The forthcoming deluxe re-issue of Paul McCartney’s “Ram” [21st May (UK)/ 22nd May (USA/Rest Of World)] will be very different in the way it is packaged compared to the three previous deluxe reissues in the Archive series.
On Record Store Day 2012 I went to the huge Glebe Record Fair in search of some collectable treasure and came home with three nice items.
One of them was another in the series of Apple reissues that came out on vinyl in the early 1990s. These are now very rare and you can read all about the background to these here. At the record fair I stumbled across one of the LPs from that time which I’ve been searching for for a very long time:
This is the original 1970 album “Magic Christian Music” by Badfinger, reissued in 1991 on Apple Records – only this time as a gatefold cover and containing a bonus 12″ disc with two extra songs. It was part of Phase I of a significant series of reissues which included James Taylor’s “James Taylor”, Mary Hopkins’ “Postcard”, Jackie Lomax’s “Is This What You Want?”, and Billy Preston’s “That’s the Way God Planned It”.
These vinyl reissues are now really very difficult to track down so I was surprised to see one at the fair and decided on the spot to get it. It comes with the original Apple catalogue number SAPCOR 12 and looks to be a European pressing:
One of the distinctive and cool parts about it is that instead of being in a single sleeve it’s a gatefold:
Being a gatefold means there’s obviously space for more photos and information about the release, and that in the second half of the sleeve there’s another 12″ record (a 45 rpm disc) containing two additional songs. On Side 1 you get “Storm in a Teacup”, and on Side 2 you get the previously unreleased “Arthur”:
“Arthur” was later included on the double CD of bonus tracks which came with the Apple CD box set that came out in 2010, only with a different stereo remix.
Next time the other collectable item I discovered. Stay tuned.
This week (on Saturday) we once again celebrate the importance of independent record stores around the world. And once again there’s some Beatle-related treasure for collectors. Not as significant as the last Beatle release as part of Record Store Day’s Black Friday editions last year, however still collectable. This time there’s a Paul McCartney 45 on offer. It comes in the lead up to the numerous special McCartney Archive editions of “Ram” in May.
MPL/Hear Music/Concord are releasing a limited edition (just 2000 copies) of the 1971 single “Another Day/Oh Woman Oh Why“:
The Record Store Day site says: “A classic Paul McCartney vinyl single reissue manufactured exclusively for Record Store Day! “Another Day” was originally recorded in 1970, during the sessions for the album Ram. It was the first single of his solo career. It was originally released February 19, 1971 with “Oh Woman, Oh Why” as the B-side. Upon its release “Another Day”/”Oh Woman, Oh Why” reportedly sold over a million copies worldwide. It was a number one hit in France and Australia, in the U.K. it reached number two, in the U.S. it reached number five. This exclusive reissue single is taken from the forthcoming Paul McCartney Archive Collection edition of Ram coming this spring!”
You can read more about it here on the excellent Second Disc blog.
And it all leads to the next significant installment in the Archive Series – “Ram”. The Second Disc also has some info on this forthcoming release.
McCartney stated: “Ladies and gentlemen, this is an album from a long, long time ago, when the world was different. This is an album that is part of my history…it goes back to the wee hills of Scotland where it was formed. It’s an album called Ram. It reminds me of my hippie days and the free attitude with which was created. I hope you’re going to like it, because I do!”
There have been some great Beatles collectables associated with previous Records Store Days. I’ve already mentioned last year’s Beatles singles box; in 2010 there was a special re-issue of Harrison’s “All Things Must Pass“; there was another McCartney limited edition single released as part of the McCartney Archive Series; there was also the Beatles “Paperback Writer“; and of course the great Lennon Singles Bag.
That’s right. Three new videos. You’re probably familiar with this, the first official release made during the photo shoot for the cover of “Kisses on the Bottom“:
But yesterday Paul McCartney launched not one, but three new versions of a video he directed himself of his song “My Valentine’. They each feature Natalie Portman and Johnny Depp. The first has both actors presenting the song using sign language:
Then there are two version variations – one with just Natalie Portman on her own:
The other has just Johnny Depp on his own:
If I’m not mistaken, that sounds like a slightly different guitar solo. Could it be Johnny Depp actually playing guitar? He’s a keen player.
The Mail Online has a feature on the making of the videos.
UPDATE: paulmccartney.com has just issued a press release with more details about the new videos – which are based on an original idea by Paul’s daughter Stella McCartney and were premiered at an event held at the Stella McCartney store in Los Angeles. Two other interesting details from the release:
‘My Valentine’ is the second Paul McCartney music video Natalie Portman has starred in, the first being the Michel Gondry directed ‘Dance Tonight‘ in 2007. For this new performance, she was exclusively dressed by Stella McCartney. Johnny Depp also plays guitar in his version and recorded the track’s guitar solo live. His guitar take was then mixed and mastered into the final track. The original guitar solo on the studio version of the song was performed by Eric Clapton.
We wrote recently about Paul McCartney advertising for JBL and Tiffany. It’s not the first time he’s allowed his name and music to be associated with commercial products. Its actually a tradition that goes way back – to the very start of Beatlemania.
For a very long time, having your product associated with the Beatles in any way has been considered advantageous….take this tastefully designed, directed and edited commercial – with a soundtrack provided by you know who:
You gotta admit at least that was clever and stylish. Not so much this unfortunate one Ringo Starr and some former Monkees got themselves involved in a while back – for Pizza Hut:
I guess there’s a big difference between Beatles songs being used in a commercial and an actual personal endorsement – although the Ringo example had both…..
Turns out Beatle songs being used in advertising is much more frequent than you might first imagine. In 2007 for example “Hello Goodbye” was licensed for use by Target to promote its stores:
Back in 2002 Julian Lennon recorded “When I’m Sixty Four” specifically for a retirement investment ad for the US company Allstate:
That then raises the question of actual, original Beatle recordings being used, as opposed to re-recordings by anonymous studio musicians. Which is more offensive to you, if at all?
One famous example of a real, iconic Beatles song being used was provided by Nike in 1987, and it caused an absolute uproar:
“If it’s allowed to happen, every Beatles song ever recorded is going to be advertising women’s underwear and sausages. We’ve got to put a stop to it in order to set a precedent. Otherwise it’s going to be a free-for-all. It’s one thing when you’re dead, but we’re still around! They don’t have any respect for the fact that we wrote and recorded those songs, and it was our lives.” — George Harrison (November 1987)
It didn’t stop of course, and for many fans the ultimate insult came with “All You Need is…Luvs” – a commercial for disposable nappies…
And that’s not the only time that same, famous Beatles song has been used. Blackberry got in on the act with this one:
Of course, control over their song catalogue has long been out of the Beatles hands. They no longer own the rights and therefore have very little say in how songs they wrote might be used (although Paul McCartney does control all his subsequent solo work). That begs the question: are the surviving Beatles themselves ever consulted about which of their songs are used and how? The Independent newspaper says it is unclear if McCartney or Yoko Ono, John Lennon’s widow, approved use of “All You Need is Love” for the Blackberry commercial. It does however say that in 2008 Sony/ATV (owners of the catalogue) said it had a “moral obligation” to contact them before giving approving to such projects.
Ono herself has not been free of criticism. She apparently gave permission for an actor to overdub John Lennon’s voice on some archival footage which was turned into an advertisement for a Citroen car:
In May last year we posted on Beatlesblogger about the Australian city of Brisbane using “Come Together” to advertise what a great place Brisbane was after their big flood event. It looks like the organisers have since taken down their YouTube video of that commercial, probably because they only paid for the use of the song for a limited time.
The more you delve into this question of the Beatles and advertising the more examples you find. Maybe its best to just stop here before it gets too depressing….
This is the latest in a series about the Beatles being photographed holding or being nearby LP records or CD’s. Of all the many thousands of photographs taken of the band (or of them as solo artists) there are not actually that many with them in close proximity to the product they sold so many of….
The other posts in this series are: The Beatles with Records Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 , 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17.
Readers have sent in some additional photos and so its time for maybe one more installment. This first one, which comes from Thomas Repetny, is an early shot taken on a stage decorated with record covers behind what is clearly an early incarnation of the group (i.e. no Ringo yet…):
Thanks for this one Tom – and check out Tom’s own zany site tomwantstoplaywithpaulmccartney.com and watch as he follows his dream.
In researching this photograph (to try to figure out the LP covers hanging up on the wall behind the Beatles) I found the same early stage shot taken from a couple of other angles:
Of the eight LP covers and one 45 that can be seen behind the band I can clearly make out just two. They’re both above drummer Pete Best. The first is right at the top and it’s The John Lasalle Quartet LP “Jumpin’ at the Left Bank”:
This jazz album was recorded live at the New York City nightclub of the same name. It was released in the early Sixties. Interestingly its on the Capitol label – which of course would soon become the Beatles own label in the United States.
The other album cover is just above Peter Best’s right shoulder. It’s an album by the legendary Belgian jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt – “The Art of Django”:
All the albums on this stage seem to be jazz-influenced. The only other title I can vaguely make out is “The (something) Jazz Quartet”. If anyone knows when and where this photograph was taken, and if anyone can identify any of the other record covers, please email us at beatlesblogger@gmail.com
There was another photograph sent in also with the Beatles playing on stage – this time with their own record “Please Please Me” enlarged as the backdrop:
Again, it’s quite an early shot – but there is Ringo, and there is the very early flowing script version of a Beatles logo on his bass drum. Clearly it’s just after the release of their very first LP in Britain because there behind them, plastering the rear of the stage is a large poster and many record covers for “Please Please Me”:
Once the band started to become famous the press wanted photographs of them at home and in more relaxed surroundings. Here’s one of those featuring Ringo with his Mum and stepfather – who both loved their music. He’s talking with them about the record he’s holding. It’s by James Ray:
You can see the rear of the cover in the photo above:
And this is the front cover image:
Nice. James Ray was an American R&B singer. There’s another Beatle connection here because in 1962 it was James Ray who recorded the original version of “Got My Mind Set on You” (you can see that on the rear cover track-listing from the album that Ringo is holding. See track 3). Much later (in 1987) the song became a number one hit for George Harrison. (To compare the two versions see: YouTube – James Ray and YouTube – George Harrison)
Signing albums has always been a task when in public for all the Beatles. Here’s Paul in what looks like the mid 1980s signing a copy of one of the Beatles most famous record covers – “Yesterday and Today”:
What you can see in the picture above is the rear cover:
Doing publicity for a new record that is out in the shops goes without saying – even for ex-Beatles:
Ringo’s “Y Not” was released in January, 2010.
As he would say: “Peace and love.”
And happy Easter everyone.
You can see the other parts in “The Beatles with Records” series here: Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 , 6, 7, 9 , 10 , 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17.
One of my favourite podcasts is Fresh Air from National Public Radio (NPR) in the US.
They have just uploaded a really interesting and insightful interview with Paul McCartney about his recent release “Kisses On The Bottom“. NPR host Terry Gross interviews Paul from his East Sussex studios (Hog Hill Mill) in England. She finds him in a relaxed, expansive, and conversational mood. Paul is candid and open – and is sitting at his piano. He doesn’t perform but illustrates his points with it as he speaks about songwriting and music. It’s really worth a listen for any Beatles fan, or anyone interested in understanding why McCartney has released an album of pre-rock’n’roll songs. You can listen by going to the NPR site, or just click below:
At the end of the interview Paul describes his studio. To get a visual idea of what it looks like inside check out this video of him working in 2009 with Klaus Voormann at Hog Hill Mill:
Collecting Beatles recordings is sometimes a confusing business. You think you’ve got a particular CD or LP and then you find out (sometimes years later) that there’s a different version or variation available. That’s what happened to me while surfing the web the other day.
I’ve had for many years a vinyl copy of Paul McCartney’s “All The Best”, which is a two LP “best of” set featuring his greatest solo and Wings hits. It came out in 1987. This vinyl edition has 20 tracks. The cover is a gate-fold looks like this:
Then, about 12 months ago I was browsing a second-hand book and CD sale in Sydney and found the CD of this same title. It was an Australian pressing (which is the same as the UK release) but I discovered it only has 17 tracks – as opposed to the 20 tracks on the double LP. It misses out on “Maybe I’m Amazed”, “Goodnight Tonight” and “With A Little Luck”. The CD was only $4.00 and so I figured I might as well get it. It’s different to the LP, and it has a slightly different cover:
OK. So, as far as the collection goes I figure I’ve pretty much got this album. No need to bother with any other copies….
Until the other day when I accidentally notice on the web that the US compact disc version has a slightly different cover again…..and that it has a different song running order as well:
On the UK (and Australian) versions of the CD (released on EMI/Parlophone) you get “We All Stand Together”, “Mull of Kintyre”, “Pipes of Peace” and “Once Upon a Long Ago”.
On the US CD (out on Capitol Records) those songs are deleted and replaced with “Junior’s Farm”, “Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey”, “Goodnight Tonight” and “With A Little Luck”. All the other songs are the same.
That got me thinking. Are there any other examples of this sort of thing out there?
One that immediately came to mind is the 2002 and 2003 versions of the McCartney double live CD’s “Back in the US” and “Back in the World”.
They have very subtle cover changes both front and rear:
A cursory look down the song lists for each would suggest that they’re exactly the same CD just with a slightly different title, but in fact they are different too.
“Back in the US” (released to the US market in 2002) gets the songs “Vanilla Sky”, “C’Moon” and “Freedom”. However, those songs don’t appear at all on “Back in the World” (released in the UK in 2003). Instead it gets “Calico Skies”, “Michelle”, “Let ‘Em In” and “She’s Leaving Home”. Otherwise, all the other songs are the same – and in roughly the same running order.
Do you know of any further examples of this sort of thing? Let us know.
When Paul McCartney re-issued “McCartney II” last year one of the bonus tracks on the 2 CD Edition set (and as audio and video versions in the Deluxe Edition book), was the previously un-released song “Blue Sway”. See track 1 on CD 2 for the details:
(click on the image to enlarge)
Its a great song and I wrote about this at the time because there was a fantastic YouTube video featuring “Blue Sway” doing the rounds at the time. The song, it turned out, had been officially licensed to accompany one of the amazing sequences from a forthcoming Jack McCoy surfing film called “A Deeper Shade of Blue”:
Well, after being well-received overseas the film is now about to get its first theatrical release in Australia – and its causing a round of renewed interest here:
While Jack McCoy is US-born he’s considered a local in Australia because he lives in one of Sydney’s northern beaches suburbs. Last week Jack was interviewed on Australian radio by Fran Kelly about “A Deeper Shade of Blue”. Click here for a link to ABC Radio National and have a listen – Jack talks about Paul McCartney’s substantial interest and involvement in the the film at about 4 minutes in.
Time to take a run through the different versions of “Kisses on the Bottom”, Paul McCartney’s new album.
It’s been released in physical form as a standard CD, a deluxe CD, a deluxe CD with bonus tracks (more on this later), and as a double LP vinyl. (Remember, to see larger images of all the scans below just click on the image).
Firstly the standard CD. Here’s the front cover with the sticker on the shrink- wrap still attached:
This is the rear cover of the standard CD – which has 14 tracks. This copy is manufactured in the EU:
The standard CD is a cardboard, single gatefold sleeve with the booklet glued onto the cardboard:
Personally I think that when the cover is first opened it looks odd to have that large expanse of white cardboard on the right-hand side. Surely another couple of images or text could have been put there. Or, like the deluxe version (see below), a cutout provided so that you can see the CD label.
The booklet in this version is 18 pages and contains an interview about the album, photographs taken during the recording and also photos from the Mary McCartney official photo shoot. There is also track-by-track personnel details for each song, followed by a page with final credits including studio locations, engineers and the obligatory “thank you’s”, etc.:
The CD printing itself is very simple and uncluttered and looks like this:
In some markets (in the US, I think) the CD came with a red wrap, promoting the song “My Valentine”:
Buyers of the deluxe CD edition in the US will need to know there are two versions: one has 14 tracks and the other has 16 (which is available only from Target stores at this stage – see details below, and see also this post from Wogblog). In Britain, the EU countries (and in Australia because we are getting the EU versions) all deluxe versions have the two bonus tracks:
The bonus tracks are “Baby’s Request”, a re-recording of a McCartney song which first appeared on the 1979 Wings album “Back to the Egg”, and “My One and Only Love”.
The deluxe CD has more complex packaging. It comes in a cardboard, double gatefold cover. In other words it opens out to be four panels in total. To give you an idea of how this looks here’s a photograph of how the package opens up, plus the inclusions (which are covered in more detail below). This is the US non-bonus track deluxe version:
When you first open the deluxe CD cover this is what you see on the inside:
These two panels then open out again. This is the left-hand side:
And this is the right-hand side (containing the booklet):
What looks to be the same booklet as the standard CD (also glued onto the cardboard) is actually longer – with 22 pages. The extra space is for a longer version of the interview with Paul McCartney, and there are additional photographs, and these are laid out differently to the standard CD. Inside a pocket in the deluxe CD cover there are also three postcards:
And included in the postcards pocket is a smaller card with details and a code for a download “…of Paul McCartney’s exclusive performance at Capitol Studios…”:
That bonus download sounds like an enticing extra on first read. But when you log in with your code you get just four live songs from that live performance, not the whole show. You get “I’m Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter”; “Home (Where the Shadows Fall)”; “Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate The Positive”; and “My Valentine”. As has already been noted on the web by Wogblog, this is kind of disappointing. I mean, just four songs? It feels kind of cheapskate on Paul’s behalf.
Back to the 14 track/16 track deluxe confusion. Target in the US is selling the 16 track deluxe edition as a retail exclusive and are the only US vendor selling this edition:
There’s an interesting side story to the interview featured in both “Kisses on the Bottom” CD booklets. It’s done by Paul Du Noyer. If the name sounds familiar he is the well-known British music journalist and writer who also did the liner notes for all the John Lennon remastered re-issues a while back including the John Lennon Signature Box, and the “Double Fantasy – Stripped Down” version. He also worked extensively on Paul McCartney’s “Band On The Run – Deluxe Edition“, which has just won a Best Historical Album Grammy Award. As editorial consultant for the package, Du Noyer edited the 128-page book, wrote the liner notes and interviewed McCartney. He also worked on the “McCartney” and “McCartney II” deluxe reissues.
Finally to the vinyl edition of “Kisses on the Bottom”. This is a double LP and comes in a gatefold sleeve:
I got my copy from Amazon and thought it would be made in the US, but it says “Printed in the EU” on the back cover…
I haven’t taken my copy out of its sealed plastic cover, preferring it to remain a collectors item and “still sealed”. Also, all that white cardboard is going to get easily marked and scuffed. Keeping it sealed will also help keep it in pristine condition. Looking around on the web I did find this image of the vinyl package opened up:
You can see that it comes with two inner sleeves which reproduce the text elements of the CD booklets. The two 180g vinyl LPs have custom labels. And you get access to a digital download of the 14 track album as well.
[Thanks to cyber-beatles.com for the additional images used in this post.]
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