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Post by coachbk on Mar 31, 2012 19:03:44 GMT -5
It is time for the Championship Match of the Beatles US Capitol Albums (1964-66) Tournament. Interestingly the championship pits the first album side from this era against the first side of the final album from these years. MEET THE BEATLES (Side 1) got a first round bye, then shut out THE EARLY BEATLES (Side 2) 8-0, trounced YESTERDAY & TODAY (Side 1) by a 7-1 count then advanced to the finals by pulling away from RUBBER SOUL (side 2) by a 7-3 tally. REVOLVER (Side 1) also got a first round bye, then knocked off SOMETHING NEW (Side 1) 7-2, followed that with a win over THE BEATLES 2ND ALBUM (Side 1) by the same total and then moved to the championship with the closest match of the tourney, a 7-6 thriller over RUBBER SOUL (Side 1).
MEET THE BEATLES (SIDE 1) 1. I Want To Hold Your Hand 2. I Saw Her Standing There 3. This Boy 4. It Won't Be Long 5. All I've Got To Do 6. All My Loving
REVOLVER (SIDE 1) 1. Taxman 2. Eleanor Rigby 3. Love You To 4. Here There Everywhere 5. Yellow Submarine 6. She Said She Said
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Post by joeyself on Mar 31, 2012 22:35:34 GMT -5
MTB 1, by a comfortable margin. "Love You To" drags down the program, and Lennon's sole contribution isn't one of his better ones. On the other hand, MTB 1 is supercharged with energy, aided by the out-of-place "I Saw Her Standing There." "All I've Got To Do" is the weak link, but not too much so to make it a close one.
Thanks, BK, for running this. I'd thought about doing something similar--the whole album rather than the side, though--but just never bothered about it.
JcS
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 31, 2012 22:45:07 GMT -5
MEET THE BEATLES (SIDE 1) 1. I Want To Hold Your Hand 2. I Saw Her Standing There 3. This Boy 4. It Won't Be Long 5. All I've Got To Do 6. All My Loving
Looks like a winning combination to me.....
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Post by John S. Damm on Apr 1, 2012 2:06:21 GMT -5
MEET THE BEATLES (SIDE 1)
The fat-cat, cigar chomping, whoring, Tin Pan Alley worshipping, suited Capitol execs got it right on MTB-1 but would really butcher The Beatles in the U.S. thereafter.
But even Judas Iscariot's mother loved her son.
Thanks CoachBK for your time and effort in running this tourney. It made me yearn for Volume III of the Capitol Series!
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Post by Joe Karlosi on Apr 1, 2012 5:51:36 GMT -5
MEET THE BEATLES (SIDE 1)The fat-cat, cigar chomping, whoring, Tin Pan Alley worshipping, suited Capitol execs got it right on MTB-1 but would really butcher The Beatles in the U.S. thereafter. We have a definite difference of opinion there. I think Capitol got it right and showed The Beatles how to release better records with more impressive track listings and sequencing than they did.
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Post by vectisfabber on Apr 1, 2012 11:59:19 GMT -5
MTB1 edges it.
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Post by coachbk on Apr 1, 2012 12:57:21 GMT -5
MEET THE BEATLES (SIDE 1) This side not only dominates the US Capitol tourney, but I feel it beats every side of the UK albums until REVOLVER, where side 2 would take MTB 1 down. REVOLVER 1 and RUBBER SOUL 1 would also be close calls. MEET THE BEATLES (SIDE 1) is off to a 5-0 lead!
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Post by coachbk on Apr 1, 2012 12:59:21 GMT -5
[quote author=joeyself .
Thanks, BK, for running this. I'd thought about doing something similar--the whole album rather than the side, though--but just never bothered about it.
JcS [/quote]
If I went with the full US albums, RUBBER SOUL would be my choice as side 2 of MTB is fairly average. REVOLVER (minus the 3 key Lennon songs) would have a tough times beating THE BEATLES 2ND ALBUM or YESTERDAY & TODAY for 3rd place.
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Post by coachbk on Apr 1, 2012 13:07:25 GMT -5
MEET THE BEATLES (SIDE 1)The fat-cat, cigar chomping, whoring, Tin Pan Alley worshipping, suited Capitol execs got it right on MTB-1 but would really butcher The Beatles in the U.S. thereafter. We have a definite difference of opinion there. I think Capitol got it right and showed The Beatles how to release better records with more impressive track listings and sequencing than they did. Well yes and no. MEET THE BEATLES is better than WITH THE BEATLES for sure and THE BEATLES 2ND ALBUM made for a nice followup, showing how well the Beatles could do the classic rockers along with some good originals. After that it gets a bit murky. One big problem is the CAPITOL albums only having 11 or 12 songs. And even then you get the German version of IWTHYH on SOMETHING NEW and all the soundtrack stuff on HELP. I would take BEATLES FOR SALE (the weakest UK album of this period) over any of the US releases from SOMETHING NEW through HELP easily. RUBBER SOUL is a close call. I like having I've Just Seen A Face and It's Only Love (and not having What Goes On) on the US release, but I do miss Nowhere Man, If I Needed Someone and Drive My Car, which are on the UK release. Both versions are good, neither is perfect. Then of course the US REVOLVER is a travesty. So overall I think the UK did it best, but the US albums did have some interesting choices and it was the way many of us first heard the Beatles, thus they remain important historical records.
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Post by Joe Karlosi on Apr 1, 2012 13:26:29 GMT -5
And even then you get the German version of IWTHYH on SOMETHING NEW and all the soundtrack stuff on HELP. But where did they place the German version of IWTHYH in the UK? I like how SOMETHING NEW makes better use of the stray EP tracks on Side 1. With HELP!, I am probably the one lone supporter of the Capitol LP because I am also a movie buff and I like movie soundtracks. So I'm glad to have the feel of the whole movie when I listen to that LP. I'm so much happier that the remaining material from Side 2 of the UK version was utilized for other Capitol records like BEATLES VI and YESTERDAY...AND TODAY! Did you ever consider that maybe the reason BEATLES FOR SALE was so weak was because they didn't know how to best present the material in the UK? Capitol did a much better job, IMO, with splitting these songs on albums like BEATLES '65 and BEATLES VI, and tossing in hit singles like I FEEL FINE/SHE'S A WOMAN! I know fans get all huffy because "but it's not what The Beatles intended...!" (I know; I used to be one of them myself) but now I've realized that the US albums were darn good in their own right, even if the Fabs never intended them that way. In my case there is only the US version... that is, I never felt NOWHERE MAN sounded right on the album though that was strictly because I never grew up with it that way. Also, I am not a big fan of DRIVE MY CAR and also it never sounded anything to me like the "folk" feeling of the idea behind RS... it just doesn't belong on RS to me. I think both I'VE JUST SEEN A FACE and IT'S ONLY love perfectly suit RS...especially when the album begins with the start of I'VE JUST SEEN A FACE... it sounds like waking up and stretching in the morning, welcoming in a new dawn and the start of a very earthy LP . Agreed, that's the only case where I prefer the UK version. (However, the remaining tracks made a great addition to YESTERDAY...AND TODAY!). Not me... too many B-Sides and EP Tracks stranded over to obscure 7" additions.
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Post by coachbk on Apr 1, 2012 14:08:13 GMT -5
JoeK Good point about including the singles, B sides and EP tracks. I do think having those helps the US releases. I just wish the US LP's weren't only 11 songs. What would have been best would have been 14 song albums in the US. There were songs that were left off the US CAPITOL albums (There's A Place, Misery, From Me To You, A Hard Day's Night, I Should Have Known Better, I'm Down) that could have been used. And with 14 song albums, adding the German She Loves You would be OK. Somewhere I have a list of these I made in college of what I would have considered "perfect" albums.
By the way, I don't consider BEATLES FOR SALE weak, just weaker than A HARD DAYS NIGHT and HELP.
As I have expressed elsewhere, I was disappointed that the reissues didn't add the singles/B sides/EP tracks of the appropriate era (plus some more alternate takes). The "what the Beatles intended" could still have been preserved by keeping the original running order to start the CD, then the other tracks could be added. Besides releasing the 11 song MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR as the now "official" version is already a change in the "what the Beatles intended" argument. And that seems to work out fine.
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Post by anyoneanyhow on Apr 1, 2012 15:24:04 GMT -5
Meet The Beatles, solid straight through. The US Revolver side 1 has some weaker patches- Love You To, She Said, Yellow Sub.
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Post by debjorgo on Apr 1, 2012 18:15:43 GMT -5
MEET THE BEATLES (SIDE 1) 1. I Want To Hold Your Hand 2 2. I Saw Her Standing There 4 3. This Boy 2 4. It Won't Be Long 2.5 5. All I've Got To Do 2.5 6. All My Loving 3.5 16.5 REVOLVER (SIDE 1) 1. Taxman 3 2. Eleanor Rigby 3.5 3. Love You To 2.5 4. Here There Everywhere 3 5. Yellow Submarine 3 6. She Said She Said 3.5 18.5 Revolver Side 1 wins for me.
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Post by vectisfabber on Apr 1, 2012 19:08:50 GMT -5
But where did they place the German version of IWTHYH in the UK? The two German tracks didn't appear in the UK until the UK Rarities album (essentially a precursor of Past Masters, as the German tracks were the only real rarities) in 1978.
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JCV
Very Clean
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Post by JCV on Apr 2, 2012 12:17:56 GMT -5
MEET THE BEATLES (SIDE 1)Easy pick for me. JCV
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Post by scousette on Apr 2, 2012 15:43:53 GMT -5
MEET THE BEATLES Side 1
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