Dave Dexter, Capitol and the Beatles

: ) INDEED!

 

Dave did not remix the Beatles my friend. : )

 

The ugly truth that too many refuse to accept is that Capitol "Americanized" the early stuff to appeal to the US market at the time...and boy did it work! LOL. just compare Roll Over Beethoven on the STEREO Beatles 2nd album to the UK LP version...WOW! the US ROCKS your socks off! case closed...

 

Great Article.

 

Yes, he made such a good job (of screwing the sound) that he was eventually chased off it. Dave Marsh in his book about the Second Album devotes a whole chapter to how Dexter hated them & refused to accept loads of other top line British groups.

At that time you guys didn't know about the UK albums & how we got more songs per album & the better sound quality.

 

Preach it brother!

 

I never worried about the number of songs, and sound quality is in the ears of the beholder.

I've got all the British CDs. I've got all the American CDs.

I still prefer the American CDs because that is what I grew up hearing in real time, and I cannot get them out of my musical soul.

I also prefer mono but that's grist for a jillion other threads ...

 

Talk about a guy with limited tastes. Dave Marsh didn't contribute to music even 1 percent of what Dave Dexter contributed.

Dexter signed to Capitol, among others, Frank Sinatra, Stan Kenton, Peggy Lee, Nat King Cole, Duke Ellington, Woody Herman and Kay Starr. He could have run the Beatles' master tapes through a shredder, and his reputation would still be secure.

 

This ... I fully understand that people here (although not nearly as much, it's why I gravitate here for musical discussion) and elsewhere view everything through a rock prism.

I love The Beatles down to the DNA in my marrow. I've literally been a fan since '64, before my sixth birthday, I had teenage aunts who hooked me on them. I think they're the greatest and most influential rock band there ever was or ever will be.

But they are not the Alpha and Omega or the Sine Qua Non of every note of popular music that's ever been performed on the planet Earth.

 

All those artists you quote were all 40's 50's acts, more to Dexter's liking. He was a Jazz snob though, & I think he got moved over when he failed to pick up on all those other EMI acts that did so well elsewhere.

 

Well, then color me a jazz snob. I would gather that most people who care about music enough to post on a forum like this are snobs to some degree or another, whether they admit it or not. Dave Marsh had tastes that were formed by his environment, just like Dave Dexter. Marsh is no better.

 

But who's lasted as far as history ... those '40s and '50s acts or Gerry and the Pacemakers?

 

Well, here in the UK Gerry & The Pacemakers songs are still heard a lot on the oldies stations that I listen to.

 

Well... no.
The US Rubber Soul does start with "I've Just Seen a Face" and has the false start (stereo) for "I'm Looking Through You", but Rubber Soul itself is not 'supposed' to have either of those. 'Supposed' implies intent, and The Beatles' intent was not for either of those things.

 

And I have said ... and I stick by it ... that I don't give 3.5 cacas what their intent was.

 

I understand that. Nevertheless, the term 'supposed to' does not apply to any changes made by Capitol.

 

I was a little snarky in my response.

Having been through it in real time ... albeit young, although very perceptive and precocious ... I understand that rock music was viewed as a rebellion against and a tearing down of the past in music. I waved that banner for a long, long time myself.

In my dotage, while I wouldn't call myself a jazz snob, I have grown to appreciate that which everyone was rebelling against while never losing my love for rock. The Beatles, The Stones ... hey, I just loaded up on some Lovin' Spoonful, Paul Revere and the Raiders, Turtles and that great surf album our host remastered ... sit proudly in my collection right next to Duke Ellington, Stan Kenton and tons and tons of Sinatra.

It's all good music.

 

OK, in my mind, Rubber Soul is supposed to start with I've Just Seen a Face and have the false start in I'm Looking Through You.

I've got the British album in many incarnations and I've never gotten used to Drive My Car as the opener. Never.

And I love that the best Beatles tribute act, the Fab Four, does the false start in their version of I'm Looking Through You.

 

Yes, but Dexter's job was to find & put out foreign stuff, but he rejected most of it. He cost Capitol a lot of money in lost acts. How many times did he reject The Beatles singles?

 

Again, Dexter's tastes were formed by his environment, just like yours and mine. You and I have 55+ years' worth of hindsight. Dexter was making decisions in the moment, based on the world that he knew. He picked up the Beatles exactly when he should have - after they'd proven themselves to be something more than a six-month fad.

 

He didn't "Pick up on The Beatles" He was forced to put out I Want To Hold Your Hand by EMI in London & the Capitol President Alan Livingstone. In the Foreward to Bruce Spizer's Capitol Singles book, Alan states that he (Alan) signed & put out The Beatles. NO mention of Dexter.

 

Livingstone Schmivingstone. My point is that Capitol was working on a realistic timeline. It's very easy for baby boomers to point fingers 55+ years later.

 

Nobody ... maybe not even them ... thought it was going to happen the way it happened.

It's dangerous to look at things with 50 years of hindsight.

I got in a debate on a baseball forum last night ... stay with me, this ties in ... about the famous Nolan Ryan for Jim Fregosi trade in 1971. It's regarded as one of the worst trades in the history of baseball, and it absolutely turned out to be a dud. But I made the point that AT THAT POINT IN TIME, not 48 years down the road, it absolutely was a defensible trade. The Mets had a pitcher named Gary Gentry who was a far better prospect than Ryan, and Fregosi was considered to be on his way to Cooperstown.

Nobody had a crystal ball to tell them (a.) Gentry was going to blow his arm out; (b.) Fregosi was a hard partier so he was old for his age, plus he'd incurred some injuries that made it tough for him to condition, so he was basically shot at 29 or 30; and (c.) Ryan was going to become NOLAN FRIGGIN' RYAN and pitch in six presidential administrations.

Dave Dexter didn't have a crystal ball either, and he ain't the first person to say "hold on now" when his bosses were pushing him to jump on a bandwagon.

 

Exactly. I don't limit myself, genre-wise. I prefer rock, folk, and blues to hip-hop or jazz, but I listen to the latter when I like it (Jay-Z, Clipse, Miles Davis, Monk, etc.). I reject the idea that any genre is 100% good or 100% crappy. I also reject the idea of high and low culture. If you think a song is good, listen to it. If not, don't. It's that simple.

 

He didn't pick up The Beatles he was instructed to deal with The Beatles by Alan Livingstone who in turn had been instructed by Sir Joe Lockwood in London. It was Sir Joe who decided Capitol would release The Beatles.