Tag Archives: 50th anniversary

Hey Jude/Revolution – If It’s Re-issued Should This Be The Look?

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Loved this Tweet yesterday by Canadian Beatle aficionado and author, Piers Hemmingsen:  

It made us think that if (and it seems to be very likely) there are plans to re-issue a physical ‘HeyJude’/’Revolution’ single as part of the forthcoming Beatles White Album 50th Anniversary, then it really should come in a white sleeve like the 1968 Canadian issue.

What do you think? Does this…..

….look better (and more appropriate) than this…..

Piers Hemmingsen is the author of The Beatles In Canada – The Origin of Beatlemania!

Yellow Submarine – 50th Anniversary Celebration Ideas Taking Shape

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This year, being the 50th anniversary of the Beatles’ Yellow Submarine LP and animated film, we’ll see some official Apple-backed activities to mark the occasion.

There’s to be a new graphic novel adaptation of the film story from comic-book artist, writer and editor Bill Morrison. This will be released on August 7 and is available for pre-order now from Amazon US and Amazon UK. See more on the background to the book here. Also, The Beatles official site today also announced that, in the UK and Ireland at least, Yellow Submarine will be making a return to cinemas for one day only. It’s planned to show the film in multiple locations on July 8. Tickets go on sale from April 17. More details about this here – and you can keep up with the event on a new Yellow Submarine Film Facebook page.

Meanwhile, at the recent Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, the Pro-Ject turntable company leaked some teaser vision of their latest collaboration with Apple – a Yellow Submarine themed turntable:

The company has already issued two Sgt. Pepper turntables (in Drum and Limited Edition versions); a Beatles 1964-themed player; plus a George Harrison commemorative model. No further details about availability or pricing of the Yellow Submarine model are available yet.

More Beatle Podcasts for Your Listening Enjoyment

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More than two years ago the ABC (the Australian Broadcasting Corporation) began hosting an ongoing series celebrating the 50th anniversary of each British Beatle LP.

As each album marks its anniversary ABC Radio presenter Rod Quinn speaks to US John Lennon biographer and amazing Beatle expert Jude Southerland Kessler. Jude is the author of the extraordinary (and ambitious!) nine-volume John Lennon narrative biography. The last instalment in Jude’s series was Volume 3: She Loves You, but Volume 4: Should Have Known Better is due out soon – in March, 2018 we believe.

It’s been quite a while since we gave you an update on the ABC Radio podcast series. There have been quite a few, so here goes.  

The Rubber Soul LP is discussed in two parts. Part One (examining Side One of the LP) is here.

And you can find Part Two (examining Side Two of the LP) is here.

Revolver is also in two parts. Part One (examining Side One of the LP) is here.

And Revolver Part Two (examining Side Two of the LP) is here.Rod Quinn and Jude Sutherland Kessler discussed both Side One and Side Two of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band in one long podcast here.These are all great podcasts. Very insightful and well worth a listen. Previous broadcasts have covered Please Please Me; With the Beatles; A Hard Day’s Night, Beatles For Sale and of course, Help! – in two parts: Side One here, and Side Two here.

And you can also listen to Yellow Submarine; The White Album and The Esher Demos, and Abbey Road here.

Cryptic Sgt Pepper 50th Anniversary Re-issue Hints?

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The official Beatles website has today begun some sort of a mystery teaser campaign by publishing a cryptic, four-colour image on its front page:

While many are asking what it means, others are saying the image symbolises the colours of the uniforms the four Beatles wore on the front cover their Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album – which in June is about to celebrate its 50th Anniversary:

If this is true it’s very much like what the site did for the “1” and “1+” video, CD and vinyl project back in September, 2015. Back then it began a teaser campaign by publishing a mysterious countdown video with red numbers on a bright yellow background. There was little or no other explanation offered at the time::

And so, we await further instalments!

Tweets and retweets from each of the individual Beatles have also surfaced:

Ringo’s specifically says “Coming soon…..”, while John’s Tweet below confirms that the colour of his Pepper uniform is the key to unpicking the coded message: 

And then there’s this on the official Beatles YouTube Channel:

And Amazon US is saying that on May 26 there’ll be Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band Anniversary Editions released as a 2LP set;  a 1CD set; a 2CD Deluxe Edition set; and a 6 Disc Super Deluxe Edition set! No images available yet.

Then, a further teaser video….

The Beatles “Help” – 50th Anniversary Podcast

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As we mentioned in December last year, the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) is hosting an ongoing series celebrating the 50th anniversary of each British Beatle LP.

As each album marks its anniversary presenter Rod Quinn speaks to US John Lennon biographer and Beatle expert Jude Southerland Kessler. Jude is the author of the extraordinary and ambitious nine-volume John Lennon narrative biography. The latest instalment in her series is Volume 3: She Loves You.

Last weekend the pair began a two-part series on the Beatles fifth studio album Help!.

You can find Part One (examining Side One of the LP) here.Help Label 1

And you can find Part Two (examining Side Two of the LP) here.

Help Label 2Previous broadcasts have covered Please Please Me; With the Beatles; A Hard Day’s Night, and Beatles For Sale. Each is well worth a listen.

Great New Beatle Podcast Series on Australian Radio

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We happened upon a new series of Australian radio programs featuring the Beatles last night. A popular presenter called Rod Quinn hosts a national overnight radio show on the ABC (the Australian Broadcasting Corporation).

As each Beatle album marks its 50th anniversary Quinn has been speaking to US Lennon biographer (and Beatle expert) Jude Southerland Kessler. Jude is author of the extraordinary and ambitious nine-volume John Lennon series – a narrative biography she is presently writing. The latest instalment in her series is Volume 3: She Loves You.

Well, last night here in Australia the pair looked at the band’s fourth studio album Beatles For Sale, released on December 4, 1964: BeatlesForSale As you’ll hear in the podcast, Jude Sutherland Kessler brings unique insights to this famous fourth Beatle album by examining its song selections, running order, lyrics – and even the way the Beatles are portrayed in the LP’s UK cover images. You can click on the links in this post to hear a podcast of the original ABC Radio broadcast.

Previous broadcasts have covered Please Please Me; With the Beatles and A Hard Day’s Night, each also well worth a listen.

Incidentally, the album looked quite different here in Australia having a cover unique to this market, but with the same LP inside:Beatles_For_Sale_Australia

Beatles 1984 Capitol Records Promo Video

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In this the Beatles 50 Years celebrations of first making it big on the US charts, it’s interesting to watch how in 1984 Capitol Records visually marked what was then the band’s 20th anniversary….

See also the British 20th Anniversary singles.

Beatles Australian 50th Anniversary Celebrations Are Hotting Up – Part Three

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In anticipation – this coming week – of the 50th anniversary the Beatles first set foot in Australia, the local press has begun publishing a number of articles today.

The Sydney Morning Herald is carrying two pieces – this one about the fans:SMH Beatles-1SMH Beatles2

And this feature piece (which also appears in the Melbourne Age newspaper) about the continuing influence of the Beatles on some of the leading Australian musicians of today:SMH and Age Beatles3

Meanwhile, The Australian newspaper has a comprehensive review of the ABC TV special which goes to air at 8.30pm (Australian Eastern Time) next Tuesday, June 10:The Australian BeatlesSee also Beatles Australian 50th Anniversary Celebrations Are Hotting Up – Part One and Part Two.

Beatles Australian 50th Anniversary Celebrations Are Hotting Up

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Here in Australia the celebrations for the 50th anniversary of the Beatles one-and-only tour Down Under are beginning to get exciting.

The Beatles arrived in Sydney on June 11, 1964 and EMI Australia has today posted a great Australian tour highlights video on its official YouTube site:

The site publicises Australia’s contribution to the 50th anniversary – a 2 CD set called Then & Now – Australia Salutes The Beatles. It’s a compilation of some of Australia’s finest artists covering classic Beatle songs:Then-Now-Australia-Salutes-The-Beatles

Details about the release can be found here.

It has to be said it is a bit underwhelming with the news that this was actually EMI Australia’s second choice as a way to mark the historic visit. Initially the company was working on a unique two-disc set which was to have included a DVD of the complete Melbourne concert (which was filmed live and broadcast nationally at the time), with extra songs and partial songs included. This was to be partnered with a CD containing the studio recordings of those particular songs from the concert. It could have been a nice double-disc package, complete with a booklet – a real collectors item, unique to Australia. By comparison the double CD’s of Aussie cover versions is a real let-down.

EMI Australia was apparently told by Apple head office that as they are working on a live project of their own the local project could not possibly proceed…..

There’ll be more news on other Australian celebrations to mark the anniversary across June – including a major television documentary produced by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and a “pop-up” digital radio station which will run for a week and play ’64 Beatles tour music as well as rare audio from the archives. This will also be streamed live around the world – so more on these broadcasts soon in future posts.

Beatles ’64 – A Hard Day’s Night in America

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We were recently able to do a big Beatles crate dig while visiting the city of Newcastle in New South Wales, Australia. It yielded a few treasures.

Ah, Newcastle. A former steel city now more focussed on tourism, education, health services and coal exports, it must also be second-hand central when it comes to the large number of shops it has selling vintage books, records and CDs. We got around to some (but not all) the outlets due to time constraints. But those we did get to were worth it.

Found this great book in a second-hand bookshop called Indigo Books on Hunter Street:Beatles '64 frontWith this year being the 50th anniversary of the Beatles invasion of the USA, who could resist a book with the title Beatles ’64 – A Hard Day’s Night in America….

Yes, it has a small rip in the dust jacket, but this book is a fantastic memento and really worth having.

First released in 1989 to mark the 25th anniversary, Beatles ’64 has extensive text by journalist A.J.S. Rayl. But perhaps its most striking feature is one hundred and fifty (then) never-before-seen photographs of the band taken by freelance photographer Curt Gunther who accompanied them on that first historic US tour: Beatles '64 rear

Gunther’s photographic career spanned over four decades. He met the Beatles in 1964 and a friendship was formed. Asked to pay his own way on the tour he offset his expenses with winnings from nightly poker sessions with the band! Find out more about Curt Gunther here, and see more of his Beatle images.

As the Amazon Books review says of his work: “….[as you flip through the book] every so often a picture jumps out by capturing the essence of both the premiere British pop invaders and the tenor of the time.” Here are couple of those images from Beatles ’64 – A Hard Day’s Night in America:Beatles '64 insideBeatles '64 band

I liked this one of their guitars backstage:Beatles '64 guitars

And this one of Paul driving (and smoking) in the US:Beatles '64 Paul

Finally – the look on the face of the young lady who pulled up alongside the Beatles in their limo says it all:Beatles '64 fan

It’s a book really worth having in the collection – especially in this the 50th anniversary year. Here’s an interesting review which also contains a couple more of the Curt Gunther images.

We’ll definitely be heading back to Newcastle again soon as there is certainly more Beatles treasure to discover there. In coming posts we’ll feature a couple of other nice things we found.