Category Archives: George Harrison

Are You A Beatles Autograph Hunter?

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I’m not, but I was kind of intrigued reading this article about a forthcoming auction of an autographed copy of the Beatles US LP “Meet The Beatles!” from 1964.

Signed on the rear cover by all four Beatles on the eve of their legendary Ed Sullivan Show TV appearance, the record comes from the estate of  Dr Jules Gordon who treated an ailing George Harrison at New York’s Plaza Hotel, the hotel where the Beatles were staying during their first US visit.

George was suffering from a very sore throat and Dr Gordon, the house physician at the hotel, was called upon to treat him. In fact, at one stage it looked like he might not be able to perform at all on the TV show – which broke the band big time in the US.

The auction is being conducted by Case Antiques. Their May 21 auction is billed as a “Fine Art and Antique Auction” – and hidden away on page 15 of the 37-page internet listing, in amongst the furniture and artworks, is the signed Beatles album. To save you time here’s a link to that page. Click on the album to bring up some more pictures and details. The auction listing describes the item as:

“Very good condition. 12-1/4″ H x 12-1/4″ W. Provenance: From the estate of Dr. Jules Gordon, the New York physician who treated George Harrison for a sore throat on February 8, 1964, the day before their American television debut on the Ed Sullivan Show. Refer to the New York Times Article dated February 9, 1964 by Thomas Buckley which names Dr. Gordon and describes the doctor’s treatment of Harrison as well as events surrounding their New York appearance”:

Its sobering to think that a simple sore throat could very well have changed the course of popular music history….

Budget Beatles

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For many years now Apple Records have pursued a deliberate policy of maintaining the entire Beatles recorded catalogue as a premium product and brand.

Compact Discs (and vinyl LP’s in an earlier time) are very rarely discounted or put on “sale” with discounted prices. They always come with a high recommended retail price. The long-running fight with iTunes (which saw Beatle songs unavailable for download for years) only added to this perception in the marketplace giving the Beatles product an aura of exclusivity stretching right back through their entire back-catalogue.

However, that doesn’t mean that the Beatles music, both as a group and as individual artists, has never been re-packaged and offered at a discount prices over the years.

In the vinyl days this came in the form of a small number of selected albums being re-issued on the Music for Pleasure label in Britain and Europe, on the Fame label in Britain and Europe, and on the Axis label here in Australia. Many of these titles came with unique covers and labels, making them collectable items for fans.

The Music for Pleasure (or MFP) label was set up in Britain as a joint venture between EMI Records and the Paul Hamlyn group – which was better known as a book publisher. The result of the deal meant that these titles were largely sold in supermarkets and department stores rather than the traditional record shops of the day. As a result of the EMI connection most titles on the label came from the rich and extensive EMI back-catalogue of artists, both classical, jazz and popular.  The complete listing of all releases can be found here.

The first Beatles album to be re-released as an MFP title was “At the Hollywood Bowl” from 1977. The cover has a variation in the typeset and the way the title is displayed, and of course there’s that MFP logo in the top right-hand corner:

The Beatles album “Rock’n’Roll Music”, initially issued as a gatefold double album on the Parlophone (UK) and Capitol (US) in 1976 was re-issued on the MFP budget label in Britain in 1980 and instead of being a double LP, you could buy these as two separate discs, “Rock’n’Roll Music Vol. 1” and “Rock’n’Roll Music Vol. 2”:

Also in 1980 came three re-issues of solo Beatles work. John Lennon’s “Mind Games” (originally released in 1973); George Harrison’s “Dark Horse” (originally from 1974); and Ringo Starr’s self-titled “Ringo” (also originally from 1973). Lennon’s “Mind Games” had a unique cover – a kind of mash up image from the original LP:

George’s “Dark Horse” got a unique treatment (using the image from the rear of the 1974 release), while Ringo’s LP front cover looked much the same, with the addition of his name in large letters across the top:

1981 saw an MFP re-issue of Lennon’s “Rock’n’Roll” album (with a slightly different cover to the original – the neon sign above his head was larger). Also in 1981 came Ringo’s compilation “Blast From Your Past”, and a second George Harrison MFP release “The Best of George Harrison” – with quite a different cover:

The budget Fame label (another EMI subsidiary which released both vinyl and CD’s as budget items between 1983 and 1994 in Britain and in Europe) issued just one actual Beatles title, the compilation “A Collection of Beatles Oldies”. This appeared on vinyl in 1983 and the front cover is distinguished only by a very small “Fame” logo written diagonally across the top right-hand corner of the LP. The rear cover is also the same as the original Parlophone one (but with  Fame logo at the bottom), and the LP came out with a Fame label:

Fame also re-issued three Beatles solo works on vinyl: the John Lennon “Plastic Ono Band” (in 1984); Paul McCartney’s self-titled “McCartney”; and George Harrison’s “Extra Texture”. Each of these came out using the green Apple label on the record itself. Here’s the cover of a German Fame pressing of “Extra Texture”. Again, note the Fame logo on the top right-hand side:

In 1987 and 1988 Fame also released the Paul McCartney and Wings titles “Wildlife”, “Red Rose Speedway”, “Venus and Mars” and “London Town” – all these (as far as I can tell) were issued on CD only.

In Australia EMI’s budget label was called Axis Records and it followed along the same lines as MFP. Axis released a range of very similar Beatles and solo titles, although it had some interesting and unique cover variations – and of course a label variation. The Beatles “A Collection of Beatles Oldies” was joined on Axis Records by their “Rock’n’Roll Music” compilation – again made available in two separate volumes like the MFP release – but with a slightly different cover to the British releases:

The Australian Axis “Rock’n’Roll Music” LP covers are pretty much the same as the budget Capitol US releases of these titles. There were a couple of Axis label variations for this title as well.

Axis also produced vinyl re-issues of Lennon’s “Plastic Ono Band”, “Mind Games” and “Rock’n’Roll” albums; Harrison’s “Dark Horse” and “The Best Of George Harrison”; McCartney and Wings “Wildlife”; and Ringo Starr’s “Ringo”. Note the Axis logo top right-hand side, and the title of the LP is printed as well on the top left:

The Axis “Best of George Harrison” got the same cover as the US Capitol records budget release. This cover image was also used by Parlophone/EMI for the official Australian LP, but is different to the UK’s Music For Pleasure re-issue, and different again from the CD release of the same title:

So, that’s a quick trawl through the collection for budget Beatles items. It’s not exhaustive, and if you’d like to add or comment please do by using the email beatlesblogger@gmail.com or by using the comment box below, or now by tweeting us onTwitter. We’re at beatleblogger.

Congratulations – “Concert for George” Winner

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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.

Concert For George – Win a Free New Blu-ray

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This week a new 2-disc Blu-ray version of “Concert for George” was released. It’s the first time we get to see this spectacular memorial concert in all its true high-definition glory. And you can win a free copy of the set – see below for details.

The “Concert for George” took place at London’s  Royal Albert Hall on November 29, 2002 – one year to the day after the sad passing of George Harrison. Olivia Harrison and longtime friend Eric Clapton organized a performance tribute in his honor.  It was a celebration of his music on a number of levels. The concert begins with a spectacular Indian orchestra performance of a composition called “Arpan”,  specially composed for the occasion by Ravi Shankar who was  a friend and mentor to George since he first discovered Indian music and began incorporating it into his Beatles music in the mid-1960s. “Arpan” means offering and within the piece Ravi Shankar expresses aspects of George’s moods and spiritual aspirations. The work includes Eric Clapton playing a haunting acoustic solo.

Disc One of the new Blu-ray “Concert for George” set contains the concert in its entirety.  A second disc features the original theatrical version of the film. There are also concert highlights, interviews with the performers, rehearsals and behind-the-scenes footage. The second disc also contains a previously unreleased interview segment entitled “Drummers,” featuring Ringo Starr, Jim Keltner and legendary percussionist Ray Cooper.

This very special evening featured many of George’s original compositions (both as a solo artist and as a Beatle) and the music he loved – all performed by a lineup including Eric Clapton, Jeff Lynne, Paul McCartney, the Monty Python team, Tom Petty, Billy Preston, Ravi Shankar and his daughter Anoushka, Ringo Starr, and George’s son Dhani Harrison.

The concert focusses very much on George’s writing and features songs like “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” (with Eric Clapton on guitar, Paul McCartney on piano and Ringo Starr on drums), “Taxman” (performed by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers), “My Sweet Lord” (by Billy Preston), “Old Brown Shoe” (Gary Brooker), and “The Inner Light” (covered by Jeff Lynne and Anoushka Shankar).  Jeff Lynne  was George’s longtime friend and collaborator and he produced the recording of the concert, while Eric Clapton oversaw the entire proceedings as Musical Director. The concert film is directed  by David Leland.

Now – here’s your chance to win a copy of the new Blu-ray 2-disc release. All you have to do is be the first person to email me at beatlesblogger.gmail.com with the correct answer to this “Concert for George” question:

In the “Concert for George” singer Sam Brown (daughter of Joe Brown, who is also in the concert) performs a version of a George Harrison/Dhani Harrison composition called “Horse to the Water”. What is the name of the album on which this song was first released?

Its a little bit tricky but the first correct entry sent to my email address above will win a Blu-ray copy of  the “Concert for George” set – released just this week.

The “Concert for George” Blu-ray is courtesy of Rhino Entertainment.

Here’s a promotional trailer for the film.

George Harrison – When We Was Fab (Box Set)

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Just got a copy of the 1988 limited edition, box set single “When We Was Fab” by George Harrison. Here’s the outer cover:

Inside the little box is the vinyl single in a picture sleeve:

As you can see, the picture used for the outer box is slightly different in a number of areas to the one used for the record picture sleeve inside. If the artwork for the both the box and the picture sleeve looks familiar its because part of it is taken from the drawings of the Beatles for the “Revolver” cover – done by long-time friend of the band, Klaus Voormann.

There’s also a fun cutout sheet of George in his Sgt Pepper uniform in the box (which is obviously paying homage to the Sgt Pepper cutout sheet); and also a fold-out colour poster:

The box set label for the “When We Was Fab” single is different to the one used for the standard vinyl single release – notice on the standard issue there are  multiple Dark Horse logos as opposed to the single Dark Horse logo on the box set version:

There was also a 12″ extended play vinyl single and a CD single release of this song as well. Graham Calkin’s Beatle pages has all the details on these.

And just to remind you of the song and the official video (directed by Godley and Creme):

The Beatles – Then There Was Music

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I got to go to a garage sale (or where you live they might call them “yard sales”) last Saturday morning.  I try whenever I can to have a brief look at garage sales because you just never know what people might have out for sale….and this time I was in luck.

There was only one Beatle item there, but it was a beauty:

It was copy of a large and heavy book called “The Beatles – Then There Was Music”.  This book was published in Australia by New Holland Press in November, 2007.  It was first published in the UK by Transatlantic Press the same year.

“The Beatles  – Then There Was Music”  is written by Tim Hall and it’s illustrated with hundreds of  photographs from the archive of London’s Daily Mail newspaper. The cover also says: “The complete story of four lads who shook the world. Classic, rare and unseen photographs. Memorabilia. Chronicle. Original news coverage”.

I picked this up for just $5.00. And it is practically brand new. You can see at the publisher’s official Australian website that it actually retails for $49.95.

As I said, lots of interesting photographs, and at the bottom of every page is a timeline.  For example, in August, 1964 the Beatles North American tour started when they arrived in San Francisco and played the first of 25 dates with a show at the Cow Palace on Geneva Avenue. On August 20 they traveled to Las Vegas Nevada and played two shows at the Convention centre there:

From Vegas the band traveled to Washington state, and then on August 22 they appeared at the Empire Stadium in Vancouver. The next day they played the now famous Hollywood Bowl concert in Los Angeles. You can see the ticket stubs for both these concerts in the in picture above.

Scattered throughout the book there are also small vignettes of those who were a part of the Beatles inner circle – including one for long-time Beatles minder Mal Evans, who’d been with the band from the very earliest of days in Liverpool. You can see that entry for Mal below, along with a photo of the band rehearsing for a performance on the BBC’s “Top of the Pops” TV show:

This book has lots of great newspaper photographs from the Daily Mail – including these two below.  Paul and Linda celebrating the 20th anniversary of “Sgt Pepper” with a big slice of cake, and George playing at a tribute concert to one of his rock’n’roll heroes, Carl Perkins:

There’s also a complete discography (from 1962 up to 2006) beginning with January 5, 1962 and “My Bonnie” right through to the Beatles “Love” in 2006. Here’s the page for the year 1980 including entries for the “Rarities” album, “The Beatles Ballads” release, and the Beatles Box set (UK release):

So, thats it. “The Beatles – Then There Was Music”.  A collectors item discovered at a garage sale. I always say that one person’s trash is another person’s treasure. Let me know of any great second-hand Beatles finds you’ve made.

See also the recent post on another similar, but probably not as comprehensive book, simply called “The Beatles“.

The Ole Black Gretsch – An Update

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Just after Christmas I posted that the Gretsch guitar company was flagging they’d soon be releasing a very special, exact recreation of the guitar George Harrison owned back in the early Liverpool Cavern days of the Beatles – the Ole Black Gretsch.

Its time for an update because Gretsch have announced that a faithful, limited edition replica is now for sale – for a cool US$20,000……

The guitar is a Gretsch Duo Jet that George purchased back in 1961 for £90.00:

Gretsch guitars in the United States has measured every dimension, every detail right down to the scratches and dings and even the rust on the metal of the pick-ups so that each of the limited edition of just sixty guitars is accurate in every respect.

There’s much more information and background at: http://www.gretschguitars.com/features/georgeharrison

“The Beatles” – An Interesting Book

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Another Beatles book has recently come into the collection. Again, it’s from a discount book store that is just near where I work. They specialise in selling remaindered stock at greatly reduced prices and I’ve picked up some interesting titles from there over the years. This one is simply called “The Beatles“:

There’s a great photo of the band on the front cover – it’s highly colourised but quite striking in its effect. The title words “The Beatles” are printed in silver and so don’t show up too well in this scanned image. Interestingly, nowhere on the front or rear covers, or even the spine, is there mention of the author. You have to go to the publishers details page inside where in the fine print it says “Written by Mike Evans”. I’m not sure why Mike doesn’t get a mention anywhere on the outside of the book. A quick Google search reveals Evans is actually quite prolific having written or edited, amongst many other titles, “The Beatles: Paperback Writer: 40 Years of Classic Writing“, “The Art of British Rock: 50 Years of Rock Posters, Flyers and Handbills“,  and “The Beatles: On Camera, Off Guard 1963 – 1969“, so the guy has form.

“The Beatles” is chronological in nature and, over 21 chpaters and 224 pages  traces the evolution of the band from the early years through to the final chapter called “The Beatles’ Legacy” which brings the story up to 2009 and the release of the newly remastered CD sets – so I’d say it came out in late 2009, although again the book itself does not have a publication date on it. Strange.

In a lot of ways its a pretty standard Beatles book – but a nicely produced one – one that has at least been done with some care. Its a hardback with lots and lots of photographs (some of them unusual and interesting), and quite detailed text covering each important Beatle release, from “Please Please Me” (1963) through to “Let It Be” (1970). Mike Evans deals with the tours as well – including the troubled 1966 tour to Japan and Philippines where the Beatles were lucky to escape with their lives. In this news photo in the book they, along with manager Brian Epstein, look pretty happy to be back in London in one piece, their smiles belying the danger they faced after a perceived offense to the President of the Philippines and his wife:

As well as terrific photos there are lots of other worthwhile visual additions scattered throughout, like colour reproductions of Beatles memorabilia like movie posters, concert tickets, Beatles stamps, and this US concert poster from August, 1966 for the concert at Candlestick Park, San Francisco:

The photos inside are often unusual, like this one of Paul in the studio in January, 1968 with Cilla Black, taking her through the song he’d written for her called “Step Inside Love“. It became the theme for Black’s successful TV show of the same name:

Author Mike Evans deals with both the up-side of the Beatles’ success, and the down-side, including the ill-fated Beatles foray into selling fashion. Described by Evans as “..the biggest disaster for Apple….The idea was to sell trendy items; Paul McCartney described it as “a beautiful place where beautiful people can buy beautiful things.” In reality, though, it was a clothes store, and became known as the “Apple Boutique”. By the middle of 1968, the shop had made a loss of nearly US$500,000/£250,000, a fortune in those days and on July 30 it closed.” In this photo crowds gather outside to grab a bargain and to witness the Apple Boutique’s last day of business:

“The Beatles” is published in Australia by Hinkler Books.

Beatles on CD – “1962-1966” – the Red Album

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Last time I posted on getting a bargain on the HMV box set of “Sgt Pepper”. This comes from back in 1987 when the Beatles catalogue was released on Compact Disc for the very first time. EMI used their UK record store chain HMV to release all the titles in special, limited edition 12″ box sets.

The other set I was able to get at the same time was “The Beatles 1962-1966” (which was issued later – in 1993).

This is a limited edition box with the catalogue number BEACD25/11. It contains the well-known Red Album double CD set, and comes with a large-format 12-page colour booklet featuring song reviews, a 16″ x 24″ colour poster of the band (posed in front of a big US flag), and a special metal badge.

The front of the box looks like this:

Note the original price sticker still attached. When you take off the lid, this is what you see:

This is the 12-page booklet, and it is different to the small booklet which comes with the CD itself. It features some great photos, a short essay, and a song-by-song commentary by Andy Davis from Record Collector magazine:

Next in the box there’s a large poster:

Then comes the CD itself, held in place by a special cardboard holder with a slot just right for the CD and it’s outer cardboard sleeve. There’s a small thumb-slot at the bottom to help you get the CD out. This box, by the way, is thicker so that it can accommodate the jumbo-sized double “Red” CD :

Also in the box is a small metal pin or badge:

As already mentioned, the CD’s which come with this are in the red jumbo-sized double CD holder – which comes with a booklet:

Inside the lid of the HMV box there’s a limited edition stamped number:

See also the “Sgt Pepper” HMV box set.

 

George Harrison – The Ole Black Gretsch

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The Gretsch guitar site has been running an interesting teaser video for a couple of weeks now….The advertising spiel goes something like this:

“Gretsch is pleased to announce the GEORGE HARRISON product “teaser” that will grace their homepage website beginning at midnight, December 9, 2010. By clicking on the “watch video” icon, George will narrate a brief story about his “ole black Gretsch”. There’s no doubt it will cause a major stir in the global marketplace. Want to know more about this project? Please keep checking back on the website as it will be updated over time…”

Seems like there’s to be a new line of reproduction George Harrison “Duo Jet” model guitars – which was his very first decent axe, purchased second-hand back in 1961.

You can read more about this guitar here. According to this site the “friend” to whom George gave the Gretsch (and who subsequently gave it back to him years later) was none other than Klaus Voormann.

Another great source I have is a really interesting book by Andy Babiuk called “Beatles Gear – All The Fab Four’s Instruments, From Stage to Studio“, which came out in 2001.

This book goes into a lot more detail about Harrison and his guitars. After 1961 he went on to purchase other Gretsch models notably the “Chet Atkins Country Gentleman” – George owned two, and the “Chet Atkins Tessessean“.  His profile helped greatly in continuing the brand’s fame in the 1960’s.

Here are some shots of George with that first, now legendary “Duo Jet” guitar:

And probably most notably it makes an appearance on the cover of his 1987 solo album “Cloud Nine”:

The Ole Black Gretsch is featured with Harrison in all the  photos used in the “Cloud Nine”  CD booklet too. I guess we know now that we have Klaus Voormann to thank for re-uniting the pair.

How famous is the Gretsch “Duo Jet”? It even turned up as one of the instrument choices for buyers of The Beatles “Rockband” console game:

How many kids playing “Rockband” today would know they’re “strumming” away on a stylised version of a 1957 model guitar that a young George Harrison purchased in 1961 second-hand from a Liverpool sailor?