Dave Dexter, Capitol and the Beatles

I don't think anyone is trying to invalidate your experience. We're just saying it's not reasonable to try to argue the US albums (or Japanese, Malaysian, or other pressings) are superior to the UK albums that band actually considered their artistic output. It's also not reasonable to say the band is actually American, just because that happens to be your country.

 

Wow - you obviously didn't read through this thread or even glance at any of my previous posts here.

If you did, you see the point I'm making.

If Americans are going to argue that Capitol's reshuffling/reprocessing of the UK LPs hold import because because "that's what we first-generation fans grew up with" and "Capitol knew what it took to sell the right albums to the US audience" than any reshuffling/re-imagining of the Beatles LPs in any region of the world are equally valid.

 

When is a Beatles album not a Beatles album.

In 1962.

 

1. I knew they were British when I was 6 years old.
2. I knew about their TV successes over there about in the same time frame.
3. I could care less.
4. I could care less.
5. I could care less because I primarily listen to older Beatles in mono these days.

I'm not going to sit here and try to argue that the U.S. versions were superior to the UK versions.

I'll just say again ... my .02 only, talking about nobody's ears but mine ... two of them are among my favorite Beatle albums of all time, and one is pretty high on the list.

 

From your keyboard to the Almighty's ears.

 

Magical Mystery Tour, Second Album and Something New, all Capitol US albums, were very popular in my house and at school in the 60s and even early 70s. Also a German LP called Beatles Beat and an Australian one (I think) with She's a Woman in stereo on it. More the merrier.

 

Fair enough. To be clear, my two main reasons for participating in this thread are:

1. To defend the legacy of Dave Dexter, who signed many great artists to Capitol in the 1940s and 1950s; and
2. To promote Ken Thorne's wonderful score for Help!, which, to this spy music fan, is one of the top scores in the 1960s spy music genre, and which I hope will one day be released in its entirety.

I have not really listened to the Beatles for over 25 years, and really have no dog in the race. But I do believe - beyond the Beatles and including the Beatles - any official record release is valid if the contractual arrangement at the time allowed for it. We can debate the quality of the results, but the releases themselves are valid.

Now, can we please get back to discussing Frank Sinatra, Stan Kenton, Duke Ellington, Peggy Lee, Nat "King" Cole, Dave Dexter, and Ken Thorne?

 

Yes, these are all great points, but in 2019, the Beatles are not a "musical group" anymore -- They are a historical phenomenon that are now viewed with very strong analytical eyes. More than half the content on this board would disappear if Beatles threads were banned, and its the reason we are all willing to wait 20 years or something insane to get the full Mark Lewisohn three-part Beatles biography -- We want to know all the arcane, insane, and insignificant facts at this point!

For example, I would still like to believe that George Martin was "the only A&R man in UK who knew the Beatles were something special when he first heard them." How many years did we hear that story? Now we know that Martin was originally "forced" into recording this band and would have probably passed on them... It's nice to be "nostalgically and sentimentally" tied to the original story that Martin repeated for many years. but at this point, finding out the truth overrides all that.

 

Cut out a couple more Pepper tracks, and this could very well have been the Capitol version.

 

You could start a thread devoted to Ken Thorne here and it would turn into a Beatles thread before the end of page 1, and you think you can do this with an actual Beatles thread?

 

Exactly- the truth is simply the truth, it doesn't have to be cosy and nostalgic, sometimes it can seem a bit harsh. But you can know the truth and still have a warm glow about the past, it's not necessary to jettison your memories or feelings to acknowledge the facts too.

 

Just put 'Misery' and 'Sie Leibt Dich' on there and it's another Dave Dexter masterpiece.

 

Honestly ... I bought the first Lewisohn book and I barely got through it. I thought it was overkill. I may very well not buy the others if I live that long. And I'm not against multi-volume biographies, I hope Robert Caro stays alive to complete his opus on LBJ.

I love The Beatles. I've been a fan since '64, when I was 6. Any new piece of music playback equipment I buy is christened with Beatle music. Their music has wormed into my DNA.

But as far as wanting to know every single solitary bit of minutiae about them, to the point of which of them had the smelliest farts ... I truly do not care about those people to that extent anymore.

 

With I Am the Walrus in duophonic (so the duophonic passage would be a double duophonic!)

 

Ok then, by 1978 Parlophone had caught up with Capitol.

And yes, this would have been cool for Christmas '71. (thanks to michelle66):

 

This brings up an interesting point - why was it so common for foreign releases to be so different? I know we're focusing on Capitol/U.S. here, but it seems many countries created their own releases early on.

 

I think they were itching to replace A Day In The Life's "final chord" with I'm Down.

 

Pre-backordered!

 

Because they could.

 

I'm tellin' ya, be leery of those Capitol Crusaders. Next thing you know they'll be brandishing Capitol avatars. Bunch of freaks...

 

I got mine in December '70

 

Right, but was it just because they received material in bits and pieces, or they generally thought they knew how to create a better package, etc.

 

My bet is the Malaysian Sgt Pepper's removed any songs that might be considered to be about or condone drug use.