Category Archives: George Harrison

Label Variations Part Ten – Abbey Road (More….)

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Since I posted Label Variations Part Six – Abbey Road  I’ve had a few people sending in some further great examples from their own collections.

So, its time to share these now.

First comes from Jerry Woods who wrote:  “Saw your blog featuring various record labels (I LOVE this stuff!!) and noticed that you didn’t have a MONO version of Abbey Road on display, so I thought I would share. Although, not a true mono mix (they never “officially” did one – and this LP sounds identical from start to finish to the Stereo version when the Stereo version is folded down to Mono) this is kind of an interesting oddity – but only a fold down to Mono from Stereo.”

Here are the labels – the record comes from Brazil:

Another nice one sent in was from a reader in New Zealand and it’s really quite unusual. It is Abbey Road on an orange Apple label – very similar (but not quite) to the orange labels used for George Harrison’s All Things Must Pass. VERY collectable:

Of course there were lots of green Apples from other countries. Nice examples here from France, Italy and a green vinyl pressing of the album from the UK:

There were these two from Canada that were missed first time around. They include a couple of purple Capitol labels with two variations (one with a fairly obvious spelling mistake):

There were also a couple of other US pressings. The orange Capitol, and also the collectable Mobile Fidelity Audiophile pressing:

Finally, a couple of pressings of Abbey Road on a black and silver Parlophone label. This first one is from the UK:

While this other one, sent in by Andrey in Russia, is much more unusual. It is a rare UAR (Egypt?) label for Abbey Road:

(except for a couple, click on labels to see larger versions)

Ah, collecting….the variations sometimes seem endless. Thanks to everyone who emailed more labels.

You can see Label Variations Parts One, Two, Three, Four, and Five and Six, plus the Beatles Love LP variations here and here.

There’s a post on the variations of the McCartney/Fireman Electric Arguments release; McCartney’s Twin Freaks LP and singles; as well as his recent Kisses On The Bottom CD’s and LP. There is also a post on some George Harrison All Things Must Pass label variations.

“A Hard Day’s Night” Chord Cracked – Maybe…

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The  Sydney Morning Herald and other Australian news providers are today (via the Press Association) reporting on one of the often-mentioned Beatle mysteries – the opening chord of the song  “A Hard Day’s Night”:

The SMH says:  “It is one of the most famous sounds in the history of rock and roll. The clanging, opening chord at the start of the 1964 Beatles hit A Hard Day’s Night is instantly recognisable. Yet, as many musicians have discovered, every attempt to reproduce it seems to sound wrong.

A British mathematician now claims to have got closer than anyone else to solving the decades old musical mystery. Dr Kevin Houston, from the University of Leeds, used sophisticated software to split up the sound on the record into its component frequencies.

Presented on a computer screen, a pattern was revealed showing which notes were most prominent. The results suggest a much simpler solution than one proposed four years ago by another scientist from Canada.

Professor Jason Brown, from Dalhousie University, maintained that missing guitar notes were replaced by Beatles producer George Martin playing a piano. Buried in the background behind the guitars, the piano is hard to hear. Yet according to Prof Brown it provides the vital musical spark that makes the chord so distinctive. Dr Houston does not dispute that the piano is there, but challenges its importance.

His believes George Harrison was playing a straightforward F add9 on his 12-string electric Rickenbacker guitar, rather than the unusual fingering indicated by Prof Brown. At the same time, Harrison appears to have had his thumb curled round the neck of the guitar, pressing down the bottom E string at the first fret. This is a common technique among self-taught pop and rock guitarists.

Dr Houston also established that John Lennon was playing the same chord on an acoustic guitar. On the stereo track, Harrison and Lennon are heard on different speakers.

The wonders of music and mathematics! Dr Houston takes us through it all in detail here:

The SMH continues:  “The opening chord to A Hard Day’s Night is a mystery,” said Dr Houston, who was speaking at the British Science Festival. “It turns out that nobody really knows what it is. People who do know are a bit cagey about it. George Martin probably knows quite well but I think he’s quite happy not to tell people. “I wouldn’t like to say that we’ve definitely got it right, but I think we’ve put the record straighter. It makes mathematical and musical sense.”

Both are implausible, according to fellow mathematician, teacher and guitarist Ben Sparks who was taking part in Saturday’s presentation. “It beggars belief to say George Harrison was dodging the first string; its laughable,” he said. “Trying to play four strings in the middle of a 12 string is bloody hard, and most musicians would think it’s ludicrous to have John Lennon play just a high C.”

A question mark still hung over the role of Paul McCartney’s bass guitar, said the mathematicians. Whether he was playing a full note, or a harmonic, or both, remains a puzzle.” (ends)

Meanwhile….Paul McCartney has been in France being presented with France’s highest cultural award, the Legion of Honor, by French President Francois Hollande:

Paul looked pleased. Nice tapestry in that room, too!


The Beatles Discomania – A Great Book

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Time for another gem found during my recent brief visit to Paris (see the previous France visit posts here, and here).

At the Gilbert Jeune bookstore I found this wonderful book by French writer and Beatles fanatic Francois Plassat:

“The Beatles Discomania” is a fantastic career-spanning summary of the Beatles output as a band and also as solo artists. It brings the story right up to the end of 2011 with details of the John Lennon Signature box set and his other re-issues, the Paul McCartney “Archive” series gets a mention, Ringo’s “Y Not”, and the George Harrison documentary “Living in the Material World“.  As you can see in the images below this is a lavishly illustrated with extensive album cover images and memorabilia spanning a wide range of releases. It is a very attractive book to own – even though I don’t speak French!

It turns that François Plassat works in graphic design and it shows as the text and image layout throughout this book is excellent. He created an agency called China Night which he led for more than twenty years . After writing a book about  Paul McCartney (released in October 2010 – see below), Plassat’s most recent work “The Beatles Discomania” is about  fifty years of the Beatles releases.

The book is a large format, soft-back  which has been stylishly and sensibly laid out. It was published by JBz & Co in France in 2011. The book is full of information on all the recordings released by the group as well as the solo releases of each band member. There are sections on Apple Records, George Martin, etc. This is a true guide to the complete musical output of the Beatles, a carefully laid out goldmine of information. Bring on the English translation!

Here are some images giving just a taste of what’s inside and the attention to detail in the illustrations and photographs:

Author Francois Plassat has also written another book “Paul McCartney: L’empreinte d’un Géant”, which translates as “Paul McCartney: The Footprint of a Giant”:

If you speak French (and we have some followers of the Beatles Blog in France) then you might be interested in these two interviews with author Francois Plassat about his amazing book “The Beatles Discomania”.

Here’s the rear cover:

All Things Must Pass – Label Variations Update

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At the “All Things Must Pass” Label Variations post, and the “All Things Must Pass” Record Store Day edition page there’s been a bit of conversation about a strange example of this now classic George Harrison release. Reader Paul writes:

“The box set pressing I have with….labels that say ‘mfd in the UK 1970′ comes in a USA box with orange inner, with a USA poster and USA inner sleeves. The strange thing is that sides 1,2,3 & 4 have the uncut, full Apple label like the Australian release instead of the cut Apple on sides 2 & 4. My guess is that the UK LPs were shipped over to America and packaged there using the USA box and inners? I can’t come up with an answer as to why the 4 orange Apple labels show the uncut Apple on all sides? Any ideas?”

Anyone with any more information on this one is welcome to contribute to the discussion.

This reminded me of a further variation that came into my collection that’s not detailed in either of the posts above. It is a rare Capitol Records label re-issue of “All Things Must Pass”, with records One and Two on the purple Capitol label:

And record Three – the “Apple Jam” disc – on the Orange Capitol label:

This set comes in the usual box with the hinged lid, lined in orange on the inside, the three different coloured inner-bags (which are light paper), and it has the the big George Harrison poster. All printed in the USA.

George Harrison “Living in the Material World” – Winners Announced

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We have two winners for the recent “Living in the Material World” competition.

The question was: “Olivia Harrison gave Martin Scorsese complete access to the Harrison family archives, including pictures, home videos, etc.  Martin Scorsese was on location filming another project when a security guard flew in from London with George Harrison’s diaries for him to view. In which city was he in, and which film was Scorsese making at the time?”

The correct answer:  He was in Boston, Massachusetts directing his 2010 film “Shutter Island“.

And our winners are Zachary Whitbeck from San Antonio, Texas (who will receive a copy of the “Living in the Material World” 2-disc DVD, and Ian Gray from Durham City, England (who gets a copy of the CD “Early Takes – Volume 1).  Congratulations!

Here’s what Zach and Ian will soon be opening in the post:

Thank you to everyone who entered. And thanks again to Universal Music Enterprises and Sneak Attack Media for providing the prizes.

“Living in the Material World” – Win a DVD or CD

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The DVD, BluRay and a Deluxe box set edition of Martin Scorsese’s “Living in the Material World”, which have been previously released in the UK and other parts of the world, have only just come onto the market in the United States. Here’s Martin Scorsese talking about his film:

Also out on May 1st was a new CD, Vinyl (and Digital download) of previously unreleased George Harrison out-takes and studio demos featured in “Living In The Material World”.  It’s called “Early Takes – Volume 1“:

Now – here’s your chance to win either a DVD of “Living in the Material World” or the new CD “Early Takes – Volume 1”.  To be in the running to win all you have to do is be the first person to email me at beatlesblogger.gmail.com with the correct answer to this question:

Olivia Harrison gave Martin Scorsese complete access to the Harrison family archives, including pictures (like the ones above and below), home videos, etc.  Scorsese was on location filming another project when a security guard flew in from London with George Harrison’s diaries for him to view. In which city was he in, and which film was Scorsese making at the time?

Its a little bit tricky – but the answer is not far away.

The first two correct entries sent to my email address above will win. One person will get the new DVD, the next correct answer will win the new CD.

Thank you to Universal Music Enterprises and Sneak Attack Media for providing the prizes.

George Harrison “Living in the Material World” Multi-Touch book

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Not one but two press releases out today (one from The Beatles official site, the other from the George Harrison official site) about a new “multi-touch” e-book edition of “Living in the Material World”.

There’s even a fancy trailer to look at:

This all comes hot on the heals of the release in the United States on DVD, BluRay and a Deluxe box set edition (which have all been out in the UK and other parts of the world since October last year) of the Martin Scorsese documentary film of the same name, plus a CD, Vinyl and Digital release of George Harrison previously un-released out-takes called “Early Takes – Volume 1“.

Another screenshot from the “multi-touch” edition.

Very soon I’ll have a copy of the DVD and a copy of the CD to give away to two lucky readers. 

Another (Record Store) Day – McCartney

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This week (on Saturday) we once again celebrate the importance of independent record stores around the world. And once again there’s some Beatle-related treasure for collectors. Not as significant as the last Beatle release as part of Record Store Day’s Black Friday editions last year, however still collectable. This time there’s a Paul McCartney 45 on offer. It comes in the lead up to the numerous special McCartney Archive editions of “Ram” in May.

MPL/Hear Music/Concord are releasing a limited edition (just 2000 copies) of the 1971 single “Another Day/Oh Woman Oh Why“:

The Record Store Day site says: “A classic Paul McCartney vinyl single reissue manufactured exclusively for Record Store Day! “Another Day” was originally recorded in 1970, during the sessions for the album Ram. It was the first single of his solo career. It was originally released February 19, 1971 with “Oh Woman, Oh Why” as the B-side. Upon its release “Another Day”/”Oh Woman, Oh Why” reportedly sold over a million copies worldwide. It was a number one hit in France and Australia, in the U.K. it reached number two, in the U.S. it reached number five. This exclusive reissue single is taken from the forthcoming Paul McCartney Archive Collection edition of Ram coming this spring!”

You can read more about it here on the excellent Second Disc blog.

And it all leads to the next significant installment in the Archive Series – “Ram”. The Second Disc also has some info on this forthcoming release.

McCartney stated: “Ladies and gentlemen, this is an album from a long, long time ago, when the world was different. This is an album that is part of my history…it goes back to the wee hills of Scotland where it was formed. It’s an album called Ram. It reminds me of my hippie days and the free attitude with which was created. I hope you’re going to like it, because I do!”

There have been some great Beatles collectables associated with previous Records Store Days. I’ve already mentioned last year’s Beatles singles box; in 2010 there was a special re-issue of  Harrison’s “All Things Must Pass“; there was another McCartney limited edition single released as part of the McCartney Archive Series; there was also the Beatles “Paperback Writer“; and of course the great Lennon Singles Bag.


Beatles and Advertising

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We wrote recently about Paul McCartney advertising for JBL and Tiffany. It’s not the first time he’s allowed his name and music to be associated with commercial products. Its actually a tradition that goes way back – to the very start of Beatlemania.

For a very long time, having your product associated with the Beatles in any way has been considered advantageous….take this tastefully designed, directed and edited commercial – with a soundtrack provided by you know who:

You gotta admit at least that was clever and stylish. Not so much this unfortunate one Ringo Starr and some former Monkees got themselves involved in a while back – for Pizza Hut:

I guess there’s a big difference between Beatles songs being used in a commercial and an actual personal endorsement – although the Ringo example had both…..

Turns out Beatle songs being used in advertising is much more frequent than you might first imagine. In 2007 for example “Hello Goodbye” was licensed for use by Target to promote its stores:

Back in 2002 Julian Lennon recorded “When I’m Sixty Four” specifically for a retirement investment ad for the US company Allstate:

That then raises the question of actual, original Beatle recordings being used, as opposed to re-recordings by anonymous studio musicians. Which is more offensive to you, if at all?

One famous example of a real, iconic Beatles song being used was provided by Nike in 1987, and it caused an absolute uproar:

“If it’s allowed to happen, every Beatles song ever recorded is going to be advertising women’s underwear and sausages. We’ve got to put a stop to it in order to set a precedent. Otherwise it’s going to be a free-for-all. It’s one thing when you’re dead, but we’re still around! They don’t have any respect for the fact that we wrote and recorded those songs, and it was our lives.” — George Harrison (November 1987)

It didn’t stop of course, and for many fans the ultimate insult came with “All You Need is…Luvs” – a commercial for disposable nappies…

And that’s not the only time that same, famous Beatles song has been used. Blackberry got in on the act with this one:

Of course, control over their song catalogue has long been out of the Beatles hands. They no longer own the rights and therefore have very little say in how songs they wrote might be used (although Paul McCartney does control all his subsequent solo work). That begs the question: are the surviving Beatles themselves ever consulted about which of their songs are used and how? The Independent newspaper says it is unclear if McCartney or Yoko Ono, John Lennon’s widow, approved use of “All You Need is Love” for the Blackberry commercial. It does however say that in 2008 Sony/ATV (owners of the catalogue) said it had a “moral obligation” to contact them before giving approving to such projects.

Ono herself has not been free of criticism. She apparently gave permission for an actor to overdub John Lennon’s voice on some archival footage which was turned into an advertisement for a Citroen car:

In May last year we posted on Beatlesblogger about the Australian city of Brisbane using “Come Together” to advertise what a great place Brisbane was after their big flood event. It looks like the organisers have since taken down their YouTube video of that commercial, probably because they only paid for the use of the song for a limited time.

The more you delve into this question of the Beatles and advertising the more examples you find. Maybe its best to just stop here before it gets too depressing….

Beatles With Records – Part Eight

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This is the latest in a series about the Beatles being photographed holding or being nearby LP records or CD’s. Of all the many thousands of photographs taken of the band (or of them as solo artists) there are not actually that many with them in close proximity to the product they sold so many of….

The other posts in this series are: The Beatles with Records Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 , 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17.

Readers have sent in some additional photos and so its time for maybe one more installment. This first one, which comes from Thomas Repetny, is an early shot taken on a stage decorated with record covers behind what is clearly an early incarnation of the group (i.e. no Ringo yet…):

Thanks for this one Tom – and check out Tom’s own zany site tomwantstoplaywithpaulmccartney.com and watch as he follows his dream.

In researching this photograph (to try to figure out the LP covers hanging up on the wall behind the Beatles) I found the same early stage shot taken from a couple of other angles:

Of the eight LP covers and one 45 that can be seen behind the band I can clearly make out just two. They’re both above drummer Pete Best. The first is right at the top and it’s The John Lasalle Quartet LP “Jumpin’ at the Left Bank”:

This jazz album was recorded live at the New York City nightclub of the same name. It was released in the early Sixties. Interestingly its on the Capitol label – which of course would soon become the Beatles own label in the United States.

The other album cover is just above Peter Best’s right shoulder. It’s an album by the legendary Belgian jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt – “The Art of Django”:

All the albums on this stage seem to be jazz-influenced. The only other title I can vaguely make out is “The (something) Jazz Quartet”. If anyone knows when and where this photograph was taken, and if anyone can identify any of the other record covers, please email us at beatlesblogger@gmail.com

There was another photograph sent in also with the Beatles playing on stage – this time with their own record “Please Please Me” enlarged as the backdrop:

Again, it’s quite an early shot – but there is Ringo, and there is the very early flowing script version of a Beatles logo on his bass drum. Clearly it’s just after the release of their very first LP in Britain because there behind them, plastering the rear of the stage is a large poster and many record covers for “Please Please Me”:

Once the band started to become famous the press wanted photographs of them at home and in more relaxed surroundings. Here’s one of those featuring Ringo with his Mum and stepfather – who both loved their music. He’s talking with them about the record he’s holding. It’s by James Ray:

You can see the rear of the cover in the photo above:

And this is the front cover image:

Nice. James Ray was an American R&B singer. There’s another Beatle connection here because in 1962 it was James Ray who recorded the original version of “Got My Mind Set on You” (you can see that on the rear cover track-listing from the album that Ringo is holding. See track 3). Much later (in 1987) the song became a number one hit for George Harrison. (To compare the two versions see: YouTube – James Ray and YouTube – George Harrison)

Signing albums has always been a task when in public for all the Beatles. Here’s Paul in what looks like the mid 1980s signing a copy of one of the Beatles most famous record covers – “Yesterday and Today”:

What you can see in the picture above is the rear cover:

Doing publicity for a new record that is out in the shops goes without saying – even for ex-Beatles:

Ringo’s “Y Not” was released in January, 2010.

As he would say: “Peace and love.”

And happy Easter everyone.

You can see the other parts in “The Beatles with Records” series here:  Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 , 6, 7, 9 , 10 , 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17.