A very rare Canadian recording of The Beatles live in concert is on the market.
It dates from August, 1965 and was recorded off the mixing desk from an afternoon concert at Maple Leaf Gardens, then a huge ice hockey arena in Toronto.
The two reel-to-reel tapes appear to be the only audio record of the gig in existence, and its sound quality is markedly better than most other Beatle bootlegs.
Well-known Beatle collector and historian Piers Hemmingsen (below), author of the highly-regarded book The Beatles In Canada (which traces the early days of Beatlemania in that country in forensic detail), owns the tapes and wants to use them to fund publication of his next volume, telling the story of the band in Canada up to 1970.
Journalist Ludovic Hunter-Tilney is one of the few people who have heard the recording and he writes about it glowingly in The Financial Times. “The sound quality is raw but the music comes across strongly, especially Lennon and McCartney’s vocals,” he says. “The vigour and accuracy of their singing are striking. Meanwhile, George Harrison firmly strums his guitar and Ringo Starr keeps matters moving at the drum kit.”
Hemmingsen took the tapes to Apple back in 2015, playing them to none other than Giles Martin at Abbey Road Studios. Back then they was deemed too low quality and they passed on a sale, but since that time Hemmingsen has discovered he’d been playing the tapes on the wrong type of machine. Listening back on a half-track player was a revelation. “It was like day and night,” he says.
Add to that the potential now to treat the audio using the new MAL audio technology developed by Peter Jackson’s film production company and who knows how good the result could be.
Check out the full story in Hunter-Tilney’s article here.
As you can see, along with producer T Bone Burnett, there are some heavy hitters helping out including Alison Krauss, Billy Strings and Molly Tuttle.
Variety has just published this in-depth article with a very recent interview with Ringo, and contributions from T Bone Burnett. Well worth a read.
And the online magazine JamBase is running this article with information about the background to Look Up as well:
Billy Strings is not only a star who can fill massive arenas with his band but has also become an in-demand studio musician. For example, Beatles legend Ringo Starr and fellow music icon T Bone Burnett called upon Strings to contribute to Starr’s forthcoming country album.
While Starr hasn’t officially announced Look Up, Ringo spoke about the album with Fox News Digital in July. “I met him [when] Olivia Harrison was reading poems for George. There was about 100 of us there listening, and he was one of them, and I bumped into him [off and on] since the ’70s,” Starr said of Burnett.
“He said, ‘What are you doing? I said, ‘Oh, well I’m doing this, EPs [extended play albums, which have more tracks than a single, but less than a record]. I’m getting people to write a song, put some music on it,” the Beatles legend continued. While Ringo Starr had several pop songs written for the project, he thought Burnett’s tune was “absolutely one of the most beautiful country songs I ever heard. So, I thought, ‘I’m going to do a country EP.’”
When Ringo talked to Burnett about cutting additional tracks, T Bone explained he had nine songs ready to go. “I thought let’s make a real CD, so I’m back making a CD,” Starr said about the decision to turn the EP into an LP.
In May, T Bone Burnett revealed he was working on a country album with Starr while speaking to Variety. Burnett had high praise for Ringo. “He’s such a beautiful singer. Ringo was in a band with two of the best singers in rock ‘n’ roll history, so people never took him as seriously as a singer as they should. If you listen to all the country stuff he did, ‘What Goes On’ and ‘Act Naturally’ and ‘Honey Don’t,’ he did so much great country music, even in the Beatles. And, you know, he’s called Ringo Starr because that’s a cowboy name, and he wanted to be a cowboy when he was a kid. As we all did back in those days; we always all wanted to be Gene Autry.”
Starr’s first solo foray with country was Beaucoup of Blues, an album of country covers he recorded in Nashville in 1970. “Yeah, it’s pretty good. I mean, they whipped it out really quickly; I think they did it in two days or so,” Burnett said of Beaucoup of Blues. “And we’re gonna do something a little more thorough. I mean, Ringo in his third act is deserving of a serious album… I want to make a classic Ringo Starr country record. I think we can,” T Bone added.
Ringo initially planned to put out the country album this fall as per his May chat with Variety. Starr gave a status report to the outlet. “We’ve done 90% of my work. He (Burnett) may want to put other stuff on it. And tomorrow I’m gonna finish off the odd lines I have to re-sing or think about, and then it should be done. As far as I’m concerned, the drums are good and the songs are good and, you know, I sing to the best of my ability, but sometimes I change the melody. That’s the way I am, and I had to back off a bit and do his melody, because he wrote it. So that’s what happened. It just came about and we’re just going with the flow. And now we’ve got a country record. The last country LP was… was it 1970? [Beacoups of Blues]. And now we’ve got one coming out probably in October. Because it’ll be coming out on vinyl and on CD, you’ve gotta get it in, and now it’s like five or six months before you put anything out. I mean, I’d like to finish it here and put it on the radio right now, but you can’t do that anymore.”
Ringo has also announced he’ll be supporting the new country album with two performances at the fabled Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. The shows will be filmed for a special. Check out the Ryman page for more.
And here’s the second teaser song, a co-write by Ringo and long-time collaborator Bruce Sugar. It features the great Alison Krauss on back-up vocals:
Apple and Disney+ have announced Beatles ’64, an all-new documentary film from producer Martin Scorsese and director David Tedeschi. It will stream exclusively on Disney+ beginning November 29.
The film captures the moment of The Beatles’ first visit to America and will feature never-before-seen footage of the band and their legions of fans. Beatles ’64 is to include lots of the footage filmed by the famous documentarians Albert and David Maysles, restored in 4K by Peter Jackson’s company, Park Road Post in New Zealand. There will be live performances from The Beatles first American concert at the Washington, DC Coliseum and their Ed Sullivan appearances – demixed by WingNut Films (also a Peter Jackson company). The sound is remixed by Giles Martin.
Beatles ’64 will of course be supported by the November 22 release of seven American Beatles albums, analog cut for 180-gram audiophile vinyl from their original mono master tapes. They include Meet The Beatles!, The Beatles’ Second Album, A Hard Day’s Night (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack), Something New, The Beatles’ Story (2LP), Beatles ’65, and The Early Beatles, available for preorder as a vinyl box set titled The Beatles: 1964 U.S. Albums In Mono. Six of the titles are also available individually.
Why A Hard Day’s Night now? Why white vinyl? Why the stereo version? Why only in the UK?
It is part of the UK’s National Album Day – which, granted, has “Great British Groups” as it’s theme this year – but their official webpage doesn’t appear to know anything about a Beatle release. A Hard Day’s Night isn’t mentioned at all in the feature news item on their site that goes into great detail about all the releases associated with the day.
Yes, it has been announced on the official Beatles site. And yes, they say it is because it is the 60th anniversary, but there are no links to order it anywhere, and it comes out in 10 days time.
This looks to be the stereo version and not newly remixed by Giles Martin. The Beatles site makes no mention of the mastering, so we can only assume it is the stock-standard 2009 stereo remaster, which has been out since……well 2009 on CD and 2012 on vinyl.
It’s all just a bit odd!
The limited edition reissue on 180g White Vinyl will be released on October 19th. Will you be getting it?
The list for Record Store Day Black Friday 2024 has just been uploaded and there are two Beatle items of interest to collectors, plus one from Dark Horse.
This 7″ single was obviously chosen to tie in with the 60th anniversary of The Beatles’ arrival in the USA, and their subsequent conquering of the US popular music charts. Not to mention the release of the 8LP set The Beatles 1964 US Albums in Mono, as well as the six LPs that will be available individually. The single is limited to 10,000 copies and is cut from the original US version of the master tapes – the same masters used for the albums in that 1964 Mono box set. It is cut by Kevin Reeves in Nashville using an all-analog cutting process and on the same 1970 lathe at the Capitol studios. Read more about it here.
The other Beatle item slated for RSD Black Friday is another of those tiny 3″ vinyl singles designed to play on the similarly tiny Crosley record player.
‘All My Loving’ comes with a Beatle-branded carry case and it too celebrates the 60th anniversary of the group’s 1964 American Tour – and their appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show that year. With the release of this 3″ record all five of the songs the band played on the show is now complete. The other singles (released for Record Store Day proper earlier this year) were: ‘I Want To Hold Your Had’, ‘Til There Was You’, ‘She Loves You’ and ‘I Saw Her Standing There’. Like them, this 3” will be housed in a picture sleeve and includes a limited-edition poster.
Hymns of Christmas dates from 1995 and it’s the fIrst time this has been on vinyl.
RSD Black Friday is on November 29. Check out the home page for the full list and any updates (there are often additional titles added as the time gets closer).
Lots of Beatle items come up for auction and on quite a regular basis too. But it’s a little rare to have an entire auction dedicated entirely to Beatle or Beatle-related content.
TracksAuctions.com was established in the UK in 1989 and has developed a worldwide reputation in the field of pop memorabilia. They have over 35 years experience in trading at the highest level in Beatle and rock ‘n roll collectibles.
Their latest auction is a bit of a treasure trove of items. Anyone looking through the extensive list of lots will have a differtent set of highlights that jump out for them. Or maybe these are interest?
Well, here are the standout items for us.
Lot 7. Apple Employee Telephone and Address Book. This would be truly fascinating to flip through. It is a handwritten telephone and address book from the 1970s and contains Beatles addresses and phone numbers including George Harrison, Ringo Starr (Monte Carlo and L.A), and Paul McCartney.
In the photo above you can see an entry for former Apple Records boss, the late Neil Aspinall. Due to the wonders of Google Maps you can go and have look at where he once lived:
It looks like a very nice area, and if you go for a bit of a wander down the street you might notice the house across the road is called Strawberry Fields! Do you think the owners know they live opposite a former residence of a boss of the Beatles empire?
Other influential names in the book include Eric Clapton, Phil Collins, Nat Weiss, Robert Stigwood, Tony Barrow, Peter Brown, Ron Kass, Freda Kelly, Tony Palmer, Denis O’Dell, Derek Taylor, Timothy Leary, Victor Spinetti, Peter Sellers, and Eric Idle, along with numerous record companies, recording studios, media outlets, and other businesses frequented by the Fabs.
Lot 9. Various Artists Apple Records Acetate. This is a 12-inch acetate record containing 23 tracks by various artists. The acetate is on the Apple Corps Ltd. 3 Savile Row Custom Recording label. Was this compilation ever planned for release on Apple, or is it just a party disc put together for fun by the engineers at Apple Studios?
Lot 12. Delaney And Bonnie 1969 Apple Records Withdrawn Album. This one was definitely intended for release by Apple on 30th May 1969, but it was withdrawn due to contractual reasons. As such catalogue number SAPCOR 7 has become very rare indeed. What we have here is one of a small number of pre-release copies that were pressed. In his excellent book Those Were The Days – The Beatles And Apple, Stefan Granados says: “Apple had planned to release their album entitled ‘Accept No Substitute’ on 30th May. Copies of the album had been pressed and were waiting for covers when Apple cancelled….The plan may have been scuttled in part by Apple’s reluctance to pay advances but the inconvenient fact that Delaney and Bonnie were under contract to Elektra Records in the United States is likely to have played a more significant role in the non-appearance of a Delaney and Bonnie album on Apple. For the next year or so, lucky visitors to the Apple office would be given copies of the sleeveless Apple pressing of the album. Copies would also be given to any interested Apple staff and artists.“
Lot 41. The Beatles ‘Love Me Do’ A-Label Demonstration Record. Who wouldn’t want a copy of this in their collection. It takes you right back to just before it all began. This is the “demonstration record” sent out to radio stations in the UK heralding an unknown band from Liverpool. An extremely rare Parlophone white and red ‘A-label’ debut single of ‘Love Me Do’/’P.S. I Love You’. The single was released with the catalogue number 45-R 4949 on October 5, 1962. Even McCartney is misspelled as McArtney on both sides!
Lot 43. The Beatles ‘A Hard Day’s Night’/’Things We Said Today’ 78 RPM. Another grail item for many collectors. This an extremely rare 1964, 10-inch, 78rpm pressing from India of The Beatles single, ‘A Hard Day’s Night’/’Things We Said Today’. The record comes in an original Parlophone paper sleeve too.
Lot 114. The Beatles 1968 Mono ‘White Album’ Number 0000012. Yes, it’s a little beat up, but who wouldn’t want a copy of this rare, low numbered UK mono vinyl pressing of The Beatles’ White Album in their collection? It is number 0000012.
Lot 131. Freda Kelly’s Collection of Fan Club Flexi Discs 1963 to 1969. The Beatles UK Christmas flexi discs are collectable at any time. How much more then would be a complete set (all seven discs) from the woman who ran The Beatles Fan Club from1962 to 1972? Freda’s original flexis are housed in a 1960s hardback record case with her handwritten name and address inside.
Added to the value and collectability is that these exact same discs were used by Apple to produce From Then To You, the 1970 UK LP compilation of all the Beatles Fan Club Christmas messages. Freda recalled that when they came to produce the album EMI didn’t have a complete set of tapes, and nobody at Apple owned a complete set of the flexis. She remembers being asked by Peter Brown to take this exact same set down to Savile Row where they were copied in order to produce the Christmas Fan Club album.
Lot 139. The Beatles John Lennon and Paul McCartney Autographed ‘White Album’. This is a US album sleeve for the 1968 self-titled album The Beatles, aka the White Album. It has the second highest expected sale price in this Tracks auction of between £25,000 – £35,000 (US$33,000 – $47,000 or AUD$48,000 – $68,000). The reason? It is autographed on the gatefold by both John Lennon and Paul McCartney. John has signed in red felt tipped pen and Paul has autographed in black ballpoint pen. The autographs were signed in the USA in the 1970s. Lennon’s autograph dates to circa 1975 and McCartney’s to 1975/1976.
Lot 206. Paul McCartney ‘McCartney’ Album Press Release. This is an original US press release from April 1970. It is on Apple letterhead and is an important document in the history of the band because it became one of the first public signals that The Beatles were no more. Sent out with promo copies of Paul McCartney’s solo LP McCartney, it consists of four sides of questions and answers relating to the recording. The answers McCartney gave to some of the questions were directly responsible for the subsequent “Paul Quits The Beatles” newspaper headlines and a furore over the group splitting up. The final page bears a printed Paul McCartney signature. Also included are three black and white promotional photographs. One of Paul, one of Paul and Linda and one of Paul and his daughter Mary.
Lastly, to the most expensive lot likely in this auction…..
Lot 246. Paul McCartney November 1966 Hand Drawn Stage Designs For The Four Tops London Performance. In November, 1966 the US group The Four Tops were due to play London’s Saville Theatre, then owned by Beatle manager, Brian Epstein. In preparation for the shows he wanted some spectacular backdrops for the stage and commissioned none other than Paul McCartney to come up with the designs. Paul presented his ideas to Epstein and John Lyndon, a NEMS employee and Director of Productions at the Saville. On a large piece of white paper McCartney hand-sketched and annotated 12 images to be considered and one of these was used for the Four Tops first-ever UK performance.
This item is definitely unique and is expected to fetch in the vicinity of £40,000 – £60,000 (US$53,000 – $80,000 or AUD$78,000 – $117,000).
Well, these are some of the standout lots for us. Have a look through the four pages of treasure on the auction site and let us know which are yours. The Beatles Memorabilia Auction starts on September 27 and runs until October 6.
All items sold through TracksAuctions.com have a lifetime guarantee of authenticity and a money-back warranty.
As has been much expected on the rumour mill, the George Harrison Estate has announced a 2024 re-mix of George Harrison’s 1973 title,Living In The Material World.
It will come in a myriad of forms on November 15 – with one to suit the price bracket of just about every fan.
There’s a 2LP, 2CD, 1 Blu-ray, plus 7″ vinyl single super deluxe box set edition. Similar content is replicated across the vinyl, CD’s and Blu-ray. This set is limited to 5,000 units globally and contains 12 previously unreleased Harrison tracks – early renditions of every song on the main album, plus one previously unreleased song, ‘Sunshine Life For Me (Sail Away Raymond) which is only available in this box. This will really upset fans who can’t spring for the box, or who simply just don’t collect vinyl. ‘Sunshine Life For Me (Sail Away Raymond)’ is on CD2, the Blu-ray, and the 7” single (with an instrumental version of the song on the flip side). It featuresRobbie Robertson, Levon Helm, Garth Hudson, and Rick Danko from The Band alongside Ringo Starr. There’s a 60-page hardcover book in the set and a 12-page Recording Notes booklet:
There’s a 2LP version on 180g black vinyl. This includes the new mix of the album alongside 12 session outtakes housed in a gatefold sleeve with a 12-page booklet and an exclusive double-sided poster:
There are 2CD and 1CD editions. The 2CD includes the new 2024 mix of the album on one disc, along with the 12 session outtakes (but NOT including the previously unreleased ‘Sunshine Life For Me (Sail Away Raymond)’), housed in a clam shell style box with two printed wallets, a 20-page booklet, and an exclusive double-sided poster:
The standard CD edition comes in a 4-page gatefold sleeve with printed inner wallet, and a 12-page booklet. There’ll of course be a 1LP edition on black vinyl. It comes in a gatefold sleeve and includes a 4-page booklet:
So, the song ‘Sunshine Life For Me (Sail Away Raymond)’ only being exclusive to the big box will be a thorn in the side for a lot of collectors….
Also of note is that three other tracks – which were previously released on a 2006 re-mastered LP and a CD/DVD edition of Living In The Material World – are not on the new 2024 reissue. These are ‘Deep Blue’, ‘Miss O’Dell (alternative version)’, and ‘Sue Me, Sue You Blues (acoustic demo version)’ – plus some video content too that is not on the Blu-ray and could have been. And there’s another previously-released related track from George’sEarly Takes Vol. 1: ‘The Light That Has Lighted The World (Demo)’.
There’s also a very interesting “behind the scenes” video doing the rounds with mastering engineer Kevin Reeves who cut the records at Nashville’s East Iris Studios, and Pat Kraus, Senior VP Recording Studios & Archives at UMG:
And Andrew, over at the very good Parlogram YouTube channel, has made this handy introduction/explainer as to what these latest releases from Apple are all about:
Looks like the The Beatles camp is getting set to announce the vinyl re-issue of six US LP’s from released between January, 1964 and March, 1965 on Capitol and United Artists Records. They are Meet The Beatles, Something New, The Beatles’ Second Album, Beatles ’65, A Hard Days’ Night (Original Soundtrack), and The Early Beatles.
The official website briefly had pages published depicting pack shots of each album, but these have have since been taken down.
As you can see, each album comes with a replica inner sleeve from the time, and a sheet or booklet replicating the original tape box. It’s not yet known if the albums will only be available separately or if there’ll also be a box set containing all six LPs on the cards.
Speaking of those images of the tape boxes, before the pages were taken down each album had this Mastering Note text attached:
These albums were cut for vinyl from the original master tapes using a completely analog signal path and with constant reference to first generation pressings of the original albums. They were made using a Studer A80 master recorder with analog preview & program paths, and an Neumann VMS70 cutting lathe originally installed in Capitol Studios in 1971. This specific all-analog cutting technique allows faithful representation of the full musical range and dynamics present on the original tapes.
So, fully analogue AAA pressings is very welcome news. As to whether they’re the original Capitol Mono or Stereo mixes the images seem to confirm Mono as the albums above all show catalogue numbers starting with the “T” prefix – meaning Mono.
These releases tie in well with the 60th anniversary celebrations of the Beatles conquering America and the rumoured The Beatles: The First U.S. Tour re-issue of the famous Mayles brothers’ film – also expected to be announced soon.
UPDATE: It looks like an image of the box set (to be called The Beatles 1964 US Albums In Mono) has also been leaked. This confirms rumours that the box contains a bonus double disc in the form of The Beatles’ Story:
(click on images to see larger versions)
The discs will be on 180-gram vinyl cut from the original mono master tapes and will have a global release on November 22. They’ll feature faithfully replicated artwork and new four-panel inserts with essays written by American Beatle historian and author Bruce Spizer.
There are not one but two John Lennon and Yoko Ono films set for release shortly.
The first, and the most interesting, is One to One: John & Yoko which has just premiered at the Venice International Film Festival and is getting very good reviews. It is a documentary set in New York in 1972 exploring not only John and Yoko’s new-found love of that city, but also their musical, personal, artistic, social, and political lives – all with a backdrop of that turbulent year in American history. At the film’s core is the One to One charity concert for special needs children, Lennon’s only full-length concert between the final Beatle concert in 1966 and his death. The footage and music from that Madison Square Garden show has been restored with Sean Ono Lennon and his team producing a superb sound remix. This is one to look out for when and if it makes it to Blu-Ray. We can only wish for some sort of soundtrack audio release of the concert as well. For a great article on the film check out The Hollywood Reporter.
The second film, also set in 1972, is another John and Yoko feature-length documentary called Daytime Revolution. This details five crazy days the pair co-hosted the iconic Mike Douglas Show, at the time the most popular show on US daytime TV reaching an audience of 40 million viewers a week. As producers and hosts, Lennon and Ono where allowed to pick their guests including Black Panther Chairman Bobby Seale, social activist Jerry Rubin, and political activist and consumer advocate Ralph Nader. They conducted candid Q&A sessions with their studio audience, had conversations about police violence and women’s liberation, mounted conceptual art events, and made one-of-a-kind musical performances, including playing live with Chuck Berry and a poignant rendition of Lennon’s ‘Imagine’.
It looks like Daytime Revolution is set for a theatrical release in the US on John Lennon’s birth date, October 9, so look for it in a cinema near you. It will then be released on DVD and Blu-ray on November 26.
And of course September 26 sees the worldwide limited cinema release of One Hand Clapping, the film by David Litchfield documenting Paul McCartney and Wings live at Abbey Road Studios in August, 1974.
One Hand Clapping (and it’s accompanying soundtrack album) captures a moment when Wings had found and defined their sound. The documentary gives an insight into the inner workings of the band as they work and play together in the studio. The film, originally shot on 1970s videotape (code for “It looks pretty awful!”), has been scanned and restored at 4K. The between song dialogue has been de-mixed using Wingnut’s MAL software and the film features a new Dolby Atmos audio mix by Steve Orchard and Giles Martin. Find out if One Hand Clapping is showing near you and order tickets online.
Meanwhile, we’re still awaiting news of any film/music releases in celebration of The Beatles conquering America 60 years ago this year.
Rumor has it (from Ringo at least….) that there is some sort of Beatle film product on the way, possibly based around a re-issue of the Mayles brothers’ excellent backstage documentary The Beatles: The First U.S. Visit. Don’t know if this will be a stand-alone physical release on Blu-Ray, or if it will simply pop up as a streaming-only offer on Disney+ at some stage. Watch this space.
On the book front the next eagerly anticipated release is Mind Games, the companion piece to the audio of Mind Games The Ultimate Mixes. It’s due in shops from September 24. Like the John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band The Ultimate Collection and ImagineThe Ultimate Collection remixes which also had separately-sold thick books to accompany them, this book will be far more detailed than the 136 page book included in the 6CD/2 Blu-Ray deluxe box set. That book’s purpose is to unpack the music on those CDs and Blu-Rays. The separate Mind Games book goes much wider, examining not only the creation of the album in greater detail, the times in which was recorded, and what John and Yoko where up to.
Then, in December, comes the much-anticipated The McCartney Legacy, Volume 2 1974-80. This is the follow-up to 2022’s The McCartney Legacy, Volume 1 1964-73, described as the most complete work on the life and work of Paul McCartney ever published.
If authors Allan Kozinn and Adrian Sinclair bring the same level of exhaustive research to Volume 2 that made the first installment such a critical success, then this book will be a must-have. It is released on December 10 and is available for pre-order in the U.S. here and in the U.K. here.
For those of you with deep pockets who want to celebrate the Beatles continued domination of popular music in America in 1964, then Genesis Publications has a high-class book of photographs from the time for you.
Mania Days is described as “…the ultimate photographic record of the Beatles’ tour of the USA, as captured through the lens of the band’s photographer Curt Gunther, with introductory quotes from the Beatles’ press officer, Derek Taylor. Mania Days is a must-have book for Beatles aficionados and anyone interested in the transformative power of music and popular culture. The final 100 copies are now available in a new and updated binding and slipcase, specially designed to commemorate 60 years of The Beatles in the USA and 50 years of Genesis Publications in 2024.”
It has to be said that Mania Days contains some brilliant images capturing Beatlemania in all its crazy glory. Curt Gunther has a good eye and his black and white images are often striking. The only drawback is the £265 price tag. That is $514 Australian or $347 US. Granted, Genesis Beatle books have a tendency to hold or even increase their value, but it’s still a lot for a book! They must be selling them though as there are only 30 copies left, and the even more expensive “Deluxe” edition is listed as sold out on the site.
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