Customer Reviews

The Capitol Albums Vol. 2 (Brick)

5 star:		(79)
4 star:		(28)
3 star:		(17)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(14)

 

 

The good news is that for American Beatles fans we get the albums the way they were originally released in the U.S. The sound is extremely good considering the age of these mastertapes. The gems here are "The Early Beatles", "Beatles VI" and"Rubber Soul". "Rubber Soul" was altered as well but Capitol curiously chose to remove 4 songs and replace two of these with acoustic tracks from "Help!" creating a much more folk-rock sounding album when compared to their British masterpiece. Each one has its merits incidently this one does have the false intro for "I'm Looking Through You" that was on the original stereo issue.


(Please note: The first pressing doesn't feature the original mono mixes (nor does "Beatles VI" although "The Early Beatles" and "Help!" do) but the stereo master remixed for mono. Capitol corrected the problem with a second pressing. You can tell if you have the first or second edition because the false start for "I'm Looking Through you" on "Rubber Soul" is on the mono mix first edition and it shouldn't have been since the false start was a unique feature to the stereo mix in the U.S.)


"Beatles VI" actually came out before "Rubber Soul" and featured tracks from "Help!", the earlier "Beatles For Sale" and single tracks such as the gorgeous B-Side "Yes It Is". The stereo tracks sound extremely good. "Help" has some terrific songs on it but the American release was always weaker than the British although I have always liked the James Bondish intro to the title song that wasn't ever on the original British release. For those purists that want Ken Thorne's score it makes its CD debut here alternating with the album tracks as on the original album release. Unfortunately Capitol elected (according to Bruce Spizer)not to recreate the gatefold jacket due to time constraints--that's too bad as it was a nice feature of the original packaging.

"The Early Beatles" features the oldest songs from their catalog--it's actually a reduced version of their first album "Please Please Me" featuring many of the tracks from the Vee Jay release. The stereo tracks sound great although keep in mind that they have that odd mix with instruments primarily in one speaker and/or vocals that George Martin elected to use early on (it was in case someone listened to a stereo LP on a mono player so it would create a fairly natural sounding "fold down" to mono). The stereo imaging is similar to the original release on vinyl from what I can tell.

The box this set comes in isn't all that great. The long box features a box that folds over to house the CD cardboard holders. Two complaints here 1) The packaging still looks cheap even though it's been improved and 2) the cardboard holders should have had plastic sleeves to hold the CDs in so they don't get scratched up. The reproduction of the album graphics are closer to the original ones although, again, they've been modified for the CDs. The pictures are much cleaner and clearer looking.

The booklet is great with rare (and not so rare) photos quotes from the band and a brief essay by Bruce Spizer who has written a number of books on the band's U.S. releases. Again I would have liked to see sturdier packaging but this does improve slightly on the previous packaging. Evidently the first set didn't set the world on fire like Capitol had hoped selling only a million units so I was surprised to see Capitol move forward with this release. Hopefully they'll release the last set and include "Yesterday and Today", "Hey Jude" (aka "The Beatles Again").

I just got off the phone with the vice president of sales for Capitol Records, and he said to call the 800-468-2362 number to exchange your set for the correct one. He told me that they will send you a prepaid envelope to put your set in, and then they will send you a new one. Amazingly, he said that the Capitol people AND the Apple people didn't notice the mistake, and it took some techincal people to realize what had happened!

And if you want to find the CORRECT version in the store, here's how- there won't be any sticker saying which on is which, but if you look on the regular sticker that is on it, look AFTER the catolog # and look for 'SK1'. THAT is the correct version!!!! Will probably be a few weeks before they make their way into most stores, but if you want to keep the screwed up one, go for it and then get the correct one.

He also told me that within the next year they plan on releasing 'The Travleing Wilburys' albums- FINALLY! V.3 of The Wilburys also is supposed to have a DVD with it too. AND (like Mazzy was saying) within the next year they also plan on reissuing the complete Beatles catalog in newly remastered discs with 5.1 stereo. He also says that new pics and other info for many of the albums has been discovered and will be included with the new reissues, especially since next year is the 40th anniversary of 'Sgt Peppers'. So it looks like there will be a LOT to look forward to from Capitol.

As far as a Volume 3, he says it's up to the Apple people to decide when it will be done. I asked about the deal with 'A Hard Day's Night' since it was released through United Artists and he said he didn't know whether it would be part of any of the sets or not. There's been some sort of legal battle over it and other material (like some of the video footage from 'Let It Be) in Denmark. So we'll have to wait and see (and I bet they'll be a LOT more careful on future ones!!)

Well,ever-eager to have the latest Beatles product,I rushed out to a local shopping mall record store that had an unbelievably low price on the set,though I was concerned that I might get one of the defective sets,with the wrong mixes for the mono renditions of "Beatles VI" and "Rubber Soul",so,as soon as I got home,I immediately cued up the mono version of "I'm looking Through You",and it had the false start.MY HEART SANK.I got the defective pressing(the false start is only supposed to be on the stereo mix).As of the date of my writing this,Capitol still had yet to announce how we can get the corrected "Rubber Soul" & "Beatles VI" discs.I didn't listen to the rest of the set,because I was so brought down that Capitol was so careless.They can't be trusted to properly present The Beatles music any more today than in the 1960's.Really,what I would have prefered would have been a proper remaster of the original British albums(mono,stereo & perhaps surround) on SACD.Presenting the music from Capitol's 3rd generation tapes was a dubious idea to begin with(though I did like "The Capitol Albums Vol.1",and the set achieved what it set out to do).Capitol should have postponed the release of Vol.2,instead of disappointing me and thousands of others by shipping a half-baked(partly defective) turkey.

At long last, Capitol has released the second volume of it's unique Beatles Albums. While Vol.1 contained the four albums from 1964, this collection has the four albums from 1965, The Early Beatles, Beatles VI, Help!, and Rubber Soul.
The first thing I noticed about the collection is that the packaging has been improved. The longbox seems sturdier and the discs don't fly out on the floor when you slide out the inside tray. Instead, You fold it in the middle to get the discs out. The jackets holding the CDs look great. Unlike the covers in Vol.1, the images are sharp and the jackets are not discolored. They even have the album titles on the spine. The booklet has tons of photos of the Beatles, including many I have never seen before. It contains a terrific essay by Beatles Author, Bruce Spizer. Most important, the music sounds great. These discs are a big improvement over the CDs issued back in the 80's. As with the case with Vol.1 It is cool getting the albums in stereo and mono.
I didn't buy The Early Beatles when it came out because I already had those songs on Introducing The Beatles. It has 11 songs that are on the Please Please Me CD, but in stero and mono. The CD from the 80's only have the songs in mono. The sound quality is so clear that you can actually hear the strain in John's voice during "Twist and Shout" and hear John and Paul singing different words in the 3rd verse of "Please Please Me"!
Beatles VI has some great rockers like "Kansas City", "Bad Boy", and "Dizzy Miss Lizzy", the last two having been recorded by The Beatles spicifically for the Capitol Album. "Eight Days A Week" may have been the single pick to help sell the album, but it has other great songs like "What You're Doing" and "Every Little Thing". Some of the songs on this album are on the Beatles For Sale CD which is in mono. It's great to get those songs in stereo. "What You're Doing" and "Kansas City" sound particularly good.
I have been looking forward to having the Help! soundtrack on CD. I always enjoyed hearing the James Bond intro leading into "Help!" It's one of the coolest album lead-offs from the 60's. Of course, the John and Paul songs like "You're Gonna Lose That Girl", "You've Got To Hide Your Love Away" and "The Night Before" are terrific, but the album also has one of George's first great songs, "I Need You". When the Help! CD was issued in the 80's, it had added echo to the songs. It's nice to hear these songs without the added echo like they were back on my 1965 album. And to my surprise, I actually enjoy hearing those "silly" instrumentals again. I forgot how varied the music was. I can't help but visualize the scenes from the movie when I hear them. A few songs like "Another Hard Day's Night" feature Indian music with sitar. This no doubt influenced George, who later played sitar on "Norwegian Wood". I had forgotton that the album actually ends with an Indian raga!
Rubber Soul was always my favorite album. I grew up with the American version and never got used to having it open with "Drive My Car" on the British version. It's a real treat to have it open with Paul's "I've Just Seen A Face" just like my vinyl record did back in 1965. The whole album is one fantastic folk rock song after another. I prefer this over the British version, which is also great, but not the same.This CD also has the same stereo mixes as the 1965 album, which had vocals on one side and instruments on the other for most of the songs. The CD from the 80's is also in stereo, but the vocals are centered. I enjoy being able to focus on just the music or the vocals like I did as a kid.
Many people say they don't like the Capitol albums because they are full of echo and fake stereo mixes. Only four of these songs in the box set are fake stereo. The first two, "Love Me Do" and "P.S. I love You", were the Beatles' first British single and have never been in stereo. The other two, "Yes It Is" and "Ticket To Ride", were on a 45 back in 1965. Their fake stereo mixes sound good and do not have a ton of echo like "I Feel Fine" did. If Capitol added echo to any of the songs on the four albums in this box set, I don't hear it.
I've heard that the mono songs on Beatles VI and Rubber Soul on the first manufacturing run of box sets are mistakenly stereo to mono mixdowns. That may be the case, but the CDs all sound wonderful. My Rubber Soul CD has the false start on both the stereo and mono versions of "I'm Looking Through You", so I got one of the early box sets. I plan on sending my Rubber Soul and Beatles VI discs back to Capitol Records to get the corrected discs, but not right away. I'm having too much fun listening to the box set. Bring on Vol.3!!!

Volume 2 of the Beatles' US Capitol albums picks up where Volume 1 left off in the rather skewed version of Beatle history as presented to the American public, where the original British albums were divided into far greater number by mixing up the tracks with assorted A-sides, B-sides and EP tracks. The first of this second bunch of four creates a further anomaly by falling chronologically before the earliest album on Volume 1. The soundtrack album A Hard Day's Night is also missing, as it appeared in America on the United Artists label, though most of the songs from the British album find their place on other Capitol albums, such as Something New.

The concept of these box sets is to exactly replicate the original vinyl albums, using the original album masters, in their mono and stereo incarnations, and as on the first box set this has been achieved, after the first pressing (the version I have). This means that shortcomings from the original albums have necessarily not been corrected. Most noticeably because stereo mixes of certain tracks were not available at the time of release, universally deplored fake stereo mixes (or "duophonic" versions) were concocted, and these have been retained on these sets, although on Volume 2 this only applies to three tracks.

Given the reason for this series of box sets, and the complexities of the various stereo and mono variations, it is odd that full discographical notes have not been given in the lavish but insubstantial booklets.

Taking the albums one by one, The Early Beatles consists of 11 of the 14 tracks from Please Please Me and marked the Capitol debut of tracks that had originally been released in America on Vee-Jay. Some of these tracks also appeared as singles and both sides of their 1962 debut UK single, Love Me Do/PS I Love You, appear only in "duophonic" stereo. The mono half of this CD has fold-downs of the stereo versions, as on the Capitol vinyl album, but these two tracks seem to be the standard mono mixes.

Beatles VI combines six tracks left over from Beatles For Sale with three tracks previewed from the forthcoming British Help! album. Bad Boy, recorded at the same session as Dizzy Miss Lizzy, was not included on Help! but turned up the following year on A Collection Of Beatles Oldies. Yes It Is was the B-side of Ticket To Ride, and although the mono mix sounds fine, the stereo version here is the third "duophonic" atrocity, sounding especially painful on headphones. Check out Past Masters Volume 1 for a true stereo option.

The mono versions of the Beatles For Sale tracks have been mixed down from the stereo ones, as I believe they were (but cannot corroborate from this side of the pond) on their original US release. The Help! items and Bad Boy should be the original supplied George Martin mono mixes, although on the first pressing of this CD mono fold-downs were inadvertently used.

The stereo mixes on all pressings of this disc are those prepared by George Martin for the original vinyl releases in 1965. The Apple CD of Help! was released in stereo using superior new mixes prepared by George Martin in 1987 (claims that the Yellow Submarine Songtrack was the first time Beatles material had been remixed are therefore seen to be incorrect), so all the tracks here are new to CD.

The Help! CD here is the soundtrack version released only in the US, and includes seven Beatles soundtrack recordings augmented by incidental music from the film. There is little information about these except that the score was by Ken Thorne, incorporated some Beatle tunes and added some Indian instrumentation, appropriate to the film plot. This was supplied by Shiv Dayal Batish (who died in Santa Cruz on 29 July 2006) who played vichitra veena. "The studio session lasted a whole day," he later recalled, and featured friends playing tabla, sitar and flute. Indeed, it marked the start of George Harrison's fascination with the sitar.

The stereo mixes are again those prepared by George Martin in 1965, and the Beatles mono tracks are folded-down from stereo as on the 1965 American album. This is unfortunate as Help! was the earliest Beatle album to be mastered in stereo on CD, and so the mono mixes are new to CD, and would otherwise include the single version of Help! with its different vocal track.

The instrumental non-Beatle tracks are apparently in separate stereo and mono mixes. Ticket To Ride, although in a different mix to that on One, does not sound anything like bad enough to be duophonic, as has been suggested, and since, unlike Yes It Is, it was included on the UK stereo album Help! there is no reason why a true stereo mix should not have been prepared.

Rubber Soul shares its title with its British counterpart, but offers a slightly different track selection. I've Just Seen A Face and It's Only Love had appeared on the British Help! album (though not in the film), and by substituting these in place of four of the more upbeat tracks from the British version, they created an album with a more acoustic feel, which found favour with American audiences.

The stereo and mono mixes on this disc (after the first pressing which was again mastered in error from a mono fold-down tape) are those prepared by George Martin for the original vinyl releases in 1965. The 1987 Apple CD of Rubber Soul was released in stereo using superior new mixes prepared by George Martin, so all the tracks here are also new to CD. However, the stereo mixes are quirky and are of more historical interest than as a real alternative to those already available.

This historical concept means that some tracks from British albums have still never had a release on an American Capitol CD. These include Misery and There's A Place from their first British album; and Hard Day's Night, I Should Have Known Better and Can't Buy Me Love from A Hard Day's Night. The Apple CD versions of these two albums (Please Please Me and A Hard Day's Night) are both the original monophonic mixes, so stereo mixes of Love Me Do, PS I Love You (if they exist), Misery, There's A Place, You Can't Do That ("duophonic" on Something New) and I Should Have Known Better are unavailable on any official Beatle CD album or compilation, as far as I know.

Purchasers of both boxed sets and the One compilation are still thwarted in their attempts to recreate their own stereo versions of these original Beatles albums. Would it have been too much to extend the concept to include the missing tracks and mixes as bonus tracks? Or is the concept itself perhaps misconceived, with a better idea being to present the albums in the best possible stereo and mono mixes, and adding all missing contemporary tracks? Perhaps Apple in the UK should pick up the baton. After all, there still seems to be a market for these mop-top guys.

When I ripped these CD's and put them on my computer and listened to them, my heart sank.

First, the sound is so incredibly loud, in comparison to other CD's, that one has turn down the stereo significantly to even carry on a conversation.

That led me to run the files through what is called a wave editor, which shows the digital files in a viewable format. What I saw confirmed what I heard.

All the tracks were recorded at zero decibles, the maximum any digital sound file can have. If it is louder than that, the sound is clipped and there can be modest to significant distortion.

I may be getting too technical for you guys, but in the old days we had a VU meter and the sound could crest into the red (above 0db) and be OK--not with digital music. Above 0db, and the file portions are simply not heard. 80% of the music in each track file are at 0db.

To simplify this for you the quiet portions of each track and the louder portions of each track are compressed so each approaches or exceeds 0db. What I saw were sounds tha instead of peaking or approaching 0db were well above that value. So instead of a good zig zag file pattern, one sees a big blot of red.

When I went back and listened to the sections that were above 0db, you could hear noticeable clipping and distortion.

Lowering the volume using any digital sound editor certainly makes the CD set more listienable, but does not remove the distortion and clipping.

High compression mastering at 0db is now a mistake that some CD mastering plants are doing. I'm not sure why. Audioslave and Red hot chili peppers are two other examples of artists doing this to make the sound appear to be punchier.

From a sound standpoint, this set sucks. Rip the Capitol vinyl versions or buy the Japanese versions, both of which will give you a more honest sound of the greatest rock group ever.

I am so disappointed in this set.

I bought this set and was really let down when the mono version of "Rubber Soul" was obviously a fold down from stereo! I understand there's a newer issue with the correct original mono. I can't find one. Apparently Capitol is still selling or has not sold out the original flawed pressing. Can someone post the serial # of the second issue box set on this site please! Is there a way to get one?

I personally wish they would delete the 1987 CD re mixes done by George Martin which, to me, are the equivalent of colorizing movies! The remixes are typical 80's mixes with too much drums, digital effects etc. Listening to these mixes, all the magical guitar sounds are thin and metallic. I doubt this music would've achieved the acclaim it did if released in this form. This same misguided formula has ruined the Rolling Stones re issues on CD. Honky Tonk women is unlistenable! Will Capitol, my former label, ever figure out there's a reason people pay huge dollars for the original British LP's? I wish someone up there would realize there's a large audience for the mixes as they originally were released! With the number one CD selling only 66,000 copies this week, (Dreamgirls), you'd think sales of a couple hundred CD's would make it worth their while.

The record business is in trouble in large part because of the slip shod, no one'll know the difference, attitude taken by the bean counters running the business. After a while people give up and move on! The Beatles catalog has got to be an important part of Capitols' income. Why not satisfy fans who want clean, undistorted by volume mashing, versions of the Beatles catalog as it was originally issued in the UK and the US in Mono and Stereo. I, for one, would buy a half dozen sets of each for family and friends!

Millions of people made the Beatles the biggest musical act of the 20th century. Then someone gets a brilliant idea...let's remix their records without them and sacrifice the spontaneity and wit of the original band effort for the sake of removing the demonic tape hiss!!!! and never release clean CD versions of the original mixes again...ever! To whom does this make sense? It gives you a small clue as to why the record business is out of touch with its audience! If some people want remixes and mash ups fine, let em have em! But to keep the original article unavailable? At least with the Hendrix catalog both versions are available. The great Eddie Kramer's remixes are interesting but he's smart enough to respect the brilliance of his original mixes and they are kept available!

It wasn't broken. Why must they "Fix it?" -Henry Gross

I don't mean to yell but everywhere I look I find someone complaining that the mono mixes on Early Beatles and Help are incorrect as well.

They are indeed stereo fold down mixes **BUT** they always have been! Yes there were true mono mixes created for all the tracks contained on these two albums, but Capitol records circa 1965 didn't see fit to track them down and instead released the stereo mixes melted to monaural as the mono albums at the time, so that is how they are being re-issued. All of the true mono mixes for the songs contained on the Early Beatles are available on the Please Please Me CD. 9 of the 14 songs that make up the british mono version of Help! were release on CD as either part of the Singles and EP sets or part of the CORRECT version of this collection. The Night Before, You've Got to Hide Your love Away, I Need You, Another Girl, and You're Going to Lose that Girl have yet to make their Cd debut in their true original mono mix.

These are the US editions which we grew up with. Extra albums, different track order, weird stereo seperation, etc. These were never meant to be compared to the U.K. releases. These versions are part of USA Beatle history. Now on to the goof up of the 1st batch.

The mono version of "Norwegian Wood" on Rubber Soul, Has the distinctive cough between the lines "... and she told me to sit anywhere" and "... so I looked around and I noticed there wasn't a chair" - I DIDN'T HEAR IT! which meant that the version was in fact the U.S. stereo mix "folded down" to mono.

On "I'm Looking Through You," Paul McCartney coming in early on acoustic guitar, That "false start" was heard on the song's U.S. stereo mix and not on the mono mix. This tell tale sign showed the stereo tapes were used mistakenly in the Rubber Soul pressing, as well as on Beatles VI.

Rather than let it be, Capitol decided to re-press the CDs with the correct tapes.

The initial production run of The Capitol Albums Volume 2 used improperly compiled masters for the Beatles VI and Rubber Soul discs. Although the discs sound great, they are not historically accurate in that the mono versions of those two albums are stereo-to-mono mixdowns. Oddly enough, The Early Beatles and Help! were originally prepared by Capitol in 1965 as stereo-to-mono mixdowns. So the initial production run of the box set has proper 1965 stereo-to-mono mixdowns for The Early Beatles and Help! combined with improper 2006 stereo-to-mono mixdowns for Beatles VI and Rubber Soul.

Here is an explanation of how the mono mishap most likely occurred. Capitol sent its 1965 stereo and mono master tapes of the albums to Sterling Sound for mastering. Sterling made stereo and mono masters for each of the albums using the original stereo and mono tapes from 1965. Sterling also made stereo-to-mono mixdowns for all of the albums. This was done to determine if the two tracks of the stereo masters were properly phased. Failure to have the tracks properly in phase would result in problems if the tracks were mixed down by radio or television stations for mono broadcast. These test mixdowns were not intended for release and were not sent to Capitol.

Capitol received reference discs containing the proper stereo and mono versions of each of the four albums. After careful review, Capitol gave its approval for the CDs to be manufactured with the stereo and mono masters it had received from Sterling. Unfortunately, an employee at Sterling mistakenly used the stereo-to-mono test mixdowns of Beatles VI and Rubber Soul when compiling the production masters. Thus, the factories were sent improper mono masters for the two albums.

The Story

Capitol was made aware of the error during the production run. Andrew Gardner, host of a Beatles show in Philadelphia, noticed something odd when listening to an advance copy of the box set. He knew that the stereo version of "I'm Looking Through You" has a false start guitar intro not present on the mono version of the song. Much to his surprise, he discovered that the mono version of the song on his CD also had the false start. He contacted another disc jockey, who put him in touch with me. Although I was on vacation and had not heard the CDs, I knew from Gardner's description of the song that there was a problem. I called Capitol and made them aware of the error. It was quickly determined that the wrong mono tapes were used for Beatles VI and Rubber Soul. Capitol immediately contacted Sterling, who then sent the proper tapes to the factories for use in the remainder of and all future production runs. Capitol also set up a procedure where purchasers of the initial production run can exchange their discs for the corrected discs.

In 1965, Capitol intentionally created two albums worth of new mono mixes when it made stereo-to-mono mixdowns for The Early Beatles and Help! Over forty years later, Capitol unintentionally created two albums worth of new mono mixes for Beatles fans and collectors with its initial production run of Beatles VI and Rubber Soul. As John would say, "Most peculiar, Mama!"

The 2nd corrected batch has a "SK1" at the end of the catalog number on the yellow sticker.

To Replace The Defective Discs

Call 800-468-2362 and provide information on their CD purchase. They will also be asked to return the two CDs to EMM.

Or
Request a replacement copy by writing to:

EMI Music Distribution
Customer Fulfillment Operations
1 Capitol Way
Jacksonville, IL 62650-1095
Attn: Director of Quality Assurance

Quick note to all those emoting on the eternal subject of 14-song British Beatle albums versus the 11-song American albums: As a teenager in the 60's who started importing the British Beatles and Stones LPs (first for my own pleasure, and then to sell to others), I learned why this disparity was so prevalent. England had a law prohibiting any artist from releasing more than 2 LPs in any calendar year. Why this was, I never found out. But it explains the EPs (4-song 45 RPM records) being released frequently in England at the time, as well as the practice of not duplicating singles on the albums. So the next time we read someone griping about the money-grubbing American record companies mangling the pristine British releases (which they most certainly did), rest assured that EMI (and Decca and the other British labels) would have loved to do the same thing if the law had only allowed them to. BTW, the 2 Donovan albums Sunshine Superman and Mellow Yellow had to be squeezed onto ONE British LP (16 songs -- 8 on each side -- without the singles) to conform to the British law (there had been another album released that year by him). It did not flow nearly as well as the 2 American albums. So the mangling of track sequences can work both ways. I side with those who say that since the singles were (usually) recorded at the same time as the other album cuts, they were rightfully included on the American LPs (Long Play records for you younger readers). Yes, the record companies made more money off us this way. So what? They still are.

Let's just be grateful we have some additional interesting and entertaining mixes of the songs we all love by these great artists. The mono/stereo differences described in other reviews here are so much fun to jump back and forth to.

Incidentally, I am hoping these releases will extend clear through to the final albums. Remember the Rarities LP? There were a couple of examples of different mono mixes from the white album on that one. The Rarities liner notes mentioned other unspecified cuts from that album which differed markedly in the mono/stereo mixes. So let's go all the way, Apple/Capitol/EMI/Parlophone! AND release the Rarities LP itself! AND The Beatles Story! AND the few remaining songs from the 1962 demo session not included on Anthology I. AND the Beatles Christmas Album, consisting of the Christmas greetings they mailed out each year to their British fan club members, filled with wit and fun and bits of original music. AND of course the memorable Hollywood Bowl live album. The exciting version of She's A Woman with the extended ending -- which sent the girls into such a frenzy -- simply MUST be released on CD, along with the other wonderful songs and quips between songs. AND definitely any other songs from their career together which haven't been released yet. Complete songs. Fragments. Goofing around in the studio. The entire raw studio sessions tape set. I'm not kidding. Example: The first British LP, Please Please Me, in all its 14-song glory, was for the most part (if not completely) recorded in just one day, according to reliable sources. What a revelation that complete session would be.

In the meantime, this second set of American releases will tide us over. For now.............