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Beatles sound Quality, purple,orange, ect

tube-a-lou said:
Hi,
That's pretty sad I guess they wanted to save money back then, I
was also in a best buy and they were playing a Abbey Road record and
it sounded pretty bright and was warped to boot!:thumbsdn::no:

Tube
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It wasn't just saving money, we had a significant petroleum supply crisis at that time.
 
If you buy a Beatles Blue Box for $200, that's (if I remember correctly) about $14 per disc. A steal, if you ask me. If you pay $300, then it's $21 a disc. Still a great deal.

If you want to just buy individual copies of '70s UK pressings look on eBay or try calling Vinyl Revolution in Monterey, CA and asking about the Beatles albums they have on consignment in the box on the floor. I was there last week and it was a truly impressive collection of UK pressings for $17 to $20 a pop. You'd save on shipping by buying a bunch from a single seller.

That said, It's still probably cheaper to get a Blue Box if you know you're going to want them all anyway.

Then you'll need a German Horzu MMT (with the ugly purple cover) for the true stereo mixes it contains, and then grab UK pre-barcode copies of The Red Album and Blue Album for the non-LP singles not in the Blue Box.
 
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goldwax said:
Hope you hung on to them. '70s/'80s punk can be worth a lot, too.
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Yessir! I've got an impressive collection of UK and USA Punk, all original early releases bought new and still in Near Mint condition. The potential resale value is considerable for quite a few of them, but the real value for me lies in the grooves.

Just to add to the original topic....


Don't overlook Beatles 45s. Some of them are nice little collectibles and it can be an easy way to find mono versions.
 
The US Capitol orange/red labels are generally to be avoided. Especially Abbey Road.

US Purple labels, especially the "White Album," sound really darn good.

On early US Stereo Capitol rainbow labels, the ones with "New, Improved Full Dimensional Stereo" on the cover have been futzed with by Dave Dexter.

While I've pontificated/bragged about my original UK "Abbey Road" pressing, UK tube cut "Pepper" and early mono UK "Revolver" and "Rubber Soul" LP, I also really enjoy my US Rainbow LP pressings for the song order.
 
KeninDC said:
On early US Stereo Capitol rainbow labels, the ones with "New, Improved Full Dimensional Stereo" on the cover have been futzed with by Dave Dexter.
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Only "The Beatles' Second Album" sounds really bad (heavy compression, gobs of reverb, etc.). The rest of them aren't THAT bad, except one or two tracks may have been given the ol' Duophonic butchering (mono treated with stereo reverb/echo/distortion), and of course, you only get about 10 or 12 songs vs. the 14 songs on the UK albums.

But the US albums often have unique mixes that are interesting alternatives, and that alone makes them worth having.

Despite all the crap slung at Dave Dexter, Jr.'s memory by US Beatles fans, not all of his decisions were bad. I personally think he was a genius for starting off "Beatles VI" with the one-two punch of "Kansas City" followed by "Eight Days a Week." (The US albums definitely ROCKED harder than the UK albums!) And Dave Dexter's re-programming of "Rubber Soul" - with the appropriately folkish "I've Just Seen a Face" and "It's Only Love" from the UK "Help!" album inserted - was brilliant. The US "Rubber Soul" is arguably a more cohesive album than the UK version.
 
^I'm with you on many of Dave Dexter's choices, beatcomber. He does not deserve the slagging.

The more folky US "Rubber Soul" with the false start "I'm Looking Through You" is essential. I picked up the entire US LP collection (early Capitol Rainbow) at a yard sale years ago.
 
Some silver/black UK label fun. The attached PPM is not tube-cut. The attached SPLHCB is tube cut.

Notice the difference in the labels, especially the placement of "EMI."

Both sound really good to me. Not sure if I could tell by hearing if one was tube cut or not, to be honest. Nice to know, though.

Ken
 

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KeninDC said:
Some silver/black UK label fun. The attached PPM is not tube-cut. The attached SPLHCB is tube cut.

Notice the difference in the labels, especially the placement of "EMI."
Click to expand...

Another hint is the words "The Gramophone Company Ltd" around the rim on the tube cut version. I believe that was phased out in 1971 or so.

I've seen some transitional "2-box" (ie: two EMI logos) Parlophones with "Gramophone Company" on the rim.
 
KeninDC said:
^I'm with you on many of Dave Dexter's choices, beatcomber. He does not deserve the slagging.
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The man worked with Count Basie, Peggy Lee, Duke Ellington, and Frank Sinatra, fer chrissakes! He was no dope - he just wasn't sensitive to how to produce rock'n'roll.

markshan said:
Dexter added all that reverb to "She's A Woman". That alone is a high crime.
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Some may disagree with me (markshan, for one!), but I rather like the reverb on the US mono 45 of "I Feel Fine"/"She's a Woman." The UK mixes are SOOOO dry. I'm not saying this is the definitive mix, but it is an interesting alternative. Check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PW0lmCZKjvE

The US stereo mix has about twice the reverb as the mono 45, and it's a bit over the top, to be sure!
 
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markshan said:
Would you draw a mustache on "The Blue Boy" to make it more palatable for American audiences?
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I would have him holding a football.:D

Some of the early US stereo pressings of the first few Beatles LPs are more "collectible" than the US mono pressings says my Beatles expert at the local used LP shop. This is based on rarity and not SQ.

"Beatles for Sale" in stereo is way way less "dry" than the mono version.
 
KeninDC said:
Some of the early US stereo pressings of the first few Beatles LPs are more "collectible" than the US mono pressings says my Beatles expert at the local used LP shop. This is based on rarity and not SQ.
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Only the Vee Jay albums like "Introducing the Beatles" are very rare in stereo. The Capitol albums in both stereo and mono are super-common, except for "Magical Mystery Tour" in mono. The pity is that the mono Capitol MMT is probably the best-sounding '60s Beatles pressing!
 
beatcomber said:
Another hint is the words "The Gramophone Company Ltd" around the rim on the tube cut version. I believe that was phased out in 1971 or so.

I've seen some transitional "2-box" (ie: two EMI logos) Parlophones with "Gramophone Company" on the rim.
Click to expand...

"The Gramophone Company Ltd" around the rim was on Parlophone labels between 1965 and 1973. From 1973 to 1980 it was: "EMI records limited..." then later: "All Rights Reserved..."

By the way same goes for British "Columbia" and "Harvest" labels.
 
I had no idea there were so many different labels. I have 11 Beatles albums in which I haven't listened to in years.
The only one I have a question on is "A Hard Days Night". The one I Have is on United Artist Records. Is this an original or an after market( I guess that what they are called) release?
I have a lot to learn about records and labels.
 
cr-rc said:
"The Gramophone Company Ltd" around the rim was on Parlophone labels between 1965 and 1973. From 1973 to 1980 it was: "EMI records limited..." then later: "All Rights Reserved..."

By the way same goes for British "Columbia" and "Harvest" labels.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the clarification!

dnpainting said:
I had no idea there were so many different labels. I have 11 Beatles albums in which I haven't listened to in years.
The only one I have a question on is "A Hard Days Night". The one I Have is on United Artist Records. Is this an original or an after market( I guess that what they are called) release?
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That album was originally released in 1964 on the United Artists label. That was part of the deal with the film company, United Artists. You'll note that the Beatles' tracks are all in mono - they used the same masters that EMI provided for use in the film itself. (Most movies had mono audio tracks in 1964.) The George Martin instrumentals, however, are in true stereo, and are not the same recordings that are in the film.

After the United Artists label folded, Capitol acquired ALL of their masters, and the AHDN soundtrack was reissued by Capitol in 1980. It went out of print forever around the time that the Beatles CDs came out in 1987.
 
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