The Beatles - Past Masters, Vol. 1
|
List Price: Our Price: $13.97 You Save: $5.01 (26%) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Buy Used: from $3.48 (click here) Category: Music CD See more new music releases 
|
|---|
Buy this Music CD at online store in your country
Canadian Music Store
Canadian Music Store
Free Music Notes for Past Masters, Vol. 1
Free Music Review: The missing link pt 1 ("Yes it is it's true!")
Hit: 5 Stars
Surely nowadays nobody discusses the productivity of The Beatles as creators of music. They were more prolific than any contemporary artist, and possibly than any artist *ever*. So at the time of their popularity peak they would not include singles on their albums (the UK Parlophone albums, because those are the real ones - don't listen to what Capitol says), even if they were huge hits, like other artists. That left a huge gap in their discography when it was released on CD; even releasing their 13 albums their official output was still not complete.
Fortunately someone thought about the fans at that time and gathered together a 2 CD-set collection of "the missing link" tracks, and, as the booklet sets, "if you have the 13 CDs, plus these two, you have everything that The Beatles [...] officialy released".
So this CD, spanning through 1962 to 1965 (and its sister volume, covering the later years from 1966 to 1970) isn't really a 'conceptual' album, it's really a collection of non-LP songs, both non album huge hits ("From Me To You", "She Loves You", "I Want To Hold Your Hand", "I Feel Fine") and the more 'obscure' tracks:
"Love Me Do", included in its single-version, with Ringo drumming (!) and no tambourine, slightly different from the Please Please Me CD version;
"Thank You Girl", the B side to "From Me To You", an innocent sweet pop song dedicated to the fans;
"I'll Get You", the fantastic B side to "She Loves You", also including a contagious refrain ("oh yeah, oh yeah"), with intriguing lyrics about a love that should come in the future, just because the singer believes in it (The Beatles were beginning to experiment with songs surpassing the 'I love you, you love me' barrier), and also containing one of the biggest double-tracking mistakes by John Lennon in the middle eight (!);
"This Boy", incredible B side to "I Want To Hold Your Hand", featuring terrific three-part harmonies, a stage favorite from those years;
The german versions of "She Loves You" and "I Want To Hold Your Hand", even if only worth listening because of their historic value;
"Long Tall Sally" (sung by Paul McCartney), "Slow Down" (sung by John Lennon) and "Matchbox" (sung by Ringo Starr), three rock'n'roll covers extracted from the one and only UK LP with exclusive material (Long Tall Sally), and in most cases surpassing the original version;
"I Call Your Name", one of the most underrated Lennon compositions, intriguing and with a very interesting ryhthm change in the middle-eight, unusual for those times, from the same Long Tall Sally LP;
"She's A Woman", a McCartney screamer including a piano track, B side to "I Feel Fine";
"Bad Boy", another underrated Lennon cover of Larry Williams, this time joined by terrific lead guitar 'responses' by George Harrison, and only released originally in the US;
"Yes It Is", three-part harmony B-side to "Ticket To Ride"; and
"I'm Down", possibly one of the best rocking tracks The Beatles ever made, including a compelling McCartney lead vocal, great work by Harrison on the guitar and a wacky organ solo by Lennon.
Although the songs are remastered, most of them are in mono mixes and the audio quality screams for remastering/remixing, there are no flops in this one, no bad tracks. If you're a Beatles fan you should get this, in order to complete your collection. If you're only a casual listener, you'll enjoy the hits and will also be surprised by some 'hidden gems' in here, made by what's undebatably the best band ever. So "everyone wins in the end". Get it.
Free Music Review: Let down by inclusion of german tracks
Hit: 3 Stars
PAST MASTERS is not exactly what the title suggests. This CD (the first in the PAST MASTERS set) is made up of B-sides, and non album singles. I remember my mother buying it because she thought it was a 'greatest hits' package. It is worth a listen, but beware that the german inclusion of two of the key tracks are the german versions. These two versions should have been laid to rest, and not allowed to resurface on CD.
Free Music Review: Companion to the British albums through HELP!
Hit: 5 Stars
When EMI decided to release The Beatles' output on CD in the late 80s, they chose to issue the albums in their British formats and supplement them with two discs of non-album material called PAST MASTERS.
PAST MASTERS VOLUME ONE gives us a mix of things, mostly singles--some A-sides, some B-sides--including "I Want To Hold Your Hand" and "She Loves You" sung in German. But there is a serious downside to this release: We are given the stereo versions of 11 of the 18 selections, and this is sad because, with the exception of "Bad Boy," they were originally issued on vinyl (and sounded fantastic!) in mono.
Mono was the standard for years, but in the late 60s there was a major push within the record industry to make stereo the standard. And the industry did its best to brainwash the public into thinking that stereo was better than mono in all cases. Though the industry was surprisingly successful with its marketing tactics, the truth remains that much pre-1969 stereo rock 'n' roll sounds gimmicky at best, presenting severe and perverse channel separation that often saps the music of its power and realism. It is well documented that until 1969, George Martin spent the majority of time working on the mono mixes and comparatively little time on the stereo; stereo was just not deemed as important. Sadly, today the term "mono" is associated with inferior sound in the minds of most people. This myth is so ingrained in consumers' thinking that the word "mono" does not even appear on the outside packaging of PAST MASTERS VOLUME ONE (lest it deter anyone from a purchase), even though the mono tracks are marked with an asterisk. The four-letter word appears only in fine print and somewhat hidden within the booklet.
"Love Me Do" differs from the well-known version found on the PLEASE PLEASE ME album. This is the recording that was the original British single in 1962.
"From Me To You," "Thank You Girl," "She Loves You," and "I'll Get You" are in mono and can be found on other compilations. (But this British version of "Thank You Girl" differs from the one we got on the American LP of THE BEATLES SECOND ALBUM. The American version had harmonica in spots where this one doesn't.)
These stereo versions of "I Want To Hold Your Hand" and "This Boy" are not the versions that were released as the single, as the notes deceptively imply. The single was in mono and did not have the ridiculous left/right channel separations that we have here. The original versions--in glorious-sounding mono--can be found in THE BEATLES SINGLES COLLECTION boxed set.
"Long Tall Sally," "I Call Your Name," "Slow Down," and "Matchbox" were released together as an EP in England but were scattered across three different albums in the U.S. "Slow Down" and "Matchbox" were also released together as a single in America. In particular, the stereo mix of "Slow Down" sounds mutilated and severely saps the performance of its delirious intensity and power. It's plain and simple: Whereas the stereo versions found here sound disjointed and undernourished, the mono versions found in the BEATLES EP COLLECTION boxed set sound full, focused, and realistic.
"I Feel Fine" is another song that sounds far more realistic in mono. We are given the stereo version here, which has the drums and bass far left, the guitars far right, and the vocals--sounding abnormally detached and somewhat cavernous--in the middle. "She's A Woman" doesn't sound as bad. The mono versions of both, however, can be found in the BEATLES SINGLES COLLECTION boxed set.
During the HELP! sessions, they recorded two songs by Larry Williams, "Bad Boy" and "Dizzy Miss Lizzy," specifically for Capitol in the U.S. Both songs appeared on BEATLES VI (and, for some reason, "Lizzy" was spelled "Lizzie" on that album.) Though "Dizzy Miss Lizzy" was included on the British release of HELP!, "Bad Boy" was not released in the U.K. until the December 1966 compilation A COLLECTION OF BEATLES OLDIES. I have always thought that both songs sound lackluster compared with the white-hot "Slow Down" (another Williams tune), recorded the previous year. In the spring of 1965, the band was beyond that style of music anyway.
"Yes It Is" was the B-side to the "Ticket To Ride" single and also appeared on BEATLES VI. Many Beatles fans who owned the stereo version of that album are used to the version we get here. But many of us infinitely prefer the richer and more focused sound of the mono version.
I would have been much happier had Paul's delightfully raucous "I'm Down" ended the HELP! album instead of "Dizzy Miss Lizzy." Oh well. This stereo version of "I'm Down" is no match for the exhilarating mono mix issued as the flip side of the "Help!" single. Furthermore, the version of "Help!" released as the single differs significantly from the album version. One wonders why the single version did not turn up here. But it is available, along with the mono "I'm Down," in the SINGLES COLLECTION boxed set.
For those looking for a compilation to serve as an overview, THE BEATLES/1962-1966 (Red Album), THE BEATLES/1967-1970 (Blue Album), or BEATLES 1 will do much better than the PAST MASTERS discs, which were not designed for that purpose. Because the boxed set collections mentioned above are priced beyond reason, I will not recommend them to the more casual or more recent Beatles fans (though--by far!--they best represent this material). I can recommend PAST MASTERS VOLUME ONE without reservation to those fans who are unfamiliar with the mono and, therefore, do not share in my rather severe prejudices.
Free Music Review: PAST MASTERS 1 - MORE THAN JUST A FEW LOOSE ENDS!
Hit: 5 Stars
The compilation of this and it's sister volume was probably the most sensible & logical of all Post-breakup Beatles albums. With the CD transfer of their UK catalogue, we were still left with a lot of good stuff - singles, B-sides, EP cuts, non-LP tracks, German versions and a giveaway track. (Some of these had been compiled previously on the UK "Rarities" LP that accompanied the original "Blue" LP Collection Boxed Set. But the some of the hits were still missing).
What we have is a completion of the CD collection. This first volume covers those frenetic Beatlemania years between 1962-65. Opening track is the original 45 version of "Love Me Do". This is slightly slower and the most notable difference to the later LP version is Paul's nervous vocal on the "Love Me Do" line. Following on are the classic million-selling hits like "From Me To You", "She Loves You", "I Want To Hold Your Hand" & "I Feel Fine" that are forever etched into our collective memories, and they're accompanying B-sides..some of them would have been worthy A-Sides with any other band, especially "This Boy" & "She's A Woman." Those owners of the original US LP's will notice slight differences in some versions particularly with "Thank You Girl" of which the original mono single version is included. Then we have the superb "Long Tall Sally" EP which was recorded in 1964 around the time of "A Hard Day's Night". EP's were common product in the UK (& Australia) but this was the first one to wholly include newly recorded material. If the Beatles were good at only one thing, it was their ability to make cover versions their own, and in some cases, the definitive version which is no small feat. Ask yourself now which version of a "Beatles covered song" do you recall the most? They achieved this with Paul's incendiary "Long Tall Sally" which was is a one-take wonder (as well as with John's incredible "Twist & Shout"). The EP also included a killer version of "Slow Down", the rousing "Matchbox" and a solid original "I Call Your Name". Also included are German language versions "Komm, Gib Mir Deine Hand (I want To Hold Your Hand)" & "Sie Liebt Dich (She Loves You)" recorded for the German music market. Recorded in 1965, "Bad Boy" was originally issued (& maybe buried) on the 1966 "A Collection Of Beatles Oldies" UK LP about a year after being released in the USA. It was one of 3 Larry Williams covers the Beatles recorded during their career. "Yes It Is", the B-side to "Ticket To Ride" is similar to "This Boy in style with some beautiful 3 part harmonies though the latter is probably slightly stronger. "I'm Down" was the B-side to "Help!" and is another fiery Paul rocker.
The thing to remember about the Beatles is that they were very, very prolific. Over half of their singles and B-sides were recorded during the same sessions as albums but were released seperately. So in some cases they were recording 16 new tracks..not just 14!! These tracks are an important part of the Beatles catalogue and if you have all of the others then your collection just isn't complete without them.
Free Music Review: Past Masters
Hit: 4 Stars
I bought this album because It's got a lot of songs I really like on it, mostly stuff I'd heard on the radio, like 'I wanna hold your hand' and 'She loves you'. I really like the first seven songs. The first five songs all have a slight Rhythm and Blues leaning but are so much more cheerful. The Harmonica is really great. And then they mellow out with 'This Boy'. And don't forget 'I wanna hold your hand'! Then there's The second half of the album, a bit more experimental. I do love 'She's a woman', a nice, unusual slant on Paul's Little Richard impersonation! 'I'm down' mixes the Little Richard lead vocals with typical Beatles backing vocals. I feel fine is just excellent, as is Ringo Starr's cover of 'Matchbox'. Yes it is has some excellent guitar playing, guitar effects and vocal harmonies. I had a similar experience to 'I call your name' when I bought the album two years ago and it still is a very good song. 'Slow Down' and 'Bad Boy' [wasn't that a Ringo solo album?] are energetic.
All in all, this album is almost as good as albums like Wiht the Beatles, Help and Please please me.