Good luck finding this anywhere! The Beatles Collection - affectionately referred to as The Blue Box (or BC13) by collectors - is a box set of The Beatles' vinyl albums that was originally released in 1978. It contains the official catalogue of the Beatles in stereo, and a compilation of unreleased tracks called Rarities. There were two editions initially: the U.S. release in November, and the U.K. release the following month.
The American Blue Box by Capitol Records contained the British pressings of the 12 original albums and the American pressing of the Rarities LP, which differed from the British version of Rarities in that it included the previously released English-language versions of She Loves You and I Want to Hold Your Hand rather than the German-language versions found on the British pressing. Also, the American Blue Box was issued as a limited edition of only 3000 numbered copies. There is also a very rare EMI New Zealand version which combines the British box with some elements of the American version, such as the US custom liner on a gatefold issue of Rarities.
The Beatles Collection does not include the Magical Mystery Tour LP, which was released in the U.S. in 1967 but not in the U.K. until 1976. It also omits the non-album singles that were been released in 1973 on the compilation packages 1962–1966 and 1967–1970.
This set was the only box set of Beatles albums until 1982, when Mobile Fidelity (MFSL) released a box also called The Collection, consisting of the 12 British albums, including Magical Mystery Tour (but not the Rarities LP found here). Just 25,000 of the MoFi box sets were released, and the individual albums were also released separately.
I had most of the separate MFSL recordings and they sounded good. Some sounded better than others. Then one day I walked into a record store owned by a friend of mine who, as soon as he saw me coming into his shop, motioned me to the side and said, "Check this out," and held up a Swedish pressing of the Beatles Blue Box, which is the same as the British Blue Box and has the German versions of She Loves You and I Want To Hold Your Hand.
There are lousy sounding Blue Boxes out there - I don't know why they sound lousy - but the Swedish pressing isn't one of them. I knew there were concerns about some Blue Box pressings, so my record shop-owner friend let me borrow his Blue Box and I took it home to listen to it. It sounds absolutely wonderful! In my opinion, it sounds better the MFSL releases, which my record store friend really wanted. It seemed to me we might be able to make a deal, and we did. I gave him my MFSL records and he gave me the Blue Box, a sealed copy of The Beatles In Mono (on CD, as the records were no longer available) and $100 in trade credit.
Up to that point this was the hardest deal I'd ever made because the MFSL records are very hard to find and they do sound pretty good overall. But the fun with collecting records - for me, anyway - has always been in the chase, and at this stage of the game it always comes down to how does it sound? And I thought there was a noticeable difference between the Blue Box pressings - which were sourced from the original analogue tapes - and the MFSL copies, which were also sourced from the original tapes but had` been manipulated in various ways by the engineers at MFSL.
I really do like the Blue Box versions better, and although music is a subjective thing I do trust my ears, old as they are. I also played both versions of the records for my my wife in a blind A-B listening test. She's got a good ear, too, and she picked the Blue Box pressing every time.
This box set, which is also known by its catalogue number BC13, contains all the Beatles you will ever really need, aside from The Beatles In Mono, perhaps, which is the way they were meant to be heard. But as far as stereo pressings go, I think this is perhaps as good as it gets. We're talking the original British stampers here, unadulterated, and that alone means it beats any reissue to date, although I admit I really do love the Sgt. Pepper reissue that came out in 2018, which I have a European copy of and which sounds absolutely stunning.
If you want to own (mostly) all of The Beatles stereo output this is the way to go and it can still be found online at reasonable prices. Just be sure to do your homework first.
2022 FOLLOWUP: I traded it. I decided to listen to The Beatles early work in their original mono. See Bonus Track for details.
Good luck finding this anywhere! The Beatles Collection - affectionately referred to as The Blue Box (or BC13) by collectors - is a box set of The Beatles' vinyl albums that was originally released in 1978. It contains the official catalogue of the Beatles in stereo, and a compilation of unreleased tracks called Rarities. There were two editions initially: the U.S. release in November, and the U.K. release the following month.
The American Blue Box by Capitol Records contained the British pressings of the 12 original albums and the American pressing of the Rarities LP, which differed from the British version of Rarities in that it included the previously released English-language versions of She Loves You and I Want to Hold Your Hand rather than the German-language versions found on the British pressing. Also, the American Blue Box was issued as a limited edition of only 3000 numbered copies. There is also a very rare EMI New Zealand version which combines the British box with some elements of the American version, such as the US custom liner on a gatefold issue of Rarities.
The Beatles Collection does not include the Magical Mystery Tour LP, which was released in the U.S. in 1967 but not in the U.K. until 1976. It also omits the non-album singles that were been released in 1973 on the compilation packages 1962–1966 and 1967–1970.
This set was the only box set of Beatles albums until 1982, when Mobile Fidelity (MFSL) released a box also called The Collection, consisting of the 12 British albums, including Magical Mystery Tour (but not the Rarities LP found here). Just 25,000 of the MoFi box sets were released, and the individual albums were also released separately.
I had most of the separate MFSL recordings and they sounded good. Some sounded better than others. Then one day I walked into a record store owned by a friend of mine who, as soon as he saw me coming into his shop, motioned me to the side and said, "Check this out," and held up a Swedish pressing of the Beatles Blue Box, which is the same as the British Blue Box and has the German versions of She Loves You and I Want To Hold Your Hand.
There are lousy sounding Blue Boxes out there - I don't know why they sound lousy - but the Swedish pressing isn't one of them. I knew there were concerns about some Blue Box pressings, so my record shop-owner friend let me borrow his Blue Box and I took it home to listen to it. It sounds absolutely wonderful! In my opinion, it sounds better the MFSL releases, which my record store friend really wanted. It seemed to me we might be able to make a deal, and we did. I gave him my MFSL records and he gave me the Blue Box, a sealed copy of The Beatles In Mono (on CD, as the records were no longer available) and $100 in trade credit.
Up to that point this was the hardest deal I'd ever made because the MFSL records are very hard to find and they do sound pretty good overall. But the fun with collecting records - for me, anyway - has always been in the chase, and at this stage of the game it always comes down to how does it sound? And I thought there was a noticeable difference between the Blue Box pressings - which were sourced from the original analogue tapes - and the MFSL copies, which were also sourced from the original tapes but had` been manipulated in various ways by the engineers at MFSL.
I really do like the Blue Box versions better, and although music is a subjective thing I do trust my ears, old as they are. I also played both versions of the records for my my wife in a blind A-B listening test. She's got a good ear, too, and she picked the Blue Box pressing every time.
This box set, which is also known by its catalogue number BC13, contains all the Beatles you will ever really need, aside from The Beatles In Mono, perhaps, which is the way they were meant to be heard. But as far as stereo pressings go, I think this is perhaps as good as it gets. We're talking the original British stampers here, unadulterated, and that alone means it beats any reissue to date, although I admit I really do love the Sgt. Pepper reissue that came out in 2018, which I have a European copy of and which sounds absolutely stunning.
If you want to own (mostly) all of The Beatles stereo output this is the way to go and it can still be found online at reasonable prices. Just be sure to do your homework first.
2022 FOLLOWUP: I traded it. I decided to listen to The Beatles early work in their original mono. See Bonus Track for details.
BONUS TRACK
Depending on your age, there's a good chance you've never heard the Beatles' records the way they sounded in the 1960s when they were initially release - the way they were intended to be heard - in glorious analogue mono. That's where those records came from, and that's why they sounded so damned good. From 1986 on, all CDs and vinyl reissues were sourced from digital masters.
Even the 2012 remastered stereo LPs were cut from digital masters, and that's not a time when digital technology was all that good.
But then came The Beatles In Mono, released in 2014 - the first Beatles set to be all-analog since way back when.
And this set really is mind blowingly good!
Digital is more refined, cheaper and more efficient to use now, and there's even a legitimate reason to use it. Analog tapes - especially decades-old analogue tapes - are often very delicate and brittle and, sometimes even, completely unusable. And locating an analog tape machine in good enough condition isn't easy, either.
This mono box set isn't the first time The Beatles got the mono treatment. A 2009 mono box set was created from digital masters, but this set knocks that one on its head. The records in this set were cut from the original analog tape masters, and no digital converters were used at all.
The result is more present vocals and better separation and depth. These mixes were supervised and approved by The Beatles when they were originally recorded, and The Beatles were notoriously picky about how they sounded and would spend many hours overseeing the mono productions with George Martin. They left the stereo stuff to others. Why? Because stereo wasn't a big deal at the time. Most stereo records at the time were of sound effects or bird calls. There wasn't a lot of music conming out in stereo and there wasn't any reason to think it mattered.
This box set features a stunning 12-by-12-inch hardcover book that is full of new essays and a detailed history of the mono mastering process. It's beautifully illustrated as well, with photos of The Beatles and fascinating archive documents any Beatles collector would love to have.
Mono is a tricky thing if you're not ready for it or familiar with it. That's because not every mono release is done with as much attention to detail and accuracy as this one is. If you're looking to see what the Big Mono Deal is all about, this is where I would tell you to start.
MORE BEATLES
Depending on your age, there's a good chance you've never heard the Beatles' records the way they sounded in the 1960s when they were initially release - the way they were intended to be heard - in glorious analogue mono. That's where those records came from, and that's why they sounded so damned good. From 1986 on, all CDs and vinyl reissues were sourced from digital masters.
Even the 2012 remastered stereo LPs were cut from digital masters, and that's not a time when digital technology was all that good.
But then came The Beatles In Mono, released in 2014 - the first Beatles set to be all-analog since way back when.
And this set really is mind blowingly good!
Digital is more refined, cheaper and more efficient to use now, and there's even a legitimate reason to use it. Analog tapes - especially decades-old analogue tapes - are often very delicate and brittle and, sometimes even, completely unusable. And locating an analog tape machine in good enough condition isn't easy, either.
This mono box set isn't the first time The Beatles got the mono treatment. A 2009 mono box set was created from digital masters, but this set knocks that one on its head. The records in this set were cut from the original analog tape masters, and no digital converters were used at all.
The result is more present vocals and better separation and depth. These mixes were supervised and approved by The Beatles when they were originally recorded, and The Beatles were notoriously picky about how they sounded and would spend many hours overseeing the mono productions with George Martin. They left the stereo stuff to others. Why? Because stereo wasn't a big deal at the time. Most stereo records at the time were of sound effects or bird calls. There wasn't a lot of music conming out in stereo and there wasn't any reason to think it mattered.
This box set features a stunning 12-by-12-inch hardcover book that is full of new essays and a detailed history of the mono mastering process. It's beautifully illustrated as well, with photos of The Beatles and fascinating archive documents any Beatles collector would love to have.
Mono is a tricky thing if you're not ready for it or familiar with it. That's because not every mono release is done with as much attention to detail and accuracy as this one is. If you're looking to see what the Big Mono Deal is all about, this is where I would tell you to start.
MORE BEATLES
