UK albums vs US albums | Page 2 | Fab Forum | The Beatles Bible

@meanmistermustard 

You have some good pointsl, however I will further explain the last two:

In the US, it is harder to get original UK LP’s than US LP’s.

My older brother spent a lot of money on the Anthology 1 -3 vinyl and there are some good songs in there (Strawberry Fields Forever (Take 7) and a more bluesier version of Helter Skelter are some examples).

Also, I don’t consider stuff like Love Me Do (Ringo) or Sie Leibt Dich new tracks because they are very similar to the original (If Sie Leibt Dich wasn’t She Loves You in greman, I would have no idea what they were saying. Also, Komm Gib Nir Deine Hand has the same problem). If I was taking out unnecessary tracks, I’d take out Revolution 9 , Good Night , You Know My Name (Look Up the Number), Wild Honey Pie , Her Majesty , Dig It , Maggie Mae , and Can You Take Me Back.

Also, If it wasn’t for stuff like Capitol, Ed Sullivan, Yellow Submarine , and the TV show, a lot of us Americans wouldn’t know who The Beatles are.

I understand your point of view on Ringo’s version of Love Me Do . However, it is too similar to me to be considered it’s own song. As for Revolution 9 , when I was a kid, I didn’t like it, but now, I kind of do. Every time you hear it, you hear something new. The only problem I have with it is that it could be scary for younger viewers and remember, The Beatles were like the 60’s version of The Wiggles to people born from about 1958 to 1967 (including me, my older brother, and all of our friends). Finally, what I meant by the final sentence is that without the Capitol albums, us American fans wouldn’t know who The Beatles were. Also, Good Night is my least favorite Beatles song because it ends The Beatles, which is such a great album on a bad note.

@Ron Nasty

You’re 100% right, though I feel that anything before Sgt. Pepper could be scrambled up and put in almost any order and be called a good album. Sgt. Pepper , on the other hand I feel is an album that has only one order to be played in and I feel the target audience was people 10 and under (instead of the typical 10-30 year olds), I feel the albums released after Sgt. Pepper would also sound messed up with scrambled tracklisting (except maybe Let It Be ), and that Yellow Submarine and Magical Mystery Tour ‘s main audience was also people 10 and under.

@meanmistermustard 

I personally think that when they were taking the most drugs (1966/1967) was when they were the most kid oriented. I personally think that Sgt. Pepper ‘s Lonely Hearts Club Band was made for 5 year olds. Also, Don’t think that characters from little kids shows are all goody goody under the scenes either, remember when the voice of Elmo got into some big trouble. Don’t forget, A song like She Loves You is appropriate for a 2 year old, unlike a song like F*** The Police. So overall, here’s some reccomendations for you to realize that The Beatles were not just for the 10-30 age group but also the 10 and under group as well:

Listen to the Revolver , Sgt. Pepper ‘s Lonely Hearts Club Band, Magical Mystery Tour , and Yellow Submarine albums, watch The Beatles TV Show and Yellow Submarine (In my opinion the series finale of the TV show), and notice how many Beatles fans there are born in between 1958 and 1967 who were into them when they first came out.

P.S. that brief clip is why I don’t let my kid watch Cartoon Network, and this is coming from a man who took his sons who were 6 and 7 at the time to see Alien 3 in the movie theatre.

Bongo said

I guess since our 1st 3 Canadian Capitol LPs were mono UK mixes, I don’t feel “that same nostalgia” as you do.  Agreed about the mono Helter Skelter though!!!!   

You’d think that the US and Canada would be pretty much the same, but sometimes it just doesn’t work out that way. Also, I made a post about where to draw the line between 1st gen and 2nd gen fans in the Yesterday And Today section if any of you want to take a look because nobody has checked it out yet.

SaxonMothersSon said  
Enjoy the music…And DO listen to albums,(Brit or US) not just individual songs. It is an event.                                                                                                                                                

And I do, Sgt. Pepper is my favorite because the flow is great to the point where it makes me wonder how Back In Black, Led Zeppelin IV (AKA ZOSO), The Eagles Greatest Hits, The Beatles (AKA The White Album ), and Thriller outsold this masterpiece. I sure feel that Dexter knew what he was doing by adding all that reverb.

c64wood said
I prefer the UK releases as they are the way the Beatles intended their work to be presented.  (I had never heard the UK pre-Pepper albums until they were released on CD in 1987)

Growing up on the US versions, I will listen to the US releases only for nostalgic reasons.

 

Random thought:

Since the US albums had the singles included, I wonder if I would feel the same way if we did not have a way to make our own playlists and had to get up and change the LPs/45s to be able to listen to the catalog in chronological order.  Hmmmmmm  

It’s safe to assume less than 1% of American Beatles fans knew they were getting a different album than the UK (although I can’t be sure, as I was 2 when they were at their peak). Hell, I didn’t know about the UK albums until my older brother’s friend moved next door from Britain in 1979. Therefore, to an American in the 1960’s, I Want To Hold Your Hand was the first track off the first album.