50th Anniversary all things Beatles White Album

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by tinnox, Feb 8, 2018.

  1. YpsiGypsy

    YpsiGypsy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Michigan, USA
    I could be wrong but it was my understanding that they were all made in Germany, even the ones sold at Amazon Japan,
     
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  2. Ken Wood

    Ken Wood Forum Resident

    I think they must have at least a twin-track running and later faded between the two tracks. One can clearly hear a fade from Paul`s performance to John and George`s conversation and Paul`s performance continues to run low in the background.

    Beatlebug, you are right - I forgot that John and George are actually down in the studio as well, not in the control room.
     
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  3. Ken Wood

    Ken Wood Forum Resident

    For a moment I thought - when watching the HS footage - that the mic might be with the camera, explaining the fades, but no. Must be two tracks.
     
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  4. culabula

    culabula Unread author.

    Location:
    Belfast, Ireland
    Yes. Definitely not made in the UK.
     
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  5. Isaac Azimuth

    Isaac Azimuth Forum Resident

    Location:
    Upstate NY
    Interesting. I deliberately bought a Japanese copy - one that's more expensive and promoted with details such as "contains SHM-CD discs." (Super-High-Quality-Materials = SHM). Quite the distinction UMG/Apple made about it on their enclosed print materials, anyway! A black page, in Japanese, came inserted over the box's entire back cover, on which some small print said "Stereo/Mono, Made in Japan." Another line referenced "Apple Store - Japan." Now, I was very excited to get it (Japanese pressings having always had a special high-quality cachet). And my understanding was that this meant these SHM-CD discs had been pressed in Japan. Taking the insert sheet (and other Japanese material) out of the package, I found underneath it a box-set otherwise identical to the one I'd bought in November. And here, as on that one, the small print actually said "Made In Germany." Therefore I guess the bottom line is : Some materials were made in Japan and some in Germany. OK, but : What was made where?

    Obviously, I'm a little confused. From all I read, it seemed to be a run pressed in Japan, with attention paid to higher-quality manufacturing materials in the discs. All good.
    But I wonder - was I "hyped" into buying the same album sold worldwide - just one shipped through Japan with some Japanese trappings attached? I love it. It's a beautiful, interestingly different package, and I'm glad to have it. But quite simply : are ALL these anniversary discs actually pressed in the SHM-CD formulation, with only the Japanese making a big selling point out of it?

    Has anyone else bought the Japanese box? If so, any clarification would be most welcome!
    Jeff
     
    Last edited: Mar 9, 2019
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  6. Isaac Azimuth

    Isaac Azimuth Forum Resident

    Location:
    Upstate NY
    Please tell me : Where did you get this understanding?
    Thank you kindly. Jeff
     
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  7. YpsiGypsy

    YpsiGypsy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Michigan, USA
    I read it in this thread but I can't find it, the search engine here isn't compatible with me :agree:
    or maybe people can post pics of the ones not made in Germany showing the country of production, but I think they were all made in Germany.
     
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  8. mongo

    mongo Senior Member

    YpsiGypsy, I too bought a "regular" WA boxset by mistake & a Japanese set.
    I never seen or heard of SHM-CDs not pressed in Japan.
    Other wise the sets seemed identical to me as far as the box, book etc.
    Some of the inserts are in Japanese.

    Contrasting with the Pepper box it was quite different from the regular version.
     
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  9. Psychedelic Good Trip

    Psychedelic Good Trip Beautiful Psychedelic Colors Everywhere

    Location:
    New York
    Seriously I got this box last week and I was like blah big deal on the retakes and unreleased material before my first listen. After the first listen of the demos last week I was sucked in to the listening experience.

    I will spin the 3 cds of demos again by Monday. Incredible material.
     
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  10. YpsiGypsy

    YpsiGypsy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Michigan, USA
    I think I made a mistake, I am referring only to the WA50th not any other release
     
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  11. mongo

    mongo Senior Member

    Sorry, I addressed my quote to you rather than Isaac Azimuth. :oops:
     
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  12. Isaac Azimuth

    Isaac Azimuth Forum Resident

    Location:
    Upstate NY
    OK, wait - let's slow down for a sec... So you're saying that there are such things as SHM-CD's? Whether in the Japanese or German versions of the box - or ALL of them - how can you tell you've got them?
    I see no markings whatsoever on the discs themselves; the SHM logo only appears on the jacket info. What's confusing is that the moment you take off the wrapper, you find something subtly different than what that wrapper told you was in the package. "Made in Japan" printed on the Japanese black back cover sheet becomes "Made in Germany" when you're looking at the actual white box within the wrapper and slipcase.

    Very confusing! I'd like to just nail down the facts about SHM-CD's now if possible, if anyone knows. Can you tell me which set they DO come in, and how you can visually identify them (coz, unlike the old days, there's no "dead wax" numbers to examine in this case). I'm just hoping there's a logo ON the discs or in the writing on the discs which I'm simply not seeing.
    Thanks to all. Jeff
     
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  13. Isaac Azimuth

    Isaac Azimuth Forum Resident

    Location:
    Upstate NY
    Me too - only referring to the WA50 deluxe 7-disc set. Japanese edition.

    (I did not get a Japanese Pepper box. But I heard high praise for them, and this time I was determined I'd get one for this album).
    With the WA50 SHM-CD designation, I expected to be listening to discs of premium quality (and the Japanese 3-disc set has the same SHM logo, so there's that). Still am.
    But jeez, there's a lot to wade through all of a sudden...

    Paging Mike Carrera?
     
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  14. mongo

    mongo Senior Member

    I know that you guys were only talking about the WA set, I was just contrasting the difference between the Japanese Pepper Set & the WA set.

    You must not know where to look for the SHM-CD imprint.
    It's on the spindle hole and clearly visible with the naked eye ;)
     
    Last edited: Mar 9, 2019
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  15. mongo

    mongo Senior Member

    So Isaac, were you able to confirm that the discs are indeed SHM?
     
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  16. Isaac Azimuth

    Isaac Azimuth Forum Resident

    Location:
    Upstate NY
    Yes I was. I spoke with the seller of the Japanese WA box and he clarified many things. Checking the discs myself, I saw the SHM-CD logo on each, right where you both told me they'd be.

    It was pointed out to me that SHM is a proprietary format of Universal's/UMG, exclusive to Japanese pressings. Good to know.
    Everything else about these Japanese WA50 Deluxe boxes is manufactured in Germany or E.U. Then some packages, complete but for the discs, are sent to Japan, where Japanese SHM discs are inserted, some Japanese written material is also enclosed in the packages, then they're sealed up and sold for premium prices in Japan itself, or exported to the world as "Made In Japan." The discs being the most important part to me, these sets actually are "Made In Japan," and I'm happy with the deal.

    I'm still working on finding out how many WA50 Deluxe copies went into and back out of Japan. I'd like to know how many WA50 Deluxe boxes exist in total, and whether the Japanese copies are included in the tally. Anyone know? And will the deluxe box be allowed to go out of print? (Same question applies to the Sgt. Pepper box)

    (And please, Mongo, and anyone else - call me Jeff. I'm no Isaac; I just enjoyed coining a wordplay on that technical term)
     
    Last edited: Mar 10, 2019
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  17. mongo

    mongo Senior Member

    Jeff, glad you were able to confirm.
    I've never seen any SHM products that weren't pressed in Japan.
    The reason to buy SHM is that they are remastered. I'm positive the WA set discs are not
    remastered so there isn't any advantage to me with these.
    SHM stands for Super High Material. Supposedly the polycarbonate they use allows for better
    laser tracking. Personally I'm not buying it.
    The reason I got the non-Japanese version by mistake is Amazon.jp had the set listed on their site so I preordered.
    When the set arrived it was not the Japanese version. I went back to amazon looked the set up, yup there were now 2 entries for the set.
    One Japanese and the other one was now listed as Import.
    I made arrangements to return it but decided to give it to some good friends for Christmas.
     
    Last edited: Mar 10, 2019
  18. zipp

    zipp Forum Resident

    One of the things that maybe hasn't been mentioned much, or at all, is Don't Pass Me By take 7.
    I was always surprised that this song went under the title This Is Some Friendly for a brief period in the studio but with this take we finally get to hear this title being spoken and whispered at the end of the song.
    Does anybody know where on earth this odd phrase could come from? And why do you think the idea was abandoned?
    It also seems to me that somebody also whispers "And this is what I want" right at the end.
    All opinions welcome!
     
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  19. Shaddam IV

    Shaddam IV Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ca
    To me the phrase means "you're not being very friendly".
     
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  20. Kim Olesen

    Kim Olesen Gently weeping guitarist.

    Location:
    Odense Denmark.
    Sounds more sinister to me. Like a threat ala This is some “friendly” advice.
     
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  21. Beatlened

    Beatlened Forum Resident

    Location:
    Dublin, Ireland
    It's probably something some football commentator said
     
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  22. Ken Wood

    Ken Wood Forum Resident

    I always thought it means what it says, like "this is a friendly song" or "this is something friendly", somehow shortened in a wacky Ringo-way.
    Maybe because friendlyness is what the Beatles needed then and Ringo delievered.
     
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  23. zipp

    zipp Forum Resident

    Yes I agree with you about 'this is a friendly song' but others don't always see it the same way!

    Maybe the Beatles didn't use this title or idea because Ringo's last big song also had "friend" in the title. (With a littlle help ...).

    One strange thing about the white album is that Ringo's songs were given attention early in the recording process. On other albums they often came at the very end as a kind of "Oh, we'd better find a song for Ringo".

    And yet Ringo still didn't feel wanted and left the group for a few days during the white album sessions.
     
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  24. Shaddam IV

    Shaddam IV Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ca
    Has anyone else noticed the cool video and animations that play on Spotify along with the WA box set?
     
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  25. Ken Wood

    Ken Wood Forum Resident

    I don`t have Spotifiy - what are they like?
     
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