With the release of the Paul McCartney Archive Series versions of Tug of War and Pipes of Peace just over one week away now there doesn’t appear to be much in the way of any “added extra” special releases associated with either re-issue.
McCartney has in the past stitched up deals with big retailers like Target or Best Buy (in the US) to include extra discs or bonus materials exclusive to those stores – for the Archive Series and also some of his more recent solo efforts. A quick look around the web today reveals that (so far) it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen this time around.
Only Best Buy is advertising a free “collectable” tote bag with the purchase of either title….
From the New York Times, the day after the famous Shea Stadium concert by the Beatles….Love the line: “During the two days since the group’s arrival from London there have never been more that 2,000 Beatle addicts racing about the midtown, making shrill noises and in general irritating the police.” Only 2,000 fans on the streets of NYC for two days:
Yes, it is the video version of the Beatles“1” CD, plus a bit more, newly restored and expanded in multiple configurations for global release on November 6.
At first glance it is a little confusing (see the full press release below) – but this is it in a nutshell:
There’s a new 2015 remixed and remastered version of the single-disc audio CD (containing 27 songs)
There’s a pack with either 1 DVD or 1 BluRay (each containing videos of all 27 songs that are on the CD), plus the CD
There’s a Deluxe set with either 2 DVDs or 2 BluRays (one disc has the videos of all 27 songs that are on the CD, the second disc contains 23 bonus videos), a 124 page hard cover book, plus the CD
Or you can buy just the single BluRay or the single DVD (each containing 27 songs)
A 2 LP, 180-gram vinyl package will follow
The single CD:
The single DVD (or BluRay), plus CD:
The Deluxe 2 DVD (or 2 BluRay), plus book and CD:
The single BluRay:
The single DVD:
How they did the video restoration, repairs and remastering:
A “before” and “after” comparison:
And a short example of how “Strawberry Fields Forever” (only available in the Deluxe set) will look:
THE BEATLES’ VIDEOS AND TOP HITS COME TOGETHER FOR THE FIRST TIME
All-New Editions of The Beatles 1 Pair Beautifully Restored Promotional Films and Videos with Brand New Stereo and Surround Audio Mixes
Beatles 1+ Deluxe Edition Celebrates the Sight & Sound of The Beatles in 50 Films & Videos
London – September 15, 2015
After The Beatles stopped touring, and because travelling around the globe to promote new releases was impossible, the band increasingly made what could be described as “mini movies”. These pioneering promotional films and videos helped to define the way we have come to watch music, not least because The Beatles approached filming with the same ease and innovative spirit they brought to the recording studio, exploring new creative possibilities with infectious delight. Showcasing the band’s filmed work to accompany their 27 No.1, U.K. and U.S. singles, The Beatles 1 is newly restored and expanded in multiple configurations for global release on November 6 by Apple Corps Ltd/UMG.
The 27-track CD/DVD and CD/Blu-ray pairs beautifully restored videos for each song, with new stereo and 5.1 Dolby Digital and DTS HD surround audio mixes. The brand new Beatles 1+ celebrates their career in over 200 minutes through 50 promotional films and videos. This includes the 27 No.1s, with the restored videos, along with a second disc of 23 videos, including alternate versions, as well as rarely seen and newly restored films and videos; all include new audio mixes in deluxe CD/2-DVD and CD/2-Blu-ray packages. The 27-track audio CD is also being made available with new stereo mixes. A 2 LP, 180-gram vinyl package will follow.
TThe new editions of The Beatles 1 have been made possible following extensive research, and restoration of the original promo films, classic television appearances and other carefully selected videos spanning the band’s history. Apple Corps dug deep into The Beatles’ vaults to select a broad range of films and videos for their rarity, historical significance and quality of performance. An 18-person team of film and video technicians and restoration artists was assembled by Apple Corps to undertake painstaking frame-by-frame cleaning, colour-grading, digital enhancement and new edits that took months of dedicated, ‘round-the-clock work to accomplish.
The result is a visual run down of The Beatles’ number one records, as well as the additional tracks on the bonus disc of Beatles 1+ that show the band in previously unseen standards of clarity and quality; many of the films and videos have never before been commercially released, in whole or in part.
Beatles 1 and Beatles 1+ offers the restored films, including 35mm negatives scanned in 4K and digitally restored with new stereo and 5.1 surround audio remixes, produced from the original analogue tapes by the GRAMMY® winning team of Giles Martin with Sam Okell at Abbey Road Studios. For four of the videos, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr have provided exclusive audio commentary and filmed introductions, respectively. The 1+ Deluxe Edition, presented in an expanded 124-page illustrated hardcover book includes ‘an appreciation’ of The Beatles’ ground-breaking films and videos by music journalist and author Mark Ellen and extensive, detailed track/video annotation by music historian and author Richard Havers.
“These videos and films are spectacular reminders of the era we lived in. They also rock!”
Paul McCartney
“II think it’s really interesting to see the videos we made, some of them incredible and some of them really incredible. How else would we have got to sit on a horse?”
Ringo Starr
Between 1962 and 1970, The Beatles released 27 No.1 hit singles in the U.S. and the U.K. In 2000, these timeless songs were collected for The Beatles 1, which topped the charts in 35 countries and became that decade’s bestselling album worldwide. 15 years later, 1 is revisited for this entirely new, visually-inspired presentation.
It’s The Beatles, as you’ve never seen them before.
We were digging around in a cupboard the other day and came across a long-forgotten stash of Beatle sheet music collected from a variety of places over the years. Thought you might like to see the front covers. Most are printed and published for the Australia/New Zealand market. Some are books with numerous songs, others are single titles. As you’ll see, they’re in far from pristine condition, but interesting none-the-less.
An exciting new Beatles book Looking Through You (just out through Omnibus Press in the UK, and soon to be published in the US) has hit our desk – and it is a treat:
Looking Through You– Rare & Unseen Photographs From The Beatles Monthly Archive presents a selection of over 300 images taken from the pages of the precious The Beatles Book Monthly magazine photo archive. The Beatles Book Monthly was, as it’s name suggests, a monthly instalment detailing what the Beatles were up to. It started in August, 1663 and continued for six years:
The magazine, through the lens of photographer, Leslie Bryce, had unrivalled access to the group throughout the 1960s. Bryce captured the band at work and at play in public but also behind the scenes in un-rehearsed situations resulting in what are unique and candid images.
With a selection of photos from the magazine (all taken between 1963 and 1968), many of the photos gathered for the book are previously unpublished or unseen, often un-cropped and in their original form. The quality of the images is great too because they all are printed from the original negatives:
One thing which strikes you as you flip through each of the carefully chosen and captioned images is that this new book will be a treasure trove for those interested in the band’s instruments and equipment. Take this photograph below of George Harrison for example. How many shots have we seen of the group using their customary Vox amplifiers – but here, in this rear view (taken at the Hammersmith Odeon Theatre in December, 1964), you can pick up some great additional details. You can almost read the amps actual model and serial numbers:
There are numerous shots like this – close-ups of the band’s instruments while on stage as well as a huge number of them at work in the studio, like this one taken at Abbey Road in November, 1965:
Looking Through You has only just come out in the UK and will see a US release soon. The UK edition comes as a cased and numbered 208-page limited edition of 3,000, designed by Lora Findlay with text by Andy Neill. Also in the package is a replica of a rare Beatles artefact associated with the magazine: the 1964 Beatles Book calendar, containing a further 12 photographs from the Beatles Monthly archive.
FYI there is also a Beatles Book Photo Library available online with low-res, watermarked photographs available to view. There is a process for approaching the Archive about accessing high quality images.
The next two instalments in the long-running Paul McCartney Archive Series, personally supervised my Paul McCartney himself, will be the albums Tug of War and Pipes of Peace.
As for past releases in the series these will both be issued as Special Edition double CDs, in a Deluxe edition with DVDs, books and inserts, and also as double LP vinyl sets:
The big change this time around will be the addition (just for Tug of War) of a Super Deluxe Edition, with the same content as the Tug of War Deluxe set but with a limited edition red acrylic outer cover and five hand numbered Linda McCartney photo prints included. This will be limited to 1000 copies worldwide:
There’ll also be a variety of digital downloads in high and low res – some with the bonus content and some without.
All are due for release on October 2. Here are two promo videos showing what’s inside:
We were contacted recently by the Bloggerhythms site about one of their recent posts.
It’s all about former Beatle drummer Pete Best appearing on a then-popular US game show called I’ve Got A Secret. Panelists have to guess the back-story to a particular guest.
Fascinating to see this over fifty years since it was filmed and so relatively close to his departure from the Beatles. And of course so close to their meteoric rise….
Here at Beatlesblogger we have a few items that we are always on the lookout for. When we first heard about the impending box set reissue of eight John Lennon LPs on 180 gram vinyl – we knew we’d have to eventually get a copy….
This is a deluxe box set of Lennon’s solo albums released between 1970 and 1984. The studio albums are remastered from their original analogue masters and have been newly cut to vinyl from 96k digital files with faithfully replicated original album art.
The albums featured in the box are John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band (1970); Imagine (1971); Some Time In New York City – a double album (1972); Mind Games (1973); Walls And Bridges (1974); Rock’n’Roll (1975); Double Fantasy (1980); and Milk And Honey (1984). The albums, which feature the 2010 remasters, will be available separately on August 21st.
It’s taken a little while with this one, but we finally got up the courage to visit Sandy’s Records, a great local independent record shop with an impressive range of CDs and LPs, to invest in a copy (it is a very expensive addition to the collection):
Rather than uploading a swathe of photographs of each LP here, this collector named Jordan has recorded quite a nice unboxing video (unfortunately though he doesn’t show all the actual discs and their authentically reproduced labels):
If you are after more of what is inside this official video promo clip takes comprehensive care of that:
As you can see, in keeping with the authentic UK album artwork for each LP: Imagine contains reproductions of its two postcards, poster and inner sleeve; Some Time In New York City includes reproductions of its original postcard and inner sleeves; Walls And Bridges includes its sleeve with two fold-over flaps, the original eight-page booklet and inner sleeve; Mind Games, Double Fantasy, and Milk And Honey also include faithful reproductions of their original inner sleeves. Nice.
However, the thing that has become really collectable about this box set is that it’s been temporarily withdrawn from sale while Universal Music sort out a BIG mistake with one of the albums in the set. In first pressings Lennon’sRock’n’Roll LP has a production error. The song “Sweet Little Sixteen” appears twice, and “You Can’t Catch Me” is missing altogether….making it something of an instant collector’s item.
The good news for those who’ve paid out the big $$ for the box is that Universal Music has acknowledged the mistake and set up a website where you can request a replacement copy of that particular album. You’ll need to provide proof of purchase: Claim.LennonVinylBox.com
Just back from a holiday in Europe where we picked up some Beatle and Beatle-related treasure along the way. This is the next instalment about what we found in France…
What we found this time though was a collectable Paul McCartney and Wings CD.
It’s the limited edition Advance Release of Venus and Mars. This came outin 2014 to promote the then latest instalment in the Paul McCartney Archive Collection series:
You can’t tell from the front cover that it is in any way different to the two CD Standard Edition of Venus and Mars (for which we have the Best Buy version, and which came with a limited edition vinyl single – and a different catalogue number).
However when you flip over the cover of the Advance Release there’s reference to a third disc in this set called “Bonus Film”:
Also, on the CD cover spine there are the words “Advance Release”:
The Advance Release also has a different catalogue number: HRM-35652ADV.
When you open out the triple gatefold cover this is what you see. On the first fold out on the left are the album credits, and on the right an advertisement for the three different, official versions (Deluxe CD, Standard CD and vinyl):
Then when you flip that open this is the inside of the set, fully open:
It contains three discs. Two CD’s and one DVD, each carrying the words “For promotional use only. Not for sale”:
The two CDs are exactly the same in content as the Standard Edition, while the DVD contains four short films: Recording My Carnival; Bon Voyageur; Wings at Elstree; and the Venus and Mars TV Ad. These are the same as those featured on the DVD which comes in the Deluxe version of Venus and Mars.
By way of providing a side-by-side comparison here’s the packaging for the Standard Edition CD:
Below is the Standard version’s first fold out of the gatefold cover. An 18 page booklet containing photos and album credits is attached to the left:
The inside fully open:And the Standard Edition CD’s:
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