Category Archives: Beatles Music

Beatles Australian 50th Anniversary Celebrations Are Hotting Up – Part Five

Posted on by
Reply

The latest instalment in the Australian Beatles celebrations this month is the creation of a week-long “pop-up” digital radio station called The Beatles in Australia on ABC Extra.

Run by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), the special Beatles station goes to air from 8.00am (Australian Eastern Standard Time) on Tuesday, June 17. It will run 24/7 until midnight on Tuesday, June 24.

Here’s a radio promo for the station:

You can listen in three ways. If you live in an Australian capital city and have a digital radio go the the ABC Extra channel. If you don’t have a digital radio, don’t worry – the station will be streamed live online (from next Tuesday) on the ABC Extra site. And the special programs can be accessed on your mobile device using the ABC Radio app. You can get that app here.

And here’s the official press release:

The Beatles arrive at Sydney airport in torrential rain on June 11, 1964. With them is stand-in drummer Jimmie Nicol.

The Beatles arrive at Sydney airport in torrential rain on June 11, 1964. With them is stand-in drummer Jimmie Nicol. (Image: ABC)

 THE BEATLES IN AUSTRALIA on ABC EXTRA

13 June 2014

ABC Radio is set to launch a pop-up radio station celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Beatles concert tour of Australia in June 1964. The Beatles in Australia on ABC Extra will run from 8:00AM on Tuesday 17 June for one week. It will be available via mobile on the ABC Radio App, online and on digital radio.

The station will feature a series of specially made programs, programs from the ABC Radio archive and the music from 1964, including:

  • Hindsight from RN: This program charts the story of the Beatles down-under, with contributions from some of the people who helped to orchestrate the visit, as well as social historians, fans and detractors of the Beatlemania phenomenon which swept Australia. The version of the Beatles that Australia saw in 1964, with their mop top haircuts, and neat black suits, marked the arrival of the manufactured boy band. But did they also spark the beginning of an overdue generational and social shift in this country?
  • The Beatles In Australia Exhibition: Rod Quinn from ABC Local Radio visits the exhibition curated by Sydney’s Powerhouse Museum (currently on display at the Melbourne Arts Centre).
  • The Importance of The Ed Sullivan Show: Rod Quinn from ABC Local Radio interviews Beatles historian, Ken Womack about why the appearance by The Beatles on the popular American variety show helped feed into the high expectations surrounding the arrival of the Beatles in Australia in June 1964.
  • The Story of Jimmie Nicol: Ringo Starr became ill just prior to the Australian tour of 1964 and was replaced by Jimmie Nicol. What effect did those 13 days and ten live shows (four of them in Australia) have on him? And what happened to Jimmie Nicol as a result? That’s the subject of a new book by author and Beatle historian Jim Berkenstadt.
  • The Beatles Story: An official Capitol Records documentary from 1964 on the rise of the Beatles.
  • The music: Their one and only concert tour of Australia was characterised by thirty-minute concerts comprising only 10 songs: I Saw Her Standing There, I Want To Hold Your Hand, All My Loving, She Loves You, Till There Was You, Roll Over Beethoven, Can’t Buy me Love, This Boy, Twist and Shout and Long Tall Sally. Hear all these, plus many more.

 Broadcast time:

  • 8:00AM, Tuesday 17 June to 8:00PM, Tuesday 24 June

Listen:

For more information please visit the ABC Extra homepage.

See also: The Beatles Australian 50th Anniversary Celebrations Are Hotting Up – Part One, Part Two, Part Three and Part Four.

And for an earlier post on the the subject see: The Beatles in Australia

Previously Unheard Beatle Interview Published In Full for the First Time

Posted on by
Reply

Beatles fans are today able to hear, for the first time ever, the unedited version of an interview that John, George and Ringo gave to Melbourne radio personality Binny Lum ahead of their Australian tour in April, 1964.

The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA) has just published the 16-minute conversation to mark the 50th anniversary of the Beatles’ Australian tour on 11 June. Edited versions have been broadcast and included on special discs over the years, but the interview in full has never previously been released.Binny Lum with the Beatles

NFSA Radio curator Maryanne Doyle said: ‘The Beatles were at the height of their popularity and it was a real coup that an Australian radio personality, unknown in the UK, had managed to secure an interview with the English rock band, the hottest property in show business. The fact that this occurred says as much for Lum’s tenacity as her well connected network of contacts.’

The interview and a full transcript is now available on the NFSA’s SoundCloud channel.

You can read the NFSA’s official press release here.

Beatles Australian 50th Anniversary Celebrations Are Hotting Up – Part Four

Posted on by
1

This is interesting and well worth a listen. During the the Beatles 1964 tour, radio journalist Ian Nicholls interviewed John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr and Jimmie Nicol when they visited Melbourne:Beatles and Ian Nicholls

See also The Beatles Australian 50th Anniversary Celebrations Are Hotting Up – Part One, Part Two, and Part Three.

Beatles Australian 50th Anniversary Celebrations Are Hotting Up – Part Three

Posted on by
Reply

In anticipation – this coming week – of the 50th anniversary the Beatles first set foot in Australia, the local press has begun publishing a number of articles today.

The Sydney Morning Herald is carrying two pieces – this one about the fans:SMH Beatles-1SMH Beatles2

And this feature piece (which also appears in the Melbourne Age newspaper) about the continuing influence of the Beatles on some of the leading Australian musicians of today:SMH and Age Beatles3

Meanwhile, The Australian newspaper has a comprehensive review of the ABC TV special which goes to air at 8.30pm (Australian Eastern Time) next Tuesday, June 10:The Australian BeatlesSee also Beatles Australian 50th Anniversary Celebrations Are Hotting Up – Part One and Part Two.

Beatles Australian 50th Anniversary Celebrations Are Hotting Up – Part Two

Posted on by
Reply

Two more significant documentaries are due to go to air here in Australia as part of the celebrations to mark the first and only tour of the Beatles to this country 50 years ago. They arrived in Australia on June 11, 1964.

This Sunday the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) will air a newly produced radio documentary called The Band That Fell to Oz: The Beatles Tour of 1964.

The Band that Fell to Oz

While it doesn’t officially go to air on radio until Sunday, you can hear The Band That Fell to Oz now as the program team have already made it available on their site to listen or to download.

Then, on Tuesday evening (June 10) ABC TV is showing a new television documentary about the 1964 visit called When The Beatles Drove Us Wild:

When The Beatles Drove Us Wild goes to air at 8.30pm, Tuesday June 10 (Australian Eastern Time).

See the official ABC TV Press Release here: When the Beatles Drove Us Wild Release

See also Beatles Australian 50th Anniversary Celebrations Are Hotting Up – Part One

There’ll be more news on the Australian celebrations soon, including a unique 24/7 digital radio station dedicated to the Beatles.

Beatles Australian 50th Anniversary Celebrations Are Hotting Up

Posted on by
1

Here in Australia the celebrations for the 50th anniversary of the Beatles one-and-only tour Down Under are beginning to get exciting.

The Beatles arrived in Sydney on June 11, 1964 and EMI Australia has today posted a great Australian tour highlights video on its official YouTube site:

The site publicises Australia’s contribution to the 50th anniversary – a 2 CD set called Then & Now – Australia Salutes The Beatles. It’s a compilation of some of Australia’s finest artists covering classic Beatle songs:Then-Now-Australia-Salutes-The-Beatles

Details about the release can be found here.

It has to be said it is a bit underwhelming with the news that this was actually EMI Australia’s second choice as a way to mark the historic visit. Initially the company was working on a unique two-disc set which was to have included a DVD of the complete Melbourne concert (which was filmed live and broadcast nationally at the time), with extra songs and partial songs included. This was to be partnered with a CD containing the studio recordings of those particular songs from the concert. It could have been a nice double-disc package, complete with a booklet – a real collectors item, unique to Australia. By comparison the double CD’s of Aussie cover versions is a real let-down.

EMI Australia was apparently told by Apple head office that as they are working on a live project of their own the local project could not possibly proceed…..

There’ll be more news on other Australian celebrations to mark the anniversary across June – including a major television documentary produced by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and a “pop-up” digital radio station which will run for a week and play ’64 Beatles tour music as well as rare audio from the archives. This will also be streamed live around the world – so more on these broadcasts soon in future posts.

Entire Japanese Leg of the “Out There” Tour Cancelled

Posted on by
2

Sad news for Paul McCartney and his Japanese fans – the entire tour has now been cancelled due to the illness Paul contracted just prior to the first show there last Saturday.

This includes what would have seen an historic return tonight to Tokyo’s famous Budokan stadium. It would have been his first appearance on the Budokan stage since the Beatles became the first pop band to play there in 1966.

All possibilities are being looked into to reschedule the missed Tokyo shows.

Next week the tour moves on to Korea. Let’s hope this illness can be shaken off by then.

A Hard Day’s Night Already Available At US iTunes Store

Posted on by
4

The new 4K digital restoration on BluRay and DVD of the Beatles film  A Hard Day’s Night, approved by director Richard Lester and with 5.1 surround mix supervised by Giles Martin at Abbey Road Studios, is not officially out in the US until June 24.

And it’ll be July 21 until you can buy it on disc in the UK….

But AHDN is already up and available to buy or rent right now at the US iTunes store (click on image to see full size):HDN iTunes US Store

The key part of the page is here. All you need is a US iTunes account:

HDN iTunes US StoreInterestingly when the film is released in hard copy it will have different covers for the US and European markets. It will also have different special features included for each version too – see Wog Blogs post on this here.

US A Hard Day's NightUK 2014 Hard Days Night

If the image quality seen in the official trailer is anything to go by this newly restored version will be well worth getting:

 

Paul Taken Ill In Tokyo – Concert Rescheduled

Posted on by
Reply

Only yesterday we posted about the start of Paul McCartney’s Japan tour and the special CD/DVD edition of New released to mark his concerts there.

He was meant to play the Tokyo National Stadium last night but he has a virus. That show was cancelled and has been rescheduled.Paul McCartney Press Statement

 

Get better soon, Sir Paul!

All the Songs – The Story Behind Every Beatles Release

Posted on by
Reply

Another Beatles book has come into the collection. It is an impressive one which we are surprised we missed when it was released just last year. Maybe it became overshadowed by Lewisohns’ massive Tune In, and Howlett’s Beatles BBC Archive books – also released last year and both with great publicity and much fanfare.

All The Songs – The Story of Every Beatles Release is up there with them as a reference work and a piece of research. Principally the work of two Frenchmen, Philippe Margotin and Jean-Michel Guesdon (assisted by American Scott Freiman, and with a Preface by the legendary Patti Smith), this book huge and is pretty much as it states in the title – each album and each song on that album dissected and explained in great detail.All the Songs Front

Here’s the rear cover:All the Songs Rear

It is a big, heavy book – 671 pages in all – and with a great layout, lots of photos, memorabilia, and artistic flair in the design and layout:All the Songs ContentsAll the Songs Please 1All the Songs Please 2

There is a good amount of detail too, plus lots of snippets of information if you just want to casually browse:

All the Songs Detail 1All the Songs Detail 2Some background on All the Songs from the official press release:

Drawing on decades of research, the authors recount the circumstances that led to the composition of every song, the recording process, and the instruments used. Organized chronologically by album release and illustrated with 600 black & white and color photographs, this information-packed book provides readers a comprehensive look at how The Beatles changed music forever.

Throughout the song-by-song recording history are informative details such as John Lennon’s purchase of a 1958 Rickenbacker 325 Capri for £100 in Hamburg, in 1960. Diving into The Beatles’ song and album recording process, readers discover that The Beatles’ first album, Please Please Me, was recorded in one epic 12-hour session in 1963 for £400. In contrast, they spent month after month in 1967 layering sounds on a four-track recorder to create their masterpiece, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.

Praise for All the Songs:

“Enough technical tables to please everyone’s inner nerd” — The Wall Street Journal

“[This] doorstop collects a galaxy of Beatles song data into impressively simple and digestible form. Beautifully illustrated.” — SPIN

“If you’re looking for yet another attractive book to place with a Beatles coffee-table tableaux, there’s Jean-Michel Guesdon and Philippe Margotin’s ‘All the Songs: The Story Behind Every Beatles Release’ ”— Chicago Tribune

“[All the Songs] should delight casual listeners and make even hard-core Beatlemaniacs smile.” — The Dallas Morning News

There are more reviews here, and here, and there’s an interesting Q&A with the authors here.

You can see the first 21 pages in high quality on the publishers (Black Dog & Leventhal) website, and Amazon has a “Look Inside” if you would like to see more.