U.S. Revolver?

But those laminate Parlophone album jackets sure look purdy didn't they? I have a few original 60's early 70's Beatles UK pressings in good shape, and I have to handle them a bit more carefully than the studier Canadian Capitols.

 

I never got too attached to the US albums up to and including MMT because they were my sister's and we had a portable Heathkit record player like the one below (but not as beat up) and I would stick the microphone of my mono tape recorder in front of it between the speakers and tape the albums so I could listen to them when I wanted to. That was my version of fold down mono. I got my own copies of the White Album, Abbey Road, and Let It Be. Somewhere along the line I found out about the differences between the UK and US album so when I got a job, got some money and they were available, I went out and bought the UK versions of the earlier albums. And even though I lived here on the West Coast of the USA my whole life, I couldn't tell you what songs are on albums like Beatles 65 and Beatles VI because I always think in terms of the UK albums.

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I used to have that same Heathkit stereo! Built it myself from their kit. I eventually made separate speaker cabinets in woodshop class and I found a plastic dust cover for the turntable, and so turned it into a "component" system. I devised a remote control system by tying string to the turntable controls and snaking them around the room so I could lie in bed and change albums. It didn't sound all that good, but I didn't care, it was mine, dammit!

 

My dad built ours. He also built a Heathkit shortwave radio and later gave me a Heathkit table top FM stereo to build on my own. It was similar in layout to this record player but smaller. I set the radio on a stand next to my bed at ear level with one speaker left in it and I built a speaker cabinet for the other speaker and put it up on my wall on the other side of the bed, ran of pair of speaker wires to it and I had "surround sound".

 

Canadian Beatles cassettes are excellent. To me, often surpassing even the U.K. cassettes, some of which I own. Using the UK master tapes is obviously a major factor. I'm wondering, though, if something about the way the cassettes were manufactured in Canada, the type of shells they used, quality control, and other related factors played a role as well.

 

Dunno about the way the Canadian cassettes were manufactured, but from what I remember they sounded good and lasted a while- I oughta know, when I first got into The Beatles in '87 I got 'em all! I still have my old Revolver cassette -U.S. version, no less- because I thought the cover looked really cool:


Of course, there was the Capitol cassette of Back To The Egg I bought where the tape was backwards (easily returnable, though)...that's the only quality control screw up I can think of.

 

I wonder how rare this backwards tape was. Brings to mind the age old question, which came first...the chicken or the egg? "Back To The Egg! Just play it backwards!"

I bought a used cassette version of Back To The Egg fairly recently. It's in my stack of cassettes awaiting a new shell. It's quite encouraging how many old prerecorded Beatles cassettes I've been able to revive by putting them into a brand new Sony cassette shell. Usually an old tape is still in great shape, it's the old shell and pressure pad that need replaced. I save the old shell with the song titles, etc...and keep it next to the revived and reinvigorated cassette.

 

No, the backwards tape was clearly a quality control kinda thing...I remember buying another cassette (can't remember which, Stones I think) where there was no actual tape on the reels. I was able to exchange that one as well.