Category Archives: Paul McCartney

Ocean’s Kingdom – McCartney Ballet Music

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Paul McCartney’s first ballet score, “Ocean’s Kingdom“, with choreography by the New York City Ballet’s Ballet Master in Chief Peter Martins, will premiere at the Lincoln Center in New York on September 22.

“Ocean’s Kingdom” marks the first time that McCartney has composed for dance, and Martins’ choreography will follow the music’s libretto of a romance between lovers from conflicting kingdoms. The production’s costumes are designed by another McCartney, daughter and leading fashion designer Stella. Its also the first time she has done costume design for the theatre.

The album containing the music from the work is to be released on October 4.
It is performed by the London Classical Orchestra, directed by John Wilson. According to Amazon there will be a CD and vinyl versions available, and it is released on the Hear Music/MPL/Telarc label:

There are four movements to the work:
1.  Movement 1 Ocean’s Kingdom
2. Movement 2 Hall of Dance
3. Movement 3 Imprisonment
4. Movement 4 Moonrise

Sir Paul will be attending the premiere in New York on September 22.

The Beatles With Records – Part Two

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Since my earlier post about the Beatles being photographed actually holding the things they sold so many of – LP and single records – a few more photos have come to light. This first one is a very early publicity shot of the band with a copy of their very first album for Parlophone Records – from 1963 “Please Please Me“:

Trawling the web I came across a great photo of an obviously happy Ringo Starr with a pile of LPs and singles:

Here you can clearly see Ringo holding the Motown Record “Little Stevie Wonder – The 12 Year Old Genius” (from 1963):

He’s also got a copy of The Shirelles “Foolish Little Girl“, which again dates from 1963 leading to the conclusion that this photograph was taken in that year. The record is lying down, just near Ringo’s left hand:

And on top of that LP are a couple of 45 rpm singles. Its impossible to make out the title of the one we can see, but you can clearly make out the distinctive red and white label of Top Rank records. I wonder if it’s also The Shirelles? In Britain they were released on Top Rank – so it could very possibly be a copy of  “Baby Its You“, a song the Shirelles recorded in 1961 and which the Beatles themselves covered on “Please Please Me“:

I’ve also found  a photograph of Ringo with wife Maureen. They’re sitting at home in a flat they rented for some time in London’s Montague Square. Behind Ringo you can see on the shelf quite a large collection of LP’s, and if I’m nor mistaken Maureen is sitting on what, for the times, would have been quite a sophisticated “radiogram” or record player:

Here’s another of Ringo, once again with Maureen, clutching a copy of the Beatles “Yellow Submarine” LP:

I had a  a photo sent to me after the earlier blog post. It’s Paul with a copy of 1965’s “Rubber Soul“:

George Harrison features on the web photographed with records, some with easily identifiable discs and some not. This one is pretty easy to see. Its a lucky fan getting an autographed copy of “Help“:

Here’s George again, this time a shot taken in what looks to be the Apple offices. It’s him holding a copy of his second solo outing “Electronic Sound“, released on the Zapple label:

You can clearly see the rear artwork for the LP in the photo above. Below is a shot of the back cover of the LP:

And here’s another one of George again signing albums, but this time its very difficult to see just what they are:

In 1970 John and Yoko posed for some photographs to publicise their new records. John had “John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band”, and Yoko had “Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band”. Both titles, on Apple Records, were released simultaneously. The front covers were almost identical, but the rear artwork of Yoko’s album showed her as a young girl, while John’s showed him as a young boy:

In the photo is also “The Wedding Album” box set, which came out in 1969. The photo below is taken at the same session:

As I said, the front cover artwork of these two LP’s is difficult to tell apart. “John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band” has John leaning against Yoko:

While “Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band” has Yoko leaning against John:

Very subtle.

Finally, a photograph of Beatles’ manager Brian Epstein. He’s holding a copy of the controversial 1966 US Capitol Records release “Yesterday and Today“. This is the famous “Butcher Cover” LP. Maybe he’s contemplating the new photograph that Capitol was forced to paste over all the original issues of the album:

This is the more acceptable “trunk” cover shot that Capitol put on over the top of the original artwork:

And this is what it replaced:

The interesting thing about the Epstein photograph is that what he is holding appears to be an early mock-up of the replacement artwork. If you look closely there is no song list at the top and the font for the words “Yesterday and Today” is different to that used on the final version. Interesting.

Don’t forget, if you have any other photographs of the Beatles actually listening to or holding singles or LP’s you can send them to me at:  beatlesblogger@gmail.com

You can see the other parts in “The Beatles with Records” series here:  Parts 1, 3, 4, 5 , 6, 7 , 8, 9 , 10 , 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17.

Thinking About Abbey Road Studios at 80

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I stumbled today upon an article on (of all places) the computer/gadget specialist site CNet. It is about the famed EMI Abbey Road studios in St. John’s Wood, London – the site of so much fantastic recorded music including just about all the songs recorded, in one way or another, by the Beatles. The studios have just turned 80 years old and it got me thinking about what an important role this particular pile of bricks and mortar on a nondescript street has played in the history of popular and classical music – not the least of which is the music of the the Beatles.

If George Martin is often referred to as “the fifth Beatle” then surely Abbey Road could be regarded as one of the instruments they played – with as much importance to the Beatles sound as the Gibson acoustics, the Gretsch and Epiphone electrics, the Ludwig drums, and the famous Hofner bass.

The CNet article has some very interesting observations made during a recent tour of the famous building and it’s numerous rooms – so many of which are associated with Beatles tracks. You have got to scroll through the thirty photographs taken during CNet’s visit. Its a terrific tour with some great shots for both Beatles fans and technical nerds alike.

The studio itself has a website which is worth a visit every now and again to catch up on their news – one of the latest of which is the remastering of the Beatles “Anthology” series for digital download.

So much happened at this one address – including the Beatles themselves honoring their home-away-from-home with an album bearing the studio’s name.

Abbey Road photo session - August 8, 1969

Then there was the heritage listing for that famous zebra crossing out the front….and the zebra crossing web cam, now complete with live street sounds. Its no longer in exactly the same spot as the photo on the front of the “Abbey Road” album having been moved down the road a bit from the studios – but countless fans still come each day, month, and year to be photographed striding across it.

Happy 80th birthday Abbey Road Studios. Here’s to 80 more years.

The Beatles With Records

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Despite selling multi, multi-millions of the things, it’s kind of strange that you hardly ever see photographs of the Beatles themselves with, or listening to, records.

Here are a couple I’ve found:

A very early shot of John using an old record player

A much later shot of John listening intently to a range of singles

There is of course the well known launch of “Sgt Pepper”, when lots of photographs were taken inside Brian Epstein’s house with the four holding copies of their latest masterpiece:

A colour shot of the Sgt Pepper launch

The gatefold photograph displayed with pride

Did Linda Eastman (later McCartney) take any of these? She was there….

Given their fame the Beatles would have found it difficult to get out to shop for music like you and me – and this photo clearly shows John and Paul opening a box of LP’s that have been purchased for them. And don’t they look pleased to have some new titles to listen to?

A new box of albums

You can clearly see “The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan”, and underneath that Ben E. King’s “Don’t Play that Song!” LP:

If you have any other photographs of the Beatles actually listening to, or with singles or LPs, send them to:  beatlesblogger@gmail.com

You can see the other parts in “The Beatles with Records” series here:  Parts 2, 3, 4, 5 , 6, 7 , 8, 9 , 10 , 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17.

The Beatles Forever

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Nicholas Schaffner wrote this book in 1977, and I gather from what I’m reading on the web that it was, in it’s time, something of a Beatles “bible” for readers back then. So far this book has eluded me – so its good to have an original paperback copy now in the collection.

“The Beatles Forever” has subsequently been reprinted numerous times and the current cover looks like this. But the copy I found last weekend in an old-wares/antiques/records and second-hand book shop has the original cover above. This is a paperback copy.

It is genuinely one of the first really comprehensive survey’s of the band’s output in terms of their record releases, rarities and memorabilia – all accompanied by fairly detailed text describing the history of the Beatles and giving the context in which records were released and the collectable nature of a wide range of Beatles items. There are extensive photographs of the band as well as photos of albums, singles and memorabilia – but all in black and white. I won’t go into a detailed analysis of the contents because this has already been done by a range of writers who have reviewed and critiqued “The Beatles Forever”. Probably the most comprehensive is by Donald Sauter – who has written extensively on his Beatles collection and reminiscences from his youth. His article also contains a small selection of the many photos from the book. There is another interesting page on the book here.

Its a handy reference book to have in the collection – even though it came out more than 30 years ago. It still has lots of information and insights.

McCartney and McCartney II Finally Arrive

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I’ve been very patiently awaiting the arrival (from Amazon in the US) of my copies of “McCartney” and “McCartney II“.

I’d ordered the Deluxe hard back book versions of both titles, along with the 2 LP set (got to have the vinyl!), and the Special Edition CD packs as well. (I had already purchased locally the single CD versions which are only being released in certain markets).

These were all ordered online on May 24th. They were officially released on June 14th, and then had to make the LONG journey via the postal service down under to Australia. I didn’t receive them until last week – on July 12th. That’s almost a two month wait….

As they they were very heavy, I got a notification in the mailbox that had to collect them from the local Post Office. I’ve got to admit when I saw the box my heart sank. As you can see below it was pretty bashed around. On that two month journey it had clearly been thrown around and had frequently been at the bottom of piles of other packages. Postal workers obviously don’t have much regard for “Fragile” and “Handle With Care” stickers. I was particularly  worried about the two LP sets in there. They are the most fragile. Could they have survived intact?

With great trepidation I opened up the box, expecting the worst. Inside there was just a minimal amount of padding:

Thank goodness Amazon had individually sealed the LPs in their own special LP mailers and this really helped. There were two of them, essentially sitting in their own protection at the bottom of the box. The strong cardboard mailers had done a great job of protecting the most fragile of the contents. Thanks Amazon!

These sealed cardboard mailers are great and had clearly been individually pre-packed in bulk by Amazon for the McCartney re-issues. They both had special stickers with the contents on the outside:

All the other precious contents had miraculously survived too:

I actually think that the heat shrinking Amazon uses also plays a big part in protecting CD’s and LPs – especially when they’re being thrown around in transit. The two limited edition Deluxe hardback book versions are sealed and have a sheet inside the shrink wrap detailing the contents:

So, I now have a complete set of the new McCartney releases. Safely, but only just, delivered half way around the world.

“Maybe I’m Amazed” Cover Winner Announced

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A little while back I posted on a competition being run on the Paul McCartney official site calling on fans to submit their own YouTube versions of the classic “Maybe I’m Amazed” from the “McCartney” album, Paul’s first solo effort from 1970.

Today they have announced the winner:

“The Winner of the ‘Maybe I’m Amazed Covers’ Competition is ‘Troubleclief’ who with his beautiful classical guitar version of the song, received a remarkable 1492 likes for his video.

We were all astounded at the quality of all of the entries but felt that ‘Troubleclief’s’ entry stood out from the rest in the way that he made the song his own and yet retained the essence of the original. We would like to give a a huge congratulations to ‘Troubleclief’ for capturing our attention and winning the competition.”

Pretty nice playing. View the second place video by clicking here (seriously? Can’t say it does it for me…), and third place by clicking here.  Seems the McCartney people really like solo guitar if these three versions are anything to go by….

I still like the rendition by a singer named Katrice Gavino.

To watch all the videos click here.

McCartney and McCartney II – Single CD Release

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Seems that only certain markets are getting the Standard edition, single-CD releases of “McCartney” and “McCartney II”. Newly remastered versions were released on June 14.

I’ve looked on a number of online store sites in the USA (Amazon, CD Universe and Best Buy) and there is no mention of a standard, single disc version of either disc being available for sale there. You can only get the Special and Deluxe versions on CD, and of course on good old vinyl in a 2 LP set.

Nor is there mention of a single-CD Standard version on the McCartney site itself. You can buy whats called the Standard version (i.e. just the original remastered album on its own), but it’s only offered as a digital download and not as a physical CD.

However, I notice on the HMV online store in the UK there are single CD versions available of both “McCartney” and “McCartney II“. Its these versions – marked “Printed in the EU” – which are available here in Australia. Here are the covers for the EU Standard editions (still sealed, front and rear) of each disc:

As you can see, I grabbed a couple of copies of these. I’m still awaiting my copies of the Deluxe and Special multi-disc versions, plus of course the 2 LP vinyl.

McCartney and McCartney II – Labels

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For those of us who love record labels – spotting and collecting different variations – with yesterday’s reissue of the two McCartney solo “debuts” the lovely Chained and Perfumed blog site has posted some interesting varieties of “McCartney” and “McCartney II“:

McCartney on Apple. 1970.

McCartney on Capitol. 1970.

A rare and unusual Brazilian edition of McCartney in mono from the Chained and Perfumed collection.  Nice.

The new McCartney Hear Music reissue. 2011. Released just last week on vinyl and CD. This label is from the second disc of the two-disc LP set which contains some rare and previously unreleased stuff.

McCartney II. Side 2 of U.S. edition. 1980. (I have a variation of this label below with the MPL logo in different spot).

McCartney II. Side 2 of the Japanese edition.

So, Chained and Perfumed inspired me to have a look in my own collection and I found some additional variations:

McCartney. Australian pressing. 1970.

McCartney. Singaporean pressing. 1970.

McCartney II. US pressing. 1980. This is included as its a variation on the one above. The MPL logo placement is different.

McCartney II. Singaporean pressing. 1980. These pressings were made in Singapore but also sent to Hong Kong and Malaysia.

McCartney II. An original Australian pressing with the orange Parlophone label. 1980.

McCartney II. Unusual Australian green/blue Parlophone label from a re-issue – probably in the late 1980’s or early 1990’s.

Well, that’s it from my collection. If anyone has any other additions please email a photo and I’ll put them up on the site.   beatlesblogger@gmail.com

UPDATE:  Some other labels are beginning to come in. Thanks to Paco who writes: “Here are mine. They are Spanish editions with the translation of the titles. All generic EMI Odeon labels (nothing too exciting :-)”.

McCartney (above) – The Spanish edition with translations of the titles of each song.

Ditto for McCartney II.

Above is the “Fame” budget label re-issue, this time for the Spanish market. Nice. Have a look here for more on budget Beatles releases.

Thanks to Paco for sending these through. If you’d like to add to the collection of McCartney and McCartney II labels from around the world take a photograph or scan and email them to: beatlesblogger@gmail.com

Previously Unseen Beatles Photographs

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The fine art auctioneers Christie’s in New York will next month auction some pretty impressive and previously unseen Beatles photographs from 1964.

They come from a collection of photos of the group shot by photographer Mike Mitchell. At age 18 he was at the Washington Coliseum in Washington, D.C. for the Beatle’s first US concert, two days after their historic Ed Sullivan appearance.

Christie’s is calling the event “The Beatles Illuminated: The Discovered Works of Mike Mitchell“. Their website says it’s:

“….a sale comprised of nearly 50 lots of unpublished and never-before-seen photographs of the Beatles’ first hysteria-inducing visits to America in 1964. Shot in black and white by photographer Mike Mitchell when he was just 18 years old, the images have been filed away for nearly fifty years. The complete rediscovered collection is expected to realize in the region of $100,000.

Over eight thousand fans packed into the Washington Coliseum on February 11th, 1964 and they were treated to the Beatles at their very best. The Washington Coliseum was not only their first American concert but also by far the largest venue in which the Beatles had ever played. Its unique setup – it was often used for boxing matches – meant that the Beatles were surrounded on all sides by an adoring, cheering audience. The Beatles were clearly delighted and having a great time on stage, sharing all of the enthusiasm of the crowd. Here they were, performing in America, the land of their musical heroes and cultural icons, the home of Elvis and Chuck Berry – who’s “Roll Over Beethoven” was chosen by the Beatles to begin the show – and Little Richard, who’s “Long Tall Sally” was chosen to end it. The concert given at the Washington Coliseum was part of a defining moment in the Beatles’ career, and it remains both an important event and a notable place in their story. And Mike Mitchell was there to capture it.”

Yahoo has quite a nice photo gallery here. There’s an absolute ripper shot of Ringo in full flight and absolutley enjoying himself: