In the lead up to Record Store Day 2024 Ringo Starr was on the publicity trail for his forthcoming 4-track EP called Crooked Boy. It was being released on Record Store Day as a Limited Edition black and white marble vinyl. Then, later this month, it will come out on normal black vinyl and on CD.
Ringo did a lot of social media in the lead-up, plus a number of interviews for print, radio and podcasts. But the big deal was a personal appearance at the Amoeba Music record store in Hollywood. This was on April 18 where he was joined on stage by Linda Perry, the driving force behind the latest EP. Perry wrote, produced and engineered the new record. She even chose the photo for the front cover of the EP.
On that day, and only in person at the store, Amoeba made available an extremely limited edition 7″ single of one of the songs from the EP called ‘February Sky’. It’s been reported (but not confirmed) that only 500 of these singles were pressed. They come in a picture sleeve and are pressed on a cool red vinyl:
Amoeba must have had a few left over and so the following week they made the remaining stock available online. These sold out in ten minutes. It was US customers only as the store doesn’t ship internationally.
As you can see, some copies on eBay have since sold for as high as US$360…..
Being based in Australia we thought we’d never get a copy for the collection, but thanks to one of our readers – our mate Guy – there will be one winging its way Downunder very soon!
Six days after the news mistakenly slipped out, Paul McCartney has officially announced the release of audio from the 1974 live studio performance called One Hand Clapping.
Pre-orders are now available for the LP and CD plus a range of associated merch and bundles.
And we get a look at pack shots of what’s included (but no video announcement of same….).
Here’s the 2LP plus 7″ vinyl, which is exclusive to Paul’s official stores at the moment. Note that the content of that 7″ (six songs in all) are not available on the 2 CD set:
There’ll also be a stand-alone 2LP set available:
And the aforementioned 2CD:
Pre-orders will be shipped on June 14.
And check out this teaser of never-before heard audio from One Hand Clapping. It’s a clip of ‘Junior’s Farm – One Hand Clapping’:
Seems someone at Universal Music Canada hit the “Publish” button a little early on a press release about a hitherto unknown June release from Paul McCartney. It reads:
The wait is over: With the June 14 release of One Hand Clapping, one of the most bootlegged live albums in musical history will finally receive a proper release. In August 1974, when Band on the Run was enjoying a seven-week consecutive #1 stint at the top of the UK album charts, Paul McCartney and Wings headed to Abbey Road Studios for the filming of a video documentary and possible live studio album – One Hand Clapping. Despite overwhelming demand for newly recorded material from the biggest band in the world at that time, One Hand Clapping was never officially released.
Filmed and recorded over four days and directed by David Litchfield, the release of One Hand Clapping is a historic moment for Paul McCartney fans. Over the years, various parts of One Hand Clapping have been bootlegged with varying degrees of success. Some of the material has also appeared on official McCartney releases. However, the June 14 release, which features the original artwork designed for the project, including a TV sales brochure for the unreleased film at the time, is the first time the audio for the film—plus several additional songs recorded off-camera–have been officially issued.
One Hand Clapping will be released in multiple formats on June 14, including an online-only 2LP + 7” package that will include a vinyl single of previously unreleased solo performances recorded on the final day of the sessions in the backyard of Abbey Road studios. These include the unreleased track “Blackpool,” a cover of The Beatles’ “Blackbird,” a Wings B-side “Country Dreamer,” and cover versions of Eddie Cochran’s “Twenty Flight Rock” (the first song Paul played to John Lennon when they met in 1957) and Buddy Holly’s “Peggy Sue” and “I’m Gonna Love You Too.”
ONE HAND CLAPPING FORMATS
2LP + 7”
Disc 1
SIDE ONE
One Hand Clapping* 02:15
Jet* 03:59
Soily* 03:55
C Moon/Little Woman Love* 03:19
Maybe I’m Amazed* 04:52
My Love* 04:15
SIDE TWO
Bluebird* 03:27
Let’s Love* 01:09
All of You* 02:04
I’ll Give You a Ring* 02:03
Band on the Run* 05:20
Live and Let Die* 03:26
Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five* 05:50
Baby Face* 01:56
Disc 2
SIDE ONE
Let Me Roll It** 04:28
Blue Moon of Kentucky 03:05
Power Cut 01:33
Love My Baby 01:13
Let It Be 01:02
The Long and Winding Road/Lady Madonna 02:10
SIDE TWO
Junior’s Farm 04:17
Sally G 03:28
Tomorrow 02:12
Go Now 03:35
Wild Life 04:30
Hi, Hi, Hi 03:57
Disc 3 (7”)
SIDE ONE
Blackpool 01:43
Blackbird 02:27
Country Dreamer** 02:17
SIDE TWO
Twenty Flight Rock 02:08
Peggy Sue 01:24
I’m Gonna Love You Too 01:10
2CD
Disc 1
One Hand Clapping* 02:15
Jet* 03:59
Soily* 03:55
C Moon/Little Woman Love* 03:19
Maybe I’m Amazed* 04:52
My Love* 04:15
Bluebird* 03:27
Let’s Love* 01:09
All of You* 02:04
I’ll Give You a Ring* 02:03
Band on the Run* 05:20
Live and Let Die* 03:26
Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five* 05:50
Baby Face* 01:56
Disc 2
Let Me Roll It** 04:28
Blue Moon of Kentucky 03:05
Power Cut 01:33
Love My Baby 01:13
Let It Be 01:02
The Long and Winding Road/Lady Madonna 02:10
Junior’s Farm 04:17
Sally G 03:28
Tomorrow 02:12
Go Now 03:35
Wild Life 04:30
Hi, Hi, Hi 03:57
* Previously released 2010 Band on the Run Archive Collection DVD
** Previously released as bonus audio on Archive Collection releases
One Hand Clapping will also be available to stream in Dolby Atmos with a mix by Giles Martin and Steve Orchard.
The subtitle of this blog is “Adventures in Collecting Beatles Music” and so we often get people inquiring about rare (or not-so-rare) pressings that they’ve come across out in the wild.
Like this one earlier this week from a reader named D-Wizz who is based in Brisbane, Australia:
I refer to the attached photos which are both sides of the same record. I note that the font used for each label is different. Side 2 looks like a 1960s style while Side 1 has an early 70s font. I cannot find an example of this on any Beatles related site, so I wonder is it a rarity, a mis-pressing, or something else? Does it make this copy any more valuable?
Thanks for your attention and assistance.
Regards, etc.
We love a challenge like this and delved into doing a little research. This is right at the heart of the adventures in collecting Beatles music! Here’s what we wrote back with:
Thanks for your email, and for sending through actual photos of the labels. This makes identification so much easier!
We’ve consulted the book An Overview of Australian Beatles Records by Jaesen Jones, which is a fantastic resource, plus his comprehensive website I Am The Platypus – The Beatles Australian Records Labelography – also very helpful in identifying Aussie Beatle pressings and variations. For what you need to know you should look at this page for the Sgt. Pepper’s label variations, and this page for further info on Australian label variations generally (click on the “Orange 1-Box” tab at the top).
What you have here is obviously a pressing of Sgt. Pepper’s that came out around October 1978 when EMI Australia was right in the middle of transitioning from one label design to another.
You’ve correctly identified that your Side 2 label is older – and in fact it is. It was the orange Parlophone label in use on Australian pressings of Sgt. Pepper’s from 1969-1978. It is known as the Orange 1-Box Style A, and has the word STEREO written large at the top.
Then, in October 1978, EMI changed that label to what is called the Orange 1-Box Style B. This still has the word STEREO, but now in a much smaller font and set to the right of the spindle hole above the catalogue number. This is your Side 1 label.
We’d guess that when they were pressing your copy it must have been right on the change-over date between the two variations in October 1978. They obviously had some of the older style Side 2 labels left over (Orange 1-Box Style A) and where just using them up. However, for Side 1 they’d obviously started using the new-look Orange 1-Box Style B labels.
(FYI there was a further orange label variation that was introduced from early 1979 called Orange 1-Box Style C that was used up to 1981. This had no mention of the word “Stereo” on it at all).
So, is your copy rare and more valuable? Well, it is interesting!
Jaeson Jones includes in his book a ‘Guide to Rarity’ and, on a scale of 1-10 (where 1 is very common, and 10 is very rare), he lists the Sgt. Pepper’s Orange 1-Box Style A as a 5, and the Orange 1-Box Style B as a 3. Both therefore are reasonably common I’m afraid – but at least yours is different and it has a bit of a story behind it! I dunno, maybe we’d rate it as a 6?
Unless you’ve been living under a rock you are probably aware by now that Paul’s 1961 Höfner 500/1 bass guitar, which was stolen in 1972, has been….
In September last year we reported on a concerted new effort to trace the missing instrument – and it seems that the case has well and truly been solved. In fact, the bass is already back in the hands of its original owner – Paul McCartney.
The instrument is a little worse for wear but, according to an expert from Höfner called in to examine it, it shouldn’t be all that difficult to once again get it going again.
One of the most informative articles about what state it is in and the intriguing back story as to where the bass has been all this time is in the Dutch music magazine, De Bassist. They interviewed Höfner expert Nick Wass about finding The Lost Bass. Their article is well worth a read!
If you don’t believe there are collectors out there intent on having every single variation, then think again:
This is a photograph from the collection of one of our readers and contributors – Guy from the USA. Guy has managed to secure no less than 16 different McCartney III colour variants, and 10 different McCartney III Imagined double LPs.
You can check them off against our two guides to all the known variants below (they include CDs and cassettes – which Guy also has BTW!). Click on the images to enlarge:
Apologies, but we’re a little slow of the mark with the Record Store Day 2024 news from last week. However, it has given us a bit more time to research and hopefully provide a few more details – so here goes.
First up, from Apple Records is another unique format first for The Beatles. It is a tiny The Beatles Limited Edition RSD3 Turntable, featuring a Beatle-branded dustcover and turntable facing. Each turntable is Bluetooth-enabled and housed in a Beatles’ box that includes four super small 3″ records featuring the four songs they performed 60 years ago on The Ed Sullivan Show: ‘I Want To Hold Your Hand’, ‘Til There Was You’, ‘She Loves You’, and ‘I Saw Her Standing There’. Each record is housed in an outer box and comes in a picture sleeve. There is also a poster for each. The package also includes a bright yellow Beatle-branded carrying case, which can hold up to ten 3” records. These little discs apparently play at 331/3 rpm.
If you don’t want the record player, the four 3″ singles will be sold separately, also housed in an outer box, with a picture sleeve and poster. The records only have music on one side:
The concept of these 3″ singles and their accompanying tiny record player have been around for a while (think the Foo Fighters, The White Stripes, or The Doors as recently as last year for RSD). However, they represent a limited format The Beatles have not yet embraced, making them a bit like those cards from last year containing special editions of the Red and Blue albums for kids to play on their Yoto players. So they could potentially reach a whole new younger audience. If you want to get an idea of just how small the turntable and discs are check out this Youtube unboxing.
Next up, from the John Lennon camp, comes a 4 track, 12″ EP teaser for the forthcoming Mind Games Ultimate Mixes box sets – due in June. Two versions of this will be available – one on “glow-in-the-dark” 140g luminous vinyl, and one described as “black ‘audiophile’ 180g vinyl”:
Gotta say the cover for the EP is great. The track list is:
Side A: 1. Mind Games (Ultimate Mix) 2. I’m The Greatest (Ultimate Mix) – feat. George Harrison & Ringo Starr
Side B: 3. Aisumasen (I’m Sorry) (Ultimate Mix) 4. You Are Here (Outtake, Take 5)
Ringo Starr will have an RSD 12″ 45 EP called Crooked Boy available on exclusive black & white marble vinyl – and also in a really cool cover:
Written and produced by Songwriter’s Hall Of Famer Linda Perry, Crooked Boy features four brand-new tracks from Ringo. The EP also includes guitar performances on every song from Nick Valensi of The Strokes.
On a recent video Ringo showed the inside cover:
And a quick shot of what looks like a green vinyl edition. Maybe that is coming later?
Zoetrope picture discs seem to be all the rage this RSD. There are no fewer than nine LPs being released, including artists like Blur, Marc Bolan and T.Rex, Fatboy Slim, Lily Allen, and even one from Doctor Who.
What is a Zoetrope Picture disc? They look fantastic spinning on a turntable. Have a look at this YouTube from last year of Blur’s ‘The Ballad of Darren (Zoetrope Vinyl)’:
Dark Horse Records and Record Store Day have announced a multi-year partnership to release limited Zoetrope picture disc pressings of George Harrison’s entire studio album catalogue. The first two titles in the RSD exclusive series – Wonderwall Music and Electronic Sound – will be available on Record Store Day in April 2024. Limited to 8,000 units globally and exclusive to Record Store Day, each is individually numbered in silver foil and will include an insert reproducing the original artwork. The front cover will look like this – with a cut-out window showing off the LP plus a hype sticker and limited edition numbering also on show:
As mentioned there’ll be an insert in each LP with the original cover artwork included:
Dark Horse is once again extremely busy this RSD. They’ll also have out a 25th anniversary edition of Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros’Rock Art & The Ex-Ray Style, the debut album by the band in a limited pink vinyl Record Store Day exclusive 2LP pressing. The remastered 1999 album, which was Strummer’s first album release in a decade, is spread over 2 LP’s for optimal sound quality, and the original gatefold artwork by Damien Hirst will be meticulously reproduced:
One obscure Dark Horse release can be found only on the US RSD list as a Limited Run/ Regional Focus release with only 800 copies made. Its an album called Dreamers In The Field by Huun-Huur-Tu, Carmen Rizzo and Dhani Harrison:
From Wikipedia: Huun-Huur-Tu are from Tuva, a Russian federative republic situated on the Mongolia–Russia border. Their music includes throat singing, in which the singers sing both a note and its overtones, thus producing two or three notes simultaneously. The overtone may sound like a flute, whistle or bird, but is solely a product of the human voice. They also play traditional Tuvan instruments. However, in recent years, the group have begun to selectively incorporate Western instruments and electronic music.
Carmen Rizzo is an American record producer, mixer, programmer, DJ, remixer and recording artist. A two-time Grammy nominee, he’s worked with Seal, Coldplay, Dido, Ryuichi Sakamoto, and Pete Townshend. In addition to collaborating with Huun Huur Tu, Rizzo co-founded the world/electronic act Niyaz with Azam Ali and Loga Ramin Torkian (with three #1 iTunes albums). He’s released his own solo electronic albums too, so this RSD release looks to be an eclectic sound mix!
And lastly, on the UK and Australian RSD sites, there are two Dark Horse Yusuf/Cat Stevens LP re-issues listed (….can’t seem to find these on the US list).
They are (from 1975) Numbers on black vinyl LP – which will be limited to 2,000 units globally, and reissued for RSD with a lenticular gatefold cover. Included will be a reproduction of the original 16-page book with lyrics and illustrations:
And also (from 1977) Izitso – again, limited to 2,000 units globally and presented in a lenticular gatefold cover:
So, a lot of product from Dark Horse for RSD 2024…..
It was for Best Music Video for the song ‘I’m Only Sleeping’ – the film clip made to promote last year’s re-issue of the Revolver album.
The award went to Em Cooper, video director, and Jonathan Clyde, Sophie Hilton, Sue Loughlin and Laura Thomas, video producers.
Artist and director Em Cooper explored the space between dreaming and wakefulness, working on an animation rostrum on sheets of celluloid. She painted every frame individually in oil-paint, a labourious process which took many months.
(Interestingly Revolver won an award for Best Album Cover in 1966. That honour went to Klaus Voormann. And the Song of the Year Grammy in 1966 went to John Lennon and Paul McCartney for ‘Michelle’. McCartney also won the Best Contemporary Solo Vocal Performance, Male or Female, for ‘Eleanor Rigby’.)
Also in the hunt for awards recognition is another short animated film with Beatle connections – this time for Sean Ono Lennon and War Is Over!, a film inspired by the music of John and Yoko.
War Is Over! is nominated in the 96th Oscars, to be announced on Sunday, March 10. You can view the trailer here:
Set in an alternate WWI reality where a senseless war rages on, two soldiers on opposite sides of the conflict play a joyful game of chess. A heroic carrier pigeon delivers the soldiers’ chess moves over the battlefield as the fighting escalates. Neither soldier knows his opponent as the game and the war builds to its climatic final move. Whoever wins the game, one thing is for certain: there are no winners in war.
The eleven-minute short animated film is made by the animation company ElectroLeague. Its anti-war story is by Sean Ono Lennon and Dave Mullins, and it features original music composed by Thomas Newman plus the song ‘Happy Xmas (War Is Over)’. The film is directed by Dave Mullins and produced by Brad Booker. It is executive produced by Yoko Ono and Sean Ono Lennon, and is created as a production of Lenono Music, ElectroLeague, WetaFX and Epic Games.
Here’s a longer taste of what to expect:
And check out this filmmakers’ panel discussion about the Oscar-nominated War Is Over!
It features writer/director Dave Mullins, producer Brad Booker, executive producer Sean Ono Lennon, and composer Thomas Newman. They’re in conversation with executive producer Karen Dufilho:
One of our readers has been in touch asking about how to get a valuation on a very unusual promo copy of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.
They write: “I have a radio station promo copy of Sgt. Pepper I won from them in a contest in 1967. Black/white label, songs in a different order from the released album. Etched serial numbers are SS10077-01A and SS10077-01B. Have you any suggestions for getting it appraised?”
While we don’t know the exact name of the radio station which ran the promotion, you can see some handwriting on the label that indicates it might possibly have come from a station called WCFL. According to Wikipedia WCFL is located in Chicago and is today on the airwaves there broadcasting as a Christian Adult Contemporary station. However, there’s also an online WCFL run by some nostalgia buffs with a sound similar to what it would have sounded like when it was one of Chicago’s leading Top 40 music stations. Back in the sixties WCFL’s coverage of the Beatles 1965 and 1966 U.S. tours was provided by a disc jockey named Jim Stagg, who traveled extensively with the group.
The station also began a weekly British Countdown program with British DJ Paul Michael, so it is quite feasible they had some sort of exclusive record giveaway competition in 1967.
The mystery around this one though is that no one else seems to have ever seen this record. It is not listed amongst Discogs’ 1176 versions for example and, having asked around the community, others have doubts about its authenticity and also can’t find any information about it. Some of the concerns raised include:
no promo markings of any kind on the labels
no performers printed anywhere
no record company, composers, or publishers listed
a minor spelling mistake in the LP title itself
several not quite correct song titles
two tracks missing (‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)’ & ‘A Day In The Life’)
and several song timings that differ with the originals
One friend thinks it’s not even a «Not For Sale» record, but simply a pirate vinyl.
It would be interesting to know if the music on the disc is actually the Beatles, and not a cover group or even orchestral/instrumental versions of the songs – though that would have been difficult to pull off quickly if the album was genuinely a 1967 radio “giveaway” at the same time as the Pepper LP US release.
As you can see, the disc looks like it has had a hard life but would probably clean up and play OK if you had a record cleaning machine.
So, what do you think? Very interested to hear your thoughts! Is this a genuine collectors item?
P.S. We suggested the owner get in touch with Perry Cox, the well-regarded valuation expert in all things Beatle. If anyone has any other suggestions on who to speak to, thoughts or knowledge about this one please chime in.
Just in time for some holiday listening The Beatles have quietly launched a new official 6-part podcast celebrating the legacy of the band.
Written, produced and presented by someone close to the band, music historian Kevin Howlett, it features interviews with John, Paul, George and Ringo, as well as many other musicians and producers including George and Giles Martin, Dave Grohl and Mark Ronson,
The podcast documentary ties in with the 50th anniversary reissues of the ‘Red’ and ‘Blue’ compilations and also unpacks the story behind the band’s final single, ‘Now And Then’.
Part 1 of The Beatles’ Legacy is divided into three chapters and deals with The Beatles 1962-1966. You can find it here.
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