It didn’t last long. Some helpful readers pointed out we’d left out Ringo’sStop & Smell The Roses – the numbered, liquid vinyl edition – limited to 400 copies.
And the other Ringo Starr was a red vinyl re-issue of his 14th studio album, Choose Love from 2005. This had first been slated for Record Store Day Black Friday, but was quietly removed from official lists prior to the day. It’s popped up again on the Friday Music site, this time with a late January 2026 release date (though knowing Friday Music that is extremely likely to change):
Then Dark Horse Records announced it would be issuing a further title from the Yusuf/Cat Stevens back catalogue that the label now has the rights to. It’s called Tell ‘Em I’m Gone and it will be on yellow vinyl:
So, each of these were duly added into a revised graphic and we were just about to re-publish when last Friday came news of yet another collectable, this time linked to the Beatles’Anthology re-issue – and in particular Anthology 4. On it are the 2025 re-mixes of ‘Free As A Bird’ and ‘Real Love’ and they are now being released as a limited edition, double A-side 7″ translucent milk white vinyl single. This is the 2025 mix of both songs.
There’s been no indication of a CD version of the single being made available (except for Japan where there’s been an exclusive Japan-only CD announced). Nor has there been any talk of updated versions of the ‘Free As A Bird’ and ‘Real Love’ EPs (or “maxi-singles”) which were originally released to accompany Volumes 1 and 2 of Anthology back in 1995 and 1996. That means all of the extra tracks on those EPs will remain unavailable, with the exception of the song ‘This Boy’, which has been added to the Anthology Volume 4 discs.
The ‘Free As A Bird’ (2025 Mix)/’Real Love’ (2025 Mix) 7″ coloured vinyl single is only available from Beatles official stores (e.g. in the UK or the US), or from certain Universal Music online stores (eg. this one in Germany).
So, it has been a most busy time for any Beatle collector who is a completist. There’s been so much product so fast it’s been difficult to keep up.
To help, here’s our updated visual. If you want everything, this is what you’ll need to order. There are no fewer that 51 items here! This has got to be unprecedented in the run-up to Christmas:
It’s been a busy time over the last few weeks and months for Beatle collectors.
There’s been so much product announced it’s hard to keep on top of it.
So, we decided to made a visual representation for you, the avid completist, so that you can keep track.
If you want everything, THIS is what you’ll need to order:
Screenshot
(Click on the image to see a larger version)
Have we forgotten anything?
FYI, the Ringo StarrChoose Love LP announced for Record Store Day Black Friday 2025 seems to have quietly slipped off the list again, so we have not included it here.
First up is the next installment in the ongoing George Harrison/Zoetrope disc back-catalogue series, Living In The Material World:
Featuring the 2024 50th anniversary mix of the album, this will come in a numbered sleeve with an insert of the original cover art. Hopefully it will be easier to secure than the Zoetrope edition of All Things Must Pass from Record Store Day earlier this year! It quickly became as rare as hen’s teeth.
Also on Dark Horse is a Billy Idol 12″ single picture disc. It features the track ’77’ which was on his LP Dream Into Itfrom earlier this year. The song is a collaboration with Avril Lavigne, but the version with her has so far only been available as a digital download. She didn’t make the cut for the version on the physical release. Well, now we get both versions on this 2-sided picture. Side 1 features the duet with Lavigne, while Side 2 is the album version.
A third Dark Horse Records title for RSD Black Friday is only appearing (so far) on the UK list. It looks to be a follow-up to last year’s RSD collaboration between Dhani Harrison and Carmen Rizzo. That was called Dreamers In The Field and featured world music artists Huun-Huur-Tu. This time Ivan Shopov is also involved and special guests are the New Bulgarian Voices and composer/choir leader Georgi Petkov. The album is called Ascending Into Silence. Very interesting stuff:
And lastly, there’s also the now almost obligatory RSD Ringo Starr re-issue on coloured vinyl from Friday Music. It’s his Choose Love from 2005 and it is the first time this record has been available on vinyl, so that makes it interesting. It’ll be on ruby red vinyl:
UPDATE: Despite being published on early RSD Black Friday 2025 lists, this Ringo Starr release seems to have quietly slipped off those same lists in recent days. We’ll keep an eye on it to see if it re-appears and will let you know.
Magic Christian Music is the second album released by Welsh rock band, Badfinger. They recorded 5 albums for Apple Records, and were the first non-Beatle recording artists signed to the label.
This release will be the first time the 2010 remasters of Magic Christian Music are available on vinyl, and the first time the album has been re-pressed since 1996.
Magic Christian Music includes the band’s first international hit, ‘Come And Get It’, written and produced for them by Paul McCartney. Of the fourteen tracks, seven were newly recorded for the album while the remaining songs were lifted from their first album Maybe Tomorrow, which had seen only a limited release. Three of the new tracks were featured in the film The Magic Christian (starring Peter Sellers and Ringo Starr). They were produced by Paul, and the strings on ‘Carry On Till Tomorrow’ were arranged and conducted by George Martin. SIx tracks were produced by Tony Visconti and five by Mal Evans.
This 180g blue vinyl version, out on October 18, is housed in a single sleeve featuring the original artwork, with poly-lined white inner sleeves.
In other Beatle-related release news, the push by BMG to get more George Harrison/Dark Horse Records titles officially onto their catalogue continues. On October 24 they will release the next batch including the self-titled George Harrison (from early 1979) on both vinyl and CD:
The CD has one bonus track, ‘Here Comes The Moon (Demo)’:
Then in June 1981 came Somewhere In England. It too gets a vinyl and CD re-issue on Dark Horse:
The CD is interesting. It comes in the original album concept artwork and has one bonus track, a demo of ‘Save The World’:
And then comes 1982’s Gone Troppo:
The Gone Troppo CD also comes with a single bonus track, the demo version of ‘Mystical One’:
Also due for an October 24 release are CD versions of Brainwashed; Cloud Nine; and Thirty Three and 1/3. Each of these has already seen a vinyl release under the BMG distribution deal. This just makes a CD version available to collectors:
All CD’s are in Digipak packaging. You can get all the details on all these releases, and place pre-orders, at the Official George Harrison Store.
Interestingly, also listed there (for an October 3 release) is a 3LP set of All Things Must Pass. This too is to bring that classic title in under the BMG/Dark Horse Records banner as a vinyl issue (there’s already been a CD released).
The question is, will it come out with Dark Horse Records labels, or will it be on the traditional orange Apple and Apple Jam labels? The pack shot has a prominent Dark Horse hype sticker (click on the image to see a larger version):
This vinyl is the 50th anniversary mix by Paul Hicks and the set includes the original poster – but with the back of the poster containing notes by Dhani Harrison and Hicks about remixing the album.
I guess we’ll just have to wait and see if the LPs have the Dark Horse label. For some reason our money is on Apple labels……look very closely at that hype sticker and you’ll see in the small print the words “Apple and the Apple logo are exclusively licensed to Apple Corps Ltd and used with permission.” So maybe it won’t have Dark Horse labels after all….
We know that George Harrison was a very keen gardener. There was a beautiful article at the end of 2023 in Country Life magazine on some of the work he did to bring the gardens of his country estate, Friar Park, back to life and the fantastic legacy he left there as those gardens continue to thrive today. With the help of his wife Olivia Harrison, George revitalized the neglected property, which consisted of the mansion, lodges, and 32 acres of grounds.
Now comes a stunning tribute to George the gardener in the form of a major exhibition – and it is in Florida of all places.
The Marie Selby Botanical Gardens in Sarasota, Florida have on display now a unique and impressive exhibition exploring the connection between George Harrison and his much-loved hobby.
George Harrison: A Gardener’s Life is on view through to June 29, 2025, and it’s already broken all attendance records for any previous special exhibition at the Gardens.
Selby Gardens has re-imagined some of the Friar Park gardens through horticultural vignettes across its 15-acre Downtown Sarasota campus, including original garden designs by the man who originally built Friar Park, SIr Frank Crisp, and more recent gardens planted by George and Olivia. Highlights include a topiary and sundial garden; an alpine rock garden complete with a scale model of the Matterhorn; a knot garden in the shape of a kolam (a geometrical Indian line drawing); a knot garden design that plays on the treble clef; and a hedge maze.
The Tropical Conservatory features stunning displays of plants. One incorporates Barry Feinstein’s iconic photo of Harrison from the album cover for All Things Must Pass; a sculptural garden combines water, weeping plants, and electric guitars – a nod to his Beatle hit While My Guitar Gently Weeps;and a palm garden references the cover design of his solo album Living in the Material World. A selection of George’s music plays throughout the Conservatory.
The Museum of Botany and the Arts at the Gardens features a dynamic collection of photographs and videos of George and his crews working on the estate grounds, plus maps and photographic references to Crisp’s original designs, and personal memorabilia.
The exhibition has also attracted the attention and support of The Beatles official Facebook page, and the George Harrisonwebsite.
To see a spectacular short “walk through” video of the exhibition, just click on the image below:
We knew that Record Store Day this year will have three Dark Horse titles available for collectors of this Beatle-related sub-brand, but did you know that Dark Horse Records is planning a further big push in late April and early May?
RSD will have:
George Harrison and Beck with ‘Be Here Now’:
This is Record Store Day’s “Song of the Year” and it will be on a 12″ single with George’s original version on one side, and Beck’s cover version on the other.
There’ll also be the next installment of George Harrison back-catalogue titles appearing as Zoetrope picture discs. This time its the turn of All Things Must Pass, so it is a 3 LP set in an individually numbered sleeve. It’s catalogue number is DH0037Z:
And for RSD in the UK comes another Cat Stevens back-catalogue item, Back To Earth (DH0027). Like the Cat Stevens releases the label put out for RSD last year, this one will also come in a special lenticular album sleeve:
Then, once we get RSD 2025 out of the way, on April 25 comes a brand new Billy Idol title, Dream Into It. This is his first new, full-length album of original material in over a decade. It will be available on black vinyl, as a limited edition purple vinyl, and on CD:
There’s also limited edition signed copies to be had:
The Idol release will be followed on May 9 with no less than 9 re-issues from Dark Horse that officially bring even more of the George Harrison back-catalogue under the Dark Horse/BMG umbrella. These include All Things Must Pass – 50th Anniversary mix as a 2CD set with Dark Horse and BMG on the label for the first time (instead of Capitol and Universal Music). It will be given the Dark Horse catalogue number DH0037:
All Things Must Pass will be joined by George’s 1974 title, Dark Horse on black vinyl and on CD, with the catalogue number DH0038:
There’s also Extra Texture (with the catalogue number DH0039) on black vinyl and on CD:
And Thirty Three & 1/3 (catalogue number DH0040) – but only on black vinyl at the moment for some reason:
Also on May 9 to bring Harrison more firmly under the BMG banner will be a CD re-issue of his Wonderwall Music (with the catalogue number DH0033). This joins the Zoetrope vinyl with the same catalogue number from Record Store Day last year:
Likewise, Electronic Sound gets the same CD treatment – joining its Zoetrope vinyl partner in carrying the catalogue number DH0034:
And lastly, one further May 9 release. It is Harrison’sEarly Takes Volume 1 on CD (catalogue number DH0047). It joins the black vinyl that was issued last year also under the Dark Horse/BMG label:
As if that isn’t enough, on May 16 comes two long-rumoured but also long delayed Jon Lord Dark Horse titles, re-issues of his albums Gemini Suite and Windows. Gemini Suite will be on a spectacular splatter vinyl (with the catalogue number DH0023):
While Windows comes on a cool orange vinyl:
So, collectors who like to keep up with everything Dark Horse is doing alongside their Beatle collecting are going to need deep pockets over the next two months.
Dark Horse Records celebrated George Harrison’s birth date this week with the release of a new tribute album by gypsy jazz guitarist Robin Nolan.
For The Love Of George can be streamed on all good streaming services and features some amazing gypsy jazz versions of classic George songs. Also included is a brand new composition crafted by Nolan from chords jotted down by George on an envelope and only discovered after his passing. Cementing to strong connections here, Nolan played three of George’s own guitars, and the recording was made in the studio George created at his home in Friar Park.
The album featuresten Gypsy Jazz interpretations of Harrison songs from across his Beatle and solo career, as well as the brand-new composition. Surprisingly they really lend themselves to the Django Reinhardt-style.
Nolan’s relationship with Harrison dates back to the 1990s, when George personally recognized and encouraged his playing. Since then, Nolan has remained a valued presence within the Harrison musical circle, making this tribute especially meaningful. And it’s not the first album Nolan has recorded at Friar Park. He released Gypsy Blue in 2013 on Dhani Harrison’s H.O.T. Records – and like this this one it was only available digitally but also a very limited CD. (H.O.T. of course stands for Henley-On-Thames, the town where Friar Park is located).
Talking about how the new album came about, Robin Nolan explains, “I was at Friar Park playing for Olivia’s birthday. We were all talking and then George’s Ramirez acoustic guitar appeared and I played ‘And I Love Her’ on it. It was a massive thrill to play the song on the same guitar he’d originally recorded it on with Olivia and everyone watching.”
“I had already been thinking about how cool it would be to do an album of George’s songs, but then to actually be playing one of his songs on that guitar. ‘That’s another level, you know, that’s another layer of awesomeness.’ So that was where the inspiration for the album was born.
“A few days later, I was working on the arrangements of how these songs could sound in the Gypsy Jazz style and Olivia texted me this picture of an envelope with some chords that George had written on it and said, ‘Check it out. I wonder if George ever did anything with that? Maybe you can look at the chords and tell?'”
“I stared at the envelope and studied the chords intently that George had written all those years ago and started to feel the magic. It was like unraveling a mystery, trying to imagine what George might have meant.
“At a certain moment I felt that the chords started to make sense and came alive as I strummed them on my guitar, ‘Ahh maybe that’s what he meant’, I remember thinking to myself.”
“After I’d figured out the chords a melody came to me. In my mind I could hear George humming a tune that sounded really beautiful. That’s when it all came together. The title track of this album For The Love Of George.
“I was really excited so I recorded a simple version on my phone and sent it to Olivia wondering what she might think. She responded, ‘Wow it sounds so much like George!’
“And, of course, it does sound like George, because there’s a few chord changes in there which are really unique to him, and then the melody I wrote is so inspired by him.”
“For this new track I used all three of George’s guitars that feature on the album. The intro is the 12-string Rickenbacker used on the bulk of the Hard Day’s Night album, and it’s just got that sound, you know? So I made the intro with that guitar, and some fills. The main melody is played on the Gibson J160, which is the guitar with a lot of history. It’s the only guitar that was used on every Beatles album. It’s tough to play, but it has so much character. I did the melodies on that one, and then there’s some backing lines on the Ramirez.”
George Harrison’s song ‘Be Here Now’ has been named theRSD Song of the Year for 2025’s Record Store Day on April 12.
To celebrate the honor, a double A-Side 12” Single of ‘Be Here Now’ will be released featuring the 2024 mix of George’s original version. The flip-side will contain Beck’s recent cover of the track. Proceeds will go to the Material World Foundation.
It’s another hefty RSD for the Dark Horse label. It will also release a limited Zoetrope picture disc pressing of George’s All Things Must Pass. It is the next part in the plan to eventually issue Zoetrope picture disc pressings of George’s entire studio album catalogue:
The limited edition 3LP Zoetrope set will be the third title in this RSD series and follows Wonderwall Music and Electronic Sound from 2024. Like them, All Things Must Pass will come in an individually numbered sleeve.
The Lennon Estate has also entered the RSD fray. They’re no strangers to using Record Store Day to give publicity to other projects they have on the go (see our article “Record Store Day and The Beatles – A History” for proof of this over many years).
This time it’s the turn of the new documentary film One to One: John & Yoko which looks at the couple’s life in 1970’s New York, exploring their musical, personal, artistic, social, and political world. Directed by Kevin Macdonald and set in 1972, the film has at it’s core the story of The One to One Concerts, John Lennon’s only full-length performances after The Beatles, accompanied by Yoko Ono, The Plastic Ono Band, Elephant’s Memory and a range of special guests. Together they headlined two historic benefit concerts at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The performances, held before a combined audience of 40,000 people, raised over $1.5 million to support schoolchildren with special needs.
The film has newly remastered and remixed sound from those concerts, produced by Sean Ono Lennon and mixed and engineered from the original tapes by Paul Hicks and Sam Gannon and for RSD 2025 they’re releasing what is described as an “extremely limited edition” 12″ EP featuring four tracks from the afternoon and evening concerts, including three previously unreleased performances. The EP is pressed on 180g yellow vinyl.
Those interested in the Beatle-related label Dark Horse Records will know that the Benmont Tench LP, The Melancholy Season has been something of a mystery in the catalogue. People seemed to know about its existence for a couple of years now, but exactly when it would see the light of day has remained a complete unknown. Until now.
The long-awaited album has finally been officially announced and assigned a release date of March 7 – on LP, CD and digital download.
Nearly fifty years ago keyboardist Tench was one of the three founding members (along with Tom Petty and Mike Campbell) of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, and he stayed with that legendary band right the way through.
The Melancholy Season is only his second solo album and Tench “couldn’t be happier” about finding a home for the record at Dark Horse, describing it as “an emotionally resonant label for me” through Petty’s close friendship with George Harrison. “I met George maybe three times. But I have that connection through Dhani to his dad, through Tom to George. And they have George’s music, Cat Stevens, Joe Strummer – these are writers. To be in that company, it’s perfect.”
The Melancholy Season is available in physical form for pre-order on Limited Edition blue vinyl (through Tench’s official store):
On standard black vinyl:
And on CD:
Benmont Tench has just released an official video of the first single from the new record. It’s the title track, “The Melancholy Season”.
The LP, CD and digital download are out on March 7.
Also, as an aside in case you’re wondering about the striking artwork used on the cover, it’s a painting from around 1907 called Fisherman’s Cottage by Norwegian neo romantic artist, Harald Oskar Sohlberg (1869 – 1935). It suits the album title perfectly!
Of course for avid collectors there’s a sub-category of releases that come out on these two days per year that are essential as well. These are records in some way associated with The Beatles. These can be from artists that have rubbed shoulders with the band, have been produced by them, or who appear on labels owned by them. So, here’s a history of these records for your enjoyment. As usual, if you spot anything we’ve missed please get in touch!
The first of the “associated” records dates back to Record Store Day 2016 and the re-issue of a 7″ single by the band Grapefruit. This featured two previously unreleased tracks recorded for Apple in 1968, with one track (the A-side called ‘Lullaby’) produced by John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Only 750 of these were pressed:
Being produced by John Lennon also put Harry Nilsson’s Pussy Cats LP on the “must seek out” list for RSD 2018. This was the first time the album had been re-issued since it’s 1974 debut. It came out on brown and black marbled “hardwood” vinyl in a print run of 1500 copies:
Also for RSD 2018, producer and ‘Fifth Beatle’George Martin scored a release of his instrumental album Beatles to Bond and Bach (also originally from 1974). It was re-issued as a collectable, limited edition of 2500. Each LP was individually numbered and on 180g blue vinyl:
Sitar maestro and long-time friend and mentor of George Harrison, Ravi Shankar, had an amazing album produced by the Beatle in 1997. Chants of India was originally released (only on CD) on Angel Records, one of the EMI stable of classical labels. But by 2020 George’s son Dhani had re-launched Dark Horse Records, the label his father first started back in 1974. The very first LP in the revived catalogue was Chants of India – on vinyl for the first time. It earned the catalogue number DH0001 and came out as part of the RSD ‘Drops’ in that pandemic year of 2020. It was on red vinyl, housed in a gatefold sleeve with an exclusive photo print, and limited to 3000 copies:
Dark Horse then proceeded to have a bit of a run of Record Store Day releases. The next was the following year for the first of the RSD ‘Drops’ that year (June, 2021), and it was the first of many Joe Strummer titles to be reissued on the label. It was a 12″ picture disc single featuring ‘Junco Partner’, an ultra-rare acoustic home recording of the song famously recorded by The Clash. The B-side was a live version of the song recorded at the Brixton Academy in 2001 by Joe Strummer and The Mescaleros. Bearing the catalogue number DH0003 there were 3500 copies pressed:
Also in 2021, this time for RSD Black Friday, came another Joe Strummer title. It was a 12″ single on pink vinyl. The hype sticker said it all: “Dark Horse Records | Joe Strummer | ‘Johnny Appleseed’ | 12″ Single B/W ‘At The Border, Guy’ | Celebrating the 20th Anniversary of the Classic Album Global A Go-Go | Limited Edition Pink Vinyl | DH0006″. 4500 copies:
On to RSD 2022 now and a Dark Horse Records re-issue from Shankar Family and Friends: ‘I Am Missing You’, a 12″ single on blue vinyl. This is a track taken from their originalDark Horse self-titled LP, released in 1974 and produced by George Harrison. It was issued as a 7″ single back then. 2700 copies:
Record Store Day Black Friday 2022 saw two more Dark Horse Records titles issued. One was Dark Horse Records – The Best 1974-1977, with 12 remastered selections from across the catalogue including Ravi Shankar, Splinter, Attitudes, Henry McCullough and Kenny Burke. This was on black vinyl – 2150 copies:
Another RSD Black Friday for 2022 was Joe Strummer’s Live at Music Millennium. Recorded on November 2, 1999 this was a previously unreleased, rare acoustic in-store performance at a Portland, Oregon music shop called Music Millennium. On black vinyl on the Dark Horse label, there were 3600 copies pressed:
2023 saw an absolute flurry of activity on the Record Store Day front – for both RSD proper, and for Black Friday later in the year.
First up the band Stairsteps. Once signed to the original Dark Horse Records, they got a remastered re-release of their 1976 album, 2nd Resurrection (co-produced by Billy Preston) on gold vinyl. 1410 copies:
Once again Joe Strummer featured heavily, with Dark Horse adding to an ever-lengthening series of reissues. For 2023 RSD it was the turn of Streetcore as a “Limited 20th Anniversary Edition”. It came in a gatefold sleeve and looked great on white vinyl. It includes a colour printed inner sleeve and 1,760 copies were pressed (according to the Record Store Day website).
And also for RSD 2023 came one Beatle-related release with a somewhat tenuous link – the original soundtrack album for the 1971 spaghetti western movie, Blindman – starring none other than Ringo Starr. 1000 copies of this came out on “blood splatter” vinyl. And yes, the vinyl does look as gruesome as it sounds:
First up was a Black Friday reissue of the 1974 Splinter LP The Place I Love, produced by George Harrison:
Black Friday also saw the re-issue of a title originally released by Apple Records back in 1973 – Ravi Shankar and Ali Akbar Khan’s In Concert 1972. Co-produced by George Harrison, this was a 2LP set with 1280 copies being pressed:
The third Black Friday 2023 release was Leon Russell in country mode with Hank Wilson Vol. II. This was a red vinyl reissue of his 1984 country album, originally released on Paradise Records. Dark Horse Records was reissuing the album on vinyl for the first time since 1984. It includes a duet with Willie Nelson on ‘Wabash Cannonball’. 1700 copies:
And that brings us to 2024. Earlier this year Record Store Day for Beatle-related titles was pretty big and, it must be said, a drain on the wallets of completists! There were four releases in all – and this was in addition to no less than ten Beatle and solo releases.
Dark Horse was again busy. They had out a remastered 25th anniversary edition of the Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros double LP, Rock Art & The Ex-Ray Style. This was the debut album by the band in limited pink vinyl. 1800 were pressed with the original gatefold artwork by Damien Hirst being “meticulously reproduced”:
One fairly obscure Dark Horse LP was listed as a RSD Limited Run/Regional Focus release – with only 800 copies on offer on the day. It was was a very interesting LP called Dreamers In The Field by Huun-Huur-Tu, Carmen Rizzo and Dhani Harrison on clear vinyl:
Cat Stevens (Yusuf Islam) has been signed to Dark Horse for almost 2 years now and the label last year released a new, original record from him called King of a Land. For RSD 2023 they also reissued two of his back-catalogue titles, Numbers – A Pythagorean Theory Tale (originally from 1975), and Izitso (originally from 1977). These both came with spectacular lenticular gatefold cover art.
So, Dark Horse was prolific for RSD this year with no less than six records – one of them a double. There were also two solo George Harrison Zoetrope releases to add into the mix.
For RSD Black Friday just passed, things calmed down somewhat. There was only one Dark Horse title to chase down if you were keen, Leon Russell’s Hymns for Christmas. This is on emerald green vinyl. It’s another “first time on vinyl” and 1300 copies:
So, that’s it for the Beatle-related titles. As we said, if you have any thoughts, corrections, or items we’ve missed please get in touch.
