Paul McCartney’s work on Destiny, the long-awaited new blockbuster in the video game world, made its public debut when the game hit store shelves for the first time earlier this week:
As you can see in the screen grab above, there are two main McCartney contributions. There’s his joint composing credit (with Martin O’Donnell) for the instrumental passages used throughout the game called “Music of the Spheres”, and there’s a new song recorded specifically for the game which is played across the extensive closing credits – much like those at the end of a movie. That song is called “Hope”. Produced by Giles Martin, and utilising members of McCartney’s current touring band, the song was recorded in Abbey Road and at Sir Paul’s own Hog Hill Mill studio in East Sussex, England:
It has been confirmed on McCartney’s official site that “Hope” is to be released as a single, but no date has been announced yet.
Those completists among us will be looking to acquire a copy of Diana Krall’s new CD called Wallflower. Due out on October 21, it will contain a previously unreleased tune from Paul McCartney called “If I Take You Home Tonight”.
Diana Krall, jazz pianist, vocalist, and wife of Elvis Costello, played a significant role on McCartney’sKisses on the Bottom standards CD and LP from 2012.
“I still had a copy of the music,” Krall said, “and I asked him if he was O.K. if I did the song for my record and he said, ‘Sure’. So we recorded that and it came out just gorgeous. It’s a new Paul McCartney song that’s never been recorded that I’m pretty honored to have.”
One of the most difficult items to identify in photographs of the Beatles with records are vinyl test pressings or acetates. These are cut at the studio and often contain demos or finished versions of songs or albums for them to listen to privately to gauge the quality of the pressing or the mix.
At EMI in the 1960s these were pressed onto 45rpm singles or 331/3 LP’s using labels which looked like this: The labels were left blank for the producer or engineer to hand-write or type information about the track including the title, which take it was, duration, name of the artist, etc.
That brings us to this great picture of George Harrison, taken in the studio at about the time of the recording of the The Beatles (or The White Album) in 1968:First thing to say is that is a really cool watch he has on…..
Second point of interest is that acetate or test pressing of a single he has at his left elbow. It’s in a plain white paper sleeve with writing on it, and it’s on the Emidisc label – just like the example in the picture shown above. If we rotate the picture and adjust the contrast a bit we get this:
This makes the writing on the sleeve a little easier to make out. If we rotate it just a little bit more we can see a bit more clearly:It is fairly clear that the hand-writing on the sleeve says: “with love from Paul McCartney“. His signature is very distinctive – it features on his official website even now – and here we can see that familiar looped “l” in the word “Paul”, and the trailed off “y” at the end of “McCartney”. Here’s another random example:
The tougher task is to identify what is hand-written onto the Emidisc label. We reckon it is this: under the word Emidisc there’s something like a number (maybe the duration of the track), then comes the song title. We think two words and, given this picture was taken during recordings for The White Album, our guess it’s the McCartney song “Honey Pie”. The writing looks a bit like that, too. Under that, just above the spindle hole, are some more letters or code numbers. On the left of the spindle hole it says “45 RPM”. On the right it looks like the duration of the track in minutes and seconds (which is difficult to make out). Then at the very bottom the writing clearly says “The Beatles”.
Was this a test cut for George to take home and have a listen to “Honey Pie”? Any further insights, thoughts or suggestions are very welcome.
There is one fly in the ointment with theory though……It is this photograph from the web of Ringo Starr, clearly taken at around the same time, also holding an acetate/test pressing:
The person who posted this says it is Ringo holding an acetate recording of “Get Back” -which would place it in early 1969, not 1968. We’d prefer to go with this website that clearly places it as a photo session from September, 1968. It is pretty likely therefore that this is the exact same disc as the one seen with George. The plain paper sleeve has the same greeting written in the same position: “With love from Paul McCartney“. It is difficult to make out the writing on the label, but it has a very similar set-out to the previous one….again, thoughts and theories are welcome!
Seems the never-ending announcements about releases for Beatles or Beatle-related product in the month of September has forced Paul McCartney to delay the release of the next two instalments in his Archive series. We just had an email from Amazon saying that the dates for Venus and Mars and Wings at the Speed of Sound have been pushed back.
It’s not that surprising that something had to give.
We’ve just had the new DVD and BluRay of A Hard Day’s Night, the BeatlesJapan Box CD set, and the vinyl re-issue of Lennon’s Shaved Fish. Then in September comes The Beatles In Mono vinyl box set (September 8); the Icon series CD’s for John Lennon and Ringo Starr (both September 9); and the news that a George HarrisonThe Apple Years CD box set is due for a September 22 release.
The schedule was getting very crowded….not to mention the strain on collectors’ wallets!
The long-expected official announcement of the next two instalments in the Paul McCartney Archive Collection has just been made.
Paul McCartney and Wings’ Venus and Mars (1975) and At The Speed of Sound (1976) will both be issued on 22 September in the UK and 23 September in the US, slotting into an already crowded Beatles and related release schedule for September:
Both albums will be available in a variety of physical and digital formats:
The Standard Editions will be a 2 CD set featuring the original albums remastered, plus a second CD of bonus material including demos and previously un-released tracks.
The Deluxe Editions will each contain 2 CDs plus a DVD, housed in a numbered hardback book featuring new articles, interviews, photographs, facsimile archive inserts and expanded track-by-track information. The DVD will feature material filmed at the time of each album’s release, some of which is previously unseen.
Both albums will be issued on vinyl in special gatefold covers. Digital downloads will be available for both Standard and Deluxe, and in a variety of formats including hi-res versions.
The detailed contents of each (including full track-lists) can be found at the Paul McCartney official page, and there’s more info in these two new YouTube clips which have just gone public:
The Beatles official site has just announced that the highly respected US film director Ron Howard has been chosen to direct the new film about the Beatles touring years. They have linked to the micro-site set up to collect material for the project called thebeatlesliveproject.
The call out to fans who where there and have still images, film or audio from Beatle concerts and events is continuing. If you or someone you know has visual or audio materials documenting your personal experience of the Beatles live tours, Apple wants to hear from you. They are looking for rare or unusual footage, photographs, and audio recordings, particularly those that highlight the fan experience – what it was like to be a part of the frenzy.
The film will be a new, Apple-authorised Beatles documentary feature about the band’s touring years. It has the full co-operation of Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Yoko Ono and Olivia Harrison.
On August 14 Paul McCartney is set to play a very special gig at San Francisco’s Candlestick Park called “Farewell to Candlestick: The Final Concert.” It will be the last show to be played at the stadium before the venue is demolished. For McCartney, and the fans lucky enough to be there, it will be a farewell show for the venue where the Beatles played their final full concert as a group on August 29, 1966.
Well, there’s a chance for you to win tickets to the gig – and to help a very worthwhile charity at the same time.
Paul is helping an organisation called Aid Still Required build a new school in Haiti for kids who would otherwise never get an education. Fans can enter a contest to win a trip to San Francisco (airfares and hotel included), attend soundcheck at Paul’s Candlestick Park date, meet Macca backstage, take photos with him, and then watch the concert from VIP seats reserved for his guests.
All you need to do is make a donation (there are a range of options starting from as little as $10). You’ll not only be helping out kids in Haiti, but your donation will also put you in with a chance to be at the historic Candlestick Park concert on August 14.
The prize is for one winner and one guest to fly to San Francisco and see Paul McCartney play Candlestick Park. The prize includes economy class flights from anywhere in the world for two people and two nights hotel accommodation. The contest closes on July 28.
About Haiti…..On January 12th, 2010 a Point 7 magnitude earthquake struck just off the coast of Port Au Prince, killing 230,000 and injuring millions more. Just because it’s no longer in the headlines doesn’t mean this devastated country is no longer in great need. Find out more at the Aid Still Required Facebook page.
Sad news for Paul McCartney and his Japanese fans – the entire tour has now been cancelled due to the illness Paul contracted just prior to the first show there last Saturday.
This includes what would have seen an historic return tonight to Tokyo’s famous Budokan stadium. It would have been his first appearance on the Budokan stage since the Beatles became the first pop band to play there in 1966.
All possibilities are being looked into to reschedule the missed Tokyo shows.
Next week the tour moves on to Korea. Let’s hope this illness can be shaken off by then.
For those Beatle collectors who just have to have everything…..another collectable in now in the shops in Japan.
Timed to coincide with Paul McCartney’s concert performances there (which start in Tokyo tonight and continue tomorrow night and on May 21, followed by Osaka on May 24), it’s a special limited edition of New, the album he released last year.
In this package you get the 15 track Japan-only version of New which, like the 2013 Japanese edition, has the extra track “Struggle” included – making it different to the both the Standard and Deluxe versions of the album released in all other countries. Plus you get a bonus DVD containing:
1. Save Us (Live at Tokyo Dome 2013)
2. Everybody out There (Live at Tokyo Dome 2013)
3. A Rendezvous With Paul McCartney (a Canadian documentary)
4. New (Lyric video)
5. Queenie Eye (Music Video)
6. Something New (the documentary on the making of the album New)
Presented in a clear plastic protective sleeve with an Obi strip on the left and an orange and white sticker on the outside, this new CD/DVD set looks like this:
When you open it up it turns out that hybrid cover joining the images from the covers of the Standard (orange/pink) and the Deluxe (blue/pink) editions together is actually a single, separate cardboard sleeve containing the bonus DVD:
The CD disc of the New album is contained in a separate, triple gatefold cover. Interestingly, this comes in the orange/pink colouring of the Standard editions released worldwide last year, despite the fact that it’s actually a Japanese Deluxe version:
This makes it unique as the 2013 Japanese Deluxe version (like other versions around the world) is normally presented in the blue/pink tinted New cover which makes it identifiable as the Deluxe. When it came out last year in Japan it looked like this:
Inside this new 2014 limited edition you get the CD booklet that is common to all versions:
Plus you get a Japanese booklet containing the album and DVD credits, track listings, information on the “Out There” Japan tour in 2013, and song lyrics both in Japanese and English. The cover of this second booklet is black and white:
Meanwhile, a new video for the song “Appreciate”, taken from the New album, was premiered in Japan during the week and has since been released globally:
The press release says “Paul teams up with Newman the robot for his NEW video ‘Appreciate’ & Japanese tour dates.
Introducing Newman…
Paul has collaborated with some of the biggest names in the world. In recent years his videos have featured a stellar line up of guests including Meryl Streep, Johnny Depp, Kate Moss, Jude Law, Tom Ford, Sean Penn and Natalie Portman.
Today, Paul announced his first artistic collaboration with a robot. Newman, the robot, has teamed up with Paul for his new music video for the song ‘Appreciate’. ‘Appreciate’ is taken from Paul’s latest studio album NEW, which was launched last year.
The video sees Newman on patrol in a museum of humans. Newman is drawn to one exhibition in particular. In a dimly lit sound studio he sees Paul sitting on a stool holding his iconic Höfner bass guitar. Paul twitches making a sound on the guitar and to Newman’s astonishment he starts to come to life as the song ‘Appreciate’ starts up. Paul comes closer to Newman staring at him through a force field that encloses him. Newman reaches through the force field and pulls Paul out of his exhibition. As the two of them move around the museum all the exhibitions start coming to life too.
Speaking about Newman, Paul said: “I woke up one morning with an image in my head of me standing with a large robot. I thought it might be something that could be used for the cover of my album NEW but instead the idea turned out to be for my music video for ‘Appreciate’. Together with the people who had done the puppetry for the worldwide hit ‘War Horse’ we developed the robot who became Newman.”
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