Records, CDs and Music:

Sometimes persistence pays off.

For the last three months I’ve been going to two of my favorite antique malls and scoping out their records.

As luck would have it both places have been dribbling out fantastic copies of some Beatles Capitol albums that have had the vinyl itself in spectacular quality (all of these pressings play and look like new) and amazingly three of the covers where still in the shrink wrap.

Now in the midst of me finding these lovely Capitol pressings the announcement came out that the 1964 Beatles Capitol albums are being reissued on vinyl this upcoming November in updated and supposedly improved sound.

Anyone that knows the Capitol albums may know that sound quality isn’t at the top of the list for these albums as they are very different sounding than their UK counterparts. They sometimes have added reverb and fake stereo that make them a very different and to many lesser sound quality then the British albums.

The upcoming Capitol albums releases are only being issued in mono, thus avoiding the fake stereo problem, but they do include a lot of fold down mixes (stereo mixes folded down to mono thus not true mono mixes) which in itself is a bit of an issue.

However, these albums overall have an exciting energy and are a time capsule of the 1964 American Beatles experience and are valuable additions to any Beatles collection and well worth owning.

And of course I would happen to find these particular 1964 Beatles Capitol albums just before they announced the reissues but since they all sound superbly quiet and are the best examples I’ve ever found of original Capitol albums I’m a happy camper.

The fact that I spent a whopping $65 for all six of these discs doesn’t hurt either!

(Note: these were incredible deals as the six new mono reissues that are coming out in November cost roughly $30 a piece)

Today I thought I’d share these finds as there are fantastic quality Beatles albums still out there but you have to look far and wide and especially search out of the way places as they sometimes price discs very reasonably.

The six discs I got are:

Meet the Beatles! – Stereo Capitol Record Club, Rainbow Logines pressing

The Beatles’ Second Album – Stereo Capitol Record Club, Rainbow Logines pressing

Revolver – Stereo pressing Capitol Record Club, Lime Green Logines pressing (in shrink)

Meet the Beatles! – Original Capitol Mono pressing (bought in 1968 as a cut-out, see mark in right top corner and still in shrink)

The Beatles’ Second Album – Original Capitol Mono pressing (bought in 1968 as a cut-out, see mark in right top corner and still in shrink)

The Beatles’ Second Album – 1988 C1-90444 stereo pressing, the last analogue pressing of this album and the best sounding vinyl version of this album currently available

I found the two mono copies in the shrink a couple of months ago at an antique mall close to where I live. This particular mall usually has good prices and these two were no exception. Priced at $9.99 a piece they were a steal and are the best looking and sounding issues of these albums I’ve ever found.

It’s also interesting that they both have a drill hole in the upper right hand corner. I’m guessing these were purchased in late 1967/early 1968 when mono albums were being phased out. I’ve heard that a lot of mono issues made it to the discount/cut-out bins as stereo was now king and they needed to off load the mono stock so this may be the case with these.

Of course the seller was no where to be found so I have no idea but that would be my guess.

The three stereo Record Club discs I found were all from the same antique mall about an hour and a half from me. Over the last three months I’ve gone up there and each trip I’ve brought back a lovely record club issue and all were around $10 as well.

(Note 2: the Capitol record club issues of The Beatles albums sold in much less quantities then the regular store copies and are way rarer and hard to find. The Capitol rainbow pressings are the rarest as they were only made for about a year or so before being replaced with the lime green label versions)

Again, the seller was no where to be found as it’s just a booth in an antique mall but I find it interesting that he was selling these record club issues way cheaper then regular Capitol pressings he had for sale and those were in markedly worse condition then these record club issues.

Did he think the record club issues weren’t as good? I have never seen any record club issues in the last few years in person, online they sell for way more then $10 I’ll tell you that, so I was surprised to continually find these for sale at this mall.

I may go back in a month or so and see if anymore pop up but these three discs all sound superb. The covers on two of them are a bit worn but all these discs look and sound as good as you can possibly expect and were all some of the best finds I’ve ever had for Beatles albums.

The last find also came from this week as a different antique mall across the street from the mall I found the record club issues had a lovely 1988 stereo pressing of The Beatles’ Second Album again in stellar condition.

This particular pressing is the last time this 1964 Capitol stereo pressing was made and it is by far the best sounding issue of this album as it sounds as good as it’s going to get with a truly wonderful pressing that’s completely silent.

The Beatles Capitol albums that came out with the C1 catalog numbers form 1988 are the way to go sound wise for these discs if you can find them. And for the cost of $15 to me this disc was a bargain as these issues can sometimes be salty if you can find them.

So as usual I am contemplating buying some of the new Capitol 1964 mono copies in November but may only buy a couple of them to see how they sound as I pretty much have excellent copies of both the mono and stereo Capitol Beatles albums now.

(Note 3: famous last words, I’ll probably cave and if I do I will post my thoughts here).

Well that’s all for now.

I thought I’d post my Capitol Beatles finds in anticipation of the newer reissues that come out in November.

I have to say I am lucky that I have a few antique malls and a couple of hole in the wall record stores within driving distance that always under price their records.

At least in 2024 I’ve had good luck and my suggestion is if you have the time find some out of the way antique malls as usually I have better luck with obscure records as most dealers are unaware of rarities like the record club issues and tend to price them reasonably.

As usual there are plenty of photos above and below of these gems so feel free to take a look.

Until next time be well and see you soon!