Tag Archives: Beatles Related

McCartney – “Complete Kisses” Announced

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Paul McCartney has announced a special Christmas release – an exclusive iTunes-only album called ‘Kisses On The Bottom – Complete Kisses’. It will be available for download only on November 26th in the UK and internationally, and on November 27th in the US.

‘Kisses On The Bottom – Complete Kisses’ will feature the standard edition of the album ‘Kisses On The Bottom’ along with the entire 13 tracks from the ‘Live From Capitol Studios’ concert performance.

There’ll also be four bonus tracks including a special festive recording of ‘The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire)’, which Paul recorded at Avatar Studios in New York in September. The album will also feature a previously unreleased version of ‘My Valentine’ arranged by Johnny Mandel, and the tracks ‘Baby’s Request’ and ‘My One And Only Love’ (both previously available only on the “Deluxe” edition of the CD or via iTunes).

There has also been a behind–the–scenes look at the recording of ‘The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire)’  put up on a couple of sites.

“Complete Kisses” TRACKLISTING:

‘Kisses On The Bottom’:

01. I’m Gonna Sit Right Down And Write Myself A Letter 02:36
02. Home (When Shadows Fall) 04:04
03. It’s Only A Paper Moon 02:35
04. More I Cannot Wish You 03:04
05. The Glory Of Love 03:46
06. We Three (My Echo, My Shadow And Me) 03:22
07. Ac–Cent–Tchu–Ate The Positive 02:32
08. My Valentine 03:14
09. Always 03:49
10. My Very Good Friend The Milkman 03:04
11. Bye Bye Blackbird 04:26
12. Get Yourself Another Fool 04:42
13. The Inch Worm 03:43
14. Only Our Hearts 04:21

Bonus Tracks:

15. The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire) 03:35
16. Baby’s Request 03:30
17. My One And Only Love 03:50
18. My Valentine (Johnny Mandel Original Arrangement) 03:12

Live From Capitol Studios:

19. I’m Gonna Sit Right Down And Write Myself A Letter (Live) 02:44
20. Home (When Shadows Fall) (Live) 04:26
21. It’s Only A Paper Moon (Live) 02:55
22. More I Cannot Wish You (Live) 03:28
23. The Glory Of Love (Live) 03:53
24. We Three (My Echo, My Shadow And Me) (Live) 04:14
25. Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate The Positive (Live) 02:51
26. My Valentine (Live) 03:31
27. Always (Live) 04:21
28. My Very Good Friend The Milkman (Live) 03:14
29. Bye Bye Blackbird (Live) 04:45
30. Get Yourself Another Fool (Live) 07:48
31. My One And Only Love (Live) 04:16

‘The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire)’  is also featured on a new holiday CD compilation called “Holiday’s Rule”. It features a variety of artists performing Christmassy-themed songs. The project is coordinated by Paul’s record companies Hear Music/Concord Music and MPL.  You can hear the song in full if you visit the MPL site – it’s currently featured on their embedded music player.

McCartney’s “Live Kisses”

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This just a quick follow up to an earlier post pointing to Paul McCartney’s “Live Kisses” coming out on DVD, BluRay and digital video.

I got a copy of the BluRay today so I thought I’s share some photos of the packaging and what’s inside:

That’s it still in it’s shrink wrap. The front cover photo is taken by Mary McCartney. Here it is released from the plastic:

It is really quite a nicely put together package. It’s not in a standard BluRay plastic cover but is more like a small, bound  hardback book. (The DVD comes in the same packaging only in a slightly larger format). That dark black stripe you can see down the left-hand side is embossed with a shiny finish. Quite stylish. Here’s the rear cover:

There’s a 41 page book inside which contains some nice photos and the stylish layout begun on the exterior continues:

The design is reminiscent of the “Kisses on the Bottom” CD packaging, but is also quite distinctive in itself. There’s a Foreword from Mr Diana Krall –  none other than Elvis Costello:

Costello also conducts an extensive interview with Paul McCartney about the project and the recording and this takes up the bulk of the book. At the rear are a couple of pages containing info on the composers, the song publishing details, and the recording personnel for each track. The disc contents and the bonus features are detailed, and the final page is a thin slot container for the BluRay disc itself:

(click on images to see larger versions)

So, all in all, quite nicely put together. Now to go and watch it! For those wanting a preview, McCartney’s MPL site has just put up an extended promo video package.

Meanwhile, a Paul McCartney Christmas track (which sounds like it may have been recorded during the “Kisses” sessions) is part of a new holiday CD compilation called “Holiday’s Rule” featuring a variety of artists. It’s a project coordinated by Paul’s record companies Hear Music/Concord Music and MPL. He does the classic “The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)”. You can hear the song if you visit the MPL site – it is featured on their embedded music player at the moment.

 

 

Beatles on the Radio – A BBC Feast Coming Up This Week

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There’s a veritable feast of Beatle programming coming up this week on the BBC. In this the group’s 50th year, the broadcaster has just announced a series of programmes celebrating the life and music of the band.

First up comes “A Year in the Life: The Beatles ’62“, a 53 minute documentary which goes to air and online at 1305 GMT on Monday, 19 November 2012. In it “…Roger McGough tells the story of the pivotal breakthrough year for the Liverpool beat combo via twelve interlinked recollections from those who knew and worked alongside them in 1962.”

Then on Tuesday 20 November at 1305 GMT comes “Beatleland“. The BBC press releases says: “The Beatles left Liverpool in 1962 to conquer the world, but it never left them. Craig Charles heads home to Liverpool to find out what they took with them and the legacy they left behind. Every day, tourists visit Lennon and McCartney’s childhood homes, restored to their 1950s glory by English Heritage. From Albert Dock to Mathew Street, Beatle memorials are ever-present: Penny Lane and Strawberry Field, The Jacaranda, The Casbah and The Cavern where the group learned its trade, The Grapes and Ye Cracke, where the young Beatles would sit over a pint of cider, and Gambier Terrace, where John Lennon shared a flat with fellow art student Stu Sutcliffe. The Beatles connection is worth an estimated £20 million a year to the local economy.”

The week of special Beatles programming continues next day with “Paul McCartney at the BBC” – another 53 minute doco on Wednesday 21 November, again at 1305 GMT.  “Johnnie Walker presents a portrait of Sir Paul McCartney, drawn from BBC archive interviews and performances. The programme starts with the break-up of The Beatles and traces McCartney’s career as a solo artist up to the present. It’s made up entirely of rare BBC archive interviews and performances, and presents a fascinating picture of one of Britain’s greatest musicians. Among other treats we hear Sir Paul deconstructing Band On The Run for a television ad for a domestic radio station and recording a session at the famous Abbey Road studios.”

Finally, Thursday 22 November at 1305 GMT, you’ll be able to listen in to a special on “The Magical Mystery Tour“, a 53 minute programme about “….the television film called Magical Mystery Tour devised, written and directed by The Beatles. It has a significant place in the history of The Beatles – not least, because it was viewed by many as the group’s first failure. Paul Gambaccini presents a programme revealing the story behind the making of Magical Mystery Tour.”

 

The BBC World Service schedule for the series can be seen here. There are also some programs on the Rolling Stones if you are a fan.

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.

Live Kisses Coming on November 12

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Official confirmation today that November 12th is to be the release date of Paul McCartney’s “Live Kisses” on DVD, BluRay and digital video:

It is a live film performance for the launch of his retro album “Kisses on the Bottom“. The press release which arrived in my inbox says:

November 12th will see the release of ‘Live Kisses’ – a stunning 13-song film, directed by Jonas Åkerlund, that captures the magic of an extraordinary evening in February of this year. In the intimate surroundings of Capitol Studios in Los Angeles, where Paul recorded much of his ‘Kisses On The Bottom’ album, he was reunited with the all-star musicians who joined him on the record to bring the songs to life for a once in a lifetime performance.

This was a concert unlike any Paul had given before. Without his famous Höfner bass in hand or in fact any musical instruments, Paul took his place behind the same microphone that has captured some of the most iconic voices in history to focus on his vocal delivery as he led the assembled A-list group of musicians through a collection of the standards he grew up listening to in his childhood, as well as his own original composition ‘My Valentine’.

Streamed live to the world online, ‘Live Kisses’ marked the launch of Paul’s ‘Kisses On The Bottom’ album. The film tells the story of how, with the help of Grammy Award-winning producer Tommy LiPuma, Diana Krall and her band, Paul created a critically acclaimed album, which featured guest appearances from Eric Clapton and Stevie Wonder. The record represents a deeply personal journey through classic American compositions that a young Paul first heard his father perform on piano at home. Upon its release ‘Kisses…’ topped the US Billboard Jazz album chart at number 1, as well as charting Top 5 all around the world.

Bonus ‘Live Kisses’ material includes six versions of the ‘My Valentine’ music video, directed by Paul and starring Johnny Depp and Natalie Portman as well as a ‘Making My Valentine’ film. There are also two short films with behind the scenes footage filmed at the Mary McCartney album photoshoot for ‘Kisses On The Bottom’. The final extra is an interview with Paul and producer Tommy LiPuma talking about the story of the album, its conception and creation.

‘Live Kisses’ is an intimate and charming concert film which offers an insight into the music and songwriters that inspired Paul to go on to become the most successful songwriter and performer in modern history. Beautifully presented, ‘Live Kisses’ comes with a 40-page hardback book containing photographs from the day itself, including the rehearsals.

TRACKLISTING

1) I’m Gonna Sit Right Down And Write Myself A Letter
2) Home (When Shadows Fall)
3) It’s Only A Paper Moon
4) The Glory Of Love
5) More I Cannot Wish You
6) We Three (My Echo, My Shadow And Me)
7) Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate The Positive
8) My Valentine
9) Always
10) My Very Good Friend The Milkman
11) Bye Bye Blackbird
12) Get Yourself Another Fool
13) My One And Only Love

Recorded and filmed at Capitol Studios, Los Angeles, February 2012
Executive Producer: Paul McCartney
Directed by Jonas Åkerlund

BONUS FEATURES

1) ‘My Valentine’ Video:
       i) ‘My Valentine’ (Music Video)
ii) ‘My Valentine’ (Music Video – Natalie Portman One Take)
iii) ‘My Valentine’ (Music Video – Johnny Depp One Take)
iv) ‘My Valentine’ (Music Video – Split Screen)
v) ‘My Valentine’ (Music Video – Natalie Portman Edit)
vi) ‘My Valentine’ (Music Video – Johnny Depp Edit)
vii) Making ‘My Valentine’

Videos directed by Paul McCartney
Featuring Natalie Portman and Johnny Depp

2) Kisses On The Bottom Album Photo Shoot – Version One
3) Kisses On The Bottom Album Photo Shoot – Version Two
4) Kisses On The Bottom Album Interview – Paul McCartney and Tommy      LiPuma interviewed by Robert Hilburn

There’s more at paulmccartney.com  and the first of what appears to be a series of short “teaser” videos:

Beatles With Records – Part Twelve

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A few people have sent in some more images of the Beatles either as a band or as solo artists being photographed with those things they sold so many of – records and CDs.

This first one, from Beatles Blog reader Ariel Caceres,  is a stunner – a photograph of John Lennon I have never seen before. Ariel says this was taken  on 24 October, 1973 during the filming of a TV commercial to publicise John’s “Mind Games” LP. There are some more images documented here:
If anyone knows more about the background to this shot just get in touch. Why is John kneeling and holding a copy of his 1973 LP “Mind Games”? Why is a man dressed as a fairy godmother casting a spell over him? And who is the bearded gentleman? Please write in and let us know:

(click on the image to see a larger version)

I think you’ll agree that it is an extraordinary photograph! Lennon is clearly doing something to publicise his latest record at the time (below), but what is going on in the scene above?

Our friend Claude Defer in France has once again been busy in his archives and has sent through some more images of the Beatles photographed with records.

First, a photograph of George with sleeves of his “33 1/3” album (from 1976) behind him:

Next comes Paul and Linda (in Bruxelles according to Claude – on July 2, 1992). They’re signing a copy of the “London Town” LP from 1978:

You can see in Paul’s hand the rear cover of the LP:

You can also just see that the man at the right in the photograph is holding a copy of the Paul McCartney/Michael Jackson picture-cover, 12-inch single from 1983, “Say, Say, Say“. You can see the rear of the cover:

Claude also sent in a picture which was already shown in the Beatles With Records – Part Seven, but he’s kindly included the full set of George Harrison photos taken at the same location of George looking at, and signing, a copy of the Beatles “Help!”:

And a final photo, another one from Ariel. This time not of a Beatle, but a Beatle son. It’ s Julian Lennon holding what could be a book – or is it a 45 rpm picture-cover record? The photo is kind of faded and I’m not sure:

He definitely has in his hands something with this image on the front cover:

If you know what this item could be let us know at beatlesblogger@gmail.com, or simply submit a comment in the space provided below.

You can see the other parts in “The Beatles with Records” series here:  Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17.

All Things Must Pass – Label Variations Update

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At the “All Things Must Pass” Label Variations post, and the “All Things Must Pass” Record Store Day edition page there’s been a bit of conversation about a strange example of this now classic George Harrison release. Reader Paul writes:

“The box set pressing I have with….labels that say ‘mfd in the UK 1970′ comes in a USA box with orange inner, with a USA poster and USA inner sleeves. The strange thing is that sides 1,2,3 & 4 have the uncut, full Apple label like the Australian release instead of the cut Apple on sides 2 & 4. My guess is that the UK LPs were shipped over to America and packaged there using the USA box and inners? I can’t come up with an answer as to why the 4 orange Apple labels show the uncut Apple on all sides? Any ideas?”

Anyone with any more information on this one is welcome to contribute to the discussion.

This reminded me of a further variation that came into my collection that’s not detailed in either of the posts above. It is a rare Capitol Records label re-issue of “All Things Must Pass”, with records One and Two on the purple Capitol label:

And record Three – the “Apple Jam” disc – on the Orange Capitol label:

This set comes in the usual box with the hinged lid, lined in orange on the inside, the three different coloured inner-bags (which are light paper), and it has the the big George Harrison poster. All printed in the USA.

Beatles With Records – Part Ten

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Thanks to two very observant readers here are two updates for The Beatles With Records – Part Eight.

In that post there is a great image of the very early Beatles on stage. Behind them is a curtain with lots of record covers pinned to it:

(click image to see a larger version)

We got to identify a fair few of the LP covers that you can see in this picture (in previous posts on this subject – see below for links). However, there was one that I couldn’t quite make out. Have a look at the cover in the picture above between John and Paul. Turns out – and thanks to reader Jorges Morales – that it’s this LP from 1956:

It’s The Modern Jazz Quartet’s “Fontessa” – [SD 1231] on Atlantic Records.

“Fontessa” is a 1956 album. It was the first of the MJQ’s albums released on Atlantic.

The Modern Jazz Quartet would much later briefly become signed to the Beatles’ own Apple record label in the late 1960’s. They had two records released by Apple in 1969 – “”Under the Jasmine Tree” and “Space“:

We’ve been able to identify one other LP cover in a picture on The Beatles With Records – Part Eight. It is from this one below of Ringo at home with his mother and father:

We were able to identify that Ringo was holding the self-titled James Ray LP “James Ray“.

But look closely at the record player/radiogram on their left-hand side. On the floor they’ve got some LP covers lined up against it. On the very far right of the photo just under the radio dial (partly obscured) you can just spot a copy of “James Brown – Live at the Apollo” from 1962:

Thanks so much to Lammert for that info – and if you have any other LP covers you can identify in the “Beatles with Records” series please email me at: beatlesblogger@gmail.com

You can see the other parts in “The Beatles with Records” series here:  Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 , 6, 7 , 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17.

Not One But Three New Videos of “My Valentine”

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That’s right. Three new videos. You’re probably familiar with this, the first official release made during the photo shoot for the cover of “Kisses on the Bottom“:

But yesterday Paul McCartney launched not one, but three new versions of a video he directed himself of his song “My Valentine’. They each feature Natalie Portman and Johnny Depp. The first has both actors presenting the song using sign language:

Then there are two version variations – one with just Natalie Portman on her own:

The other has just Johnny Depp on his own:

If I’m not mistaken, that sounds like a slightly different guitar solo. Could it be Johnny Depp actually playing guitar? He’s a keen player.

The Mail Online has a feature on the making of the videos.

UPDATE:  paulmccartney.com has just issued a press release with more details about the new videos – which are based on an original idea by Paul’s daughter Stella McCartney and were premiered at an event held at the Stella McCartney store in Los Angeles. Two other interesting details from the release:

‘My Valentine’ is the second Paul McCartney music video Natalie Portman has starred in, the first being the Michel Gondry directed ‘Dance Tonight‘ in 2007.  For this new performance, she was exclusively dressed by Stella McCartney. Johnny Depp also plays guitar in his version and recorded the track’s guitar solo live.  His guitar take was then mixed and mastered into the final track.  The original guitar solo on the studio version of the song was performed by Eric Clapton.

Beatles and Advertising

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We wrote recently about Paul McCartney advertising for JBL and Tiffany. It’s not the first time he’s allowed his name and music to be associated with commercial products. Its actually a tradition that goes way back – to the very start of Beatlemania.

For a very long time, having your product associated with the Beatles in any way has been considered advantageous….take this tastefully designed, directed and edited commercial – with a soundtrack provided by you know who:

You gotta admit at least that was clever and stylish. Not so much this unfortunate one Ringo Starr and some former Monkees got themselves involved in a while back – for Pizza Hut:

I guess there’s a big difference between Beatles songs being used in a commercial and an actual personal endorsement – although the Ringo example had both…..

Turns out Beatle songs being used in advertising is much more frequent than you might first imagine. In 2007 for example “Hello Goodbye” was licensed for use by Target to promote its stores:

Back in 2002 Julian Lennon recorded “When I’m Sixty Four” specifically for a retirement investment ad for the US company Allstate:

That then raises the question of actual, original Beatle recordings being used, as opposed to re-recordings by anonymous studio musicians. Which is more offensive to you, if at all?

One famous example of a real, iconic Beatles song being used was provided by Nike in 1987, and it caused an absolute uproar:

“If it’s allowed to happen, every Beatles song ever recorded is going to be advertising women’s underwear and sausages. We’ve got to put a stop to it in order to set a precedent. Otherwise it’s going to be a free-for-all. It’s one thing when you’re dead, but we’re still around! They don’t have any respect for the fact that we wrote and recorded those songs, and it was our lives.” — George Harrison (November 1987)

It didn’t stop of course, and for many fans the ultimate insult came with “All You Need is…Luvs” – a commercial for disposable nappies…

And that’s not the only time that same, famous Beatles song has been used. Blackberry got in on the act with this one:

Of course, control over their song catalogue has long been out of the Beatles hands. They no longer own the rights and therefore have very little say in how songs they wrote might be used (although Paul McCartney does control all his subsequent solo work). That begs the question: are the surviving Beatles themselves ever consulted about which of their songs are used and how? The Independent newspaper says it is unclear if McCartney or Yoko Ono, John Lennon’s widow, approved use of “All You Need is Love” for the Blackberry commercial. It does however say that in 2008 Sony/ATV (owners of the catalogue) said it had a “moral obligation” to contact them before giving approving to such projects.

Ono herself has not been free of criticism. She apparently gave permission for an actor to overdub John Lennon’s voice on some archival footage which was turned into an advertisement for a Citroen car:

In May last year we posted on Beatlesblogger about the Australian city of Brisbane using “Come Together” to advertise what a great place Brisbane was after their big flood event. It looks like the organisers have since taken down their YouTube video of that commercial, probably because they only paid for the use of the song for a limited time.

The more you delve into this question of the Beatles and advertising the more examples you find. Maybe its best to just stop here before it gets too depressing….