Master Tapes Mystery - The Beatles US Capitol Mono Reissues (Episode 191)

#thebeatles #vinylcommunity #vinylcollection

The upcoming release on 11/22/2024 of the first 6 Beatles' US Capitol albums in Mono is shrouded in some mystery regarding exact sourcing.

The last time the Capitol titles were released in Mono were on a CD 2 Volume set in 2004. I wondered if those would be the same, just put to vinyl.

So I did a bit of research and made this video about my findings so far.

0:00 Introduction
0:40 The 2024 Release
3:07 The Beatles in Mono vs. This Release
4:00 The Last Capitol Mono Release on CD
5:20 Mastering Engineer Flashback
7:42 Things Still Unknown
8:23 My Approach & Thoughts

[SafeAndSoundTXAudioExcursion]

At the time I recorded this video, I had not heard that Kevin Reeves is the mastering engineer for these. This makes perfect sense as he appears to be a Universal Music Group house mastering engineer (they distribute The Beatles).

Although his profile shows he is still at Sterling Sound in NY (since 2011), he does not show up on their current roster of engineers on their website. He possibly did some work with/for them and didn’t adjust his profile.

[LPS-R-US]

Nice presentation as always. And I think we know already new Beatles releases will never cease.

[mr.george]

Waiting for the vinyl reissue of Yesterday & Today in the Butcher cover!

[robbiedetroitstigermanviny]

I've already pre-ordered everything including the box set and Meet The Beatles Blue Vinyl. Great Video!

[RobertFithen]

The count-in that Ted Jensen is most likely talking about is the intro to "I'm Looking Through You" from "Rubber Soul". There was a controversy on the initial release of "Capitol Albums Vol. 2" set where Capitol was "caught" simply folding down the stereo mixes to mono and not using the true mono mixes. This resulted in the mono "I'm Looking Through You" having the false start that was previously only on the US stereo version. Later, they re-released the CD set with supposedly "true" mono mixes. There were reportedly other less-obvious variances in the mixes that Beatles' fans noticed causing the re-release.

[mikayelabazyan]

Since your copies of "The Capitol Albums" are sealed and have stickers, you can check the catalog number ending on the Volume 2. If the yellow sticker on that box contains SK1 on the end of the catalog number, yours is the corrected version, with true mono versions. Otherwise, the version without SK1 has fold-down mono versions derived from the stereo versions. Usually, when the sticker is removed, buyers ask sellers to compare the beginning of the mono vs. stereo version of I'm "Looking Through You". If the former does not have the double false start that is there on the stereo version, the pressing is correct, and if the versions are identical, then the mono version is a fold-down (incorrect) one.

[kev]

Great stuff. The hi hat intro is from the German version of with the Beatles. The original us mono mixes were fold downs themselves, so there are no true mono us tapes. I have pre ordered the box and can’t wait

[styles]

I got my box set ordered from JPC out of Germany. About $40.00 cheaper than here in the US. Thanks for the post. Outstanding information.

[JazzRonin]

I hope they will reissue/re-release (with current sound clarity technology) the Beatles Capitol Albums Boxset CD released back in 2004 based on the Capitol Records master of Dave Dexter Jr. I liked that more than than the 2014 Beatles US Albums CD boxset. Every CD includes both clos to the original 1960s Stereo and the Mono mix versions.

[pauladams]

They used the same mono master tapes used for the mono mixes on the 2004 CDs. The mono mixes on the CDs are not fold downs, and neither are the new vinyl records. There is a video on YouTube from the mastering engineer showing the tape boxes that he used. He cut the vinyl direct from the analog tapes.

[robertstoddard]

I bought 5 records of this set individually (instead of the box set) on The Beatles Official Store. They charged $8 per record for shipping — total of $40 for 5 records — which is crazy and outrageous. It really pissed me off!

[ButcherGrindslam]

November 22 1963 - "With The Beatles" was released in UK and it's Friday this year, so nothing wrong here. Now Friday is the main day for music releases.

[brettevans]

The fold downs weren’t created in 2004, they were created in 1964. Dave Dexter thought the songs would sound fuller that way. The new albums are intended to be true to the original Capitol releases. For anyone wanting the original Parlaphone versions, those have been available for years.

[MsTimothyswan]

If I actually had a turntable again and also had the option to personally select just one of these reissues, then the one title that I would choose would probably have to be none other than The Beatles' Second Album. Reason being is that this particular release has the unique distinction of perfectly combining original compositions along with a very good number of cover tunes, thus creating the finest album of pure rock and roll ever released by the Beatles.

[mattgregory]

Great video Dave. I have the Mono albums I bought 6 years ago. They are clean and sound good. I am going to buy Beatles 65 and the second album. Too see how they sound. Other wise that is pretty much it. Have a good one! Dave.

[mahabkhatib]

Mike from The ‘In’ Groove shared more information on who’s mastering this box. I preordered one.

[revelry]

I think they are going to do a second box with the other capitol ones including “Help!” Which they should do

[VillainDave]

I actually pre ordered the box then came to my senses and cancelled that and pre ordered Meet the Beatles, Second album, Something New and 65. That would be cool

[ronmartin]

East Iris studios in Nashville is doing the lathe cuttings.

[LanceHall]

Surely you can't be suggesting they did NEW stereo to mono fold downs. I seriously doubt that.