Category Archives: Paul McCartney

Label Variations – Part Five “Band on the Run”

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I have to thank the very wonderful Chained and Perfumed blogsite for this one. Every now and then this site features photos of interesting record labels from their own collection. One recent post highlights a whole raft of great images – different versions of “Band on the Run” (on vinyl) from around the world.

Chained and Perfumed got these from Ebay from a seller who has on offer a large number of versions of Paul McCartney’s classic album, itself recently re-issued on vinyl.

Like Chained and Perfumed we like seeing different global variations – so here are few from the Ebay collection, followed by a couple from my own collection. First off a couple of different Korean pressings:

Then Greece and Italy:

And France (on nice yellow vinyl):

India and Sweden both used the traditional Apple:

While for some strange reason New Zealand used the same Apple colour as those used on George Harrison’s “All Things Must Pass” original vinyl:

The Japanese pressings used the original custom labels. Here are two versions, one with the Apple logo, the other with the Capital and MPL logos:

And now for Argentina and Mexico:

Here’s an interesting version on Odeon Records in Germany:

There are a couple of Russian versions on Ebay. Firstly one on Santa Records and then the more common Melodiya:

Next come a couple of UK versions. The first is a pretty standard issue, but without the Apple logo appearing:

The next is a special limited edition of the disc from 1997, released to celebrate the EMI Records Centenary – 100 Years of recording:

Here are some labels that are from my own collection which are not represented  above which you might also find interesting if you are into this sort of thing. First is a Canadian pressing – which I think is actually exactly the same as the US:

We had a strange example from New Zealand above. The re-issue of “Band on the Run” in that country came out on Parlophone Records:

Of course there is always the standard, original UK pressing with the Apple logo:

In Australia the original release also looked very much like the UK:

The re-issues in Australia though came out on the Capital label. Here are two variations, one on purple Capital the other on blue Capital:

Finally, in 1999 for the 25th anniversary of the release of “Band on the Run” there came a two-disc, limited edition, remastered version. This is the UK pressing of disc 1:

And here’s the second disc, which contained previously unreleased material featuring alternate versions and special interviews on the making of “Band on the Run”:

If you’d like to see some more Beatles and Beatles related record label variations you can go to:

Label Variations – Part One “Sgt Pepper”

Label Variations – Part Two “Let It Be”

Label Variations – Part Three – McCartney’s “Choba B CCCP”

Label Variations – Part Four  “Shaved Fish”

“All Things Must Pass” – Variations and Collectors Items

and

The Beatles “Love” collectable variations

The Next McCartney Releases

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Wogblog is one Beatles blogsite you can trust when it comes to accurate news and information about planned future releases. I don’t know where Roger Stormo (who is based in Norway) gets his information from, but it is usually correct well out from any officially released news. In his latest post Wogblog is saying that the next two confirmed releases in The Paul McCartney Archive Collection series will be Paul’s first solo album “McCartney”, and the album that came out ten years later (and was recorded in a similar fashion at home studios), “McCartney II”.

“McCartney” (1970) will be available in two forms: as a 2 CD set, and as a 2 CD plus 1 DVD deluxe set with a 100 page book.

“McCartney II” (1980) will also be available in two forms: as a 2 CD set, and as a 3 CD plus 1 DVD deluxe set with a 100 page book.

I’m guessing the books will be just like the book format used for the recent deluxe packaging of “Band on the Run” (2010). There is no talk of vinyl pressings yet – hopefully they will be announced soon. No release dates are yet available for both collections.

Wogblog had the inside running on all the details for that “Band on the Run” set very early. It was the first release in the Archive series, so there’s reason to believe he could be onto something here too.

Beatles on CD – “1962-1966” – the Red Album

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Last time I posted on getting a bargain on the HMV box set of “Sgt Pepper”. This comes from back in 1987 when the Beatles catalogue was released on Compact Disc for the very first time. EMI used their UK record store chain HMV to release all the titles in special, limited edition 12″ box sets.

The other set I was able to get at the same time was “The Beatles 1962-1966” (which was issued later – in 1993).

This is a limited edition box with the catalogue number BEACD25/11. It contains the well-known Red Album double CD set, and comes with a large-format 12-page colour booklet featuring song reviews, a 16″ x 24″ colour poster of the band (posed in front of a big US flag), and a special metal badge.

The front of the box looks like this:

Note the original price sticker still attached. When you take off the lid, this is what you see:

This is the 12-page booklet, and it is different to the small booklet which comes with the CD itself. It features some great photos, a short essay, and a song-by-song commentary by Andy Davis from Record Collector magazine:

Next in the box there’s a large poster:

Then comes the CD itself, held in place by a special cardboard holder with a slot just right for the CD and it’s outer cardboard sleeve. There’s a small thumb-slot at the bottom to help you get the CD out. This box, by the way, is thicker so that it can accommodate the jumbo-sized double “Red” CD :

Also in the box is a small metal pin or badge:

As already mentioned, the CD’s which come with this are in the red jumbo-sized double CD holder – which comes with a booklet:

Inside the lid of the HMV box there’s a limited edition stamped number:

See also the “Sgt Pepper” HMV box set.

 

Beatles on CD – The “Sgt Pepper” Box Set

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When the Beatles catalogue came out on Compact Disc for the first time back in 1987 it was a very big deal and the British record store chain HMV (which has close ties back to the Beatles record company EMI) released a series of limited edition 12” x 12″ box sets to mark the occasion. These boxes look just like those which contain 12″ LP’s so I guess there was a certain symbolism in releasing them in this way – the boxes containing CD’s indicating a move forward from the LP to the Compact Disc.

In all there were 12 individual box sets containing either individual or grouped CD’s, plus there was also a large (and expensive) HMV box housing every Beatle CD title then available.

You can see here all the “Beatles on CD” HMV Box Sets (minus “Abbey Road”) above. These (except for the 1962-1966 and 1967-1970 sets) all came out in 1987.

The box numbered BEACD25 contained “Please Please Me”, “With The Beatles”, “Hard Days Night” and “For Sale” on CD, plus a 224-page book ‘The Book Of Beatle Lists’, plus a Beatles fact sheet.

BEACD25/2 contained “Help”, “Rubber Soul” and “Revolver”, plus a reprint of Beatles Monthly No. 12 and a Beatles fact sheet.

“Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band” (BEACD25/3) had the album with a slipcase, an 8-page ‘behind the scenes’ booklet, the 12″ cut-outs sheet and  a badge.

The “White Album” (BEACD25/4) featured an individually numbered double CD album, a 12-page glossy booklet and a badge.

BEACD25/5 was “Yellow Submarine” and came with an insert, a cut-out ‘Yellow Submarine’ model, and a fact-sheet, while “Magical Mystery Tour” (BEACD25/6) had a 12-page booklet, a large fold out colour poster and badge.

“Abbey Road”  (BEACD25/7) comprised the 17-track CD album, two different posters, a badge and an 8-page booklet.

The “Let It Be” HMV box has a 12-page booklet and badge, and has the catalogue number BEACD25/8.

The “Past Masters Vol.1” and “Vol. 2” came in separate boxes – each with a badge and a 12-page booklet with pictures and track-by-track details. These were numbered BEACD25/9 and BEACD25/10.

Finally, when they were released in 1993 the “Beatles 1962-1966” Red Album and the “Beatles 1967-1970″ Blue Album also came in separate boxes containing the double CD sets, a 12-page colour booklet featuring song reviews, a 16″ x 24” colour poster and a badge. These were numbered BEACD25/11 and BEACD25/12 respectively.

I got a bargain the other day – I was able to get the “Sgt Pepper” HMV box and the “Beatles 1962 – 1966” – both practically mint copies. I’ll give you a close up look at the “Sgt Pepper” box set here, and post on the “62-66” red box next time.

You can see the front of the box above – and it features a different photograph from the one used on the CD. When you take the lid off this is what you first see:

This is an 8-page booklet with lots of photographs taken at the photo shoot for the famous cover of “Sgt Pepper”. There’s also some text about each song. Here are couple of pages from the booklet:

Underneath that there’s the same “Sgt Pepper” cardboard cut-out sheet which came with the original copies of the LP version:

Then comes the CD itself, held in place by a special cardboard holder with a slot just right for the CD and it’s outer cardboard sleeve. There’s a small thumb-slot at the bottom to help you get the CD out:

Also in the box is a small metal pin or badge:

The CD that comes with this is the original release with the cardboard sleeve, booklet with additional info, and an insert that has details of all the faces used in the famous Peter Blake photograph of the band standing with all their heroes:

Inside the lid of the HMV box there’s a limited edition stamped number:

Next post we’ll take a look at the “Beatles 1962-1966” HMV Limited Edition box set.

Abbey Road – Crossing to be Heritage Listed

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The zebra crossing made famous by the Beatles has just been designated a site of national significance by the British government. Fans from around the globe flock to the crossing every day to have their photo taken walking over Abbey Road, just down from the EMI studios of the same name. The Abbey Road studios became almost a home-away-from-home for the Beatles and was where they recorded just about all their greatest songs.

The story of the heritage listing (which means it will be preserved forever from change) has been picked up by media around the world.

Here’s how the BBC World Service covered it this morning:

Paul McCartney says he’s pleased with the news, and that for him it caps off what has been a run of recent success: “It’s been a great year for me and a great year for the Beatles and hearing that the Abbey Road crossing is to be preserved is the icing on the cake.”

The photo-shoot for the album which put the pedestrian crossing on the map took just ten minutes to complete. On a sunny day on August 8th, 1969 photographer Iain Macmillan took what would become one of the best-known, copied, and parodied album covers of all time.

Getting ready to cross

People today can’t get the exact same look as the Beatles got for their cover for two reasons. First is that the crossing is not in exactly the same place it was back in 1969, and second is that Iain Macmillan was about ten feet up on a ladder. He took just six photos and it was the fifth one that was used for “Abbey Road”.

Starting the famous walk. Paul is in bare feet and getting nicely out of step....

There is a webcam (run by Abbey Road Studios) that looks over the crossing now 24 hours a day –  so even if you can’t get to London you can experience it virtually any time you like. The latest release to bear the photo that put a zebra crossing on the map is the remastered CD of “Abbey Road” – which came out last year in the new look with the white strip down the left-hand side. The legend lives on:

Paul McCartney – Tripping the Live Fantastic (Highlights)

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Well, there are always some surprises in the Beatles and Beatles-related collecting game.

I’ve had a vinyl copy of Paul McCartney’s “Tripping the Live Fantastic – Highlights” LP for many, many years. In fact my copy – in mint condition by the way – dates from the time it was first released way back in 1990. It’s a single LP with 12 tracks, a cut-down version of the full, triple-LP version. The cover looks like this:

The LP I have is on the Australian black and silver Parlophone/EMI label:

I always thought that the “Highlights” LP had an identical track-listing to the compact disc and so have never paid much interest in getting that particular disc….until about a week ago when I decided to look on the Internet for a copy of the full “Tripping the Live Fantastic” 3-LP version to add to the collection. (Turns out these are pretty rare and subsequently expensive, and so I am still looking….).

I did discover, by accident really, that the single CD version of  “Highlights” comes with additional tracks that are not on the single LP “Highlights” version I have had for twenty years now. In fact there are 17 tracks on the CD version, with six extra tracks than the LP (although the LP has one song not on the CD “Put It There”), and so I decided to bid for a copy online and here it is:

Tripping the Live Fantastic - Highlights CD (front cover)

Tripping the Live Fantastic - Highlights CD (rear cover)

“Tripping” is a live disc of songs McCartney recorded in different locations around the world, as he says “….from Rio to Glasgow, Tokyo, through most everywhere and back again…”.

The CD song list is:  1. Got To Get You Into My Life (Not on LP),  2. Birthday,      3. We Got Married (Not on LP),  4. Long And Winding Road,   5. Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,  6. Can’t Buy Me Love,  7. All My Trials (Not on LP),  8. Things We Said Today (Not on LP),    9. Eleanor Rigby,  10. My Brave Face,  11. Back In The USSR (Not on LP),    12. I Saw Her Standing There,          13. Coming Up,   14. Let It Be,   15. Hey Jude,    16. Get Back,                                  17. Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End (Not on LP).

This is a really nice mint copy of the “Highlights” CD. Its a UK pressing – I think. I say that because the label is a bit confusing. In the small print around the CD outer is says “Manufactured in England by EMI”, but just under the catalogue number it says “Made in Austria”.  Weird.

I am still on the lookout for the 3-LP vinyl version, or maybe a nice copy of the double CD full version of the release. Or maybe both! Will let you know how I go….

Cool photo of Paul from the CD Booklet

Fresh From Apple – The Apple Box Set Unboxed

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The newly re-issued Apple Records compact discs are available separately, or if you really want to lash out, as a complete box set containing 17 discs. The box is called “Fresh From Apple Records“.

“Fresh From Apple” box (front)

Its a very flimsy box, printed to look like a wooden crate containing apples, and made of thin cardboard – so you need to take a lot of care when opening it and putting discs in and out. The rear of the box lists the content:

“Fresh From Apple” box (rear)

The box “lid” opens at the top only and there are two flaps either side:

“Fresh From Apple” top opening

As you can see, the cardboard is pretty thin and will tear easily…..Looking down on the box when it’s open here’s what’s inside:

“Fresh From Apple” – the CD’s

All the CD’s come in gatefold cardboard sleeves, and in the box set you get an “extras” double disc as a bonus, plus the “Come and Get – It Best Of Apple Records” disc:

This disc, which comes with a really nice booklet (as do all the CDs), contains some tracks replicated on albums in the box, but also a lot of previously difficult to find Apple singles that were never released on albums. These include songs like “Saturday Night Special” by The Sundown Playboys, “Give Peace a Chance” by the Hot Chocolate Band, “King of Fuh” by Brute Force and the instrumental “Thingumybob” by the Black Dyke Mills Band. Inside the gatefold of “Come and Get It” they have reproduced some original Apple Records press ads:

Just about every CD in the box has bonus material, but there also an extra two CD set (available only in the box) which contains all the bonus material that was initially only going to be available by digital download. There is one whole CD of bonus Badfinger material. The other CD of bonus tracks is shared by Mary Hopkin and Jackie Lomax. These two CDs come in a gatefold cover:

The front cover of the 2 CD “Extras” discs

This cover on the outside is plain white, with some intentional “yellowing” around the edges to make it look old. That Apple logo on the bottom right-hand corner isn’t printed on. Its a sticker:

Inside the gatefold they have reproduced the Apple Studios original tape boxes and used this look to give the track listings for both CDs:

Kinda nice.

There are two reissues in the box which contain two original Apple LPs. These are the Modern Jazz Quartet with “Under the Jasmine Tree” and “Space” both on one CD:

The other is classical musician and composer John Tavener, who had two LPs original released on Apple Records – “The Whale” and “Celtic Requiem”:

One of the late additions to the 2010 reissue plans was the disc by the Radha Krsna Temple. It was added after the initial announcement of the extensive Apple reissues back in August this year. It contains a single bonus track this time around – and (if you haven’t seen it before) it has a fantastic front cover:

There are two CDs from Billy Preston (“That’s The Way God Planned It” and “Encouraging Words”), two from Mary Hopkin (“Post Card” and “Earth Song-Ocean Song”), and no less than four CDs from Badfinger (“Magic Christian Music”, “No Dice”, “Straight Up” and “Ass”):

Other CDs come from Jackie Lomax (“Is This What You Want?”), James Taylor (“James Taylor”), and Doris Troy (“Doris Troy”).

It’s not the first time these titles have appeared as re-issues. There was a previous reissue program which started in 1991 and continued over a couple years.

All in all it’s a pretty nice set. It is good to have all these discs freshly re-mastered and gathered together in one place. I think though, for the money, they might have provided a more interesting (and sturdy) box to contain them…

Rolling Stone – 100 Greatest Beatle Songs – Australian Edition

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Back in September I posted on the Rolling Stone magazine special edition release called “The Beatles – 100 Greatest Songs“.

Finally, its been released in its Australian and New Zealand version. This 122 page “book” has a different cover!

Clearly its a photo by Bruce McBroom from the same photo-session in London on April 9th, 1969 – but it is different to the one used for the front cover of the US version of this special edition Rolling Stone magazine:

Band on the Run – Deluxe CD and Vinyl

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Finally, my copies of “Band On The Run” –  in both the 2 disc vinyl edition and the deluxe 4 CD bound-book special edition – have arrived from the United States.

They both came together, packaged in the same big cardboard box – and I have to say it was pretty beaten up by the time it got here to Australia.

As I opened it up I was really worried about what I might find inside. It’s not the first time I’ve had vinyl records in particular arrive in a less than optimum state. For example, when I ordered The Fireman “Electronic Arguments” LP (direct from the official McCartney website back in 2008).  It was, to put it mildly, pathetically packaged up for such a long journey in the post. It’s a fragile vinyl double record that needed to travel from the United Kingdom half-way ’round the world to Australia. And how had they prepared it for such an epic journey? Simply plonked it in a loose-fitting cardboard box and put two of those large bubble “fillers” inside tho make up the volume. These didn’t stop the record moving around, being tossed from side to side when being dropped and bounced and placed at the bottom of piles of other packages along the way. Consequently the cover was bent and torn in places by the time it got here….I’d have expected more from the company charged with dispatching orders to collectors direct from the McCartney site….

Anyway, the box of “Band On The Run” goodies which arrived this week from Amazon was, I have to say, similarly packaged  – only this time for some reason both the LP and the CD set had survived unscathed! They were both enveloped in a tight shrink-wrap that really helped keep everything together. I’m very pleased with the results actually, though it could have been an entirely different story as again, the box they came in was bashed around considerably.

Here’s what was in the box. Firstly, the 2010 double LP – which is a gatefold cover. It is still sealed I’m afraid. I can’t bring myself to open it!:

Front cover "Band on the Run" 2010 vinyl LP - still sealed!

Here’s the rear cover, and its the same photo layout as the original UK version:

Rear cover "Band on the Run" 2010 vinyl LP

There is a sticker on the bottom left-hand side of the LP’s front cover:

Now onto the Deluxe, 4 disc edition – which comes as a large format, thick hardback book. This one I have opened up so you can see some of what is inside. Here’s how it presents when you first get it in its plastic seal:

Sealed front cover "Band on the Run" deluxe

Here’s a close-up of the sticker on the front right-hand side:

On the rear when the book is still sealed is a card insert:

Rear when sealed. This is a card that can be removed when the plastic comes off.

On the card you can see the MPL, Hear Music and Concord Records labels. Once you have the plastic off here’s what you have:

Deluxe edition "Band on the Run" book - front

It is a cloth-bound, hardback book. Really thick and solid and beautifully done. The photo is recessed and the printing of “Paul McCartney Archive Collection” and the signature are embossed into the cloth. On the rear there is a Limited Edition stamped number:

Inside, the 121 page book is richly illustrated with photographs and text. The chapter headings are: Introduction; The Songs; A Trip to Lagos; Return to London; The Photo-shoot; Release; Press; Film and Video; and Lyrics.

A page from the chapter "A Trip to Lagos"

A page from the chapter "The Photo-shoot:

A page from the chapter "Release"

Inside there is also a business card sized card which says: “This card offers you free access to the 24bit 96kHz High Resolution audio download of the remastered album….”, and gives you a code number to use:

One side of the free download card

Finally, right at the very back of the book are two thick cardboard pages that hold the four discs you get. Three CDs and one DVD:

As you can see, each of these discs has individual artwork to differentiate between them.

All-in-all its a very nicely put together item. It’s not cheap – but you can see the work that has gone into it and it will probably become a very collectable item in my view.

To close then, that rear, removable card says: “Look for future re-issues in the Paul McCartney Archive Collection, including “McCartney”, “McCartney II”, “Ram” and more, coming soon”. It makes you wonder if that’s the planned release order by Paul McCartney and Concorde Records, and if so just how soon the “McCartney” re-issue will be available. How long will it be between this one and the next? You can imagine your bookshelf beginning to fill up with a line of these beautifully finished books….if you can afford them that is.

See also the very limited edition vinyl 45 released as part of the promotion for “Band on the Run” 2010.

If you like John Lennon see the “Signature Box” and the “Gimme Some Truth” collections.

Paul’s Poem For John – Still Poignant After All These Years

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As part of the recent commemoration of John Lennon’s 70th birthdate, the respected NPR radio program “Fresh Air” re-broadcast a wide selection of interviews it had done over the years about Lennon.

One of them was an interview that host Terri Gross did with Paul McCartney. It comes from back in 2001 when he was on the promotion trail for a new book of his collected words called  “Blackbird Singing – Poems and Lyrics 1965-1999“. Its a beautiful little book. If you haven’t seen a copy it looks like this:

In it are the lyrics to “Here Today (Song for John)”, the song Paul wrote specifically for John Lennon after he’d been murdered. It had first appeared on the 1982 album “Tug of War” with a lovely string arrangement by George Martin. More recently though McCartney has been performing it live as a solo acoustic guitar number and speaking more openly about how much he misses his friend and colleague. There’s a very emotional version of the song on the live “Good Evening New York City” (2009), for example.

Anyway, back to the “Blackbird Singing” book interview…..in 2001 radio host Terri Gross asked Paul to read the words to “Here Today” out loud as a poem. In 2010, at this time of remembrance for John, its also very moving:

In his book “FAB – An Intimate Life of Paul McCartney“, author Howard Sounes recounts a story from composer and musician Eric Stewart (ex 10cc) which also sheds some light on how those words might have come about. During the early sessions for “Tug of War” McCartney was working at his friend Stewart’s Strawberry South Studios. He says at the time McCartney was going through a pretty low period:

“He said, ‘I’ve just realised that John has gone. John’s gone. He’s dead and he’s not coming back.’ And he looked completely dismayed, like shocked at something that had suddenly hit him. I said, ‘Well, it’s been a few weeks now.’ He said, ‘I know, Eric, but I’ve just realised.’ It was one of those things maybe he wanted to say something to him [John], but it was too late to say it then….”