The Capitol version of Magical Mystery Tour is considered the best version. It was adopted as the official Beatles Magical Mystery Tour album some years after it was released. The 5 extra songs ,and the order of the songs arranged on the album are just superb. Even the way the color booklet was put together .
I would add that the Capitol version of Rubber Soul, while different, is just as good as the UK version. The US version had a huge impact on folk music and folk rock.
I bought the Capital Magical Mystery Tour album in 1971. Per what you said, it's the only Capital Beatles album that people say is better than the UK version.
@@williamthompson5504 Any Capitol stereo pressing should have the duophonic tracks. When I was rebuying my Capitol albums, I always looked for the Capitol purple label pressings from the late 70's, they are cheap, usually not hard to find in good shape and they sound terrific. You should be able to find a decent copy on Discogs. Of course, I'm replying to your comment eight months later so you probably found a copy by now.
For me the US “Second album”, is not only an amazing track order but the added reverb and compression made this an amazingly powerful and almost punky sound! There is a dark heavy and frantic energy of the album.
When I was an 11-year old kiddo, in the week prior to The Beatles' first Ed Sullivan appearance, the few times I heard their mention were among a few groups of girls. But after that milestone Sunday evening they were the dominant topic everywhere. I saved up one dollar and bought (with my parents' permission and attendance) a 45 rpm "Beatle-record." The song titles were unimportant. The music store also had some Swan copies of "She Loves You," but I liked the brighter labeled record better -- what is today the historic Capitol brush-sweep of yellow and orange with black lettering. My siblings and I played it on a small plastic phonograph. The fidelity was much like what I heard on my little transistor radio. Later on, my cousin (who was better at saving money that I) asked his Mom to buy him a "Beatle album" when she made a trek with her sister to the big city where they had such things available in department stores. On the following Saturday after catechism I walked to his house. There in his living room we reviewed "The Beatles Second Album" ("not too loud, boys") on his parents full-size hi-fi. Nobody in the house seemed bothered that we played it all afternoon. I couldn't believe the punch and power of the music!
Really liked your analysis of the Capitol albums. No, they're not perfect, but as an American growing up in the early-60s, it's all we had. In fact, I didn't hear the UK version of "With The Beatles" till I was in my 30s, and at that point, I wasn't too impressed with it. I've since come to embrace both the UK and American pressings simply because they're different and to accept them for what they are, not for what they SHOULD be. They're the Beatles and I'm thankful that I grew when I did.
Just my opinion, but reverb can be a headache, literally. Recording engineers used it on mono recordings (not just Beatles recordings) to somehow mimic stereo, and most of it sounded like crap. But there are exceptions like RCA's six-record collection of Glen Miller on vinyl that Reader's Digest released in 1968. A booklet that came with the set explained the "electronic reverb" process that really did improve the sound of these recordings that appeared originally on 78s in the late 1930s and early 40s. The sound, unlike much of reverb, doesn't have that echo chamber effect.
My go to albums are the US Capitol releases in Mono. This is what I heard in the 60s and I love the fat reverb sound! Also to hear them on 77 WABC in New York City with their powerful compression took it all a step further. I did buy the UK album catalog in the mid70s and of course I love them too! Thanks for making these wonderful videos!
Beatles '65. I was 5 years old in 1970, in a small US town. That LP found it's way to me. Along with my Partridge Family and Carpenters albums, I had that one Beatles album. To me, it was the complete Beatles experience- I knew nothing else by them, and kids my age weren't aware of The Beatles that year. But I found the songs amazing and the album art was hypnotizing. I played that album a lot. But, no other Beatles records came my way. Until 1976. The TV film Helter Skelter made a huge impact on kids my age. It was really a big deal, a cultural moment ( of shock). And, suddenly, every kid was curious about that forbidden song! It seemed like a bad thing, to want to hear it. Of course, with demand like that, Capitol smartly issued a single, but "Helter Skelter" was the b-side. Yeah, right. It was obviously the reason for releasing the single, there was a huge demand for that song. But obviously Capitol didn't want to appear to "capitalize" on the crime, so they called it the b-side. I can tell you, as I was there....it was the a-side, and every kid my age wanted that new 45 with the cool picture sleeve. To me, both tracks were new. I found Helter Skelter terrifying, we all imagined it as the soundtrack to unspeakable carnage. It was like hearing a horror film, for kids that year. The "b-side" , "Got To Get You Into My Life " was the total opposites, very bright, and fir in well with Stevie Wonder's "Sir Duke", at the time. Hearing those two tracks back to back, along with David Bowie's "Fame" were not uncommon. So...that's how Capitol Records products introduced me to the Beatles, during my most formative years. I am in the crowd who knew nothing about releases outside the US. I figured the same albums were what the world knew. My next step was finding a very used "Introducing The Beatles" album around 1978, and I played it endlessly, then graduated to the Red and Blue albums, to finally hear those hit singles I knew only by name. Then, books started to come out, I learned more and more, and now have a large CD collection like all other fans. But, I still reach for "Beatles '65" the most. We definitely need a boxed set that focuses on the way The Beatles were marketed in the 70s and early 80s. Because it's interesting and nostalgic, and part of the history.
You might know that Beatles '65 was released in December 1964. I'll Follow The Sun might be my favorite song on it. There are so many songs with the word sun in the lyrics. Sticking with the Beatles, there's George Harrison's Here Comes The Sun on Abbey Road.
My own collection of Beatle albums here in America, when I was first introduced to them in 1979 at the age of 11, were Revolver onward and the Red and Blue Albums (and my mother's 45s). I never heard any of those earlier albums until the 1987 CD releases, which were UK standards. So even as a diehard fan, my heart is with the 1966 Beatles onward as my priority. I was formally introduced to the sound of the Capitol albums, officially, in 2004 when I bought both box sets. With all of that said, I'd always seen those Capitol albums my entire life, just never heard them.
@@jefffinkbonner9551 I can understand where JT is coming from here. I didn't like the Beatles at first (I wasn't that big a fan of rock 'n' roll at all, though I liked such early-1960's artists as Ricky Nelson, Del Shannon and The Beach Boys; I also loved Chuck Berry from the first time I heard him on 1964's "No Particular Place to Go") but I got into them around about "Rubber Soul" when their music got more sophisticated and transcended the limits of early-1960's rock. Then I went back and eventually bought the earlier albums as well, and when the U.K. 14-LP boxed set came out in 1980 that became my go-to source for all the Beatles' music. There are still some oddities this video doesn't explain, like why the U.S. "Thank You, Girl" has more harmonica than the U.K. version (was it an alternate take from the original sessions or was it added later, and if so by whom, and under which producer?) and the heavy echo on "I Feel Fine," which ironically makes George Harrison's guitar intro sound more "psychedelic" and more of a piece with the Beatles' later work. And incidentally the album "Introducing the Beatles" and the first three U.S. Beatles singles came out on Vee-Jay, a Black-owned label founded in the 1950's that had recorded only Black artists until they signed the Four Seasons in 1960. They picked up the Beatles partly as a package deal to get Frank Ifield's international hit "I Remember You" and partly because after scoring with a white vocal group like the Four Seasons they thought they could do the same with the Beatles.
@@mgconlan I haven't listened to VeeJay's "Introducing the Beatles" for some 40+ years. For some reason, I've always associated the label with Dick Clark. (i don't remember why...) I'm going to have to dig it out of my collection and give it a listen !
I remember here in Canada, the Capitol 45s of I wanna Hold Your Hand/ I Saw Her Standing There, I Feel Fine/ She's a Woman. That big reverb sound was thrilling. It really made the songs sound live and raw and powerful -- like you were hearing them play in a big echoing dance hall.
I grew up with the Capitol albums (with Apple labels). For me, they were the Beatles albums. At the time, I had no idea about the UK versions. In 1979 on a European vacation with my family, I talked my mom into buying me the Blue Box as an early Christmas gift. Even though I realized they were the official releases, and I enjoyed listening to them, when I sat down to listen to the albums, it was the Capitol ones I preferred. It’s probably because I was more familiar with them. I still have all of my US albums, Blue Box, Capitol Albums 1 and 2 CD sets, 1987 CDs, 2009 and stereo and mono CD boxed sets and US Albums boxed set. I currently don’t have a turntable so when I put on an early album, it’s usually from Capitol Albums Vol 1 and 2. Thank you for another outstanding video.
@@Parlogram Hey Andrew, when did you first discover the Beatles and how old were you? I had heard of the Beatles earlier, but I became a huge fan in 1974. I was 11 years old. I remember thinking at the time how long ago they had broken up. 😄
@@48musicfan I was listening to my mother's Beatles records back as far as I can remember. I bought my first album ('1967-1970') when I was 11 too, but that was in 1977.
I love both the US and the UK releases of the Beatles kind of like they’re great even though they have different mixes which makes it even fun to listen to I have the Beatles stereo albums which was released in 2012 and even the 2019 seven inch 45 collection call the Beatles singles collection which is a great package I love listening to vinyl it is great hearing the crack all of that vinyl.s
Great job covering nearly all the important points (mechanical licensing fees, common industry practices, competing artists etc.). One more regarding Meet the Beatles: In December 1963, Capitol had access to 17 Beatles tracks, the 14 on With the Beatles, plus I Want to Hold Your hand, I Saw Her Standing There, and This Boy. Mr. Dexter et al noticed that six of those were covers. They weren't convinced at that time that Americans kids would be interested in the Beatles covering US artists. "Why would they pay to hear the Beatles sing Roll Over Beethoven when Chuck Berry's original is readily available?" is a question Capitol execs were asking themselves. So Capitol omitted five of the six covers. The one they kept is 'Til There Was You, an easy-listener intended to please the parents. The one area where Capitol dropped the ball even after allowing for 20/20 hindsight was Revolver. They should have used Paperback Writer, Rain, and I'm Down to complete Yesterday and Today. By instead poaching three "John songs" to accomplish that, they not only diminished Revolver, but they also upset that album's balance, leaving five Paul songs, three George songs, two John songs, and a Ringo song. The UK version has five John songs, which makes more sense.
@@shyshift Epstein wasn't infallible. Him approving Capitol molesting the original mixes doesn't prove that Capitol did the right thing. The Beatles would have exploded in the States with or without the U.S. versions sounded like they were in an echo chamber. What helped them out was Capitol finally bothering to make them visible, not because they screwed with the recordings.
@@Progger11 I always got the mono lps. The only song that sounded weird to me was Everybody’s Trying To Be My Baby. I guess Dave Dexter was enamored by Rock-A-Billy reverb.
Another great episode! I grew up with the U.S album releases. As soon as I was able to obtain the British imports I instantly fell in love with them. That being said, when I hear the U.S. mixes I do feel a certain amount of nostalgia and I agree that Meet The Beatles is a great offering. Yesterday And Today is also a fine U.S album
The intro should have, if it did not, won the internet the day this dropped. I sold all of my Capitol the day I heard a Parlaphone and never looked back (except my Mom's 45s!). Ty for detailing this history...it makes more sense now.
I sure appreciate the fair treatment you gave Mr. Dexter. As you said, he knew his job and got it done despite his dislike of teenage music. With access to better technology, his treatments might not seem so intrusive. His changes were appropriate "sometimes", but Duophonic Stereo is unforgiveable. Thank you, Andrew.
Dave Dexter Jr. wasn’t interested in rock & roll. Prior to that, he narrated a special 10” album on the first 10 years of Capitol Records in 1952, just decade before the Beatles. He tells the story about the history of Capitol as a label from its very beginnings in 1942 with Ella Mae Morse’s “Cow Cow Boogie”, Johnny Mercer’s “Strip Polka” and Bobby Sherwood’s “The Elk’s Parade”, all three of these songs were fledgling singles. The others features musical highlights including Nat King Cole and the King Cole Trio, Jo Stafford, the Pied Pipers, Andy Russell, Stan Kenton, Carmen McCrae, Les Paul & Mary Ford, Peggy Lee, Kay Starr and many more.
Very cool, Andrew. Looking forward to future videos covering the US albums. As for me, I’m 46, and. Have been listening to the Beatles all my life. Grew up with my moms well worn US LPs and 45s, and she was also kind enough to start buying me my own copies of ones that were ‘missing’ when I was 5 onwards. So the US issues have a special place for me. I had already read a lot about the UK versions before the CDs started coming out, and was able to get a CD player for my 12th birthday, just in time for the release of Pepper on CD in June 87. I was bowled over by finally hearing the British albums, and as a budding guitarist it was a revelation to hear such clarity on the recordings. Fast forward, and in the present day I have built a collection of clean copies of all UK and US mono vinyl, stereo and mono. I’ll always prefer UK issues, but also like you, Meet! Is one I play often. It’s so much fun, and it truly captures the sound of Beatlemania . Then there’s things like the dry, powerful mono mix of Long Tall Sally on the Second album that’s a personal favorite, and the alternate mono mixes on Yesterday and Today.
Very nice summation of how and why the sound of the Capitol albums was altered. It's also worth remembering that surf music was the hot trend in America in 62 and 63, especially on the west coast, and that was also drenched in heavy reverb. Dexter may have thought that's what the kids liked, so adding it to the Beatles recordings would only increase their appeal to American kids. One other point, the two Capitol Albums Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 CD box sets released in 2005 and 2006 (of which you showed Volume 1) contained the "true" Capitol mixes that American fans will remember. The 2014 box set "The U.S. Albums" contains the artwork and sequencing of the Capitol albums, but doesn't use the Capitol mixes... opting instead for the UK mixes.
I love the Capitol Beach Boys 2-fers that came out in 1990 and with better mastering in 2000. As with some of the Beatles' early US titles the individual albums are short, under 25 minutes so that BBs program really got me more deeply into their work - and there were bonus tracks.
Since this was the first Parlogram video I ever watched (thank you algorithm) I had no context for how the theme music normally sounded. After revisting this a few times I've recently noticed how compressed and reverb-drenched it is for this video, just like the Capitol albums. Brilliant.
I grew up with the American Beatles albums, and of course I am very sympathetic to them. The "Second Album" is very strong, and sounds very powerful and is one of best pure Rock albums ever released, IMO. I also agree with some other American fans, that the American pressing of "Rubber Soul' is more coherent than the English version. Both are great, but the American version is more folky and sounds like it was intended to be that way. I also miss "Yesterday and Today", because it my was first one.
Also, Meet The Beatles is one of the greatest and most fun debuts ever. Better than the U.K. debut by far (as well as With The Beatles). It also showcased their strong song-writing ability as there is only one cover version on the album. Love its liner-notes as always the thick carboard stock of its jacket and the Capitol 'roster' inner-sleeve.
It should be made clear, somehow, that the Capitol version of Rubber Soul was the album listened to by Brian Wilson and by students on college campuses in the USA whose tastes were moving from folk to folk-rock in 1965. Having to deal with the draft and the escalation of the war in V.N. folk-rock fit the mood of the times. The Capitol Records version of Rubber Soul seemed to indicate, to some, that The Beatles were embracing this change in music.
I grew up on the Capitol records. I got my first Parlophone record in the mid 70's and I never looked back - those were the mixes I liked best. I was a teenage musician and playing back records was one of the few ways to learn songs. I remember thinking I could hear the separation of the instruments better, and the vocals seemed much clearer.
That's just what it is. Compression and reverb degrade the sound, making it muddy, loud yet at the same time distant. The opposite of High Fidelity (which was at the time advertised of "recorded music sounding as if the band was playing in your room")! Unless you live in a cathedral, or an empty aircraft hangar, your music room won't have perceptible reverb. Nor should your records. Reverb as a _special effect_ on certain tracks can sound interesting, but adding reverb to a complete mono or stereo mix never improves it, worst of all in combination with compression which by itself brings out the quiet parts while ducking the loud ones, and exaggerates any reverb already in the source.
I'm from central Illinois, I had relatives that worked at the Capitol pressing plant in Jacksonville during the 1960s. One gave me his own purchased copy of "Sgt. Peppers" just before he passed in the late 1990s. As much as I loved the original 1969 pressing of "Abbey Road", the 2019 anniversary pressing in stereo was a revelation!!!
Abbey Road is far and away the best recorded album of theirs , almost modern sounding and every instrument clear as a bell. Even on Sgt Pepper some things were a little muddy or indistinct like the bass parts on some songs
I’m from the US but didn’t get into The Beatles until the ‘90’s and bought all the standardized CD’s. So I got into them through the UK releases. I never understood the Capitol albums due to this. My parent’s vinyl collection just had The Early Beatles and Hey Jude. I took those more as one off compilations. When the Capitol Albums CD box sets came out I dismissed them due to this as I didn’t get the fact they were mixed different. I thought they were just crazy rearranged versions of the UK albums I already had and saw no point to get. However now I understand this all more and am getting into vinyl again. So I decided to add to my parent’s small collection by finding the old Capitol albums on vinyl. Trying to get mono and stereo of both. And trying to rediscover the Beatles from a different perspective. I like what I’ve collected so far, but it still feels like a novelty, and not the way it should be. And that’s coming from a US fan.
My “go to” albums are now the UK issues, but I grew up playing the US configurations. Fortunately, in the 80s when I was buying my copies, the pressings and mastering had improved so I didn’t have to deal with the originals. Also, by that time, the duophonic mixes on Yesterday and Today had been replaced with true stereo mixes (though the same can’t be said for other albums’ duophonic mixes!) It’s interesting today to revisit the US Rarities album, and hear what at the time was a “rare” mix of I’m Only Sleeping. It certainly isn’t today given that it’s the UK stereo mix, but back then both the US stereo and mono mixes were different. We also got the single tracked vocal on And I Love Her, among other oddity mixes.
I forgot to mention that my very first Beatles purchase ( back in junior high school days) was the US Capitol 1962-1966 compilation; I recently picked up a copy of the same pressing, kinda for nostalgic reasons and yes, I do like that James Bond like intro at the beginning of " Help."
The first time I heard the Beatles was off an old 8-track compilation. Old water damaged wrinkled paper songlist with some cheap looking pics of the group. Song fade outs and probably wonky warbles in places. And I played it over and over and over as a 12 yr old boy. Never knew I was being cheated on sound. All I knew is that the Beatles were, like no other artist, the funnest and most exciting musical escape from the everyday ho-hum of the life of a teenager. Many first great smiles off of that 8-track that can never be relived. Though I do try my best:) Whether on Capitol lps, later cds, cassettes or whatever media it is a testament to the infectious, hooky, harmonious songs that show how great these gentlemen were at crafting a song that brought smiles and excitement to so many.
I'm from México, and the Capitol albums were the ones released here, but if the sound quality wasn't good in the US, here it was awful, I think it was because Capitol México got 3rd or 4th generation master tapes. Nevertheless, I grew up with the UK versions because my grandfather had lived in Spain and when he came to México he brought the UK albums with him and gave them to my dad, and my dad gave them to me, and when I compared the audio of the UK albums to the Mexican ones, it was a huge difference, a night and day difference. I ended up throwing the Capitol albums to the garbage and since then I've collected only eurpean pressings.
Trata de conseguir la coleccion que se enseño, The Beatles - The Capitol Albums Vol I & II, en CD. Una coleccion estupenda con un sonido mejor de lo que tuvimos aqui en vinilo, en EEUU.
La primera compañía que distribuyó los discos de Los Beatles en México fue Musart, Capitol llegaría a México en 1965, no sé cómo se escuchaban las ediciones de Musart las cuales eran mono porque las que escuché que tenía mi papá eran las de Capitol de los 70's y eran en stereo y con portadas diferentes pero me gustaban como se escuchaban esas ediciones, me gustaba la secuencia del Vol. 2 que era prácticamente el Please, Please Me con algunas canciones del With The Beatles, curiosamente algunas versiones eran las británicas tal cual como el For Sale Vol. 5 que era el For Sale británico hasta con la portada pero nada más cambiaban la tipografía de las letras del título y el agregado Vol. 5, el Rubber Soul era el británico pero con la portada de la edición estadounidense y el Vol. 4 era prácticamente el A Hard Day's Night británico pero sin Can't Buy Me Love y You Can't Do That que habían sido incluidas en el Vol. 3 y en su lugar se agregó Long Tall Sally abriendo el lado b y quedando con 12 canciones en vez de 13 como el original y con la portada del Something New estadounidense
Hi Andrew, My husband John and I are both first generation American Beatles fans. Living in the New York area, as teenagers in the sixties, we both vaguely realized that the British albums had different content than our Capitol albums. Mainly because AM radio station WABC in NY frequently played some tracks off of the British albums, as “new and exclusive.” (WMCA sometimes played these, but not as often as WABC). However, since we heard these songs on AM radio, we were not aware of their superior sound. Then, on a trip to a Sam Goody record store in Manhattan around 1979, or so, John saw that Goody’s was selling imported copies of the British Blue Box. John purchased this box set immediately (I think that it was under $100), and that was our first time really hearing the British pressings, and we were both completely blown away by the sound clarity. This was at least 7 years or so, before the CDs were issued. Of course we still have a fondness for the American Capitol records, but the Blue Box is our go to versions for all these recordings. Linda
I was give my brother's copy of "Meet the Beatles", After that I bought the Red and Blue albums then got an armload of their other albums when I graduated grade school around '71. A few years later the UK versions became available in the US in department stores. I felt we'd been taken for a ride getting fewer tracks per album and not the same ones as in the UK until "Sgt. Pepper's". What I want is remixed UK early albums with TRUE stereo instead of vocals in 1 channel and music in the other. Will that ever happen Junior Mr. Martin?
Martin was the producer, Emerick was the recording engineer. The mix engineers or “balance engineers” as they are called in the uk would vary from album and mix. Until stereo became THE standard format in 1968, all the focus went to the mono mix, and the duties of making a stereo mix would often go to a junior engineer, who would likely just want to get it done and go home. The result being that two of the four tracks they had on the tape would go left, the other two would go right, the levels would be balanced, then they’d transfer the mix to a new tape, and go on with their day. I would also love to hear the early songs remixes in stereo in a more modern way, but the limitations of how they were able to be recorded at the time means that the best that they could do is probably a slightly less dramatic pan on the four tracks that they recorded to, because they had to “comp” different instruments and vocal tracks together during the recording process in order to get everything on there.
The earliest albums were highly simplistic 2-track recordings, and I'm not sure there is much you can really do with a stereo mix best to stick with the mono
I grew up on a border town with the U.S. in the 60's so the Capitol albums were the ones until the advent of CD's when I found out what the original collection looked and sounded like; my older brother left behind Meet The Beatles and Revolver and listened to those 2 albums for years until I turned 10 and my mother bought me the soundtrack for A Hard Day's Night in the early 70's.... listening to the Capitol albums bring back years of unmatched memories and nostalgia I'm sure people of my generation relate to.... keep up the great work Andrew.
12:49 -- I grew up on the Capitol version of I Feel Fine and when I first heard the Parlophone version, it sounded flat with no vibrancy. I'm listening to the Capitol version right now and it is _amazing!_ Can't stand the Parlophone versions. _"She's in love with me and I Feel Fine! Ooooh. Ooooh. _*_Woof! Woof, woof!"_*
I agree totally. The Capitol records, to me, were much more exciting. Listen to "Money" on both UK and US versions. The UK version sounds dull and flat compared to the US version.
Before the Beatles on Capitol, Ron Goodwin and his orchestra had a few albums in the US like “Music for an Arabian Night” and “Music in Orbit”, but the others were rejected, because Ron Goodwin was a arranger from the UK where he put out albums of mood music on Parlophone. Capitol in the US had the “Capitol of the World” series in 1958 and continued through 1962 while other artists like The Beach Boys, the Lettermen, Al Martino, Peggy Lee, and others were on Capitol, Nat King Cole was still the big one, and Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin went to Reprise. Andy did covered it months ago in “Parlophone Records Before The Beatles” where he covered all of his “Gold Stereo” albums that Parlophone put out.
Thank you, Dexter and Capitol for running the Beatles through the Les Paul reverb chambers and compressors so that kids would recognize it on the radio and the Beatles could take off like they did. The early Beatles UK records were too thin sounding for the US radio.. the other tracks playing that day. I love that Capitol sound for the early stuff. Very rock n roll. I'm also grateful to have had the experience of finally hearing the unaffected sound that they intended when CDs happened. Less generational loss! More clarity and detail! Even more fun. The band is still popular and selling more than anybody... history shows that many of these accidents were a stroke of good luck.
And before the Beatles came Norrie Paramor & his Orchestra for his mood music albums in the 1950’s, and that was also on Capitol, but originally on the UK Columbia label. Capitol did had the rights to put out US albums that he was on UK Columbia at the time.
In addition, Dave Dexter Jr., the guy that mentioned where he worked for Capitol at the time narrated a special commemorative album called “Capitol Cavalcade” released in 1952 where they celebrated the 10th anniversary of Capitol Records where it was founded in 1942. The album features a look back at the history of Capitol Records beginning with “Cow Cow Boogie” by Ella May Morse all the way to “Wheel of Fortune” by Kay Starr. Plus, other names like Nat King Cole, Stan Kenton, Margaret Whiting, Johnny Mercer, Jo Stafford, Les Paul, Mary Ford, Carmen McCrae, Peggy Lee and dozens of other artists for Capitol during the first 10 years.
It's interesting that The Beatles first single by Capitol was in Canada. Canada was the first country across the ocean to embrace the Beatles and issue their singles.
as i'm used to the sound of the 1987 cds, i actually do enjoy some of the alternate mixes used on the capitol albums, especially the ones from yesterday and today. hopefully for the next part you'll have the correct version of the second capitol albums box as some were pressed with incorrect mixes. with that aside, these videos help me learn something new about these albums when it comes to vinyl pressings. your channel is one of becoming one of my favorites to watch, it's honestly a great time!
Thanks for this quick overview. I wish you would have given a longer take on this. I still prefer the American Rubber Soul, it's is just an amazing presentation. It has a folky sound sort of like the cover looks. UK still has more songs and is better, but the US Rubber Soul is a masterpiece as a concept of folk rock 1965. Yesterday, and Today is a quite the rocking experience as well. It is just a shame that these were created by literally butchering the UK albums. My first actual UK album was Beatles For Sale and I was blown away by how it sounded compared to the rest of the catalog I'd been listening to. It just sounded so different. Hope to see a part 2.
Once I heard the UK I Feel Fine/She's A Woman for the first time in the early eighties, I could never listen to the American mixes again. This is a great series. I''m learning so much!
I grew up on the Capitol albums as well. I've read in books in the late 70s that the UK albums were the superior mix. It was a revelation to hear the UK mix of She's A Woman and I Feel Fine. You were actually able to hear the instruments! Did you notice in the film Help! during salsbury plain sequence (did I spell that right?), the U.S. mix for She's A Woman was used. Interesting.
Not sure if there's an alternate soundtrack but the original mono soundtrack has the standard dry UK mix of She's A Woman, just sounding very lo-fi for obvious reasons.
I started collecting Beatles records in 1966-67. I was 15-16 then, living in Athens, Greece. But I remember that only the newly released Sgt. Pepper's LP could be found in record shops at the time, so i sought the older albums in pawnshops. I found some, two of them were Capitol records releases, one was Meet The Beatles and the other was Something New. But like everything found in such shops, they were thoroughly scrached, hardly playable. A couple of years late, EMI-Greece re-released the older Beatles albums, but I never had any Capitol records release in good condition to be able to tell if they were better or worse in comparison to the EMI releases.
I was out of the U.S.A. when I first heard the Beatles, and the first thing I heard was "With The Beatles" in mono. I had no access to good stereo equipment at the time, being thirteen years old and listening on my parents' "hi-fi". As the years went by, I had no uniform standard for how any recordings should sound, because everything I heard was on various sorts of record players of widely divergent quality. Before digital recording the sound of a record was as dependent on the size and type of speakers, the sort of amplifier built in to the portable unit or furniture-styled "entertainment console", and what sort of stylus was used and how worn it was- as much as the "mix" of the recording. (And there were always those people who would lose one of their stereo speakers, or have a blown channel in their record player, obliviously listening to one-channel half-stereo and not minding.) Only audiophile geeks had good stereo cartridges in their turntables, good "tuners" (amplifiers with radios built-in, because it was assumed these people preferred to listen to jazz or classical music on FM radio, anyway) and quality speakers. That equipment was expensive, and I rarely got to know anybody who had it. Those people usually only listened to a small collection of Broadway show-tune records, and never liked rock and roll.
This is the first discussion I've seen about this topic which has always been huge among us musicians. I went out a few years ago and got near mint Capitol copies in mono of the first seven albums up to Revolver. A friend said I should have gotten the Parlophone versions and from what you said here, he may have been right. Mine really sound horrble on a quality home stereo. So, I laughed when you pulled out the Mickey Mouse type record player because I always said that and a transistor radio was the source back in 1964 and that sound quality was sort of down the list. I also laughed when you mentioned the noisiness of the Beatles Second Album and the funny thing is as a 6th grader, THAT"S what we loved about it. Hormones, right? I really wish that instead I would have gotten the Capitol box set you showed at the end. I happen to love the perfectly reproduced little cd jackets and boy, the sound is fantastic. You can finally hear McCartney's bass and Ringo's kick which means you can hear the lower frequencies that are in the vocals. Good video!
Love the video! Thank you so much for the background information. I'm not sure where my experience would fit in with this as I'm Canadian and, while we got the Capitol releases, what tapes many have been used to create them. I do recall my first exposure to hearing the original Parlophone albums in the early 1970s and discovering that the sound was much cleaner than what I'd always known. I used to call the Capitol sound muddy after that point. I later read that Capitol would take the original 8 track recordings and compress them down to a mere two, which would account for the muddy sound and the loss of some of the details. Though it's not Beatles, the best example I can think of is The Zombies' I Love You. For two decades I never knew there was an acoustic guitar accenting beneath the electric one. When I finally heard the UK mix, I first thought it to be a completely different take of the track. Comparison showed it to be identical, but the acoustic guitar was lost in the compression mix downs. After that, I began hearing similar loss in Beatles recordings.
You've done a bang-up job on this. I'm a Yank. I go to the U.K. releases because of the 'non- omitted ' tracks. You are spot on that 'Meet the Beatles' was a masterstroke and I prefer that release. It was the right thing to do to introduce the group, as in hindsight no one knew how the record would do in the States. I love the Beatles Second Album (heavy- handed on the reverb, but it appealed to me as a kid, something you mentioned in Capitol's assessment of the target audience). It sounds like Dexter was looking for a live concert sound, a specific performance. I think that is brilliant, as is the cover artwork. Help in the U.S is a nightmare. Revolver marks my shift to the U.K. releases- period. Can't handle the omissions. Your posting is such a concise addition to the lexicon. Factual and balanced. Well done. Very well done.
As many said we grew up with the Dave dexter us 🇺🇸 capitol albums, I'm glad they have been released twice and at times I love the heavy reverb blasting from that 60s am radio 📻 especially she's a woman.
I normally don't like hearing a ton of back story and history. I like to get to the point. If I'm still interested then I like to go back for details. I have to tell you, you made this interesting and very listenable from start to finish. You obviously scripted your narration. Nicely done. Thank you for sharing.
I still hear some Americans tell me they prefer the Capitol releases over Parlophone, because to them the Capitol ones are more exciting and find the Parlophones very "clinical". Well, to each his own I guess...
When we were kids in America, all we heard were the Capitol releases, so that's the sound and track list orders we still get excited about! It's what we grew up with as kids. Nostalgia is a powerful thing.
In Australia we got the UK releases as the Beatles intended. I can’t take to the early Capitol albums, the way they are mixed and the disjointed song listings but each to their own.
@@ronfrederick3161 If you had been a kid in the USA when the albums first came out, you would prefer the Capitol albums, because you wouldn't have heard the UK albums at all. That's what happened to us in the USA. We didn't know any different. Nostalgia is a powerful thing!
I purchased both, saw the differences between the early ones. The Vee Jay album. Oddities, as I recall, "I Want To Hold Your Hand," was never on an original LP. Sold a lot of singles. On the 'Rarities' LPs, CD, though it isn't very, `rare!' The British stereo pressings, on a good system, have better sound. Capitol just cranked out the pressings because of the overwhelming demand, people just bought even when the sound wasn't as good as it could be -
But prior to that, Norrie Paramor was an orchestra leader where he did a series of albums of mood music on the Capitol label while he was on Columbia at the time.
Another fascinating video Andrew.The information about why only 12 songs per album and not 14 was a real eye opener for me as always wondered this.Well done again and Thanks!
I love that 2004 Capitol release. It has both Mono and Stereo versions of the albums. The intro to "She's A Woman" stereo version is drenched in reverb, and it sounds great cranked up. Way overdone, but an unexpected joy to listen to. Would make a great ringtone.
@Parlogram Auctions I know of certain quantities of certain Beatle albums that were nominally US ones, namely The Second Album and Beatles VI, but were produced in UK for the purpose of overseas export. Have you heard of those, and if so, do you know what sources they used, the American masters or their own? And have you ever put your ears to the US Beatles albums that were also put out in Germany, namely Something New and Beatles '65, as well as The Second Album as a Swiss book club release? And if so, again, do they contain music from American or European masters?
If you want to hear those energetic Capitol mixes with great sound quality, check out the comps "Reel Music" and "Rock & Roll Music". Stellar! I grew up with the stereo US albums and prefer much of their artwork. As far as sound, I was always a huge fan of the sound of "Meet The Beatles" (with the exception of the duopohnic IWTHYH and This Boy). It does sound so much fuller than "With The Beatles". "Second Album" mastering, however, is a travesty and many of those songs sounded better on later Capitol compilations. "Help!" I prefer the Capitol sound, even though you need to sit through the movie instrumentals. "The Early Beatles" is really lively and full on Capitol. Everything else, I prefer the U.K. mixes. Fake stereo is awful no matter where it was made.
Didn’t some early singles come out on Vee Jay too in the Ú.S. I wonder how much those singles go for now? Del Shannon of course covered The Beatles quite early on with ‘From Me To You’
I grew up listening to the Capital records on vinyl. I got them as a kid back in the mid seventies. Most are orange label pressings, with several on the purple. To my ear, the Capital pressings seemed more alive. Just my 2 cents.
Very cool information. Had a chance to see The Beatles perform in 1965 at Shea Stadium in New York. I was 12 years old. Had all the mono copies of the early Beatle albums on Capitol Records.
Andrew, I truly enjoy your Beatles videos. Even though you are obviously a Beatles fanatic (I am too), you really don't come off as one. I say, well done, Good Sir.
I have been a huge Beatles fan since I was 11 years old I have to agree with you I love both catalogs to US and the UK Beatles catalogs I love them because they have great makes us unique mixes which makes it fun to listen to and compare each of the Beatles catalogs I was first introduced to the Beatles with the UK releases then I got introduced to the capital albums when the Beatles capital albums volume one was released and recently I bought the Beatles Capitol Alabama forms one and two and the US albums I ordered them on Amazon and boy it was such a great thing to hear those tracks energized especially on meet the Beatles the Beatles second album among all other albums as well it is great. I love both the stereo and mono mixes because they’re very different from each other, did you know that songs like Love you too got to get you into my life and I can rest love has a bit longer fade out in the mono mix that in stereo mix? Long live the Beatles.
Hi Andrew, big fan of your channel! Not sure what the side angle camera was for. A touch blurry in places and you're obviously looking at the 'A' camera. Just looks a bit off...
Very much agree with Paul on this. As a pro video producer myself, zoom in / out edits are standard practice. Your content and production values are always great, but please... don't do what the 'kids' do using bad edit styles. Talking to camera should always be just that.
I am one of the very few people that buys CDs records and I’ll be glad to buy some seven eights because being born in 1984 I love buying music and I still do it’s such a great thing I hope that CDs will never go away. And I love the Beatles vinyl box set the stereo albums are pretty good and the Beatles singles collection from 2019 is great. Any of them the Beatles capital albums vines one and two are great so is the Beatles US box that was released in 2014 during the 50th anniversary of when the Beatles came to America on February 7, 1960 for two days before they did the ad Sullivan show which is still I think a landmark watershed moment for the Beatles.
I used to own most of the Capitol albums in the 80s. But then in 1990 I switched to the new Beatle CDs which were the Parlophone albums. I was so disappointed with the sound of the earlier years. Lacked the glorious sound the US records had. At that time I had no idea that reverb was added to the songs. I thought that was just the way they sounded, and that the sound changed because they were now digital. I thought the reverb added a lot of energy to those songs. Plus some of those Capitol albums had a better track order than the British LPs. Like Meet the Beatles and Beatles 65. Especially the latter. It destroys it’s British counterpart, Beatles for Sale!
Thanks Andrew for a fair, impartial and objective view of the early US Capitol albums. Living in a land Downunder, there is little loyalty nor patriotic dismissing of Dave Dexter Jnr.'s hand in their US sound, only curiosity. As you say, the CD box(es) The Capitol Albums Vol. 1 (and 2) are an excellent way of listening to both mono and stereo US albums (up to and including Rubber Soul) in their best possible fidelity and hearing that American experience. I was very pleasantly surprised how good the sound quality on the Vee Jay Introducing the Beatles was when I played my copy.
The Capitol albums vs. the Parlophone albums is like a cheeseburger, fries, and a chocolate shake vs. an expensive steak dinner; the latter is obviously better, but sometimes, the former just tastes so good and makes you feel like a kid again. That being said, some of the stereo A Hard Day's Night tracks sound better on Something New (like "Tell Me Why"), and "Bad Boy" definitely sounds better on Beatles VI than it does on Oldies. I'd also argue that the 1965 stereo mix of "I've Just Seen a Face" sounds better and more crisp on the American Rubber Soul than it is on Help!...but that all depends on the individual pressing, of course. Also, The Early Beatles is one of the greatest rip offs of all time. It's only redeeming quality is the cover photo, which looks way better on that album than it does on the back of Beatles for Sale.
Would never give up the Capitol versions/mixes..they're so "American"...still my go-to versions. "She's A Woman" sounds so much more edgy with the reverb, for example.
@@magicanimalfish1029 The Duophonic version is the worst. It makes Paul's voice sound like Kenny from South Park. In true mono, it's much better. Still, I greatly prefer the UK mixes (both mono and stereo). The reverb sounds cool on "I Feel Fine", but it just sounds messy and murky "She's a Woman", in my opinion.
Wow, I enjoyed the video so much that it was over in a flash. It doesn't make sense that the sound quality for Meet The Beatles would be made lower quality for the youngsters. I remember you previously saying that the cost of albums would prohibit young people buying them.
I've been dreaming of such a reissue campaign. It'd be fun to go into shops and pick them all up starting with Meet the Beatles, onward, but I'd stop with Rubber Soul. It's the last album that's really different. Revolver just has 3 songs missing. If there's Capitol vinyl reissue of Yesterday and Today, the Butcher sleeve HAS to be included, as is on the CD.
@@farrellmcnulty909 Totally agreee...BTW I picked up a copy of the Hey Jude LP over the weekend. I was one of the first records I every bought back in the 70s. Now I have it again!
Another awesome program mate!!! Yes I have My old beatles on Capitol vinyl albums though I agree the Beatles on Capitol Volume 1 from 2004 are superb... one of My gems on vinyl is a copy of The Yesterday & Today album that I found buried amongst other Beatles albums in the rack at a very old mom and pop record shop....to My surprise in the mid 1980s when getting home and taking off the outer wrap... took out the album to find it had the old original Capitol rainbow label... how cool is that?!
For myself, I grew up with the U.S. Capitol albums. As a young teen when they came out, they were easier to get than the U.K. , as I didn't have a driver's licence yet. Also, that was all most stores carried at the time. To get the U.K. copies would have been a chore to get my parents or older brother to drive me around to find them. So I gladly accepted the Capitol ones. Still today, they are burned into my brain and that's fine with me.
I bought all the Capitol version Beatle records in the early 70s. Up until then all I had was Help!, Beatles '65 (mono), and Abbey Road. I listened to them for years on cassette and reel-to-reel tapes I recorded from those records. Consequently, when I bought the British version CDs in the early 90s I thought they sounded strange! I had a 4-channel stereo system I bought in the Navy and I loved the way the Capitol records would break out over the 4 speakers in synthesized 4-channel . Now that I have iTunes and The Beatles music on my iPhone I have made up playlists reflecting the old Capitol albums so I can at least hear the music in the order I was familiar with.
The U.S. Capitol albums generally have inferior mastering. However, I think I prefer the mastering of "She Loves You" on the U.S. Capitol Second Album. The U.K. pressing just sounds a bit too dead to me.
Wonderful video Andrew and well worth the wait. I was 9 when Meet The Beatles was released here. Prior to this album, this kid paid virtually no attention to music in general. Of course that would all change. I was hooked. Loved all the Capitol albums back then and played them on my cheap little portable similar to what you pictured. My go to's? I think of 3. Meet The Beatles was one of Capitol's greatest achievements. 11 of the 12 songs chosen at that time, from the then 34 recorded songs available, were group written. The following year, Capitol got very lucky adding 2 songs from the UK side b of their Help lp that fit brilliantly onto Rubber Soul after they had removed 4 of the songs for future release. Then Magical Mystery Tour was made into an album since extended play 45's sold poorly here. My first exposure to the British albums was in the early 70's when they started appearing in the import sections of record shops. Having the echo and reverb drenched "Early Beatles" lp, the stereo UK Please Please Me was a sound revelation. At the time, I had no idea the UK albums were so different in both sound quality and content. These days I have far greater appreciation for both the mono and stereo UK albums and are my newer go to's. . I still have all my Capitol albums holding onto them for nostalgic reasons and played only once in a while. I look forward to you covering more of this territory. Cheers to you.
Cheers, ive just recently stumbled across your most interesting channel. Ive just started collecting the UK Beatles mono and while doin research(A great deal through you, greatly appreciate it ) ive learned about the mono box set that came out in 2014 and that i can buy them individually . Being late in the game i realize they went up in price a good bit and that they are OOP. So i had to have em. Ive managed to get 5 from the box set and two 1st press UK mono albums. I do have all the Capital Stereo & Mono lps but Having Mono like it was intended is something else ... Thanx for your wisdom and knowledge !
I must admit, the US mono master of The Early Beatles sounds fantastic to me. Even the copy I own, which looks like it was dragged across a gravel road, still plays good and sounds powerful through all the cracks and ticks. I prefer everything till The White Album in mono, particularly the US releases. That duophonic simply wasn’t made to be future proof…
CORRECTION: The Beatles weren't against releasing singles from albums... they were against including previously released singles in albums. That only happened on Please Please Me
In 1963 I was 6 years old and the Beatles were starting to come on strong in America. When they appeared on Ed Sullivan for the first time, Feb 1964, I was watching. The manager of Capital records was right. Even most adults only had small record players that were mono, and FM radio was rare. I have no problem with the old Capital, and I enjoy the remastered and remixed new ones. Your reviews are excellent and I find them to be spot on. Thanks
I grew up with the Capitol records, and still greatly prefer them to their English counterparts. They simply sound better. When I first heard "With the Beatles", I was very disappointed with the overall sound quality. I'm told that limiting the number of track to 12 on the American records also enhanced their dynamic range by allowing for a wider groove thus allowing the needle to run deeper into the groove.
I'll never give up listening to a copy of Please please me on parlophone that was brought over from England when my husband came to Canada in 1967. No other copy of any beatles record, Japanese pressing or otherwise sounds as good as the copy I have. When I saw her standing there is absolute kick butt with the bass.
I grew up on all *The Beatles Capitol albums* . I love them all... Especially _The Beatles Second Album, Beatles 65, Beatles VI, Something New, Yesterday...and Today_ I love these. I know the Beatles themselves didn't like the American albums Capitol records were putting out. But hey, those albums generated a lot of money for The Beatles! 🚶🏽♀️🚶🏽♀️🚶🏽♀️🚶🏽♀️ 🍎
"I feel Fine" is DEAD in the water without the reverb Capitol put on it. This goes also for "She's a Woman" and others. Also, just as an example. Listen to "Baby You're a Rich Man" in mono, then in stereo. The stereo version is STERILE...it sounds like Each Beatle is in a different studio, whereas the mono makes the band sound like they are playing live in the middle of your head.
I was raised on the Capitol albums on Stereo Cassette, then given the Parlophone album also on Cassette a few years later. I love both, I think both sides of the pond have their own charm to the sound, for instance I prefer the songs on Yesterday.. and Today on that album than the UK versions, but I love the UK mixes of the Help! album than the US. Oh and you forgot to mention that the only rock band Capitol had before The Beatles were The Beach Boys.
I grew up with American/Capitol. When I purchased a British pressing of one of their LPs for the first time in 1976, I felt like I was hearing them for the first time. This was an excellent presentation.
Anyone else notice the reverb-and-compressed version of his usual title music at the beginning?
Clever man you are, Andrew.
I was about to come with that
The Capitol version of Magical Mystery Tour is considered the best version. It was adopted as the official Beatles Magical Mystery Tour album some years after it was released.
The 5 extra songs ,and the order of the songs arranged on the album are just superb. Even the way the color booklet was put together .
I would add that the Capitol version of Rubber Soul, while different, is just as good as the UK version. The US version had a huge impact on folk music and folk rock.
The US Rubber Soul is more "folk" oriented than the UK version
I'm trying to find MMT on vinyl with the Duophonic tracks. The sellers on eBay have no idea what I'm asking about when I bring it up.
I bought the Capital Magical Mystery Tour album in 1971. Per what you said, it's the only Capital Beatles album that people say is better than the UK version.
@@williamthompson5504 Any Capitol stereo pressing should have the duophonic tracks. When I was rebuying my Capitol albums, I always looked for the Capitol purple label pressings from the late 70's, they are cheap, usually not hard to find in good shape and they sound terrific. You should be able to find a decent copy on Discogs. Of course, I'm replying to your comment eight months later so you probably found a copy by now.
For me the US “Second album”, is not only an amazing track order but the added reverb and compression made this an amazingly powerful and almost punky sound! There is a dark heavy and frantic energy of the album.
Stereo only. The mono is dry as the desert Gobi….
Every song is a rocker the only album with no ballads.
@@shyshift Incorrect. "You Really Got a Hold on Me" is not a "rocker", and though it isn't fluffy, bubble-gum pop, it's definteley a ballad.
@@fshoaps actually it’s literally a 6/8 rhythm and blues song. Rockers come in various forms.
That's all there was, just the US Second Album. Made up at Capitol records to make money for The Beatles and especially Capitol records.
I love the false start of “im looking through you”
I'll be covering that in part 2,
You might be able to play just the false start in the video.
It's on the mono and stereo editions of Rubber Soul in the Capiphone Project.
@@ronmartin4212 nope, only the stereo version for some reason. My guess the mono master is probably from the same uk masters
@@ronmartin4212 what’s the capiphone project and where could I find it?
When I was an 11-year old kiddo, in the week prior to The Beatles' first Ed Sullivan appearance, the few times I heard their mention were among a few groups of girls. But after that milestone Sunday evening they were the dominant topic everywhere.
I saved up one dollar and bought (with my parents' permission and attendance) a 45 rpm "Beatle-record." The song titles were unimportant. The music store also had some Swan copies of "She Loves You," but I liked the brighter labeled record better -- what is today the historic Capitol brush-sweep of yellow and orange with black lettering. My siblings and I played it on a small plastic phonograph. The fidelity was much like what I heard on my little transistor radio.
Later on, my cousin (who was better at saving money that I) asked his Mom to buy him a "Beatle album" when she made a trek with her sister to the big city where they had such things available in department stores. On the following Saturday after catechism I walked to his house. There in his living room we reviewed "The Beatles Second Album" ("not too loud, boys") on his parents full-size hi-fi. Nobody in the house seemed bothered that we played it all afternoon. I couldn't believe the punch and power of the music!
Gotta love the Help! Album with the James Bond intro and the other instrumentals
Love the James Bond intro version. To me, that's perfect!
Really liked your analysis of the Capitol albums. No, they're not perfect, but as an American growing up in the early-60s, it's all we had. In fact, I didn't hear the UK version of "With The Beatles" till I was in my 30s, and at that point, I wasn't too impressed with it. I've since come to embrace both the UK and American pressings simply because they're different and to accept them for what they are, not for what they SHOULD be. They're the Beatles and I'm thankful that I grew when I did.
Great analysis and I agree with you
My favorite album of all time is the US "The Beatles Second Album" I love all the extra added reverb... That album rocks! especially at high volume!
That album, Meet The Beatles and the US Rubber Soul are master strokes.
Just my opinion, but reverb can be a headache, literally. Recording engineers used it on mono recordings (not just Beatles recordings) to somehow mimic stereo, and most of it sounded like crap. But there are exceptions like RCA's six-record collection of Glen Miller on vinyl that Reader's Digest released in 1968. A booklet that came with the set explained the "electronic reverb" process that really did improve the sound of these recordings that appeared originally on 78s in the late 1930s and early 40s. The sound, unlike much of reverb, doesn't have that echo chamber effect.
My go to albums are the US Capitol releases in Mono. This is what I heard in the 60s and I love the fat reverb sound! Also to hear them on 77 WABC in New York City with their powerful compression took it all a step further. I did buy the UK album catalog in the mid70s and of course I love them too! Thanks for making these wonderful videos!
Thanks for watching, Paul!
Beatles '65. I was 5 years old in 1970, in a small US town. That LP found it's way to me. Along with my Partridge Family and Carpenters albums, I had that one Beatles album. To me, it was the complete Beatles experience- I knew nothing else by them, and kids my age weren't aware of The Beatles that year.
But I found the songs amazing and the album art was hypnotizing.
I played that album a lot. But, no other Beatles records came my way. Until 1976. The TV film Helter Skelter made a huge impact on kids my age. It was really a big deal, a cultural moment ( of shock). And, suddenly, every kid was curious about that forbidden song! It seemed like a bad thing, to want to hear it.
Of course, with demand like that, Capitol smartly issued a single, but "Helter Skelter" was the b-side. Yeah, right. It was obviously the reason for releasing the single, there was a huge demand for that song. But obviously Capitol didn't want to appear to "capitalize" on the crime, so they called it the b-side. I can tell you, as I was there....it was the a-side, and every kid my age wanted that new 45 with the cool picture sleeve.
To me, both tracks were new. I found Helter Skelter terrifying, we all imagined it as the soundtrack to unspeakable carnage. It was like hearing a horror film, for kids that year.
The "b-side" , "Got To Get You Into My Life " was the total opposites, very bright, and fir in well with Stevie Wonder's "Sir Duke", at the time. Hearing those two tracks back to back, along with David Bowie's "Fame" were not uncommon.
So...that's how Capitol Records products introduced me to the Beatles, during my most formative years. I am in the crowd who knew nothing about releases outside the US. I figured the same albums were what the world knew.
My next step was finding a very used "Introducing The Beatles" album around 1978, and I played it endlessly, then graduated to the Red and Blue albums, to finally hear those hit singles I knew only by name.
Then, books started to come out, I learned more and more, and now have a large CD collection like all other fans.
But, I still reach for "Beatles '65" the most.
We definitely need a boxed set that focuses on the way The Beatles were marketed in the 70s and early 80s. Because it's interesting and nostalgic, and part of the history.
I'll Be Back and the single I Feel Fine/She's a Woman, sounds very good alongside the other songs from For Sale
You might know that Beatles '65 was released in December 1964. I'll Follow The Sun might be my favorite song on it. There are so many songs with the word sun in the lyrics. Sticking with the Beatles, there's George Harrison's Here Comes The Sun on Abbey Road.
My own collection of Beatle albums here in America, when I was first introduced to them in 1979 at the age of 11, were Revolver onward and the Red and Blue Albums (and my mother's 45s). I never heard any of those earlier albums until the 1987 CD releases, which were UK standards. So even as a diehard fan, my heart is with the 1966 Beatles onward as my priority. I was formally introduced to the sound of the Capitol albums, officially, in 2004 when I bought both box sets.
With all of that said, I'd always seen those Capitol albums my entire life, just never heard them.
l find that strange - if you were a big fan why didn't you dig out those earlier records?
Gosh I’m trying to imagine the first Beatles music one hears being Revolver! 🤯
@@jefffinkbonner9551 I can understand where JT is coming from here. I didn't like the Beatles at first (I wasn't that big a fan of rock 'n' roll at all, though I liked such early-1960's artists as Ricky Nelson, Del Shannon and The Beach Boys; I also loved Chuck Berry from the first time I heard him on 1964's "No Particular Place to Go") but I got into them around about "Rubber Soul" when their music got more sophisticated and transcended the limits of early-1960's rock. Then I went back and eventually bought the earlier albums as well, and when the U.K. 14-LP boxed set came out in 1980 that became my go-to source for all the Beatles' music. There are still some oddities this video doesn't explain, like why the U.S. "Thank You, Girl" has more harmonica than the U.K. version (was it an alternate take from the original sessions or was it added later, and if so by whom, and under which producer?) and the heavy echo on "I Feel Fine," which ironically makes George Harrison's guitar intro sound more "psychedelic" and more of a piece with the Beatles' later work. And incidentally the album "Introducing the Beatles" and the first three U.S. Beatles singles came out on Vee-Jay, a Black-owned label founded in the 1950's that had recorded only Black artists until they signed the Four Seasons in 1960. They picked up the Beatles partly as a package deal to get Frank Ifield's international hit "I Remember You" and partly because after scoring with a white vocal group like the Four Seasons they thought they could do the same with the Beatles.
@@mgconlan The video talks about "I Feel Fine" at length.
@@mgconlan I haven't listened to VeeJay's "Introducing the Beatles" for some 40+ years. For some reason, I've always associated the label with Dick Clark. (i don't remember why...)
I'm going to have to dig it out of my collection and give it a listen !
0:23 OMG I just noticed the little hint on the intro music. You put reverb on it to simulate the Beatles' sound on Capitol
LOVE IT
I remember here in Canada, the Capitol 45s of I wanna Hold Your Hand/ I Saw Her Standing There, I Feel Fine/ She's a Woman. That big reverb sound was thrilling. It really made the songs sound live and raw and powerful -- like you were hearing them play in a big echoing dance hall.
Hands down THE BEST video on The Beatles Capitol albums. Excellent work as always.
Wow, thanks, Brian!
What a surprise!
I grew up with the Capitol albums (with Apple labels). For me, they were the Beatles albums. At the time, I had no idea about the UK versions. In 1979 on a European vacation with my family, I talked my mom into buying me the Blue Box as an early Christmas gift. Even though I realized they were the official releases, and I enjoyed listening to them, when I sat down to listen to the albums, it was the Capitol ones I preferred. It’s probably because I was more familiar with them. I still have all of my US albums, Blue Box, Capitol Albums 1 and 2 CD sets, 1987 CDs, 2009 and stereo and mono CD boxed sets and US Albums boxed set. I currently don’t have a turntable so when I put on an early album, it’s usually from Capitol Albums Vol 1 and 2.
Thank you for another outstanding video.
I think your experience is similar to many who heard them first on Capitol. Thanks for sharing.
@@Parlogram Hey Andrew, when did you first discover the Beatles and how old were you? I had heard of the Beatles earlier, but I became a huge fan in 1974. I was 11 years old. I remember thinking at the time how long ago they had broken up. 😄
@@48musicfan I was listening to my mother's Beatles records back as far as I can remember. I bought my first album ('1967-1970') when I was 11 too, but that was in 1977.
@@Parlogram My first was Meet the Beatles! for my birthday and Hey Jude that Christmas.
I love both the US and the UK releases of the Beatles kind of like they’re great even though they have different mixes which makes it even fun to listen to I have the Beatles stereo albums which was released in 2012 and even the 2019 seven inch 45 collection call the Beatles singles collection which is a great package I love listening to vinyl it is great hearing the crack all of that vinyl.s
Great job covering nearly all the important points (mechanical licensing fees, common industry practices, competing artists etc.). One more regarding Meet the Beatles: In December 1963, Capitol had access to 17 Beatles tracks, the 14 on With the Beatles, plus I Want to Hold Your hand, I Saw Her Standing There, and This Boy. Mr. Dexter et al noticed that six of those were covers. They weren't convinced at that time that Americans kids would be interested in the Beatles covering US artists. "Why would they pay to hear the Beatles sing Roll Over Beethoven when Chuck Berry's original is readily available?" is a question Capitol execs were asking themselves. So Capitol omitted five of the six covers. The one they kept is 'Til There Was You, an easy-listener intended to please the parents.
The one area where Capitol dropped the ball even after allowing for 20/20 hindsight was Revolver. They should have used Paperback Writer, Rain, and I'm Down to complete Yesterday and Today. By instead poaching three "John songs" to accomplish that, they not only diminished Revolver, but they also upset that album's balance, leaving five Paul songs, three George songs, two John songs, and a Ringo song. The UK version has five John songs, which makes more sense.
EMI: "Could you release these records in the States, please?"
Capitol: "Yes, we WILL add reverb."
What would Capitol have said if their recordings had been altered for the UK market I wonder ...
Brian Epstein approved what Capitol did.
@@shyshift Epstein wasn't infallible. Him approving Capitol molesting the original mixes doesn't prove that Capitol did the right thing. The Beatles would have exploded in the States with or without the U.S. versions sounded like they were in an echo chamber. What helped them out was Capitol finally bothering to make them visible, not because they screwed with the recordings.
@@Progger11 I always got the mono lps. The only song that sounded weird to me was Everybody’s Trying To Be My Baby. I guess Dave Dexter was enamored by Rock-A-Billy reverb.
@@shyshift Well, the monos are superior regardless, of course
The intro music was perfect, little details like that don't get overlooked!
Another great episode! I grew up with the U.S album releases. As soon as I was able to obtain the British imports I instantly fell in love with them. That being said, when I hear the U.S. mixes I do feel a certain amount of nostalgia and I agree that Meet The Beatles is a great offering. Yesterday And Today is also a fine U.S album
Thanks! Nostalgia is a strong emotion. I look forward to making a video on Yesterday & Today.
The intro should have, if it did not, won the internet the day this dropped. I sold all of my Capitol the day I heard a Parlaphone and never looked back (except my Mom's 45s!). Ty for detailing this history...it makes more sense now.
I sure appreciate the fair treatment you gave Mr. Dexter. As you said, he knew his job and got it done despite his dislike of teenage music. With access to better technology, his treatments might not seem so intrusive. His changes were appropriate "sometimes", but Duophonic Stereo is unforgiveable. Thank you, Andrew.
Mr. Dexter treatment sounds similar to the wall of sound from Phil Spector
Duophonic sounds ok in a car. I don't know why it works, but it does.
Dave Dexter Jr. wasn’t interested in rock & roll. Prior to that, he narrated a special 10” album on the first 10 years of Capitol Records in 1952, just decade before the Beatles. He tells the story about the history of Capitol as a label from its very beginnings in 1942 with Ella Mae Morse’s “Cow Cow Boogie”, Johnny Mercer’s “Strip Polka” and Bobby Sherwood’s “The Elk’s Parade”, all three of these songs were fledgling singles. The others features musical highlights including Nat King Cole and the King Cole Trio, Jo Stafford, the Pied Pipers, Andy Russell, Stan Kenton, Carmen McCrae, Les Paul & Mary Ford, Peggy Lee, Kay Starr and many more.
Very cool, Andrew. Looking forward to future videos covering the US albums. As for me, I’m 46, and. Have been listening to the Beatles all my life. Grew up with my moms well worn US LPs and 45s, and she was also kind enough to start buying me my own copies of ones that were ‘missing’ when I was 5 onwards. So the US issues have a special place for me. I had already read a lot about the UK versions before the CDs started coming out, and was able to get a CD player for my 12th birthday, just in time for the release of Pepper on CD in June 87. I was bowled over by finally hearing the British albums, and as a budding guitarist it was a revelation to hear such clarity on the recordings. Fast forward, and in the present day I have built a collection of clean copies of all UK and US mono vinyl, stereo and mono. I’ll always prefer UK issues, but also like you, Meet! Is one I play often. It’s so much fun, and it truly captures the sound of Beatlemania . Then there’s things like the dry, powerful mono mix of Long Tall Sally on the Second album that’s a personal favorite, and the alternate mono mixes on Yesterday and Today.
Thanks for watching, Derek. Stay tuned!
Very nice summation of how and why the sound of the Capitol albums was altered. It's also worth remembering that surf music was the hot trend in America in 62 and 63, especially on the west coast, and that was also drenched in heavy reverb. Dexter may have thought that's what the kids liked, so adding it to the Beatles recordings would only increase their appeal to American kids. One other point, the two Capitol Albums Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 CD box sets released in 2005 and 2006 (of which you showed Volume 1) contained the "true" Capitol mixes that American fans will remember. The 2014 box set "The U.S. Albums" contains the artwork and sequencing of the Capitol albums, but doesn't use the Capitol mixes... opting instead for the UK mixes.
I love the Capitol Beach Boys 2-fers that came out in 1990 and with better mastering in 2000. As with some of the Beatles' early US titles the individual albums are short, under 25 minutes so that BBs program really got me more deeply into their work - and there were bonus tracks.
Since this was the first Parlogram video I ever watched (thank you algorithm) I had no context for how the theme music normally sounded. After revisting this a few times I've recently noticed how compressed and reverb-drenched it is for this video, just like the Capitol albums. Brilliant.
Thanks for watching and for spotting the 'Capitol sound'!
I grew up with the American Beatles albums, and of course I am very sympathetic to them. The "Second Album" is very strong, and sounds very powerful and is one of best pure Rock albums ever released, IMO. I also agree with some other American fans, that the American pressing of "Rubber Soul' is more coherent than the English version. Both are great, but the American version is more folky and sounds like it was intended to be that way. I also miss "Yesterday and Today", because it my was first one.
Totally agree about the Beatles Second Album: one of the all-time great rock albums.
Also, Meet The Beatles is one of the greatest and most fun debuts ever. Better than the U.K. debut by far (as well as With The Beatles). It also showcased their strong song-writing ability as there is only one cover version on the album. Love its liner-notes as always the thick carboard stock of its jacket and the Capitol 'roster' inner-sleeve.
It should be made clear, somehow, that the Capitol version of Rubber Soul was the album listened to by Brian Wilson and by students on college campuses in the USA whose tastes were moving from folk to folk-rock in 1965. Having to deal with the draft and the escalation of the war in V.N. folk-rock fit the mood of the times. The Capitol Records version of Rubber Soul seemed to indicate, to some, that The Beatles were embracing this change in music.
Thank you for finally making this much needed video.
I grew up on the Capitol records. I got my first Parlophone record in the mid 70's and I never looked back - those were the mixes I liked best. I was a teenage musician and playing back records was one of the few ways to learn songs. I remember thinking I could hear the separation of the instruments better, and the vocals seemed much clearer.
That's just what it is. Compression and reverb degrade the sound, making it muddy, loud yet at the same time distant. The opposite of High Fidelity (which was at the time advertised of "recorded music sounding as if the band was playing in your room")! Unless you live in a cathedral, or an empty aircraft hangar, your music room won't have perceptible reverb. Nor should your records. Reverb as a _special effect_ on certain tracks can sound interesting, but adding reverb to a complete mono or stereo mix never improves it, worst of all in combination with compression which by itself brings out the quiet parts while ducking the loud ones, and exaggerates any reverb already in the source.
I'm from central Illinois, I had relatives that worked at the Capitol pressing plant in Jacksonville during the 1960s. One gave me his own purchased copy of "Sgt. Peppers" just before he passed in the late 1990s. As much as I loved the original 1969 pressing of "Abbey Road", the 2019 anniversary pressing in stereo was a revelation!!!
Abbey Road is far and away the best recorded album of theirs , almost modern sounding and every instrument clear as a bell. Even on Sgt Pepper some things were a little muddy or indistinct like the bass parts on some songs
Beatles ‘65 is still one of my fave Beatles albums
I am loving how elaborate and humorous your videos keep getting. And incredibly detailed/informative, of course. Great work!
Thank you very much!
I’m from the US but didn’t get into The Beatles until the ‘90’s and bought all the standardized CD’s. So I got into them through the UK releases. I never understood the Capitol albums due to this. My parent’s vinyl collection just had The Early Beatles and Hey Jude. I took those more as one off compilations.
When the Capitol Albums CD box sets came out I dismissed them due to this as I didn’t get the fact they were mixed different. I thought they were just crazy rearranged versions of the UK albums I already had and saw no point to get. However now I understand this all more and am getting into vinyl again. So I decided to add to my parent’s small collection by finding the old Capitol albums on vinyl. Trying to get mono and stereo of both. And trying to rediscover the Beatles from a different perspective. I like what I’ve collected so far, but it still feels like a novelty, and not the way it should be. And that’s coming from a US fan.
My “go to” albums are now the UK issues, but I grew up playing the US configurations. Fortunately, in the 80s when I was buying my copies, the pressings and mastering had improved so I didn’t have to deal with the originals. Also, by that time, the duophonic mixes on Yesterday and Today had been replaced with true stereo mixes (though the same can’t be said for other albums’ duophonic mixes!)
It’s interesting today to revisit the US Rarities album, and hear what at the time was a “rare” mix of I’m Only Sleeping. It certainly isn’t today given that it’s the UK stereo mix, but back then both the US stereo and mono mixes were different. We also got the single tracked vocal on And I Love Her, among other oddity mixes.
This could explain why my 80s White Album sounds better than the Apple records of Let it Be and Rubber Soul or any other Beatles album I have
I love the US rarities album. It’s a compilation imo.
I forgot to mention that my very
first Beatles purchase ( back in junior high school days) was
the US Capitol 1962-1966 compilation; I recently picked up
a copy of the same pressing, kinda for nostalgic reasons and
yes, I do like that James Bond like intro at the beginning of " Help."
Wonderful video!!
Loved the new camera angle :).
Exited for the “8-track madness” coming soon!! :))
Thank you, Olav. I'm trying to experiment with different things.
Super interesting! Impressed at how clearly communicated & engaging it is without the benefit of audio examples 💯
Glad you liked it!
I just cleaned my mono very early US pressings of Meet the Beatles, Beatles '65 and stereo Revolver and they sounded ... great! Very surprising.
I remember buying a UK pressing of the Please Please Me album in 1979, I was blown away by how much better it sounded then the Capital lps
The first time I heard the Beatles was off an old 8-track compilation. Old water damaged wrinkled paper songlist with some cheap looking pics of the group. Song fade outs and probably wonky warbles in places.
And I played it over and over and over as a 12 yr old boy. Never knew I was being cheated on sound. All I knew is that the Beatles were, like no other artist, the funnest and most exciting musical escape from the everyday ho-hum of the life of a teenager.
Many first great smiles off of that 8-track that can never be relived. Though I do try my best:)
Whether on Capitol lps, later cds, cassettes or whatever media it is a testament to the infectious, hooky, harmonious songs that show how great these gentlemen were at crafting a song that brought smiles and excitement to so many.
That's right, John. The greatness of the music will always shine through.
I'm from México, and the Capitol albums were the ones released here, but if the sound quality wasn't good in the US, here it was awful, I think it was because Capitol México got 3rd or 4th generation master tapes. Nevertheless, I grew up with the UK versions because my grandfather had lived in Spain and when he came to México he brought the UK albums with him and gave them to my dad, and my dad gave them to me, and when I compared the audio of the UK albums to the Mexican ones, it was a huge difference, a night and day difference. I ended up throwing the Capitol albums to the garbage and since then I've collected only eurpean pressings.
I'm also from México, and yes, Beatles albums here were horrible in terms of audio. I prefer the UK versions.
Really interesting stuff, cheers for posting.
Trata de conseguir la coleccion que se enseño, The Beatles - The Capitol Albums Vol I & II, en CD. Una coleccion estupenda con un sonido mejor de lo que tuvimos aqui en vinilo, en EEUU.
La primera compañía que distribuyó los discos de Los Beatles en México fue Musart, Capitol llegaría a México en 1965, no sé cómo se escuchaban las ediciones de Musart las cuales eran mono porque las que escuché que tenía mi papá eran las de Capitol de los 70's y eran en stereo y con portadas diferentes pero me gustaban como se escuchaban esas ediciones, me gustaba la secuencia del Vol. 2 que era prácticamente el Please, Please Me con algunas canciones del With The Beatles, curiosamente algunas versiones eran las británicas tal cual como el For Sale Vol. 5 que era el For Sale británico hasta con la portada pero nada más cambiaban la tipografía de las letras del título y el agregado Vol. 5, el Rubber Soul era el británico pero con la portada de la edición estadounidense y el Vol. 4 era prácticamente el A Hard Day's Night británico pero sin Can't Buy Me Love y You Can't Do That que habían sido incluidas en el Vol. 3 y en su lugar se agregó Long Tall Sally abriendo el lado b y quedando con 12 canciones en vez de 13 como el original y con la portada del Something New estadounidense
Hi Andrew,
My husband John and I are both first generation American Beatles fans. Living in the New York area, as teenagers in the sixties, we both vaguely realized that the British albums had different content than our Capitol albums. Mainly because AM radio station WABC in NY frequently played some tracks off of the British albums, as “new and exclusive.” (WMCA sometimes played these, but not as often as WABC). However, since we heard these songs on AM radio, we were not aware of their superior sound.
Then, on a trip to a Sam Goody record store in Manhattan around 1979, or so, John saw that Goody’s was selling imported copies of the British Blue Box. John purchased this box set immediately (I think that it was under $100), and that was our first time really hearing the British pressings, and we were both completely blown away by the sound clarity. This was at least 7 years or so, before the CDs were issued. Of course we still have a fondness for the American Capitol records, but the Blue Box is our go to versions for all these recordings.
Linda
Great memories, Linda. Thanks for sharing them. Andrew.
I was give my brother's copy of "Meet the Beatles", After that I bought the Red and Blue albums then got an armload of their other albums when I graduated grade school around '71. A few years later the UK versions became available in the US in department stores. I felt we'd been taken for a ride getting fewer tracks per album and not the same ones as in the UK until "Sgt. Pepper's".
What I want is remixed UK early albums with TRUE stereo instead of vocals in 1 channel and music in the other. Will that ever happen Junior Mr. Martin?
Haha Jr. Mr. Martin, but wouldn't that be Mr. Emerick?
Martin was the producer, Emerick was the recording engineer. The mix engineers or “balance engineers” as they are called in the uk would vary from album and mix. Until stereo became THE standard format in 1968, all the focus went to the mono mix, and the duties of making a stereo mix would often go to a junior engineer, who would likely just want to get it done and go home. The result being that two of the four tracks they had on the tape would go left, the other two would go right, the levels would be balanced, then they’d transfer the mix to a new tape, and go on with their day. I would also love to hear the early songs remixes in stereo in a more modern way, but the limitations of how they were able to be recorded at the time means that the best that they could do is probably a slightly less dramatic pan on the four tracks that they recorded to, because they had to “comp” different instruments and vocal tracks together during the recording process in order to get everything on there.
The earliest albums were highly simplistic 2-track recordings, and I'm not sure there is much you can really do with a stereo mix
best to stick with the mono
I grew up on a border town with the U.S. in the 60's so the Capitol albums were the ones until the advent of CD's when I found out what the original collection looked and sounded like; my older brother left behind Meet The Beatles and Revolver and listened to those 2 albums for years until I turned 10 and my mother bought me the soundtrack for A Hard Day's Night in the early 70's.... listening to the Capitol albums bring back years of unmatched memories and nostalgia I'm sure people of my generation relate to.... keep up the great work Andrew.
12:49 -- I grew up on the Capitol version of I Feel Fine and when I first heard the Parlophone version, it sounded flat with no vibrancy. I'm listening to the Capitol version right now and it is _amazing!_ Can't stand the Parlophone versions. _"She's in love with me and I Feel Fine! Ooooh. Ooooh. _*_Woof! Woof, woof!"_*
I agree totally. The Capitol records, to me, were much more exciting. Listen to "Money" on both UK and US versions. The UK version sounds dull and flat compared to the US version.
Before the Beatles on Capitol, Ron Goodwin and his orchestra had a few albums in the US like “Music for an Arabian Night” and “Music in Orbit”, but the others were rejected, because Ron Goodwin was a arranger from the UK where he put out albums of mood music on Parlophone. Capitol in the US had the “Capitol of the World” series in 1958 and continued through 1962 while other artists like The Beach Boys, the Lettermen, Al Martino, Peggy Lee, and others were on Capitol, Nat King Cole was still the big one, and Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin went to Reprise. Andy did covered it months ago in “Parlophone Records Before The Beatles” where he covered all of his “Gold Stereo” albums that Parlophone put out.
Totally agree
Thank you, Dexter and Capitol for running the Beatles through the Les Paul reverb chambers and compressors so that kids would recognize it on the radio and the Beatles could take off like they did. The early Beatles UK records were too thin sounding for the US radio.. the other tracks playing that day. I love that Capitol sound for the early stuff. Very rock n roll. I'm also grateful to have had the experience of finally hearing the unaffected sound that they intended when CDs happened. Less generational loss! More clarity and detail! Even more fun. The band is still popular and selling more than anybody... history shows that many of these accidents were a stroke of good luck.
And before the Beatles came Norrie Paramor & his Orchestra for his mood music albums in the 1950’s, and that was also on Capitol, but originally on the UK Columbia label. Capitol did had the rights to put out US albums that he was on UK Columbia at the time.
In addition, Dave Dexter Jr., the guy that mentioned where he worked for Capitol at the time narrated a special commemorative album called “Capitol Cavalcade” released in 1952 where they celebrated the 10th anniversary of Capitol Records where it was founded in 1942. The album features a look back at the history of Capitol Records beginning with “Cow Cow Boogie” by Ella May Morse all the way to “Wheel of Fortune” by Kay Starr. Plus, other names like Nat King Cole, Stan Kenton, Margaret Whiting, Johnny Mercer, Jo Stafford, Les Paul, Mary Ford, Carmen McCrae, Peggy Lee and dozens of other artists for Capitol during the first 10 years.
It's interesting that The Beatles first single by Capitol was in Canada. Canada was the first country across the ocean to embrace the Beatles and issue their singles.
Really interesting stuff, Brandon. Thank you for that and hope you have a great weekend.
Who's Brandon?
Very educational as always Andrew. Dont forget that video on Japanese pressings. ;)
Thanks, John. I haven't forgotten ;)
as i'm used to the sound of the 1987 cds, i actually do enjoy some of the alternate mixes used on the capitol albums, especially the ones from yesterday and today. hopefully for the next part you'll have the correct version of the second capitol albums box as some were pressed with incorrect mixes.
with that aside, these videos help me learn something new about these albums when it comes to vinyl pressings. your channel is one of becoming one of my favorites to watch, it's honestly a great time!
Thanks for this quick overview. I wish you would have given a longer take on this. I still prefer the American Rubber Soul, it's is just an amazing presentation. It has a folky sound sort of like the cover looks. UK still has more songs and is better, but the US Rubber Soul is a masterpiece as a concept of folk rock 1965. Yesterday, and Today is a quite the rocking experience as well. It is just a shame that these were created by literally butchering the UK albums. My first actual UK album was Beatles For Sale and I was blown away by how it sounded compared to the rest of the catalog I'd been listening to. It just sounded so different. Hope to see a part 2.
Thanks for watching, Lee. There's so much more to say about the U.S. albums and part 2 is already in the works. Stay tuned!
I really enjoy all of you videos and your great insight in everything Beatles. Guess I'm gonna have to get the Beatles Capitol Albums Vol. 1. now. 😆
Thanks for watching, Elbert.
Once I heard the UK I Feel Fine/She's A Woman for the first time in the early eighties, I could never listen to the American mixes again. This is a great series. I''m learning so much!
I agree. Listening to the UK versions for the first time opened my eyes more than my ears. 👍
Amazing channel - - not only did you solve my PVC sleeve issue, you really dive deep into the history of music.
Thank you, Alexander. Glad you're enjoying the channel.
I grew up on the Capitol albums as well. I've read in books in the late 70s that the UK albums were the superior mix. It was a revelation to hear the UK mix of She's A Woman and I Feel Fine. You were actually able to hear the instruments! Did you notice in the film Help! during salsbury plain sequence (did I spell that right?), the U.S. mix for She's A Woman was used. Interesting.
Not sure if there's an alternate soundtrack but the original mono soundtrack has the standard dry UK mix of She's A Woman, just sounding very lo-fi for obvious reasons.
I started collecting Beatles records in 1966-67. I was 15-16 then, living in Athens, Greece. But I remember that only the newly released Sgt. Pepper's LP could be found in record shops at the time, so i sought the older albums in pawnshops. I found some, two of them were Capitol records releases, one was Meet The Beatles and the other was Something New. But like everything found in such shops, they were thoroughly scrached, hardly playable. A couple of years late, EMI-Greece re-released the older Beatles albums, but I never had any Capitol records release in good condition to be able to tell if they were better or worse in comparison to the EMI releases.
I was out of the U.S.A. when I first heard the Beatles, and the first thing I heard was "With The Beatles" in mono. I had no access to good stereo equipment at the time, being thirteen years old and listening on my parents' "hi-fi". As the years went by, I had no uniform standard for how any recordings should sound, because everything I heard was on various sorts of record players of widely divergent quality. Before digital recording the sound of a record was as dependent on the size and type of speakers, the sort of amplifier built in to the portable unit or furniture-styled "entertainment console", and what sort of stylus was used and how worn it was- as much as the "mix" of the recording. (And there were always those people who would lose one of their stereo speakers, or have a blown channel in their record player, obliviously listening to one-channel half-stereo and not minding.) Only audiophile geeks had good stereo cartridges in their turntables, good "tuners" (amplifiers with radios built-in, because it was assumed these people preferred to listen to jazz or classical music on FM radio, anyway) and quality speakers. That equipment was expensive, and I rarely got to know anybody who had it. Those people usually only listened to a small collection of Broadway show-tune records, and never liked rock and roll.
My parents had a big console stereo that was beautifully warm sounding --- all tubes! (valves for you in UK)
that is so funny and strange that you had to explain what a tuner is for those of the more recent generation.
This is the first discussion I've seen about this topic which has always been huge among us musicians. I went out a few years ago and got near mint Capitol copies in mono of the first seven albums up to Revolver. A friend said I should have gotten the Parlophone versions and from what you said here, he may have been right. Mine really sound horrble on a quality home stereo. So, I laughed when you pulled out the Mickey Mouse type record player because I always said that and a transistor radio was the source back in 1964 and that sound quality was sort of down the list. I also laughed when you mentioned the noisiness of the Beatles Second Album and the funny thing is as a 6th grader, THAT"S what we loved about it. Hormones, right? I really wish that instead I would have gotten the Capitol box set you showed at the end. I happen to love the perfectly reproduced little cd jackets and boy, the sound is fantastic. You can finally hear McCartney's bass and Ringo's kick which means you can hear the lower frequencies that are in the vocals. Good video!
Thanks Mike, glad you enjoyed it!
I'll choose the bold walloping Capitol sound every time.
Love the video! Thank you so much for the background information. I'm not sure where my experience would fit in with this as I'm Canadian and, while we got the Capitol releases, what tapes many have been used to create them. I do recall my first exposure to hearing the original Parlophone albums in the early 1970s and discovering that the sound was much cleaner than what I'd always known. I used to call the Capitol sound muddy after that point. I later read that Capitol would take the original 8 track recordings and compress them down to a mere two, which would account for the muddy sound and the loss of some of the details. Though it's not Beatles, the best example I can think of is The Zombies' I Love You. For two decades I never knew there was an acoustic guitar accenting beneath the electric one. When I finally heard the UK mix, I first thought it to be a completely different take of the track. Comparison showed it to be identical, but the acoustic guitar was lost in the compression mix downs. After that, I began hearing similar loss in Beatles recordings.
my own personal favorite Capitol release is The Beatles' Second Album from 1964; now, this is what a real rock and roll album is supposed to be
You've done a bang-up job on this. I'm a Yank. I go to the U.K. releases because of the 'non- omitted ' tracks. You are spot on that 'Meet the Beatles' was a masterstroke and I prefer that release. It was the right thing to do to introduce the group, as in hindsight no one knew how the record would do in the States.
I love the Beatles Second Album (heavy- handed on the reverb, but it appealed to me as a kid, something you mentioned in Capitol's assessment of the target audience). It sounds like Dexter was looking for a live concert sound, a specific performance. I think that is brilliant, as is the cover artwork.
Help in the U.S is a nightmare. Revolver marks my shift to the U.K. releases- period. Can't handle the omissions.
Your posting is such a concise addition to the lexicon. Factual and balanced. Well done. Very well done.
Thank you, Joe. Much appreciated.
As many said we grew up with the Dave dexter us 🇺🇸 capitol albums, I'm glad they have been released twice and at times I love the heavy reverb blasting from that 60s am radio 📻 especially she's a woman.
I normally don't like hearing a ton of back story and history. I like to get to the point. If I'm still interested then I like to go back for details. I have to tell you, you made this interesting and very listenable from start to finish. You obviously scripted your narration. Nicely done. Thank you for sharing.
Thanks for your kind words and for watching.
I still hear some Americans tell me they prefer the Capitol releases over Parlophone, because to them the Capitol ones are more exciting and find the Parlophones very "clinical". Well, to each his own I guess...
When we were kids in America, all we heard were the Capitol releases, so that's the sound and track list orders we still get excited about! It's what we grew up with as kids. Nostalgia is a powerful thing.
In Australia we got the UK releases as the Beatles intended. I can’t take to the early Capitol albums, the way they are mixed and the disjointed song listings but each to their own.
@@ronfrederick3161 If you had been a kid in the USA when the albums first came out, you would prefer the Capitol albums, because you wouldn't have heard the UK albums at all. That's what happened to us in the USA. We didn't know any different. Nostalgia is a powerful thing!
I purchased both, saw the differences between the early ones. The Vee Jay album. Oddities, as I recall, "I Want To Hold Your Hand," was never on an original LP. Sold a lot of singles. On the 'Rarities' LPs, CD, though it isn't very, `rare!' The British stereo pressings, on a good system, have better sound. Capitol just cranked out the pressings because of the overwhelming demand, people just bought even when the sound wasn't as good as it could be -
But prior to that, Norrie Paramor was an orchestra leader where he did a series of albums of mood music on the Capitol label while he was on Columbia at the time.
Another fascinating video Andrew.The information about why only 12 songs per album and not 14 was a real eye opener for me as always wondered this.Well done again and Thanks!
Glad you enjoyed it, Ian.
I love that 2004 Capitol release. It has both Mono and Stereo versions of the albums. The intro to "She's A Woman" stereo version is drenched in reverb, and it sounds great cranked up. Way overdone, but an unexpected joy to listen to. Would make a great ringtone.
@Parlogram Auctions I know of certain quantities of certain Beatle albums that were nominally US ones, namely The Second Album and Beatles VI, but were produced in UK for the purpose of overseas export. Have you heard of those, and if so, do you know what sources they used, the American masters or their own?
And have you ever put your ears to the US Beatles albums that were also put out in Germany, namely Something New and Beatles '65, as well as The Second Album as a Swiss book club release? And if so, again, do they contain music from American or European masters?
If you want to hear those energetic Capitol mixes with great sound quality, check out the comps "Reel Music" and "Rock & Roll Music". Stellar! I grew up with the stereo US albums and prefer much of their artwork. As far as sound, I was always a huge fan of the sound of "Meet The Beatles" (with the exception of the duopohnic IWTHYH and This Boy). It does sound so much fuller than "With The Beatles". "Second Album" mastering, however, is a travesty and many of those songs sounded better on later Capitol compilations. "Help!" I prefer the Capitol sound, even though you need to sit through the movie instrumentals. "The Early Beatles" is really lively and full on Capitol. Everything else, I prefer the U.K. mixes. Fake stereo is awful no matter where it was made.
Didn’t some early singles come out on Vee Jay too in the Ú.S. I wonder how much those singles go for now? Del Shannon of course covered The Beatles quite early on with ‘From Me To You’
I grew up listening to the Capital records on vinyl. I got them as a kid back in the mid seventies. Most are orange label pressings, with several on the purple. To my ear, the Capital pressings seemed more alive. Just my 2 cents.
Very cool information. Had a chance to see The Beatles perform in 1965 at Shea Stadium in New York. I was 12 years old. Had all the mono copies of the early Beatle albums on Capitol Records.
Wow!
The only album, to me, that matched a UK album was Introducing the Beatles on Vee Jay, mono & stereo.
Andrew, I truly enjoy your Beatles videos. Even though you are obviously a Beatles fanatic (I am too), you really don't come off as one. I say, well done, Good Sir.
Wow - thank you, Joe!
@@Parlogram my pleasure. Thank you for the fine videos you make.
I love Both Catologs sometimes I put on UK albums Some time a US Capitol I love Both
I have been a huge Beatles fan since I was 11 years old I have to agree with you I love both catalogs to US and the UK Beatles catalogs I love them because they have great makes us unique mixes which makes it fun to listen to and compare each of the Beatles catalogs I was first introduced to the Beatles with the UK releases then I got introduced to the capital albums when the Beatles capital albums volume one was released and recently I bought the Beatles Capitol Alabama forms one and two and the US albums I ordered them on Amazon and boy it was such a great thing to hear those tracks energized especially on meet the Beatles the Beatles second album among all other albums as well it is great. I love both the stereo and mono mixes because they’re very different from each other, did you know that songs like Love you too got to get you into my life and I can rest love has a bit longer fade out in the mono mix that in stereo mix?
Long live the Beatles.
I grew up with Beatles 65, reverb and all. Also Beatles VI too.
Great video !
Hi Andrew, big fan of your channel! Not sure what the side angle camera was for. A touch blurry in places and you're obviously looking at the 'A' camera. Just looks a bit off...
I think the side camera was to hide edits to the video, instead of doing a jump cut.
Very much agree with Paul on this. As a pro video producer myself, zoom in / out edits are standard practice. Your content and production values are always great, but please... don't do what the 'kids' do using bad edit styles. Talking to camera should always be just that.
Noted. It was just an experiment for this one. Normal service will be resumed next time.
They look fine aside from the focusing imo, if that is sorted then it looks nice. Gives more variance to the video and is interesting.
"Mere children" indeed.
Who else buys new music in 2021?
Anyway thanks for another wonderful trip down memory lane.
Great photos of Sinatra and Cole.
These were Dexter's words. Kids buying his record was something new for him.
I am one of the very few people that buys CDs records and I’ll be glad to buy some seven eights because being born in 1984 I love buying music and I still do it’s such a great thing I hope that CDs will never go away. And I love the Beatles vinyl box set the stereo albums are pretty good and the Beatles singles collection from 2019 is great. Any of them the Beatles capital albums vines one and two are great so is the Beatles US box that was released in 2014 during the 50th anniversary of when the Beatles came to America on February 7, 1960 for two days before they did the ad Sullivan show which is still I think a landmark watershed moment for the Beatles.
I used to own most of the Capitol albums in the 80s. But then in 1990 I switched to the new Beatle CDs which were the Parlophone albums. I was so disappointed with the sound of the earlier years. Lacked the glorious sound the US records had. At that time I had no idea that reverb was added to the songs. I thought that was just the way they sounded, and that the sound changed because they were now digital. I thought the reverb added a lot of energy to those songs. Plus some of those Capitol albums had a better track order than the British LPs. Like Meet the Beatles and Beatles 65. Especially the latter. It destroys it’s British counterpart, Beatles for Sale!
Thanks Andrew for a fair, impartial and objective view of the early US Capitol albums. Living in a land Downunder, there is little loyalty nor patriotic dismissing of Dave Dexter Jnr.'s hand in their US sound, only curiosity. As you say, the CD box(es) The Capitol Albums Vol. 1 (and 2) are an excellent way of listening to both mono and stereo US albums (up to and including Rubber Soul) in their best possible fidelity and hearing that American experience.
I was very pleasantly surprised how good the sound quality on the Vee Jay Introducing the Beatles was when I played my copy.
The Capitol albums vs. the Parlophone albums is like a cheeseburger, fries, and a chocolate shake vs. an expensive steak dinner; the latter is obviously better, but sometimes, the former just tastes so good and makes you feel like a kid again.
That being said, some of the stereo A Hard Day's Night tracks sound better on Something New (like "Tell Me Why"), and "Bad Boy" definitely sounds better on Beatles VI than it does on Oldies. I'd also argue that the 1965 stereo mix of "I've Just Seen a Face" sounds better and more crisp on the American Rubber Soul than it is on Help!...but that all depends on the individual pressing, of course.
Also, The Early Beatles is one of the greatest rip offs of all time. It's only redeeming quality is the cover photo, which looks way better on that album than it does on the back of Beatles for Sale.
The first paragraph is a perfect analogy!!...Priceless!
Great analogy!
Would never give up the Capitol versions/mixes..they're so "American"...still my go-to versions. "She's A Woman" sounds so much more edgy with the reverb, for example.
I actually laughed out loud when I heard that US mix of She's A Woman with all that reverb!! It's hard to imagine how it could sound more awful...!
@@magicanimalfish1029 The Duophonic version is the worst. It makes Paul's voice sound like Kenny from South Park.
In true mono, it's much better. Still, I greatly prefer the UK mixes (both mono and stereo). The reverb sounds cool on "I Feel Fine", but it just sounds messy and murky "She's a Woman", in my opinion.
Wow, I enjoyed the video so much that it was over in a flash. It doesn't make sense that the sound quality for Meet The Beatles would be made lower quality for the youngsters. I remember you previously saying that the cost of albums would prohibit young people buying them.
IMHO there's a need for a LP reissues of Beatles with Capitol sound. I'd buy them!
I've been dreaming of such a reissue campaign. It'd be fun to go into shops and pick them all up starting with Meet the Beatles, onward, but I'd stop with Rubber Soul. It's the last album that's really different. Revolver just has 3 songs missing. If there's Capitol vinyl reissue of Yesterday and Today, the Butcher sleeve HAS to be included, as is on the CD.
@@farrellmcnulty909 Totally agreee...BTW I picked up a copy of the Hey Jude LP over the weekend. I was one of the first records I every bought back in the 70s. Now I have it again!
Another awesome program mate!!! Yes I have My old beatles on Capitol vinyl albums though I agree the Beatles on Capitol Volume 1 from 2004 are superb... one of My gems on vinyl is a copy of The Yesterday & Today album that I found buried amongst other Beatles albums in the rack at a very old mom and pop record shop....to My surprise in the mid 1980s when getting home and taking off the outer wrap... took out the album to find it had the old original Capitol rainbow label... how cool is that?!
That was cool, Gerard! Thanks for watching.
For myself, I grew up with the U.S. Capitol albums. As a young teen when they came out, they were easier to get than the U.K. , as I didn't have a driver's licence yet. Also, that was all most stores carried at the time. To get the U.K. copies would have been a chore to get my parents or older brother to drive me around to find them. So I gladly accepted the Capitol ones. Still today, they are burned into my brain and that's fine with me.
It was a revelation hearing the Past Masters version of "I Feel Fine" for the first time
I bought all the Capitol version Beatle records in the early 70s. Up until then all I had was Help!, Beatles '65 (mono), and Abbey Road. I listened to them for years on cassette and reel-to-reel tapes I recorded from those records. Consequently, when I bought the British version CDs in the early 90s I thought they sounded strange! I had a 4-channel stereo system I bought in the Navy and I loved the way the Capitol records would break out over the 4 speakers in synthesized 4-channel . Now that I have iTunes and The Beatles music on my iPhone I have made up playlists reflecting the old Capitol albums so I can at least hear the music in the order I was familiar with.
That's the way I do it as well👍.
Another great history lesson Andrew. I’ve finally got round to buying the American releases.
The U.S. Capitol albums generally have inferior mastering. However, I think I prefer the mastering of "She Loves You" on the U.S. Capitol Second Album. The U.K. pressing just sounds a bit too dead to me.
Wonderful video Andrew and well worth the wait. I was 9 when Meet The Beatles was released here. Prior to this album, this kid paid virtually no attention to music in general. Of course that would all change. I was hooked. Loved all the Capitol albums back then and played them on my cheap little portable similar to what you pictured. My go to's? I think of 3. Meet The Beatles was one of Capitol's greatest achievements. 11 of the 12 songs chosen at that time, from the then 34 recorded songs available, were group written. The following year, Capitol got very lucky adding 2 songs from the UK side b of their Help lp that fit brilliantly onto Rubber Soul after they had removed 4 of the songs for future release. Then Magical Mystery Tour was made into an album since extended play 45's sold poorly here. My first exposure to the British albums was in the early 70's when they started appearing in the import sections of record shops. Having the echo and reverb drenched "Early Beatles" lp, the stereo UK Please Please Me was a sound revelation. At the time, I had no idea the UK albums were so different in both sound quality and content. These days I have far greater appreciation for both the mono and stereo UK albums and are my newer go to's. . I still have all my Capitol albums holding onto them for nostalgic reasons and played only once in a while. I look forward to you covering more of this territory. Cheers to you.
Thanks for your thoughts, Bob. There's lots more to come on these and the later Capitol albums.
Something New is probably the best sounding Capitol album.
Yeah, that snare crack on the intro to "Any Time At All" is great.
Cheers, ive just recently stumbled across your most interesting channel. Ive just started collecting the UK Beatles mono and while doin research(A great deal through you, greatly appreciate it ) ive learned about the mono box set that came out in 2014 and that i can buy them individually . Being late in the game i realize they went up in price a good bit and that they are OOP. So i had to have em. Ive managed to get 5 from the box set and two 1st press UK mono albums. I do have all the Capital Stereo & Mono lps but Having Mono like it was intended is something else ... Thanx for your wisdom and knowledge !
Thanks for watching and welcome aboard!
I must admit, the US mono master of The Early Beatles sounds fantastic to me. Even the copy I own, which looks like it was dragged across a gravel road, still plays good and sounds powerful through all the cracks and ticks. I prefer everything till The White Album in mono, particularly the US releases. That duophonic simply wasn’t made to be future proof…
Sgt Peppers in mono? nah
@@RichusRkr I prefer the 2017 remix version for the stereo version. I know I’m weird.
@@jordantomblin2302 You're not weird at all, I prefer both the Mono and 2017 mixes of Sgt. Pepper.
Thank you for this video. This video has explained so many questions I had with the capital releases.
Glad it was helpful. Thanks for watching!
CORRECTION: The Beatles weren't against releasing singles from albums... they were against including previously released singles in albums. That only happened on Please Please Me
And even then it had a different drummer
@@counterfeit1148 on one song, the first version of Love Me Do.
In 1963 I was 6 years old and the Beatles were starting to come on strong in America. When they appeared on Ed Sullivan for the first time, Feb 1964, I was watching. The manager of Capital records was right. Even most adults only had small record players that were mono, and FM radio was rare. I have no problem with the old Capital, and I enjoy the remastered and remixed new ones. Your reviews are excellent and I find them to be spot on. Thanks
I grew up with the Capitol records, and still greatly prefer them to their English counterparts. They simply sound better. When I first heard "With the Beatles", I was very disappointed with the overall sound quality. I'm told that limiting the number of track to 12 on the American records also enhanced their dynamic range by allowing for a wider groove thus allowing the needle to run deeper into the groove.
I've got complete sets of both on vinyl and the US albums definitely don't sound as good. You just grew up with them.
I'll never give up listening to a copy of Please please me on parlophone that was brought over from England when my husband came to Canada in 1967. No other copy of any beatles record, Japanese pressing or otherwise sounds as good as the copy I have. When I saw her standing there is absolute kick butt with the bass.
I grew up on all *The Beatles Capitol albums* . I love them all... Especially _The Beatles Second Album, Beatles 65, Beatles VI, Something New, Yesterday...and Today_
I love these. I know the Beatles themselves didn't like the American albums Capitol records were putting out. But hey, those albums generated a lot of money
for The Beatles! 🚶🏽♀️🚶🏽♀️🚶🏽♀️🚶🏽♀️ 🍎
"I feel Fine" is DEAD in the water without the reverb Capitol put on it. This goes also for "She's a Woman" and others. Also, just as an example. Listen to "Baby You're a Rich Man" in mono, then in stereo. The stereo version is STERILE...it sounds like Each Beatle is in a different studio, whereas the mono makes the band sound like they are playing live in the middle of your head.
Most of us kids in the 60s had lousy audio equipment usually a portable Hi-Fi Sound quality didn't matter....it was the Beatles!,
I was raised on the Capitol albums on Stereo Cassette, then given the Parlophone album also on Cassette a few years later. I love both, I think both sides of the pond have their own charm to the sound, for instance I prefer the songs on Yesterday.. and Today on that album than the UK versions, but I love the UK mixes of the Help! album than the US.
Oh and you forgot to mention that the only rock band Capitol had before The Beatles were The Beach Boys.
I agree with you about Help! but the U.S. has a better cover. Good point about the Beach Boys.
They did have Gene Vincent and the Blue Caps, but that was the 50s. His albums were quickly written off back then. Today they’re collector’s prizes.
@@Parlogram I always found the US cover to be too busy, whereas the UK one looks more modern.
I grew up with American/Capitol. When I purchased a British pressing of one of their LPs for the first time in 1976, I felt like I was hearing them for the first time. This was an excellent presentation.
Thank you, Tom.