Tag Archives: Beatles Collecting

Are You A Beatles Autograph Hunter?

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I’m not, but I was kind of intrigued reading this article about a forthcoming auction of an autographed copy of the Beatles US LP “Meet The Beatles!” from 1964.

Signed on the rear cover by all four Beatles on the eve of their legendary Ed Sullivan Show TV appearance, the record comes from the estate of  Dr Jules Gordon who treated an ailing George Harrison at New York’s Plaza Hotel, the hotel where the Beatles were staying during their first US visit.

George was suffering from a very sore throat and Dr Gordon, the house physician at the hotel, was called upon to treat him. In fact, at one stage it looked like he might not be able to perform at all on the TV show – which broke the band big time in the US.

The auction is being conducted by Case Antiques. Their May 21 auction is billed as a “Fine Art and Antique Auction” – and hidden away on page 15 of the 37-page internet listing, in amongst the furniture and artworks, is the signed Beatles album. To save you time here’s a link to that page. Click on the album to bring up some more pictures and details. The auction listing describes the item as:

“Very good condition. 12-1/4″ H x 12-1/4″ W. Provenance: From the estate of Dr. Jules Gordon, the New York physician who treated George Harrison for a sore throat on February 8, 1964, the day before their American television debut on the Ed Sullivan Show. Refer to the New York Times Article dated February 9, 1964 by Thomas Buckley which names Dr. Gordon and describes the doctor’s treatment of Harrison as well as events surrounding their New York appearance”:

Its sobering to think that a simple sore throat could very well have changed the course of popular music history….

Yoko Ono – “Fly”

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You might be wondering why I’ve just purchased a 40 year-old vinyl copy of the 2LP set “Fly” by Yoko Ono….

I’ve pretty much always liked the Beatles, and have had a variety of their records in my collection for over 40 years now. What really got me started on collecting seriously though (and this is about fifteen years ago now) was a fascination with their Apple Records label and an attempt to learn all I could about company and to get vinyl copies of all the artists they signed to that label over the years it was active and under the band’s direct influence.

That has meant hunting down discs as diverse as British modern classical composer John Tavener (“The Whale” and “Celtic Requiem”); The Modern Jazz Quartet (“Space” and “Under the Jasmine Tree”); Billy Preston (“Encouraging Words” and “That’s the Way God Planned It”), as well as the soundtracks of obscure films like “Cometogether” and “El Topo“.

The hunt is still continuing and as Yoko Ono was on Apple Records her work has been part of the process for me. But until now I didn’t have a copy of her 1971 double LP Apple release called “Fly”.

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It’s Official – “McCartney” and “McCartney II” Re-Issue Details

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After quite a bit of speculation confirmed details have finally been released on the official Paul McCartney site about the two latest titles in the Paul McCartney Archives series.

“McCartney” (1970) and “McCartney II” (1980) will both be re-issued in a range of forms on June 12 (June 13 in the United States).

Both will come out in the deluxe linen book format (to match the already released “Band on the Run” re-issue from last year). They will both be available as a two-CD “standard” edition, and both will also be released as 2-LP, 180 gram audiophile vinyl albums for collectors:

The “McCartney” deluxe re-issue will be a 2 CD plus 1 DVD set contained within a 128 page bound book.

The “McCartney II” deluxe set will contain 3 CD’s plus 1 DVD. Each will contain previously unreleased material, including music, film footage and bonus tracks.

The McCartney official site has the complete track listings.

The new disc sets will come out on the Concord Records/Hear Music label.  The label has embarked on an extensive re-issue series its calling the Paul McCartney Archive. In late 2010 the first of the releases was Paul McCartney and Wings 1973 album “Band on the Run“.

Budget Beatles

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For many years now Apple Records have pursued a deliberate policy of maintaining the entire Beatles recorded catalogue as a premium product and brand.

Compact Discs (and vinyl LP’s in an earlier time) are very rarely discounted or put on “sale” with discounted prices. They always come with a high recommended retail price. The long-running fight with iTunes (which saw Beatle songs unavailable for download for years) only added to this perception in the marketplace giving the Beatles product an aura of exclusivity stretching right back through their entire back-catalogue.

However, that doesn’t mean that the Beatles music, both as a group and as individual artists, has never been re-packaged and offered at a discount prices over the years.

In the vinyl days this came in the form of a small number of selected albums being re-issued on the Music for Pleasure label in Britain and Europe, on the Fame label in Britain and Europe, and on the Axis label here in Australia. Many of these titles came with unique covers and labels, making them collectable items for fans.

The Music for Pleasure (or MFP) label was set up in Britain as a joint venture between EMI Records and the Paul Hamlyn group – which was better known as a book publisher. The result of the deal meant that these titles were largely sold in supermarkets and department stores rather than the traditional record shops of the day. As a result of the EMI connection most titles on the label came from the rich and extensive EMI back-catalogue of artists, both classical, jazz and popular.  The complete listing of all releases can be found here.

The first Beatles album to be re-released as an MFP title was “At the Hollywood Bowl” from 1977. The cover has a variation in the typeset and the way the title is displayed, and of course there’s that MFP logo in the top right-hand corner:

The Beatles album “Rock’n’Roll Music”, initially issued as a gatefold double album on the Parlophone (UK) and Capitol (US) in 1976 was re-issued on the MFP budget label in Britain in 1980 and instead of being a double LP, you could buy these as two separate discs, “Rock’n’Roll Music Vol. 1” and “Rock’n’Roll Music Vol. 2”:

Also in 1980 came three re-issues of solo Beatles work. John Lennon’s “Mind Games” (originally released in 1973); George Harrison’s “Dark Horse” (originally from 1974); and Ringo Starr’s self-titled “Ringo” (also originally from 1973). Lennon’s “Mind Games” had a unique cover – a kind of mash up image from the original LP:

George’s “Dark Horse” got a unique treatment (using the image from the rear of the 1974 release), while Ringo’s LP front cover looked much the same, with the addition of his name in large letters across the top:

1981 saw an MFP re-issue of Lennon’s “Rock’n’Roll” album (with a slightly different cover to the original – the neon sign above his head was larger). Also in 1981 came Ringo’s compilation “Blast From Your Past”, and a second George Harrison MFP release “The Best of George Harrison” – with quite a different cover:

The budget Fame label (another EMI subsidiary which released both vinyl and CD’s as budget items between 1983 and 1994 in Britain and in Europe) issued just one actual Beatles title, the compilation “A Collection of Beatles Oldies”. This appeared on vinyl in 1983 and the front cover is distinguished only by a very small “Fame” logo written diagonally across the top right-hand corner of the LP. The rear cover is also the same as the original Parlophone one (but with  Fame logo at the bottom), and the LP came out with a Fame label:

Fame also re-issued three Beatles solo works on vinyl: the John Lennon “Plastic Ono Band” (in 1984); Paul McCartney’s self-titled “McCartney”; and George Harrison’s “Extra Texture”. Each of these came out using the green Apple label on the record itself. Here’s the cover of a German Fame pressing of “Extra Texture”. Again, note the Fame logo on the top right-hand side:

In 1987 and 1988 Fame also released the Paul McCartney and Wings titles “Wildlife”, “Red Rose Speedway”, “Venus and Mars” and “London Town” – all these (as far as I can tell) were issued on CD only.

In Australia EMI’s budget label was called Axis Records and it followed along the same lines as MFP. Axis released a range of very similar Beatles and solo titles, although it had some interesting and unique cover variations – and of course a label variation. The Beatles “A Collection of Beatles Oldies” was joined on Axis Records by their “Rock’n’Roll Music” compilation – again made available in two separate volumes like the MFP release – but with a slightly different cover to the British releases:

The Australian Axis “Rock’n’Roll Music” LP covers are pretty much the same as the budget Capitol US releases of these titles. There were a couple of Axis label variations for this title as well.

Axis also produced vinyl re-issues of Lennon’s “Plastic Ono Band”, “Mind Games” and “Rock’n’Roll” albums; Harrison’s “Dark Horse” and “The Best Of George Harrison”; McCartney and Wings “Wildlife”; and Ringo Starr’s “Ringo”. Note the Axis logo top right-hand side, and the title of the LP is printed as well on the top left:

The Axis “Best of George Harrison” got the same cover as the US Capitol records budget release. This cover image was also used by Parlophone/EMI for the official Australian LP, but is different to the UK’s Music For Pleasure re-issue, and different again from the CD release of the same title:

So, that’s a quick trawl through the collection for budget Beatles items. It’s not exhaustive, and if you’d like to add or comment please do by using the email beatlesblogger@gmail.com or by using the comment box below, or now by tweeting us onTwitter. We’re at beatleblogger.

The Rough Guide to the Beatles

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Got the opportunity to wander through a second-hand bookshop in Sydney (Australia) the other day, and what should I see sitting all on it’s lonesome on a shelf? A little book called “The Rough Guide to the Beatles”.

The “Rough Guides” book series cover a wide range of topics, starting with travel and then extending out into all sorts of reference book territory, from The Rough Guide to Android, through to World Music and everything in-between. Of course if they wanted to be serious about covering music they had to have a guide to the most influential musical group of the twentieth century: The Beatles.

The other good thing about the book I found this week in the second hand shop was its price sticker of just A$7.95. Even with the very favourable exchange rate we have here at the moment that translates to just US$8.25 – very good buying in anyone’s language or currency. And its a great little find content-wise. Author Chris Ingham (who has also written books about Frank Sinatra, Billie Holiday and Metalica, along with countless articles about music and interviews with musicians) has done an excellent job of pulling together the story and the essential facts around the Beatles, their music and the main players in their world. The Rough Guide adds in lots of other incidental information about the band and their recordings which makes it great reading – even for a devoted Beatles fan.

The First Edition (2003) looks like this:

My copy (2nd Edition – 2006) looks like this:

It also comes out with this picture of the band on the cover (3rd Edition with expanded content) as well:

If you’d like a bit of a look inside you can see about 17 pages or so (plus the Index) here.

The Rough Guide to the Beatles has sections on the post-Beatles Beatles (or as Ingham calls it “Being and ex-Beatle”); their movies, promos, cartoons and biopics; the 50 essential songs you have to have (“The Canon”); and a great little chapter called “Beatleology” containing a range of trivia and oddball information. It’s a book you can dip into and learn something new. Well worth it if you can track down a copy for yourself.

Apple Moves to Finally Own the Original Apple Logo

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In what will be a sad end to a long-running trademark war, Apple Computers is taking action to finally get to own what we always thought was a unique symbol associated with the Beatles – the original Apple Corps logo.

This one came to my notice about mid-March – and as a Beatles collector with a fondness for the Beatles Apple Records label I find it interesting and so have done a bit more research.

As Shelley Germeaux wrote in her regular John Lennon Examiner column last month, this comes as a result of a 23 year-long legal battle between the two companies. The Beatles and Apple Corps actually lost their legal rights to the famous Granny Smith apple logos as part of a 2007 settlement.  Apple Inc. is now just taking the required steps to formally trademark for themselves the two logos that have, since 1968, symbolised the Beatles company and especially their recordings. From the trademark documentation submitted last month come these two images:

Two trademark applications have been filed with the European Trademarks Office under 14 International Classifications and indicate that Apple Inc. will have control over the use of the logos across a very wide range of products and services including computer hardware, online social networking, mobile phones, musical instruments, games, clothing/headgear, advertising, education and broadcasting – to name just a few. If you really want the full bottle on the trademark story go to Patently Apple – its got more of the actual documentation filed last month and further links…

Its interesting to note that while the Apple Computer logo was inspired by the Beatles, the original Beatles Apple logo in turn was itself directly inspired by a Belgian painter, the surrealist René Magritte (1898-1967). Paul McCartney owns one of his paintings called Le Jeu de Mourre (The game of mora), which dates from 1966:

The Belgian Beatles Society page says that in an interview with Johan Ral in 1993, Paul McCartney recalled:

“….I had this friend called Robert Fraser, who was a gallery owner in London. We used to hang out a lot. And I told him I really loved Magritte. We were discovering Magritte in the sixties, just through magazines and things. And we just loved his sense of humour. And when we heard that he was a very ordinary bloke who used to paint from nine to one o’clock, and with his bowler hat, it became even more intriguing. Robert used to look around for pictures for me, because he knew I liked him. It was so cheap then, it’s terrible to think how cheap they were. But anyway, we just loved him … One day he brought this painting to my house. We were out in the garden, it was a summer’s day. And he didn’t want to disturb us, I think we were filming or something. So he left this picture of Magritte. It was an apple – and he just left it on the dining room table and he went. It just had written across it “Au revoir”, on this beautiful green apple. And I thought that was like a great thing to do. He knew I’d love it and he knew I’d want it and I’d pay him later. […] So it was like wow! What a great conceptual thing to do, you know. And this big green apple, which I still have now, became the inspiration for the logo. And then we decided to cut it in half for the B-side!”

That story seems to be true because as recently as last year, Paul McCartney himself told it again to David Jenkins at the Telegraph newspaper in London.

Taking Magritte for inspiration, the Apple record labels were designed by a fellow named Gene Mahon, an advertising agency designer. The Beatles Collection website has a great summary of how this all came about:

“[It was Gene Mahon who] proposed having different labels on each side of the record. One side would feature a full apple that would serve as a pure symbol on its own without any text. All label copy would be printed on the other side’s label, which would be the image of a sliced apple. The white-colored inside surface of the sliced apple provided a good background for printing information.
The idea of having no print on the full apple side was abandoned when EMI advised Apple that the contents of the record should appear on both sides of the disc for copyright and publishing reasons. Although Mahon’s concept was rejected for legal (and perhaps marketing) reasons, his idea of using different images for each side of the record remained. Mahon hired Paul Castell to shoot pictures of green, red and yellow apples, both full and sliced. The proofs were reviewed by the Beatles and Neil Aspinall, with the group selecting a big green Granny Smith apple to serve as the company’s logo. A sliced green apple was picked for B side. Alan Aldridge provided the green script perimeter print for labels [on UK, EU and Australian releases – this does not appear on US labels] and, in all likelihood, the script designation on the custom record sleeve.”

Australian-Only Magical Mystery Tour

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You might be more familiar with this cover:

But in Australia, the Beatles “Magical Mystery Tour” LP first came out as a 12-inch on the World Record Club (WRC) label – and it had a very different cover:

Here is the rear cover, also a real departure from the US release:

This WRC record (catalogue number S-4574) was issued in 1970. The World Record Club was EMI’s mail order division, making the purchase of music recordings possible to people who lived in remote areas and to music buffs who subscribed to the club for regular releases posted direct to their homes. The company had the rights to sell a wide range of recordings (including popular, jazz and classical titles) from around the world – often issued with unique and artistic individual covers.

This Australian edition of MMT came with the expanded front-cover title “The Beatles: Magical Mystery Tour and Other Splendid Hits”. The rear cover went into even more detail: “The Beatles in Songs and Music from the Color Television Film called “Magical Mystery Tour”.  The image used on the front cover was taken from page 10 of the 24 page booklet (plus a 4 page lyric sheet) in the centre of the original 7″ EP version from 1967.

There were two different types of WRC labels as well. The initial pressings came with this light-green “S” label:

Later pressings came with a green “Trumpeter” on a light-blue label:

The terrifically detailed Beatles Australia Album Labelography site has much more information on this and other unique Australian releases.

In Australia we also got local pressings of the original double 7″ EP 45rpm, six-song “Magical Mystery Tour” set which would be familiar to British collectors:

This is the mono version above (denoted by the catalogue number MMT-1 at the bottom left-hand side). It also came out in stereo in Australia and both were released in 1967. These EP’s were on the black and silver Parlophone label:

UPDATE:  You might also be interested in this post.

Congratulations – “Concert for George” Winner

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A big thank you to all those who entered our “Concert for George” Blu-ray competition last week.

Unfortunately we can only have one winner and it is Joe from Jersey City, New Jersey, USA. Joe’s quote says it all:

“What a pleasant surprise. I never win anything!”

Joe was the first to email me with the correct answer to the question about which record the George Harrison song “Horse to Water” made it’s very first appearance. It was on the 2001 album “Small World, Big Band”, by British performer and TV show host Jools Holland and his Rhythm and Blues Orchestra.

We’ll be sending out the new Blu-ray to Joe today, courtesy of the distributors Rhino Entertainment.

Two New Websites: Linda McCartney and Badfinger

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News this week about not one but two interesting new Beatles-related websites – one celebrating the life and work of Linda McCartney, the other for the band Badfinger.

Steve Marinucci on his Beatles Examiner page reports there’s a new Linda site been launched documenting her life and career and authorized by Paul McCartney and the McCartney family. This comprehensive new site is populated with Linda McCartney photographs spanning four decades and contains a wealth of text information on her career as a photographer and musician. As an advocate for animal rights Linda also spearheaded the promotion of vegetarianism, created her own vegetarian frozen food line, and authored a series of cookbooks.

The new site includes a biography, a study archive and some of Linda McCartney’s films. It comes ahead of the publication of a new book called “Linda McCartney – Life in Photographs”, published by Taschen Books. Click on the book cover below to take you through to a detailed page with more information about the book:

The book features a selection from Linda McCartney’s huge photographic archive – again made in collaboration with Paul McCartney and their children. The first run is a collector’s edition limited to 750 copies, numbered and signed by Paul McCartney himself ….but with a US$1,000 price tag that’s probably out of the grasp of you and me. However, you can click here to leaf through 100 pages of that special limited edition for free.

Now to Badfinger:

I was contacted this week by the creators of a new website dedicated to the original band.

www.badfingersite.com is a new official site made in collaboration with band member Joey Molland. It went live on Friday, 25 March. On the site you can learn about upcoming tour dates, read the history and news about the group and their journey, and you can ask Joey questions personally. The “Original Badfinger” website pays tribute to the ‘classic lineup’ of the power pop pioneer band and is live now. It has band bios, lyrics, and details of the groups interactions with the Beatles themselves. Images and videos from Molland’s personal collection will be uploaded soon.

Concert For George – Win a Free New Blu-ray

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This week a new 2-disc Blu-ray version of “Concert for George” was released. It’s the first time we get to see this spectacular memorial concert in all its true high-definition glory. And you can win a free copy of the set – see below for details.

The “Concert for George” took place at London’s  Royal Albert Hall on November 29, 2002 – one year to the day after the sad passing of George Harrison. Olivia Harrison and longtime friend Eric Clapton organized a performance tribute in his honor.  It was a celebration of his music on a number of levels. The concert begins with a spectacular Indian orchestra performance of a composition called “Arpan”,  specially composed for the occasion by Ravi Shankar who was  a friend and mentor to George since he first discovered Indian music and began incorporating it into his Beatles music in the mid-1960s. “Arpan” means offering and within the piece Ravi Shankar expresses aspects of George’s moods and spiritual aspirations. The work includes Eric Clapton playing a haunting acoustic solo.

Disc One of the new Blu-ray “Concert for George” set contains the concert in its entirety.  A second disc features the original theatrical version of the film. There are also concert highlights, interviews with the performers, rehearsals and behind-the-scenes footage. The second disc also contains a previously unreleased interview segment entitled “Drummers,” featuring Ringo Starr, Jim Keltner and legendary percussionist Ray Cooper.

This very special evening featured many of George’s original compositions (both as a solo artist and as a Beatle) and the music he loved – all performed by a lineup including Eric Clapton, Jeff Lynne, Paul McCartney, the Monty Python team, Tom Petty, Billy Preston, Ravi Shankar and his daughter Anoushka, Ringo Starr, and George’s son Dhani Harrison.

The concert focusses very much on George’s writing and features songs like “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” (with Eric Clapton on guitar, Paul McCartney on piano and Ringo Starr on drums), “Taxman” (performed by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers), “My Sweet Lord” (by Billy Preston), “Old Brown Shoe” (Gary Brooker), and “The Inner Light” (covered by Jeff Lynne and Anoushka Shankar).  Jeff Lynne  was George’s longtime friend and collaborator and he produced the recording of the concert, while Eric Clapton oversaw the entire proceedings as Musical Director. The concert film is directed  by David Leland.

Now – here’s your chance to win a copy of the new Blu-ray 2-disc release. All you have to do is be the first person to email me at beatlesblogger.gmail.com with the correct answer to this “Concert for George” question:

In the “Concert for George” singer Sam Brown (daughter of Joe Brown, who is also in the concert) performs a version of a George Harrison/Dhani Harrison composition called “Horse to the Water”. What is the name of the album on which this song was first released?

Its a little bit tricky but the first correct entry sent to my email address above will win a Blu-ray copy of  the “Concert for George” set – released just this week.

The “Concert for George” Blu-ray is courtesy of Rhino Entertainment.

Here’s a promotional trailer for the film.