Tag Archives: Beatles Collecting

Promo Copy of Sgt. Pepper

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I received a comment/question that’s interesting from a reader named Trina following my Sgt Pepper – Label Variations post .

She wrote asking if I had any information about this album she’d found:

In the photo you can clearly see some stamped text in the top right-hand corner of what looks to be a US vinyl copy of the legendary Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band.

This is a promotional or “promo” copy of the LP. It originally came out in 1967 – but what Trina has here looks like a much more recent re-issue by the Beatles US record label, Capitol Records.

The stamp on the cover indicates that it was probably sent to a radio station, a record reviewer, or someone in the industry. Masses of these “promo” copies (nowadays usually just CD’s) come in to radio stations all over the world. The record companies send new releases in the hope that they’ll be played or talked about on the radio, or written about and reviewed in newspapers and magazines. However, record company promo copy numbers are dwindling due to the growing use of electronic file transfer of new tracks to radio stations.

Here’s a close up of the wording for this one:

Promo copies usually have a sticker or a stamp that states the record is strictly for promotional purposes only. The record or CD actually remains the property of the record company, and is “not for sale”, though how they actually police this is an interesting question….

Promo copies don’t usually have a serial number on them (like this one does) but I guess that’s an attempt at some form of added security indicating that, if they wanted to, Capital could trace back exactly who they sent this copy to.

A promo copy like this one for the Beatles is pretty rare and would be of interest to a collector – and therefore more valuable than just the standard, store-bought version. It also looks to be in really good condition which is a bonus. It also looks like it still has the plastic sealing on it, and I’d keep it sealed if possible as that also adds to the value. All-in-all a really nice, collectable record!

Here’s a couple of variations of the “promo” warning wording on some Beatles-related CD’s:

On the rear cover of a US interview disc for the Beatles "Love" CD

Sticker on the jewel case for the Australian Beatles CD single "Free As A Bird"

Printed onto the disc of McCartney's UK promo CD single for "The World Tonight"

And finally, a disc which was sent to me mistakenly by Paul McCartney’s record company after I complained I hadn’t received my mail-order copy of the deluxe version of his latest CD “Good Evening New York City”. (Click here for the full story on that one…)

Promo copy of the deluxe version of "Good Evening New York City"

The Lennon Singles Bag – Whats Inside?

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Happy Record Store Day for last weekend (Saturday, 17 April)!

We managed (through our friendly local independent store, Red Eye Records) to get a copy of one of the special releases produced just for the weekend: The John Lennon Singles Bag.

See this post and this post for information on this very limited edition.

Apparently there are just 7000 of these packs made for the world…..mine is number 6644 of 7000. Not a low number, but it has a nice ring to it!

Here’s a picture from the web of how the pack looks:

A sealed copy of the John Lennon Singles Bag

Like this one, ours is still sealed – and we hope to be able to keep it that way – though it is very tempting to open it to see whats inside….

Fortunately, the Lennon Estate has given us a comprehensive look inside. Just click on this link: https://www.johnlennon.com/music/rarities/singles-bag/

Beatles Number 1 – Vinyl

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A couple of days ago I wrote about finally getting a CD copy of the 2000 Beatles compilation, The Beatles – Number One. It was a little unusual in that it was the Taiwan CD release and it has some different packaging associated with it.

In that post I mentioned that when this title originally came out in the year 2000 I got the vinyl edition, and that Apple Records had gone to a lot of extra trouble to make it something really special.

As a result it is really quite a collector’s item if you can get hold of a copy. Here are a couple of pics of my copy of the vinyl Beatles – Number One:

Beatles 1 - front cover

Beatles 1 - rear cover

Because this is a two-record set, the cover is a gate-fold. Here’s how it looks when opened up:

Beatles 1 - gate-fold open

This is the custom record label on each disc:

Beatles 1 - vinyl label

Beatles 1 - vinyl record label

The inserts inside are extensive.

Firstly, there are four individual photos. One of John Lennon, one of Paul McCartney, one of Ringo Starr and one of George Harrison. While these ones are psychedelic in style, the idea is clearly reminiscent of the four photographs that came with the original vinyl editions of the Beatles “White Album”:

Beatles 1 - the four individual photos

Each LP is protected by a cardboard inner sleeve. These are also highly produced with unique artwork, photographs and information:

Beatles 1 - inner sleeve one (front)

Beatles 1 - inner sleeve one (rear)

Each inner sleeve contains photo images of Beatles singles released around the world:

Beatles 1 - inner sleeve two (front)

Beatles 1 - inner sleeve two (rear)

Finally, the set contains a big, fold-out poster of Beatles picture covers from around the world showing different singles releases:

Beatles 1 - large poster

Nice work Apple.

Dezo Hoffmann – The Beatles Conquer America

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I was in Lismore in New South Wales last week (it’s a small-ish Australian country town in the north of the state). Once I’d completed my work business there I had about 40 minutes to spare before my plane home, so I went for a walk around the town’s CBD. You can probably guess that I can’t resist a second hand/old wares shop when I find one. Especially the one I did find, which was advertising “All Books Half Price”.

Inside this store was a treasure trove. Not only are most walls lined chock-full with old books of all sorts, but there’s antique furniture, old toys, art works, advertising signs, glassware, ornaments and all sorts of collectables.

They had a crate of old records and, while there were some interesting things there from other artists, no Beatles or Beatles-related sadly. “Do you have a music section in the books?”, I asked. “Well, we haven’t got much, but its over there.”, said the sales assistant, pointing to my right.

They actually had four Beatles books.  1. A hardback copy (in pretty good condition) of Peter Brown’s book “The Love You Make – An Insider’s Story of the Beatles” (1983);  2. An original paperback of a book based on the film “Help!” (1965) written by Al Hine (in just reasonable condition);  3. An original paperback called “Love Me Do – The Beatles Progress” (1964) by Michael Braun, similar in vintage and condition to the “Help!” book; and 4. “The Beatles Conquer America”, a book of photographs taken by Dezo Hoffmann.

I already have Peter Brown’s book and, while tempting as they are collectable items, the two old paperbacks were not in the greatest condition. Also, even at half price were reasonably expensive. So, I went for the Dezo Hoffmann book:

Front Cover - The Beatles Conquer America

For a book that came out in 1984 it was in almost mint condition. It contains some absolutely fantastic and rare photographs, and at the half-price cost of just A$7.50, it was a bargain addition to the collection. The black and white photographs were all taken between January 14 and February 22, 1964 when Dezo Hoffmann accompanied the Beatles from London to New York, Washington, Miami, and then back to London. It was their first American tour, and the Beatles as a pop phenomenon was really kicking into gear…

Rear cover - The Beatles Conquer America

The book also contains photos from a short tour to Paris prior to the US visit. Dezo Hoffmann was a Beatles insider – having taken an interest in photographing the band from well before their meteoric rise to fame. As such he got unique access – as seen throughout this book. Dezo also writes a short description of the background to each photograph. Here’s a quick flip through just a couple of the pages:

There is very much a “fly on the wall” feel to these photographs. They capture the Beatles at ease and enjoying themselves away from the fans, enjoying performing, and just soaking up the success that was coming their way.

If you don’t think you’ve ever seen a Dezo Hoffman image of the Beatles before, you might know this one:

Click here for a larger image and some official info on this release. In looking around for additional information on Dezo Hoffmann I found an interesting page about how his original shot outside the BBC was manipulated for this now famous cover.

As well as historic photographs, Dezo Hoffmann also took many informal home movies on location with the Beatles:

The Beatles Number 1’s – Taiwan Variation

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When the compilation The Beatles Number 1 (27 No. 1 Singles) was first released back in the year 2000 I was a purist and was only interested in any Beatles re-issues that came out on vinyl. That was my focus as a collector.

As the years have gone by I’ve realised that, while I’ll still collect any vinyl re-issues that come out, CDs are after all much more convenient to play – and they often have some variations to the vinyl which are interesting.

While I’ve had the original vinyl of The Beatles Number 1 for years (the packaging of which is AWESOME -more on this soon), there were some CD editions of it that were always of interest. Among these was the Taiwan edition featured here. I recently spied one in excellent condition and going for a very good price on Ebay – and it arrived this week.

Beatles 1 - Taiwan outer slipcase

As you can see – it has a special outer cardboard slip case that clearly proclaims it is from an Asian country – in this case, Taiwan. The unique packaging doesn’t stop there. The pack also contains an additional 36 page booklet (in Chinese) with what looks like a long essay on the Beatles, a wealth of information on each individual track, photographs of the Beatles and the albums each track is associated with, release dates, etc.

The additional 36-page booklet exclusive to this realease alongside the CD

The pack also contains another special insert – a fold-out sheet with lyrics for every song in both Chinese and English:

The fold out lyric sheet

Interestingly the CD jewel case, booklet (32 pages) and CD seem to be exactly the same as the European release. It has “Printed in the EU” on the back and on the CD, so I guess EMI Taiwan just imported these and put together the rest of the pack themselves….

(clockwise from top left): The custom slipcase, lyric insert, CD and special additional booklet

So, there you have it – the slightly collectable Taiwan edition of The Beatles Number 1.

As mentioned above, the vinyl edition of this release is kind of special. Apple really went to some trouble with the packaging and inserts and I will post some photos and info on this edition soon.

Fab Fourum – a Beatles podcast I download occasionally – recently devoted a whole show to the Beatles Number 1, and you can download it here on iTunes (see Episode 021 called: #1 With “1”).

Time Magazine – The Beatles Final Year

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Time Magazine online is currently running an interesting photo-essay detailing the events surrounding the demise of the world’s greatest band. Click here to see and read their tribute, in this the 40th anniversary since the Beatles split. They say: “The band’s internal feuds boiled over into public view on April 10, 1970, when Paul McCartney announced his intention to leave the group”.

Time also has a special on the Top Ten Band Breakups, of which the Beatles (of course) are number one on the list.

Label Variations Part Three – Versions of McCartney’s Choba B CCCP

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Снова в СССР is Russian for “Back in the USSR”. It’s the title of a Paul McCartney solo effort, originally released on vinyl only in Russia in 1988, and then on CD internationally in 1991.

Original Issue Vinyl – Front Cover. Note placement of the small MPL logo top right next to gold star

It’s an album of rock and roll covers – favourites of McCartney. According to the Wikipedia entry, he intended Снова в СССР as a present for Soviet fans who were generally unable to obtain his legitimate recordings, often having to make do with copies; they would, for a change, have an album that people in other countries would be unable to obtain. Nice idea.

It’s an interesting album to collect in vinyl because there are a number of interesting variations – both on the covers, the labels, and in the number and sequencing of the songs. In a nutshell, the very first pressings are distinguished on the front cover by a small MPL logo, top right next the gold star, plus a distinctive yellow rear cover unique to the very first editions. And it has just 11 tracks…..

Original vinyl – rear cover. Note yellow colour, 11 tracks, and different text layout (including a red “Paul McCartney” in Russian, top left side)

All following vinyl releases have the MPL logo on the front at the bottom right-hand side, come with a plain white rear cover (with different text layout), and have 13 songs (adding the tracks “I’m Gonna Be A Wheel Someday” and “Summertime”).

Second pressing vinyl front cover. Note MPL logo now at bottom right.

Second pressing vinyl rear cover. Note text layout is different, and the big red “Paul McCartney” in Russian is replaced with a note in Russian signed by Paul

Some fans get right into the minutiae of the details of all possible releases. One has detailed every label and cover variation, release dates and even the Russian factories in which they were pressed! As you can see, there are a lot of them. I have five different versions of the LP releases, and the CD. Here are some images of the label variations, starting with the first pressing that came in the cover with the yellow rear:

The original issue Melodiya label. Its red and has no lines

Second pressings of the disc (all released on Melodiya – an affiliate of EMI) have different labels depending on the date they were pressed, and where.

A second pressing example. In red, with single horizontal line

Some of the labels in the second pressing series where white:

Second pressing label. In white, with one horizontal line

Some of the pressings were made at the Melodiya factory in Leningrad (now known as St. Petersburg) and have a silhouette of that famous old city on the label:

Second pressing label variation. In red, with Leningrad skyline (solid) and one thick line under

Here’s another Leningrad variation:

Second pressing variation. In red with Leningrad skyline (open) and two thin lines under

The international CD release didn’t come out until 1991 and has 14 tracks, adding a further song called “I’m In Love Again”:

The 1991 CD cover, misspelling the Russian title as “СНОВА Б СССР” (see the Wikipedia entry for details)

The front cover of the CD release has in place of the MPL logo the words “the Russian album” and what looks to be a small Apple shaped logo with some Russian text I can’t translate on the right-hand side. If anyone knows what this is about please let us know by emailing beatlesblogger@gmail.com or using the Leave a Comment link below. The MPL logo appears on the rear cover. The CD itself looks like this:

Choba B CCCP compact disc artwork

For some more info on Снова в СССР this site is worth a visit. But if you want the absolute last word on all the background to this release and its many label variations you need to go to the the Beatles Russian Vinyl website. There are a couple of pages there – for the first (11 track) version, and also the second (13 track) version.

Also, since this post originally appeared we’ve been able to add a couple more label variations to our own collection.

See also: Label Variations Part One: Sgt Pepper

See also: Label Variations Part Two: Let It Be

40th Anniversary of Beatles Breakup – Special Programs are Under Way

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The ABC Radio weekend of special programming in Australia to mark the 40th Anniversary of the breakup of the Beatles is now under way. To listen:

Windows Audio

Real Audio

Here’s the schedule of documentary programs – most of which are from the BBC, many of which have never been heard in Australia before and are rarely heard overseas.

You’ll hear tracks and rare moments from the Beatles along with the following full docos (all times Australian Eastern Standard Time):

Saturday April 10
8:00am Nothing’s Gonna Change My World
9:20am The Beatles Story
2:53pm The White Album at 40
3:50pm Songwriters – Lennon and McCartney
4:04pm Nothing’s Gonna Change My World
5:26pm The Beatles At The Beeb Take 2
6:23pm The Beatles Story

Sunday April 11
0:08am Songwriters – Lennon and McCartney
0.22am The Making of Sgt Pepper
1:18am The Beeb’s Lost Beatles Tapes
8:02am Nothing’s Gonna Change My World
9:23am The White Album at 40
10:21am The Beeb’s Lost Beatles Tapes
5:04pm Nothing’s Gonna Change My World
6:29pm The Beatles Story
Midnight ABC Beatles ends

Further info here.

Enjoy!

More on Beatles Breakup and the Special Australian 40th Anniversary Broadcasts

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This weekend (10 & 11 April) is the 40th anniversary of the day Paul McCartney told the world  that his songwriting partnership with John Lennon was over – forever. 

It was effectively the first public confirmation that the Beatles as a group were no more. It was also another action by Paul that upset his former companions.

Privately John, George and Ringo had each individually, for short periods and at different times, told the others that they had “left the group” due to being frustrated with each other, but most often due to being frustrated with Paul – who seemed the one most locked in to trying to keep the band together. That it was Paul who made the first public move to announce the dissolution of the group just drove a wedge further between them all – especially John.

If you’re around this weekend Australian radio is marking the end of the world’s greatest band by playing a series of special programs.  ABC Radio has created a special digital radio station just for the weekend called ABC Beatles:   

On ABC Digital Radio and streaming online, beginning at 8am (Eastern Australian Time), Saturday 10th April and continuing until midnight Sunday 11th April, ABC Beatles will give listeners the opportunity to hear rare and exclusive material drawn from the depths of the BBC Radio archives. The broadcast will include an in-depth history of the band, interviews and recordings from their visits to BBC studios and documentaries never broadcast in Australia.

To get to the online streaming (Windows Media & Real Audio) click through to this page and follow the links.

Beatles Stereo Remasters and USB Unboxing

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There seems to be a LOT of interest in the unboxing pictures I posted of me opening up the Beatles In Mono remasters.

There’s also been a steady stream of people looking at the pics of the packaging for the Beatles “Apple” USB posted a while back.

So that left the Beatles Stereo Remastered box set still to do as an “unboxing”.

Instead of me doing it in still photos, I thought I’d have a quick look around on YouTube to see if there was a decent video example of the Stereo Box set being opened so you can see what it contains, and also to see if there was anything on the little Beatles USB that contains all the CD remasters in both MP3 and FLAC 24-bit quality, plus all the mini documentaries and the artwork for each album.

Turns out there is one video that does both the Stereo Box and a really detailed look at the packaging for the USB and the little Apple USB itself. Two for the price of one:

In searching for these I also found a guy who shows the user interface for the USB once it is plugged into your computer. You get to see what he’s seeing as he moves around the menus:

Thanks to Ian C. Rogers and zenkenobi.