Following my post on some of the release variations I have in my collection of the Beatles “Love” CDs and LP, I had a note from Ned in the United States who has a very interesting and unique CD single from the “Love” releases.
He has in his collection this rare Japanese promo CD single:
LOVE rare promo single - front cover
As you can see above, it has the familiar bright yellow “Love” cover art work – but it contains just one track from “Love” called “Within You Without You/Tomorrow Never Knows”, a mash-up mix by George and Giles Martin of the basic track and vocal from “Within You Without You” (originally released on “Sgt Pepper”), and the drum track from “Tomorrow Never Knows” (taken from “Revolver”). Giles Martin said “This was the first thing we did (for the “Love” project). We played it for them (Paul and Ringo) and they said ‘we want more like that!’ We had to remind them, ‘Fellas, you know that on most songs you did actually change chords!” George Martin said at the time: “‘Within You’ is not the most memorable song, but it’s much more interesting with that rhythm.”
According to Ned this CD single was created for Japanese radio stations and issued by EMI Japan without the full knowledge of EMI’s London office. When they found out it was withdrawn shortly after release, thus making it a very collectable item. “It is absolutely NOT an unauthorized release but remains the only CD single issued from the “Love” project”, says Ned.
LOVE single - inside
It has a nice insert that lists the other tracks on the full CD release:
LOVE single - booklet
Ned writes: “I mail ordered this from Japan right at the time of the opening of the show in Vegas. I believe it ran me around US$20 – including shipping. I have no idea what the value is now as I only collect what I like and not what might be worth something someday. Apparently, Yoko Ono had (has) the same collecting philosophy and it has served her well.
Ned has two other favorite Beatles-related items. One is a still-sealed, 4 CD Lennon box from 1990 with a blank space on the back cover art where the song “Imagine” should be listed (the song is on the disc, however). “I bought this one from a woman going through a bad divorce. She only wanted US$15 for it. Even though I was very much interested I IMPLORED her to ask for more because I knew she could get it. However, she insisted because, to her, it represented her former husband. (Years earlier, I had regretfully sold my copy…and I was desperate to get a copy back in my possession).”
The other item is a withdrawn, mid-80’s CD release of Lennon’s Shaved Fish – manufactured in Japan for the U.S. market – that has slightly different artwork on it. “It was withdrawn because EMI either failed to use “No-Noise” on the master tapes or the tapes they did use were from inferior sources. Either way, the hiss is more apparent than the common one. But the fact that it was quickly pulled off the market makes it of interest”, says Ned.
But back to the “Love” promo CD. “Promo Sample” is printed in Japanese around the hub. The catalogue number on the disc is PCD-3275.
LOVE single - the Japanese promo writing around hub
Sincere thanks to collector Ned for all the info and photos. Here’s a clearer picture of the black promo writing around the center of the CD single’s hub:
At the Beatles own official website there’s a lot of info about “Love” their 2006 album, which is not only the soundtrack to the Cirque du Soleil performance show celebrating the Beatles music, but also a controversial departure for the Beatles in that its made up of some of their best-known songs remastered and re-mixed with sounds and songs from across their extensive catalogue. “Love” is produced by longtime Beatles producer Sir George Martin and his son Giles, and it won two Grammy Awards in the categories Best Compilation Soundtrack Album for Motion Picture, Television or other Visual Medium, and Best Surround Sound Album.
For dedicated Beatles fans and collectors it proved to be a bit of of a challenge. Firstly, had the Beatles done the unthinkable and started to mess with the canon? Debate still continues as to whether this was a smart move, or a folly. Additionally, there were numerous release variations to buy if you were an avid collector. Two CD versions, promotional CDs, and other bits and pieces to track down for the completists amongst us…
To start with there was a single disc with the standard stereo mix in a standard jewel case:
“Love” single CD – front cover
“Love” single CD – rear
“Love” CD – with the single CD artwork
Then there was a two-disc set that came with more elaborate packaging. It’s a double fold-out Digipac in a thick slipcase. The package contains the single CD with the standard stereo mix (but with a slightly different printed image on the CD to the single version CD shown above). Added to this is a separate DVD disc containing the 5.1 surround sound mix. Same track list and songs – but if you have a 5.1 stereo set-up at home, the songs and sound effects surround you. It has the same booklet as the single CD release.
“Love” two disc edition – front cover
“Love” two disc edition – rear of slipcase
The final official commercial release (which came out a few weeks after the CD’s) was the vinyl LP. It arrived in a deluxe, 2 disc, gate-fold package. Mine is still sealed, so these images I’ve borrowed from the web.
“Love” vinyl LP set
“Love” gatefold open
“Love” vinyl LP – rear
As you can see the vinyl edition came with custom labels for each LP, and is contained in a gate-fold cover with a large-format book. Its similar to the CD booklet, but because of the large format – complete with rich colour images from the Cirque du Soleil production – it is way more impressive.
There was also a four-song radio sampler released to stations around the world. This was done in an effort to generate publicity and conversation about the forthcoming new Beatles release for 2006. The songs on it were “Strawberry Fields Forever”, “Octopus’s Garden”, “Lady Madonna” and “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” (which was one of the most anticipated tracks from the whole album as it was George Harrison’s original demo tape of the song accompanied by a completely new string arrangement composed by George Martin for the new “Love” record). This promo CD was sent out with a press release containing quotes from Sir George Martin and his son Giles – who co-produced the album – talking about the four tracks on the promo CD. They describe how those songs were selected and give some of the background to the production techniques employed in mashing together different parts of Beatles songs to pretty much make completely new versions -a radical thought at the time. The cover of the radio sampler promo CD looks like this:
“Love” radio sampler promo CD – front
And the rear:
“Love” radio sampler promo CD – rear
Apple/EMI was obviously determined to give “Love” the full promotional and marketing treatment because they also pressed and distributed (in limited numbers) a special “Interview Disc” featuring Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and George and Giles Martin in conversation about “Love”. The interviews were recorded in October 2006, and they are all stand-alone statements about dirrent aspects of the work that went into producing “Love”, and the running order works through the release track-by-track. Its an interesting historical artifact to have in the collection. And definitely an authentic, original release. As you can see, again it has a colour variation of the “Love” artwork common to all releases:
“Love” promotional interview disc – front cover
“Love” promotional interview disc – rear cover and CD art
This disc is entirely spoken word and contains edited voices only. No music. The idea was that radio stations would get the songs from the official CD and make their own radio specials. For a time there on the web, via Ebay and the like, there was also a disc called “The Beatles Love – Radio Special”, purportedly distributed by Capitol in the US. I got a copy of this but, while someone has gone to a lot of trouble to make it look authentic, there is something suspicious about this one. The special is hosted by a DJ named Andre Gardner. If you Google him he seems legit, very much associated with covering Beatles news, hosting a show on WMGK in Philadelphia and having a Facebook page dedicated to the Beatles. Now, Capitol may well have commissioned this radio special and hired Andre to host it. It does have additional material to the official “Interview Disc” in that there are comments on “Love” by Olivia Harrison and Yoko Ono in addition to Paul, Ringo, and George and Giles Martin. And it comes with an official-looking running sheet, with track details and outcues. Here’s a short extract from the program:
There are some images of this CD below. If anyone can shed any more detail on this release – drop me a comment and let me know….
“Love” Capitol Records Radio Special – front cover – genuine?
“Love” Capitol Records Radio Special – CD
Meanwhile….at the time of the “Love” release the Beatles official website had not long been launched (it looked quite different to it’s present incarnation), and Apple used the new site to deliver a series of five down-loadable podcasts to further promote “Love”. Each was between six to seven minutes in duration, and like the official “Interview Disc” above, it contained extracts of Paul, Ringo, George Martin and Giles Martin talking about “Love”. Hosted by UK presenter Robert Lindsay, it contains music extracts mixed with the spoken word extracts. Quite nice to have.
Yet another spin-off for collectors was the DVD “All Together Now”, a documentary film about the creation of the Cirque du Soleil show and the accompanying soundtrack CDs. Earlier this year took out a Grammy Award for Best Long Form Music Video. (I posted about this at the time).
“Love” – the “All Together Now” DVD documentay
You can still see “Love” by Cirque du Soleil at The Mirage Casino in Las Vegas. MTV reviewer Gil Kaufman saw the show just last month (April, 2010) and had this to say. The Beatles own site has some fun facts about the “Love” show.
Finally, an official printed promotional cardboard flyer for the two CD releases came my way. It’s about foolscap size, and is four pages in all – the front looks like this:
Here’s the Wikipedia extract with a brief detail of the album:
Let It Be was the twelfth and final studio album released by The Beatles. It was released on 8 May, 1970 by the band’s Apple Records label shortly after the group’s announced breakup.
Most of Let It Be was recorded in January 1969, before the recording and release of the album Abbey Road. For this reason some critics and fans, such as Mark Lewisohn, argue that Abbey Road should be considered the group’s final album and Let It Be the penultimate. Let It Be was originally intended to be released before Abbey Road during mid-1969 as Get Back, but the Beatles were unhappy with this version, which was mixed and compiled by Glyn Johns, and it was temporarily shelved. A new version of the album was created by Phil Spector in 1970 and finally released as Let It Be, serving as the soundtrack album for the 1970 motion picture of the same name.
Let It Be - film lobby card
Let It Be - lobby card - Paul
While three songs from the sessions were released as singles before the album’s release, “Get Back”/”Don’t Let Me Down” and “Let It Be”, the songs were remixed by Spector for the album.
The rehearsals and recording sessions for the album did not run smoothly. The acrimony that began during the recording of the previous year’s White Album resumed soon after the rehearsals began. At one point, George Harrison walked out and quit the group after severely arguing with both Paul McCartney and John Lennon, only to be coaxed back some days later. The film version is famous for showcasing a number of conflicts between the group members and has frequently been referred to as a documentary intended to show the making of an album but instead showing “the break-up of a band”.
Despite a largely negative review from Rolling Stone magazine at the time of its release, the album was ranked number 86 in the magazine’s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time in 2003.
Let It Be… Naked was released in 2003, an alternative version of the album stripping much of Phil Spector’s production work and using some different versions of songs.
Let It Be - Naked (2003)
Here’s an article from Rolling Stone magazine this week:
Forty years ago this weekend, the greatest band of all time gave the world their final album together: On May 8th, 1970, the Beatles released Let It Be, the Phil Spector-produced LP that featured hits like the title track, “The Long and Winding Road” and one of John Lennon’s most famous compositions, “Across the Universe.” While the album was recorded during the band’s caustic final days, Let It Be would go on to become one of their most celebrated records: it ranked Number 86 in Rolling Stone‘s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.
The story behind Let It Be is almost as mythic as the Beatles themselves. The band originally intended to record it as a live-in-the-studio album and movie in 1969. But the ambitious undertaking left the Beatles so weary, they abandoned the project to make Abbey Road instead. Later, Phil Spector added oversweetened orchestral overdubs to many of the album’s tracks — even though the record features some of the band’s strongest rock songs ever (including “Get Back”). In 1970, the Beatles released the documentary film of the same name, which captured the group’s iconic performance atop the Apple Studios building in January 1969. Perhaps due its controversial and detailed look at the Beatles’ interpersonal problems, the film itself remains unavailable on DVD.
Despite the album’s status in rock history, Paul McCartney was never a fan of Phil Spector’s production flourishes on Let It Be. In Rolling Stone‘s original review of the album, writer John Mendelsohn also criticized Spector’s superfluous additions, saying the famed Wall of Sound producer rendered “The Long and Winding Road” “virtually unlistenable with hideously cloying strings and a ridiculous choir” when compared to the version that appeared on the Get Back bootlegs in May, 1969. After years of dissatisfaction with the released version, McCartney announced plans to put out Let It Be… Naked in November 2003, which stripped the Let It Be songs of Spector’s ornate production. (Daniel Kreps – Rolling Stone)
Finally, here’s the sound of “Get Back” in an early incarnation, in rehearsal with John singing lead instead of Paul, and clearly the words to the song are still coming together….
It must have been 27 years ago. It was a chance visit to a local record shop in Forestville, a northern suburb of Sydney, Australia.
Back then “record” stores were just that. They sold vinyl records. However, at the time many were in a state of transition. Compact Discs had just come out and the writing was very much on the wall for the humble vinyl record. At the time this record shop was in the process of getting rid of it’s vinyl, settling into the retailing of CD’s, and transitioning to become a video movie hire shop – on the way out of music all together.
I walked in for a look around and saw this small box set on one of the shelves:
Box set – The Beatles E.P.’s Collection
It was sitting alone. Catalogue number: Odeon Mono EAS-30013-26.
You had the definite feeling that it had been on that shelf quite some time….had not sold…and the owners were definitely keen to shift it. I took it down and noticed it didn’t have a price sticker on it. I also noticed that amongst the individual vinyl singles they still had displayed that they’d opened at least one other similar box set to break up the contents and sell the EP records it contained individually.
I walked up to the counter and asked “How much is this one?”, holding up the box set. “You can have it for A$25.00”, said the guy behind the counter. Now, back then it wasn’t dirt cheap, but it was cheap for the quality of this mint, red vinyl Japanese copy of the entire Beatles Extended Play vinyl discs. I bought it.
What you see here is that same box set from all those years ago.
Beatles E.P.’s Collection – box spine
This Japanese release is the same as the U.K. set, except that all fifteen records inside are pressed on red vinyl and the two-record Magical Mystery Tour is in mono instead of stereo. All discs in fact are mono – except The Inner Light, which is in stereo.
The Beatles E.P.’s Collection – lid opening
Each of the fifteen EP records inside come with plastic covers:
All the discs have plastic covers
Another interesting thing is that these discs play at 33 and 1/3 r.p.m, not the usual 45 r.p.m. There’s a paper sheet inside (in Japanese) with some information about the release:
Beatles E.P.’s – paper insert sheet
The famed 2-record EP Magical Mystery Tour comes complete with the gatefold and booklet just like the original, and as already mentioned, is in mono:
Mono Japanese Magical Mystery Tour
And all the discs come pressed in a delicious-looking transparent red vinyl, and all with the original cover artwork:
The lovely red vinyl “Nowhere Man” EP
Note the “33and 1/3 r.p.m.” on the left-hand side of the label.
The red vinyl again – and each disc has plastic inner sleeves
Apparently this Japanese red vinyl edition also came out in a black vinyl edition.
Thanks to Wogblog for alerting us to this. He’s featured it twice. First in his interesting post on Beatles boxed sets here, and in a review of one section more recently here.
Very accurately subtitled “A Pictorial Journey Through Beatles Record Sleeves From Around the World”, this book is comprehensively just that. Written by Joachim Noske, a German fellow who must be one of the most avid Beatles record collectors of all time, “The Beatles Covered” delves into his extensive personal collection. As Noske says: “On 800 LP sized pages printed in full colour throughout, it is a trip through more than sixty countries and territories on five continents and shows you an amazing array of original and reissue Beatles record covers the way they were released at the time in the respective markets across the world. It contains well over 14,000 pictures of singles, EPs, LPs, flexi-discs, 78 rpm shellac records, coloured vinyl records, picture discs, and boxed sets of legitimately available Beatles material, which, besides their EMI output, also includes their pre-fame recordings in Hamburg (with Tony Sheridan and at the Star Club), their Decca audition set, as well as interview and documentary discs. This world discography of Beatles vinyl records is arranged geographically by continents and countries, and contains an appendix that focuses on a number of thematic issues, such as The Beatles Collection blue boxed set, their Christmas recordings and the Magical Mystery Tour releases, amongst others.”
Visit the special site set up to feature the book – there is a lot to click through, including many page examples of what’s inside, press clippings and reviews, and details about how you can order it. The book is limited to 500 signed copies.
Author Joachim Noske, sitting in front of some of his impressive collection of records (photo: Sergej Lepke)
Happy Record Store Day for last weekend (Saturday, 17 April)!
We managed (through our friendly local independent store, Red Eye Records) to get a copy of one of the special releases produced just for the weekend: The John Lennon Singles Bag.
See this post and this post for information on this very limited edition.
Apparently there are just 7000 of these packs made for the world…..mine is number 6644 of 7000. Not a low number, but it has a nice ring to it!
Here’s a picture from the web of how the pack looks:
A sealed copy of the John Lennon Singles Bag
Like this one, ours is still sealed – and we hope to be able to keep it that way – though it is very tempting to open it to see whats inside….
I was in Lismore in New South Wales last week (it’s a small-ish Australian country town in the north of the state). Once I’d completed my work business there I had about 40 minutes to spare before my plane home, so I went for a walk around the town’s CBD. You can probably guess that I can’t resist a second hand/old wares shop when I find one. Especially the one I did find, which was advertising “All Books Half Price”.
Inside this store was a treasure trove. Not only are most walls lined chock-full with old books of all sorts, but there’s antique furniture, old toys, art works, advertising signs, glassware, ornaments and all sorts of collectables.
They had a crate of old records and, while there were some interesting things there from other artists, no Beatles or Beatles-related sadly. “Do you have a music section in the books?”, I asked. “Well, we haven’t got much, but its over there.”, said the sales assistant, pointing to my right.
They actually had four Beatles books. 1. A hardback copy (in pretty good condition) of Peter Brown’s book “The Love You Make – An Insider’s Story of the Beatles” (1983); 2. An original paperback of a book based on the film “Help!” (1965) written by Al Hine (in just reasonable condition); 3. An original paperback called “Love Me Do – The Beatles Progress” (1964) by Michael Braun, similar in vintage and condition to the “Help!” book; and 4.“The Beatles Conquer America”, a book of photographs taken by Dezo Hoffmann.
I already have Peter Brown’s book and, while tempting as they are collectable items, the two old paperbacks were not in the greatest condition. Also, even at half price were reasonably expensive. So, I went for the Dezo Hoffmann book:
Front Cover - The Beatles Conquer America
For a book that came out in 1984 it was in almost mint condition. It contains some absolutely fantastic and rare photographs, and at the half-price cost of just A$7.50, it was a bargain addition to the collection. The black and white photographs were all taken between January 14 and February 22, 1964 when Dezo Hoffmann accompanied the Beatles from London to New York, Washington, Miami, and then back to London. It was their first American tour, and the Beatles as a pop phenomenon was really kicking into gear…
Rear cover - The Beatles Conquer America
The book also contains photos from a short tour to Paris prior to the US visit. Dezo Hoffmann was a Beatles insider – having taken an interest in photographing the band from well before their meteoric rise to fame. As such he got unique access – as seen throughout this book. Dezo also writes a short description of the background to each photograph. Here’s a quick flip through just a couple of the pages:
There is very much a “fly on the wall” feel to these photographs. They capture the Beatles at ease and enjoying themselves away from the fans, enjoying performing, and just soaking up the success that was coming their way.
If you don’t think you’ve ever seen a Dezo Hoffman image of the Beatles before, you might know this one:
Click here for a larger image and some official info on this release. In looking around for additional information on Dezo Hoffmann I found an interesting page about how his original shot outside the BBC was manipulated for this now famous cover.
As well as historic photographs, Dezo Hoffmann also took many informal home movies on location with the Beatles:
Time Magazine online is currently running an interesting photo-essay detailing the events surrounding the demise of the world’s greatest band. Click here to see and read their tribute, in this the 40th anniversary since the Beatles split. They say: “The band’s internal feuds boiled over into public view on April 10, 1970, when Paul McCartney announced his intention to leave the group”.
Here’s the schedule of documentary programs – most of which are from the BBC, many of which have never been heard in Australia before and are rarely heard overseas.
You’ll hear tracks and rare moments from the Beatles along with the following full docos (all times Australian Eastern Standard Time):
Saturday April 10
8:00am Nothing’s Gonna Change My World
9:20am The Beatles Story
2:53pm The White Album at 40
3:50pm Songwriters – Lennon and McCartney
4:04pm Nothing’s Gonna Change My World
5:26pm The Beatles At The Beeb Take 2
6:23pm The Beatles Story
Sunday April 11
0:08am Songwriters – Lennon and McCartney
0.22am The Making of Sgt Pepper
1:18am The Beeb’s Lost Beatles Tapes
8:02am Nothing’s Gonna Change My World
9:23am The White Album at 40
10:21am The Beeb’s Lost Beatles Tapes
5:04pm Nothing’s Gonna Change My World
6:29pm The Beatles Story
Midnight ABC Beatles ends
This weekend (10 & 11 April) is the 40th anniversary of the day Paul McCartney told the world that his songwriting partnership with John Lennon was over – forever.
It was effectively the first public confirmation that the Beatles as a group were no more. It was also another action by Paul that upset his former companions.
Privately John, George and Ringo had each individually, for short periods and at different times, told the others that they had “left the group” due to being frustrated with each other, but most often due to being frustrated with Paul – who seemed the one most locked in to trying to keep the band together. That it was Paul who made the first public move to announce the dissolution of the group just drove a wedge further between them all – especially John.
If you’re around this weekend Australian radio is marking the end of the world’s greatest band by playing a series of special programs. ABC Radio has created a special digital radio station just for the weekend called ABC Beatles:
On ABC Digital Radio and streaming online, beginning at 8am (Eastern Australian Time), Saturday 10th April and continuing until midnight Sunday 11th April, ABC Beatles will give listeners the opportunity to hear rare and exclusive material drawn from the depths of the BBC Radio archives. The broadcast will include an in-depth history of the band, interviews and recordings from their visits to BBC studios and documentaries never broadcast in Australia.
To get to the online streaming (Windows Media & Real Audio) click through to this page and follow the links.
Beatles Blog 