Tag Archives: Beatles Collecting

Two Small But Unusual Garage Sale Finds

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There are times at garage or yard sales when you are on the hunt for Beatles vinyl that the pickings can be pretty slim.

This was the case last weekend. After visiting quite a few, and with the prospect of going home empty-handed, I struck two very unusual and potentially rare items at the very last house I visited. Sitting in a box of old 45’s I found two New Zealand pressings. They’re both collectable – with this one probably being the most rare:

As you can see, it’s a copy of John Lennon’s “Imagine” – but on the NZ Parlophone label:

I must admit, despite seeing quite a few copies of this single in my time, I’ve never seen in on the black and yellow Parlophone label before.  Next post I’ll put up some of the great variety of label variations of “Imagine” from around the world.

Sitting with the John Lennon was another New Zealand single – a copy of the Beatles “Hey Jude” b/w “Revolution”. Unusually, it was in a UK cardboard outer sleeve:

These covers were produced for the UK Beatles box set “The Beatles Collection” containing all 25 British single releases. However, inside this one there was a New Zealand Parlophone pressing of the single – again on the yellow and black Parlophone label:

In “The Beatles Collection” box set this single looks like this:

So, the copy I found is quite strange. I’m not sure if New Zealand EMI ever produced a version of this box set where they sourced the British packaging but inserted locally pressed vinyl. In some countries that sometimes happened. If so, my single has become separated from the rest of the collection at some stage….

These are the other versions of  the “Hey Jude” single in my collection. The record was released in that period just when Apple Records had first been created and so some copies in Australia also came out on the Beatles’ old label, Parlophone:

It was also released here on a standard Apple:

And here’s an example of some weird typography being used in the song title on a later Australian Apple pressing:

Finally an example of the original UK Apple version:

So, when garage sale hunting seems fruitless sometimes its worth going to just one more house….

Mary Hopkin – Australian Vinyl

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Last weekend I was visiting a cool Sydney second-hand record store called Revolve Records and Relics. As you can see if you click here, its a full-on searching experience when you walk inside…I was actually there on the hunt for an Australian pressing of the John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band LP to send to Andrey, a Russian collector and reader of this blog.

Anyway, I didn’t turn one up for him (yet), but I did find an LP for myself that I’ve been searching for now for about ten years or so. It’s an original Australian pressing on Apple Records of the Mary Hopkin compilation “The Best of Mary Hopkin”:

You might know this record as “Those Were the Days”. In the UK and the USA that’s what it was called when released back in 1972. It has the same Apple Records catalogue number here as the UK issue – SAPCOR 23 (in the US this was SW3395) – and the same 11 tracks and running order:

There’s a bit of a backstory for me regarding this LP. I did spy a copy of it once at a garage sale about 10-15 years ago. I was just about to reach for it when another person at the garage sale spotted it first and grabbed it. It must genuinely be one of the Apple rarities as I’ve never seen another copy of it since!

So, thanks to Andrey, I have one more item ticked off in the quest to own every Apple LP on vinyl.

Label Variations Part Ten – Abbey Road (More….)

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Since I posted Label Variations Part Six – Abbey Road  I’ve had a few people sending in some further great examples from their own collections.

So, its time to share these now.

First comes from Jerry Woods who wrote:  “Saw your blog featuring various record labels (I LOVE this stuff!!) and noticed that you didn’t have a MONO version of Abbey Road on display, so I thought I would share. Although, not a true mono mix (they never “officially” did one – and this LP sounds identical from start to finish to the Stereo version when the Stereo version is folded down to Mono) this is kind of an interesting oddity – but only a fold down to Mono from Stereo.”

Here are the labels – the record comes from Brazil:

Another nice one sent in was from a reader in New Zealand and it’s really quite unusual. It is Abbey Road on an orange Apple label – very similar (but not quite) to the orange labels used for George Harrison’s All Things Must Pass. VERY collectable:

Of course there were lots of green Apples from other countries. Nice examples here from France, Italy and a green vinyl pressing of the album from the UK:

There were these two from Canada that were missed first time around. They include a couple of purple Capitol labels with two variations (one with a fairly obvious spelling mistake):

There were also a couple of other US pressings. The orange Capitol, and also the collectable Mobile Fidelity Audiophile pressing:

Finally, a couple of pressings of Abbey Road on a black and silver Parlophone label. This first one is from the UK:

While this other one, sent in by Andrey in Russia, is much more unusual. It is a rare UAR (Egypt?) label for Abbey Road:

(except for a couple, click on labels to see larger versions)

Ah, collecting….the variations sometimes seem endless. Thanks to everyone who emailed more labels.

You can see Label Variations Parts One, Two, Three, Four, and Five and Six, plus the Beatles Love LP variations here and here.

There’s a post on the variations of the McCartney/Fireman Electric Arguments release; McCartney’s Twin Freaks LP and singles; as well as his recent Kisses On The Bottom CD’s and LP. There is also a post on some George Harrison All Things Must Pass label variations.

Beatles Vinyl Remasters – New Promo Video

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Thanks to Beatles Blog  reader scub75 for sending in the link to a brand new promo video for the soon-to-be released Beatles vinyl remasters. He says:

“Finally they’ve released the video of the vinyl remasters. This was posted on the official YouTube page of Norway EMI. I cannot wait for the release date to have my box set!”

If you look closely it confirms a lot of new details – including that the record labels will be accurate to the original time at which they would have been released, and that the book will be quite lavish with special printing techniques used.

For more see the official Beatles site.  It all comes out on November 12.

Where “Made in the EU” Vinyl Might Be Pressed

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These days a lot of Paul McCartney’s and the Beatles vinyl LP’s and CD’s have the term “Manufactured in the EU” or “Printed in the EU” on the back cover – even some that are for sale in the US. Here are just a couple of recent vinyl examples from my collection:

(Rear of LP cover – click to enlarge)

And titles in the McCartney Archive series including:

(Rear of LP cover – click to enlarge)

There are CD examples as well (though some of these do say “Manufactured in the USA”).This means these albums are being pressed (and probably in quite large quantities) somewhere in a European Union country. Many might think that means Britain, Germany, Holland, or maybe even France where they have a rich tradition of pressing good quality vinyl and are geared up to do so.

But then again, maybe not….

I’ve had an email from Russian Beatles collector Andrey. Remember back to Record Store Day earlier this year when Paul McCartney, as part of the publicity in the lead-up to the “Ram” Archives Series reissues, released a limited-edition 45 vinyl single of the song “Another Day“?

This was a collectors item reproduction single (including a nice picture sleeve) especially made for Record Store Day. “Another Day” was a song which was recorded during the “Ram” sessions. However it didn’t come out on the original “Ram” album . It was only ever issued as a single and was a huge worldwide hit.  The RSD release from earlier this year looks like this:

Well, Andrey bought that 2012 RSD “Another Day” single from a Russian internet shop.  The interesting thing is that while the small print on the rear of the paper sleeve states (as it does around the world) that the paper sleeve was “Printed in the USA”, one of the two stickers on the back of Andrey’s copy says that the vinyl record itself was actually manufactured in the Czech Republic by a company called GZ Digital Media.

The rear cover of Andrey’s copy looks like this:

And here’s a close up of that sticker:

(click on images to see larger versions)

If you go to the GZ Digital Media website you’ll discover that they’re a well-established and very professional outfit clearly geared up to do high-quality vinyl and CD pressing runs in large numbers if need be. The company’s vinyl “Products” page lists everything from mastering through to the production of 7″, 10″ and 12″ vinyl; shaped and coloured vinyl; and they even do the printing of covers and production of box sets if required.

That got me thinking about some other releases I have with “Printed in the EU” on the back.  The Beatles vinyl editions of “1” and “Love” for instance:

(Rear of LP cover – click to enlarge)

Is GZ Digital Media in the Czech Republic the plant where these were manufactured too?  Could be.

One of the articles I read about the forthcoming box set of re-mastered Beatles vinyl stated that one of the big logistical challenges Apple faced in planning the project was to find processing plant (or plants) that could physically cope with the sheer volume of discs needing to be pressed. They all have to be high quality and stockpiled in very big numbers for distribution. Perhaps the GZ  Digital Media plant is playing a part?

If you have any more info please join in the conversation.

“Produced by George Martin” – We Have a Winner

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Our competition to win a DVD copy of “Produced by George Martin” in the previous post asked the question:

George Martin was never just about one band. There was also comedy, and in 1965  he produced and arranged and conducted the accompaniment for a mock, spoken version of the Beatles “A Hard Day’s Night”.  Who was the performer? 

The correct answer was Peter Sellers, the famous British comedian and actor who in 1965  released a single which was a comedy version of the Beatles “A Hard Day’s Night”. In it Sellers recites the lyrics to the song in the style of Laurence Olivier in Shakespeare’s “Richard III”.  The Sellers version became a UK Top 20 hit:

There were lots of entries and the first person through with the correct answer  was Eric Leon in France. Congratulations to Eric (who is a huge Beatles fan), and thank you to everyone who entered the competition.

And a very big thank you to Eagle Rock Entertainment for providing the prize.

Produced by George Martin – Win Your Own Copy

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In our last post we brought you the details of a terrific new documentary out now on DVD and BluRay about the life and work of George Martin.

The film is called simply “Produced by George Martin”.

It’s a fascinating journey through the amazing output and influence of a record producer who changed the world.

By answering the question below you could be the lucky owner of your very own copy, courtesy of Eagle Rock Entertainment. And the question is:

George Martin was never just about one band. There was also comedy, and in 1965  he produced, arranged and conducted the accompaniment for a mock, spoken version of the Beatles “A Hard Day’s Night”.       Who was the performer? 

The first correct answer to me at beatlesblogger@gmail.com will win a DVD copy of  “Produced by George Martin”.

By the way, there are two great reviews of “Produced by George Martin” here and here.

Produced by George Martin – New DVD/BluRay

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He’s arguably the man who has most right to the title “The Fifth Beatle”.

George Martin produced, played on, and helped arrange the instrumentation for just about every Beatles LP. His influence on the band cannot be understated. But his talent wasn’t limited to just the greatest band of all time. George Martin was, and is, an amazingly prolific, varied and talented producer – and a new documentary about the totality of his work is on DVD and BluRay shelves now.

Called simply “Produced by George Martin” this documentary is a feature-length profile of Britain’s most celebrated record producer. Sir George talks about his childhood, his war experience, and his early days as a music student. The film was originally broadcast in 2011 as part of the BBC’s “Arena” series, but this version contains over 50 minutes of additional interviews not included in the TV broadcast.


George Martin really has had a career like no other. In the early ‘50s, he joined EMI/Parlophone and started working on orchestral music, music for children, and pioneered a range of hugely successful comedy records with Peter Sellers, Spike Milligan, Peter Ustinov and many others. Then, in 1962, he signed a band called the Beatles and everything changed. Together, George Martin and the group revolutionised pop music and recording techniques, forging probably the greatest producer/artist collaboration there will ever be.

“Produced By George Martin” features numerous classic clips of the artists he produced. It has new interviews with many of them including Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Michael Palin, Jeff Beck, Rolf Harris, Cilla Black, Millicent Martin and Bernard Cribbins. A fascinating man, and a compelling film: 

Eagle Rock Entertainment has released “Produced By George Martin” on three configurations: DVD, Blu-ray and Digital Video.

COMING UP NEXT ON BEATLESBLOGGER  –  WIN YOUR VERY OWN COPY OF “PRODUCED BY GEORGE MARTIN”   

We’ll be running a competition. All you’ll have to do is answer a simple question about the great George Martin and you could win. Just check back in a couple of days for details on how to enter.

The John Lennon Letters – New Book

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“John Lennon lived and died in an era before computers, emails, twits, tweets, and twitters, hence he handwrote or typed letters and postcards to his family, friends, fans, strangers, newspapers, organisations, lawyers and the laundry.  Most of his letters were funny, informative, campaigning, wise, mad, anguished, poetic.  Sometimes they were heartbreaking.  We know from his lyrics and his two books of poems that he had a way with words, but his letters have up to now never been collected and published, and in many cases their very existence has remained unknown.” – Hunter Davies

In the month that should have seen John Lennon’s 72nd birthday comes a great new and very insightful book – “The John Lennon Letters”:

This book features almost 300 letters that were recovered by famed Beatles biographer Hunter Davies with the help of major auction houses in the UK and US.  They include a page from the “Daily Howl,” a  homemade newspaper John created when he was 12 or 13; a page from a homemade book John penned at age 11; letters to relatives including his mother, father, son, half-sister, cousins and aunts; to his first wife Cynthia (including his first ever written correspondence to her which was a homemade card celebrating their first Christmas together); early fan letters, countless items to friends, journalists, dignitaries, record executives, and of course to the other Beatles.

It is all compiled and edited by Hunter Davies, who this week gave an interview to Australian radio host Philip Clark on the ABC’s Radio National Breakfast program:

The book reveals Lennon’s emotional states – highs and lows – and much about his songwriting. It includes hand-written Beatles set-lists, drawings, lyrics to never-recorded songs, and even grocery lists from the later parts of his life.

It is the first-ever compilation of John Lennon’s musings and paints a unique, intimate, and rather emotional portrait of one of music’s – and the world’s – most beloved and enigmatic figures.

(click images to see larger versions)

“The John Lennon Letters” is published by Little, Brown and Company.

John Lennon’s Poster Replicated – Mr Kite!

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This is nice.

The Beatles tune “Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!” was inspired by an 1843 circus poster that John Lennon purchased at an antiques store and hung in his music room.

Now London designer and Beatles superfan Peter Dean has recreated this poster in obsessive detail. He went so far as to collaborate with a wood-engraving artist and had the final poster letterpress printed. The short film (above) has been made about the project. You can find a larger format version of it and a lot more info on a cool website at:  http://kiteprint.com

And for more info Peter’s email is:  mail@kite.com