Category Archives: John Lennon

Apple Announce New Beatles Museum – At 3 Savile Row

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 If you were wondering what direction Tom Greene, the new CEO of Apple Corps Ltd., was going to take the Beatle franchise, then wait no more. The brief official notification says it all:

The first-ever official Beatles fan experience, opening in London in 2027
3 Savile Row is one of the most famous locations in The Beatles’ history as the original headquarters of Apple Corps, the recording studio for Let It Be, and the location of the legendary rooftop concert in 1969. Now, 3 Savile Row will open its doors to all for the first time. The Beatles at 3 Savile Row will feature seven floors of never-seen-before archive material, rotating exhibitions, a fan store, and the recreation of the original studio where Let it Be was recorded. It will also give fans the opportunity to tread in the band’s footsteps as they relive the iconic rooftop concert – as immortalised in Peter Jackson’s Get Back – on exactly the spot it happened.

Word is that Apple Corps has re-acquired the famous building in Mayfair in central London and plans to open it to the public as a new tourist attraction called The Beatles At 3 Savile Row. Setting up a physical space for fans to come and explore Beatle history and honour the band’s legacy seems at odds with Greene’s previous expertise in the world of e-commerce. Before being hired to run the Apple he worked with the biggest video game developers and publishers in the world on the production, commercialization and audience growth of e-sports programs. And prior to that he was helping to manage the ginormous Harry Potter franchise in the digital realm with “over 50 million members, supported by immersive digital experiences, daily content publishing and an innovative e-commerce offering.” Greene’s digital background seems at odds with creating and operating a physical space, a Beatle theme park in London for fans.

According to The Guardian, the building – across all its seven floors – “…will showcase items from the Apple archives and host temporary exhibitions and a shop. The biggest attractions, however, will be a recreation of the basement studio where the band recorded their last album, Let It Be, and access to the rooftop where that poignant final concert was performed.”

Paul McCartney, who recently revisited the Georgian mansion house, said: “There are so many special memories within the walls, not to mention the rooftop. The team have put together some really impressive plans and I’m excited for people to see it when it’s ready.”

McCartney told the BBC that the idea to move back was proposed by Tom Greene. “He’s a live wire and he’s bringing a lot of energy into looking at what the Beatles mean, and what people want these days from us. There are so many special memories within the walls, not to mention the rooftop. The team have put together some really impressive plans and I’m excited for people to see it when it’s ready.”

The timing couldn’t be better. Four movie-length biopics – directed by Sam Mendes – are currently filming. There’s one film for each band member and they are due for simultaneous release in April, 2028. The “four-film cinematic event” will star Paul Mescal as Paul McCartney, Harris Dickinson as John Lennon, Joseph Quinn as George Harrison, and Barry Keoghan as Ringo Starr.

You can sign up to find out more about The Beatles at 3 Savile Row here.

Beatle Films – Out Now and on the Way

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There’s definitely a bit of a rush on Beatle and Beatle-related documentaries and films at the moment.

First up is John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s Power to the People – live in concert.

This will obviously be a brilliant companion piece to the recent documentary One To One: John & Yoko by Kevin Macdonald, a revelatory inside-look at John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s life in Greenwich Village in the early 1970s.

The One To One doco featured music from the two benefit concerts the pair played at Madison Square Garden in August, 1972, all newly remixed and produced by Sean Ono Lennon. Now, we get to see the concert in full – with the best performances taken from the two shows – in multiscreen on the big screen. Power To The People will also form a great visual companion piece to the multi-disc box set, also called Power To The People, released last year.

Newly restored, re-edited and remixed by the Lennon Estate’s seven-times GRAMMY®-Award winning team, the film will premier exclusively in cinemas worldwide from April 29 for a limited time only. Tickets go on sale March 20. There’s no word of a physical release yet, but a Blu-Ray/DVD is expected later in the year.

You can sign up for more information at powertothepeoplefilm.com

Of course we’ve just had the release of the Morgan Neville-directed documentary Man On The Run, which follows Paul McCartney stepping out for the first time as a solo artist and forming his new band Wings during the 1970s:

But one of the other great stories in McCartney lore is the search for his legendary long-lost bass guitar – a 1961 Höfner 500/1 which was stolen in 1972. Now comes a behind-the-scenes documentary film about tracking it down and getting it back to it’s original owner, The Hunt For The Lost Bass:

From the official site:

“For over 50 years the disappearance of McCartney’s original Höfner bass has been one of rock ‘n’ roll’s enduring mysteries. McCartney: The Hunt for the Lost Bass tells the extraordinary story of this iconic instrument, and the fan-powered quest to find it. This rock ‘n’ roll detective story features exclusive interviews with McCartney, his brother Mike, Klaus Voormann, Elvis Costello and the roadies, journalists and fans who embarked on a mission to track down and restore the bass to its proper place in music history and to Paul. It’s a story about fandom, creativity, love, loss, memory and the transformative power of music.”

Gotta admit, this looks like it’ll be great fun. It is in cinemas only in the UK to start, on April 2 & 4. It’s unclear if other countries will be rolled in, if the film will be streamed at some stage, or if there’s to be a physical release for fans to buy. I guess it is a case of “watch this space”.

Last but not least is the official release of an extraordinary biographical doco on Billy Preston, That’s The Way God Planned It. This film follows the life and six-decade career of the Grammy Award-winning keyboardist whose sound helped shape the work of a virtual Who’s Who of the music world: The Beatles, Ray Charles, Mahalia Jackson, Aretha Franklin, The Rolling Stones, Barbara Streisand, Eric Clapton and many others. He had his own solo No.1 hits too including ‘Outa-Space’, ‘Will It Go Round In Circles’, ‘Nothing From Nothing’ and ‘You Are So Beautiful’. Billy’s first hit single, ‘That’s The Way God Planned It’ – recorded in 1969 for Apple Records – was produced by George Harrison.

Two variations of the film’s promo trailer are out there on YouTube, both with different cuts and content, so both are worth watching. Here’s the official trailer:

And this next one is great as it focuses specifically on Billy’s time with The Beatles:

Billy Preston, for a time, truly did deserve the title, “The Fifth Beatle”:

Not sure if this is coming to one of the streaming platforms after it’s cinema release (we certainly hope so) but for more info on That’s The Way God Planned It and where you can see it go to billyprestonfilm.com

Meanwhile, to tie in with the film’s release, Dark Horse Records has re-issued Billy’s two Apple Record LPs. Encouraging Words (produced by Billy and George Harrison) is now available to stream and to buy on gold vinyl:

That’s The Way God Planned It (produced by George) is available to steam and is also out on purple vinyl:

An Unusual ‘Some Time In New York City’

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Whenever we venture up to the suburb of Hornsby in Sydney’s north, a visit to the used record store Mix Up Music is always on the cards.

As you can probably tell from the image above, this is not the most appealing store from the outside, and that vibe continues continues once you’re inside. It’s a bit of a rabbit’s warren with stock seemingly all over the place – but there is treasure to be found here if you have patience and the time to check it out.

The store is actually two shops in one, with a space at the front being sub-let to another, completely separate second-hand dealer called The Vinyl Section. So, with two collections on offer it is rare to walk out without buying something from this store.

And that’s what happened last week when we found this LP in The Vinyl Section part of the store:

With last year’s focus on the Lennon Estate’s big box set Power to the People, this album (minus one controversial song) was it’s centrepiece, along with the One To One concerts and a wealth of previously unreleased Lennon and Ono outtakes and rarities. So it was timely to find an unusual Australian vinyl pressing from 1981 of the original Some Time In New York City album to add to our collection.

Now, you might be saying didn’t Some Time In New York City come out in 1972? Yes, it did – but it was never released here locally at that time. The Australian pressing only came out in early 1981 in the wake of John Lennon’s death when interest in his back-catalogue was reignited.

It comes in the same gatefold sleeve as the original. Here’s the rear sleeve:

If you look closely you can see in the small print on the rear this EMI Records Australia credit included:

And these are the images inside the gatefold:

The two discs themselves do away with the original custom labels used in 1972 (featuring John and Yoko’s faces morphing into each other across the top). Instead we have bright orange Parlophone labels for both discs. Labels like these were common in Australia for many Beatle pressings, so it looks kind of weird to have them on a John and Yoko/Plastic Ono Band release:

And instead of the two different printed inner sleeves of the original, you only get this one (below) with its hand-drawn liner notes. There is one of these for each disc, and they’re not so much inner sleeves as thin cardboard inserts. It’s a pity the original inner sleeve for Record 1 isn’t included as it carried a full list of credits for who played what, etc.:

So, after the big Power To The People release of last year it’s great to have this vinyl version join it in the collection.

Record Store Day 2026 Titles Announced

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The people at Record Store Day have just dropped the 2026 list of titles for April 18 and it contains eight titles of interest to Beatle-related collectors.

First up is John Lennon – or maybe that should be Sean Ono Lennon channeling his Dad? What’s coming is like a Part Two to the Mind Games Meditation Mixes, which came out back in October, 2024 in the wake of the big Lennon Mind Games re-issues of that year. This time it’s the turn of the 1970 song ‘Love’ to get the Meditation Mix treatment:

Love Meditation Mixes will be a Limited Edition 3 LP set produced by Sean Ono Lennon and it will be on “Iridescent Pearl Arctic”, 180g transparent vinyl in a reflective triple gatefold lilac mirrorboard sleeve. The album contains nine re-imagined Meditation Mixes of the John Lennon ballad ‘Love’ from the album John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band.

Ono Lennon says, ‘After the surprising success of the Mind Games Meditation Mixes, and our collaboration with Lumenate the Meditation App, we are very pleased to bring you Volume Two – a collection of ambient re-imaginings of John Lennon’s classic song, to create a meditation on ‘Love’.”

Like the Mind Games Meditation Mixes it is a rather beautiful package:

Also coming for Record Store Day (and this is only listed on the UK RSD site at the moment) is the Badfinger LP No Dice, the band’s second studio album issued by Apple Records. No Dice will be reissued on limited edition 180g orange vinyl, using the 2010 remaster of the album available on vinyl for the first time. It will come in a gatefold sleeve that faithfully reproduces the original artwork. It contains the hit single ‘No Matter What’, and ‘Without You’ – which went on to be one of their best-known songs – covered by the likes of Harry Nilsson. We’re expecting this to come with Apple labels:

Those of you who collect Dark Horse Records will not be disappointed. There are no fewer than six titles announced for RSD.

The label is steadily working it’s way through the George Harrison back catalogue as Zoetrope pressings. This time it is the turn of George’s 1974 title Dark Horse:

And also his 1975 release, Extra Texture:

These Zoetropes are all limited, and come in numbered covers with replica album artwork inside.

Dark Horse have been big on re-issuing the Joe Strummer back catalogue and for RSD 2026 it’s a 25th anniversary edition of the second album by Joe Strummer and The Mescaleros a spectacular limited splatter vinyl pressing:

Dark Horse also have the rights to selected Leon Russell re-issues. They’ve already done his Signature Songs, an album of Christmas songs, and an album of songs by Russell’s country alter-ego, Hank Wilson. This time there’s another Hank Wilson offering – a Best Of 2LP on black vinyl which will be a first-time pressing of the title:

Hearkening back to the Badfinger release above, there’s another former Apple being re-issued, but this time under the Dark Horse banner. It is The Radha Krisna Temple, the 1971 album produced by George Harrison. It contains the two hit singles, ‘Hare Krishna Mantra’ and ‘Govinda’ along with other Sanskrit-worded mantras and prayers recorded with Harrison from 1969 onward. Out of print since 1993 and released on the Dark Horse imprint for the first time. It will be on orange vinyl:

In keeping with the label’s interest in and support of world music there’s another first for Record Store Day, an album by Native American flautist R. Carlos Nakai. Dark Horse is issuing a 2LP set called Canyon Trilogy, which is appearing on vinyl for the first time. Nakai’s music features original compositions for the flute inspired by traditional Native American melodies. He’s received 11 Grammy Award nominations for his albums. This double LP features updated liner notes and an exclusive forward by Dhani Harrison:

So, that’s it for Beatle and Beatle-related releases for RSD this year. Which will you be seeking out?

If you’re an avid collector of Dark Horse it’s going to be an expensive couple of months. Along with the promised RSD albums there are also two more George Harrison titles on the way – all part of the continuing push to have his entire catalogue under the BMG/Dark Horse stable.

On February 20 they’ll re-issue black vinyl editions of Harrison’s Wonderwall Music:

Also due February 20, again on black vinyl, is Electronic Sound:

And then on March 20 comes his Live In Japan on Dark Horse, a long out of print 2LP on black vinyl – remastered from the original analog stereo master tapes:

Dark Horse is further mining the Apple Records vault too – this time for re-issues of Billy Preston’s two Apple LP’s. Encouraging Words (produced by Billy and George Harrison) will be out on gold vinyl on March 13:

And That’s The Way God Planned It (produced by George) is out the same day – on purple vinyl:

   

The Pre-Christmas Bealtes Release List – Even More To Add!

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In late October we published a graphic titled “If You Want To Keep Up, Here’s Everything You’ll Need To Order” showing what we then thought was every Beatle, solo, or Beatle-related title released (or about to be released) this holiday season.

It didn’t last long. Some helpful readers pointed out we’d left out Ringo’s Stop & Smell The Roses – the numbered, liquid vinyl edition – limited to 400 copies.

This was due November 14, but seems to have been delayed. It is currently looking like December 5 now.

And the other Ringo Starr was a red vinyl re-issue of his 14th studio album, Choose Love from 2005. This had first been slated for Record Store Day Black Friday, but was quietly removed from official lists prior to the day. It’s popped up again on the Friday Music site, this time with a late January 2026 release date (though knowing Friday Music that is extremely likely to change):

Then came news of the John Lennon and Yoko Ono ‘War Is Over (If You Want It)’ 12″ Zoetrope pressing issued to coincide with the release of the children’s hardback book and the premiere of the short animated film of the same name on YouTube.

Then Dark Horse Records announced it would be issuing a further title from the Yusuf/Cat Stevens back catalogue that the label now has the rights to. It’s called Tell ‘Em I’m Gone and it will be on yellow vinyl:

So, each of these were duly added into a revised graphic and we were just about to re-publish when last Friday came news of yet another collectable, this time linked to the Beatles’ Anthology re-issue – and in particular Anthology 4. On it are the 2025 re-mixes of ‘Free As A Bird’ and ‘Real Love’ and they are now being released as a limited edition, double A-side 7″ translucent milk white vinyl single. This is the 2025 mix of both songs.

There’s been no indication of a CD version of the single being made available (except for Japan where there’s been an exclusive Japan-only CD announced). Nor has there been any talk of updated versions of the ‘Free As A Bird’ and ‘Real Love’ EPs (or “maxi-singles”) which were originally released to accompany Volumes 1 and 2 of Anthology back in 1995 and 1996. That means all of the extra tracks on those EPs will remain unavailable, with the exception of the song ‘This Boy’, which has been added to the Anthology Volume 4 discs.

The ‘Free As A Bird’ (2025 Mix)/’Real Love’ (2025 Mix) 7″ coloured vinyl single is only available from Beatles official stores (e.g. in the UK or the US), or from certain Universal Music online stores (eg. this one in Germany).

So, it has been a most busy time for any Beatle collector who is a completist. There’s been so much product so fast it’s been difficult to keep up.

To help, here’s our updated visual. If you want everything, this is what you’ll need to order. There are no fewer that 51 items here! This has got to be unprecedented in the run-up to Christmas:

(Click on the graphic to see a larger version)

‘War Is Over!’ Animated Film Coming to YouTube

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The Academy Award winning film War Is Over! is getting a wider release.

We’ll finally be able to see it in full on YouTube from 1 December.

And here’s the trailer:

The countdown to launch day is on at the official John Lennon YouTube page. To see the film in full (from December 1) click on this link below:

While you wait, to whet your appetite here are some stills from the film:

It looks like it’s an incredible animation with a great message and we’re very much looking forward to seeing it after waiting almost two years.

The Lennon Estate is using the film’s premiere, and the release of the ‘War Is Over (If You Want It’ Zoetrope 12″ single, to raise awareness and much-needed funds to help children around the world affected by war.

Right now is one of the deadliest times to be a child this century.

When war breaks out, children don’t just lose their toys, homes and schools. In conflict zones like Gaza, Ukraine and Sudan, kids are going through such trauma they can often no longer eat, speak or sleep. 

So, if you can, as we approach this holiday season please think about the millions of children facing the horror of war and donate to the charity Warchild using this link:

https://www.warchild.org.uk/donate-war-is-over-film

Your donation, no matter how small, will help.

If you’d like some more background as to how the War Is Over! film came to be, and some insight into the creative process, check out our post from February last year!

New Lennon/Plastic Ono Band Zoetrope, and More Dark Horse

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There’s been a further development in the green vinyl ‘Happy Xmas (War Is Over)’ 7″ single release announced a few weeks back…..

It all seems timed to coincide with the release of a new children’s book, which in turn is adapted from the Academy Award winning animated short film of the same name that Sean Ono Lennon was involved in…….

Anyways, on the official John Lennon store site they’ve just announced a very special 12″ Zoetrope disc featuring the songs ‘Happy Xmas (War Is Over) (Ultimate Mix)’ and ‘Listen, The Snow Is Falling (Ultimate Mix)’ on side one, and on side two ‘War Pigeon/A Game Of Chess/A Sudden Interruption/Then Peace’, from the soundtrack to the War Is Over! animated film, composed by Thomas Newman (who has done everything from The Shawshank Redemption to Finding Nemo, two Bond films Skyfall and Spectre, to 1917 and Elemental). Suffice it to say he is up there with the best! This is the first time soundtrack music from War Is Over! has been available on a physical format.

The 12” Zoetrope picture disc is designed by Drew Tetz using still frames from the film, and features (on the front outer title sticker) an illustration by Max Narciso from the children’s book adaptation.

The disc is 180g and cut at 45rpm, and comes in a PVC clear sleeve with a title sticker featuring the credits.

It looks very cool and is set to become a definite collectors item.

Meanwhile, the team at Dark Horse Records has announced yet another pre-Christmas release. This is in addition to the three titles announced for Black Friday Record Store Day.

It’s another Yusuf/Cat Stevens back-catalogue title Tell ‘Em I’m Gone, and it will be on yellow vinyl:

The album was produced by Rick Rubin and sees Yusuf exploring some of his bluesier influences, tapping into musical traditions that have informed his own work. Fans of Cat Stevens will know that Leadbelly has always been one of his favourite artists and alongside the album’s original compositions Tell ‘Em I’m Gone contains covers of songs dear to him such as Edgar Winter’s ‘Dying To Live’, Luther Dixon/Al Smith’s ‘Big Boss Man’, and a bluesy reworking of the Jimmie Davies/Charles Mitchell song ‘You Are My Sunshine’. Interesting stuff. The album is available for pre-sale now and is released on December 5.


If You Want To Keep Up, Here’s Everything You’ll Need to Order

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It’s been a busy time over the last few weeks and months for Beatle collectors.

There’s been so much product announced it’s hard to keep on top of it.

So, we decided to made a visual representation for you, the avid completist, so that you can keep track.

If you want everything, THIS is what you’ll need to order:

Screenshot

(Click on the image to see a larger version)

Have we forgotten anything?

FYI, the Ringo Starr Choose Love LP announced for Record Store Day Black Friday 2025 seems to have quietly slipped off the list again, so we have not included it here.

Beatles and Solo News Update

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Woke up this morning to a couple of intriguing emails.

First was big news from Apple. Seems they’ve listened to fan reaction and have decided to offer Anthology 4 as a separate purchase:

By popular demand, Anthology 4 is now available as a standalone triple LP and double CD — 36 tracks including 13 previously-unreleased demos, rare sessions from 1963–69, the band’s 2023 final single ‘Now and Then’, and new mixes by Jeff Lynne of ‘Free As a Bird’ and ‘Real Love’.

This means collectors won’t have to buy the box set just to get the much sought after 4th installment in the Anthology series. Good news!

Then came a mysterious email from the official John Lennon Store saying that the ‘Happy Xmas (War Is Over)’ 7″ single on green vinyl was now available for pre-order:

A “What?”, closely followed by a “Why?” was heard. Hmmm. “Must investigate this some more. There has to be a reason this has randomly appeared out of nowhere.”

Then, scrolling further down the morning’s emails came this, with the headline: Introducing The Classic Holiday’s Singles Box Set!

Clicking through takes you to Universal’s udiscovermusic.com site and the announcement of a box set of 14 coloured vinyl Christmas singles from across the ages:

Of course it includes the John & Yoko/Plastic Ono Band green vinyl single, but also in there is the Paul McCartney holiday fave, ‘Wonderful Christmastime’ – on canary yellow vinyl:

The box set is kinda expensive but fortunately for those of you who collect coloured vinyl, as was just announced for Anthology 4, these too are available for purchase separately. Yay!

You can find ‘Happy Xmas (War Is Over)’ here or here, and ‘Wonderful Christmastime’ here or here. Release date is October 31.

And, while we’re on the subject of coloured vinyl, last week Apple announced there’s to be a green vinyl release of Abbey Road:

This comes on heavyweight 180g green vinyl and is pressed using the version remixed from the original 8-track tapes by Giles Martin in 2019. In the UK this is exclusive to HMV stores, Target in the US, JB HiFi in Australia, Bravado in Germany, FNAC in France, Tower Records in Japan, The Circle in Denmark, etc. In other words, there will be one retailer per territory. It is released on October 10.

The Background to the “One To One” Concerts

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Ever wondered why the concerts, which form the centrepiece of the forthcoming John Lennon/Yoko Ono Power to the People box set, were called the One To One concerts?

The BBC has just released a backgrounder as part of it’s Witness History podcast series explaining it. You may need to register to listen (it’s free), but it is well worth it for a very informative 9-minute listen.

In 1972, after leaving The Beatles, John Lennon and Yoko Ono performed in the United States at the One to One benefit concerts at Madison Square Garden, New York.

They were helping to raise money for children with disabilities from Willowbrook State School, after a television exposé by journalist Geraldo Rivera showed the conditions and failings. It was watched by millions of people and led to a public outcry.

Sean Allsop speaks with Geraldo Rivera about breaking the story and organising the concerts.

If you want to view Rivera’s original documentary that blew the lid off the pain and misery of the the young Willowbrook residents who were being so appallingly treated check it out here. (Warning: it contains some very confronting scenes). This is what motivated John and Yoko:

Geraldo Rivera kept in touch with John and Yoko. Later in his life he reflected on meeting the pair and how he worked with them on such an important cause:

When you witness injustice “It’s up to you, yeah, you!”