Tag Archives: John Lennon

This Is Interesting

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I stumbled across a website that I think you might be interested in seeing.

Its a site called PopMatters that describes itself as a “…magazine of cultural criticism. Our scope is broadly cast on all things pop culture, and our content is updated daily, Monday through Friday.  We provide intelligent reviews, engaging interviews, and in-depth essays on most cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, films, books, video games, sports, theatre, the visual arts, travel, and the Internet. Since 1999, PopMatters has been providing smart readers with sharp, entertaining writing on a wide range of topics in pop culture, offering a refuge from the usual hype and gossip.”

Well, in November they went all-out and produced a fascinating series of articles about The Beatles called “Re-Meet The Beatles – PopMatters Salutes the Still Fab Four”.

Between November 9 and November 24 they produced twenty one different online essays. I’m still wading my way through these, but they cover many aspects of the band from the very early days and hits, buried treasures, the best (and the worst) of the Beatles, as well as personal observation pieces and in-depth reviews and revisits of the key albums and records.

Thought you’d like to know.

Unboxing “The Treasures of the Beatles”

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OK. As I mentioned in the last blog post, a new book has come into the collection. It was only released in November.

I don’t know if you’ve seen these types of books before but they are like a box set in that the book itself sits inside a hard outer casing. The hardback book slides out and, as well as the usual text and photographs, on certain pages inside are pouches that contain replicas of memorabilia associated with the topic. I’ve got one of these already about Bob Dylan. Its called “The Bob Dylan Scrapbook”. I saw another of these books in a store the other day – it was a history book all about the Vietnam war.

Anyway, this new release is all about The Beatles. Its called “Treasures of the Beatles” and it follows the history of the band from the early days in Liverpool and Hamburg, up through each album, the creation of Apple Records, and on to the perhaps inevitable break-up and briefly the solo careers beyond.

It is written by Terry Burrows. He’s a fairly prolific music author and you can see some of his long list of other things he’s written here, including some other Beatles-related titles.

Terry has written a loving tribute to the band and there are lots of great photos inside – some of which I’ve never seen before. But the great part about discovering this book is opening up the little pouches which are full of surprises like publicity and concert posters, replica concert tickets, contracts, hand-written set lists, tour itineraries, postcards, and even a 1967 invitation to The Magical Mystery Tour.

What does it all look like as you browse through the book? Below are some photos,  an “unboxing” of the book with a few pages on display and some of the facsimiles of rare memorabilia that are contained within. Enjoy.

“Treasures of the Beatles” Terry Burrows   2009 Hardback    Published by Crows Nest Books

Front Cover (Outer Box)

Back Cover (Outer Box)

Front Cover (Book)

Pages example 1 - showing one of the pouches

Treasures example - including (burned) replica contract document, etc.

Pages example 2

Treasures example - including posters

Replica concert ticket

Book spine

The Treasures of the Beatles – New Book

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The Treasures of the Beatles

This is new. Just out.

A new full-colour Beatles book with text by Terry Burrows.

More on this soon, with “unboxing” pics of this impressive book (with it’s facimiles of rare memorabilia tucked away in pockets inside).

Until then, here’s a review.

Pics of Packaging for the Beatles “Apple” USB

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As noted in a previous post, the only digital release of the entire Beatles catalogue remastered will be a specially designed USB stick. It comes out this week on December 8, and there are some photos of the packaging to be used emerging:

The Apple USB Box

It’s in keeping with the black-and-white theme used for the stereo Remasters box set. This next pic gives you an idea of the size of the packaging – the USB is obviously a similar size to other USB devices so clearly the booklet that accompanies it is about the size of a standard CD booklet:

The USB, box and booklet

Here’s a closer look at the Apple USB:

The Beatles USB Apple - due December 8

(Thanks to Selectism for posting these pics!)

The set, which will include art and expanded liner notes, is a 16-gigabyte USB with audio and visual contents in FLAC 44.1 Khz 24 bit and MP3 320 Kbps format for PC and Mac. Only 30,000 of these USBs will be produced.

New Beatles Radio Special – Update

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Regarding my previous post about the new Beatles radio special distributed to radio stations around the world, the Beatles official site today announced they are streaming Part One from their own site.

Click here to read more about the series and to hear Part One, which is called “Meet the Beatles!” , streamed in full.

The Beatles site will start streaming Part Two (which is called “Ask Me Why”) the week beginning December 7th, and Part Three (which is called “The Beatles on the Record”) the week beginning December 15th.

Just to keep you ahead of the game, here’s a short preview extract from Part Two – “Ask Me Why”:

New Three Part Beatles Radio Series – “Here, There & Everywhere”

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Coming soon to a radio station near you – a new radio special about the Beatles as a musical phenomenon.

Officially sanctioned and distributed to radio stations by Apple and EMI Music, The Beatles: Here, There and Everywhere is a three-part radio special featuring exclusive new interviews with a variety of artists and producers talking about the influence of the The Beatles on their individual careers. Brian Wilson, Tom Petty, Dave Grohl, Jeff Lynne, Anne and Nancy Wilson, Peter Asher, Jackson Browne, Bob Seger, T-Bone Burnett, Cameron Crowe and Rick Rubin all take part. The series is narrated by veteran British presenter and music writer Paul Gambaccini.

Written and produced by Beatles historian Kevin Howlett (he researched and wrote all the liner notes for the new Remastered CDs), the three 48 minute installments each take a different thematic approach. The website eil.com has this summary of each episode:

Part One: Meet The Beatles!

The interviewees recorded exclusively for this series reveal the impact made upon them by The Beatles’ records from throughout their career. We hear Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys, Tom Petty, film director Cameron Crowe and Ann & Nancy Wilson (of Heart) talking about their first-hand experience of The Beatles’ phenomenal 1964 breakthrough in the United States. Dave Grohl, Mark Ronson and Slash discuss the enduring influence of albums such as Rubber Soul, Revolver and Abbey Road.

Part Two: Ask Me Why

The interviewees focus on the various elements within the group that combined to make The Beatles so musically powerful: their strengths as performers – both instrumentally and vocally – plus the brilliance of John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison as songwriters.

Part Three: The Beatles On The Record

We hear how The Beatles’ music was captured on record with the help of innovative arrangements and adventurous production by George Martin. Some of today’s leading record producers – Peter Asher, Joe Boyd, T-Bone Burnett, Jeff Lynne, Mark Ronson and Rick Rubin – marvel at the dazzling creativity evident in recordings made more than 40 years ago.

If you didn’t get to hear it over the Thanksgiving holiday, or its still to come to a radio station nearby, here is a short extract from the opening sequence from Part One:


Sgt. Pepper Released As Second Download For Rock Band

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The Beatles Rock Band Poster

“Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” is the second full album available as a download in its entirety for The Beatles Rock Band since the video game’s launch on 09.09.09.

Last month Apple released “Abbey Road” as the first full downloadable album for use in the game.

“All You Need Is Love,” the first downloadable track available for the game, has had more than 100,000 downloads to date, with all proceeds benefiting Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF).

With “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” “With A Little Help From My Friends,” “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds,” “Getting Better,” and “Good Morning Good Morning” already included on The Beatles Rock Band game disc, players will now be able to complete the entire Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album.

The download is available for Xbox 360 and Wii from Nov. 17 and for PlayStation 3 from Nov. 19.

Individual Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band singles: “Fixing A Hole,” “She’s Leaving Home,” “Being For The Benefit of Mr. Kite!,” “Within You Without You,” “When I’m Sixty – Four,” “Lovely Rita,” “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)” and “A Day In The Life” are down-loadable as individual tracks.

“Rubber Soul” (1965) will be released as downloadable content in December.

For the full details and to see a short video featuring songs available in the download visit The Beatles official site.

New Beatles “Christmas Pack” of 4 Remasters

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Its either a cynical marketing exercise in the lead up to Christmas, or a really helpful move for those who can’t afford the steep asking price of the full Remastered boxed sets…

EMI in Europe has announced it is issuing (on 7 December) a limited edition boxed set of four of the new stereo remasters called The Beatles Christmas Pack.

The Beatles "Christmas Pack: Limited Edition"

The set will contain “Rubber Soul”,  “Revolver”, “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” and “Abbey Road”.

Each album will include the bonus “Making Of” video that uses exclusive original footage from the Beatles’ own archive plus other rare footage and voice-overs by the Beatles and George Martin.

New Releases – Coming Up or Out Now

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Time to detail a couple of new releases expected very soon…some definite, some pure speculation, and one that’s already out.

Paul McCartney this month will release a new CD and vinyl in a variety of editions.

It’s called “Good Evening New York City” and is a live set recorded at the newly-opened CitiField venue in New York on July 17, 18 and 21 this year. The concert was symbolic because CitiField is built on the site of the famous Shea Stadium where the Beatles played way back in 1965.

“Good Evening New York City” will be available in three formats:  a 3-disc (2 CD + 1 DVD) standard edition and a 4-disc (2 CD + 2 DVD) deluxe version featuring expanded packaging and a bonus DVD including McCartney’s July 15 live street performance on the David Letterman Late Show. The set will also be released on vinyl LP. Collectors get ready to dig deep into those pockets again…

It comes out 17 November (US) and 23 November (UK).

You can see a very short teaser for the album on Paul’s official YouTube site. And here is a cover image:

Good Evening New York City

Good Evening New York City

Another release that’s supposedly pending is a special 40th Anniversary box set vinyl edition of the Beatles “Abbey Road”.  No one is sure if this is to be the newly remastered version of the disc or the previous mix. You can find out a bit more here, and the Record Store Day site says that the box set will include the vinyl album, a t-shirt, and a poster. The limited edition deluxe package will, according to them, be released on November 7th in the US and will be limited to 5000 copies worldwide. Intriguingly, Amazon has a holding place for the record here.  Someone has produced this cover image, so I’m not sure if this release is really happening or not:

418453424510 550

Abbey Road 40th Anniversary Deluxe Box Set?

Speaking of vinyl, rumors persist that there is to be a full box set of ALL the Beatles Remastered albums made available in Mono and Stereo on vinyl.  The respected Mojo magazine carried this article on its website yesterday saying that the box sets are on the way, but there are no firm release dates just yet. Watch this space….

And finally Beatles’ long-time friend and sometime collaborator Klaus Voormann has a new album out now. Its called “A Sideman’s Journey”, and features appearances by Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr.  Voormann has known the Beatles since the Hamburg days and is an artist and bass player. He drew the cover of “Revolver”, and has played on numerous tracks for Beatles solo projects (including, amongst many others,  Lennon’s “Walls and Bridges” and “Imagine” and Harrison’s “All Things Must Pass” and “Concert for Bangladesh”). See his biog entry in Wikipedia here.

His new CD is made up of newly recorded covers of some of the songs he helped make famous with the Beatles and others over the years.

Stereo/Mono Remastered – Revisited

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In an earlier post I included an audio extract from a US National Public Radio podcast featuring Beatles historian and writer Kevin Howlett. He was talking about some of the fascinating differences between the  Stereo and Mono versions of the Beatles Remastered CDs.

Then the  other day I stumbled across this website where a guy called Jake Brown has gone to a lot of trouble to detail a lot more.  He’s spent time cutting together actual audio examples and palcing them side-by-side so we can all quickly hear what differences are. He’s also detailed in text form some other variations.  Have a read and a listen.  Thanks Jake!