Sydney, AU (EMI MUSIC AUSTRALIA) - On April 15, 2006, Capitol Records will release The
Beatles Capitol Albums Volume 2, a collection of the four Capitol albums by The
Beatles from 1965. The box set marks the CD debut of The Early Beatles,
Beatles VI, the Help! soundtrack and the American version of Rubber Soul.
This is the much anticipated companion set to the Capitol Albums Volume 1 which brought together for the first time on CD the albums that began it all - Meet The Beatles, The Beatles Second Album, Something New and Beatles '65.
"It has been an ambition of mine to see the release of these CDs in the form we grew up with in the U.S.," says Andrew Slater, President and CEO, Capitol Records. "The remastering should ensure that the sound quality lives up to the expectations of our memories."
The Early Beatles marks the stereo debut on CD of nine early Beatles classics, including Please, Please Me and Twist And Shout.
Beatles VI marks the stereo debut on CD of five Beatles recordings, including cover versions of Kansas City and Words Of Love, as well as Lennon and McCartney's What You're Doing and Every Little Thing. The album also marks the CD debut of four Beatles songs in their original 1965 George Martin mono mixes.
The Help! soundtrack album contains five instrumental tracks from the film making their CD debut, including From Me To You Fantasy and Another Hard Day's Night. When the British Help! LP was issued on CD in 1987, it contained George Martin stereo remixes of the songs. The Capitol soundtrack album marks the CD debut of five songs in their original 1965 George Martin stereo mixes.
The Capitol version of Rubber Soul contains, for the first time on CD, the original 1965 George Martin stereo mixes. When these songs appeared on CD in 1987, they were stereo remixes of the songs prepared by George Martin.
The Capitol Albums Volumes 1 & 2 have been carefully mastered from the original master tapes, taken from the vaults of Capitol Records, to ensure that they sound as they did when first released in 1964 and 1965. Each disc in the box sets presents each album in stereo and then in mono.
In the Sixties, American record labels often chose to reformat British records to suit the needs of the U.S. market. In America, singles were generally included on current albums, where as in the UK, albums and singles were most often separate releases. Higher music publishing costs in the U.S. also made it impractical to include as many songs on American albums. In addition, in the case of The Beatles, some of the recordings on the American albums were given more echo than the British versions, to 'Americanize' their sound.
In Volume 2, all but four of the tracks on the stereo albums are actual stereo mixes, with two being unique Capitol duophonic mixes. Capitol's engineers created duophonic mixes from mono masters by emphasizing the treble in one channel, boosting the bass in the other, and running the two channels slightly out-of-sync to simulate a stereo sound. In addition, five of the mono tracks are unique Capitol stereo-to-mono mixdowns with added echo and reverb.
Because the 46 songs included in Volume 2 are presented in both stereo and mono mixes, there are 92 tracks in the box set. Out of this number, 82 tracks appear in versions not previously available on CD.
When The Beatles catalog appeared on CD for the first time in 1987, releases were standardized on a worldwide basis. A short time later, the U.S. albums, which had last appeared on vinyl and cassette, were deleted from the Capitol catalog.
Since that time there has been increasing demand for these original U.S. albums to make their CD debut, which they now do as part of this specially priced and uniquely packaged 4 CD boxed set.
The Capitol Albums Volume 2 includes all 4 of the group's 1965 Capitol album releases. Each of the discs is housed in a miniature replica of the original album cover. The box set contains a colorful 56-page booklet featuring a scrap book effect of rare photos and clippings from that amazing year
THE BEATLES CAPITOL ALBUMS VOLUME 2 – BOX SET – INSTORE APRIL 15
