Execution of a flawed concept

Volume 2 of the Beatles' US Capitol albums picks up where Volume 1 left off in the rather skewed version of Beatle history as presented to the American public, where the original British albums were divided into far greater number by mixing up the tracks with assorted A-sides, B-sides and EP tracks. The first of this second bunch of four creates a further anomaly by falling chronologically before the earliest album on Volume 1. The soundtrack album A Hard Day's Night is also missing, as it appeared in America on the United Artists label, though most of the songs from the British album find their place on other Capitol albums, such as Something New.

The concept of these box sets is to exactly replicate the original vinyl albums, using the original album masters, in their mono and stereo incarnations, and as on the first box set this has been achieved (after the first pressing, which had some errors on the mono versions). This means that shortcomings from the original albums have necessarily not been corrected. Most noticeably because stereo mixes of certain tracks were not available at the time of release, universally deplored fake stereo mixes (or "duophonic" versions) were concocted, and these have been retained on these sets, although on Volume 2 this only applies to three tracks.

Given the reason for this series of box sets, and the complexities of the various stereo and mono variations, it is odd that full discographical notes have not been given in the lavish but insubstantial booklets.

Taking the albums one by one, The Early Beatles consists of 11 of the 14 tracks from Please Please Me and marked the Capitol debut of tracks that had originally been released in America on Vee-Jay. Some of these tracks also appeared as singles and both sides of their 1962 debut UK single, Love Me Do/PS I Love You, appear only in "duophonic" stereo. The mono half of this CD has fold-downs of the stereo versions, as on the Capitol vinyl album, but these two tracks seem to be the standard mono mixes.

Beatles VI combines six tracks left over from Beatles For Sale with three tracks previewed from the forthcoming British Help! album. Bad Boy, recorded at the same session as Dizzy Miss Lizzy, was not included on Help! but turned up the following year on A Collection Of Beatles Oldies. Yes It Is was the B-side of Ticket To Ride, and although the mono mix sounds fine, the stereo version here is the third "duophonic" atrocity, sounding especially painful on headphones. Check out Past Masters Volume 1 for a true stereo option.

The mono versions of the Beatles For Sale tracks have been mixed down from the stereo ones, as I believe they were (but cannot corroborate from this side of the pond) on their original US release. The Help! items and Bad Boy are the original supplied George Martin mono mixes (on the first pressing of this CD mono fold-downs were inadvertently used).

The stereo mixes on all pressings of this disc are those prepared by George Martin for the original vinyl releases in 1965. The Apple CD of Help! was released in stereo using new mixes prepared by George Martin in 1987 (claims that the Yellow Submarine Songtrack was the first time Beatles material had been remixed are therefore seen to be incorrect), so all the tracks here are new to CD, though the the three from Help! sound much the same.

The Help! CD here is the soundtrack version released only in the US, and includes seven Beatles soundtrack recordings augmented by incidental music from the film. There is little information about these except that the score was by Ken Thorne. It incorporated some Beatle tunes and added some Indian instrumentation, as appropriate to the film plot. This was supplied by Shiv Dayal Batish (who died in Santa Cruz on 29 July 2006) who played vichitra veena. "The studio session lasted a whole day," he later recalled, and featured friends playing tabla, sitar and flute. Indeed, it marked the start of George Harrison's fascination with the sitar.

The stereo mixes are again those prepared by George Martin in 1965, and the Beatles mono tracks are folded-down from stereo as on the 1965 American album. This is unfortunate as Help! was the earliest Beatle album to be mastered in stereo on CD, and so the mono mixes are new to CD, and would otherwise include the single version of Help! with its different vocal track.

The instrumental non-Beatle tracks are apparently in separate stereo and mono mixes. Ticket To Ride, although in a different mix to that on One, does not sound anything like bad enough to be duophonic, as has been suggested, and since, unlike Yes It Is, it was included on the UK stereo album Help! there is no reason why a true stereo mix should not have been prepared.

Rubber Soul shares its title with its British counterpart, but offers a slightly different track selection. I've Just Seen A Face and It's Only Love had appeared on the British Help! album (though not in the film), and by substituting these in place of four of the more upbeat tracks from the British version, they created an album with a more acoustic feel, which found favour with American audiences.

The stereo and mono mixes on this disc (after the first pressing which was again mastered in error from a mono fold-down tape) are those prepared by George Martin for the original vinyl releases in 1965. The 1987 Apple CD of Rubber Soul was released in stereo using superior new mixes prepared by George Martin, so all the tracks here are also new to CD. However, the stereo mixes are quirky and are of more historical interest than as a real alternative to those already available.

This historical concept means that some tracks from British albums have still never had a release on an American Capitol CD (some were on the vinyl LP Rarities). These include Misery and There's A Place from their first British album; and Hard Day's Night, I Should Have Known Better and Can't Buy Me Love from A Hard Day's Night. The Apple CD versions of these two albums (Please Please Me and A Hard Day's Night) are both the original monophonic mixes, so true stereo mixes of Love Me Do, PS I Love You (if they can be created), Misery, There's A Place, You Can't Do That ("duophonic" on Something New) and I Should Have Known Better are unavailable on any official Beatle CD album or compilation, as far as I know.

Purchasers of both boxed sets and the One compilation are still thwarted in their attempts to recreate their own stereo versions of these original Beatles albums. Would it have been too much to extend the concept to include the missing tracks and mixes as bonus tracks? Or is the concept itself perhaps misconceived, with a better idea being to present the albums in the best possible stereo and mono mixes, and adding all missing contemporary tracks? Perhaps Apple in the UK should pick up the baton, as they have long been rumoured to be doing. After all, there still seems to be a market for these mop-top guys.