Last year Andrey, our reader and an avid Beatle collector in Russia, sent in an amazing historical photo which closely resembled one particular iconic Beatle LP image:
Andrey has just sent another contender for Russian Abbey Road lookalike. It’s a beauty and was taken in Surgut town in 1976. The picture was called “To drilling site with concert”:
They sure do have a lot of muddy roads over there!
Paul McCartney has uploaded a short “behind the scenes” film of how they made the promo video for the 2015 remix of ‘Say Say Say’:
You can see the video in full here:
And a 12-inch single of ‘Say Say Say’ (2015) on clear vinyl will be issued this Friday as part of the Record Store Day Black Friday releases:
A little earlier this year we found a New Zealand pressing of Paul McCartney and Wings controversial ‘Give Ireland Back to the Irish’ dating from 1972. As was the case in most of the rest of the world this was on a custom Apple label.
The other day at one of our local second-hand vinyl favourites (Audiomania) we found an original UK pressing, complete with its bright yellow custom Wings paper sleeve: 
The single itself, also on custom Apple labels, is in near mint condition:
Following on from all the excitement of the last week, next month will see the double vinyl LP edition of The Beatles 1 in 2015 form featuring the new stereo remixes created by Giles Martin:
The 2015 version of The Beatles 1 CD was released last week, along with numerous Blu-ray/DVD video iterations. The gatefold, 2LP 180g vinyl set looks to be packaged exactly the same as the two previous releases of this title (in 2011, and again in remastered form only just last year). Like them, it will come with four art cards (11′ x 8.5′), two inner jackets packed with images of original single sleeves, and a huge poster (33′ x 22′) featuring examples of more single sleeves from around the world:
Interestingly, all previous versions of The Beatles 1, featuring the 2009 remasters (first issued in 2011), are set to be quietly withdrawn and the new CD and vinyl versions with the new stereo remixes will permanently supersede them.
The Beatles 1 on 2LP vinyl will be released on 4 December 2015.
The final instalment in the five-part series backgrounding the work done to restore the Beatles 1 video collection has been uploaded to YouTube:
In it leading Australian Director of Photography Mike Molloy reminisces about his time with the Beatles. In 1968 he’d been living and working in London as a freelance cameraman for about a year when he was asked to go down to EMI’s Studio Three at Abbey Road and film a promo clip for “Lady Madonna”. Instead, what he came back with was unique footage of the band recording what was then a brand new song called “Hey Bulldog”.
As Mark Lewisohn says in his book The Complete Beatles Chronicle, “While the cameras whirred, the Beatles recorded ten rhythm track takes of “Hey Bulldog” and completed it with overdubs. Then, at the conclusion of this 4.00pm-2.00am session, after the filming had ended, they watched as it was mixed into mono.”
Mike Molloy says he spent all day with the Beatles. Mike told me that they were very easy to get along with, very friendly. “In the film, for effect, I superimposed a shot of a paisley tie over George Harrison’s face. It was George’s tie! He was great, and very open to trying the effect to see how it turned out.”
Molloy went on to work in London as a cameraman and Director of Photography on feature films for 29 years, before returning to Sydney, Australia, where he now lives. He’s worked with some of the greats, including Stanley Kubrick (on A Clockwork Orange and Barry Lyndon) and Nicolas Roeg (on Performance and Walkabout).
The Beatles 1 and Beatles 1+ DVDs and BluRays are released globally tomorrow, November 6. (Note that the “Hey Bulldog” video is only available on Disc 2 of the Beatles 1+ edition).
You can see the other four parts in the Restoration Series here. Just click on “The Restoration” tab at the top.
Is Apple doing a limited reissue of The Beatles Stereo USB?
The UK online store Spin CDs has just listed it, with a release date of 30 October…… 
Details on their site are sketchy so if anyone else knows about this let us know.
Originally issued in December, 2009 as a limited edition of 30,000 units, the small metal Apple contains a USB drive with all 13 of the band’s studio albums, plus all the Past Masters songs. Also included are the 13 album mini-documentaries which came with the remastered CDs, and the complete digital booklet artwork. The USB has all songs in stereo in both FLAC format (24 bit 44.1 kbps) and MP3 (320 kbps).
While we were in Long Jetty last week we discovered a nice copy of John Lennon’s Rip It Up – 15 Rock’n’Roll Greats. This was at The Sound Exchange Record Bar. Immediately next door is a small bric-a-brac/old wares store called Webster’s Vintage:
Inside this bright green building is crammed a veritable potpourri of clothing, jewellery, books and all sorts of knick knacks. You name it, they’ve got it.
While looking around we spied, in a glass case behind the main counter a lone Beatle record that looked interesting. It was a 1965, Australia-only pressing of a four-song EP called With The Beatles:
We asked the owner if she could open the cabinet so that we could check it out. The records was in very good condition. With its dark front cover image (unique to Australia) it’s rare to find these without a lot of ring wear showing, and the vinyl itself was very good too:
Rear cover:
So, another nice Aussie EP addition to the collection.
Earlier this week we reported finally receiving a replacement copy of John Lennon’s Rock’n’Roll LP.
Well, the very next day we happened to be on the New South Wales central coast and popped in to one of the best second-hand vinyl stores around – The Sound Exchange Record Bar – at a place called Long Jetty.
And what should we find there but an almost mint copy of the hard-to-find, Australia-only, ultra-budget version of the very same record:
In 1988 EMI licensed the rights to Lennon’s Rock’nRoll album to the Australian specialty budget label, J&B Records:
J&B had a large catalogue back in the day, and sold most of their records through supermarkets and department stores. Everything from Glen Campbell to Connie Francis compilations. From Roy Orbison to the Village People. They had lots of well-known Australian artists in the catalogue as well: John Farnham, Glenn Shorrock (ex Little River Band), Dragon and Billy Field. So it was a surprise to see an artist like John Lennon in there too.
J&B called their record Rip It Up – 15 Rock’n’Roll Greats. This is exactly the same songs and running order of the original 1975 Apple Records release. Just the cover was changed. Here’s the rear cover:
And the J&B label:
As you can see, no expense was spared on the artwork! Even so, this is a really good copy for its age – still glossy front cover, no ring wear, and the record itself looks almost unplayed.
While sitting at home this morning there was a knock on the door. It was a courier with a registered parcel that looked suspiciously like an LP mailer:
Could this finally be the replacement John Lennon Rock’n’Roll album from the John Lennon 8-LP box set? The postmarks were from Great Britain, and the sender address was Universal Music in London.
As you know, Universal are now the manufacturers and distributors of all Beatle releases, including the back-catalogues of John Lennon and George Harrison. They had a big problem with the Rock’n’Roll album shipped with the Lennon box. The set was temporarily withdrawn from sale while they sorted out a production error where the song “Sweet Little Sixteen” appeared twice, and the song “You Can’t Catch Me” was missing altogether.
The company set up a special website. Providing you had proof of purchase you could request a replacement copy of the faulty album. We did this at the start of August, but had nothing but stoney silence from Universal since, despite a couple of follow-up emails to them seeking an update on progress.
Now, over two months later, out of the blue our corrected replacement copy has arrived:
Thanks Universal!
As part of the launch campaign for the Archive Collection editions of Pipes of Peace, Paul McCartney has today uploaded to Facebook a new ‘Say Say Say [2015 Remix]’ video:
The track (which is included as part of the Bonus Audio for Pipes of Peace) features previously unheard vocals by Paul and Michael Jackson, with the parts they sing on the original swapped in position in a remix by Mark ‘Spike’ Stent. The original (remastered) version is still included on the main album CD and vinyl.
The press release says: “32 years after the original release, fans….have….a completely new mix of the track, prominently featuring alternative vocals from Paul and the late Michael which have never before seen the light of day.
This version came about as Paul worked on the next stage of his extensive reissue collection – the Grammy Award-winning Paul McCartney Archive Series – earlier this year. While working on the remasters for 1983’s Pipes Of Peace album and accompanying bonus material at Abbey Road Studios in January 2015, Paul was listening to an instrumental remix of ‘Say Say Say’ by DJ John ‘Jellybean’ Benitez when he recalled there were unused vocals.
The original multi-track masters were located and Paul’s Chief Engineer at his studio in Sussex, Steve Orchard, along with Paul fused the unheard recordings to the Jellybean mix.
Directed by the choreographer and performance artist Ryan Heffington – recently noted for his choreography work on Sia’s ‘Chandelier’ promo – and filmed in LA, the video follows a teenage boy on a journey through his neighbourhood. The boy’s sense of optimism is infectious as he brings joy and stunning dance sequences to those he encounters on his travels.”
For more on the story behind how the ‘Say Say Say [2015 Remix]’ came about visit paulmccartney.com
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