Category Archives: Beatles Music

Great New Beatle Podcast Series on Australian Radio

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We happened upon a new series of Australian radio programs featuring the Beatles last night. A popular presenter called Rod Quinn hosts a national overnight radio show on the ABC (the Australian Broadcasting Corporation).

As each Beatle album marks its 50th anniversary Quinn has been speaking to US Lennon biographer (and Beatle expert) Jude Southerland Kessler. Jude is author of the extraordinary and ambitious nine-volume John Lennon series – a narrative biography she is presently writing. The latest instalment in her series is Volume 3: She Loves You.

Well, last night here in Australia the pair looked at the band’s fourth studio album Beatles For Sale, released on December 4, 1964: BeatlesForSale As you’ll hear in the podcast, Jude Sutherland Kessler brings unique insights to this famous fourth Beatle album by examining its song selections, running order, lyrics – and even the way the Beatles are portrayed in the LP’s UK cover images. You can click on the links in this post to hear a podcast of the original ABC Radio broadcast.

Previous broadcasts have covered Please Please Me; With the Beatles and A Hard Day’s Night, each also well worth a listen.

Incidentally, the album looked quite different here in Australia having a cover unique to this market, but with the same LP inside:Beatles_For_Sale_Australia

Beatles “Long Tall Sally” EP – Record Store Day 2014 Ltd Ed

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Our copy of the recent Record Store Day Black Friday Beatle EP release has finally arrived. Copies were not brought into Australia, and so an overseas purchase was required.

This is a limited edition, and (like the recent Mono LP re-issues) faithfully reproduces the original British release, down to the labels and the old-fashioned tabbed rear cover:LTS Beatles RSD frontLTS Beatles RSD rearLTS Beatles RSD labelAnd here’s a close-up of that sticker on the front:LTS Beatles RSD sticker

Beatles With Records – Part Twenty Six – Great New Video

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For some time now we’ve been running a series on the Beatles photographed or filmed holding records or CDs – either their own, or those of the artists they were listening to.

You can view the past twenty five instalments here.

Quite independently a video maker on the other side of the world from us had an idea for something similar – and we have been in touch over the past couple of months. He goes by the name Billy Shears and he can be found on YouTube at The Sgt Pepper Channel.

Billy has just uploaded a fantastic video compilation of absolutely everything he can find of The Beatles With Records. It shows many of the photographs featured on our site, but also a LOT more. It’s very cleverly done as the images flow together and emerge in themes. Really well worth a look!

 

 

Hope for the Future – Digital Single Out Now

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We just received an email from paulmccartney.com letting us know that the extended EP of Paul McCartney’s ‘Hope for the Future‘ is now available for download from iTunes.

There will also be a physical release in the form of a 12″ vinyl single. No track listings for that are available as yet, but it will come out on January 12 in the UK, and January 13 in the US.

Spincds.com in the UK and the Amazon US store have place-holders for the vinyl release and it can be pre-ordered now.

And there’s an official video to accompany the song where a holographic Paul McCartney sings the song in the world of Destiny:

Also check out this exclusive in Wired magazine.

George Harrison – Final Live Performance?

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Surfing the Internet today we came across this YouTube clip.

It’s from the VH1 cable TV channel in the US – way back in 1997.

They claim it is George Harrison’s last ever live public performance before his untimely death on November 29, 2001. We don’t have a way to verify that – unless anyone out there can add to the discussion? But even if it’s not true it is an extraordinarily frank interview which includes an impromptu rendition of the then un-released song ‘Any Road‘ on a borrowed guitar. ‘Any Road’ was later released posthumously on George’s Brainwashed album in 2002:

VH1 put the interview together with some linking historical pieces and re-broadcasted it as part of their commemorations on the day of George’s death. He was on the promo trail in 1997 with Ravi Shankar for the CD Chants of India (which George produced) and had dropped into the studio unexpectedly. What unfolded was simply great seat-of-the-pants TV.

McCartney’s ‘Hope for the Future’ – Release Confirmed

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Hope_Banner_NewsBodypaulmccartney.com has confirmed a December 8 global release for Paul McCartney’s song ‘Hope for the Future’.

It will be a digital download only, and the original version of the track (which is taken from the best-selling ‘Destiny’ video game credits) will be made available alongside four other special mixes of the song:

1) ‘Hope For The Future’ (Main)
2) ‘Hope For The Future’ (Thrash)
3) ‘Hope For The Future’ (Beatsession Mix)
4) ‘Hope For The Future’ (Jaded Mix)
5) ‘Hope For The Future’ (Mirwais Mix)Hope_Single Cover

A is For Apple Book – More Info

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Since we reported back in September on a new series of books detailing the history of the Beatles Apple company, there’s been a flurry of activity and a lot of further information coming through.

The authors of A is For Apple now have a cover for Volume 1, which is due for publication in April next year:A is For Apple Cover

And they’ve produced a YouTube video, too:

There are a couple of further very interesting draft sample pages now available here and here. (These come with a “big file” warning and may take some time to download).

For Apple fans these both contain great info and photos.

And there are now details about some special offers and bonus material which will come with Volume 1 of A is For Apple.

One Apple artist has given the publishers permission to release two rare recordings with the project. Jackie Lomax, just a couple of days before his tragic death in 2013, signed an agreement to include an exclusive 7“ vinyl of his previously unreleased track ‘Land Of People’, and the demo version of ‘Is This What You Want?’. Both songs will be included with Vol. 1 of A is For Apple.A is For Apple Bonus1A is For Apple Bonus2

Additionally, if you pre-order Volume 1 before December 3, you not only save €5 Euro on the purchase price but also receive a strictly limited edition bonus flexi disc of The Iveys‘ unreleased 1968 Christmas Record:A is For Apple Bonus3

In late 1968 The Iveys (later to become Badfinger) taped a Christmas message for their fans just like the Beatles had done since 1963. But contrary to the Beatles‘ annual Crimble messages this one has never been released. Only very recently the A is For Apple people got permission to include this Christmas flexi disc that never was.

For the whole story of the project so far see the A is For Apple website.

New Budget George Martin Collection

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Wog Blog is reporting a new budget label release collecting some of Beatle producer George Martin’s output over his many years in the recording industry.

It is a double CD set and there are two Beatle songs included (‘Love Me Do’ and ‘P.S. I Love You’) plus thirty others by a wide range of artists. It’s a pretty good overview of his work:earlyworks_martin

Every track listed (except the two Beatle tunes) is also available on the 2001, six CD set Produced by George Martin. That box set contains 150 titles, but if you can’t find it (or can’t afford it!), this new release from Not Now Music looks like a bargain at just £5.99.

McCartney on Writing Songs with Lennon

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Don’t know if there’s anything particularly new here – but Paul McCartney is in good form, open and relaxed in a video uploaded this week to YouTube. (It has subsequently been taken down).

McCartney was appearing at a small gathering in London, answering questions and being interviewed by British model, actor and activist Lily Cole for a global campaign called impossible.

paulmaccartney.com called for musicians to submit their wishes to Cole’s impossible website in order to win seats to the strictly limited-entry event. There are photos and info here. Their conversation event centred around Cole asking Sir Paul about his song ‘Hope For the Future’, part of the soundtrack to the new video game Destiny. You can read a transcript of what they talked about here. 

What is impossible? It’s described as a global community who help each other out. People share their time, skills and objects. Everything is always given or loaned for free.

For more on Cole see Lily Cole: From Vogue to the impossible

Cole is one of the many celebrity cameo’s in Paul’s ‘Queenie Eye’ video (you can see here and Johnny Depp pictured below):Lily Cole Queenie Eye

Beatles 1984 Capitol Records Promo Video

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In this the Beatles 50 Years celebrations of first making it big on the US charts, it’s interesting to watch how in 1984 Capitol Records visually marked what was then the band’s 20th anniversary….

See also the British 20th Anniversary singles.