Dr. Ebbetts Retires from the Beatles Remastering Business

Dear friends,

I sincerely hope all is well with you and yours.

Indeed, this is an unexpected mass-mailer. Please forgive the unsolicited rambles that follow.

To start, there are many of you who have outstanding orders with me at this time. Some of you have been waiting for a while, and I wish to apologize for that. Please don't worry. Each and every one of these outstanding orders will be tended to this week. You have my word.

I appreciate your patience and understanding.

Second, there has been considerable buzz surrounding the new Beatles remasters, due for release in September. There should be. We have all been waiting for this day, and it is about to arrive - finally! Thanks to a long-time supporter and friend to this project, I have had the opportunity to hear genuine samples of the new remasters due out in two months.

They are good.

Very good.

Those of you who will be buying them - and those of you who have already preordered - will not be disappointed.

In fact, I will venture to guess than many of you will be more than pleasantly surprised at how good they sound.

And with what promises to be outstanding packaging all around, it will be a collector's nirvana.

From the outset of the Dr. Ebbetts Sound Systems project, I swore that once EMI did the right thing and released remasters to be proud of, I would not continue doing what I was doing. After all, the only reason I did this was because Apple/EMI/Capitol would not - and because I so very much love the Beatles.

While my love for the band has not changed, everything else has.

EMI/Capitol began their release of the American LPs on compact disc a few years ago, and now EMI has tackled the British catalogue in fullest detail.

It's what we all wanted. As Beatles fans, it's what we've prayed for.

To that end - and with the heaviest of hearts - effective immediately, Dr. Ebbetts Sound Systems will cease operations.

Many of you will recall that the entire purpose of the Dr. Ebbetts project was to make available to the public the best sounding versions of the Beatles' original LP releases - with emphasis on the American and British catalogues. Believe me, it wasn't a hard thing to do considering the substandard quality of the original CD catalogue from 1987 onward.

The fact of the matter is, the Dr. Ebbetts material does not - and will not - sound better than what is coming commercially in September. People I trust agree with me. The remasters sound remarkably well balanced, with solid, punchy bass, smooth mids and not-to-harsh, yet crisp highs. In comparison, many of the Ebbetts masters fall short - weaker bass, dimished mids, and often too-bright highs.

It's a given that the remasters will not please everyone, but they will be good enough to make the Ebbetts catalogue solidly inferior.

The artwork and packaging of the EMI material will prove to make current Dr. Ebbetts releases look like Xerox machine fodder.

It pains me, seeing as I have invested so much time in this thing, but I humbly and officially put this nearly-fourteen year project to bed.

I have outlived my usefulness in this hobby.

I know there are many who will ask why I just don't continue releasing titles that are NOT being put out by Apple/EMI - foreign releases, rare pressings, etc..

My reasons are complicated, but they are what they are. In short, if the Dr. Ebbetts BLUE BOX set is not the definitive sounding version of the original UK stereo LPs, then why issue them at all?

Many will remember the original BEAT CDs of the 1990s that presented the Beatles US LPs sourced from cassettes. I surely do. They became immediately obsolete with the advent of Dr. Ebbetts. No one bought those BEAT CDs anymore when I came along. Why would they? At the time, my material was far superior.

The Ebbetts BLUE BOX series was only issued because Apple/EMI's versions were substantially inferior to anything I - or any number of needledroppers - were putting out. The Ebbetts BLUE BOX set is at THE HEART of the Dr. Ebbetts Sound Systems collection, in my estimation. If that set is now inferior to the commercial release, then it has no business existing. Suffice to say, I would not release the BLUE BOX set today if new remasters were already commercially available.

I would have no need.

And if my CORE SET is inferior, I don't wish to have the rest of the catalogue branded as such either.

Therefore, it is time to put it all on the shelf.

I am requesting that all of you who have LPs with me contact me as soon as possible and let me know which ones are yours so that I might send them back to you. I promise I will get those to you in short order.

So that your return LP requests will not be lost in what promises to be a hectic e-mail shuffle, please put "MY LPs" somewhere in the subject line.

Your generosity, kindness and willingness to share your treasured possessions with me is something I shall never forget.

To each and every one of you who has supported me and befriended me throughout the years, I wish to extend my deepest gratitude. Your loyalty has moved me beyond words. This entire project began as a fanciful hobby many years ago and has mushroomed into something far beyond anything I could have imagined.

From every corner of the entire world, I have been blessed to meet some of the best Beatle people out there. I will never forget you.

But now it is time to make way for the "big boys."

Please be sure to secure your copies of the remasters. I guarantee they will replace your Dr. Ebbetts CDs in your rotations and playlists - as they should. Display them proudly and let people know who the greatest band of all time is.

Remember, quoting my project motto from all those years ago, it is ONLY about the music.

That is why I do what I do today.

Now go put your hard-earned money to good use!

God Bless.

Drew