Living History/Reenacting/Interpreter Laughs

Whether you are a museum interpreter, curator, living historian, or a reenactor, I think you can identify with this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhAJiz2ixuY


And, for something a bit more serious, check this blog post out:

There's a Word for That: Presentism

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Michigan's Magical History Tour

 Michigan has its share of open-air museums: Greenfield Village, Crossroads Village, Mill Race Village, Charlton Park, Greenmead Village, Troy Historical Village, Port Sanilac Historical Village, and, of course, the forts and replications done up in Mackinaw City and Mackinac Island.

There is also Historic Fort Wayne in Downtown Detroit.

But this posting is going to be a different kind of history trip, and many folks don't think of my great state in this manner - - - - as a historical destination spot.

Read on....

This week's posting is about my home state of Michigan and a few (just a few!) of its historic structures. I'm the kind of guy that will stop the car while I'm driving if I see a building or a scene that I simply must take a photograph of. There are many wonderful homes and buildings from the 19th century that are still in - or very near - their original location, and I thought I'd highlight some of them.
So roll on up, for this Michigan Magical History Tour is waiting to take you away...

This first area we will stop off at in our time-travel journey is a place that is very near to my heart  - the Village of Lexington. Lexington, named for the famed Revolutionary War town in Massachusetts, is a little more than an hour north of Detroit, along the banks of Lake Huron. My grandfather bought a cottage back in 1956 on a small plot of land just a few miles south of it, so heading into Lexington was always a fun treat. Still is!
And Lexington has its share of historical structures still standing in their original locations. Come with me to see a few...

The place that I'm highlighting first is not our family cottage but it is a cottage that is only a couple roads away - a ten minute walk. We always called it the Stone Castle.

The Stone Castle in the subdivision of Great Lakes Shores on the outskirts of Lexington, Michigan.

The stone castle was built in the very early 1930's by using the rocks from the beach from nearby Lake Huron. Numerous times I've been told by various members of the family that family and friends made a line nearly an eighth of a mile long and passed the rocks from the beach up the road to the location hand-to-hand.

The stone fence surrounding the castle also has a neat European flavor, including the Tower of Pisa.

It has become one of the sites off the beaten path that is worth checking out because of its uniqueness. I have never seen anything like it, that's for sure.
The descendents of the original builder recently sold the place to a non-family member.

Another structure in Lexington - more of a landmark actually - is the Cadillac Hotel.  
The first hotel in the village was built and kept by C.L. Mills in 1840. He traded it a short time later for a farm to James Yake who in turn sold it to J.W. Buel. Buel's mother, Mrs. Mary Buel, kept the place until it had burned down in 1859. In 1860 the current Hotel Cadillac was built by John L. Woods and opened to the public with a ball on July 4 of that year.

The Cadillac Hotel before historic renovation...

And after (as of 2018):

From what I understand, this is pretty much how it originally looked back in 1860.
Pretty cool, huh?

From what I read, the Moore Public Library was built in 1859 as "The Law Office of John Divine," who was the first attorney in Sanilac County. The three Moore sisters purchased the building in 1903 and had it remodeled for a library. It was deeded to the Village of Lexington on January 17, 1903. Mary Moore married Albert E. Sleeper, the Governor of Michigan from 1917-1920.

The Moore Public Library as it stands today

But this building wasn't Lexington's first public library. That distinction belongs to this next structure:

The B.R. Noble building, built in 1882 features Grecian Columns made of cast iron.

The library was started on the second floor. It is now an antique store that sells more Americana than actual antiques, but it's still a neat place to visit.

There are more Victorian structures in Lexington, but it would take numerous postings to do the village justice, so we'll take our leave and travel along the banks of Lake Huron to check out a few lighthouses.
What most Americans do not realize is that Michigan is the number one state in the union for lighthouses. No kidding! Not Maine, Florida, or California. With three of the largest Great Lakes (Huron, Michigan, and Superior - and even a bit of Erie) creating Michigan's two peninsulas - 3,288 miles of shoreline, which is the most of any state except Alaska - it's no wonder it has the most light houses.

The Fort Gratiot Lighthouse (including the Cottage keeper's house) is located in Fort Gratiot (near Port Huron), Michigan. The entrance into the St. Claire River from Lake Huron had long been deemed of strategic importance. With the surge in vessel traffic on Lake Huron in the early 1800's, the need for a lighthouse to guide vessels into the river and away from the shallows at the River entrance became a matter of increasing importance. 

Fort Gratiot (pronounced Grah-shit) Lighthouse with the Cottage Keeper's house

In response to this need, Congress appropriated $3,500 to construct a lighthouse "near Fort Gratiot, in Michigan Territory" on March 3rd of 1823. Work commenced on the structure, and with the completion of construction on August 8th 1825, Fort Gratiot Light House held the honor of becoming the first lighthouse in the State of Michigan.

On February 19, 1838 Michigan State Representative Isaac Crary entered a motion in Congress that the Committee on Commerce be instructed to investigate into the expediency of establishing a lighthouse on the nearby shore to both warn mariners of the reef and to mark the important turning point into Saginaw Bay. After investigation, the Committee concurred, and Congress responded with an appropriation of $5,000 for the Light's construction on July 7, 1838.

Pointe Aux Barques lighthouse in Port Hope

Construction of the lighthouse was not completed until 1847, with the light not exhibited until the opening of the following season of navigation. Peter L. Shook was appointed as the station's first Keeper, and is listed in payroll records as arriving at the station on March 6, 1848, and thus it is likely he exhibited the Pointe Aux Barques light for the first time soon thereafter.

While the 1825 Fort Gratiot Light served to mark the entrance to the St. Clair River at the foot of the lake, and the 1848 Pointe Aux Barques Light guided vessels around the tip of Michigan's "Thumb," the intervening 75-mile stretch remained unlighted, with vessel masters running blind along a forty-mile stretch of coastline beyond the range of visibility of either of the two Lights.
The construction crew arrived at Port Sanilac on June 7, 1886, with a completion date of October 15, 1886.

The Port Sanilac Lighthouse

About four miles west of Lexington is an off-the-beaten-path town called Croswell. Besides the Pioneer Sugar factory, Croswell is known for it's small-town charm and Victorian feel. But there is something that this place has that no other town has: the "Be Good To Your Mother-in-Law" Swinging Bridge.

The swinging bridge of Croswell.

Crossing the Black River, this foot bridge was originally built in 1905 at a cost of $300 and spans 139 feet. At one time it could be swung back and forth and bounced up and down in a sort of ripple effect by those who crossed it, but now the multiple cables are tightened so it doesn't swing so much. Still, it is well worth the view off and on the bridge.
It is the longest suspension foot bridge in Michigan. I also heard it was the only suspension foot bridge in Michigan. Hmmm...

My mother-in-law wasn't very fond of this bridge.

Mt. Clemens is a city that was founded in the early part of the 19th century, flourished well into the twentieth century, then fell into ruins in the 1960's through the 1980's. But in the 1990's a revitalization took place and the city came back strong and very community-minded. Unfortunately, many of the old structures that once stood are no more, especially in the downtown business district.
Right off the main strip, however, is a home built in 1869 by Joshua Dickinson, the city's first mayor and whose wife was the granddaughter of city founder, Christian Clemens.

The Crocker House is as beautiful on the inside as it is on the outside

Crocker House is now a museum and welcomes visitors from March through December.
 
This train depot, now a railroad museum, played a very important role in American and even world history. While working as a railway newsboy on the Detroit-Port Huron line, Thomas Edison often stopped in this Mt. Clemens depot. He made friends with station agent J.U. Mackenzie, and in 1862 saved Mackenzie's three year old son from death by a train. To show his gratitude, in August 1862 Mackenzie taught young Edison railroad telegraphy. From this training, Edison became a qualified railroad telegrapher and worked during the 1860's at this occupation. He said in his later years that learning telegraphy in the Mt. Clemens depot was a very significant turning point in his life and lead him to base his early inventions on the telegraph.

The Mount Clemens Train Depot

This building, built in 1859, stand mostly unnoticed by the heavy traffic just a few yards away.

Over in Holly there is another classic train depot that sits almost unnoticed by the masses. Built in 1886 it had a ladies waiting room that included a "handsome fireplace with a dark marble mantle and furnishings (giving) it a cozy, homelike appearance."

The Holly train depot: 17 Miles to Flint, 22 Miles to Pontiac, 39 Miles to Ann Arbor, and 45 Miles to Detroit - all major railway destinations in Michigan

This ladies room also had a lavatory, wash bowl, glasses, and a small heater in a corner. The lap of luxury for the ladies.
The depot itself also had a telegraph office.

Holly, Michigan was (and still is) a charming little town that time seems to have forgotten. It's filled with beautiful late Victorian buildings and houses, and it's on Main Street where the visitor can still see the ghosts of Holly past.
In August of 1889, the Village of Holly voters approved the building of a town hall and by August of 1892 they had one. However, it was not only a town hall but a jail as well. The cells were located in the basement of the building.

Holly Town Hall and Jail. It also housed the fire department's equipment until a firehouse could be built.

Here is the scene across the street from the town hall:

If the automobiles could be removed, I believe one could seemingly step right into the past here in Holly

A series of fires destroyed all of the wood-frame buildings along Saginaw Street and new brick buildings (shown above) were erected in their place shortly after.
Holly is also filled with the beautiful Victorian homes that so many of us love.
The house shown in this next photograph was built in 1894 by a man named Moses Downing.

There are two entrances to this beautiful home: one for company and one for business

From a description I have read it has a fireplace in the centrally located parlor along with two staircases. In the early 1900's a Dr. Felshaw practiced his medicine from this house while living there.

From Holly, our travels will now take us over to rural Ray Township where we find another historical building off the beaten path: Wolcott Mill.
The mill was built in 1847 and operated until 1967 and was both a grist and a feed mill, and the machinery used for this purpose is still viewable.

A beautiful fall setting for Wolcott Mill

The "over-shot" water wheel at Wolcott Mill: water-power from the mill pond turned the wheel, which gave power enough to spin the giant millstones to grind the grain into flour

Just a short carriage ride from Wolcott Mill is perhaps my favorite town in Michigan - Romeo. The entire Village of Romeo is considered historic and has an official historical marker to prove it: "The many examples of nineteenth century architecture that remains in the village led Michigan and the federal government to list Romeo as a historic district."
How cool is that?
I don't have many photos of the downtown district - I plan to rectify that situation soon - but the picture below is one I took that shows a good part of the Gray's Block building (on the left) built in 1869. It had three rental store fronts, professional offices upstairs, and a ballroom and an auditorium, also known as Gray's Opera House.

Many operas and vaudeville shows were staged inside the building on the left, while the landmark tower/steeple of the church is on the right

The First Congregational Church (you can see the tall steeple in the above photo), is the second oldest Congregational church in Michigan. The cornerstone was laid in 1874, the tower built in 1878, and the building was completed inside and out by 1883.

There are so many historic homes in Romeo that a person could easily get lost in the past just walking around any of its well-kept neighborhoods. In fact, we've done living history presentations here and, during breaks, will stroll up and down the streets while wearing period clothing. Now that's an awesome feeling!
The following pictures are just a few that I have taken while strolling about Romeo. A few of the houses have plaques attached stating the year it was built, but most don't.

Victorian homes in the Village of Romeo

The good folks who live in Romeo take pride in their historic homes.

Another Romeo home - what I wouldn't give for a home like this, with the wrap-around porch!

Hey! This Romeo house is for sale!

Street after street - - the 19th century comes to life in this quaint village - -rows of houses that are not all the same, and the people do seem to care...

This house has an 1844 plaque upon it

The 1844 home in Romeo: My wife is dressed appropriately for the Civil War era presentation we did in 2011

I could fill up pages and pages of pictures of the Victorian homes found in Romeo very easily.

This house has an 1873 plaque

Ah...maybe one day...

Can you imagine living in a neighborhood - an entire town - that looks like this? Many men dream of getting rich, skimpy-clad women, or racing cars. I'm the odd one out - it is my dream to one day live in Romeo and have my wife and I dress in period clothing as often as we can!
Yes, maybe one day...

Port Huron has its share of Victoriana as well. There are two parts to Port Huron (pronounced "Portchurn" by the old-timers): the old original part of town and the new very recently built (mostly within the last 50 years) part of town.
Of course you know which area I frequent.
I have a personal historical connection to this city: when my ancestors returned to the States in 1883 after a few year respite into Canada, they came to live in Port Huron. I still have a few relatives living there to this day.

This home in Port Huron was once owned by my great great grandfather's brother during the 1880's.

There are some very unusual looking homes in Port Huron, such as the castle on the left. Yes, this is a home!

I stopped the car on a dime to take a picture of this house. Truly beautiful.

And old downtown "Portchurn" (as the old-timers call Port Huron) still looks much the same as when my ancestors lived here

Plymouth is another local city with beautiful Victorian structures abounding, dotting the neighborhoods. Summer 2011 found me roaming the streets in search of these beautiful old homes.
I found some:

Yes, I took this photo on the 4th of July - can you tell?

This Plymouth home was built in 1894.

This next home (photo below) is located off Sprinkle Road in Vicksburg, Michigan. I've past it numerous times while visiting my sister and it has always attracted my eye. One day I decided to stop right there on the road to take a picture. I know nothing about it but, judging by the architecture I am taking an educated guess that is was built in the 1860 - 1880's.

The mysterious Vicksburg, Michigan house is becoming less mysterious. With a little help from my sis I found out that this house was built in 1861 and was one of the infamous "underground railroad" houses we hear so much about.

This brings us back to my own hometown of Eastpointe. To look at my city you wouldn't think it had anything remotely historical in it. But that's where you'd be wrong! There is plenty of history still standing here and I'd like to show you a few of the structures that you may or may not have seen in previous postings.
This first house, formerly known as the Ameis Home, is known now as the Leiter home, after the current owners who had put so much time and money into meticulously restoring this 1890 structure.

Before the Leiters restored it kids used to call it the Adams family Home!

On the other side of town we find another beautiful old house - one that thousands of cars pass by daily and hardly even notice:

Once a farm house in the middle of the country, and now part of Detroit's suburbia...

The pictures directly above and below are of the 1874 Kern Home in Eastpointe. Mr. Kern was one of the founding fathers of Eastpointe (then known as Erin Township).
We nearly lost this house - the descendants put it up for sale commercially, meaning a Rite Aid or some other unwanted drug store could've easily purchased only to tear it down and rebuild some ultra-modern monstrosity to sell their cheap Chinese made junk. Luckily, a couple of lawyers set up practice here and kept the aesthetic appearance of the place.
History was saved!

Up and down 10 Mile Rd. in Eastpointe, Warren, and St. Clair Shores there are a few house built in similar fashion, all old farm houses from the 19th century.

And Eastpointe was also able to preserve its long past purely by accident when one of its original schoolhouses, built in 1872, was discovered being used as a warehouse. When the school closed its doors to students for one last time in 1921, Mr. Kaiser, who had recently started his own fuel and supply business with his sons, bought the building and moved it, by way of horses and skids, to the southeast corner on Nine Mile Road and Gratiot; the structure was used mainly as a warehouse for coal supplies and storage, which lasted from 1921 to 1984. To turn the old schoolhouse into a warehouse he covered the windows, walls, and flooring, thereby preserving local history. It's been said he did this purposely. We are in his debt for having the historical preservation foresight that he did.

The restored 1872 Halfway School House in Eastpointe

In 1984 the East Detroit Historical Society (in Eastpointe) - and more specifically, John Gardiner, its then current president and superintendent of the school district - enabled the school system to purchase the building back from the Kaisers and move to have it relocated to within 20 yards of the original site. This was when restoration began on the old building.  Now it stands as it once did in 1872, restored fully inside and out.

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That concludes our journey to the past; I hope you enjoyed this little Magical History Tour around southeastern lower Michigan. I purposely did not include any structure that was moved away from its original location and put into such open-air museums as Greenfield or Crossroads Villages or any of the others in the vicinity. I wanted only the buildings that remained where they originally stood...or, in a few rare cases, very close to where they originally stood. I also didn't include the few taverns from the 19th century that still remain where they always have. I did a pretty extensive posting a while back on that subject (Michigan Taverns of the 19th Century).

And what historical gems are in your backyard...?

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The Satisfaction of Civil War Living History

This week I have a sort of two-part posting - a good bang for your buck! The first speaks on what I 'get' out of reenacting, while the second goes into men's period clothing information.

First...why??? Why would I subject myself to the ridicule that comes from wearing clothing 150 years out of date in public? Oh, and believe me when I say we are called crazy. I've read on-line articles about living historians, and the comments that follow are, well, simply put, scary. Here are a couple that I found:  
"We live on the same street as one of these evil time warpians. My children are not allowed to to play with their kids."

"I think these people are insane. They are probably worthless mongrels who have absolutely nothing to offer society and need an escape from their pointless existences. The only positive thing about "timewarping" to escape reality is that they chose this absurd escape instead of choosing illicit drug use."

" 'Good manners" and "respect for women' ?? I think this was the era when women couldn't vote, own property, get educated, have jobs, etc. Not to mention the brutal oppression of native populations, like what the British did in India. Not to mention child labor and sexual abuse were considered normal parts of life."

"These folks are totally incapable of dealing with reality...that's why the escapism! Losers would be a very accurate term to describe them. Wonder if they would have liked the decreased life span that existed back then when people died from diseases that are now curable."

"Losers! You can always enjoy what you have right now and live a normal happy quality life. But to escape yourself into the past is only for losers. Don't be fool with Victorian era, there were no personal freedom, racist-arrogant white, sexist, no filtered-clean water, no real doctors, no education for most people, no human connection if you don't live in one of the few cities, and so so much more. So only losers would dress up like that.
Lady Gaga dressed as a sno-ball is accepted nowadays. Which ones are the freaks?"

"Why are we trying to normalize these outcasts? These bizarre social rejects can't fit into our current society so they've created their own little fantasy world. How sad that they can't find a hobby or activity in our own world."

Yikes! Really? Is that how we are perceived? When one thinks of all the insanity that goes on in our society - much of it probably caused by these folks who have these awful and mis-guided opinions of us - one can hardly believe that such things would be said of those of us who enjoy our little weekend time-travel excursions.
Ah well...such is life...

As most of you probably know, reenacting and living history can be a rather expensive and time-consuming hobby. There's an inside joke about how aghast our ancestors would be if they knew how much money we spent - more than the average year's salary of their day - to emulate them.
So why do we do it? What makes grown men and women revert to acting like children do and pretend to live in a time long past? You know it's more than "I want to show the public what it was like back then." If this were the case then why do so many living historians not even speak to the public at the big reenactments? Also, why do we do private, no public allowed events?

Living history inside a period can be as good as it gets, even when there are tour groups coming through

I can't answer for everyone else, but I can say for myself there are a multitude of reasons, one being that taking my passion for history to the extreme gives me a sort of high. Kind of like extreme sports for those who love that thrill. Reenacting and living history allows me to step out of today into yesterday, and if I do it right I can almost actually be there.
The public, depending on the event, can be a wonderful addition which allows me to share my knowledge. Or they can be a distraction. I suppose this would all be up to the living historian and the surroundings in which he finds himself. I personally enjoy both: with and without the public. When we reenact at Greenfield Village, for instance, upwards of 30,000 visitors show up over the course of a three-day weekend. I expect and prepare for that. To be honest, I rather enjoy it quite a bit. The visitors that attend are real history buffs, for the most part, and take a genuine interest in what we do and in our presentations. 

Friends visiting in the parlor

But I also immensely enjoy private events, usually in a reenactor's home or at a small historical venue with maybe small groups of modern people stepping through here and there on a tour. For a living historian, this is where one can take pretending to a much higher level. This is where one can truly make history come alive.
A couple of years ago I portrayed a man who was feeling rather poorly - it was said I had the summer fever - and so I was positioned on the sick bed located in a room where I could be looked after while the daily routines could go uninterrupted for the most part. This was a very realistic scenario; after a while I felt took on the persona of actually being sick and lay upon the sick bed for the entire afternoon while I was looked after by a woman who portrayed my wife. The public would walk through every-so-often, many making snide comments about me drinking too much the night before or me trying to get out of my daily work that needed to be done. But the reenactors who came to visit acted as if I were really sick and their response to my illness was more out of concern rather than in a joking manner.

A rarity: seeing a Victorian man without his coat or shoes on - I really must have been sick! The summer fever certainly can take a lot out of you!

This is why, at times, the public can be a distraction. Fortunately, most (I repeat: most) visitors that attend a reenactment come for a love of history. Not enough love to time-travel like we do, but enough to where they want to learn more about the different aspects of the era.

I have spoken to my very good friend who happens to be a car buff. He races his 1979 Camaro every chance he gets. And when he's not on the track he's constantly working on it, fine tuning it, or washing and waxing it. He's spent an awful amount of money restoring it to its original color with pin-striping and seat covers. He thinks nothing of dropping a couple hundred dollars to "get it right."
It's the same with us who do living history. We want to do it right - that's part of the challenge, isn't it? And we are in a constant state of research; when we come across some historical item or information - whether to wear or to use - we can't wait to put it on or try it out or to share this new find.
I guess this is as good an answer I can come up with on why I do what I do and why I spend my hard-earned cash on something as frivolous as a new cravat just because it's more historically accurate than the previous one I had.
I look at it this way: I could be spending my spare time watching TV, sitting at a bar, or going to all of the over-priced sporting events to watch over-paid players play a game.
Right.
The best part of living history and reenacting for me, by the way, is that my family - wife and kids - all enjoy this hobby as well. It's something we can all do together.

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For information on Men's period clothing, click HERE

 

 

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And Here They Are...The BEATLES!!! The Beatles in America

Their earliest material, 
finally released on Capitol

Anyone who knows me knows I am a major fan of The Beatles. They know I have every album,  CD, 45,  and DVD released in mono and stereo.  They know I have bootlegs.  They know I listen to,  study,  enjoy,  and,  in all honesty,  generally musically worship the group.  I do not write much about them on this blog because I mainly keep my postings centered on 18th and 19th century American social history as well as my reenacting and living history adventures.  Yet,  every-so-often I deviate from this formula and jump into the future to speak about some of the music of the earlier rock and roll era that I love.

I've started many a post about the Beatles but have never been able to say what I wanted.  In all honesty,  I still cannot write a good posting for them because there's little left to say after one sees just how much about the group is out there.

That being said,  I did not write the main body of what you are about to read in this week's posting;  I took it from another site  (linked below).  Written in 2004 when Capitol Records released the first of two CD box sets of the group's American albums,  it gives an interesting understanding on the Beatles music in America,  and it's written much more eloquently than I could ever have done.  Also,  why mess with perfection?  I mean,  it's better coming from the source,  right?
The subject at hand pertains to the Americanized versions of the Beatles album releases on Capitol Records and explains in a very interesting way why Capitol released these albums,  from  "Meet the Beatles"  through  "Revolver"  in the manner in which they did,  which was different than their European releases.

I hope you enjoy it.  And I hope you learn Something New  (ha! get it?)  from it.

Much of what you are about to read comes from BRUCE SPIZER,  who is a first generation Beatles fan and well-known Beatles author/historian.  He is considered the leading expert on the group's North American record releases.  He maintains the popular Beatles collectors internet site  www.beatle.net.  Mr. Spizer has been serving as a consultant on the Capitol Beatle albums box set project.

This is what Mr.  Spizer wrote  (italicized) in 2004,  the info still pertinent for fans of the American releases of the first few Beatles albums:  

The Capitol Box Set

Capitol records recently announced the Nov.16,  2004  release of its first four Beatles albums on compact disc in a limited edition box set.  “The Capitol Albums, Vol. 1”  includes the four Beatles albums issued by the company in 1964:  “Meet The Beatles!”,  “The Beatles' Second Album,”  “Something New”  and  “Beatles '65.”  These were the albums that Americans grew up with not only in the sixties,  but also in the seventies and eighties when these landmark albums continued to sell as catalog items introducing the Beatles to second and third generation fans.  Although these albums exposed millions of Americans to the Beatles,  they are sometimes criticized for not being what the Beatles intended.  Beatles historians and fans have passionate feelings about these albums.  Recent commentaries and postings on the internet by Beatles fans and scholars not only demonstrate the strong opinions held regarding these albums,  but also show that these albums are misunderstood.
Those condemning the Capitol albums often claim that the company remixed the songs,  added echo and issued everything in Duophonic fake stereo.  That is simply not true.  While some songs were altered,  most were not.  As detailed below,  38 of the 45 songs appearing on the first four Capitol albums are true stereo mixes prepared by George Martin.  While the eight stereo songs appearing on  “The Beatles' Second Album”  have added echo,  the others do not.

The important thing to know is that  “The Capitol Albums, Vol. 1”  marks the stereo debut on CD of 32 Beatles songs.  Hearing George Martin's stereo mixes of songs such as  “And I Love Her,”  “If I Fell,”  “Things We Said Today,”  “No Reply”  and  “I'll Follow The Sun”  on CD will certainly be a treat.

Some people have unfairly accused Capitol of greed when discussing the box set.  Each of the four albums is presented in both mono and stereo,  a decision that was made to please fans even though it increased the royalties and cut significantly into Capitol's profits.  That doesn't sound like greed to me.  It sounds more like the Beatles practice of giving  fans good value for their money  (it was not until 2009 that the Beatles British albums had been released in stereo von CD).

Most of the negative comments regarding the Capitol albums are general statements criticizing the running order of the songs and the horrendous mixes.  When each album is carefully examined,  it becomes clear that these albums are neither travesties nor sonic disasters.

”Meet The Beatles!”  features the same striking Robert Freeman cover photo as the British LP  “With The Beatles.”  However,  for financial and marketing reasons,  Capitol made alterations to disc's lineup.  In order to save on song publishing royalties,  the company limited its LP to the American standard of 12 songs rather than the British standard of 14  (in the U.K.,  publishing royalties are calculated on a per disc basis where each publisher shares pro-rata in the royalties paid on album sales.  Thus,  there is no additional cost to the record company for having extra songs.  In the U.S.,  royalties are calculated on a per song basis.  Each extra song costs the record company money.  That is why the U.S.  standard was a lesser number of songs).

While Brian Epstein and producer George Martin believed that singles should not be placed on albums because it forced consumers to buy the same songs twice,  Capitol believed that hit singles made hit albums.  Thus,  Capitol opened its first Beatles album with both sides of its Beatles single,  “I Want To Hold Your Hand”  and  “I Saw Her Standing There,”  followed by the British B-side  “This Boy.”  The remaining tracks selected by Capitol were the British album's seven Lennon-McCartney originals,  George Harrison's  “Don't Bother Me”  and the Broadway show tune  “‘Till There Was You,”  a song even mom and dad could appreciate.  By choosing original compositions and dropping five cover versions of songs originally recorded by American artists,  Capitol could exploit the song writing talents of the group.  In sequencing the songs from  ”With The Beatles,”  Capitol followed the running order chosen by George Martin,  except,  of course,  for the tracks dropped from the lineup.

”Meet The Beatles!”  was the perfect album to introduce the group to America.  Capitol's marketing strategy of placing the hit single  "I Want To Hold Your Hand "  on the album paid off.  In two months time,  “Meet The Beatles!”  sold over 3.6 million copies--ten times more than even Capitol's most optimistic sales forecasts.  The album went on to sell over 5 million copies.

It should be noted that in the early sixties,  teen albums rarely sold in excess of a few hundred thousand copies.  Capitol's success with its reconfigured Beatles albums containing hit singles changed that.  Record companies soon realized that well-crafted rock albums could be big sellers.
A few years later,  thanks to the Beatles and Capitol,  the album replaced the single as the dominant pop and rock music format.

"The Beatles' Second Album”  is admittedly a pieces-parts album,  containing the five leftover songs from  “With The Beatles”  (“Roll Over Beethoven,”  “You Really Got A Hold On Me,”  “Devil In Her Heart,”  “Money”  and  “Please Mister Postman”),  three B-sides  (“Thank You Girl,”  “You Can't Do That”  and  “I'll Get You”),  two freshly recorded songs that would later end up on the British  “Long Tall Sally”  EP  (“Long Tall Sally”  and  “I Call Your Name”)  and the hit single  “She Loves You.”  That said,  it is an amazingly effective album full of great rock 'n' roll songs such as  “Roll Over Beethoven,”  “Long Tall Sally,”  “Money”  and  “Please Mister Postman” anchored by the hit single  “She Loves You.”  It was number one on the Billboard Top LP's chart for five weeks and had certified sales of over two million units.
By the way...interestingly,  Paul only gets one lead vocal track,  George gets two,  and John gets the rest.

"Something New” is arguably the weakest album of the bunch.  Capitol was faced with a dilemma brought on by United Artists' film contract with The Beatles that covered  "A Hard Day's Night."  UA had the exclusive right to issue a soundtrack album in America,  so Capitol had to come up with something new to compete with the soundtrack LP.  Capitol's album mixed songs appearing on the UA disc  (“I'll Cry Instead,”  “Tell Me Why,”  “And I Love Her,”  “I'm Happy Just To Dance With You”  and  “If I Fell”)  with a few songs from The Beatles latest British album  (“Things We Said Today,”  “Any Time At All”  and  “When I Get Home”),  the two remaining rockers from the  “Long Tall Sally”  EP  (“Slow Down”  and  ”Matchbox”)  and a version of  “I Want To Hold Your Hand”  sung in German titled  (”Komm, Gib Mir Deine Hand").  Although  “Something New”  was unable to knock the UA soundtrack album from the number one position,  the Capitol album stayed at number two for nine weeks and sold over two million copies.

”Beatles '65”  featured eight songs from the group's latest British LP,  “Beatles For Sale”  (namely  “No Reply,”  “I'm A Loser,”  “Baby's In Black,”  “Rock And Roll Music,”  “I'll Follow The Sun,”  “Mr. Moonlight,”  “Honey Don't”  and  “Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby”),  and both sides of their latest single,  “I Feel Fine”  and  “She's A Woman,”  plus  “I'll Be Back,”  which was on the British  “A Hard Day's Night”  LP but had yet to appear in America.  Capitol did not completely deviate from the running order of the songs on  “Beatles For Sale,”  with side one bearing a strong resemblance to the British disc.  So much so that the album can be described as  “Beatles For Sale, Part 1.”  The disc held down the number one spot on the Billboard Top LP's chart for nine straight weeks and sold over three million units.

As for Capitol's alleged remixing of the songs,  here are the facts.  EMI did not send Capitol original two-track or four-track master tapes,  so Capitol could not have  "horrifically remixed"  the stereo songs even if Capitol had wanted to.  Capitol used the same stereo mixes for its albums as those sent to Capitol by George Martin.  In a few instances,  the U.S.  mixes sent by Martin differed from those that ended up on the Parlophone albums.  Sometimes this was intentional on Martin's part.  Other times it was a case of Capitol getting an earlier mix that was later improved upon.

On the first two albums,  the stereo mixes have the instruments on one channel and the vocals on the other.  This was not done by Capitol.  This is a result of how the songs were recorded.  George Martin recorded those songs on a two-track recorder.  To ensure he could get a proper mono mix that had the vocals at the proper level,  he recorded the instruments on one track and the vocals on the other.  So if you don't like the stereo mixes on the first two albums,  don't blame Capitol.  The company used what it was sent.  The stereo mixes on  “Meet The Beatles!”  are exactly the same as those appearing on the stereo version of  “With The Beatles.”

For the stereo version of  “The Beatles' Second Album,”  Capitol did add echo to the stereo masters.  The box to the stereo master tape for the Capitol album indicates that the songs were dubbed with E/Q and limiter plus echo.  This explains why the songs on the stereo album have significantly more echo than those on the mono album or the British version of the songs.  This is
particularly noticeable on the cover songs,  such as  “Roll Over Beethoven”  and  ”Please Mister Postman.”

The stereo mixes found on the Capitol albums  “Something New”  and  “Beatles '65”  use stereo mixes sent by George Martin.  With a few exceptions,  they are the same as the stereo mixes on the British LPs  “A Hard Day's Night”  and  “Beatles For Sale.”  Except for the songs  “I Feel Fine”  and  “She's A Woman,”  Capitol did not add echo to the masters tapes of those U.S. albums.

Three of the Capitol stereo albums contain a few duophonic fake stereo mixes.  This was in keeping with the practice at the time that every song on a stereo album should either be a true stereo mix or a simulated fake stereo mix.  Engineers took a mono recording and placed it on two tracks,  with the bass being boosted on one track and the treble being tweaked on the other.  Sometimes the two tracks were slightly out of phase to add to the illusion.  Capitol was not alone in this practice.  All record companies did it, including George Martin's Parlophone label.  The stereo version of the  “Please Please Me”  LP has simulated stereo mixes of  “Love Me Do”  and  “P.S. I Love You.”

While some critics give the impression that all of the four Capitol stereo albums are full of duophonic echo-drenched mixes,  this is clearly not the case.  Capitol only made duophonic mixes for the seven songs that had no stereo masters at the time the albums were compiled.  Most of these songs,  especially  “I Want To Hold Your Hand,”  “She Loves You”  and  “I'll Get You, ” are
effective simulated stereo mixes.  However, the duophonic mixes for  “I Feel Fine”  and  “She's A Woman”  are truly horrendous.

For the songs taken from  “With The Beatles”  that appear on the mono versions of  “Meet The Beatles!”  and  “The Beatles'  Second Album,”  Capitol created its own mono mixes by reducing the stereo master in a 2-to-1 mix-down.  As the stereo master for the album was nothing more than a balanced copy of the original two-track master tape,  Capitol's engineer merely duplicated what George Martin had done in mixing the mono master.  Why Capitol did this is not entirely clear.  It is possible that Capitol did not initially have the mono master tape for the album,  but that seems unlikely.  A Capitol engineer who has been with the company since the fifties told me that 2-to-1 mix-downs of stereo masters were sometimes made under the belief that this gave the mono songs a fuller sound.

Those who rightfully point out that the Beatles had no part in compiling the Capitol albums often downplay or ignore the involvement of George Martin and Brian Epstein.  While George Martin did not program the Capitol albums and did not approve of the practice,  he and Brian Epstein were fully aware that Capitol was reconfiguring Beatles albums specifically for the American market and understood Capitol's reasons for doing so.  They cooperated with Capitol's plans by supplying the label with songs to place on the American albums.  When Capitol needed a few more songs to round out  “The Beatles'  Second Album,”  George Martin,  with Brian's approval,  sent the company  “Long Tall Sally”  and  “I Call Your Name.”  For  “Beatles VI,”  George Martin sent Capitol four new songs,  namely  “You Like Me Too Much,”  “Tell Me What You See,”  “Bad Boy”  and  “Dizzy Miss Lizzie.” 
The latter two songs were recorded specifically for Capitol.  “Dizzy Miss Lizzie”  ended up on the British  "Help!"  LP because the group needed an extra song.  “Bad Boy”  was slapped on a British greatest hits collection. 
As for the great  "Rubber Soul"  album,  "Capitol had recognized that the Beatles had prepared a special album,  one that should not be dissected beyond recognition.  The decision was made to keep the album's British title rather than create  'something new'  like Beatles  '66 or Beatles VIII.  At the request of the Beatles,  the album's striking cover,  as well as the back cover's photo montage,  was left intact. 

Because of Capitol's marketing strategy of holding back songs and the practice of placing less than 14 songs on an album,  some changes would still have to be made.  Four tracks were removed from the British version and set aside for the next American album,  "Yesterday & Today":  "Drive My Car,"   "Nowhere Man,"   "What Goes On."  and  "If I Needed Someone."  These were replaced with two tracks from the UK  "Help!"  album:  "I've Just Seen a Face"  and  "It's Only Love.”  By placing the  "Help!"  tracks at the beginning of each side,  Rubber Soul was deliberately reconfigured to appear more as a  "folk rock"  album to angle the Beatles into that emergent lucrative American genre during 1965.  It worked very well!

Fortunately,  Capitol's alterations were relatively minor.  Some people actually prefer the Capitol version over the British LP because it has more of an acoustic feel with less rock songs than the British disc,  thus giving the album more of a cohesive folk-rock sound. 
To be honest,  I prefer the Capitol version over the British release.
 
When Capitol was compiling its  “Yesterday...And Today”  album,  George Martin sent the company three songs from the upcoming  “Revolver”  album:  "I'm Only Sleeping,"  "And Your Bird Can Sing,"  and  "Doctor Robert."
By the time the Beatles submitted  “Sgt. Pepper”  to Capitol,  the practice of reconfiguring albums had stopped.  Capitol knew the Beatles had recorded a brilliant album that needed to be left intact.  Capitol's engineers did,  however,  deviate slightly from the British album by not adding the high pitch whistle or the inner groove gibberish attached to the end of the British albums.  Thus,  the end-of-the-world feeling one gets from the final sustained chord of  “A Day In The Life”  is not disturbed by the extras tacked onto the British LPs.

For  “Magical Mystery Tour,”  Capitol ripped off fans by converting the convenient double EP set into an album by padding the record with filler such as  “Strawberry Fields Forever,”  “Penny Lane,”  “Hello Goodbye”  and  “All You Need Is Love.”  (Tongue firmly in cheek for the last sentence.)  Nine years after the release of Capitol's  “Magical Mystery Tour "  LP,  Parlophone issued the same album,  even using the same Capitol master tapes,  which included duophonic mixes of three of the songs!  (When the album was issued on CD,  true stereo mixes were used for all of the songs.)
(By the way,  Parlophone acknowledged the Capitol version of Magical Mystery Tour and gave the company the nod of approval by using the Capitol swirl label on its 2009 remastered compact disc box set.  A very nice gesture on their part).

It has often been said that Capitol butchered the Beatles carefully crafted records.  Some Beatles authors and fans have speculated that the infamous butcher cover was created for Capitol's  “Yesterday...And Today”  LP as a not-too-subtle dig at Capitol for butchering the group's albums.  While this makes a good story,  it is simply not true.  The butcher photos were conceived by photographer Bob Whitaker as part of a bizarre series of images titled  "A Somnambulant Adventure."  John chose the butcher photo for the cover as a subtle protest against the Vietnam War.
After the recall of the cover he stated,  "It's as relevant as Vietnam.  If the public can accept something as cruel as the war,  they can accept this cover."  
Capitol made changes to the Beatles albums to help sell the albums in America.  The company's strategy of
placing hit singles on the albums clearly contributed to the huge sales generated in America.  Capitol did not butcher the Beatles;  Capitol marketed the Beatles.

Some critics of these albums have gone so far as to say that Capitol's decision to release the albums on CD is an act of greed committed under the guise of giving American baby-boomer fans  "what they want."  The only truth in such comments is that Capitol is giving Beatles fans  "what they want."  This is not a case of Capitol telling baby-boomers what they want.  It is a case of baby-boomers telling Capitol what they want and Capitol responding accordingly.  Anyone who checks out Beatles-related posts on the Internet or reads Beatles magazines such as Beatlefan and Beatlology knows that fans have been clamoring for these albums on CD for years  (and I was one of those fans).  We grew up with and loved these albums.  We are grateful they are finally being released on CD.  It is unfair to criticize a record company for appropriately responding to fan requests.

It is also unfair for people to criticize what the CDs will sound like without first hearing them.  I know I enjoyed hearing the George Martin stereo mixes of  “And I Love Her,”  “If I Fell,”  “Things We Said Today,”  “No Reply”  and  “I'll Follow The Sun”  on CD for the first time upon release.

For those that believe the release of the Capitol albums on CD is an insult to the efforts of the Beatles,  George Martin,  &  Brian Epstein,  I strongly disagree.  While I understand the merits of standardizing the Beatles catalog throughout the world and presenting the albums as the Beatles intended,  the issuance of the American albums in a limited edition box set does not compromise either.   After all,  America was and still is the Beatles biggest market.  The Beatles legacy is not harmed by the release The Capitol Albums.  To the contrary,  an important part of the Beatles legacy has now been preserved.

 -----------------------------

Follow up:
Capitol released a second Capitol Beatles Box collection a couple years after this first one which included  "The Early Beatles,"   "Beatles IV,"   "Help!,"   and  "Rubber Soul."   For some odd reason the label stopped there...until 2014 (!?!).  It was in 2013 when Capitol made a major announcement in commemoration of the group's 50th anniversary of their 1st American visits and Capitol Records releases.  As the advertisements from the Beatles own website said: 

To commemorate the 50th anniversary of these history-making events,  The U.S. Albums,  a new 13 CD Beatles collection spanning 1964’s  "Meet The Beatles!"  to 1970’s  "Hey Jude,"  will be released January 20  (January 21 in North America)  by Apple Corps Ltd./Capitol.   The Beatles’ U.S.  albums differed from the band’s U.K.  albums in a variety of ways,  including different track lists,  song mixes,  album titles,  and art.  The albums are presented in mono and stereo,  with the exception of   "The Beatles’  Story"  and  "Hey Jude,"  which are in stereo only.  

Collected in a boxed set with faithfully replicated original LP artwork,  including the albums’  inner sleeves,  the 13 CDs are accompanied by a 64-page booklet with Beatles photos and promotional art from the time,  as well as a new essay by American author and television executive Bill Flanagan.   For a limited time,  all of the albums  (with the exception of   "The Beatles’ Story,"  an audio documentary album)  will also be available for individual CD purchase.   "A Hard Day’s Night"  (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack),  "The Beatles’ Story,"   "Yesterday And Today,"   "Hey Jude,"  and the U.S.  version of   "Revolver"  make their CD debuts with these releases.

 Finally!
Except...I already had  most of the American releases that I bought nearly a decade before.  
So...I bought  "Revolver"  and  "Yesterday & Today,"  which has the American mix of  "I'm Only Sleeping"  (in mono)  that I've been wanting,  as well as the dropout shortly after the instrumental break on  "Day Tripper"  (I know,  I know,  but that's the way I remembered it!). And...we also get the butcher cover that  "Yesterday...and Today"  was released in,  along with the paste-over replacement trunk cover.  That's kinda cool.
I was happy to find out that Capitol  (United Artists)  has  finally  given us the single-tracked vocal mix  (in mono)  of   "And I Love Her"  from  "A Hard Day's Night,"  which I've always liked so much better than the double-tracked mix.  It also has the extended mono mix of    "I'll Cry Instead."  And I did purchase  "Help!"  mainly for the gatefold cover missing on previous releases.

 
Another very cool thing is that each Beatles American album/CD  has a copy of the original inner sleeve advertisements showing other hot Capitol titles of the era that the vinyl album was originally protected in.
I've noticed,  by the way,  there is a clear improvement in sound quality in the mono mixes on these discs over the mono box set from 2009.  Except for  "Help!" - for some reason,  the mono  "Help!"  just doesn't sound that great.
I paid around $55 total for the individual discs that I wanted,  which saved me over  $100 from getting the box set.
Yeah,  I know...a true collector would get the box - and I probably will eventually - but for now I am very,  very happy with what I was able to get.
 I really do prefer the Capitol versions over the British because,  as stated in Mr. Spizer's comments above,  that is the way we in America heard them and that's the way so many of us want to hear them.  Well, most of us older fans, at least.
Nice that we have the choice.

To further your Beatles education,  of which I highly recommend.  Mr. Spizer's research goes beyond any other book I have read on the group,  and his manner of writing is very enjoyable---almost like a time-travel experience.
Yes,  if you are a fan,  you will want each one:
The Beatles Story on Capitol Records Vol. One - The Singles
The Beatles Story on Capitol Records Vol. Two - The Albums
The Beatles For Sale on Parlaphone Records
The Beatles Swan Song:  She Loves You and Other Records
The Beatles Are Coming:  The Birth of Beatlemania in America
The Beatles on Apple Records
There are more books on the Beatles by Spizer - I only posted those that are more pertinent to this posting.
And click HERE to visit Spizer's own Beatles website

The Beatles