sacred about it.
     
    somnar likes this.
  14. dlokazip

    dlokazip Forum Transient

    Location:
    Austin, TX, USA
    I think that American record buyers have been brainwashed into believing that Meet The Beatles is something special. It isn't.
     
  15. peteneatneat

    peteneatneat Forum Resident

    Location:
    Liverpool UK
    And TWO Ringo songs!!! Yesterday and Today really is one of the worst of the US albums. Some really great tracks, obviously, but not a good compilation. I understand why American folk like it.
     
  16. Frank

    Frank Senior Member

    As someone who grew up until college on the US releases, I bought the first Capitol set, listened to it maybe once, and skipped the second. I'm a nostalgic guy, but not so nostalgic that I want to listen to something sound worse than it needs to just because I listened to it that way 30 years ago.

    The Beatles hated them so much they made an offensive album cover to highlight it. Why should I feel any differently now that they decided to make another grab for my money off of them?
     
    Mr_Vinyl, DmitriKaramazov and zobalob like this.
  17. The capitol Remasters were botched in so many ways including that horrible packaging. They should have put it all out as one big box set probably through to Hey Jude. All together.
     
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  18. Jerquee

    Jerquee Take this, brother, may it serve you well.

    Location:
    New York
    Yeah, I have a soft spot for those sets. Despite the super-lame packaging and the funky sonic decisions, they are familiar. These were the albums I heard when I discovered them as a kid. It goes deep.

    Still, I default to the current British versions.
     
  19. Hey Vinyl Man

    Hey Vinyl Man Another bloody Yank down under...

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  20. Tristero

    Tristero In possession of the future tense

    Location:
    MI
    I grew up with these, but now accept the UK versions as being definitive. I guess I've been duped by the "revisionism" of what the Beatles actually released in their home country.
     
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  21. Jimbo62

    Jimbo62 Forum Resident

    I grew up with the US versions but I haven't listened to the Capitol boxes since I bought them. My favorite US album was always "Rubber Soul" anyway. An actual good hack job in that case :) I just stick with the remasters (mono and stereo).
     
  22. jricc

    jricc Senior Member

    Location:
    Jersey Shore
    I always love the 2nd Album, it totally rocks!
    The US Rubber Soul is such a perfect album for me...It's only Love and I've Just Seen a Face SO belong on there.
    That said, I probably listen to the UK versions the most.
     
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  23. Avenging Robot

    Avenging Robot Senior Member

    I listen to them once in a while. Always like to hear different versions, even the odd bad one. If it were up to me, I would make a box set (or rather, a series of box sets) that would re-press every legit alternate Beatles studio album issued in all of the countries of the world, mono and stereo and exact reproductions of the artwork, sleeve and perhaps a small book explaining the history of each release and why they opted to make something different from the UK standard. And yes, this would include alternate artwork versions too.
     
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  24. waxtomcat

    waxtomcat Forum Resident

    I grew up with the Capitol albums and never heard the UK versions until I was about 19 or 20. I received the first Capitol box the Christmas it came out and listened to it for a few months following that, but haven't listened to it since. I prefer the UK versions.
     
  25. Mister Charlie

    Mister Charlie "Music Is The Doctor Of My Soul " - Doobie Bros.

    Location:
    Aromas, CA USA
    I listen to them once in awhile, I like them fine since it is the running order I remember for the songs,mostly, and the few variations. My only problem is they are so short, time wise, and after hearing the stereo version I don't need to listen to the mono so I am constantly jumping up to change discs. Otherwise, it's all good, it's the Beatles!
     
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