Warming up Friday

Back to the brr's I think this weekend judging pretty much from how I felt overnight Wednesday, chilled in my room having once I had got up, got some warm porridge going and took a toffee hammer and screwdriver to the waste bins as they had frozen over.

One can only imagine what it is like for those who struggle with heating expenses trying to keep the house warm.

I usually try to get anything that features bearings and oils a bit of run to prevent it sticking such as tape and record decks although very cold weather can effect the damping fluid in the tone arm  as I did play a few records across the week from the collection.

There are a few plushies about which I just adore not just as pretty collectable objects but as things of comfort when as with a bit of this week things were shall we say a bit trying so something you can hug really does help.

Until next week, bye.

The Beatles - the 1964 US albums in Mono

We wrote at length about the Beatles in early 2006 and then in 2009 in connection with a series of compact disc reissue sets.

We did attempt to make a list of the beatles lps I had built up over the decades and even explored in those pre 2010's the options we had available before getting on to stereo reissues in 2012 and the Mono Box on vinyl in 2014.

It's kind of obvious then this blog, reflecting my likes has tended to have a fair bit to say regarding them, not least in the era it was linked to a forum about music I belonged to.

Nothing in the Beatles world stays still for long, we had a number of "Super Deluxe" editions with remixes and last year the expanded 1962-1966 and 1967-1970 albums with remixed versions.

Missing by design when it comes to vinyl reissues was those original American albums on Capitol (and United Artists) that were formally discontinued around 1990/1 although for a time copies (and the cassette versions) could be found new.

Part of  that revolves around the fact they were not the albums the beatles themselves wanted out, preferring the world to just listen to the albums as issued in the UK they had some input into and part due to the incomplete nature of that catalogue.

It can't be argued however those albums were, at least the first few,  the albums that made them international superstars selling millions from their arrival in the United States in 1964 and to mark that 60th anniversary, actually they've issued a set of their 1964 albums in a box set on vinyl.

Americans Met the Beatles in January 1964 and on the back of the rush released I Want To Hold Your Hand on December 26, 1963, their first capitol album was prepared mixing singles tracks and mainly original compositions from the UK With The Beatles album of November.
 

The first thing to say about this series is, they are all in Mono from the tapes compiled by Capitol with mix variants and processing done back then but cut without the restrictions to avoid returns from kids with inexpensive poorly designed record players so they do sound fuller than the originals did.

Second Album came out in April of 1964 with a mixture new (in some instances new to Americans but old) hits, the unissued cover versions from that second UK album and two tracks from what was to be an Extended Play 45 in the UK of exclusive tracks.
 

The mono albums were discontinued in 1968 but this one unlike the stereo edition has much less echo added and is an easier listen than the stereo that at times sounds as if it was recorded in a cave! 

 

The first film was set up as a deal in late 1963 with United Artists at their London office and part of that was that for North America, it would have sole rights to the soundtrack album whereas in the UK the film songs from A Hard Day's Night were given a side on all beatles album.

That's why I bought this, it has the instrumentals featured and a longer I'll Cry Instead although that was dropped at the last minute from the film.

The year had been a major success for the Beatles, global success had been achieved at a price one might add to the bands well-being and having issued two albums in the UK that year, a version of Beatles For Sale was prepared by Capitol for release in Mid December to land in teenage Christmas stockings that took a a good number of songs from that album issued in the UK around the same time adding their latest hit record, I Feel Fine and it's B side.

The stereo version is notorious for its terrible fake stereo versions of those two songs and at least here it sounds better although like the single it has echo not found on the UK 45.

Highlights include the Dylan influenced I'm A Loser, I'll Follow The Sun and a great cover of Carl Perkin's Honey Don't.

They come with a four page insert with notes and are even polylined although they have mock period inner sleeves.

Finishing off a series

 

Way back in 1991 when I was just on to my second ever compact disc player I started collecting a series issued by Emi-Premier called "The Greatest Hits of" and these were from 1970 through 1980 and then just the 1981 and 1982 editions.

Reasons included having a single year focus which was rare and having a commentary on the year politically, culturally and so on which made for a package that took you back in time to that year.

At the time I was unaware that they had a Sixties series issued in 1990 run the same way as back in 1988 I had bought the odd disc of 50's hits in a Emi "The Hits of" series that gathered over twenty hits and served them up on the then new cd media.

In time I got some late 1960's volumes of the "The Hits of" series but that left me short on a good number of the others although I collected the "London-American" series that captured the American hits licensed from the late 1950's and early 1960's before many of the big labels established their own UK operations.

I have no got the 1960 through 1966 editions of "The Greatest Hits" that fill those gaps although I have a number of compilations that are not in a strict year sequence.

They have pictures of key artists and chart positions of songs which is always a good thing.

With spending time listening  to things like vintage chart shows on Boom Radio, having my own copies of many of the featured hits is highly enjoyable as this was the music I heard on oldies shows when on the radio usually feeling poorly.

They do sound great.

On Presidential Election 2024

 Well the best you can say it is all over now, no coup attempts in the White House, no assassinations (yet) despite the odds and general public decency The Trump out trumped Harris and at least on this side of the Atlantic well dealing with what is.

It's far too early to write the definitive blog entry, so much happens so rapidly but given they have a Presidential system, he'll be establishing a team of advisers to (one hopes) advise him around a range of issues from broad economic policy, the vexed question of migration (legal and otherwise), law including  reproductive rights that remains highly polarizing, dealing with entrenched racial discrimination and attitudes, foreign policy and defence and so on.

At some point the question of a State Visit to the U.K. will come up and I know there many of us who have grave misgivings about the man and some of his statements during the course but he WILL BE their Head of State, just like our King Charles III is so we need to put that behind us and deal with his as their representative and afford him a welcome.

Thank goodness we don't have all this! 

Get set for off

 

Well, we're off despite everything in the last month that tried to derail it for a weekend of LG centred halloween fun with carving, a treasure hunt and a party where everybody brings a bit of something which was what I was getting organized yesterday.

I got the case packed in a couple of goes to avoid some of the difficulties here resulting in things not being packed by accident given the stresses and emotional stuff

Of course there things going on, The Budget for one thing, then the latest installment of that year based compilation series Now Yearbook that hits the amazing year of 1977 today and all bing well it should be here around today although Iwon't be around to play it.

All being well I'll give that a spin next week.