Ever since the 1994 Live at the BBC and the 1995 Anthology release of the TV series and VHS box set, and three multiple CD/LP sets, reissues of the music of The Beatles finally seemed to hit their stride.
The ongoing Beatles reissue program hit a high-water mark with the release of the group’s UK albums on vinyl in mono in 2014. Since the 50th anniversary of the Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album in 2017, reissues of the music of The Beatles and as solo artists have been going through a particularly strong and consistent period. Substantial and well-produced reissue programs that offer various editions of a particular release and archival projects have offered fans a wealth of officially previously unreleased material and bespoke, gift-worthy packaging.
The main releases that have elicited the most interest are those that mark a milestone anniversary of an important album. This has been particularly the case with the 50th anniversary releases of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, The Beatles (the White Album), Abbey Road, Let It Be, and the Disney series Get Back, but also some of the key solo albums from the members of the group that were released in the 1970s not long after the group broke up. The Live at the Hollywood Bowl was also a welcome release, as was the companion film Eight Days A Week in 2016.
Other more recent welcome releases include The Christmas Albums box in 2017 and The Singles Collection box in 2019. The reissue series for Revolver in 2022 seemed to pick up where Let It Be left off and appeared to set the stage for Rubber Soul to be given the deluxe box edition treatment. Instead, 2023 saw the reissue of the The Beatles: 1962–1966 (Red) and The Beatles: 1962–1966 (Blue) compilation releases, highlighted by the “new” track “Now and Then.”
Fans hoping Rubber Soul would be coming out this year will still have to wait, as the two big projects this year are the Disney+ Beatles 64 film, a reworking of the Maysles brother’s documentary The Beatles The First U.S. Visit, and The Beatles: 1964 US Albums In Mono, a commemoration of the albums released by the group in 1964. All of the albums in the box, except for one (The Beatles Story), are also being issued separately. This review will cover the box set.
This Capitol box comes as somewhat of a surprise, like last year’s Red and Blue releases, and comes with a lot of baggage. As most fans of the group know, the Capitol albums from The Beatles, from Meet The Beatles through Revolver, were different than the UK albums. To delve into the entire history of the releases, the curious would be best served by reading the many books Bruce Spizer has written on the subject. In short, the albums, particularly in this early period, were reconfigured releases with, in many cases, different titles, different tracks and running orders, different mixes of songs, and additional post-production that altered the sound of the recordings.
The most egregious change on these Capitol releases was the heavy-handed remixing of the albums where echo, reverb, and louder volume are used to jack up the sound for American AM radio listening and the use of not true stereo on the stereo releases. There are, however, American fans who grew up with these albums that have a special place in their hearts and thankfully, some of the albums, particularly in mono, and from the original all-analog tape masters, are nice to have.
The box itself is a beautiful slipcase. Also, each album package is faithfully reproduced and includes poly-lined sleeves, a replica of the original paper sleeve, and an informative four-page insert that contains liner notes by Bruce Spizer, photos, and additional liner notes. This box also includes the double-album The Beatles Story, the only album here not sold separately.
The best way to evaluate the contents is to go through each album.
Meet The Beatles is a fun American introduction to the group and features the iconic Robert Freeman cover shot that was first seen on the UK album With the Beatles. The Vee-jay Records’ Introducing The Beatles in 1963 was actually the first US Beatles release and With The Beatles in 1963 was the second UK album after Please Please Me, also released in 1963.
In many cases, unfortunately, Meet the Beatles is a poor cousin to the UK release. With the Beatles had fourteen tracks, and like most of these Capitol albums, Meet The Beatles only had 12. The tracks missing from this U.S. release are “Please Mr. Postman,” “Roll Over Beethoven,” “You Really Got A Hold On Me,” “Devil in Her Heart,” and “Money,” which were all covers. The tracks that are added are “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” “I Saw Her Standing There,” and “This Boy.”
Music that shows just how much the group’s songwriting had maturated so early on in their career are “All I’ve Got To Do,” “All My Loving”, especially “Not A Second A Time” and surprisingly George Harrison’s “Don’t Bother Me.” Leaving out five covers and adding two big hit singles makes for a release that places the emphasis on the group’s unique songs, but is still not a true introduction of the group since there was already an official UK debut album and the Vee-jay release. Also, there are only two tracks here that are pure mono mixes. The rest are fold-downs of the stereo mixes. It still makes for a fun, nostalgic, and historic release and this new mono mix sounds pretty good.
The erroneously titled The Beatles Second Album must actually be considered one of the best Capitol releases. The album is a pure adrenaline rush of rock ‘n’ roll. It’s heavy on covers, and reflects the love the group had for American rock ‘n’ roll. Other than the album’s closer, “She Loves You,” only “Thank You Girl” and maybe “You Can’t Do That” that are superior originals here. Still, it’s a great party record and for the American record buyer at the time a worthy follow-up to Meet The Beatles. There are five tracks here in pure mono, which is a real upgrade over Meet The Beatles. The sound quality is quite good considering the volume of many of these tracks.
The next album, the original soundtrack recording for A Hard Day’s Night, might be the best here. This release is actually a United Artists release, but EMI purchased UA Records in 1978. At the time, United Artists exploited a loophole in the Capitol contract that allowed United Artists to strike a deal with The Beatles to make a movie with the group and secure rights for a soundtrack album.
EMI’s purchase of UA Records made this album part of the official catalog. It has never been reissued before on vinyl, but has been reissued on CD. It’s a beautiful package with the iconic red cover and, while the A Hard Day’s Night UK album included 13 tracks and was all originals (the first time an album from the group included all originals), this US release is a treasured souvenir of the film. It comes complete with four George Martin cocktail-Mod, easy listening instrumentals from the film.
It isn’t better, doesn’t outstrip or replace the far superior UK release, but it is a Beatles curio the superfan can’t live without. This is the first release here to be entirely in pure mono, but after listening through the first side, there appears a noticeable drop in volume on side two. As for tracks with unique mixes here, “I’ll Cry Instead,” along with “And I Love Her,” are different from the UK versions of those tracks.
The next release in the box, is the Something New album. This release was very much Capitol’s entry to putting some music from A Hard Day’s Night out in the US to counter the UA release. Four songs here appeared on the UA album. Three songs here are not on the UA album but were on the UK release. Also included are two covers and a German language version of “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” which was one of the few tracks ever recorded by the group outside of the UK (in this case, in France).
This is another album with an iconic cover (from the group’s debut Ed Sullivan appearance) and it also has tracks that are in pure mono. There are tracks with unique mixes included here as well. “I’ll Cry Instead” is repeated here (it was also on the UA A Hard Day’s Night soundtrack album included in this box). It is different than the UK version and the Capitol stereo version. Also, “Anytime At All” and “When I Get Home” are different than the UK versions.
The back cover includes three album covers with track listings, a common marketing tool of the time. One of them is interestingly The Beatles Song Book release, an album of easy-listening Beatles covers by the Hollyridge Strings, the brainchild of Stu Phillips. The inclusion of that album in this box set would have never even been considered by the producers of this box set, but some fans have had fun online suggesting including this album in the set might have been a novel idea and would have helped justify the hefty price tag. Something New sounds good, but also seems to have a volume drop-off on side two.
The release that is exclusive to this set is The Beatles Story. When these albums, plus the rest of the Capitol albums, were released in 2013 as The Beatles The U.S. Albums CD box set, this release was included. This marks the first-ever reissue of the album on vinyl. The package is a two-LP set in a gatefold album jacket and is an audio documentary.
Through sometimes overheated narration, interviews with fans, and The Beatles themselves and clocking in at about 50 minutes, the records present a look at Beatlemania as a phenomenon. The team that put the set together consists of Gary Usher, a mid-’60s period songwriter and producer of among others The Byrds, Chad and Jeremy, The Firesign Theatre, and The Peanut Butter Conspiracy; KFWB California DJ Roger Christian; Al Wiman, also of KFWB; and writer John Babcock.
There are snippets of music here, along with a rare taste of The Beatles at the Hollywood Bowl from their first appearance there in 1964, but in the age before the rock press and the internet, this audio doc offered information about the group’s heady rise and insights into their individual and collective personalities. Many feel this is an un-needed throwaway, but it’s actually a fun, giddy ride on the Beatlemania pop tsunami and youthful innocence of the time. Whether it is worth splurging for the box rather than buying the individual albums just to get this set, is really up to one’s pocketbook and fanaticism as a collector. These albums offer fold-downs of the stereo mix.
The next album, Beatles 65, aside from its misleading title, is actually one of the better early Capitol albums. Songs like “No Reply,” “I’ll Follow the Sun,” “I’ll Be Back,” and “I Feel Fine” are top notch, and “I’m A Loser” is one of John Lennon’s most honest early songs and a portent of the deeper songs from Lennon to come.
Eight of the tracks come from the somewhat maligned UK album Beatles for Sale. “A Hard Day’s Night” is different here than on the UK version. “I Feel Fine” and “She’s A Woman” feature unique George Martin mixes and with additional echo he added, as well as even more echo added by Dave Dexter of Capitol. All of the tracks are presented in pure mono. Eagle-eyed collectors have already pointed out a printing error in the accompanying insert, with the third and fourth paragraphs being repeated. Hardcore collectors who have this misprinted insert will cherish it, once future inserts are corrected.
The final album in this box is The Early Beatles. While this album was originally released by Capitol in 1964, it includes all of the tracks of the initial running track list of the Vee-Jay Records 1964 album Introducing The Beatles. “I Saw Her Standing There,” which had already been released on Meet The Beatles, is not included and neither is “There’s A Place,” which wouldn’t be released on a Capitol album until the post-breakup Rarities album in 1980. There are only two non-fold-down, pure mono mixes here, but like some of the other fold-down tracks in the box set, this album sounds quite good.
The vinyl for these releases was pressed at MPO in France. All of the previous vinyl deluxe sets since the 50th anniversary reissue of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band had been pressed at Optimal in Germany, except Revolver, which was pressed by GZ in Czechoslovakia. Optimal has an excellent reputation, while GZ is not comparable, but MPO has a mixed reputation at best. However, while some of the vinyl here has shown some physical imperfections, overall, other than a little inner groove distortion, it sounds pretty good. MPO was chosen to meet a strict production deadline. As for the record jackets, unlike the original Capitol albums, these new jackets are not tip-on jackets and in some cases the original photo negatives and art may not have been used.
This is a box set that seems to be about the most overpriced of all of these deluxe sets considering what is included and that all of the albums are available to be purchased individually, except The Beatles Story. Still, the hardcore fans will want this box in their collection. Also, as with the previous mono, all-analog vinyl releases from The Beatles, it wouldn’t be a stretch to say the box and individual albums will probably go out of print.
These Capitol albums have been reissued before on CD in one box and as a previous release collected in two separate boxes. It’s hard to tell how future Capitol vinyl releases may arrive. The albums that could be part of further mono and/or Capitol vinyl releases could include the releases of unique Capitol albums such as two that immediately followed The Early Beatles, Beatles VI, Yesterday and Today, and a much later release Hey Jude. Hey Jude was released in stereo. Magical Mystery Tour was originally released by Capitol but became an official EMI release in 1987.
Along with those albums, the other albums that had unique American Capitol releases and immediately followed Yesterday and Today include Help!, Rubber Soul, and Revolver. Of these releases, the original “butcher cover,” of the Yesterday and Today album is one of the most collectible album packages from the group and the Capitol Rubber Soul offered a track selection that placed the album firmly in the folk-rock genre that was a defining pop music sound of 1965.
As for exactly what could be released and when, tomorrow never knows.
GRADED ON A CURVE:
B
