Greetings!Heard a story yesterday on the radio.George happened to be in L.A. when Capitol was mastering their version of The White Album.They had used too much compression,George didn't like it and had them remaster it.That why the stampers start out 34.Any comments?
Well, lemme tell ya. My original Capitol cutting of The White Album was so bad, my needle skipped across all of one side, and I had a pretty good system for a kid (if you can call a dark green Zenith stereo fold down a system...)
Was it avocado green? Our neighbors had that one! Kinda odd that they had that stereo as my buddy's dad was a doctor - I guess there weren't any Marantz dealers in Logansport, Indiana! They did have a Rollei TLR I always coveted...
Steve, Is the UK original the one to have? Tom said the German pressing of The White album beats that in the MoFi box (http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=18313#post18313).
I heard the story from Bruce Spizer, he of the factually authoritative and lavishly illustrated books on the Beatles' US releases on Vee-Jay and Capitol. He's currently working on his "Beatles on Apple" volume, and he seems to have evidence that the story has some truth to it.
I was listening to the same radio show as Henry (Breakfast With The Beatles on WXRT) and Bruce Spizer was the one who told the story. The story of George remixing the entire album is obviously untrue, but I can't wait to see what information Bruce has dug up concerning the remastering by George.
The story was that George heard the Capitol version and it was mastered wrong, and that much of the effect heard was wrong. So, he simply had them do it "right". Don't know if this is true, but that's what I have heard.
Another factor: The White Album itself is 90-plus minutes long over four sides. That's an average of about 22-23 minutes of music per side. Considering that in the U.S., some entire records (both sides combined!) barely clocked in at 22-23 minutes, it's no wonder they had a tough time getting it right. If the White Album had been first issued on vinyl in 1998 rather than 1968, it likely would have been a 3-LP set.
Thats pretty much the way I understood it.He had them remaster it with less compression.Thanks for the responses.
As a bit of an update, I have 4, count 'em, 4 German White Albums all from the same era (same gold sticker on the cover) and not surprisingly they all sound different. I got one German version that was German in every way except the record was pressed in Sweden and didn't sound very good. I definitely like a "good" German copy better than an original English. I used to think the reverse but then I listened more carefully and my stereo got better and the German version sounded more natural in those hard to reproduce sections of the album, of which there are many. Best, TP
I think the reason for this is that The White Album is a real bitch to cut, and the German cutting technology can really nail the "needs" of this album.
Would the (presumably union) engineers at Capitol Tower have let anyone from the outside, Beatle or not, walk in and do the mastering?
Tom, It's great to hear from you again. Posting once a month these days? Steve said you are working your behind off. Good for you! As for "the hard to reproduce sections" of The White Album, could you elaborate a little by naming a few?
Some time ago, a friend of mine bought a copy of the compressed version of the White Album. He was a fan of my mini-LPs, so he asked me if I'd like to make one of this rare record. Anyway, after tons of work, I finally finished it yesterday. I'll post some pics of the finished mini-LP below, but I'm sure some of you folks are curious as to how Capitol messed things up, so here are three samples (as per the SH Forum rules, all are a minute in length (not that you'd want to hear more anyway..)). Sample 1 (Why Don't We Do It In The Road): https://www.yousendit.com/download/T2djdFdjckltNEpvZE1UQw Sample 2 (Helter Skelter): https://www.yousendit.com/download/T2djdFdjcklCSm84RmNUQw Sample 3 (While My Guitar Gently Weeps): https://www.yousendit.com/download/T2djdFdjckllcEtxV2NUQw (All samples are uncompressed WAV files (10 MB each), and the LPs were recorded on a LaserTurntable. Also, the records were in pretty rough shape, so you'll hear some surface noise.) Here's the whole thing: The embossed cover: Inside the gatefold: The discs: The back of the info card (the matrix numbers):
Thanks for posting that. My copy (#1031596) isn't any improvement: Side 1 - J45 Side 2 - J43 Side 3 - J46 Side 4 - J49 Sounds like shrill mush.
How would I go about buying a copy of this, or is this just a personal thing? Looks good! I'm envious!
I have heard it, as a friend actually found 2 last year. Only in Beatle land, folks: a record that is famous BECAUSE it sounds terrible. And it does. Easily beaten by any other pressing I've heard. Dan
Do you make your living doing stuff like this? Everything I've seen of yours is absolutely gorgeous. Painstaking, beautiful work. Thanks for sharing it with us.
