Past Masters, Volume Two

The Beatles | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Apple Records/Capitol
• ASIN: B000002USZ
• Also Available in: Audio CD
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (127 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #15,792 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Day Tripper

2. We Can Work It Out

3. Paperback Writer

4. Rain

5. Lady Madonna

6. The Inner Light

7. Hey Jude

8. Revolution

9. Get Back

10. Don't Let Me Down

11. The Ballad Of John And Yoko

12. Old Brown Shoe

13. Across The Universe

14. Let It Be

15. You Know My Name (Look Up The Number)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

What can you say, really? When you get right down to it, it's the greatest band in the history of pop music, the most influential, the best writers, and whatever other superlatives you can think of. Given their phenomenal output, and their huge chart success, it's no surprise that this second volume proves every bit as rich as the first. John, Paul, George, and Ringo had that rare chemistry that moved musical mountains, with more great songs than many people have had hot dinners, and they're still affecting the course of popular music. Thirty years later, all the paths they hinted at have yet to be explored, which is about as high a testament as can be given. --Chris Nickson

Product Description

2CD

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

154 of 160 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars the long lost American lp August 10, 2003

By Kelly L. Norman VINE™ VOICE

Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase

OK, it finally happened. Sadder than the day someone put unleaded gas in your 57 Chevy. Your lps melted, or warped, or something and you finally realized that you HAVE to upgrade: It's time to buy the Beatles CDs. Everything is going fine UNTIL....you can't find "Hey Jude"! What happened to that wonderful album with such hits as Paperback Writer and The Ballad of John and Yoko? You can't even find it on e-Bay! What's a bifocaled, befuddled Beatle fan to do?

Here is your answer. "Hey Jude" was an American compilation, and all the CDs were made off the British masters. But the songs from "Hey Jude" are all here on "Past Masters Vol. 2", with a couple of extras thrown in. Now you can listen to "We Can Work It Out" and wonder if Jane Asher is glad they didn't work it out (as Sir Paul and Heather hog the tabloid headlines); be amazed again at the before-its-time technology of "Rain"; explain to your kids that "Lady Madonna" is not about that other Madonna; mourn Joe-Joe (the man who thought he was a loner -- Linda Eastman's first husband, who died in 1998) ; remember the concert on the roof from "Let It Be" on "Get Back"; and debate whether "The Ballad of John and Yoko" is an exercise in grandiosity or satire.

But wait! There's more! This version of "Across the Universe", which features cricket and meadow noises, is a refreshing change from that on the Specter-produced "Let it Be" lp. And "You Know My Name (Look Up The Number)" is goofy Brit humor at its best.

What's missing? Well, that cool picture, you know, the one with the boys in Cuban boots & hats, standing in front of huge doors? I'm on a hunt for it. I'm sure I have a copy somewhere among my books and magazines. When I find it, I'll tape it to the jewel case. Voila.

62 of 66 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Companion to the British albums starting with RUBBER SOUL September 1, 2004

By MurrayTheCat

Format:Audio CD

In the late 80s, the two PAST MASTERS discs, consisting of the non-album songs (mostly singles), were released to supplement the original, British-format albums.

VOLUME TWO picks up with late-1965 recordings and ends with the 1970 "Let It Be" single. Generally this compilation was welcome at the time of its initial release (we were happy to get these songs on CD), but numerous fans had some rather cold feelings regarding the poor choice to include the stereo versions of many of these songs. Excluding "You Know My Name," which has never received a stereo mix, eight of the remaining 14 tunes (those released prior to 1969's "Get Back," the first stereo Beatles single) were originally released in mono and sounded fabulous. Perhaps there's a bit of truth to Ringo's knee-slapper: "George Martin has gone deaf in one ear. Now he can only work in mono!" Martin spent the majority of time working on the mono mixes and comparatively little time on the stereo. No doubt, George Martin was a mono-mixing genius. So why did we get the inferior stereo versions here?

Mono had been the standard for years, but there came an industry-wide push around 1969 to make stereo the standard. Ever since stereo became the norm, the record industry has tried very hard to brainwash the public into thinking that stereo is--and always was--better than mono. It is unfortunate that their efforts have been surprisingly successful because the inescapable fact remains that most stereo rock music from rock's early years sounds terribly artificial compared with what we are used to from the 70s onward. The stereo mixes of several of these songs sound grossly anemic--a far cry from their clear, full, focused, and balanced mono counterparts.... So my disappointment with PAST MASTERS VOLUME TWO is simply that marketing wins out over artistic merit. (Too often we consumers suffer because of myths propagandized by corporate marketing mentality.)

"Day Tripper" and "We Can Work It Out" were released together as a single around the same time as RUBBER SOUL. The stereo versions of both songs give us extreme channel separation: Bass and drums are shoved far left while the vocals are far right, sounding detached and cavernous. The stereo picture sounds synthetic and gimmicky. And with the bass and drums shoved into a corner, the music's power is sapped, the rhythm section lacking sonic unity.

The stereo version of "Paperback Writer" has the guitars and drums far left, leaving only Paul's bass far right. It sounds as though the drums and guitars are in a separate room, down a hall somewhere. The vocals, once again, sound detached and abnormal: The lead and some harmonies are in the middle while the rest of the harmonies are far right. The mono version, released as a single with "Rain" two months before REVOLVER, is shockingly powerful, focused, and realistic in comparison. Although "Rain," for the most part, was spared bizarre channel separation--the rhythm section is front and center where it should be--John's vocals (far left) are severed from the harmony vocals (far right). It's close to the mono, but the mono still sounds better.

The album notes to the PAST MASTERS discs lead one to believe that these stereo versions were the original releases. "Lady Madonna," released as a single in March 1968, was not given its lopsided stereo remix until December 1969 for the Capitol compilation HEY JUDE. "The Inner Light," the flip side to the "Lady Madonna" single, was given its first stereo remix in January 1970 and is actually a decent representation of the original.

This version of "Revolution," however, is anything but a decent representation of the original mono single--a song of intense, raucous power. In fact, this stereo account is perhaps the most dismembered-sounding Beatles remix of all. "Hey Jude" is not so bad in stereo--why it was spared the sonic contortions received by some of these others is beyond me--but I assure you that the mono still sounds better.

Thankfully VOLUME TWO includes the single versions of "Get Back" and "Let It Be," which differ from the tracks on the LET IT BE and LET IT BE... NAKED albums. The stereo versions of those two songs plus "Don't Let Me Down," "The Ballad Of John And Yoko," and "Old Brown Shoe" do not sound gimmicky, and I prefer them to the mono versions. We also get the glorious original version of "Across The Universe," for years available only on the World Wildlife Fund's OUR WORLD LP. Recorded in 1968, the song received its stereo mix for the Wildlife album in October 1969. So the six stereo tunes from 1969 are the reasons why I hang on to VOLUME TWO.

The only place I know of where you will find the original mono versions of the pre-1969 songs is THE BEATLES CD SINGLES COLLECTION, an outrageously priced boxed set of the British singles. And because of the audacious price, I will not recommend that collection to the more casual fans of this group. I do highly recommend the SINGLES COLLECTION to those fans who must have the mono; but trust me, the price is enough to make one gasp.

PAST MASTERS VOLUME TWO is okay for those who have never heard the mono versions. But to many of us who grew up listening to the glorious mono mixes of most of these tunes, PAST MASTERS VOLUME TWO was like a slap in the face. Again, those who are not used to the mono versions will have no reason to share in my hardened partiality and should be reasonably happy with the two PAST MASTERS discs; after all, they are reasonably priced. Know, however, that superior versions exist which make many of the stereo ones sound abhorrently weak. Read more ›

34 of 38 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Round-up of singles never released on original albums December 22, 2003

By Peter Durward Harris HALL OF FAMETOP 500 REVIEWER

Format:Audio CD

In the sixties, singles were far more important than albums and it was common practice for the best tracks to be released on singles or EP's and not to appear on album until there were enough tracks for a Greatest hits. Album sales were modest compared to singles sales so the idea of using a single to promote an album had not yet been born. When it was decided to release all the original Beatles albums on CD, there were enough of these tracks to fill two CD's of their own. Past masters volumes 1 and 2 contain these tracks. In a few cases, different versions of the songs appeared on original albums. Volume 2 (this one) is the stronger of the two, but both are excellent.

The first two tracks here, Day tripper and We can work it out, made up a double-sided single that topped the international charts. Paperback writer, Lady Madonna, Hey Jude, Get back, Ballad of John and Yoko and Let it be were the other major international hits on this collection. The version of Across the universe here was produced for use by a wildlife charity and is much better than the version on the original Let it be album.

Since this CD was originally released, all the hits were released on the red album, 1962 to 1966, or the blue album, 1967 to 1970, so if you're just looking for hits, you might be better to buy those or the more recent Beatles 1. But if you are a serious Beatles fan, this album is just as important as the original albums.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Here's a detailed track-by-track review... August 1, 2000

By "kitmidi"

Format:Audio CD

Forgive the length, but I didn't want to leave out anything! (it barely fits the 1000 word limit, I had to trim it) Past Masters Volume 1 covered from the "Love Me Do" single to "Help!". This album picks right up where volume 1 left off, just where their music started to get interesting...

The first two songs on this collection are very strong, and I think would have fit along nicely on Rubber Soul.

Day Tripper - The greatest guitar riff in Rock and Roll history. The lyrics aren't quite as good, but still a solid song. But of course, the sound in the right channel quickly fades out then back in at certain parts, probably to mask some kind of flub. Of course this only makes it sound worse.

We Can Work It Out - To my memory, the Beatle's first song with a political lead ("Come Together", "Revolution"). A great song, but the shortest on the CD. Cool guitar riff.

Another great single, with two more strong songs that would have fit nicely with Revolver.

Paperback Writer - Great harmonies, reminiscent of "Nowhere Man", with at about 6 voices that I can hear.

Rain - Excellent drums. Excellent bass. Extra excellent lyrics. "I can show you that when it starts to rain, everything is the same". Simply superb. (the melody is pretty catchy too, along with more great harmonies)

Lady Madonna - Not a bad song, but not extroardinary in any way (it being a Beatles song and everything, you start to expect the unexpected!). I like the Saxophones and Lead Guitar.

Inner Light - 100 times better than "Love You Too", and almost as great as "Within You Without You". Some people won't like it, but I love it.... For those of you not familiar with any of these songs, it's a pleasant song with mixed with Indian music and philosophy.

Here comes another great single, the Beatle's best selling and most popular.

Hey Jude - A nice song, but I really don't like it that much. By not liking it that much, I mean in comparison to the rest of the human race. It is a great song, with beautiful melody and very reassuring and positive lyrics. The ending is the best part. Without a doubt the most popular and successful Beatles song. Also one of their longest tracks. One more note, I don't consider this paul's best song, that honor would go to something like "For No One".(ps. please don't slam me for not loving this song!)

Revolution - In my humble opinion, better than "Hey Jude". First of all, it's got those great fuzzed up guitars. Second, it's got John(?) screaming in the beginning. Finally, it's got that high note in "don't you know it's gonna BE". Seriously, the two songs are close, but "Revolution" wins out because of lines like the above and "you ask me for a contribution weeelllll you know, we're all doing what we can. But if you want money for people with minds that hate, all I can tell you is brother you have to wait". The lyrics are all great, and that's how it beats the immortal "Hey Jude". Although it's better than "Revolution 1" on the White Album, it doesn't have those "Shoo-be-do-wah"'s!

Get Back - I'm afraid that this is the weakest track on the album. It just doesn't have the energy of the live version on "Let It Be". It's actually a pretty good song, but it just doesn't sound right here.

Don't Let Me Down - 10,000,000,000 times better than "Get Back" above. This one's performed live. First of all, Billy Preston's electric piano really sounds great with this song. That guitar riff is great, too. Last, but not least, it's a great song.

As the Beatles music evolved, most of their singles were Paul A-side and John B-side, just because Paul's songs had greater commercial appeal. From the Rubber Soul period on, the Beatles released 13 singles, of which John only had two A-sides, "All You Need is Love" and "The Ballad of John & Yoko". (Of course, some of John's greatest songs were B-sides, "Rain", "Strawberry Fields Forever", "I Am the Walrus", "Revolution")

Ballad of John & Yoko - A good song, but worthy of an A-side honor? I don't think so. Neither would it fit as an album track. This is actually a B-side, carrying the weight for a weak single. Oh well, it's pleasant (well, maybe not pleasant, but it has a nice melody).

Old Brown Shoe - Not a bad song, maybe even an A-side instead of "Ballad of John & Yoko", but what's wrong with George's vocals? The quality is very, "poor".

Across the Universe - 10,000,000,000,000 times better than the "Let It Be" version. This time heard as originally intended, without the sickly orchestra and choir. It's got female backing vocals and a very humorous John harmony. Just sounds better. (it's a lot faster than the "Let It Be" version, too)

Let It Be - A great song, and now heard without the brass and orchestra. Different guitar solo.

You Know My Name (Look Up the Number) - I'm not going to review this strange track, just buy the CD and judge for yourself. (I like it)

In closing I would just like to add several things. First of all, the Beatles singles were more often than not, better than album tracks. They would usually release their most appealing songs as singles. My point is, these are not fillers. Another point, these songs do NOT belong as bonus tracks on the albums. I pointed out that the first 4 tracks would have fit nicely with the corresponding albums, but they didn't. Don't mess with the Beatle's artistic vision. Finally, I am a "snob of the most knee-jerking sort" when it comes to my Beatle's music. The Red & Blue albums suck (read my review of the Blue album to find out why). Go buy it! Read more ›