Let It Be at 40

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Can you believe it?

Let It Be turned 40 last weekend.

Here’s the Wikipedia extract with a brief detail of the album:

Let It Be  was the twelfth and final studio album released by The Beatles. It was released on 8 May, 1970 by the band’s Apple Records label shortly after the group’s announced breakup.

Most of Let It Be was recorded in January 1969, before the recording and release of the album Abbey Road. For this reason some critics and fans, such as Mark Lewisohn, argue that Abbey Road should be considered the group’s final album and Let It Be the penultimate. Let It Be was originally intended to be released before Abbey Road during mid-1969 as Get Back, but the Beatles were unhappy with this version, which was mixed and compiled by Glyn Johns, and it was temporarily shelved. A new version of the album was created by Phil Spector in 1970 and finally released as Let It Be, serving as the soundtrack album for the 1970 motion picture of the same name.

Let It Be - film lobby card

Let It Be - lobby card - Paul

While three songs from the sessions were released as singles before the album’s release, “Get Back”/”Don’t Let Me Down” and “Let It Be”, the songs were remixed by Spector for the album.

The rehearsals and recording sessions for the album did not run smoothly. The acrimony that began during the recording of the previous year’s White Album resumed soon after the rehearsals began. At one point, George Harrison walked out and quit the group after severely arguing with both Paul McCartney and John Lennon, only to be coaxed back some days later. The film version is famous for showcasing a number of conflicts between the group members and has frequently been referred to as a documentary intended to show the making of an album but instead showing “the break-up of a band”.

Despite a largely negative review from Rolling Stone magazine at the time of its release, the album was ranked number 86 in the magazine’s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time in 2003.

Let It Be… Naked was released in 2003, an alternative version of the album stripping much of Phil Spector’s production work and using some different versions of songs.

Let It Be - Naked (2003)

Here’s an article from Rolling Stone magazine this week:

Forty years ago this weekend, the greatest band of all time gave the world their final album together: On May 8th, 1970, the Beatles released Let It Be, the Phil Spector-produced LP that featured hits like the title track, “The Long and Winding Road” and one of John Lennon’s most famous compositions, “Across the Universe.” While the album was recorded during the band’s caustic final days, Let It Be would go on to become one of their most celebrated records: it ranked Number 86 in Rolling Stone‘s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

The story behind Let It Be is almost as mythic as the Beatles themselves. The band originally intended to record it as a live-in-the-studio album and movie in 1969. But the ambitious undertaking left the Beatles so weary, they abandoned the project to make Abbey Road instead. Later, Phil Spector added oversweetened orchestral overdubs to many of the album’s tracks — even though the record features some of the band’s strongest rock songs ever (including “Get Back”). In 1970, the Beatles released the documentary film of the same name, which captured the group’s iconic performance atop the Apple Studios building in January 1969. Perhaps due its controversial and detailed look at the Beatles’ interpersonal problems, the film itself remains unavailable on DVD.

Despite the album’s status in rock history, Paul McCartney was never a fan of Phil Spector’s production flourishes on Let It Be. In Rolling Stone‘s original review of the album, writer John Mendelsohn also criticized Spector’s superfluous additions, saying the famed Wall of Sound producer rendered “The Long and Winding Road” “virtually unlistenable with hideously cloying strings and a ridiculous choir” when compared to the version that appeared on the Get Back bootlegs in May, 1969. After years of dissatisfaction with the released version, McCartney announced plans to put out Let It Be… Naked in November 2003, which stripped the Let It Be songs of Spector’s ornate production.   (Daniel Kreps – Rolling Stone)

Finally, here’s the sound of  “Get Back” in an early incarnation, in rehearsal with John singing lead instead of Paul, and clearly the words to the song are still coming together….

See also: Label Variations – Part Two – Let It Be

Japanese Beatles EP Box Set

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It must have been 27 years ago. It was a chance visit to a local record shop in Forestville, a northern suburb of Sydney, Australia.

Back then “record” stores were just that. They sold vinyl records. However, at the time many were in a state of transition. Compact Discs had just come out and the writing was very much on the wall for the humble vinyl record. At the time this record shop was in the process of getting rid of it’s vinyl, settling into the retailing of CD’s, and transitioning to become a video movie hire shop – on the way out of music all together.

I walked in for a look around and saw this small box set on one of the shelves:

Box set – The Beatles E.P.’s Collection

It was sitting alone. Catalogue number: Odeon Mono EAS-30013-26.

You had the definite feeling that it had been on that shelf quite some time….had not sold…and the owners were definitely keen to shift it. I took it down and noticed it didn’t have a price sticker on it. I also noticed that amongst the individual vinyl singles they still had displayed that they’d opened at least one other similar box set to break up the contents and sell the EP records it contained individually.

I walked up to the counter and asked “How much is this one?”, holding up the box set. “You can have it for A$25.00”, said the guy behind the counter. Now, back then it wasn’t dirt cheap, but it was cheap for the quality of this mint, red vinyl Japanese copy of the entire Beatles Extended Play vinyl discs. I bought it.

What you see here is that same box set from all those years ago.

Beatles E.P.’s Collection – box spine

This Japanese release is the same as the U.K. set, except that all fifteen records inside are pressed on red vinyl and the two-record Magical Mystery Tour is in mono instead of stereo. All discs in fact are mono – except The Inner Light, which is in stereo.

The Beatles E.P.’s Collection – lid opening

Each of the fifteen EP records inside come with plastic covers:

All the discs have plastic covers

Another interesting thing is that these discs play at 33 and 1/3 r.p.m, not the usual 45 r.p.m. There’s a paper sheet inside (in Japanese) with some information about the release:

Beatles E.P.’s – paper insert sheet

The famed 2-record EP Magical Mystery Tour comes complete with the gatefold and booklet just like the original, and as already mentioned, is in mono:

Mono Japanese Magical Mystery Tour

And all the discs come pressed in a delicious-looking transparent red vinyl, and all with the original cover artwork:

The lovely red vinyl “Nowhere Man” EP

 Note the “33and 1/3 r.p.m.” on the left-hand side of the label.

The red vinyl again – and each disc has plastic inner sleeves

Apparently this Japanese red vinyl edition also came out in a black vinyl edition.

McCartney to Concord Records

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Paul McCartney has announced he’s to reissue his extensive post-Beatles catalogue through the independent label, Concord Music. It means that the struggling EMI Group, his former label, misses out on a potentially huge revenue spinner, though they still remain in control of the lucrative Beatles material.

Concord, which started life in 1973 primarily as a jazz label, has previously released McCartney material. In 2007 it was the album Memory Almost Full, and last year it was the CD and DVD standard and deluxe editions of the live performance release Good Evening New York City. Both albums were distributed under the Hear Music brand, a partnership between coffee chain Starbucks and Concord. A fact I wasn’t aware of until I started to research the announcement is that there’s now a strong Australian connection to Concord, and hence a direct connection to Paul McCartney. In 2008 the label merged with Australia’s Village Roadshow Pictures Group. Veteran TV producer and writer, Norman Lear (co-owner of Concord from 1999), is still chairman of the label following the merger.

So, McCartney has turned over his substantial catalogue of about two dozen albums to Concord. The deal includes all his releases from 1970 to 2006.

Concord has announced that the first reissue they’ll produce is 1973’s Band on the Run. The CD is scheduled for an August 2010 release and will be remastered, featuring enhanced packaging and rare bonus tracks.

“I’m always looking for new ways and opportunities to get my music to people and Concord share this passion,” McCartney said of the new deal.

According to the label’s website fans “can expect both physical and digital distribution of gems from solo offerings like McCartney, Ram, Pipes of Peace, Give My Regards to Broad Street, and Flaming Pie, as well as Wings landmarks such as Wildlife and Red Rose Speedway. In addition, the re-releases will include stuff done under McCartney’s pseudonyms: Percy ‘Thrills’ Thrillington, The Fireman and Twin Freaks.”

The Los Angeles Times has a really interesting article about the journey of the Concord label to this point, and how they’ve expanded their stable of artists significantly, including the acquisition of the legendary folk and roots label Rounder Records, and deals with artists as diverse as Macy Gray, John Fogerty, Joni Mitchell, Loudon Wainwright III, Eric Bibb, Stanley Clarke, Carole King and James Taylor.  The company has some well-known record labels in it’s stable, including Milestone Records, Fantasy Records, Pablo, Prestige, Stax and Telarc.

(Sources: Concord Group website; New Music Express; the Gibson website; LA Times; and BBC News)

UPDATE:  New Release Date Announced.

Amazing New Beatles Book

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This looks to be something special.

Thanks to Wogblog for alerting us to this. He’s featured it twice. First in his interesting post on Beatles boxed sets here, and in a review of one section more recently here.

Very accurately subtitled “A Pictorial Journey Through Beatles Record Sleeves From Around the World”, this book is comprehensively just that. Written by Joachim Noske, a German fellow who must be one of the most avid Beatles record collectors of all time,  “The Beatles Covered” delves into his extensive personal collection. As Noske says: “On 800 LP sized pages printed in full colour throughout, it is a trip through more than sixty countries and territories on five continents and shows you an amazing array of original and reissue Beatles record covers the way they were released at the time in the respective markets across the world. It contains well over 14,000 pictures of singles, EPs, LPs, flexi-discs, 78 rpm shellac records, coloured vinyl records, picture discs, and boxed sets of legitimately available Beatles material, which, besides their EMI output, also includes their pre-fame recordings in Hamburg (with Tony Sheridan and at the Star Club), their Decca audition set, as well as interview and documentary discs. This world discography of Beatles vinyl records is arranged geographically by continents and countries, and contains an appendix that focuses on a number of thematic issues, such as The Beatles Collection blue boxed set, their Christmas recordings and the Magical Mystery Tour releases, amongst others.”

Visit the special site set up to feature the book – there is a lot to click through, including many page examples of what’s inside, press clippings and reviews, and details about how you can order it. The book is limited to 500 signed copies.

Author Joachim Noske, sitting in front of some of his impressive collection of records (photo: Sergej Lepke)

Promo Copy of Sgt. Pepper

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I received a comment/question that’s interesting from a reader named Trina following my Sgt Pepper – Label Variations post .

She wrote asking if I had any information about this album she’d found:

In the photo you can clearly see some stamped text in the top right-hand corner of what looks to be a US vinyl copy of the legendary Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band.

This is a promotional or “promo” copy of the LP. It originally came out in 1967 – but what Trina has here looks like a much more recent re-issue by the Beatles US record label, Capitol Records.

The stamp on the cover indicates that it was probably sent to a radio station, a record reviewer, or someone in the industry. Masses of these “promo” copies (nowadays usually just CD’s) come in to radio stations all over the world. The record companies send new releases in the hope that they’ll be played or talked about on the radio, or written about and reviewed in newspapers and magazines. However, record company promo copy numbers are dwindling due to the growing use of electronic file transfer of new tracks to radio stations.

Here’s a close up of the wording for this one:

Promo copies usually have a sticker or a stamp that states the record is strictly for promotional purposes only. The record or CD actually remains the property of the record company, and is “not for sale”, though how they actually police this is an interesting question….

Promo copies don’t usually have a serial number on them (like this one does) but I guess that’s an attempt at some form of added security indicating that, if they wanted to, Capital could trace back exactly who they sent this copy to.

A promo copy like this one for the Beatles is pretty rare and would be of interest to a collector – and therefore more valuable than just the standard, store-bought version. It also looks to be in really good condition which is a bonus. It also looks like it still has the plastic sealing on it, and I’d keep it sealed if possible as that also adds to the value. All-in-all a really nice, collectable record!

Here’s a couple of variations of the “promo” warning wording on some Beatles-related CD’s:

On the rear cover of a US interview disc for the Beatles "Love" CD

Sticker on the jewel case for the Australian Beatles CD single "Free As A Bird"

Printed onto the disc of McCartney's UK promo CD single for "The World Tonight"

And finally, a disc which was sent to me mistakenly by Paul McCartney’s record company after I complained I hadn’t received my mail-order copy of the deluxe version of his latest CD “Good Evening New York City”. (Click here for the full story on that one…)

Promo copy of the deluxe version of "Good Evening New York City"

The Lennon Singles Bag – Whats Inside?

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Happy Record Store Day for last weekend (Saturday, 17 April)!

We managed (through our friendly local independent store, Red Eye Records) to get a copy of one of the special releases produced just for the weekend: The John Lennon Singles Bag.

See this post and this post for information on this very limited edition.

Apparently there are just 7000 of these packs made for the world…..mine is number 6644 of 7000. Not a low number, but it has a nice ring to it!

Here’s a picture from the web of how the pack looks:

A sealed copy of the John Lennon Singles Bag

Like this one, ours is still sealed – and we hope to be able to keep it that way – though it is very tempting to open it to see whats inside….

Fortunately, the Lennon Estate has given us a comprehensive look inside. Just click on this link: https://www.johnlennon.com/music/rarities/singles-bag/

Beatles Number 1 – Vinyl

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A couple of days ago I wrote about finally getting a CD copy of the 2000 Beatles compilation, The Beatles – Number One. It was a little unusual in that it was the Taiwan CD release and it has some different packaging associated with it.

In that post I mentioned that when this title originally came out in the year 2000 I got the vinyl edition, and that Apple Records had gone to a lot of extra trouble to make it something really special.

As a result it is really quite a collector’s item if you can get hold of a copy. Here are a couple of pics of my copy of the vinyl Beatles – Number One:

Beatles 1 - front cover

Beatles 1 - rear cover

Because this is a two-record set, the cover is a gate-fold. Here’s how it looks when opened up:

Beatles 1 - gate-fold open

This is the custom record label on each disc:

Beatles 1 - vinyl label

Beatles 1 - vinyl record label

The inserts inside are extensive.

Firstly, there are four individual photos. One of John Lennon, one of Paul McCartney, one of Ringo Starr and one of George Harrison. While these ones are psychedelic in style, the idea is clearly reminiscent of the four photographs that came with the original vinyl editions of the Beatles “White Album”:

Beatles 1 - the four individual photos

Each LP is protected by a cardboard inner sleeve. These are also highly produced with unique artwork, photographs and information:

Beatles 1 - inner sleeve one (front)

Beatles 1 - inner sleeve one (rear)

Each inner sleeve contains photo images of Beatles singles released around the world:

Beatles 1 - inner sleeve two (front)

Beatles 1 - inner sleeve two (rear)

Finally, the set contains a big, fold-out poster of Beatles picture covers from around the world showing different singles releases:

Beatles 1 - large poster

Nice work Apple.

Dezo Hoffmann – The Beatles Conquer America

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I was in Lismore in New South Wales last week (it’s a small-ish Australian country town in the north of the state). Once I’d completed my work business there I had about 40 minutes to spare before my plane home, so I went for a walk around the town’s CBD. You can probably guess that I can’t resist a second hand/old wares shop when I find one. Especially the one I did find, which was advertising “All Books Half Price”.

Inside this store was a treasure trove. Not only are most walls lined chock-full with old books of all sorts, but there’s antique furniture, old toys, art works, advertising signs, glassware, ornaments and all sorts of collectables.

They had a crate of old records and, while there were some interesting things there from other artists, no Beatles or Beatles-related sadly. “Do you have a music section in the books?”, I asked. “Well, we haven’t got much, but its over there.”, said the sales assistant, pointing to my right.

They actually had four Beatles books.  1. A hardback copy (in pretty good condition) of Peter Brown’s book “The Love You Make – An Insider’s Story of the Beatles” (1983);  2. An original paperback of a book based on the film “Help!” (1965) written by Al Hine (in just reasonable condition);  3. An original paperback called “Love Me Do – The Beatles Progress” (1964) by Michael Braun, similar in vintage and condition to the “Help!” book; and 4. “The Beatles Conquer America”, a book of photographs taken by Dezo Hoffmann.

I already have Peter Brown’s book and, while tempting as they are collectable items, the two old paperbacks were not in the greatest condition. Also, even at half price were reasonably expensive. So, I went for the Dezo Hoffmann book:

Front Cover - The Beatles Conquer America

For a book that came out in 1984 it was in almost mint condition. It contains some absolutely fantastic and rare photographs, and at the half-price cost of just A$7.50, it was a bargain addition to the collection. The black and white photographs were all taken between January 14 and February 22, 1964 when Dezo Hoffmann accompanied the Beatles from London to New York, Washington, Miami, and then back to London. It was their first American tour, and the Beatles as a pop phenomenon was really kicking into gear…

Rear cover - The Beatles Conquer America

The book also contains photos from a short tour to Paris prior to the US visit. Dezo Hoffmann was a Beatles insider – having taken an interest in photographing the band from well before their meteoric rise to fame. As such he got unique access – as seen throughout this book. Dezo also writes a short description of the background to each photograph. Here’s a quick flip through just a couple of the pages:

There is very much a “fly on the wall” feel to these photographs. They capture the Beatles at ease and enjoying themselves away from the fans, enjoying performing, and just soaking up the success that was coming their way.

If you don’t think you’ve ever seen a Dezo Hoffman image of the Beatles before, you might know this one:

Click here for a larger image and some official info on this release. In looking around for additional information on Dezo Hoffmann I found an interesting page about how his original shot outside the BBC was manipulated for this now famous cover.

As well as historic photographs, Dezo Hoffmann also took many informal home movies on location with the Beatles:

The Beatles Number 1’s – Taiwan Variation

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When the compilation The Beatles Number 1 (27 No. 1 Singles) was first released back in the year 2000 I was a purist and was only interested in any Beatles re-issues that came out on vinyl. That was my focus as a collector.

As the years have gone by I’ve realised that, while I’ll still collect any vinyl re-issues that come out, CDs are after all much more convenient to play – and they often have some variations to the vinyl which are interesting.

While I’ve had the original vinyl of The Beatles Number 1 for years (the packaging of which is AWESOME -more on this soon), there were some CD editions of it that were always of interest. Among these was the Taiwan edition featured here. I recently spied one in excellent condition and going for a very good price on Ebay – and it arrived this week.

Beatles 1 - Taiwan outer slipcase

As you can see – it has a special outer cardboard slip case that clearly proclaims it is from an Asian country – in this case, Taiwan. The unique packaging doesn’t stop there. The pack also contains an additional 36 page booklet (in Chinese) with what looks like a long essay on the Beatles, a wealth of information on each individual track, photographs of the Beatles and the albums each track is associated with, release dates, etc.

The additional 36-page booklet exclusive to this realease alongside the CD

The pack also contains another special insert – a fold-out sheet with lyrics for every song in both Chinese and English:

The fold out lyric sheet

Interestingly the CD jewel case, booklet (32 pages) and CD seem to be exactly the same as the European release. It has “Printed in the EU” on the back and on the CD, so I guess EMI Taiwan just imported these and put together the rest of the pack themselves….

(clockwise from top left): The custom slipcase, lyric insert, CD and special additional booklet

So, there you have it – the slightly collectable Taiwan edition of The Beatles Number 1.

As mentioned above, the vinyl edition of this release is kind of special. Apple really went to some trouble with the packaging and inserts and I will post some photos and info on this edition soon.

Fab Fourum – a Beatles podcast I download occasionally – recently devoted a whole show to the Beatles Number 1, and you can download it here on iTunes (see Episode 021 called: #1 With “1”).

Time Magazine – The Beatles Final Year

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Time Magazine online is currently running an interesting photo-essay detailing the events surrounding the demise of the world’s greatest band. Click here to see and read their tribute, in this the 40th anniversary since the Beatles split. They say: “The band’s internal feuds boiled over into public view on April 10, 1970, when Paul McCartney announced his intention to leave the group”.

Time also has a special on the Top Ten Band Breakups, of which the Beatles (of course) are number one on the list.