The Capitol Albums Vol. 1

The Capitol Albums Vol. 1 is a collection of the first four Capitol U.S. LPs by the Beatles.

The set brings together for the first time on CD the album that began it all — Meet The Beatles and the three other Capitol albums that were released in 1964 — The Beatles Second Album, Something New and Beatles '65.

"These are the records that introduced the Beatles to America 40 years ago. Remastered from the original American master tapes, these were the audio mixes and sequence of songs that found their way into our homes," commented Capitol Records president Andrew Slater.

With the explosion of the Fab Four in 1964, Capitol Records not only released one album by the group — but four — and though these albums contained less tracks than those released in Britain, these were the albums that America grew up with.

"In the Sixties, American record labels often chose to reformat British records to suit the needs of the U.S. market," according to Slater. "In America, singles were generally included on current albums, where 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."

Further, each of the discs includes two versions of each song — one in stereo (or duophonic in some cases) — then the selections are repeated in mono. The duophonic sound was carefully created by Capitol, using 2 channels of mono which were equalized, compressed and then reverb was added. The Capitol Albums Vol. 1 have been carefully digitized from the original masters, taken from the vaults at Capitol Records, to ensure that they sound as they did when first released.

With the release of the Beatles catalog on CD in 1987, releases were standardized on a worldwide basis and eventually the U.S. albums, which had last appeared on vinyl and cassette, were deleted.

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 Vol. 1 includes all four of the group's Capitol 1964 album releases, and each of the discs is housed in a miniature replica of the original album cover. It also features a 48-page booklet, along with a scrap book effect of photos and clippings from that amazing year.



Track Listings: (Stereo Recordings / Original Mono Recordings)