Okay folks, if you’re not into Beatles vinyl geekdom then this blog post is not for you.

While I get an endless thrill (some say obsession) out of hunting down and listening to every sort of pressing minutiae most sane people I know don’t. At least you’ve been warned.

Anyway, today I thought I’d share with you some of the most prized and best sounding Beatles pressings that I’ve managed to track down over the years. I know others have talked about these same pressings but I thought I’d share some thoughts I had as I’ve been going through and doing some digital transfers of these particular Beatles pressings below.

(Note: this is the first of many in a series of my favorite Beatles pressings that I own)

First off I have to say that there’s something really special about hunting down original first pressings of The Beatles albums especially the British versions. For most of the 1960s these pressings were mastered with tube equipment which has a distinct sound of its own and can’t be reproduced with modern mastering.

That’s not to say the original pressings are the best sounding (however most times they are) but there’s a certain warmness and mid-range sound on these pressings that you can’t get on later issues. I like to experience these records as they were issued in the ’60s as that’s what the records sounded like at the time thus these original pressings, flaws and all, are a true time capsule for me which I quite enjoy.

Here are three pressings from my collection which I think are each superb sounding and should be tracked down by any true Beatles fan:

• Please Please Me – UK gold label mono first pressing
• A Hard Day’s Night – UK mono first pressing
• “Yesterday” … And Today” – lime green label record club true stereo pressing

Here’s a few quick thoughts on each.

Please Please Me – UK gold label mono first pressing:

This very first pressing of The Beatles very first album is special in more ways than one.

Firstly it’s the only pressing that features the old style gold label Parlophone label, that in itself is really cool. But it is also one heck of a great sounding disc as even if you have a beat up copy these early British pressings were made to last and even a worn looking copy probably sounds great.

Since my pressing is a fairly early copy I think (Matrix/Stampers: Side One XEX 421-1N 1P and Side Two XEX 421-1N 1L) the sound on this pressing just shines; it’s full of life and has a clarity that isn’t on later pressings.

I prefer the mono mix of this album though I do enjoy the stereo one as well. This first mono pressing is nice and punchy and jumps out of the speakers and hits on all cylinders. I also own a 1982 repress of this mono mix and while it sounds great this first pressing has a life and excitement that other pressings lack.

I know it’s becoming harder and harder to find a decent copy of this first pressing mono that won’t break the bank but if you can manage to swing it this copy does not disappoint. Even though many of the second issue UK mono copies sound great as well there’s just something special about this first issue that’s well worth seeking out.

A Hard Day’s Night – UK mono first pressing:

Here’s a case where the sound of the vinyl is way better than the way the album looks. I found this first UK mono pressing at a record store a few years ago and hemmed and hawed about buying it because the vinyl looked really worn. Since the price was right, under $20, I bit the bullet and hoped that a good cleaning would help and maybe it would at least sound decent.

I have to say that even after one quick clean my jaw hit the floor as even though it looked like this album was kicked around the floor a bit it played absolutely great and it sounded incredible! I’ve always been a fan of this album but the stereo pressings I own tend to sound a bit tinny and/or distorted on some songs – even the first pressings.

The mono mix of this album however sounds incredible and no other pressing of this albums sounds as alive and dynamic as this first mono pressing. The two songs that really stand out to me are “And I Love Her” and “I’m Happy Just to Dance with You” as they are both perfection on this pressing.

For some reason “I’m Happy Just to Dance with You” on all my stereo pressings seems to have a bit of sibilance that’s not on this or any other mono pressing.

I have to say that while I like the stereo mix as well there’s just something special about the mono mix. From start to finish this is my favorite early Beatles album.

“Yesterday” … And Today” – lime green label record club true stereo pressing

Okay, most of the records I’m mentioning here are British pressings but this Capitol stereo pressing is an exception and truly sounds great.

This lime green record club pressing came out in about 1969 I think, years after the first pressing from 1966.

What makes this lime green pressing so special is that unlike the first 1966 stereo pressing, EVERY song on this album is in true stereo. On true first pressings the songs “Dr. Robert”, “And Your Bird Can Sing”, and “I’m Only Sleeping” were not in true stereo but reprocessed or simulated stereo made from the mono mixes.

It wasn’t until this 1969 lime stereo pressing I believe that true stereo versions of these songs were used on the album. Not only were the songs true stereo but these mixes were exclusive to Capitol Records and the US.

There are slight differences to the UK 1966 stereo mixes which makes these stereo version unique and interesting. Not night and day just different and much better sounding than the fake stereo version on the 1966 stereo pressing.

Well that’s it for the first installment of my favorite Beatles pressings. I don’t want to over geek on the first one so I thought I’d keep it to three pressings.

Above you can see the labels of these three pressings and below there’s a photo of the cover of the mono “Please Please Me” Lp.

There’s more to come so until then I hope you are well and healthy.

See you soon … 

In these days of waning physical media there seems to be way less attention paid to how good an album sounds.

Not to sound old but back in the day there were actually people who used to show off their stereos and loudspeakers who took pride in their sound systems and loved how vinyl and then later CDs could sound with the right stereo system.

I remember searching high and low, especially in the heyday of vinyl, for the best sounding version of a particular favorite recording and looked through many a dive of a record store to locate just the right version of an album that just took my breath away.

There was no streaming, no downloads, just the excitement of the chase for the best sounding version you could find whether that version came from the US, the UK, Japan or any part of the world that had a better sounding record.

Once the advent of the CD happened in the early eighties when I was in college, yikes that’s over forty years ago, the quest for the better sounding version of a particular album grew even more interesting.

You see the CD era brought about the best and the worst in sound reproduction. At its best the CD can produce stunning depth and wonderful bass and a clarity that’s amazing. At its worst it can produce shrill and sterile sounding discs that are fatiguing and even painful to listen to at least on a good stereo system.

In the early to mid 1990s there was a trend in the music industry to pump up the sound of CDs which produced what was called the loudness wars. At that same time illegal downloads were becoming all the rage and with the Ipod leading the way music listening transferred from big stereos to tiny computer speakers and car speakers to eventually phones.

Fortunately there were several boutique record labels like Mobile Fidelity and DCC Compact Classics to fill in the gap for superb quality sounding CDs and vinyl with engineers like the esteemed Steve Hoffman taking the time to track down the best source of a particular album.

Both of these companies tried to locate the original master recordings of an album and took the time to carefully master it so it sounded the best it could possibly sound. DCC Compact Classics in particular aimed for the breath of life in sound for their discs which enabled the listener to hear things in the recordings that may have been buried on other versions of that record that were previously issued.

These small boutique record labels licensed classic rock, pop and jazz recordings from the major labels who didn’t want to take the time to track down the best versions of recordings as the public was just as happy with a loudly mastered album and didn’t seek out any better quality version as they most likely didn’t listen to it on a decent system.

That brings me to this blog post. 

Today I’m sharing what I consider to be the best sounding versions of six Paul McCartney albums that were released on the DCC Compact Classic label: “McCartney”, “Ram”, “Red Rose Speedway”, “Band on the Run”, “Venus and Mars” and “Wings at the Speed of Sound”.

Not only is the sound on each of these six discs rich and warm with great stereo separation and great clarity they have an oomph in the sound without being the least bit fatiguing to the ears and a pure pleasure to listen to and enjoy.

The packaging of these six discs is also superb with nice glossy booklets with all the original posters that came with the vinyl, in miniature form of course, but also photos of the original vinyl labels and lovely gold-plated CDs that supposedly can stand the test of time better and played more accurately than standard CD pressings.

Of course these premium looking and sounding discs came at a price; they retailed for usually twice the price of standard discs thus they appealed to collectors and fans much more than the general public and were pressed in much smaller numbers than the standard CD versions of these albums.

Unfortunately they have only gone up in price since they were released as they quickly went out of production and now command quite a hefty price in the secondary market if you can find them.

Are they worth the money?

Well it depends on how much you like the albums and how concerned you are with hearing the best sounding versions of these albums.

Are they better sounding then standard CD issues of these albums or the recent McCartney Archive versions of these albums?

I have to say that these particular DCC Compact Classic versions still win as the best sounding versions of these particular Paul McCartney albums. They most certainly were worth it at their original price but as for paying the price for them now it all depends on how much you love these albums.

The Paul McCartney Archive versions of these records do sound great as do most of the first issue UK versions of these albums on CD. None of them however have the nice balance of oomph along with the midrange magic that the DCC Compact Classic versions provide. 

While the original issues of these CDs are fine they just don’t have the magic in sound that the DCC Compact Classics CDs or vinyl have and are to me worth having in your collection. They are, pardon the pun, the gold standard versions of these albums and are well worth seeking out if you’re a fan of Paul McCartney’s music.

For grins I have also thrown in the Japanese Gold CD version of Paul McCartney’s “All the Best” album even though it doesn’t really sound that different from the regular CD release. I thought it would be nice to show photos of it as well as it’s a fairly rare disc to find these days and fun to see along with the DCC McCartney discs.

As usual there are plenty of photos of these discs above and below so if you’ve never heard or seen these discs you can catch a glimpse of what they look like in case you want to track one or more down.

That’s all for now.

I hope you are well and healthy and I’ll be back with more of my collection soon.

Until then take care and see you soon!