How bad did I get hosed? BEATLES "White Album" USA Capitol SWBO 101 question*

Morning Beatles fans,

I made my 1st vintage vinyl purchase offa ebay yesterday and was hoping for a little discussion about what it is exactly that I bought and what can I expect when I get it.

I won a Beatles, American Apple, White Album (SWBO101) in EX++/NM with the "embossed" "THE BEATLES" and numbered A1810763, poster included, photos not.

The way the guy describes the album it seems like he knows what folks are looking for. Do ya'll think this is actually from '68? were these pressings any good? Did I get hosed (paid $46) or get a deal or pay market value?

I was reading up some on these pressings and some of the things I won't know til I get it, whether Bungalo Bill is a full title or not, whether it has the "No." prefix or a black dot. I'd like to know what these types of things indicate.

Basically I just want to hear all the details you can give me. I didn't find much discussion searching this site.

Don't hold back, you won't hut my feelings!

ebay auction

Thanks

 

Well, the UK pressings sounded vastly better, either original or reissued.
If you wanted it for the serial number on the front, it's not an awful deal.

My personal copy is a numbered white vinyl one from Germany, DMM
pressed. It sounds drier than the cd, but the tonality is similar.

 

First off, there were 3 types of prefixes.
The "A" prefix
The "No" prefix
The "." prefix

All of those prefixes are original or pre 1971 pressings.
Each prefix is from a different Capitol Records plant (Scranton, PA; Jacksonville, IL and Los Angeles, CA). I can't remember which prefix is from which factory. In either event, your "A" prefix is original.

The first pressings have the Capitol "dome" logo in white at the bottom of the labels on side 2 and side 4 .

If the cover is in nice shape with no seam splitting and "very" little ring wear and if the records are in nice NM shape - I would say that $46.00 is a decent price (regardless of whether or not you have the rarer "Buffalo Bill" title).
You can find the pictures around.
It's tough to get a numbered White Album cover in decent shape these days.

 

Sorry...I didn't open up the link to the picture.
I would say that you have an Scranton, PA pressing from either 1968 or 1969.
I believe (and this is from memory), that the "A" series is Scranton, the "No" prefix is Los, Angeles and the "." is Jacksonville. I'm 99% sure about the "A" prefix, but not entirely sure about the other 2.
I'm sure someone out there will correct me.

Hope this helps.

 

I have the pictures from an orange label Capitol I bought new in about '77. The collectors value isn't the main reason for buying this. I'm new to hearing different pressings and such and having now compared some of my "Nice Price" type budget vinyl that I bought new in the '70s and '80s to some original issues that i've picked up recently (Steely Dan, Traffic, etc.) I really wanted to hear some old Beatles for comparison. And since the White Album is one of my faves I thought this might be a good place to start.

I watched some auctions for Beatles on MFSL and the quickly went for around $100, scared me off. This auction was a fluke because I stumbled on it with an hour or so to go and got a little auction fever. I really didn't expect my bid to hold up.

What would be the differences, sound wise, from the other pressings, UK Germany, etc.? I seem to recall reading about the tape speed being wrong on the USA releases or Harrison not approving the mixes, anything to that?

 

FWIW, two years ago I sold a US white vinyl pressing on eBay for $55.

 

No US LP of the white album is worth any amount of money.

Just get the UK stereo LP instead, then when you're feeling risky, get the mono UK LP off eBay.

 

Yes, it's VERY risky. I got the reissue, which had little fidelity to speak of.
Caveat emptor, dude.




Dan

 

There was,if I'm not mistaken, small Apple logos all over the original poster that came with the original 2-Lp set,right? Those logos were later covered by colored circles,if I'm not mistaken. Michael Boyce

 

So where do you get one and what do they go for? What do I look for so as not to get took?

 

The best sounding white album, IMHO, would have to be the MONO Japanese pressing from the early '80s.
The German DMM pressings from the '80s sounds pretty nice to me - if you're looking for the STEREO mix on vinyl.

I agree with the just about everyone.
There is no decent sounding US version.
Even the MFSL half speed master from 1981 didn't floor me - in terms of sound quality. Does anyone know if that was mastered from a sub master and not the original mixdown tape?

 

You could start in the archives?

 

To get all the Beatles albums, advised by the forum, I got the UK Blue Box from US eBay. (I already had a (purple label) Capitol reissue of the White Album and sundry other Capitol Beatles albums).

For some reason, the White Album in the set I got has what looks like little sleeve scratches (I'm assuming the previous owner played it a lot), so I got a copy of the White Album from UK ebay to try to get a better copy. It was a bit tricky, time consuming and costly because of those pesky inserts; I just wanted the vinyl. It was in somewhat better shape (circa 1980) than the copy I got in my Blue Box (c. 1985).

 

The white album is no audiophile masterpiece. I find that all my copies are some variation of crummy, in the same way that most Abbey Roads are some variation of excellent. Just for clarity I have the Blue Box stereo, Black Box mono, orange label Capitol ('76-ish), and the cd. The UK's are best but the others still sound like the white album to me. It's not a Steely Dan recording to say the least.

 

Can someone explain the "Bungalo Bill" song title? I don't believe I have heard about this previously. Which song title is more rare - the complete or abbreviated?

 

Heck, paid a very good price for an original US copy in great shape. If the vinyl doesn't sound that great listen to the CD and look at the gorgeous packaging. The pictures and poster in the 1st issues were on good quality stock paper.
Also the laminated #ed LP jacket is too cool.
If you ever want a great sounding slab of vinyl pick up the Blue Box and get everything else as bonuses.

 

So I checked out ebay UK for grins and they had quite a few WHite Albums, ones with white vinyl, ones with black vinyl.

It was hard to get a fix on prices since I'm not registered with them so I couldn't check "completed auctions". I'd also be very wary of dealing overseas and of prohibitive shipping.

Hopefully this will tide me over til the Hi-Rez remasters come out!

I do have the CD and some of the cuts sound great and some sound worse, I can't remember what my orange label sounds like, do the songs have big discrepencies to ya'lls ears? even on good copies?

 

Yeah. It's all over the place soundwise.

 

After all that you're gonna stick with the crappy US LP version? It's beyond bad.

 

If you're registered with US ebay, you can use your same ID with UK ebay. No separate registration. I was apprehensive dealing with UK ebay as well, but Candy and Stefan assured me it was ok, and except for one "lost" UK Hey Jude, my dealings have gone very smoothly. As far as the shipping, when I saw the prices US dealers were asking for UK releases, it evens out.

Of course, there may be stores in LA and NYC that commonly have this stuff, but I have to go the ebay route.

 

That's a query that SH can answer, I'd bet! He knows the MoFi engineers well.

That particular MoFi has the dreaded treble boost at 10k.

 

Jason, I haven't even got it yet, gimme some time man!

I'll do some more lookin'. The Hi-Rez comment was just a joke... and a lot of wishful thinking.

 

I'll give you some time...but I expect a full report back once you've listened to it.

Don't be scared off by international eBay bids/shipping/etc. I've only been dissatisfied with a record from England only once, and the seller was great to deal with. Just deal with people who have good feedback and you'll be fine.

 

Jim,

Did you find this thread?
http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=123688&highlight=white

The white UK White Album was discussed there/then.

As it says I got my copy @ Sound Warehouse here in Houston ($15.99 when new). The good news for you is that means there have to be other copies floating around town.

It will be easy to pick out in a used rack - the cover has yellowed/browned kind of splotchy-ly all over the front and back, and without exposure to light. They should all look that way.

Happy hunting!