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Beatles vinyl remaster reissue

Originally posted by Tony L
To my ears the current digital mastered copies are crap and certainly to be avoided. I’d go for the 70s / early 80s analogue reissues, you can spot them easy enough as they don’t have flip-back sleeves like the original issues (though obviously buy originals if you see them at a good price!) and don’t have any mention of digital atrocities on the back cover. The 70s Parlophone label has two boxed EMI logos and silver and white writing on a black label; I think the digital stuff only has one EMI logo, but you can spot them by the cover (I think they have a bar code too, which is an obvious giveaway).
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I've got Please Please Me in stereo from early 70s - in laminate sleeve but with no stereo/mono designation on it. It sounds amazing barring the crappily overloaded harmonica on the title track and Love me do (I don't think it's mistracking since the vocals etc sound fine). I paid £20 for it in 1998 which was probably too much but it was mint :)

Tony's right re the digital issues - I got given Sergeant Rutter's Only Darts Club Band (ok, sorry couldn't resist - Sgt Pepper!) as a present on vinyl - and it's better than the 1987 CD I have, but still not great. My late 70s Blue Album (thin vinyl but no barcode thank f***!) sounds fantastic - it wees all over the 1993 CD master from a great height, then takes a dump on it as well.

Sid - get that tapedeck out of the roof - if you've got rack space it's cool to have an old analog tape format somewhere in the system (I've got 2 - including 8track!).
 
"I've got 2 - including 8track!"

Bleedin' ell, I haven't seen one of those since my flash mate's car in the 70s. Was the qualiyy any good?

Cheers,

Nic.
 
I had a gold lettering mono first press of Please Please Me on my Linn on Saturday, a friend wanted a second opinion with grading prior to it hitting eBay.
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It's now up on eBay for a quid with no reserve, along with an even more valuable Elvis LP... eeek! :eek:

Tony.
 
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Originally posted by Nic Robinson
Anyone got a decent copy of Magical Mystery Tour they would part with?
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I have an original pristine MFSL copy and NO, I'm not selling.

I bought the "White Album" in HMV Oxford Street about a year ago for £16.99. Although a re-release and one of the versions Tony hates (This album has been direct metal mastered from a digitally re-mastered original tape to give the best possible sound quality), it sounds good to me and came with copies of all the original art inserts. FAB and Groovy man.

Mick
 
Muchachos

I have now seen a set; the packaging is top notch and the vinyl feels heavy: I did not look at it as the set was pre-ordered for someone else. It looks like all the albums are there, Magical Mystery Tour 1999 re-issue, Let It Be...Naked and One. They are direct metal pressings, digitally remastered.

I have ordered a copy of the latter which should arrive next week and I will post my opinions.

Regards

Mike
 
Too late, deleted!
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Good greif! How many did they press? I'm amazed its sold out before I've even seen one...

Other recent Beatles vinyl stuff hung around for quite a while; stuff like the yellow vinyl Yellow Submarine and the No.1 LPs (the Yellow Sub LP is worth about 30 quid already - I've got one).

Tony.
 
Just a suggestion, spend your 400 kwid on a Revox 2 track high speed open reel deck you will get a nice one off ebay for that. I bought mine privately for 450 it is the best solution for copying precious vinyl, (keeps it analog). I have all the Beatles Ill copy them for you and we can trade tapes (you copy stuff for me). All done on high end system, Michell Orbe SME V Naim.
Mal
P.S. Wecould start taping circles here......is it legal:rolleyes:
 
I’ve got a few decent original Beatles bits and bobs up for grabs at the moment if anyone is interested:

With The Beatles: Really nice clean yellow / black Parlophone mono – grades at EX / EX and has the early ‘large’ mono logo on the sleeve. 40 quid. (book value 50).

Hard Days Night: Another yellow / black Parlophone - this one grades just below EX / EX, vinyl is probably a VG++ if you are one of those who allow ‘+’ signs in gradings. Cover is EX. Has the early 'solid' mono wording on cover. Sounds excellent. 40 quid. (book value 60).

I’ve also got a really rare 1964 German import 7” of Ain’t she sweet / If you love me baby. This is a very early recording dating from the Hamburg years that was released as an import single in 64. Its Polydor 52317 and in EX condition with the generic Polydor sleeve in VG condition. 55 quid. (allegedly about 70 quid, but not in book as not UK pressing).

PM me if interested in any of the above.

Tony.
 
Well Groovers; toe in the water, I have located and bought a copy of Rubber Soul on the new japanese pressing. ( Diverse Vinyl at the Bristol Show. )

First impressions -and I have not yet been able to crank up the volume - very good quality vinyl. nice and quiet, well packaged. The sound, to me, is a bit bass light; the upper mid and treble are very well defined, as suspected, no trace of distortion on the inner tracks. Bass remains clear throughout, but not as up front as we may have become used to of late. Having said that, I feel this has a very 60s sound to it and it may be closer to the original intentions of George Martin. the fine detail comes out well; vocals are very clear with no distortion or sibilance.

I have compared this to a very early ( but fairly knackered ), mono Parlophone pressing - yellow writing on black, PMC 1267. This to me, instantly sounded warmer and to my surprise, the bass was much more prominent. So much so, that when I got number 1 daughter to comnpare the bass old vs. new, she actually said "What Bass?" on listening to the new. Upper notes far better on the new, as I would expect. This was with "In My Life."

I then remembered my recent standard vinyl purchase of this album, PCS 3075. To my surprise, this has the bass of the early pressing plus some, but not all, of the treble clarity of the japanese pressing. The vocals where a tad grainier but it sounded good, unlike my previous hearings of this copy.

Conclusions: I need to listen to it a bit more. It is good and clear, but it has not really gripped me. I may well buy a set from the US, but with a view to holding it as an investment.

Sorry if thats all a bit vague but those are my thoughts right now.

Later...

Had a chance to crank the volume up to 10.30 or so. Bit of a curates' egg - good in parts. The clarity is very good, pieces such as "Michell" and "In My Life" are particularly well delivered. It took a little while for my ears to get used to the bass light sound of the new pressing, but I think I can like it. What I do NOT like is the very bright sound of some of the lesser tracks, eg. "I'm Looking Through You." This was remedied to a degree by me walking away from the seakers, so room acoustics play a part, but my listening area is pretty heavily furnished.

I think this has been engineered for a sound that we in the UK are not used to; bright treble, and light bass. I can see the attractions of the version, but still not sure that I will get the full set.

A quandary.


Regards

Mike
 
I have compared this to a very early ( but fairly knackered ), mono Parlophone pressing - yellow writing on black, PMC 1267. This to me, instantly sounded warmer and to my surprise, the bass was much more prominent. So much so, that when I got number 1 daughter to comnpare the bass old vs. new, she actually said "What Bass?" on listening to the new.
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At the risk of appearing a totally geeky twat (which many will have guessed already), what is the matrix number of your yellow/black mono? If by any chance you are lucky enough to have a –1 then that is the fabled ‘loud cut’ pressing and should sound awesome if its in good condition. They all sound good though.

I’m certain you are bang on with the bass comments, the yellow / black label pressings are just so weighty compared to how most people think of The Beatles sounding. They are right, the reissues are wrong if they lack the weight. Simple as that!

The lack of top end clarity of your Ruber Soul is almost certainly down to wear – it is very hard to find decent condition Beatles originals. A good copy just has a solid 3 dimensional sound, and the guitar on bits of Rubber Soul is beautifully recorded.

I have just stuck a more than slightly buggered yellow black mono of Rubber Soul (-4 matrix) I have lying around on the LP12 and it sounds great; ok it mistracks quite a bit at the top end with plenty of crackles, but it still sounds more together and warm than any digital Beatles master I’ve heard so far!

As an experiment I have now just flung my normal 70s ‘two boxed EMI’ label stereo copy on the LP12 (this reply is taking some time to write!). I used the track 'You won't see me'. Its always incredibly hard to compare Beatles stereo and mono records as they are totally different masters, but there is not a lot of difference in bass weight – the 70s cut is still nice and warm with a ‘valve’ feel, but is way cleaner at the top, but that is almost certainly down to the original mono being gouged by some god-awful autochanger in the 60s.

I’d be very interested to stick the Jap disk you have bought up against a 70s black and silver issue – they normally ain’t quite as good as the yellow / blacks, but are still analogue and can be found in tidy condition at quite affordable prices. I suspect my money would be on the ‘two box’ 70s jobs – this one certainly lets Sir’s excellent bass playing shine through.

Tony.
 
I finally got the 'Let It Be (naked)' on vinyl on Saturday - the reason for the delay was that it was something I told my mother I'd like for Christmas, and she ordered it via perhaps the slowest dealer on the planet. Finally got it, though, and it is a peach of a pressing - very nice indeed.

For all that I love the music of the Beatles, I really must try to get some decent pressings of their stuff - I would be keen to find out if anyone has compared the Japanese pressings to the 'LIB(N)' pressing and can comment, qualitatively, on whether this 'lightness of bass & brightness of treble' that people are finding on the Jap pressings is universal, and whether they'd claim the same of the 'LIB(N)' release (which to my ears sounds fantastic).

jtc
 
Skipped through this thread with a mixture of delight and horror.

1. I flogged my sister's original copy of Please Please Me for about 4 shillings (20p) in 1967.
2. I never bought any of the Beatles albums at the time 'cos everybody had 'em!
3. I borrowed most of the seminal albums on vinyl from my mate Dave. They're (I think) Mobile Fidelity re-pressings, and I can't fault them. Prior to this, it had always been a case of 'great music, shame about the production values', but I now realise that the pressure to get zillions of copies out at the time didn't help. Even the tapes made via my LP12 from the Mo-Fi's on my cheapo Aiwa ADF 810 blow cd's out of the water.
4. Last time I was in 'The Beatles Experience' at Liverpool's Albert Dock, they had 'em all for sale on vinyl. No idea which pressings, but they were about £14 each. (Tony might know) They'd have to be better than the 'Experience' itself, which was tacky.

Finally, with any luck, an old school mate of mine, now living in Cleveland USA, still has the tapes he made on his Dad's Grundig TK-5, of the Beeb show which went out on Tuesdays at about 5:00pm. Kansas City, Carabella are about the only titles I can remember, ( It was 40 years ago!) but the music was superb.

Mull
 
My late grandfather was an engineer at the BBC and whilst doing some work for a performance by the Beatles obtained for my mother a photograph signed by all four Fabs and Brian Epstein.

Years later, she was having a clear out and threw the photograph away.

:(
 
Originally posted by Tony L
[), what is the matrix number of your yellow/black mono? If by any chance you are lucky enough to have a –1 then that is the fabled ‘loud cut’ pressing and should sound awesome if its in good condition. Tony. [/B]
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Hi Tony

I need to check the matrix number - but I have just seen a couple of Beatles goodies; one is a Mono Black/Yellow Rubber Soul, looks in pretty good mcondition - any ideas as to value?

Second, what I understand to be a real rarity; Please please me with the black and gold label: again, any ideas as to value? Guy looking for around £500 or so.....

Regards

Mike
 
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