Had this amazing find yesterday. Just near where I work there’s a discount bookshop that sells lots of remainders. Over the years I’ve picked up quite a few things here (see: The Beatles Second Album; “The Beatles” book; Beatles Books Abound; etc.)
Yesterday I went in for the first time in weeks and saw about five copies of this sitting on a shelf:
I’ve seen this book around the traps but never purchased a copy, but at just A$14.99 how could I refuse?
John Lennon’s son Julian has turned his Beatles memorabilia, previously sitting in storage, into a travelling exhibition and a book – all to raise funds for his charity The White Feather Foundation.
There are lots of gold record awards – all of them from the US and all of them genuine (that is, the actual records that were presented by the RIAA – the Recording Industry of America – to the Beatles). In fact Julian says that his is the only full collection of the American gold discs. How can you tell they are all original? Well the book explains that official presentations are identifiable by the “…white-matte style, so named because of the white linen background used in the construction of the award. These types of awards were produced from 1963 to 1974 and were strictly limited to the artists only.”
Interestingly, Julian says in the text that despite being the only person to own a complete set of Beatles US gold records, he doesn’t own any of the Beatles vinyl albums at all. Extraordinary.
There are a couple of great guitars pictured in the book – some of which were given to him by his father and others acquired later (like this one):
Julian says that nearly everything he now owns he had to buy at auction. When his father passed away in 1980 he didn’t inherit any mementoes or keepsakes. Which is incredibly sad for himself and for his family.
If you want to have a peek inside just click here, and here’s a video of Julian Lennon talking about the book and exhibition.
I have posted very rarely on Wings in this blog, but of course collecting records and CDs by (or related to) the Beatles and Paul McCartney means that the band is well-and-truly included. During a recent visit to Canberra (the capital of Australia) I came across a second-hand shop I’d not visited before in the city’s downtown area. They mostly specialise in CDs, DVDs and games, but on the floor there was a large amount of unsorted vinyl where I found a small but interesting addition to the collection.
I already have a German pressing of the Wings single “Good Night Tonight” (1979). It’s the 12″ full version (7 minutes 15 seconds) of the song, on a green EMI Electrola/Odeon label:
As you can see, the cover is not in great shape but the vinyl is in mint condition. Anyway, in the Canberra store I found the Australian release of this same disc. It came out here with an orange Parlophone label:
The two releases have pretty much identical exterior artwork throughout with the only real difference being the colour of the inner sleeves. The German inner sleeve is made from thin paper and is printed in black and white:
While the Australian inner sleeve is made of thicker cardboard and is more deep blue in colour:
I also have the 7″ 45rpm edited version (4 minutes 18 seconds) of “Good Night Tonight” on an Australian black and silver Parlophone label:
It’s nice to have the orange Parlophone version, and at the cost of just A$3.00, a small but worthwhile addition to the collection.
Since the last instalment we’ve been swamped with some great content – enough for at least two or three more posts featuring the Beatles (or people close to them) photographed or filmed with records or CDs – either their own or those of other artists.
This first one comes from beatlesblogger.com reader Ariel, who sent in this great YouTube clip of John Lennon and Yoko Ono strolling past a crowd of reporters and photographers:
The footage was clearly taken in 1970 when John and Yoko were publicising this Plastic Ono Band album:
The footage comes from a 1977 film by French film-maker Gérard Courant, whose website says of the film: “The year punk music exploded, Courant gave his most avant-garde outburst by relating for the first time the shattering experiences that took place in the second half of the 20th century…with the rock culture that clamored that same idea of rupture…”. Lennon and Ono can also be seen publicising the same LP in Part Five and also in Part Two.
Staying with John Lennon for a moment here’s an image sent in by Andrey in Russia of the Lennon’s in New York – holding court with assembled media and hangers-on in their apartment in February, 1972 in Greenwich Village:
There’s obviously a record you can see sitting there at the foot of the bed:
But what and who is it? I was having real trouble identifying this one. Well, thanks to Andrey’s Russian-speaking friends we’ve been able to find that LP. He asked one of the Beatles.ru forums for some help. Which artist could it be? Andrey says he got the answer in about ten minutes:
The Power Pop website says that the group Soup was from Wisconsin in the USA and the members were Doug Yankus, Rob Griffith and David Faas . The band released a self-titled album in 1970, however what we can see here is the bands second LP, The Album Soup, from 1971. How it came to the attention of John Lennon, and what he thought of it we’ll probably never know.
Continuing on the Lennon theme – this time with Yoko and a gentleman named Kristofer Englehardt, author of the book “The Beatles Undercover“, holding a copy of her solo LP from 1971 called Fly:
In Part Six there’s a terrific photo of George Harrison in the back of a limo holding up a copy of his All Things Must Pass LP. Here’s another good one from around the same time:
Could it be that this photo below was taken on the same day and location? It looks very much like the same shirt George is wearing above. Perhaps he’s playing one of the sides from All Things Must Pass on his record player at home?
One final shot of George taken in 1972 according to the caption, this time with his triple LP from 1971 The Concert for Bangladesh:
When you are Paul McCartney, just getting into a building you are visiting can have it’s challenges. The photo below shows the type of crush which can eventuate when everyone wants a photograph or an album signed – including one fan bravely holding up a copy of the 1988 Russian release Снова в СССР:
Here he is again – this time with fans thrusting forward copies of (amongst other things) Help! and Tug of War (you can see the cover of Tug of War at the very bottom right-hand side of the photo):
One other final shot of Paul holding a 45 single, this time with Ringo and John. It is what is reported as a test acetate recording (printed in limited quantities and used by the band and engineers for checking the quality and the mix) – it is supposedly of a song from Sgt Pepper:
There’s another photo from the studio on the same day below – from a different angle with George also in attendance and more acetates lined up on the piano:
One final photo for this instalment – again of the Beatles as a group and possibly arriving in Rome. I say that because the gentleman in the light coloured jacket, moustache and glasses (who is a fellow named Alf Bicknell – the Beatles chauffeur between 1964-1966) is holding a copy of the Italian version of A Hard Day’s Night. You can tell it’s the Italian cover of the LP because the large type across the top saying “The BEATLES” is distinctively different to the standard UK release:
Thanks to all those who have sent in content and further information. You can see the other parts in “The Beatles with Records” series here: Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 , 6, 7 , 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16 and 17.
We’ve really been enjoying the newly-released BBC-Arena documentary “Produced by George Martin“. And it has been getting some very good reviews too. You might recall a little while ago we gave away a copy of the DVD to a lucky Beatlesblog reader, Eric Leon in France.
The DVD and BluRay contain the extensive documentary, plus over 50 minutes of extended interviews with Martin, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and many others. But it is not just Sir George’s work with the Beatles which is featured. “Produced by George Martin” is a history of Parlophone Records, which is a division of the huge recording conglomerate known as EMI. George Martin was the boss of Parlophone and so alongside the Beatles (by far his most famous signing) he was responsible for recording some of the top hit-makers in Britain (and the world) including Cilla Black, Peter Sellers, Spike Milligan, Rolf Harris, Gerry and the Pacemakers, Billy J. Kramer, Matt Monro, Shirley Bassey, and of course Wings. Many who see the doco will be wondering if there’s a way to get hold of some of the great music and comedy featured which Martin produced. There is – it’s a six CD box set of his work that came out way back in 2001. Interestingly, although it was released more than ten years before this latest documentary, it carries a very similar title to this year’s DVD and BluRay: “Produced by George Martin – 50 Years in Recording”:
Each CD set is individually numbered (mine is 08750) and comes in a fold-out, long-box length holdings which holds the six CD’s and a book. Here’s the rear cover and some of the inside fold-out panels:
The CD’s themselves contain tracks that date back to Sir George’s earliest work, beginning in 1955 and then traversing his entire career up to his post-Parlophone days recording acts like America, Jeff Beck, Jimmy Webb and John McLaughlin. Whoever designed the set decided to give each CD an authentic and historic Parlophone label. It’s a design idea that the Beatles themselves decided to copy in the their latest series of remastered re-issues of their own work, both for the 2009 CD remasters (mono and stereo), and for the LP box set which has only just been released:
Glued inside the fold-out package is a 35 page book, with liner notes by Mark Lewisohn (who will be well-known to Beatles fans as the band’s most knowledgable and respected biographer). In it Lewisohn details the background to Sir George’s life and the multitude of artists and styles he produced over a 45-year span in the business:
For those who were not able to fork out the considerable outlay for the full 6 CD box set, EMI/Parlophone also produced a “Highlights” single CD version containing 24 tracks:
And there was also a promo CD produced. It came in a simple cardboard slipcase with a further reduced selection of material (14 tracks). This would have been sent to radio stations, and reviewers at magazines and newspapers to promote the box set:
This 2001 box set from 2001 forms a great companion to the filmed “Produced by George Martin” DVD and BluRay documentary released in 2012.
On this Christmas Eve a post to mark the time of year. Paul McCartney always seems to have ways of making his releases just that little bit collectable and sometimes very difficult to keep up with…
For those completists among us you’d think it’d be a simple thing to secure a copy for your collection. It’s just one song after all – done in the same crooner style and the light jazz instrumentation of Kisses on the Bottom, Paul’s LP from earlier in the year.
The first we heard of this song’s existence was that it was coming out on a compilation CD called Holidays Rule:
Easy. Just order a copy of the CD, or download the song from iTunes and you are up-to-date. Not so because then comes the news that it is also to be released as a vinyl single. But not just any vinyl single. There will only be 5000 copies made, it will be on coloured vinyl, it will have custom labels, and will only be available from independent record stores… Oh, and in the Christmas spirit some of the vinyl will be red, and some will be green:
Thanks to Andrey in Russia for sending through these scans. He got them from a mate in Germany who ordered the single from two different sources and was lucky to get one copy of each colour. Apparently one of his friends in the USA ordered five copies but got all of them in the red colour. Another collector in Japan ordered four copies and got all of them in the green….As the covers are all sealed in heat-shrink plastic nobody knows what colour vinyl will arrive until they open them. And, given it’s limited release status, the single has been for sale on Ebay at very inflated prices…..
You’d think that would be the end of it. But no. There are two different versions of Paul McCartney’s rendition of “The Christmas Song” (and thanks to the WogBlog site for this information).
One version comes with strings and is only available as a bonus track on the digital download album called Complete Kisses. This is an iTunes exclusive, digital-only album released in conjunction with the DVD/BlueRay of Paul performing all the songs from Kisses on the Bottom live.
However, the song on the vinyl singles above and on the Holidays Rule CD are without the strings, just Paul singing backed by a small jazz ensemble.
So, if you want every version of just this one McCartney song you have to hunt around – and reach deep into your wallet – this Christmas.
Happy Christmas, happy collecting, and happy holidays everyone.
Paul McCartney is to release a vinyl single of “The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)”, from the Holidays Rule compilation CD and the Complete Kisses iTunes-only Christmas release.
The coloured vinyl single will be backed with McCartney’s original 1979 version of “Wonderful Christmastime”, or is it the version of the song on the Holidays Rule CD by The Shins? That is still to be confirmed. A label spokesman quoted by Beatles Examiner said the record comes out in the U.S. on December 4 and will be available through independent record stores.
Paul McCartney has announced a special Christmas release – an exclusive iTunes-only album called ‘Kisses On The Bottom – Complete Kisses’. It will be available for download only on November 26th in the UK and internationally, and on November 27th in the US.
‘Kisses On The Bottom – Complete Kisses’ will feature the standard edition of the album ‘Kisses On The Bottom’ along with the entire 13 tracks from the ‘Live From Capitol Studios’ concert performance.
There’ll also be four bonus tracks including a special festive recording of ‘The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire)’, which Paul recorded at Avatar Studios in New York in September. The album will also feature a previously unreleased version of ‘My Valentine’ arranged by Johnny Mandel, and the tracks ‘Baby’s Request’ and ‘My One And Only Love’ (both previously available only on the “Deluxe” edition of the CD or via iTunes).
01. I’m Gonna Sit Right Down And Write Myself A Letter 02:36
02. Home (When Shadows Fall) 04:04
03. It’s Only A Paper Moon 02:35
04. More I Cannot Wish You 03:04
05. The Glory Of Love 03:46
06. We Three (My Echo, My Shadow And Me) 03:22
07. Ac–Cent–Tchu–Ate The Positive 02:32
08. My Valentine 03:14
09. Always 03:49
10. My Very Good Friend The Milkman 03:04
11. Bye Bye Blackbird 04:26
12. Get Yourself Another Fool 04:42
13. The Inch Worm 03:43
14. Only Our Hearts 04:21
Bonus Tracks:
15. The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire) 03:35
16. Baby’s Request 03:30
17. My One And Only Love 03:50
18. My Valentine (Johnny Mandel Original Arrangement) 03:12
Live From Capitol Studios:
19. I’m Gonna Sit Right Down And Write Myself A Letter (Live) 02:44
20. Home (When Shadows Fall) (Live) 04:26
21. It’s Only A Paper Moon (Live) 02:55
22. More I Cannot Wish You (Live) 03:28
23. The Glory Of Love (Live) 03:53
24. We Three (My Echo, My Shadow And Me) (Live) 04:14
25. Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate The Positive (Live) 02:51
26. My Valentine (Live) 03:31
27. Always (Live) 04:21
28. My Very Good Friend The Milkman (Live) 03:14
29. Bye Bye Blackbird (Live) 04:45
30. Get Yourself Another Fool (Live) 07:48
31. My One And Only Love (Live) 04:16
‘The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire)’is also featured on a new holiday CD compilation called “Holiday’s Rule”. It features a variety of artists performing Christmassy-themed songs. The project is coordinated by Paul’s record companies Hear Music/Concord Music and MPL. You can hear the song in full if you visit the MPL site – it’s currently featured on their embedded music player.
This just a quick follow up to an earlier post pointing to Paul McCartney’s “Live Kisses” coming out on DVD, BluRay and digital video.
I got a copy of the BluRay today so I thought I’s share some photos of the packaging and what’s inside:
That’s it still in it’s shrink wrap. The front cover photo is taken by Mary McCartney. Here it is released from the plastic:
It is really quite a nicely put together package. It’s not in a standard BluRay plastic cover but is more like a small, bound hardback book. (The DVD comes in the same packaging only in a slightly larger format). That dark black stripe you can see down the left-hand side is embossed with a shiny finish. Quite stylish. Here’s the rear cover:
There’s a 41 page book inside which contains some nice photos and the stylish layout begun on the exterior continues:
The design is reminiscent of the “Kisses on the Bottom” CD packaging, but is also quite distinctive in itself. There’s a Foreword from Mr Diana Krall – none other than Elvis Costello:
Costello also conducts an extensive interview with Paul McCartney about the project and the recording and this takes up the bulk of the book. At the rear are a couple of pages containing info on the composers, the song publishing details, and the recording personnel for each track. The disc contents and the bonus features are detailed, and the final page is a thin slot container for the BluRay disc itself:
(click on images to see larger versions)
So, all in all, quite nicely put together. Now to go and watch it! For those wanting a preview, McCartney’s MPL site has just put up an extended promo video package.
Meanwhile, a Paul McCartney Christmas track (which sounds like it may have been recorded during the “Kisses” sessions) is part of a new holiday CD compilation called “Holiday’s Rule” featuring a variety of artists. It’s a project coordinated by Paul’s record companies Hear Music/Concord Music and MPL. He does the classic “The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)”. You can hear the song if you visit the MPL site – it is featured on their embedded music player at the moment.
There’s a veritable feast of Beatle programming coming up this week on the BBC. In this the group’s 50th year, the broadcaster has just announced a series of programmes celebrating the life and music of the band.
First up comes “A Year in the Life: The Beatles ’62“, a 53 minute documentary which goes to air and online at 1305 GMT on Monday, 19 November 2012. In it “…Roger McGough tells the story of the pivotal breakthrough year for the Liverpool beat combo via twelve interlinked recollections from those who knew and worked alongside them in 1962.”
Then on Tuesday 20 November at 1305 GMT comes “Beatleland“. The BBC press releases says: “The Beatles left Liverpool in 1962 to conquer the world, but it never left them. Craig Charles heads home to Liverpool to find out what they took with them and the legacy they left behind. Every day, tourists visit Lennon and McCartney’s childhood homes, restored to their 1950s glory by English Heritage. From Albert Dock to Mathew Street, Beatle memorials are ever-present: Penny Lane and Strawberry Field, The Jacaranda, The Casbah and The Cavern where the group learned its trade, The Grapes and Ye Cracke, where the young Beatles would sit over a pint of cider, and Gambier Terrace, where John Lennon shared a flat with fellow art student Stu Sutcliffe. The Beatles connection is worth an estimated £20 million a year to the local economy.”
The week of special Beatles programming continues next day with “Paul McCartney at the BBC” – another 53 minute doco on Wednesday 21 November, again at 1305 GMT. “Johnnie Walker presents a portrait of Sir Paul McCartney, drawn from BBC archive interviews and performances. The programme starts with the break-up of The Beatles and traces McCartney’s career as a solo artist up to the present. It’s made up entirely of rare BBC archive interviews and performances, and presents a fascinating picture of one of Britain’s greatest musicians. Among other treats we hear Sir Paul deconstructing Band On The Run for a television ad for a domestic radio station and recording a session at the famous Abbey Road studios.”
Finally, Thursday 22 November at 1305 GMT, you’ll be able to listen in to a special on “The Magical Mystery Tour“, a 53 minute programme about “….the television film called Magical Mystery Tour devised, written and directed by The Beatles. It has a significant place in the history of The Beatles – not least, because it was viewed by many as the group’s first failure. Paul Gambaccini presents a programme revealing the story behind the making of Magical Mystery Tour.”
The BBC World Service schedule for the series can be seen here. There are also some programs on the Rolling Stones if you are a fan.
These days a lot of Paul McCartney’s and the Beatles vinyl LP’s and CD’s have the term “Manufactured in the EU” or “Printed in the EU” on the back cover – even some that are for sale in the US. Here are just a couple of recent vinyl examples from my collection:
(Rear of LP cover – click to enlarge)
And titles in the McCartney Archive series including:
(Rear of LP cover – click to enlarge)
There are CD examples as well (though some of these do say “Manufactured in the USA”).This means these albums are being pressed (and probably in quite large quantities) somewhere in a European Union country. Many might think that means Britain, Germany, Holland, or maybe even France where they have a rich tradition of pressing good quality vinyl and are geared up to do so.
But then again, maybe not….
I’ve had an email from Russian Beatles collector Andrey. Remember back to Record Store Day earlier this year when Paul McCartney, as part of the publicity in the lead-up to the “Ram” Archives Series reissues, released a limited-edition 45 vinyl single of the song “Another Day“?
This was a collectors item reproduction single (including a nice picture sleeve) especially made for Record Store Day. “Another Day” was a song which was recorded during the “Ram” sessions. However it didn’t come out on the original “Ram” album . It was only ever issued as a single and was a huge worldwide hit. The RSD release from earlier this year looks like this:
Well, Andrey bought that 2012 RSD “Another Day” single from a Russian internet shop. The interesting thing is that while the small print on the rear of the paper sleeve states (as it does around the world) that the paper sleeve was “Printed in the USA”, one of the two stickers on the back of Andrey’s copy says that the vinyl record itself was actually manufactured in the Czech Republic by a company called GZ Digital Media.
The rear cover of Andrey’s copy looks like this:
And here’s a close up of that sticker:
(click on images to see larger versions)
If you go to the GZ Digital Media website you’ll discover that they’re a well-established and very professional outfit clearly geared up to do high-quality vinyl and CD pressing runs in large numbers if need be. The company’s vinyl “Products” page lists everything from mastering through to the production of 7″, 10″ and 12″ vinyl; shaped and coloured vinyl; and they even do the printing of covers and production of box sets if required.
That got me thinking about some other releases I have with “Printed in the EU” on the back. The Beatles vinyl editions of “1” and “Love” for instance:
(Rear of LP cover – click to enlarge)
Is GZ Digital Media in the Czech Republic the plant where these were manufactured too? Could be.
One of the articles I read about the forthcoming box set of re-mastered Beatles vinyl stated that one of the big logistical challenges Apple faced in planning the project was to find processing plant (or plants) that could physically cope with the sheer volume of discs needing to be pressed. They all have to be high quality and stockpiled in very big numbers for distribution. Perhaps the GZ Digital Media plant is playing a part?
If you have any more info please join in the conversation.
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