The Early Beatles (CD)

Reviews

"The Beatles - The Early Beatles (US Capitol CD)" by Lionel D - 2 April 2018

"The Early Beatles" (1965), has to rank as the most-shoddily treated of all The Beatles LP releases. The original 14-track album was released as The Beatles debut UK Parlophone LP "Please Please Me" (1963). It was issued by US Vee-Jay as The Beatles debut LP "Introducing" (1964) in two 12-track editions with different tracklistings. Later the same year Vee-Jay reissued the identical tracks on LP as "Songs, Pictures and Stories of the Fabulous Beatles" and as one disc of the 2LP "The Beatles vs the Four Seasons". In 1965 Capitol issued an 11-track edition as "The Early Beatles". As with "Meet The Beatles" [reviwed elsewhere] Capitol used re-processed "duophonic" (or fake stereo) on a number of tracks, again resulting in unique mixes not available elsewhere. These mixes were in turn also "folded down" (combining two channels into one), producing further unique Mono mixes not available elsewhere. However, this 2014 US CD, also included in the US Capitol "US Albums" boxset [reviewed elsewhere] DOES NOT CONTAIN the original US 1964 mixes, but the 2009 UK remasters, unlike "The Early Beatles" on the US Capitol "Capitol Albums Vol 2" (2004) boxset [reviewed elsewhere]. Overall opinion: avoid and rather buy the US Capitol "Capitol Albums Vol 2" (2004) boxset [reviewed elsewhere].