The Beatles Again (Hey Jude) - Vinyl

Just picked up a 1984 retro rainbow pressing of this album. It is SJ 385. Does anyone know the differences (if any) from the SW 385?

 

How’s it sound?

 

Playing side one now....at first I thought it was a bit bright, but that's just Can't Buy Me Love. Right now I'm on Lady Madonna....this is the best vinyl version I've heard from that era. I'm just used to seeing SW 385.

 

Here's the entry in Discogs. It's a reissue from 1984.
Hey Jude ‎(LP, Comp, RE) Capitol Records SJ-385 US 1984
I also just learned that the Hey Jude covers were SW-385 and The Beatles Again covers were SO-385.

 

Any notable deadwax symbols? Does it have a Wally signature?

 

The 80's rainbow pressings are actually among the nicest sounding of the American pressed Capitol/Apple. I have Hey Jude and include that in that category...I have a few others as well; The 80's rainbow White Album easily outdoes the '68 Apple pressing. The only one that's a bit of a disappointment is The Second Album which has a strangely muffled quality.

 

I've got this SJ-385 version of Hey Jude and think it sounds great. Definitely better than an US Apple pressing. Much harder to find, though.

 

Both of your opinions match what I'm hearing. I have an original that I purchased when it first came out, back when it was The Beatles Again. This is definitely an improvement. And I agree with the retro rainbow series being some of the nicest American pressings. I have the White, MMT, and a few earlier ones. If I'm not mistaken weren't many of these remastered by Wally Traugott?

 

I won't be able to check until later this evening, but I'll post what I find.

 

But our host says that the Capitol's all sound like caca.
Now I'm cornfused!

Beave

 

I've owned the whole set of '84 Rainbows except for SPLHCB and MMT, and as far as I can recall every single one was mastered by Wally.

 

That might be the case on a 20k plus turntable and cart

 

I bought mine in 1981, was on the purple capitol label. My first Beatles album.

 

If I understood him correctly, it's the what Capitol did to some of the songs (reverb, duophonic mixes and such)that he strongly disliked (I could be wrong). but let's put it this way...*comparitively* speaking, the 80's rainbows are quite good and in many cases, better sounding than the original 60's pressings.

 

Do you have The Beatles' Second Album which I pointed out before? What do you think of it?

 

Good question - I'll have to listen to my needledrop. I don't recall it being muffled compared to any of the others, I just thought any oddness to the sound was due to the Dave Dexter-izing.

Anyway. The rainbow labels. For the Dexter-ized albums, the rainbows have the best mastering of sub-par sources. Across the board, the vinyl used is dead quiet with a lower noise floor than any original Capitols, green label Capitols, orange label Capitol, early purple Capitols, or Apple pressings.

 

Don't be. It's relative to comparisons. Those early albums...yes. Hey Jude on a late press like the '83 being discussed here isn't bad at all. I had one and thought it was pretty good. I finally got rid of it because it wasn't as good as the UK's I have, but it is definitely a worthwhile addition if you can't get your hands on a UK press.

 

That's what I thought, but he seems to discount all the Capitol lips, across the board.
And that can't be right.
Beave

 

So you can walk into any number of Barnes & Noble’s, vinyl shops, etc. and find a zillion Beatles vinyl reissues! But I can find “Hey Jude”! Has this album not been reissued along with their many others in the past, say, five years or so? And if not is there a reason?

 

No, it hasn't gotten a reissue as it's not considered "canonical"; it was a compilation released in 1970 designed to mop up stray tracks, mainly for the US market. It's mostly been replaced by the "Past Masters" series.

 

Hmmm...which Barnes and Nobles would that be??? The one near me has just a skimpy selection of current pressings by various artists...nothing spectaculer in the way of Beatles.

 

..that's what makes it desirable!

 

Your 'Hey Jude' album is called 'Past Masters 2' and tripled in length post-1987.

 

Most uneducated posters here DON'T realize, or know because they aren't collectors of the Capitol albums that Capitol was updating the masters of the LP'S as they acquired better quality tapes/versions of songs.
They just weren't sitting on their ass pressing up the same original pressing year after year.
Again, if the Capitol haters were correct about the company's attitude this practice would never have happened.

But it DID and that actually makes collecting the Beatles US releases more, much more interesting as a hobby.
There are many more variations of the US albums than the straight British issues.
And you know what? I actually love both catalogs, really do! Its much more fun having both of them out there instead of just the british catalog, how FRIKING BORING would that be?
A bunch of dry flat sounding albums with NO life to them??
Pretty boring if you ask me, but again guy's, just my opinion, and in the scheme of things who cares about my opinion, its just friendly conversation.
Beave