The Beatles

The most important band ever. No matter what kind of modern music you like, it just wouldn’t be the same without The Beatles. No band, set the bar higher musically, or influenced the world more profoundly. They tossed off generational anthems like it was nothing, and their mastery of recording technique has yet to be surpassed. Just saying the name of the band awakens all my senses with memory and happiness. The Beatles might be the best thing that happened in the 1960s. Here are a few of my favorite Beatles items.

- Paul Epstein

Several Species Of Small Furry Thoughts - The Great Beatles Vinyl Experiment

When the new batch of Beatles vinyl came out a few weeks ago I took home Sgt. Pepper’s and Magical Mystery Tour to check them out. My first impression was sort of ho-hum. I played my American Apple pressings and by comparison they seemed better, but just sort of. Then I started seeing various reports in the press about how either good or bad they were. There seemed to be no consensus about how these highly anticipated reissues really fared compared to other issues on vinyl. So, Twist and Shout’s vinyl guru Ben Sumner and myself decided to subject the reissues to some clinical testing and determine what we really thought. We went over to my house to avail ourselves of a decent stereo and then I subjected Ben to a blind listening of five different Peppers and four Mystery Tours. To avoid fatigue, we chose to listen to just a limited amount of music from each album. We played “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” and “With A little Help From My Friends” from the former and “Strawberry Fields Forever” from the latter. We fortified ourselves with pizza and some red wine and then dove in.

With Pepper, we played two different American Apple pressings, the new version, Ben’s first pressing British Parlophone version and finally the CD from the ’09 box set. We found that we agreed across the board with each other and the results were interesting and a bit unexpected. Both of the American Apples had a louder, more compressed and more radio-ready, exciting sound. When we played the original British copy it is safe to say it was a revelation comparatively. The field of sound broadened, there was more space between the instruments and the lows seemed lower. It was subtler and showed the album to be the avant-garde masterpiece it was. In my notes abut the American versions I wrote “No wonder America fell in love with the Beatles.” Those louder, slightly more compressed versions somehow took your attention away from the nuances and pushed these great songs to the front of the sonic field sounding like instant hits. When we played the new version in direct comparison, it fell squarely in between these two experiences. It lacked the beautiful delicacy of the original British and it also toned down some of the over-amped excitement of the American mixes. The down side was some of the vocals and drums sounded a bit muffled, but the positive side was we both agreed that these were actually pretty good versions that the average consumer could comfortably buy knowing they are getting a very respectable version of this classic material.

The Mystery Tours were an original American Capitol version, the new version, the highly coveted German, Apple (Horzu) version and again the CD to finish it off. By choosing “Strawberry Fields Forever,” which has always been in true stereo, we sidestepped the whole stereo vs. duo phonic debate. Our results were similar to the Pepper experiment. The original Capitol jumped out of the speakers, again tamping down the subtlety and pumping up the excitement. The real revelation of the entire evening was the German version, which offered this psychedelic masterpiece in the most detailed and gorgeous presentation I’ve ever heard. It captured that ineffable quality that vinyl buyers crave. Some call it warmth, Ben says it is just a heightened space between the instruments, but it is the thing that lovers of the medium crave and seek out. It is also the thing that many digitally produced modern albums lack. Once again the new version fared pretty well also. It lacked the jaw dropping delicacy of the German, but it was a better sounding record than my original Capitol.

In both cases the new versions were nice pressings that obviously had the least surface noise and offered the least distracting vinyl listen. We both felt totally comfortable recommending these new pressings as a great way to get into the repertoire, knowing that there are still some collecting holy grails out there that can lead the diligent searcher to even more rarified listening experiences. Another affirmation was, that no matter what Neil Young says about CDs being an inferior listening experience, the ’09 CD versions are superb sounding and are a completely wonderful way to enjoy the Beatles. In addition to the expected loudness and clarity, they offered subtlety and nuance as well. The CDs will continue to be my go-to for the majority of my Beatles listening. One last thing that may seem obvious after all these years, but still mystifies me is how definitively great The Beatles were: as songwriters, performers and capturers of lightning in a bottle. The 60’s gestalt is encapsulated in these songs better than any other physical manifestation I can think of. If history favors any music from the rock era, The Beatles are sure to be on the top of the heap.
-Paul Epstein 

Beatles in Mono

To be totally honest, I have not spent that much time with the newly remastered Beatles albums in MONO, until recently. When they first came in I listened to them all once through and filed them before they got damaged in any way (ah, the life of a collector). Also, I have been so enthralled with the stereo versions that I haven’t been able to get them out of my player. But now that we have another batch of the Mono box for sale I decided to really listen to them carefully. It has been an ear-opening experience. The early albums sound the way I like to remember - bright, loud little pop punches in the eye. It’s just like they are coming out of the one speaker in your car on your way to school in 1964. They really get revelatory as the years pass. Revolver and Rubber Soul are tapestries of guitar sounds - Rubber Soul lush with acoustic instruments and sculpted three part harmonies, Revolver abuzz with wiry electric guitar sounds. When we reach Sgt. Pepper, the point that The Beatles really started reaching for the stars, the Mono version is startling. The album is like a sonic tower, with the vocals teetering at the top-right in your face, and then all those baroque flourishes and layers of sound and effects are glued ornamentally to the sides like some crazy, cosmic X-mas tree. It is a completely different feel than listening to the stereo version. There are also differences in the mix itself. For instance, between “Within You Without You” and “When I’m Sixty-Four” there is a bit of Lennon audio horseplay that is either not on the stereo mix, or is buried in there so deeply I never noticed it before. Again, at the end of “Good Morning Good Morning” where the chicken miraculously becomes a guitar, there is a completely different mix that effectively neuters that little chicken. And that, ultimately is the point, these are tiny details that would be laughable to the average music fan, but to the diehard Beatles fan, this is the stuff of heaven - minutia of the smallest order. It gives one the ability to dig deep into the catalog that has inspired our love of music and come up with something new and unheard. What more could you ask for?
Paul Epstein

All You Need Is Love (and about a hundred more Mono boxes)

Yesterday all my troubles seemed so far away. Why? Because the greatest rock band ever had a day all about them. And the public let us know in no uncertain terms that this was exactly what they needed. When I got to the store there was already a line of about twenty people waiting. They had that giddy appearance of 15 year olds waiting in line for their first concert. When we opened at 10:00 I stood at the front door and greeted a bunch of old and new friends who were there to make sure they would get the Mono box. We were sold out of it by 10:15. Then, throughout the day, wave after wave of true believers came in and bought and bought and bought. I honestly thought we had brought in enough for a month’s supply on some titles and we sold at least 80% of it in one day.

At 3:00 the great people from Listen Up started setting up the mammoth McIntosh and B&W system we would use to present the music. At around 5:30 a crowd started to build in the store. Lots of old faces, everyone had that glow - could it have been the free booze or the delicious cupcakes? That helped, but there was no doubt that people wanted to be part of something that the so-called online community doesn’t now or ever provide - a real connection between people - their bodies, their smiles, their Beatles memorabilia (some people brought some excellent stuff). There is also the very real factor of hearing real music played in an open room with other like-minded people. What do they call that? Oh yeah - fun!

After we listened to the comparison disc that made it clear that these new remasters were really head and shoulders above the old ones, and gave all the prizes for best memorabilia - the first place winner was a woman who brought some amazing candid shots of The Beatles in London in 1969 that she took herself on a lark while on vacation - people did not want to leave. Listen Up had set up a big screen TV and people played the new Beatles Rock Star video game, but mostly they stood around and talked about their love of the Beatles, and their experiences hearing them and living with them as part of their lives all these years. It was bittersweet, but more sweet than bitter. The Beatles music remains so vital and defining for so many of us, and this event was in many ways a lovely confirmation of that.

For Twist and Shout it was really great. In spite of the fact that we essentially gave away all our profit on this big opportunity, we came out the big winners. I was on the radio and TV in the morning and afternoon, and countless customers got to connect to something very primal. With art and culture, sometimes you gotta be there and actually put your hands on something so you know it’s real. As I suspected: it’s real.

The Beatles Re-Revisited.

I know I already have written on the experience of hearing the remasters for the first time, but now that we are going to reproduce that experience for you, and now that I know more details about the actual reissues, I thought it would be worth revisiting the topic of The Beatles remasters. On 9-9-09 local purveyors of great sound Listen Up will bring down a really high-end stereo system and we will set it up on our stage as though a band were going to perform. I secured from Capitol records the comparison disc I referenced in my other blog. On this disc you will hear 13 snippets of songs and the corresponding snippets from the new versions. This is followed by three of the new songs in their entirety. I think it is safe to say that hearing it on this system, in this setting will be an eye/ear opening experience for you. The value of these new versions will really be brought home to you. I have listened to it again myself a few times in the last few days under “optimal” conditions, and my opinion has not changed. In fact it has strengthened if anything. The new versions are like Dorothy stepping out of that black and white house onto the yellow brick road. Talk about kicking off your muddy boots. It is kind of hard to believe it has taken this long for the label/band to get around to this. When listening to George Martin’s brilliant re-imagining of Beatles music for the show “LOVE” I remember thinking, “why don’t they all sound like this?” This music is so much a part of our collective DNA at this point that we should be listening to it with this level of scrutiny. Finding new details in music this renowned is more than just an interesting sidebar, it is a moment of cultural reflection (I half kid).

So, we will be playing the music on the big system, and we will be serving some booze and snacks, and we will have the new Beatles video game to check out as well. I’ve seen some of the animation and it looks pretty cool. In addition to this we are encouraging you to bring in a favorite piece of Beatles memorabilia. I’ll look over them and choose the best. That winner will get a rare official Apple Records Beatles banner and some other stuff.

We will have the individual CDs on sale for that first day only for $9.99. The rest of the week they will be discounted, but not that heavily. As far as the two box sets are concerned, we still don’t know how many we are going to get. I ordered pretty heavily on them, but we are told there may be allocation depending on demand. We will just have to wait and see. The stereo box comes with a DVD of all quicktime computer files that are embedded on the first run of cds. To me, that is a pretty big incentive. The mono box is supposedly limited to 13,000 copies, which isn’t a lot for any official Beatles product. To my ears, those early albums sound best in mono. That limited supply is a pretty good incentive to get that box. It sounds like it is the one that will become highly collectible, although there are no guarantees. I have had a lot of customers ask me to put one or more of the boxes aside for them. I’m telling everyone the same thing; let me see how many I get first. Obviously our greatest hope is to take care of everyone.

It’s hard to get my head wrapped around the historical significance of this event. As a lifelong Beatles fan, it feels like they are putting out a new album, and that’s pretty exciting. As a music retailer, I can’t help but think this is one of only a number of events left that will excite the general public about the thing that I do for a living. I do believe physical music will continue to be around for a good long while, but I wonder how many more times it will rise to the forefront of the public’s consciousness this forcefully. I look forward to a good night of music, and I look forward to seeing you there.

The state of the industry and the state of The Beatles

This week I was at the annual NARM (National Association Of Recording Merchandisers) conference in San Diego. I haven’t been in a few years and was full of anxiety about what it would be like in the increasingly digital era we find ourselves in. I wondered whether anyone would be there and what the mood would be. It turned out it would be one of the more productive NARMs I’ve been to. I found the labels and distribution companies somewhat more open-minded about dealing with independent retail than they have been in a while. Money seems to be tight for everyone, but that makes for a creative atmosphere. Part of that creativity is being manifested in the unbelievable resurgence of vinyl. There was a lot of talk about it, and I feel confident that the format is going to enjoy an even bigger resurgence, and that the quality will continue to improve, making it THE premier format it rightfully is.

I appeared on a panel with the Chief Executive Officer of The American Booksellers Association, Oren Teicher who was very interesting and thought provoking. I am already thrilled to be next door to one of the best bookstores in the country - The Tattered Cover - and I have been starting to really get into this whole concept of buying locally and avoiding chains or monolithic national companies that ship money out of state and limit the intellectual and artistic choices we have. I hope to become more and more involved in my local community as an individual and a businessman, and being on this panel sharpened my desire quite a bit.

As always at these conventions, the real fun happens late night in the private rooms of the store-owners. This year, my friend Eric Levin of the great independent store Criminal Records in Atlanta arranged for us to have some crazy multi-hundred thousand dollar sound system in a room where we could really listen to stuff. Part of it was an amazing turntable that retails for over 50 thousand dollars. Various people brought rare records to play and labels got the chance to play us some cool new stuff on vinyl. By far the highlight for me though came on the final night when some of the folks from Capitol Records brought in a CD under lock and key. It contained 13 samples of the new re-mastered Beatles albums played back-to-back with the old ones so that we could really hear the difference. That was followed by three of the new versions in their entirety. I cannot express fully what a profound experience this was. It was really big on many different levels. First off, it reminded us all how absolutely elemental The Beatles are to our understanding of modern popular music. They are the standard by which all other bands are held in terms of how that band effected society and in the music they actually made. Some of the effects on society were out of their hands and a product of the times but there is no getting around the fact that STILL, The Beatles’ music stands the test of time. It is forward sounding and beautiful - even today. There is both a highly evolved quality to it and a precious innocence that we will not see the likes of again.

So how did they sound? It is almost a crime that it is 2009 and we are still living with the original masters from the first generation of CDs. Technologically, things have progressed light years from where they were at the dawn of CD and the care that has obviously been poured into these releases reflects the best that the format has to offer. On the early songs that were compared to newer ones it was startling. The songs went from a one dimensional wallpaper effect to a deep, resonant, immersive sound. The guitars crackled and every nuance of George Martin’s thoughtful production and engineering was in the correct place and it sounded remarkably like, well, a great vinyl recording. The songs were presented in chronological order, and as the band approaches the psychedelic era, with Rubber Soul, Revolver, Sgt. Pepper’s etc. the recordings became deeper, more resonant, and more and more exciting. There were probably thirty people in the room, and the feeling of growing excitement was palpable. With each hi-hat snap or lush three-part vocal harmony people were literally gasping. We were all anticipating the full songs at the end. "Tomorrow Never Knows" has always been a personal favorite, and has been embraced universally as a psych classic. It was a crushing experience to hear on this stereo in that quality. When the insectoid-like backward-masked guitar solo squirted out of the speakers you would have sworn a 300 pound day-glow mosquito had just flown by. It was AMAZING. Ditto, the opening guitar figure on "Something." Harrison’s tone had such warmth and presence it seemed like he had to be in the room. At the end there was a moment of silence before the whole room burst into joyous applause. I somewhat drunkenly stood up and made an impromptu speech that went something like this;

“If we can accurately convey to our customers the aural ecstasy of hearing this incredible music, and even more importantly, the significance of doing so in a room with other people, and the social implications of that…we will all have jobs for a long time.”

Drunk or not, I really believe that. The experience was so much more for the fact that we were experiencing it together, with the music washing over us in the optimal auditory setting. Sound matters, the society of others matters in the appreciation of that sound, and that is a fact that is becoming lost in torrent of instant gratification modern consumers face every day. Perhaps waiting so long for this moment made it that much sweeter. Either way, be prepared to replace your Beatles albums one last time. Also, there will be vinyl versions later in the year. My unquenchable love for music has its roots and greatest love in the music of The Beatles. They have been one of the most satisfying constants in my life since childhood, and this listening session really brought into focus what it all means to me. I hope you are as excited by their release on September Ninth as I am.