The Beatles - Great sounding vinyl Part 2 1964 - 1966

As you may recall from the first of this series of posts I have always like the music of the Beatles growing up with it and as I got older buying their records eventually forming an important part of my collection because they make me feel happy and I find the lyrics quite interesting.
From this period there is increasingly less difference in terms of overall sound quality between the North American and UK based LP's although there are many issues with the UK based CD issues that makes investigation desirable for beatle fans.
Continuing with 1964 the beatles recorded a series of tracks up to October of that year the majority of which were issued on LP format at some point.
Beatles For Sale is the home for most of these tracks but as the current LP is in sludgy mono we need to look at the alternatives.
Beatles For Sale has always been available in stereo and generally sounds much more open compared to it's mono counterpart.

The North American version is Beatles '65 which is what I grew up with. Side one follows the UK running order for the first 6 tracks and it just adds I Feel Fine, She's A Woman and I'll Be Back (on UK Hard day's Night LP).

I much prefer this running order although I Feel Fine doesn't sound good in duophonic (fake stereo).

I have compared recently a UK Beatles For Sale with my Canadian early 1980's Rainbow rim pressed at CBS and found that was a tidbit better actually!

(I Feel Fine sounds better on the analogue 1962-1966 RED album).

If you get Beatles For Sale you can skip the next entry.

Beatles VI
So called as Capitol counted this as their sixth Capitol LP is a gem and my Canadian Early 80's Rainbow Rim sounds fantastic!
It has the remainder of the Beatles For Sale tracks plus three early tracks that ended up on the UK help album. Two tracks, Dizzy Miss Lizzie and Bad Boy were specially recorded for this album in a 10 hour session.
See the separate blog entry for more.
Help!
The difference is the UK had an album of all beatle tunes and in North America we had a soundtrack album containing the instrumentals.
For sound quality nothing quite compares to the original UK stereo LP but the current copy is digitally re-mixed with added digital echo so you need to go back and get the original.
Fortunately copies can be had of the late 70's, early 80's fairly cheaply. I never got on with side two as the material is all over the place stylistically.

Rubber Soul.
The albums have the same title and 10 songs in common that follow the same order.
The Capitol version has a more 'folk-rock' feel with I've Just Seen a Face and It's Only Love from UK Help in there; the UK adds Drive My Car, Nowhere Man, If I Needed Someone and What Goes On? that appear on another Capitol album.
Take your pick - my Canadian purple label is very good and a genuine UK should be fine but a 1973 copy made for the UK in France under contract sounded very weak to my ears.

Yesterday and Today: The between Capitol album having Yesterday, Act Naturally, We Can Work It Out and Day Tripper.

This is a favourite of mine and later pressings do sound good - strike lucky and you'll get the all true stereo edition as Capitol were in a rush to release this album having three sons that saw in slightly different versions their UK appearance on Revolver.

Mikado for the Otaku!

At long last this is being marketed in England!
Cute looking Japanese chocolate on a biscuit stick with a small portion uncoated to make handling a less sticky affair.
Now if we get the fruit flavoured Pokey more readily available here it would be great.

Tony!

Okay some of us remember this guy, eh? Tony the tiger who advertised Kelloggs Frosties (aka Frosted Flakes) a fun cereal breakfast food much loved. His most famous catch phrase devised by John E Matthews is "They’re Grreat!" He was created in 1952 by Martin Provenson, the children's book illustrator and has been seen around the world.
Here's a clip: Kellogg's Tony the Tiger The Cowboy

A tale of Rio's on tape

This is an album I know well but in  three differing tape forms as originally issued way back in 1982.

Eight track was holding on in North America although by 1982 most new issues were only issued by mail order record clubs such as Columbia House and RCA.
This is the third version US Rio with five dance mixes substituted for the album versions used in the UK. 

That same version was issued in North America on higher quality XDR tape with improved duplication for the retail side .

This is the UK version with the blue background that wraps around the whole J Card.

The blue from the from gains stripe that go to the rear title display.

Although the British version didn't use the superior XDR process, the artwork was far superior and it used the same album mixes as the UK lp that had better sound quality.
The tape shell was white with blue screen printed titles.
In its differing forms it was an album I played to death that year.

Gothic Lolita Fashion

Drawing by xxxKei87xxx
I'm very interested in Gothic Lolita fashion and this drawing shows the main features off well.

The Definitive Drifters

Some sounds it has to be said do take me back in time not least for much of that time I was glued pretty much to the radio listening to 'oldies' shows and then there  are some acts I recall as both oldies at the time but contemporary too and the Drifters are one. 

Let's say I've always been a fan of Ben E King's singing  and of such songs as Save The Last Dance For Me, Up On The Roof, Under The Boardwalk which was covered by both the Stones and the Undertones and Saturday Night At The Movies to the point of borrowing various hit compilations.
Equally for me I have childhood memories that included new songs recorded for the UK market such as Kissin' In The Back Row  Of The Movies, Like Sister and Brother, There Goes My First Love and You're Than a Number In My Little Red Book still very much the same sound but with more a poppy production that I loved to bits as new songs.
That was why I bought this 2 cd compilation because it's two thirds the classic late fifties and sixties classics very well mastered and a third those UK seventies 45's all one one album in chronological order too.

Valentines Day

Be my valentine....