Category Archives: Beatles Related

John Lennon – Double Fantasy (Stripped Down)

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At long last my copy of the John Lennon and Yoko Ono “Double Fantasy – Stripped Down” two CD set has arrived.

I know, it was released way back in October as part of the Lennon 70th birth-date celebrations, along with the big Lennon “Signature” box set, the “Gimme Some Truth” 4 CD box set, and the two versions of the “best of” John Lennon compilations called “Power to the People – The Hits”.

The lengthy delay for me in getting “Double Fantasy – Stripped Down” was caused by a bad Ebayer who disappeared off the face of the earth after taking my (and many other peoples) money. After waiting weeks the item just didn’t turn up, and he didn’t reply to emails. Fortunately I’d paid  using PayPal and after lodging a refund claim with them I got my money back. I must say here that it was all very efficiently done by PayPal – so I’d recommend using them as a way to pay for anything you order on Ebay as it comes with this sort of buyer protection.

After quite a few weeks that dispute was solved and I placed another Ebay order – this time with a store in the US. I particularly wanted a US copy of “Stripped Down” to go with all the US versions of Lennon’s other titles contained in the “Signature” box set. They sent it surface mail or something and it also took a while to get here – but this time at least it has finally arrived.

You’ve probably gathered by now that I’m quite interested in the packaging, small print text, and the images used for the covers of LPs and CDs. (If you are too, you might like a page called “Sleevage” that specialises in album music, art and design of all types).

Clearly, this late in the day, this CD cover isn’t new to you. Its been out since October and everyone has come to terms with the fact that both the front and rear covers are cleverly based on sketches of the original LP’s black-and-white shots of John and Yoko taken back in 1980. I think its a nice touch that they asked Sean Lennon to do this. Yoko says in the booklet liner notes (quote):

“And thank you Sean, after many days of hesitation, you finally did the drawings for the front and back covers…for your dad and your mom. All sorts of memory of that time came back to you, you said.. I know how hard it must have been. This is a thank you from me and your dad.”

One other piece of information that caught my attention reading the small print in the cover notes was that two of the photographs used on the inside panels of the cover are actually significant. This shot of John and Yoko leaving the Dakota building was taken on their  way to the Hit Factory studios in New York on August 4, 1980, for the first day of recording for what would become the “Double Fantasy” album:

From inside the gatefold cover: John and Yoko leave the Dakota for the studio and the very first day of recording "Double Fantasy" - August 4, 1980

And this photo on another panel of the gatefold for “Stripped Down” was taken on 44th Street, New York on December 6, 1980 – the last day of recording:

Another image from the packaging: John and Yoko on 44th Street on the very last day of recording "Double Fantasy"

Its not the first time that photo of the pair leaving the Dakota Building has been used. It appeared as the picture sleeve for the US release of one of the three singles taken from the original “Double Fantasy” LP – the song called “Watching the Wheels”:

The same Dakota photograph was used for the vinyl single "Watching the Wheels", released on 27 March, 1981

Interestingly, when you purchase the Lennon “Signature Box“, which reissues all his original solo albums, you get “Double Fantasy” remastered in its original form – a single disc with the 1980 cover art and without the “Stripped Down”  version as an additional CD:

In the booklet for this edition of “Double Fantasy” you get a different short essay by Paul Du Noyer, but it has all the same photographs as those used in the booklet for the “Stripped Down” booklet.

Also, I’m not sure that you can purchase this single disc 2010 remastered version of “Double Fantasy” as a stand-alone item. I had a quick look around on the web and couldn’t find it for sale anywhere and so I think it may only be available by getting the “Signature” box. If anyone has any info on that one please let us know.

 

Phil Spector’s Christmas Album

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Originally called “A Christmas Gift for You from Philles Records” and released in 1963, this Apple Records LP reissue of the same album came out in 1972 – with different cover art and retitled “Phil Spector’s Christmas Album”:

Phil Spector's "Christmas Album on Apple (front)

Phil Spector's "Christmas Album" on Apple (rear)

Funnily enough the Apple labels  list the title differently to the sleeve, calling it “The Phil Spector Christmas Album Various”….

This is the US pressing (APPLE SW 3400).  As well as listing the artists (Darlene Love, The Ronettes, The Crystals, etc.), the small print on the rear cover has a typically kooky quote from Spector:

“Because Christmas is so international it is certainly in keeping that these youngsters should record their Christmas gift to you, for this album is produced solely with you in mind. It comes with the sincere wish that you understand and appreciate this endeavour into something new and different”. (Phil Spector 1963)

There have been numerous other reissues of this record. I also have the disc with the same artwork (with a few small variations) on the Phil Spector International label:

Spector's "Christmas Album" on the Spector International Label

Notice the words “Phil Spector’s” is in black and superimposed over the words “Christmas Album”, and the artists featured are in written in white on the photo of Phil. On the rear the Apple logo is replaced by the Phil Spector International logo:

Spector's "Christmas Album" on Spector International (rear)

This is the UK pressing (SUPER 2307 005) and the label of my copy looks like this:

Thanks to the the lovely Chained and Perfumed blog for the Christmas inspiration for this one. If you want to see another label variation (this time for the original LP) click on the link.

Abbey Road – Crossing to be Heritage Listed

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The zebra crossing made famous by the Beatles has just been designated a site of national significance by the British government. Fans from around the globe flock to the crossing every day to have their photo taken walking over Abbey Road, just down from the EMI studios of the same name. The Abbey Road studios became almost a home-away-from-home for the Beatles and was where they recorded just about all their greatest songs.

The story of the heritage listing (which means it will be preserved forever from change) has been picked up by media around the world.

Here’s how the BBC World Service covered it this morning:

Paul McCartney says he’s pleased with the news, and that for him it caps off what has been a run of recent success: “It’s been a great year for me and a great year for the Beatles and hearing that the Abbey Road crossing is to be preserved is the icing on the cake.”

The photo-shoot for the album which put the pedestrian crossing on the map took just ten minutes to complete. On a sunny day on August 8th, 1969 photographer Iain Macmillan took what would become one of the best-known, copied, and parodied album covers of all time.

Getting ready to cross

People today can’t get the exact same look as the Beatles got for their cover for two reasons. First is that the crossing is not in exactly the same place it was back in 1969, and second is that Iain Macmillan was about ten feet up on a ladder. He took just six photos and it was the fifth one that was used for “Abbey Road”.

Starting the famous walk. Paul is in bare feet and getting nicely out of step....

There is a webcam (run by Abbey Road Studios) that looks over the crossing now 24 hours a day –  so even if you can’t get to London you can experience it virtually any time you like. The latest release to bear the photo that put a zebra crossing on the map is the remastered CD of “Abbey Road” – which came out last year in the new look with the white strip down the left-hand side. The legend lives on:

Paul McCartney – Tripping the Live Fantastic (Highlights)

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Well, there are always some surprises in the Beatles and Beatles-related collecting game.

I’ve had a vinyl copy of Paul McCartney’s “Tripping the Live Fantastic – Highlights” LP for many, many years. In fact my copy – in mint condition by the way – dates from the time it was first released way back in 1990. It’s a single LP with 12 tracks, a cut-down version of the full, triple-LP version. The cover looks like this:

The LP I have is on the Australian black and silver Parlophone/EMI label:

I always thought that the “Highlights” LP had an identical track-listing to the compact disc and so have never paid much interest in getting that particular disc….until about a week ago when I decided to look on the Internet for a copy of the full “Tripping the Live Fantastic” 3-LP version to add to the collection. (Turns out these are pretty rare and subsequently expensive, and so I am still looking….).

I did discover, by accident really, that the single CD version of  “Highlights” comes with additional tracks that are not on the single LP “Highlights” version I have had for twenty years now. In fact there are 17 tracks on the CD version, with six extra tracks than the LP (although the LP has one song not on the CD “Put It There”), and so I decided to bid for a copy online and here it is:

Tripping the Live Fantastic - Highlights CD (front cover)

Tripping the Live Fantastic - Highlights CD (rear cover)

“Tripping” is a live disc of songs McCartney recorded in different locations around the world, as he says “….from Rio to Glasgow, Tokyo, through most everywhere and back again…”.

The CD song list is:  1. Got To Get You Into My Life (Not on LP),  2. Birthday,      3. We Got Married (Not on LP),  4. Long And Winding Road,   5. Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,  6. Can’t Buy Me Love,  7. All My Trials (Not on LP),  8. Things We Said Today (Not on LP),    9. Eleanor Rigby,  10. My Brave Face,  11. Back In The USSR (Not on LP),    12. I Saw Her Standing There,          13. Coming Up,   14. Let It Be,   15. Hey Jude,    16. Get Back,                                  17. Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End (Not on LP).

This is a really nice mint copy of the “Highlights” CD. Its a UK pressing – I think. I say that because the label is a bit confusing. In the small print around the CD outer is says “Manufactured in England by EMI”, but just under the catalogue number it says “Made in Austria”.  Weird.

I am still on the lookout for the 3-LP vinyl version, or maybe a nice copy of the double CD full version of the release. Or maybe both! Will let you know how I go….

Cool photo of Paul from the CD Booklet

Fresh From Apple – The Apple Box Set Unboxed

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The newly re-issued Apple Records compact discs are available separately, or if you really want to lash out, as a complete box set containing 17 discs. The box is called “Fresh From Apple Records“.

“Fresh From Apple” box (front)

Its a very flimsy box, printed to look like a wooden crate containing apples, and made of thin cardboard – so you need to take a lot of care when opening it and putting discs in and out. The rear of the box lists the content:

“Fresh From Apple” box (rear)

The box “lid” opens at the top only and there are two flaps either side:

“Fresh From Apple” top opening

As you can see, the cardboard is pretty thin and will tear easily…..Looking down on the box when it’s open here’s what’s inside:

“Fresh From Apple” – the CD’s

All the CD’s come in gatefold cardboard sleeves, and in the box set you get an “extras” double disc as a bonus, plus the “Come and Get – It Best Of Apple Records” disc:

This disc, which comes with a really nice booklet (as do all the CDs), contains some tracks replicated on albums in the box, but also a lot of previously difficult to find Apple singles that were never released on albums. These include songs like “Saturday Night Special” by The Sundown Playboys, “Give Peace a Chance” by the Hot Chocolate Band, “King of Fuh” by Brute Force and the instrumental “Thingumybob” by the Black Dyke Mills Band. Inside the gatefold of “Come and Get It” they have reproduced some original Apple Records press ads:

Just about every CD in the box has bonus material, but there also an extra two CD set (available only in the box) which contains all the bonus material that was initially only going to be available by digital download. There is one whole CD of bonus Badfinger material. The other CD of bonus tracks is shared by Mary Hopkin and Jackie Lomax. These two CDs come in a gatefold cover:

The front cover of the 2 CD “Extras” discs

This cover on the outside is plain white, with some intentional “yellowing” around the edges to make it look old. That Apple logo on the bottom right-hand corner isn’t printed on. Its a sticker:

Inside the gatefold they have reproduced the Apple Studios original tape boxes and used this look to give the track listings for both CDs:

Kinda nice.

There are two reissues in the box which contain two original Apple LPs. These are the Modern Jazz Quartet with “Under the Jasmine Tree” and “Space” both on one CD:

The other is classical musician and composer John Tavener, who had two LPs original released on Apple Records – “The Whale” and “Celtic Requiem”:

One of the late additions to the 2010 reissue plans was the disc by the Radha Krsna Temple. It was added after the initial announcement of the extensive Apple reissues back in August this year. It contains a single bonus track this time around – and (if you haven’t seen it before) it has a fantastic front cover:

There are two CDs from Billy Preston (“That’s The Way God Planned It” and “Encouraging Words”), two from Mary Hopkin (“Post Card” and “Earth Song-Ocean Song”), and no less than four CDs from Badfinger (“Magic Christian Music”, “No Dice”, “Straight Up” and “Ass”):

Other CDs come from Jackie Lomax (“Is This What You Want?”), James Taylor (“James Taylor”), and Doris Troy (“Doris Troy”).

It’s not the first time these titles have appeared as re-issues. There was a previous reissue program which started in 1991 and continued over a couple years.

All in all it’s a pretty nice set. It is good to have all these discs freshly re-mastered and gathered together in one place. I think though, for the money, they might have provided a more interesting (and sturdy) box to contain them…

Rolling Stone – 100 Greatest Beatle Songs – Australian Edition

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Back in September I posted on the Rolling Stone magazine special edition release called “The Beatles – 100 Greatest Songs“.

Finally, its been released in its Australian and New Zealand version. This 122 page “book” has a different cover!

Clearly its a photo by Bruce McBroom from the same photo-session in London on April 9th, 1969 – but it is different to the one used for the front cover of the US version of this special edition Rolling Stone magazine:

Give Me A Chance – New Book

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When Canadian Gail Renard was sixteen she had a life-changing experience. She lived in Montreal and in 1969 John Lennon and Yoko Ono came to town to stage their “Bed-In” protest for peace.

“Give Me A Chance” is a new book out now and in it Gail Renard tells her story of meeting John and Yoko and spending eight amazing days with them as their guest and helper in room 1742 of the Queen Elizabeth Hotel, Montreal.

She babysits Yoko’s five-year-old daughter Kyoko, and she sits in on John and Yoko holding court as the press and the rich and famous make a beeline to their  bedside to interview them, to argue, to pay homage, and to hear about spreading the word of peace throughout the world. I really liked the book. While not full of revealing facts, its easy to read and has a genuine sense of fun and adventure. Gail writes in an endearing naive style and we get to experience the “Bed-In” for peace up close but very much through the eyes of a sixteen year-old girl. How did she get to spend eight days with the Lennon’s? We learn that when she called her mother to get permission there was a very awkward moment:

“Put John on the phone,” she demanded. I recognized her inquisitor’s voice and was mortified. “Oh Mum, you can’t!” I knew she could and she would, and that I didn’t have a choice….so I reluctantly handed the phone over to John. I tried not to cringe as Mum carefully spelt out her conditions to him. There was to be no funny business – no sex or drugs around her innocent daughter. As if that wasn’t enough, Mum also said that I could help at the Bed-In during the day but I’d have to be back at home by my bedtime every night. To my amazement, John agreed…

With permission from her mother out of the way Gail gets to sit in and sing as part of the rowdy chorus in the now historic recording of “Give Peace A Chance”. Every label for the song has the words “Recorded in Room 1742 Hotel La Reine Elizabeth, Montreal…”:

Afterwards, John gave her his hand-written lyrics for the song . These were written out with a black magic-marker pen on a big white cardboard square. These became the cue sheet for the crowd in the bedroom during the recording of the song in Suite 1742.

In 2008, Gail sold the “Give Peace A Chance” lyrics at a Christies auction for £350,000.  She says “Thank you, John. And thanks for not throwing them out, Mother!” She’s since been back to the room where it all happened over eight days in 1969 and writes about that visit here.

In many ways the book “Give Me A Chance” is very like an earlier book about a similar transformational experience with the Lennon’s – this time for a fourteen year-old boy named Jerry Levitan – who snuck into their Toronto hotel room and attended the Toronto version of the “Bed-In” for peace. He wrote a book about his experiences called “I Met the Walrus“.

Thank you to Beatles collector Bruce Hamlin for sending me a copy of this book. It’s richly illustrated with photographs and memorabilia and is a great little read!

George Harrison – All Things Must Pass 2010

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As if the constant rush of Apple and Beatles-related product had not been enough so far over the last two months….

The George Harrison camp has decided,  as part of international Record Store Day, to release a very special 40th Anniversary limited edition, 3 LP vinyl set of  “All Things Must Pass”:

It’s available now – exclusively at Record Store Day-participating independent music retailers (and via mail order and digital download from the George Harrison site). It came out yesterday – Friday, November 26, 2010 – exactly forty  years on. “All Things Must Pass” was originally released on Friday, November 27, 1970.

This album is a limited edition, individually numbered, 180-gram vinyl set in its original 3 LP configuration. The faithfully replicated box set has all the original album art, the poster and the inner sleeve packaging. The LPs have been newly remastered at the Abbey Road studios from the original analogue master tapes.

I got my copy yesterday from Red Eye Records – one of my favourite Sydney independent stores. The heat-shrink wrap has a sticker attached on the front right-hand side that looks very like the one that appears on some original albums telling you what’s inside:

The specially replicated front sticker

And there’s also a special bar-code sticker on the rear lower right-hand side of the box that acknowledges Record Store Day:

The rear Record Store Day bar code sticker

Finally, each box is stamped with a number in gold print, also on the rear of the box. Mine is a pretty low number which I’m pleased about – No. 001708:

Each box is a Limited Edition

The official George Harrison site is offering a free digital download of “Wah Wah”, and there’s a bit of a discussion going at the George Harrison message board. See also Plug In Music.

And click here for more on “All Things Must Pass” variations.

Band on the Run – Deluxe CD and Vinyl

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Finally, my copies of “Band On The Run” –  in both the 2 disc vinyl edition and the deluxe 4 CD bound-book special edition – have arrived from the United States.

They both came together, packaged in the same big cardboard box – and I have to say it was pretty beaten up by the time it got here to Australia.

As I opened it up I was really worried about what I might find inside. It’s not the first time I’ve had vinyl records in particular arrive in a less than optimum state. For example, when I ordered The Fireman “Electronic Arguments” LP (direct from the official McCartney website back in 2008).  It was, to put it mildly, pathetically packaged up for such a long journey in the post. It’s a fragile vinyl double record that needed to travel from the United Kingdom half-way ’round the world to Australia. And how had they prepared it for such an epic journey? Simply plonked it in a loose-fitting cardboard box and put two of those large bubble “fillers” inside tho make up the volume. These didn’t stop the record moving around, being tossed from side to side when being dropped and bounced and placed at the bottom of piles of other packages along the way. Consequently the cover was bent and torn in places by the time it got here….I’d have expected more from the company charged with dispatching orders to collectors direct from the McCartney site….

Anyway, the box of “Band On The Run” goodies which arrived this week from Amazon was, I have to say, similarly packaged  – only this time for some reason both the LP and the CD set had survived unscathed! They were both enveloped in a tight shrink-wrap that really helped keep everything together. I’m very pleased with the results actually, though it could have been an entirely different story as again, the box they came in was bashed around considerably.

Here’s what was in the box. Firstly, the 2010 double LP – which is a gatefold cover. It is still sealed I’m afraid. I can’t bring myself to open it!:

Front cover "Band on the Run" 2010 vinyl LP - still sealed!

Here’s the rear cover, and its the same photo layout as the original UK version:

Rear cover "Band on the Run" 2010 vinyl LP

There is a sticker on the bottom left-hand side of the LP’s front cover:

Now onto the Deluxe, 4 disc edition – which comes as a large format, thick hardback book. This one I have opened up so you can see some of what is inside. Here’s how it presents when you first get it in its plastic seal:

Sealed front cover "Band on the Run" deluxe

Here’s a close-up of the sticker on the front right-hand side:

On the rear when the book is still sealed is a card insert:

Rear when sealed. This is a card that can be removed when the plastic comes off.

On the card you can see the MPL, Hear Music and Concord Records labels. Once you have the plastic off here’s what you have:

Deluxe edition "Band on the Run" book - front

It is a cloth-bound, hardback book. Really thick and solid and beautifully done. The photo is recessed and the printing of “Paul McCartney Archive Collection” and the signature are embossed into the cloth. On the rear there is a Limited Edition stamped number:

Inside, the 121 page book is richly illustrated with photographs and text. The chapter headings are: Introduction; The Songs; A Trip to Lagos; Return to London; The Photo-shoot; Release; Press; Film and Video; and Lyrics.

A page from the chapter "A Trip to Lagos"

A page from the chapter "The Photo-shoot:

A page from the chapter "Release"

Inside there is also a business card sized card which says: “This card offers you free access to the 24bit 96kHz High Resolution audio download of the remastered album….”, and gives you a code number to use:

One side of the free download card

Finally, right at the very back of the book are two thick cardboard pages that hold the four discs you get. Three CDs and one DVD:

As you can see, each of these discs has individual artwork to differentiate between them.

All-in-all its a very nicely put together item. It’s not cheap – but you can see the work that has gone into it and it will probably become a very collectable item in my view.

To close then, that rear, removable card says: “Look for future re-issues in the Paul McCartney Archive Collection, including “McCartney”, “McCartney II”, “Ram” and more, coming soon”. It makes you wonder if that’s the planned release order by Paul McCartney and Concorde Records, and if so just how soon the “McCartney” re-issue will be available. How long will it be between this one and the next? You can imagine your bookshelf beginning to fill up with a line of these beautifully finished books….if you can afford them that is.

See also the very limited edition vinyl 45 released as part of the promotion for “Band on the Run” 2010.

If you like John Lennon see the “Signature Box” and the “Gimme Some Truth” collections.

Three Copies of “Q” Magazine

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I needed to visit Australia’s national capital Canberra for work the other day and ended up staying overnight. That meant driving back to Sydney on a Saturday morning and so I had time to call into the large-ish New South Wales country town of Goulburn, which is just off the freeway on the way home.

Goulburn, I had discovered on a previous trip, has a very large second-hand book and record shop just off the main street called The Argyle Book Emporium. When I say big I’m talking an extensive old rambling period building with room after room literally filled floor-to-ceiling with books. One room at the rear is devoted to music. There’s a small selection of music-related books and magazines, and boxes and boxes of records and CDs. Its a bit frustrating as these boxes are just randomly grouped together. They’re not split out into Male Vocal, Female Vocal or Groups for example. Not even 50s, 60s ,70s and 80’s. Just everything mixed in together – making finding anything of interest a needle-in-a-haystack affair….

I didn’t have a lot of time and so I gave the LPs just a cursory flip through. I looked at a couple of boxes at the front which were easy to get to and didn’t find anything. What was more interesting was a very large pile of “Q” and “Rolling Stone” magazines. A collector had obviously off-loaded a lot of past editions that were no longer wanted. The “Rolling Stone” magazines had been pretty well picked over. Nothing really of interest to the avid Beatles collector. However, in the “Q” magazine pile I found these three editions: 

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The first dates way back to June 1987 – a time when we were all celebrating the 20th Anniversary of “Sgt Peppers”. Inside there are ten pages of photos and text:

Sadly, there was a “Sgt Pepper Part II” article that was due to be published in the following month’s magazine. It wasn’t on the pile of mags I found in Goulburn….oh well.

The next “Q” magazine I found featured an extensive article about Paul McCartney from July 1989. The headline on the front cover screams: He sings! He plays! He writes his own songs! For  PAUL McCARTNEY OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS! * Now available for live work! *.  Inside there’s a nine-page article about Paul. It begins: “He never expected to be doing this when he was 46 – “We thought 25 was the end of the line” – but Paul McCartney has stoutly refused to give up his day job. Engaged in rustic rehearsals for his first British tour in 10 years, and with a fresh solo album on offer [“Flowers In The Dirt”], he’s preparing once again to be public property. With mixed feelings…”. In the article there’s reference to the number of times McCartney makes reference to his father, Jim McCartney….”a Liverpool cotton broker and part-time musician who brought Paul up after his mother’s death (when McCartney was 14), and who died himself in 1976. One song on McCartney’s new album “Flowers In The Dirt”, is called “Put It There”, after a favourite phrase of his Dad’s”.

Finally, the “Q” magazine with that awesome David Bailey portrait of Paul and John on the cover. It comes from August 1999. Its a pretty simple premise on the part of “Q”. As the century draws to a close why not run a reader poll asking who are the 100 greatest stars of the 20th Century. According to “Q” readers back then the top ten are (were):

10. Michael Stipe; 9. Liam Gallagher; 8. Noel Gallagher; 7.Madonna; 6. David Bowie; 5. Elvis Presley; 4. Bob Dylan; 3. Kurt Cobain; 2. Paul McCartney; and and number one the runaway winner (according to “Q” by a long way)…..John Lennon.

It is kind of fitting to look back and read a magazine like this (from 1999) in this year (2010) when Lennon would have turned 70, don’t you think? Kind of cements the fact that his presence could in fact be enduring. That now, a further eleven years down the track, his music is still around and he’s still held in very high regard by many. There’s an additional article right at the end of the poll headed: “John Would Have Been Proud”. It says: “Yoko Ono, the keeper of the Lennon flame and the Lennon vat of money, telephoned Q as soon as she heard about the readers’ tsunami-sixed endorsement of her late husband’s transcendental magic and generation-straddling stature….”. That article is illustrated with this beautiful photograph:

Enough said.

(see also “Nine Copies of Rolling Stone”)