By Steve Manassas
In the 1960s and 1970s, Toshiba-EMI, forerunner of EMI Music Japan, and now Universal Music Japan (UMJ), issued the largest number of Beatle records of any country in the world - more than 30. In addition to three "specially created for the Japanese market" albums, Toshiba-EMI also issued all of the standard British LPs, as well as all of the U.S. albums, except for Beatles '65,Rubber Soul, and Revolver, and also issued non-U.K. European compilations, such as THE BEATLES' BEAT and THE BEATLES' GREATEST. They were also the only country, outside of the U.S. and Canada, to issue Capitol Records' documentary The Beatles' Story, in a deluxe box set, no less, with text of the album's narration in Japanese and English (!). Toshiba-EMI also issued all of the compilation/theme albums of the 1970s and early 1980s, including both the U.K. and U.S. versions of RARITIES, as well as the World Records 8-LP mail-order box set From Liverpool: The Beatles Box, which, sadly, I do not own.
As a result of EMI/UMJ's heavy involvement with The Beatles in Mono (The Complete Mono Recordings), as well as The U.S. Albums collection, it was only natural that UMJ put together a 50th Anniversary collection of The Beatles' Japanese albums on CD. There are only 5 discs in the set, including the three "specially created for the Japanese market" albums - MEET THE BEATLES!, THE BEATLES' SECOND ALBUM, and BEATLES NO. 5 (with front cover art and graphics similar to Beatles '65). While obviously modeled after their U.S. Capitol counterparts, these Japanese Odeon versions have significantly different track listings. On the reissued vinyl albums on Apple, which I own, some, but not all, of the tracks appeared in "fold-down" mono mixes created from the stereo master tapes, but the CDs are pure mono, from the 2009 remasters. NOTE: The version of "Love Me Do" from MEET THE BEATLES! is the standard LP version with Andy White on drums, not the original Ringo-on-drums single version, as Amazon claims. Once you unscramble the unusual running order of the tracks, the three CDs contain the complete contents of the Please Please Me and With the Beatles albums, plus all of the MONO MASTERS non-LP tracks from "From Me To You" through "She's A Woman," with the exception of the B-side "I'll Get You," which was apparently displaced by "Can't Buy Me Love" on THE BEATLES' SECOND ALBUM.
The Japanese version of A HARD DAY'S NIGHT has a significantly different cover, but is otherwise identical to the 2009 remastered U.K. stereo version. The Japanese version of HELP! has the original 1965 stereo mix, which can also be found on Disc 5 of THE BEATLES IN MONO box set (tracks 15-28, following the mono mix).
As with the earlier mono and U.S. box sets, each CD comes in a resealable outer cellophane wrapper, with faithful reproductions of the original LP sleeves. HELP! has an impressive gatefold sleeve, with the standard British cover artwork on the front, a black-and-white autographed photo of the band on the left-inside gatefold, Japanese liner notes on the right-inside gatefold, with a color photo similar to the U.S. album on the back, but with different cover graphics. Each CD - issued with the original black-and-silver English-language Odeon label - is housed in a rice-paper inner bag, with reproductions of the original paper inner sleeves, complete with flaps. The first three albums have plain off-white inner sleeves; BEATLES NO. 5 and HELP! have colorful inner sleeves (slightly different) promoting other EMI Japanese releases; classical on one side, mostly from Capitol and its subsidiary label Angel Records, and pop, rock, and jazz titles, many of them also from Capitol, on the reverse side. Interestingly, the Japanese BEATLES FOR SALE is featured on the inner sleeve, even though it is not included in this CD box set. Each CD also contains reproductions of the original inserts, with Japanese, English, and German lyrics; the HELP! album also contains a color still photo of The Beatles from the film.
The package also contains a mini-cellophone package of the five OBI strips for each of the albums, and a colorful collector's book, featuring reproductions of the early Japanese LPs, EPs, and singles (some duplicating the U.S. releases, others with unusual couplings), a photo of a master tape box for one of the EPs, and photos of several Beatles-related Japanese music magazines. The EPs, usually mono 45 RPM records in most markets, are in stereo and play at LP speed, 33 1/3 RPM. I own the Apple reissue of the HELP! EP (Odeon/Apple OP/AP-4110) and it was the first and only record to have "I'm Down" in true stereo, until the ROCK 'N' ROLL MUSIC LP was issued in 1976. The ANNA EP (Odeon/Apple OP/AP-4118) contains a simulated stereo version of "Sie Liebt Dich"; a true stereo version would not emerge until the RARITIES albums were issued in the U.K. and U.S. in 1978-79-80. In addition, BEATLES NO. 5 was the only LP in The Beatles' worldwide discography to include "Sie Liebt Dich" prior to RARITIES. Only four Beatle albums contain both German-language tracks: BEATLES NO. 5 (possible "fold-down" mono on vinyl, pure mono on the CD), the U.K. RARITIES (stereo with echo), PAST MASTERS ("fold-down" mono on 1988's PAST MASTERS, VOLUME ONE; true stereo without echo on the 2009 remastered two-CD set), and MONO MASTERS (pure mono). The U.S. RARITIES includes "Sie Liebt Dich" in true stereo without echo; Capitol had previously issued "Komm, Gib Mir Deine Hand," in both mono and stereo, on SOMETHING NEW.
The liner notes of most of the rest of the booklet are in Japanese only, but the song lyrics also appear in English (and German, for "Komm, Gib Mir Deine Hand" and "Sie Liebt Dich"). They appear to be the original words and are not translated from the Japanese. Even the outer slipcase box, which has English text, has its own resealable cellophane wrapper, so collectors can keep the wraparound Japanese-language banner intact on the outside of the box.
This set is not for everyone; most fans will be satisfied with the standard British and U.S. releases. It is aimed at Japanese Beatle fans, who, much like their U.S. counterparts, want CD versions of the albums they grew up with, as well as the worldwide Beatles collectors' market. This collection will probably not come down in price anytime soon, and once out of print, will no doubt become even more expensive, so if you are interested, grab one before it is gone.
No comments:
Post a Comment