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BarryL
10-20-2010, 08:28 AM
Picked up the re-issued and re-mastered Beatles hits compilations.

The Beatles are played so often on the radio, with every tune being oh so familiar, that I haven't pulled out a Beatles CD in a long time.

Actually sitting down and listening to these remasters is a real treat. The trick is to re-listen.

The tunes are brilliantly clear. You can hear every nuance from the glorious Lennon/McCartney vocal harmonies to the vibrato on the cellos.

While the songs are great, George Martin is the real hero here that allows the listener to go back 45 years later and still admire the creativity of the arrangements.

Glorious.

There must be some Beatles lovers out there. What's the one book to read on The Beatles?

ForeverAutumn
10-20-2010, 09:16 AM
I had never owned a Beatles album in my life. I was so tired of hearing them on the radio and everywhere else, that I just wrote them off as "bored of" and never paid attention.

Then, based on some comments made on this board a couple of years ago, I picked up Abbey Road and Rubber Soul. I was actually surprised that there were songs on these CDs that I had never heard. In addition, as you discovered, sitting and actually listening to a Beatles album is very different than just hearing it in the Supermarket. I was floored by Paul's bass lines, which I'd never paid any attention to in the past.

It was a very nice surprise for me to discover that The Beatles were much more than just the fluff pop stars I'd always thought them to be. They were actually musicians!

If you're interested in some of their rare stuff, there is a short radio show on Q107 at 6:00PM (I think) every night. It's a pre-recorded syndicated type thing that tells a little story and plays a rare cut. I catch it on my drive home from work sometimes and it's quite interesting.

Can't help you with the book though.

rakeford
10-20-2010, 02:32 PM
Picked up the re-issued and re-mastered Beatles hits compilations.

The Beatles are played so often on the radio, with every tune being oh so familiar, that I haven't pulled out a Beatles CD in a long time.

Actually sitting down and listening to these remasters is a real treat. The trick is to re-listen.

The tunes are brilliantly clear. You can hear every nuance from the glorious Lennon/McCartney vocal harmonies to the vibrato on the cellos.

While the songs are great, George Martin is the real hero here that allows the listener to go back 45 years later and still admire the creativity of the arrangements.

Glorious.

There must be some Beatles lovers out there. What's the one book to read on The Beatles?
I bought the Beatle Red and Blue on vinyl way back in the 70/80s. I've seen copies where the LPs are actually red and blue vinyl, but mine are black.

My White Album is white vinyl.

Despite their fame and pop/ top 40, they really did have some tallent.

Troy
10-20-2010, 09:26 PM
My best friend had these back in '73 when they were first released, and we played the hell out of these. I was 13 or 14 at the time. They are the best Beatles hits packages.

BarryL
10-21-2010, 03:08 AM
My best friend had these back in '73 when they were first released, and we played the hell out of these. I was 13 or 14 at the time. They are the best Beatles hits packages.


I have the blue package on vinyl from when it was first released. I think my brother bought the red. My preference then was the blue. I'm not a big fan of most music from the 60s. But listening again, those early songs are very innovative.

I remember winning a compilation double LP from a radio station give-away that I think was called Rock & Roll, in a shiny silver cover. I'm sure I still have it. I'm sure it's hardly been played. Just let me hear some of that rock and roll music....

Troy
10-21-2010, 08:15 AM
I have the blue package on vinyl from when it was first released. I think my brother bought the red. My preference then was the blue. I'm not a big fan of most music from the 60s. But listening again, those early songs are very innovative.


It was the 2nd LP in the red one that I liked the best. The middle period of The Beatles was the best.

Slosh
10-21-2010, 12:53 PM
All of the 2009 Apple re-masters sound great. Without exception even better than the MFSL versions I have.

Mr MidFi
10-22-2010, 05:56 AM
The older I've gotten, the more I've come to appreciate The Beatles. I picked up the Revolver and Rubber Soul remasters last year, and they are both really, really well-done. Amazing, really.

Back in my record store days, we would play the Red & Blue albums all the time... mostly the Blue one. It was an almost guaranteed sale. Disc 1 of Blue is so solid, start to finish, that almost no one can resist it.

Side 1

1. "Strawberry Fields Forever" – 4:10
2. "Penny Lane" – 3:03
3. "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" – 2:02
4. "With a Little Help from My Friends" – 2:44
5. "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" – 3:28
6. "A Day in the Life" – 5:06
7. "All You Need Is Love" – 3:48

Side 2

8. "I Am the Walrus" – 4:37
9. "Hello, Goodbye" – 3:31
10. "The Fool on the Hill" – 3:00
11. "Magical Mystery Tour" – 2:51
12. "Lady Madonna" – 2:17
13. "Hey Jude" – 7:08
14. "Revolution" – 3:21

MindGoneHaywire
10-22-2010, 12:22 PM
These were my introduction to the Beatles. These days I can still listen to the red collection. The blue one...I'm sorry. As great as it is, how they could have seen fit to include Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da and Octopus's Garden to the exclusion of just about anything else is beyond me. Still, it remains a good introduction.

These were put together to thwart a bootleg collection that was around in the early 70s called From Alpha to Omega. I saw a copy of it a few years ago. If not for that, who knows how long it would've taken for a repackaging campaign to start? The Rolling Stones' catalog had been repackaged many times over even before they left Decca. The Beatles had only had one hits album, if I recall.

The two theme compilations--Rock And Roll Music and Love Songs are interesting as well, although the artwork on the Rock one seemed to be more 50s-ish. I remember a book that pointed to these as being better somehow than the blue & red albums but I think they're all equally good in their own ways.

Then there are the 'Rarities' albums. The UK/Euro one had a lot of B-sides & a few things that only came out on EPs, and it was both interesting & good. The US one was a a bunch of BS & sucked. A few years later the Past Masters albums came out & covered a lot of the stuff that wasn't obviously available & that filled a lot of holes for a lot of people.

I am still digging the hell out of the Mono Box. The mixes on Revolver, Sgt. Pepper, and the White Album, it's not like it's listening to different songs, but there are plenty of very interesting differences that mess with your perception of the songs after hearing them the same way for decades. Most of the differences are for the better, too. I picked up just a couple of the stereo remasters--the obvious stuff, Abbey Road, Sgt. Pepper--as I saw no need to go for the Stereo box as well. Then a couple of weeks ago the stereo editions were all on sale at Best Buy for like $9.99.

I like the Capitol Albums boxes, so between that & the Mono Box I have no need for any more copies of the earlier records, and I still do have my 1987 discs. The Mono Box also included the original stereo mixes of Help! and Rubber Soul. So I filled in with Revolver, the stereo issue of Past Masters, the White Album, and Magical Mystery Tour, which I never thought I'd feel a need to purchase again, but for that price? Hell.

I could get along very well with the Mono Box & the Capitol Albums (even though it's not authentic & has cheesy stereo), and, say, Abbey Road. But instead I have all the other stuff too. And Live At The Hollywood Bowl, CDR'd from my old vinyl. Yeah, that, too. Yeah.