John Lennon – Vinyl Box Set from 1981

Posted on June 7, 2011 by beatlesblogger

This week I managed to secure a still sealed copy of the 1981, 8-LP box set simply called “John Lennon”. Mine is the one in the silver box with the now famous Bob Gruen photo of John (taken in New York) on the front cover:

This is the Australian release of this set, put out by EMI.

The box contains:

1. “Live Peace In Toronto”; 2. “Plastic Ono Band”; 3. “Imagine”; 4. “Sometime In New York City”; 5 . “Mind Games”; 6. “Walls And Bridges”; 7. “Rock ‘N’ Roll”; and 8. “Shaved Fish”:

The set came out just a year after John Lennon’s death and followed the success of other Beatles box sets. It was released in several countries using very similar packaging. The set was first released in Britain, and was later sold in Japan, Germany, and of course Australia – with the catalogue number JLB8:

Mitch McGeary and William McCoy write (on their Beatles Rarities and Box Sets website) that all the LPs were issued on the Apple label and packaged in their original covers: “Included in the UK and other sets was a twenty-page, black-and-white booklet, “The Liverpool Echo’s Tribute To John Lennon,” which was loaded with pictures and song lyrics. The albums were encased in a silver box that had a color photo of John on the front. The set’s title and facsimile of John’s autograph were also embossed on the front of the box while the LP and song titles were printed on the back”.

EMI in Italy also issued a Lennon compilation and it is unique. Its called the “John Lennon Anthology” and consisted of all the albums in the British/Australian edition, but omitted the “best of” album “Shaved Fish”. Instead the box had three singles made up of tracks not found on any of the other seven LPs. Unlike the silver box versions these discs came in a blue, pizza-style box reminiscent of the “Live Peace in Toronto” cover:

Apparently only 1,000 copies were made of this one, making it quite a collectable item.

Another (Brief) Chance to See Paul in Rio Live

Posted on May 27, 2011 by beatlesblogger

Paul McCartney’s concert in Rio last Sunday, 22nd May, was broadcast live over the internet by Terra in Latin America. They have kindly loaned his site the tapes so that anyone who was not lucky enough to watch it live will still get the chance to see the show – but only for a very limited time.

The videos are only up on Paul’s site until midnight on Friday, 26 May so make sure you have a look.

Its worth seeing just for “Hey Jude”, where the Brazilian fans came prepared for the song with their own home-made signs, as Paul himself points out:

“Whilst doing ‘Hey Jude’ when I handed over to the audience to sing the ‘na na na na’s’ suddenly the audience produced these signs. It was such a visual thing. It was very emotional because the fans had gone to all that trouble. They could have just come to the show and watched it but they all communicated before hand to make the special moment happen. They connected with each other, then connected with us and the entire crew. Everyone felt connected. It was very exciting and emotional to see that people care so much.”

Websites for “McCartney” and “McCartney II” Launched

Posted on May 17, 2011 by beatlesblogger

Two separate websites have been launched in the lead-up to the official release of the new “McCartney” and “McCartney II” reissues, due on June 13.

Both feature photos and information about the new releases, which incidentally now include a single disc “Standard” edition of each title – something that until now has not been mentioned.

Both websites have a short video trailer (with Paul talking about the making of each album) to promote the discs:

These are the next two releases in the Concord Records/Hear Music Paul McCartney Archive series. See also my un-boxing of the first release in the series: “Band on the Run“.

McCartney’s “The Family Way” to get proper CD Release

Posted on May 8, 2011 by beatlesblogger

Interesting news last week that Paul McCartney’s very first solo work outside the Beatles is to get a decent CD release in July this year.

McCartney wrote the original soundtrack music to the 1966 British movie “The Family Way“, starring Hayley Mills and Hywell Bennett. He was assisted with orchestrations and arrangements by Beatles producer George Martin. The news of a new CD release got me scrabbling through the collection to find my vinyl copy:

This is the Australian pressing – which came out on Decca Records originally in 1967 (though my copy is a re-issue). In the UK the LP also came out on Decca, while in the US it was released on the London label. The LP has 13 tracks but interestingly (as you can see on the label image above) there are no titles for any of them.

“The Family Way” will be released on CD on July 26 by specialist soundtrack label Varèse Sarabande, based in California. It takes a bit of a search to find any references to the forthcoming CD on their website. You have to go to the “Vintage News” section and there’s information contained there when you scroll a fair way down the page…..

It’s very interesting to hear the music now with the benefit of hindsight. It would have been composed by McCartney just after the release of “Revolver”, and just before he went into the studio to record “Sgt Pepper”:

The original 1967 soundtrack recording of “The Family Way” contains both the above McCartney themes, the main theme and “Love in the Open Air” – plus eleven more score cues suited to the on-screen action. Varèse Sarabande says that for his composition McCartney was initially inspired by the sound of brass bands, familiar to his childhood in the North of England.

Steve Marinucci in his Beatles Examiner column says the new single-disc release will be taken from the original mono master tapes and will feature sleeve notes by Chip Madinger, author of a new book on the Beatles solo work called “Eight Arms To Hold You“. The CD will also include a previously unreleased stereo mix of “A Theme From ‘The Family Way'”, a rarity that in 1966 appeared as the b-side of a 1966 UK/US 7-inch single by a band called the Tudor Minstrels.

Yoko Ono – “Fly”

Posted on May 1, 2011 by beatlesblogger

You might be wondering why I’ve just purchased a 40 year-old vinyl copy of the 2LP set “Fly” by Yoko Ono….

I’ve pretty much always liked the Beatles, and have had a variety of their records in my collection for over 40 years now. What really got me started on collecting seriously though (and this is about fifteen years ago now) was a fascination with their Apple Records label and an attempt to learn all I could about company and to get vinyl copies of all the artists they signed to that label over the years it was active and under the band’s direct influence.

That has meant hunting down discs as diverse as British modern classical composer John Tavener (“The Whale” and “Celtic Requiem”); The Modern Jazz Quartet (“Space” and “Under the Jasmine Tree”); Billy Preston (“Encouraging Words” and “That’s the Way God Planned It”), as well as the soundtracks of obscure films like “Cometogether” and “El Topo“.

The hunt is still continuing and as Yoko Ono was on Apple Records her work has been part of the process for me. But until now I didn’t have a copy of her 1971 double LP Apple release called “Fly”.

Continue reading →

It’s Official – “McCartney” and “McCartney II” Re-Issue Details

Posted on April 28, 2011 by beatlesblogger

After quite a bit of speculation confirmed details have finally been released on the official Paul McCartney site about the two latest titles in the Paul McCartney Archives series.

“McCartney” (1970) and “McCartney II” (1980) will both be re-issued in a range of forms on June 12 (June 13 in the United States).

Both will come out in the deluxe linen book format (to match the already released “Band on the Run” re-issue from last year). They will both be available as a two-CD “standard” edition, and both will also be released as 2-LP, 180 gram audiophile vinyl albums for collectors:

The “McCartney” deluxe re-issue will be a 2 CD plus 1 DVD set contained within a 128 page bound book.

The “McCartney II” deluxe set will contain 3 CD’s plus 1 DVD. Each will contain previously unreleased material, including music, film footage and bonus tracks.

The McCartney official site has the complete track listings.

The new disc sets will come out on the Concord Records/Hear Music label. The label has embarked on an extensive re-issue series its calling the Paul McCartney Archive. In late 2010 the first of the releases was Paul McCartney and Wings 1973 album “Band on the Run“.

The Rough Guide to the Beatles

Posted on April 15, 2011 by beatlesblogger

Got the opportunity to wander through a second-hand bookshop in Sydney (Australia) the other day, and what should I see sitting all on it’s lonesome on a shelf? A little book called “The Rough Guide to the Beatles”.

The “Rough Guides” book series cover a wide range of topics, starting with travel and then extending out into all sorts of reference book territory, from The Rough Guide to Android, through to World Music and everything in-between. Of course if they wanted to be serious about covering music they had to have a guide to the most influential musical group of the twentieth century: The Beatles.

The other good thing about the book I found this week in the second hand shop was its price sticker of just A$7.95. Even with the very favourable exchange rate we have here at the moment that translates to just US$8.25 – very good buying in anyone’s language or currency. And its a great little find content-wise. Author Chris Ingham (who has also written books about Frank Sinatra, Billie Holiday and Metalica, along with countless articles about music and interviews with musicians) has done an excellent job of pulling together the story and the essential facts around the Beatles, their music and the main players in their world. The Rough Guide adds in lots of other incidental information about the band and their recordings which makes it great reading – even for a devoted Beatles fan.

The First Edition (2003) looks like this:

My copy (2nd Edition – 2006) looks like this:

It also comes out with this picture of the band on the cover (3rd Edition with expanded content) as well:

If you’d like a bit of a look inside you can see about 17 pages or so (plus the Index) here.

The Rough Guide to the Beatles has sections on the post-Beatles Beatles (or as Ingham calls it “Being and ex-Beatle”); their movies, promos, cartoons and biopics; the 50 essential songs you have to have (“The Canon”); and a great little chapter called “Beatleology” containing a range of trivia and oddball information. It’s a book you can dip into and learn something new. Well worth it if you can track down a copy for yourself.

Congratulations – “Concert for George” Winner

Posted on March 30, 2011 by beatlesblogger

A big thank you to all those who entered our “Concert for George” Blu-ray competition last week.

Unfortunately we can only have one winner and it is Joe from Jersey City, New Jersey, USA. Joe’s quote says it all:

“What a pleasant surprise. I never win anything!”

Joe was the first to email me with the correct answer to the question about which record the George Harrison song “Horse to Water” made it’s very first appearance. It was on the 2001 album “Small World, Big Band”, by British performer and TV show host Jools Holland and his Rhythm and Blues Orchestra.

We’ll be sending out the new Blu-ray to Joe today, courtesy of the distributors Rhino Entertainment.

Two New Websites: Linda McCartney and Badfinger

Posted on March 26, 2011 by beatlesblogger

News this week about not one but two interesting new Beatles-related websites – one celebrating the life and work of Linda McCartney, the other for the band Badfinger.

Steve Marinucci on his Beatles Examiner page reports there’s a new Linda site been launched documenting her life and career and authorized by Paul McCartney and the McCartney family. This comprehensive new site is populated with Linda McCartney photographs spanning four decades and contains a wealth of text information on her career as a photographer and musician. As an advocate for animal rights Linda also spearheaded the promotion of vegetarianism, created her own vegetarian frozen food line, and authored a series of cookbooks.

The new site includes a biography, a study archive and some of Linda McCartney’s films. It comes ahead of the publication of a new book called “Linda McCartney – Life in Photographs”, published by Taschen Books. Click on the book cover below to take you through to a detailed page with more information about the book:

The book features a selection from Linda McCartney’s huge photographic archive – again made in collaboration with Paul McCartney and their children. The first run is a collector’s edition limited to 750 copies, numbered and signed by Paul McCartney himself ….but with a US$1,000 price tag that’s probably out of the grasp of you and me. However, you can click here to leaf through 100 pages of that special limited edition for free.

Now to Badfinger:

I was contacted this week by the creators of a new website dedicated to the original band.

www.badfingersite.com is a new official site made in collaboration with band member Joey Molland. It went live on Friday, 25 March. On the site you can learn about upcoming tour dates, read the history and news about the group and their journey, and you can ask Joey questions personally. The “Original Badfinger” website pays tribute to the ‘classic lineup’ of the power pop pioneer band and is live now. It has band bios, lyrics, and details of the groups interactions with the Beatles themselves. Images and videos from Molland’s personal collection will be uploaded soon.

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: