Oh my...there goes $239.99 (Beatles mono box) (1 Viewer)

If you think that's weird, it's just the tip of the iceberg. Given that Capitol had the rights to the recordings and hence releases, in many countries other than the UK, Europe, Australia and Asia, there are a good number of recordings all over the world that are done with different takes, at different speeds, with different overdubs. Couple this with Parlophone/EMI having their own distribution inconsistencies (albeit considerably more consistent than the Capitol issues), there are dozens of songs that exist in at least 8 or 10 different versions thanks to stereo/mono, remastered/not remastered, Capitol/EMI, re-mixing for release in Mexico, re-mixing for release in Italy...on and on and on. Some of the differences are small, but some are more substantial.

As an example, the remastered set does not include the U.S. version of I'm Looking Through You, which has a double false-start intro. To find that, you'd need to find a U.S. pressing of the LP or the Capitol CD Issues of their butchered albums. Yeah, by the way, there's no way that the Butcher Cover was not a message to Capitol. True, the photo shoot was never intended as being for an album cover (which is the "proof" offered as to why the cover wasn't a commentary), but that doesn't preclude someone seeing it and thinking, hmmm.
 
Good grief, PS! It must be hell to be a Beatles record collector with all those different versions out there, if you want a complete collection. What a mess!

I just had a look at the Butcher Cover on the net. Funny, but I've never seen it before (probably because it's a U.S. cover).
That's some cover! I hope Capitol got the message.
 
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The butcher cover was recalled on the first day of sales. Not many made it into private hands before they were pasted over with the new cover art. It's one of the priciest Beatles collectibles out there... especially if it was never glued over.

Purple Stickpin said:
... there are a good number of recordings all over the world that are done with different takes, at different speeds, with different overdubs.
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I have flacs of a Canadian W I D E S T E R E O pressing of With The Beatles. Here's an mp3 sample from that album.
 
Perhaps it's just a coincidence (I doubt it), but after Revolver (of which Yesterday...and Today was more or less a contemporary), all of the the Beatles UK albums were released in the US with the same track listing.

"Exceptions," that aren't really exceptions, include Magical Mystery Tour, which was only an EP in the UK - in the U.S. it was a full album, including some UK/US singles; and The Beatles Again, which came out around the time of Let it Be and included single releases, none of which were on U.S. Capitol album releases. You might think that Can't Buy Me Love and I Should Have Known Better were released on a U.S. Beatle album, and you'd be correct. They were on the original soundtrack to A Hard Day's Night, but that was put out by United Artists, not Capitol. And unlike the UK release of A Hard Day's Night, the UA release was only partially Bealte songs; the rest was incidental music from the film by George Martin.
 
I guess stereo was still enough of a novelty at the time that the more extreme they could make the separation the better. On this there's almost no crossover between the channels and it leaves the center sounding dead.

But look at it this way... if you adjust the balance to the left speaker, it's just like karaoke.
 
Well forget stereo or mono, how about the beatles revolver on metal CD for $499.00!

Now there's something I did not know? I'm sure some of you are aware of this(if the description is true?) CD's were originally made on metal? That's all fine and dandy, but $500.00? I guess it's rare, though no different sound from the cds not on metal. Still it makes me want to go look at all the first cd's I ever bought and see if any are made out of metal?
 
I did'nt know that either. A metal CD? At least they were unbreakable...
 
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That may be a test pressing. But the odds are it is not metal at all, but something that looks like metal. CDs were not metal "in the 80s." Whoever wrote that auction text had too much crack for breakfast.

Well - they are all metal...inside the plastic.
 
Bukfan said:
I did'nt know that either. A metal CD? At least they were unbreakable...
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Yeah, I certainly had never heard of this. Funny you mention that bukfan, the sellers says "When CD's first came on the market in the 1980's they were made to be indestructible, the recording industry even claimed you could drive over one and it would still play."

Just as funny, I bet I could run over any CD I have once, and it would still play. That is unless it cracked, but I don't think it would.

mjp, the seller calls it a 1st PRESS? Funny to hear that term used to describe a CD. The description certainly makes it sound like this was the regular CD issued at the time? Yup, probably too much crack!

And CD's were not metal in the 80's? What about RATT, MOTLEY CRUE, WHITESNAKE! haahhahha, just kidding! Plus I think all those bands I just mentioned were glam/cock rock! Ok, what about, ah, oh Judas Priest!
 
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Who knows what it is. Who cares. They couldn't be bothered to post a picture, so no one is going to bid anyway.
 
That's awesome about the Stooges box set! I have it, but am always happy when something like that is re-released. mjp, I think you will thouroughly enjoy it!
 
The news has hit the people who have been sitting on copies of the original release, and now they are showing up on eBay in a last ditch attempt to squeeze $300 or $400 out of them before the re-release drops. I think they'll end up unloading them for closer to $150 eventually. But I'm not really concerned with a number written on a box. They can keep the limited edition. The re-release is exactly the same, but without a number.
 
I didn't even remember the original having a number. I just spent 10 minutes looking for a number and finally found it. It's not even on the box, or any of the discs. The original, as I'm sure the re-release does, came with a Down on the Street single on a seperate CD. So anyway, the number is on the back bottom right of that. I'd gladly save a couple hundred and skip that number.

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I also remember thinking the Beatles Mono Box was supposed to be numbered and it wasn't, but still overjoyed with my purchase.
 
nervas said:
Down on the Street single on a seperate CD. [...] the number is on the back bottom right of that.
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Wow. That makes it so...special.

A lot of people (okay, not people, collectors) seem to get very angry when a limited whatever is re-issued. I suppose the thrill of being one of only 6 people to have something is ruined and you're just a little bit less special when all is said and done. Tragic.
 
The whole iTunes thing, and how EVERYONE seemed to be waiting for the Beatles to finally be released... I never understood? I can't imagine any true beatles fan, running online to buy the songs they've owned for years and years? I have a decent sized beatles collection on vinyl and cd and was excited about buying the latest mono cd set. But with iTunes I don't know what the big fuss was about, beyond them hoping this introduces the beatles to a new generation?
 
Thanks, mjp! - I have'nt seen that Abbey Road photo before. It looks like they're getting ready for the cover shoot, since Paul still has his sandals on.
I wonder who the lady is. Probably an employee from the Abbey Road studio.
 
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Ah, I think I missed the sale! I've been wanting to get the live at unganos stooges cd and the self titled. But just checked and didn't see a 20% ad?

And sweet picture, i thought that lady was photo shopped in there or something. She's looking at them so curiously.
 
Hey mjp, I know your 239.00 went there, but how about your 19.99? Did anyone see these, they're at Target. I couldn't believe it, I didn't even think it was a real 7", figured it was a cd replica. I came home that day and searched eBay, saw them going for 40-50bucks, while the Target I was at had 100 of them overfilling the shelves. Crazy. The shirts are pretty cool, so I guess if anyone wanted a Beatles shirt while they were at Target, why not have a 7" to go along. What's next, stores like Target and Wal-Mart will start carrying vinyl again? Best Buy already does(horrible selection) and so does Fry's electronics(less horrible than best buy selection). Anyway and now I'm off to Buena Park for their last Sunday of the month record swap meet. It's a dirty job but ....i Loveit!

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No, I don't really feel compelled to pay $20 for a 50th generation/anniversary warped Chinese vinyl single wrapped around a Chinese t-shirt.

I hated vinyl when it was all you could get. It was prone to flaws, prone to damage and inconvenient to use and store. The only reason I bought it was because cassette tapes were even worse. No one could convince me to buy vinyl now that there are alternatives.

I understand that some of you kids think vinyl is the bee's knees. But choosing a music format based on nostalgia isn't logical, and I'm logical like Mr. Spock, ya dig? You've been sold a bill of goods in order to separate you from your money, but whatever blows wind up yer skirt.
 
Haha. I hear ya. I have collected vinyl ever since my mom bought me my first duran duran album back in 84 or so. I don't understand anyone rushing to pay 50 bucks for this target stuff. And I never understand why vinyl seems to come and go so often. I was convinced for a long time cds sounded better than vinyl, still am in certain cases and depending on what cd, album, needle, turntable i'm using, it goes back and forth all the time. But I just found hell bent for leather and Tosh's Equal Rights and George Clintons greatest hits in the same $1.00 vinyl crate so today, vinyl is the knees bees for this kid. I just wish I was 20 years younger.
 
As the only way to find some older music, it's obviously great. Our modern music history is on those discs and I think we're losing most of it. But what can you do?

Even if you collect it all, like that one guy in that movie, no one wants it. Who wants to warehouse that? Which is one of the reasons large vinyl discs are a shitty way to archive music. That guy's entire warehouse of records could fit on a box of hard drives. One person could lift it, copy it, etc., etc., blah blah blah.
 
But wait, there's more!

If you're bummed out that you bought the Beatles mono and stereo box sets, so now you have everything and there's nothing left to buy, hey ho, it's Apple Corps to the rescue!

Now you can get the same songs arranged in a different order with The Beatles U.S. Albums set!

That's right, for only $199 (or for the budget-minded, $163.61 on Amazon) you can now buy the songs you love and treasure yet again.

As an added bonus, there are excitingly different versions of many of the most beloved tunes. They have been expertly drenched in reverb, edited and brutally compressed for AM radio play in order to provide you with the very worst that the U.S. could haphazardly slap together in the swinging sixties!

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You make, you buy, you die!
ir
 
UnbelieveablePredictable. The real rub is that I already have 8 of the first 10 on The Capitol Albums Vol. 1 and 2 that came out in 2004 and 2006, respectively (at least that's how mine are dated).
 
Seems odd to celebrate these with a box set when Capitol is so universally criticized for their seemingly random repackaging and casual butchery of the Beatles catalog (and rightfully so). I guess enough people want to hear them the way they remember them, even if that means shitty.

I grew up listening to those Capitol albums in the 60s because it's all we had over here. I certainly don't miss them now when I listen to the proper British mono records. I don't know how anyone could even listen to those weird and senseless Capitol "mixes" after hearing the mono box. Maybe they intend to sell this to people who didn't buy the mono or stereo boxes. Poor bastards.
 
Some of the mixes are actually different recordings, and despite the faux stereo and reverb, etc., there's some allure there for me. But I only want Yesterday...and Today, Revolver, and The Beatles Again (Hey Jude). The Beatles' Story is a 2-record set of interviews and A Hard Day's Night is at least half muzak from the film.
 
Purple Stickpin said:
I only want Yesterday...and Today, Revolver, and The Beatles Again (Hey Jude).
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I read somewhere today that they will be selling the discs separately, outside of the set, so you may be able to get those without re-buying albums you already have.

The "stereo" mixes - I just can't listen to them. It makes me wonder who was behind the controls on those things. Who sat there listening to it and thought the vocals coming out of one speaker and the music out of the other sounded good. That kind of thing was a gimmick in the early days of stereo, before they figured out that complete separation was horribly unnatural.

Though I do remember sitting on my uncle's living room floor and being amazed to hear different sounds coming out of the two speakers. Of course I was only about 6 years old, so I was easily impressed.
 
Cool about the separates, and get this: I listen to much of my music on headphones these days so the faux stereo is even more pronounced. It's like Ringo and George are in the bathroom, Paul's in the hallway, and John's in the bedroom. Crap, I'd better go check on my wife.

I would add that the skanks at Capitol, who butchered the albums from '64-'66 knew exactly what they were doing, and the butcher cover was not an accident on the part of the Beatles. The Beatles have been quoted, in an effort to deny any purpose, as saying something akin to " the photo-shoot with Robert Whitaker had no intent of becoming the cover of Yesterday...and Today." Whitaker denies it as well. That's certainly all well and good. There's no doubt in my mind that they had no intent of using as an album cover at the time of the photo-shoot. There's also no doubt in my mind that, once they saw the photos and considered their options regarding yet another butchered track list for U.S. release, that they made a conscious decision to use it as the cover for Yesterday...and Today. Their denials are too carefully worded to assume otherwise, and knowing their penchant for slipping in tit tit tits and such, I'll never buy that the butcher cover was anything other than a purposeful commentary that made the overly-sensitive American pricks just so paranoid that they couldn't help themselves but to reinstate censorship for the benefit of their own art-bereft souls.
 
In particular, the U.S. versions of Yesterday...and Today and Revolver were among the seminal recordings that started my musical journey. I can't have anything but reverence for them.

Edit: Yes, regarding stereo and mono, The Capitol Albums, Vol. 1 and 2 that I have, from '04/'06, have stereo and mono versions on one disc. It only took Capitol 40 years to stop the gouging process. But that series must have been poorly thought out because Yesterday...and Today and Revolver were never released, along with The Beatles Story and A Hard Days Night, which would have made three four-disc releases instead of the mere two volumes that got produced. Of course, if they'd gotten it correct the first time, there'd be little reason to issue it once again in 2014. Not no reason, just little reason.
 
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Purple Stickpin said:
I already have 8 of the first 10 on The Capitol Albums Vol. 1 and 2 that came out in 2004 and 2006, respectively.
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I just read a comparison article that said these new remasters are much better sounding than those sets you have. But then you'd expect them to $ay that.

Funny that Capitol did mono and stereo for these (and the earlier sets), but EMI kept them separate for the UK album sets. I don't imagine they sold a ton of mono boxes, so they may as well have combined the two the way Capitol has.
 

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