Tag Archives: Beatles Collecting

Hear and See McCartney’s “Blue Sway”

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One of the previously unreleased songs from the “McCartney II” sessions that will feature on the forthcoming re-issue of the album has popped up on YouTube.

Its an unlikely pairing between Paul McCartney and a US surf film-maker of some renown named Jack McCoy. McCartney’s smooth and stylish song “Blue Sway” accompanies an intriguing video clip of McCoy’s innovative underwater photography, utilising a camera attached to a jet ski. Have a look and listen for yourself – the way the images and music mesh is quite unique and compelling:

The song is credited on the reissue CD as “Blue Sway (With Richard Niles Orchestration)”.

The text accompanying the clip says:

“Written nearly 20 years ago, McCartney’s never-before released song, “Blue Sway,” is available for the first time on the bonus audio disc of the special edition of “McCartney II”. The music video created by McCoy is also featured on the bonus DVD included in the set.

Using a high powered underwater jet ski, the filmmaker found that he was able to travel behind a wave, creating underwater images that have never been seen before.

Over the past couple of years, McCoy set out to capture footage for his surf film, “A Deeper Shade of Blue“. During the editing process, McCoy put one of his surfing sequences to a song off McCartney’s “The Fireman” album. A mutual friend, Chris Thomas, saw the footage while visiting McCoy in Australia, and when he returned to the UK he gave McCartney a copy of the sequence.

“Paul was pretty stoked with what I’d created. He immediately thought my images might be suitable to go with his unreleased song “Blue Sway”.” said McCoy.

McCoy spent the next six weeks creating the music video, while also working full days on making “A Deeper Shade of Blue”. McCoy compiled and edited footage that he filmed off Tahiti’s Teahupoo reef to create what became the “Blue Sway” video.

“When I saw Jack McCoy’s underwater surfing footage put to the soundtrack of “Blue Sway” I was blown away,” said McCartney.

“Blue Sway” won ‘Best Music Video’ at NYC BE FILM Short Festival this past May, and the video will be featured as part of Surfrider Foundation’s summer PSA campaign. Surfrider Foundation is a non-profit grassroots organization dedicated to the protection and enjoyment of our world’s oceans, waves and beaches.

The film clip is dedicated to Linda McCartney.

There is also a “Making of Blue Sway” video clip:

John Lennon – Vinyl Box Set from 1981

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This week I managed to secure a still sealed copy of the 1981, 8-LP box set simply called “John Lennon”. Mine is the one in the silver box with the now famous Bob Gruen photo of John (taken in New York) on the front cover:

This is the Australian release of this set, put out by EMI.

The box contains:

1. “Live Peace In Toronto”;  2. “Plastic Ono Band”;  3. “Imagine”; 4. “Sometime In New York City”;  5 . “Mind Games”;  6. “Walls And Bridges”;  7. “Rock ‘N’ Roll”;  and  8. “Shaved Fish”:

The set came out just a year after John Lennon’s death and followed the success of other Beatles box sets. It was released in several countries using very similar packaging. The set was first released in Britain, and was later sold in Japan, Germany, and of course Australia – with the catalogue number JLB8:

Mitch McGeary and William McCoy write (on their Beatles Rarities and Box Sets website) that all the LPs were issued on the Apple label and packaged in their original covers: “Included in the UK and other sets was a twenty-page, black-and-white booklet, “The Liverpool Echo’s Tribute To John Lennon,” which was loaded with pictures and song lyrics. The albums were encased in a silver box that had a color photo of John on the front. The set’s title and facsimile of John’s autograph were also embossed on the front of the box while the LP and song titles were printed on the back”.

EMI in Italy also issued a Lennon compilation and it is unique. Its called the “John Lennon Anthology” and consisted of all the albums in the British/Australian edition, but omitted the “best of” album “Shaved Fish”. Instead the box had three singles made up of tracks not found on any of the other seven LPs. Unlike the silver box versions these discs came in a blue, pizza-style box reminiscent of the “Live Peace in Toronto” cover:

Apparently only 1,000 copies were made of this one, making it quite a collectable item.

Linda McCartney: Life in Photographs

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I wrote in March about a new book about to be released which is dedicated to the photographic work of Linda McCartney. Last Saturday my local paper (The Sydney Morning Herald) published a four-page article about it and dedicated the front cover of its Good Weekend magazine to the book. Here’s the promotion of the paper’s weekend magazine article on the front page masthead of the newspaper:

They used a great shot of Paul, Mary and Heather on their farm in Scotland in 1970 for the front cover of the magazine itself:

Inside is an article by journalist Janice Turner detailing a flip through the book – with Paul McCartney at her side. Turner asks: “So how does McCartney feel, looking again at these private moments, captured by his soul mate of those years, now long gone? “It’s funny. I think when you have a bit of distance from someone you have lost, you can just look at it with pleasure. Because they were great times. It is tinged with sadness because you lost that person, but the main feeling for me looking at these is joy. Mostly, these pictures are uplifting.”

Here are a few more of Linda’s photos which appear in the book, published by Taschen:

Of course the Sydney Morning Herald’s weekend article has been syndicated around the world and comes from a London Times Magazine which was published last month – but it was a nice surprise last Saturday morning to find it in my local Sydney paper…

UPDATE:  “Linda McCartney: Life in Photographs,” a New York exhibition of photos by Linda McCartney, opened last Thursday and runs through to July 29 at the Bonni Benrubi Gallery, Level 13, 41 East 57th St., New York City. The gallery has posted lots more photographs here (check out the prices, too). This is the poster for the exhibit:

UPDATE 2:  Paul McCartney has posted a YouTube clip of he and daughters Mary and Stella talking about the project.

An Overview of Australian Beatles Records

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Got home from work today to discover this book in the postbox. I’d ordered it online just last week. Its a fantastic new book on the Beatles output on vinyl in Australia. When you say the words “in depth” they don’t really convey the work that collector and author Jaesen Jones has put into researching every aspect of the Australian arm of the mammoth EMI company as it relates to the Beatles output here. EMI Australia was responsible for releasing all the Beatles Parlophone and Apple label records in Australia. (The book also has information of the very few Polydor Beatle discs released here).

An avid Beatles collector from Canberra (Australia’s national capital), Jaesen has really done a terrific job in pulling together a lot of relevant information about the Australian Beatles releases – some of them quite unique in the world.

This release information from Ebay sums up well the content of the book:

They toured Australia on a single occasion in 1964, but once was enough for The Beatles to claim the continent as an integral dominion in their global Empire and to forever assure record-breaking sales of their recordings.

“An Overview of Australian Beatles Records” details Beatles records manufactured in Australia, from the first in February 1963 until the last in 1990, with emphasis on those distributed by EMI (Australia). It begins with a brief history of EMI (Australia) and its introduction of The Beatles to the people of Australia. It continues by detailing both the similarities and differences between EMI (Australia) and its parent, EMI UK, before focussing on the unique Antipodean pressings.

The book describes local publishing arrangements, major record label styles, sleeve design, production outsourcing/contracting, mastering methods and official imports. Where possible, period EMI publications, newspaper clippings, press releases and people directly involved with EMI (Australia) and Festival have been consulted.

For collectors there’s a section listing recommended Australian Beatles pressings, based on the views of numerous local and international audiophiles, as well as thirty-five pages of full colour label, sleeve and sticker scans (covering singles, EPs and LPs). Included are over 180 images, representing the most comprehensive collection of Australian Beatles record labels, outer and inner sleeves, inserts, and ephemera ever gathered together in a reference document to date.

Also included is a record rarity guide that lists all known major Aussie Beatles record variations with their relative rarity.

An Overview of Australian Beatles Records is an essential aid to the collector of Australian Beatles vinyl and is a book which will surely elevate the esteem in which this interesting subset of Beatles records is held in the global Beatles community.

You can find out more at I Am The Platypus – The Beatles Australia Album Labelography – a huge online resource also covering Australian Beatles releases.

Here are some page views from “An Overview of Australian Beatles Records”:

“An Overview of Australian Beatles Records”
First Edition, 2011
Compiled by Jaesen Jones
Published in Canberra, Australia
88 A4-sized pages (210mm x 297mm)
Over 180 colour scans and photos
ISBN: 978-0-9871048-0-9 (paperback)

Magical Mystery Tour – HMV Box Set

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I’ve been able to get hold of another in the 1987 series of box sets released by the British HMV record store chain to celebrate the first editions of the Beatles on CD. I’ve previously posted on the “Sgt Pepper” box set, and also the “Beatles Red 1962-1966” box set.  Now they’re joined by the HMV “Magical Mystery Tour”:

When the Beatles catalogue came out on CD for the very first time back in 1987 it was a big deal and HMV (which has close ties back to the Beatles record company EMI) released a series of limited edition 12” x 12″ box sets containing CD’s to mark the occasion. There were 12 box sets released in all, plus a large (and expensive) HMV box which housed every CD then available.

Box set BEACD25/6 was “Magical Mystery Tour”, and it came with a 12-page booklet, a large fold out colour poster, and a badge. You can see the front cover image of the box above. It features the same artwork as that used on the CD. When you take the lid off this is what you first see:

This is a large format 12-page booklet with lots of photographs and the text is an article about the making of the film “Magical Mystery Tour”, plus the background to each song. Here are couple of pages from the booklet:

Underneath the booklet is a poster featuring the band in their tuxedos from a scene in the film, plus text on the left-hand side telling the Magical Mystery Tour story:

Then comes the CD itself, held in place by a special cardboard holder with a slot just right for the CD, which is in the standard plastic jewel case. There’s a small thumb-slot at the top to help you get the CD out:

Also in the box is a small metal Magical Mystery Tour/HMV pin or badge:

The CD that comes with the HMV box is the original 1987 UK release with its own booklet:

Like the other titles in the set, inside the lid of the HMV box there’s a limited edition stamped number. Mine as you can see is a nice round number, 004949:

There were apparently 10,000 copies of “Magical Mystery Tour” released worldwide, although one site I found disputes this saying there were only 8000.

Websites for “McCartney” and “McCartney II” Launched

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Two separate websites have been launched in the lead-up to the official release of the new “McCartney” and “McCartney II” reissues, due on June 13.

Both feature photos and information about the new releases, which incidentally now include a single disc “Standard” edition of each title – something that until now has not been mentioned.

Both websites have a short video trailer (with Paul talking about the making of each album) to promote the discs:

These are the next two releases in the Concord Records/Hear Music Paul McCartney Archive series. See also my un-boxing of the first release in the series: “Band on the Run“.

McCartney’s “The Family Way” to get proper CD Release

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Interesting news last week that Paul McCartney’s very first solo work outside the Beatles is to get a decent CD release in July this year.

McCartney wrote the original soundtrack music to the 1966 British movie “The Family Way“, starring Hayley Mills and Hywell Bennett. He was assisted with orchestrations and arrangements by Beatles producer George Martin. The news of a new CD release got me scrabbling through the collection to find my vinyl copy:

This is the Australian pressing – which came out on Decca Records originally in 1967 (though my copy is a re-issue). In the UK the LP also came out on Decca, while in the US it was released on the London label. The LP has 13 tracks but interestingly (as you can see on the label image above) there are no titles for any of them.

“The Family Way” will be released on CD on July 26 by specialist soundtrack label Varèse Sarabande, based in California. It takes a bit of a search to find any references to the forthcoming CD on their website. You have to go to the “Vintage News” section and there’s information contained there when you scroll a fair way down the page…..

It’s very interesting to hear the music now with the benefit of hindsight. It would have been composed by McCartney just after the release of “Revolver”, and just before he went into the studio to record “Sgt Pepper”:

The original 1967 soundtrack recording of “The Family Way” contains both the above McCartney themes, the main theme and “Love in the Open Air” – plus eleven more score cues suited to the on-screen action. Varèse Sarabande says that for his composition McCartney was initially inspired by the sound of brass bands, familiar to his childhood in the North of England.

Steve Marinucci in his Beatles Examiner column says the new single-disc release will be taken from the original mono master tapes and will feature sleeve notes by Chip Madinger, author of a new book on the Beatles solo work called “Eight Arms To Hold You“.  The CD will also include a previously unreleased stereo mix of “A Theme From ‘The Family Way'”, a rarity that in 1966 appeared as the b-side of a 1966 UK/US 7-inch single by a band called the Tudor Minstrels.

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”.

Continue reading →

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“.