Customer Reviews

The Beatles Story on Capitol Records, Part Two: The Albums

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This book is the third book of a trilogy that every Beatle collector should have. Starting with the history of VJ, Bruce has fantastically illustrated the Beatles American history on vinyl. With this third edition, Part 2 of the history at Capitol, The photo's, the adverts, and the history itself make this book worthwile in every way.

I have been a Beatles collector/dealer for many years and this excellent book answers alot of questions I`ve wondered about.It is very well written to be not only a reference book but also very entertaining.A must have for any Beatle fan,new or old.

This was the second Bruce Spizer book that I had bought and like it's companion "Part 1 - The Singles" it is an amazingly enjoyable book to behold. I've got these US versions in my collection though they are Orange Label 70's variations. It's great to learn about the logic behind their releases and it's equally interesting to listen to a US "Rubber Soul" especially as I was used to the UK/Australian 14 track version all these years... the US Version sounds like a Folk/Rock album ALA the Byrds. The "Butcher Cover" saga is a production almost bigger than "Ben-Hur". Bruce Spizer takes you right into the minds of those involved with that drama. No wonder Alan Livingston was reluctant to take those 20 "Butcher" LP's home... as a first-hand participant he'd had enough of them! The Author's thoroughness is never in question and the quality of his books consistently put many others to shame. The label reproductions are wonderful and helpful if you've bought the original US LP's. To think that now those US LP's are now deleted and replaced by their UK counterparts. A good thing is now the first 8 US LP's ("Meet The Beatles" through to "Rubber Soul" (US version) but not including the "The Beatles Story" 2LP 'documentary') are now available on CD in the 2 volume "Capitol Albums" boxed sets in both Stereo & Mono. (Not sure that there will be a 3rd volume though).
Overall the quality is superb and Mr. Spizer's books sit in the same class as those of Mark Lewisohn's "Complete Beatles Chronicle" & "Abbey Road" books as well as the massive "Beatles Anthology" tome. While each part stands alone quite well you must buy Part 1 to complete the set as they complemment each other really beautifully. I thoroughly recommend these books to any Beatles fan and lovers of Rock Music books.

Bruce Spizer has done it again! If you have Part One-The Singles, you NEED this book. It is just as detailed and interesting as Mr. Spizer's first two books. I love the detail and care involved in getting the story right. Like I mentioned in my review of Bruce's last book, I now can't wait for the next book about the Beatles records on APPLE RECORDS being published in 2002.

WELL FOLKS, IT'S FINALLY HERE! THE LONG AWAITED VOLUME TWO OF BRUCE SPIZER'S NEW BEATLES CAPITOL ALBUMS BOOK TITLED, 'THE BEATLES' STORY ON CAPITOL RECORDS PART TWO: THE ALBUMS' (By Bruce Spizer, October 2000). INDEED, I'M RUNNING OUT OF SUPERLATIVES TO DESCRIBE THE INCREDIBLE WORK THAT BRUCE HAS DONE IN THE FIELD OF THE BEATLES AMERICAN RECORDS. JUST WHEN YOU THINK IT'S NOT POSSIBLE, HE IMPROVES HIS PRODUCT EVERYTIME! AS YOU ALREADY PROBABLY KNOW, HIS FIRST TWO BOOKS ('Songs, Pictures & Stories Of The Fabulous Beatles Story On Vee Jay Records' & 'The Beatles' Story On Capitol Record Part One: The Singles') WERE AMAZING CRITICAL SUCCESSES AND EASILY THE BEST BEATLES RECORD BOOKS TO EVER BE PUBLISHED ON THE SUBJECT OF THE BEATLES ORIGINAL CAPITOL & VEE JAY RECORDS! THIS BOOK CONTINUES BRUCE'S TRADITION OF IMPROVING THE BOOK WHENEVER AND WHEREEVER HE CAN. ONE EXAMPLE IS BRINGING TO VIBRANT LIFE THE "ALREADY REALLY GOOD PICTURES" INTO VERY BRIGHT, STUNNING DETAILED IMAGERY! INDEED, MANY OF THE LABELS IN THIS BOOK LOOK BETTER THAN THE RECORD LABELS THEMSELVES! THE STORYLINES AND RESEARCH ARE SIMPLY FIRST RATE. THE ARTICLES SUCH AS THE "THE HISTORY OF THE BUTCHER COVER", ALONG WITH HISTORIES/ILLUSTRATATIONS OF THE BEATLES CANADIAN AND MEXICAN ALBUMS (AND VARIOUS OTHERS) ARE TRULY A BONUS AS THIS BOOKS STANDS STRONG ON THE MERITS OF THE BOOKS MAIN FOCUS, ...THE U.S. RECORDS! ANOTHER HUGE TREAT ARE THE MANY IN-STORE PROMOTIONAL ITEMS SUCH AS ORIGINAL IN-STORE MOTION/STILL DISPLAYS AND POSTERS FEATURED IN FULL COLOR!! YES MANY OF US ASSISTED BRUCE IN HIS EFFORTS, BUT HE TAKES HOME THE TROPHY AND DESERVEDLY SO! JUST ORDER IT FOR YOURSELF AND YOU'LL SAY THE SAME THING I DID.... "I DIDN'T THINK IT COULD BE DONE, BUT THIS BOOK IS EVEN BETTER THAN THE OTHERS!!!" OF COURSE, AS WE HAVE COME TO EXPECT WITH ALL BRUCE'S QUALITY WORKS, EVERY SINGLE ENTRY IN THE BOOK IS ACCOMPANIED WITH FULL ILLUSTRATION! I CAN ONLY IMAGINE WHAT'S IN STORE FOR HIS "BEATLES ON APPLE RECORDS" BOOK WHICH WILL BE OUT IN 2002! ...THE PHRASE "ABSOLUTELY A MUST HAVE FOR EVERY BEATLE FAN AND COLLECTOR" IS INDEED, A PRETTY WORN OUT PHRASE, BUT IT'S GREAT BOOKS LIKE THIS THAT FORCE IT'S USE YET AGAIN!

A great book to find treasures with your old LP's. To find out what version or issue numbers you might own. Pictures are extremely good! With glossy photos!!

I first purchased "The Beatles Story on Capitol Records, Part 1: The Singles" back in December 2000. Bruce Spizer was a phone in guest on the morning radio station that listened to at the time. Both volumes were the topic of discussion. Around this time "The Beatles Anthology" book had just come out and was at the top of the best seller list was garnering a lot of media attention. However I was at a local bookstore doing some Christmas shopping and saw "The Beatles Story...part 1" and remembered the discussion with the author on the radio. After briefly thumbing through it, it looked like an interesting book as it went in depth into the Beatles breakthrough into the American market. I decided to buy it and I couldn't put it down. The book was printed on high quality paper and the photos were incredible. It was great to read about how the author loved the Beatles on Captiol records. I was born shortly after the group disbanded so I never experienced "Beatlemania" first hand so "Part 1: The Singles" was very interesting since I had never seen some of the original 45 record sleeves and definitely not in COLOR. I have always been a person that pays attention to great detail and Mr. Spizer's books do that and so much more. I was doing some Christmas shopping on Amazon around Christmas (2008) and came across "Part 2: The Albums". I hadn't seen the book in stores but I knew of its existence having owned Part 1. I decided to buy it and I have to say that I love it even more than Part 1!!! I became a Beatles fan in the early 1980's and when I started buying Beatles albums, the Capital records were the only ones you could get. There was no option of buying the British releases although occasional I would see imports at the record store. I remembered the original running order of the songs on the Capitol albums and the pictures and the liner notes on the back of the each record. I still have all of my Beatles records from when I was a kid and I am so glad I took care of them. Even though I own all of their CDs (it was the release of their music on CD back in 1987 that prompted me and millions of other people to go out and buy CD players), I still prefer the Capital albums on vinyl. I was excited when Capitol decided to release the first 8 Capital albums on CD in 2004 and 2006. Mr. Spizer does the liner notes for the 2006 set. I have since bought "The Beatles Swan Song" and "The Beatles on Apple Records". These are the best books I have seen on the Beatles recorded output with the possible exception of Mark Lewison's "The Beatles at Abbey Road" which came out in 1988. I think its safe to say that Mr. Spizer is Mark Lewsion's American counterpart in terms of Beatle experts. Great books on an incredible subject!!!

Bruce Spizer has proven to be an authortative figure when it comes to his experience about the American-released records from The Beatles. His second book, "The Beatles' Story On Capitol Records, Part Two: The Albums" is a perfectly fitting follow-up to the previous book about "Beatlemania & The Singles". In this edition, he focuses primarily on the 33 1/3 Long Playing album releases that dominated the popular album charts during the mid-60s. Every album is represented here, from "Meet The Beatles!" through "Magical Mystery Tour". Visually, the illustrations included are phenomenal, showing every known existing album cover, record label and other promotional items. There is a very fascinating section about both the 'Butcher' and 'Trunk' covers for the "Yesterday And Today" album from 1966, and a great deal of information regarding "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band". This book makes the perfect companion piece to the first Capitol book, as well as his book about the Vee-Jay releases. Mr. Spizer eventually followed this one with his next book, about Apple.

I had the opportunity to meet the author up at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame during the time that the Lennon exhibit was there. He was as nice and down to earth as you would think he would be.

Each of these books is an absolute MUST if you are a Beatles fan. I find myself getting one of them off of my bookcase every now and then to read up on a certain album or single...be it VJ, SWAN, CAPITOL, or APPLE. I especially like the Capitol albums book AND both books on APPLE RECORDS.

I'm kinda wondering what Bruce will write on next!!

During the press conference for the Vancover show in 64,Paul voiced his
disaproval of how the American record company would release anything
as a single. During one of their U.S shows John took a swipe at one
of the LP titles. He didn't have a copy of it & didn't want one.After
buying the Capital Box sets of their U.S. LP's I know know why & you
will too. Growing up in Australia, we got the U.K. versions of their
albums - which are the REAL versions & are better. Read this book & you
will see how the record company milked the music for all they could.
Capitol never wanted them but when they were forced to take
The Beatles...they became the most succesful act to have records released by the label. And you payed for that privilage. A facinating book.