[This review was first published 6/8/2010 on Skratchdisc]
Well, only two months after Record Store Day, the speed demons at Capitol/EMI have finally released the “special” “limited edition” 7″ single of my favorite BEATLES pairing, “Paperback Writer” b/w “Rain”. Ummm, they knew RSD was coming up, I’m sure, and yet, they put this single out in a generic Parlophone 45 sleeve. It’s nice, for what it is, but why couldn’t they have put it in a picture sleeve? Over the years (and at the time of its inital 1966 release) it’s appeared in various pic sleeves (like the ones I have here). Hell, they could have even duplicated the original American generic sleeve and used the ’60s orange/yellow “swirl” labels. How come no one ever confers with me before doing these things? What they DID do was use the stereo masters of the songs (the original was a mono issue in most territories), which sound very sweet through the stereo.
Here’s a memo to the bigwigs at EMI: Next year’s Record Store Day is on April 15, 2011 (so I’m told). Start preparing now.
2019 addendum: And for that matter, stewards of The Beatles’ catalog, Abbey Road was released 40 years ago this year, so I assume that not only do you have a teaser release coming for RSD Black Friday 2019, but a deluxe extravaganza celebrating the entire album a la the Sgt. Pepper and White Album releases of the last few years.
4/5 (Parlophone/EMI)
NuDisc 