News 12 Dec 2013

The SuperDeluxeEdition guide to The Beatles Capitol Albums

By Paul Sinclair

On 20 January Universal Music celebrate 50 years since Meet The Beatles and I Wanna Hold Your Hand went to number one in America by reissuing 12 Capitol titles on CD and a special The US Albums box set.

To help you understand how these releases differed from the UK albums we give you the SuperDeluxeEdition guide to the US Albums. Pre-order links for the new CDs are included although at the time of writing the UK links aren’t live yet, but the others do work!

Please be aware that Apple are using the global 2009 remasters for their reissue of the U.S. Albums, so all references below to added reverb, or fake or ‘duophonic’ stereo will not apply to the reissues. However unique edits and mixes are thought to have been maintained by use of the original 1960s Capitol analogue master tapes.

Meet the Beatles! (1964)

The first Capitol long player contains nine tracks from With The Beatles (omitting five) and adds I Wanna Hold Your Hand, its US B-side This Boy, and I Saw Her Standing There (from Please Please Me) which was a unique mono mix for the US.

The Beatles’ Second Album (1964)

This one’s a real mish-mash. The five tracks from With The Beatles not featured on Meet The Beatles are included, along with She Loves You/I’ll Get You from the 45, Thank You Girl (B-side to From Me To You in the UK) and You Can’t Do That from the UK version of A Hard Day’s Night. Long Tall Sally and I Call Your Name also get a global debut on this album, a month before the Long Tall Sally EP hit the shops in the UK. Thank You Girl was a unique stereo mix with some additional harmonica riffs.

A Hard Day’s Night (1964)

This was actually a United Artists release, rather than Capitol. It only contains one side of the UK version of A Hard Day’s Night plus I’ll Cry Instead and then pads things out a bit with orchestral, easy listening instrumental versions of some other Lennon-McCartney songs (albeit conducted by George Martin). The stereo version of this had the pop songs in ‘fake’ or duophonic stereo, rather than a true stereo mix.

Track listing

Side one

1. “A Hard Day’s Night” 2:33
2. “Tell Me Why” 2:10
3. “I’ll Cry Instead” 2:06
4. “I Should Have Known Better” instrumental 2:10
5. “I’m Happy Just to Dance with You” 1:59
6. “And I Love Her” instrumental 3:46

Side two

1. “I Should Have Known Better” 2:44
2. “If I Fell” 2:22
3. “And I Love Her” 2:29
4. “Ringo’s Theme (This Boy)” instrumental 3:10
5. “Can’t Buy Me Love” 2:12
6. “A Hard Day’s Night” instrumental 2:06

Something New (1964)

Plenty of demand for ‘Something New’ from the Beatles in America in the summer of 1964, despite the above three albums having already been released in the first six months of the year! The 11 tracks on this record are made up from the remaining eight songs from the UK version of A Hard Day’s Night; Slow Down and Matchbox from the Long Tall Sally EP; and Komm, Gib Mir Deine Hand, which even the non-cunning linguists amongst you will probably recognise as the German language version of I Wanna Hold Your Hand.

Track listing

Side one

“I’ll Cry Instead” – 2:09 (mono version) / 1:49 (stereo version)
“Things We Said Today” – 2:39
“Any Time at All” – 2:13
“When I Get Home” – 2:18
“Slow Down” (Larry Williams) – 2:55
“Matchbox” (Carl Perkins) – 1:58

Side two

“Tell Me Why” – 2:10
“And I Love Her” – 2:32
“I’m Happy Just to Dance with You” – 1:58
“If I Fell” – 2:22
“Komm, Gib Mir Deine Hand” – 2:19

Beatles ’65 (1964)

Despite the title Beatles ’65 was issued in December 1964. Eight songs from the 14-track Beatles For Sale are included, along with I’ll Be Back making Beatles ’65 the fourth US Beatles album in a row to include a song from the UK A Hard Day’s Night album! I Feel Fine and B-side She’s A Woman are also included and both had added added echo and reverb in mono, while being presented in ‘fake’ stereo for the stereo version. The stereo Mr Moonlight had a longer fadeout.

Track listing

Side one

1. “No Reply” – 2:15
2. “I’m a Loser” – 2:31
3. “Baby’s in Black” – 2:02
4. “Rock and Roll Music” – 2:32
5. “I’ll Follow the Sun” – 1:46
6. “Mr. Moonlight” – 2:35

Side two

1. “Honey Don’t” – 2:56
2. “I’ll Be Back” – 2:22
3. “She’s a Woman” – 2:57
4. “I Feel Fine” – 2:20
5. “Everybody’s Trying to Be My Baby” – 2:24

The Early Beatles (1965)

Don’t let the Beatles For Sale era photo fool you, The Early Beatles was what Capitol put out when they got control of the Please Please Me era material that had previously been licensed to Vee-Jay records (Capitol had originally ‘passed’ on The Beatles early releases leading to EMI doing a deal with Vee-Jay). Anyway, 11 songs from the 14-track Please Please Me are included. Remember, I Saw Here Standing There was issued on Meet The Beatles and even the US baulked at repeating tracks across albums. Criminally, Misery and There’s A Place were left off and didn’t end up on any Capitol album until the US version of 1980’s Rarities! The Stereo version of this had duophonic mixes of Love Me Do and P.S. I Love You.

Track listing

Side one

“Love Me Do” – 2:23
“Twist and Shout” – 2:33
“Anna (Go to Him)” – 3:00
“Chains” – 2:27
“Boys” – 2:25
“Ask Me Why” – 2:28

Side two

“Please Please Me” – 2:00
“P.S. I Love You” – 2:05
“Baby It’s You” – 2:38
“A Taste of Honey” – 2:04
“Do You Want to Know a Secret” – 1:59

Beatles VI (1965)

Beatles VI was released a few months after The Early Years in June 1965 and consisted of the remaining tracks from Beatles For Sale not included on Beatles ’65, as well as Bad Boy and Dizzy Miss Lizzy both of which were recorded specifically for the American market. The later would end up on the UK version of Help!, as would You Like Me Too Much and Tell Me What You See, both included here. Ticket To Ride had already been a transatlantic number one at this point, but that was being saved for the next record. Only its mellow B-side, Yes It Is, was included on Beatles VI (in duophonic on the stereo issue with added echo and reverb).

Track listing

Side one

Medley: “Kansas City”/”Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey”- 2:30
“Eight Days a Week” – 2:43
“You Like Me Too Much” – 2:34
“Bad Boy” – 2:17
“I Don’t Want to Spoil the Party” – 2:33
“Words of Love” – 2:10

Side two

“What You’re Doing” – 2:30
“Yes It Is” – 2:40
“Dizzy Miss Lizzie” – 2:51
“Tell Me What You See” – 2:35
“Every Little Thing” – 2:01

Help! (1965)

Much like the US A Hard Day’s Night, Help! contains many instrumentals sitting alongside the seven Beatles songs which featured in the movie. Ticket To Ride was duophonic stereo and the mono version of this is ‘folded down’ from the stereo mix rather than a true mono version.

Track listing (songs in bold)

1. “Help!” 2:39
2. “The Night Before” – 2:36
3. “From Me to You Fantasy” Instrumental 2:08
4. “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away“
5. “I Need You” – 2:31
6. “In the Tyrol” Instrumental 2:26

Side two

1. “Another Girl” – 2:08
2. “Another Hard Day’s Night” Instrumental
3. “Ticket to Ride“- 3:07
4. “Medley: The Bitter End /You Can’t Do That” Instrumental 2:26
5. “You’re Going to Lose That Girl“- 2:19
6. “The Chase” Instrumental 2:31

Rubber Soul (1965)

The minor change to the cover (gold colour lettering rather than the familiar orange) belies big changes on the actual record. The North American version of Rubber Soul doesn’t include Drive My Car (gasp!), Nowhere Man, What Goes On or If I Needed Someone. I’ve Just Seen A Face and It’s Only Love from the UK’s Help! are the replacements, leaving the US Rubber Soul two tracks short of its UK counterpart.

Track listing

Side one

1. “I’ve Just Seen a Face” – 2:07
2. “Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)” – 2:05
3. “You Won’t See Me” – 3:22
4. “Think for Yourself” – 2:19
5. “The Word” – 2:43
6. “Michelle” – 2:42

Side two

1. “It’s Only Love” – 1:55
2. “Girl” – 2:33
3. “I’m Looking Through You” – 2:31
4. “In My Life” – 2:27
5. “Wait” – 2:16
6. “Run for Your Life” – 2:18

Yesterday and Today (1966)

Yesterday and Today is remembered primarily due to the controversy over the infamous ‘butcher’ cover. 750,000 copies with the Robert Whitaker photographed cover were pressed and then recalled after widespread offence was caused. A rather anodyne photo of the band next to a large trunk was the replacement. This album includes the four tracks missing from Rubber Soul as well as Act Naturally and Yesterday from Help!. Day Tripper and We Can Work It Out make an appearance, and I’m Only Sleeping, And Your Bird Can Sing and Doctor Robert feature, almost two months before the UK release of Revolver (all in duophonic stereo).

Track listing

Side one

“Drive My Car” – 2:25
“I’m Only Sleeping” – 2:58
“Nowhere Man” – 2:40
“Doctor Robert” – 2:14
“Yesterday” – 2:04
“Act Naturally” – 2:27

Side two

“And Your Bird Can Sing” – 2:02
“If I Needed Someone” – 2:19
“We Can Work It Out” – 2:10
“What Goes On” – 2:44
“Day Tripper” – 2:47

Revolver (1966)

The last ‘proper’ Beatles studio album where there was a difference in US and UK track listings. Having snuck three tracks from this album onto Yesterday and Today, Capitol just released Revolver without them, making it an 11-track album in America. Simples.

Track listing

1. “Taxman” – 2:39
2. “Eleanor Rigby” – 2:08
3. “Love You To” – 3:01
4. “Here, There and Everywhere” – 2:26
5. “Yellow Submarine” – 2:40
6. “She Said She Said” – 2:37

Side two

1. “Good Day Sunshine” McCartney 2:10
2. “For No One” McCartney 2:01
3. “I Want to Tell You” (Harrison) Harrison 2:30
4. “Got to Get You into My Life” McCartney 2:31
5. “Tomorrow Never Knows” Lennon

Hey Jude (1970)

Released as something of a stop-gap between Abbey Road and the delayed Let It Be, Hey Jude (originally called The Beatles Again) was conceived by manager Allen Klein and Apple as a kind of Quid Pro Quo for Capitol agreeing to new royalty rates. The idea was to include songs that – for whatever reason – had not appeared on any Capitol album. Can’t Buy Me Love and I Should Have Known Better were included although they had been on the United Artists release A Hard Day’s Night. The rest is a series of A and B-sides including Paperback Writer/Rain, Hey Jude/Revolution, The Ballad Of John And Yoko/Old Brown Shoe and Don’t Let Me Down. The front cover of the band looking like they can’t wait to call it a day, was officially the last Beatles photo session at John’s house, Tittenhurst Park.

Track listing

Side one

“Can’t Buy Me Love” – 2:19
“I Should Have Known Better” – 2:39
“Paperback Writer” – 2:14
“Rain” – 2:58
“Lady Madonna” – 2:14
“Revolution” – 3:21

Side two

“Hey Jude” – 7:05
“Old Brown Shoe” – 3:16
“Don’t Let Me Down” – 3:30
“The Ballad of John and Yoko” – 2:55

Of course you can pick ‘n’ mix from the individual albums, or you can buy The U.S. Albums box set which includes The Beatles’ Story on CD as well as the 12 albums listed above.

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