Dr.Ebbet - what is the truth about his CD reissues?

[Beatlesiak]

Dear Friends, while reading reviews of the albums: "red" and "blue" 2023, I came across a thread regarding the Dr.Ebbet's publishing house and its reissues of vinyl records on CD, as well as the alleged "counterfeiting"/"substitution" of song versions - among others. on "Oldies but Goldies" and US "Revolver" ??? I'm in shock. If you can expand on this information regarding the above-mentioned titles, or other similar events on CD, I will be grateful because until now I considered Dr. Ebbet's releases to be the holy grail and I was grateful for the wonderful work he did, and now this news makes me not really know what to think about all this. I can't believe that a man who did so much good used such "tricks" that can shake faith in the authenticity of the series.
Regards!

[alphabeatles]

I am not an expert on this subject despite knowing about his work for years (I never bought any CDs) and I know there has been much controversy about his work on various forums in the past.

Right now, based on Lord Reith's recent comments, the fact that many other perhaps more well-known and reliable fans have needledropped a multitude of vinyl releases and also the fact that with DESS you don't always know what you've gotten (downloaded or otherwise), my fingers are hovering over the Delete key...

I don't think I'll actually miss any of this stuff.

[Kwai Chang]

Dear Friends, while reading reviews of the albums: "red" and "blue" 2023, I came across a thread regarding the Dr.Ebbet's publishing house and its reissues of vinyl records on CD, as well as the alleged "counterfeiting"/"substitution" of song versions - among others. on "Oldies but Goldies" and US "Revolver" ??? I'm in shock. If you can expand on this information regarding the above-mentioned titles, or other similar events on CD, I will be grateful because until now I considered Dr. Ebbet's releases to be the holy grail and I was grateful for the wonderful work he did, and now this news makes me not really know what to think about all this. I can't believe that a man who did so much good used such "tricks" that can shake faith in the authenticity of the series.
Regards!

Maybe, you're thinking of Slander!
It gets confusing because there is no loyalty!
Have you heard the one about the 1974 demo???
(Seriously, kidding!!!)
Peace, friend!
Dr. Ebbett's might be a lot of things. A profitable entity wasn't one of them! He's a Beatles fan!
KC

[Lord Reith]

Well I can only tell you what I found. I didn't buy them direct from the Doc but got them in the mid 2000s from a guy who had all the disc up till then. I haven't got a whole lot, but I am sort of annoyed because "Oldies But Goldies" is a favourite record of mine and I was glad to have what I thought would be a quality drop of the rare mono LP.

Years ago I also discovered the same thing with what I was told is the Doc's version of the US (stereo) Revolver. I was comparing the mixes just to make sure they were the same as the UK mixes and was confused when they not only synched up to the cds, but completely nulled out to silence when one was inverted. That can only happen if they are identical files. I mentioned this somewhere and one other person said he had found the same thing.

Some suggest that these might be counterfeits or something so the best way is for someone who has actual genuine, bona fide Doc Ebbetts discs of those two titles to upload "She Loves You" and "She Said She Said" here and I will do the comparison again.

Obviously he DID do needle drops, because the first four albums in stereo were not on cd pre-2009. But also it seems he either compiled some titles from cd or at some point someone else did and passed them off as his. If it's the latter then probably a lot of other people have these fakes too which, all things being equal, amounts to the same thing.

[Ziggy C]

It's certainly helpful that some people in this forum have the wherewithal and knowledge to do such things as phase inversion comparisons. I would suspect that the official DESS stuff are actual needle drops. I shudder to think that the Doc entity would stoop to using CD versions, or even compiling albums from various sources and passing them off. I'm leaning more towards LR's latter explanation, that some enterprising souls have inserted themselves into the mix so-to-speak, and soured the milk.

[Lord Reith]

It's certainly helpful that some people in this forum have the wherewithal and knowledge to do such things as phase inversion comparisons. I would suspect that the official DESS stuff are actual needle drops. I shudder to think that the Doc entity would stoop to using CD versions, or even compiling albums from various sources and passing them off.

It seems odd to me too. Truth is, the climate of the mid-2000s encouraged fakes. The Doc was at the peak of his acclaim and many people still traded physical cdrs. It wasn't like now where you just download it - you had to give something in return. So a lot of these obscure albums were probably ideal fodder for fakers to whip up and use for trading. Even the torrent sites had upload/download ratios for members, so uploading more (fakes) gave you permission to download more.

Trouble is, most people who own these probably don't have originals. And there were multiple re-issues of albums to further muddy the waters. But my guess is that unless you own originals, it's highly likely there are a lot of fakes in your collection.

However we can settle the matter easily enough. If someone has a bona fide Ebbetss disc of the mono Oldies lp, then upload the first track (SLY) along with a photograph of you holding the actual disc in your hands and we'll compare it. If it matches the 1992 cd EP, that tells us all we need to know.

[Choking Smoker]

I used to download them on USENET. There was a genuine hole in the market that he was filling back then, the first few UK albums weren't even available in stereo from official sources and he gave collectors something to collect. It all came to an end pretty abruptly at the time of the 2009 remasters and I suspect he got some kind of warning or "Cease and Desist" notice. I think he made an announcement to the effect of we have the remasters now so I'm no longer needed.

It was great to be able to hear obscure pressings and some rare mixes only available on obscure pressings like the Hi-hat All My Loving and the mid 60's 'German' stereo mix of I want To Hold Your Hand. On the other hand what he put out wasn't always exactly what he said it was. I know that the Please Please me on his UK singles collection wasn't the mix on the original (or 70's re-release) UK single but the 'B' side was. I suspect he just honestly didn't realise there was a difference (and tbh it's in no way obvious) and dropped in a version form one of the original EP's because he thought it just sounded better.

[Kwai Chang]

UK mono Oldies LP is impossible to find!
I only ever saw one copy and I was lucky to get it in the rough condition it was in.
He probably never had a real one OR, the condition was just not good enough.
I'd rather have any version than no version. That album is cost prohibitive.
I would fully expect that to be the plight of any NON-UK record collector.
I thought his forte was U.S. Capitol mixes. I never owned any DESS physical.
KC

[I Am The Walrus]

I found out about DR. EBBETTS in 2006 and for me at the time it was incredible.
At first I just downloaded through torrents and Souseak, after a while I got the contact of a seller and then I bought many titles from the English and American discography.
Now I'm not sure if most of my CDRs are fakes or real. I have no idea.

[alphabeatles]

Since my earlier comment I managed to purge a lot of DESS from my collection (where I also had a PBTHAL, Dr. Robert or similar equivalent).

I am left with DESS's MFSL Japanese half-speed masters and US/UK singles. Please advise if there are alternatives for these (I do have several sets of CD singles and Past Masters and UK EP collection and such, so the DESS are probably redundant).