Beatles Bootleg Reviews Page 4: The Walrus Was Crow!

BOOTLEG REVIEWS 4

The Beatles Capitol Records releases on CD from Dr. Ebbetts Sound System, 2002

OK, time for another boring edition of Beatles Bootleg Reviews! This time, we'll look at a series that many believe puts the official EMI/Apple CDs to shame, given to us by the man known only as... Dr. Ebbetts.

The doctors' bootleg CDs are basically (for better or worse) what you heard on the original US and UK LPs. They are not 'remasters' (such as the circulating 24-bit remasters) nor remixes (good for our friend Legs). They seem straight transfers of either excellent early vinyl editions of these albums, or possibly (as I've heard) the cassettes or 8-tracks, which I'm not sure I believe.There are also British LP versions from Ebbetts straight from those wonderful Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab releases back in the early 80's. Now, in theory, since vinyl (analog)albums almost always sound better than (digital) CDs, then these discs should be superb, right? Well...sometimes. The problem is, especially with the Capitol versions, what you got on record wasn't great quality to begin with. That said, lets go through a few of the good doctors releases.
"Meet the Beatles!" was, of course like the others, a mish- mash of stereo, mono and fake, or 'duo-phonic stereo' mixes. That said, this disc sounds suprisingly good. Let the stereo "This Boy" rip thru the speakers, and you'll be pleased. The whole disc is pretty good (the stereo and the mono), but "The Beatles Second Album" (stereo and mono) is a superb job from Ebbetts. And this is because it sounds like the vinyl!! Thats a good thing, in most cases.You've heard me rave before about this LP; I grew up with it, and this CD is a pleasant surprise. Both versions have their strengths and good points, and to finally hear a clean CD version of "Roll Over Beethoven",echoey Capitol Dexter mix and all,does me good. It's also worth pointing out, this album featured the BEST version ever of "She Loves You". Say what you will about the echo; here, it goes a LONG way to obscuring those pesky edits made so obvious on badly mastered CDs of late. It sounds HUGE, just like this song deserves to. At this point I might also add: I don't feel theres any re-EQing going on here, which is interesting, since most of these affairs do just that, and generally WITHOUT any EQ-ing or de-clicking, the songs usually fade out too soon, to prevent you heraing those pops that, face it, are part and parcel of vinyl. This doesnt happen here, and I'm amazed. Now... "A Hard Days' Night" is different. The United Artists LP is fondly rememebered by some, but when was the last time you actually heard it? The Ebbetts CD brought back memories, sure. Of how silly the instrumentals are, and what crappy mixes EMI gave UA for the soundtrack. Remember, even with a stereo album, you still had Beatles in mono. So while its a nice novelty, this one is a good example of being too slavish to the original: it sounds as bad as the original. Good or bad? Thats up to you. I've just given cursory listens to recent aquisitions of "Beatles '65","The Beatles Story" and "Beatles VI", but are all pure Capitol vinyl....on CD.
Another point of note is the packaging of the Ebbetts discs. You'll get the original front and back covers, professionally printed. You also get true silver CDs with thermal ink printing of all the details. Very nice attention paid, which is what one would expect from a good physician I'd say....! A great example of this attention is the two seperate Ebbetts versions of the "Yesterday and Today" LP. One features not only the butcher cover, but a CD that features the contents of the first pressing of that album...just as the butcher cover would have enclosed. Now here's a guy who cares. By the way, it SOUNDS good as well!
Moving WAY ahead to the Doctors "Sgt. Pepper" in stereo: No sir, I don't like it. It sounds as though he got a much later (late 70s-80s) pressing of the album, and I'm not impressed. I'm also not impressed with his "White Album" mono. Its been sucked of the bass like the Capitol stereo LP was, and that was something good about the U.K. monoural: you could HEAR the BASS!! I don't know WHAT he's done here. That said, the mono EP version of "Magical Mystery Tour" is quite good, as is his version of the U.S. Capitol LP, although NOTHING, to this point, beats the version of the stereo "MMT" EP with the Parlophone EP Collection CD box set. And thats the ONLY time EMI/Apple scores points over Dr. Ebbetts.

SUMMARY/OVERALL RATING: **** FOUR STARS- Tired of the commercial CDs? Then you can go here and enjoy,especially if you have to have the early Capitol LPs. Only one thing can surely put an end to these types of releases though, and any need for them: The re-released 'new and improved' Apple CDs in 2006, and Capitol actually releasing the American 'first four'. Will it happen? Look into your magic eight-ball and see...and then think about "Let It Be...Naked". What do YOU think?

the Beatles: "Acetates"-Yellow Dog, 2002

Track Listing:
Disc 1:
Bad To Me
One and One Is Two
Waltzing Matlida
12 Bar Original
Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band
A Day In The Life
Magical Mystery Tour
The Fool On The Hill
Blue Jay Way
Blue Jay Way 2
Your Mother Should Know
I Am The Walrus
Flying
Christmas Time (Is Here Again)
Whats The New Mary Jane
Goodbye
Something
I Me Mine
Kenny Everett

DISC 2
A Hard Days Night
And I Love Her
If I Fell
Help!
The Night Before
I Need You
Ticket To Ride
You Like Me Too Much
Yes It Is
You've Got To Hide Your Love Away
Another Girl
Youre Going To Lose That Girl
Get Back
Teddy Boy
Two Of Us
Dig A Pony
I've Got A Feeling
Long and Winding Road
Let It Be
Don't Let Me Down
For You Blue
Get Back
The Walk
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At Abbey Road in the 60s, when the Beatles wanted to hear one of their unfinished masterpieces back, they didnt get a tape. They got an acetate, a fragile record album meant to be played only once or twice, due to its fragile state. However, many of these acetates have survived, and now we can hear these works in progress on CD, which you can play forever (presumably..!)
Yellow Dogs "acetates" discs are not new to the Beatlegging public; a version of "acetates" came out as far back as 1988, but this is an expanded edition, with two discs and plenty of extra tracks. Many of these tracks were pre-final mixes, and thus don't have certain effects or little things we're used to; or served as demos of songs for the band or publishers to hear before they were recorded officially.
The first disc works in roughly chronological order, kicking off with John and Pauls demo for "Bad To Me", which if you have not heard, is worth price of admission alone. Billy J. Kramer wound up with this gem, and butchered it, as was Billys wont. This appearance is a bit shorter than whats out there elsewhere, but nevermind. Another Lennon-McCartney castaway is one from the island of misfit fab tunes, "One And One Is Two". Oooff. What a crappy song of Pauls! Worse than "If Youve Got Troubles"? You be the judge.
"12 Bar Original" makes another appearance here, but sounds good. Its take 2 I believe. One of the big surprises for me on this disc was the acetate for "Sgt. Peppers". Its the basic track without lead guitar or horns, and with the full, unedited ending later chopped off to make way for Billy Shears.
Most of the others you probably know; the basic take of "I Am The Walrus", Pauls "Goodbye"; Georges demo for "Something" (which differs from the "Anthology 3" version due to a piano overdub)..and then theres "Mary Jane". Hey, now theres one worse than "One and One.."! This is just sheer cacophany, much different from the Anthology 3 re-mix, which at least you could listen to once...And "Christmas Time" is not an actual acetate, just a garden variety bootleg, and not even the entire take (to spare us the pain of the whole thing, perhaps? )
Disc 2 features, OUT of chronological order, the film acetates from "A Hard Days Night" (which here apparently come from a radio program on the records publisher Dick James left behind!), "Help!" and "Let It Be". The "AHDN" acetates are the same as you hear on disc, except that "And I Love Her" is the US mix, with spare double tracking from Paul.
The "Help!" discs have a couple of interesting points: the title track as heard here is the 'stereo mix', with the fast vocals from John, while the original film soundtrack features a totaly different version of the song! Keep in mind, what you are hearing are discs cut for the films producers, so it makes me wonder which came first, the mono or the stereo mix of "Help!"..
"Youre Gonna Lose That Girl" has a different guitar solo here, and all tracks have this abrupt announcement at the beginning which I find quite funny. Also..was "You Like Me Too Much" once considered for the film? Odd.
The rest of the last disc is comprised of "Let It Be" acetates, or rather, the "Get Back" referencce acetate. Youve heard these before, and they are all different from the LP versions, except for "Get Back", which seems to have a bit more bass in the mix than the single. It all wraps up with a take of McCracklins "The Walk", which some find amusing, and this apparently includes Paul.
SUMMARY/RATING- *** 3 Stars: Its fun to hear these records pretty much only meant for the Beatles, or their inner circles, ears.But again, it all comes down to alternate mixes, and works in progress to hear. So is it worth it? Well, if you dont have these tracks elsewhere, totally worth it. Not one you'll pull out too often, but a fun listen nevertheless.
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Next time...maybe some solo Paul, how 'bout it? See ya then.. Thanks for the attention,since the reviews have quiclky become our most popular feature EVER! See ya next time, Beatle-people, for Beatles Bootleg Reviews!! (By the way, click here to go back to the first page of reviews if ya need....