Just uploaded to the official McCartney YouTube site.
Track listing and producers for the New album have also been announced.
And there’s something New happening here….
McCartney Impromptu A cappella Version of “New”
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Tag Archives: Music
On Air – Live at the BBC Vol. 2
Finally the official Beatles site has announced the release on CD of On Air – Live at the BBC Volume 2. It will be coming out on 11 November this year. Looks like this title will be issued in a tri-fold digipak sleeve:
Rumour has been rife for some weeks on blog posts like the trusty WogBlog – which is usually first and most accurate with these things. Check out his site for the very latest on this release, including very detailed track listings.
There is now a nice teaser video on YouTube:
The first BBC recordings officially released back in 1994 (Live at the BBC) will be re-issued on the same date in a matching remastered and re-packaged form – also in a Digipak sleeve:
Our First Four – A Very Collectable First Apple Release
One of the reasons I got into this Beatles collecting caper, apart from a love of the music, was that I became fascinated by the band setting up their very own record label – Apple Records.
The Beatles were amongst the first, if not the first, band to do so and (apart from themselves) they signed up an eclectic range of artists to the label.
Their very first releases were marked by the issuing of a limited edition press kit of the first four 45rpm vinyl singles to come out on Apple – which they called “Our First Four”.
In the UK there seems to have been two versions of this.
One was in a stronger, hard plastic outer case. Examples of this version were very limited, and these were hand-delivered to dignitaries like Stanley Gortikov, President of Capitol Records in 1968; to Her Majesty the Queen at Buckingham Palace; to her sister Princess Margaret at Kensington Palace; to the Queen Mother at St James’s Palace; and to the then British Prime Minister Harold Wilson at Number 10 Downing Street, London. The plastic box set looked like this:
The other, lower cost version was posted to radio disc jockeys, music journalists and critics. It was in a cheaper, thin black cardboard box.
Both versions contained four singles: The Beatles “Hey Jude/Revolution” (R 5722); Mary Hopkin “Those Were the Days” (APPLE 2); Jackie Lomax “Sour Milk Sea” (APPLE 3); and The Black Dyke Mills Band “Thingumybob” (APPLE 4).
Each single was accompanied by a press release printed on the outside of a coloured folder containing an artist photo and a plastic sleeve to hold the record.
The reason for this post is that a copy of the cardboard “Our First Four” has just sold on Ebay for an impressive AU$6,199 (that’s US$5,700, or £3,643 UK Pounds).
The price it fetched is testament to it’s rarity. And as it is not often seen (and because the listing had such a good selection of photos of the item – showing in detail how the box worked and what was inside), I couldn’t resist reproducing a selection of them here:
The Beatles official site has reproduced a nice press advertisement for “Our First Four”.
In the United States the press kit mailed to DJ’s and music journos was perhaps a little less colourful and extravagant, but its contents were definitely as interesting (and collectable). Respected Beatle writer and discographer Bruce Spizer has a great article on the background to this one:
If you had a lazy six grand lying around would you purchase one of these?
“New” Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney has today emailed fans with a preview of a track from his forthcoming album of new material. The song, appropriately enough, is simply called New.
Speaking about the new track, Paul said “We can do what we want, we can live as we choose.”
New comes from an album set for release on October 14 in the UK, and October 15 in the US. It’s his first record of brand new solo material in six years and is made in collaboration with a number of different musicians. It’s produced by Mark Ronson and will include twelve tracks.
A Visit to Some San Francisco Record Stores – Part 3
The final instalment of the recent visit to San Francisco. Last time we looked at the vinyl purchases. This time it’s the CDs and DVDs. Both Rasputin, Recycled Records and Amoeba Music have lots of vinyl. They also have lots of CDs and also (Rasputin Music in particular) many, many DVDs to choose from.
First to the CD’s and at Rasputin I found a US copy of Paul’s Choba B CCCP on CD:
I already have a UK version of this on Parlophone, but a US copy on the Capitol label to join it (at a very low price) was too much to resist.
Also at Rasputin I found a copy, released by 20th Century Fox, of Paul McCartney’s 1984 ill-advised excursion into the world of movie-making Give My Regards to Broad Street:
The movie had a less-than-enthusiastic reception when it first came out. To quote one user review from IMDB: “I wouldn’t go so far as to call this movie a ‘crap-fest’. I have definitely sat through much worse….I wouldn’t call it a guilty pleasure, either. Though it wasn’t a complete waste of time, it was awfully trite and clichéd. It plays like an extended music video….Although it didn’t completely suck, Sir Paul really should stick to writing songs and leave screen writing to professionals.”
Hmmm. I can only vaguely remember seeing the film once when it was first released. So when I saw this DVD (which came out in 2004 in this version) for just $3.99 I grabbed it. At that price it is well worth the cost of admission for another viewing. The disc itself is one of those two-sided DVD’s. One side has the full screen version, and the other a wide screen version – so the DVD itself looks pretty bland:
However, there’s an insert inside the case with a great photo of Paul and Ringo in costume:
The other DVD I got at Rasputin was also $3.99, and also from Paul McCartney:
This is the 2002 concert film Back in the U.S. I’ve got the two CD set of this concert, but never actually seen the video. Again, that that low price well worth adding to the collection.
Before leaving Rasputin Music’s Powell Street store I also discovered a nice, sealed CD copy of Electric Arguments by The Fireman (a.k.a. Paul McCartney and Youth).
Now, regular readers of Beatles Blog will know I have a bit of a passion for collecting versions and variations of this particular CD – and this was a variation I’d not seen before. Originally this disc came out when Paul was not signed to any particular label, and so in the UK it was distributed on the One Little Indian label. In the US it came out on ATO Records. More recently though Paul has been signed to the Hear Music label, part of Concord Music Group, and they have re-issued a few titles from that time when he was “between labels” – including Electric Arguments. The giveaway is that white barcode sticker on the rear cover where you can see the disc has been given a different catalogue number and there are tiny logos for MPL (McCartney’s company) as well as Hear Music and Concord:
Next stop was Recycled Records on Haight Street, and a very nice US copy of the CD Working Classical:
This came out on the EMI Classics label in back in 1999. I have the vinyl (now worth quite a bit as it is rare, in mint condition, and long out of print). A CD copy for the princely sum of $8.00 was worth it:
The final CD purchase came from Amoeba Music, also on Haight Street. For some time now I’ve been on the lookout for a CD copy of the 2001 McCartney “best of” release Wingspan – Hits and History. It originally came in a cardboard slipcase which has a holographic front cover. Getting copies in good condition is difficult because the slipcase is sometimes missing, or it’s in poor condition. This one I found has the holographic cover and its in pretty good nick too:
So, that’s it – the results of a holiday visit to the US city of San Francisco. A great city with some great record stores to boot.
A Visit to Some San Francisco Record Stores – Part 2
OK. In Part One I detailed the four main record stores I was able to visit while in San Fran.
Now some detail on what I found and brought home to join the collection. Firstly, the vinyl.
At Rasputin Music on Powell (near Union Square) I found a very clean copy of George Harrison’s Living in the Material World. It was a US pressing I didn’t have – a budget re-issue on the green Capitol label:
As you can see, it’s a nice clean copy and the vinyl is mint.
Also at Rasputin there were two Ringo Starr LP’s I liked the look of and they were both very reasonably priced. I have Australian pressings of both of these, but good US copies like these were a welcome addition to the collection. They are both on the Apple label and original throughout. This gatefold copy of Ringo (1973) was complete with its book of lyrics and wonderful line drawings by Klaus Voormann (who also played bass on the album): 
The Fab 4 Free 4 All Beatle podcast recently reviewed the Ringo album and raved about it (see episode 60, “Ringo” – Analysis and Review). Also at Rasputin was a copy of Ringo’s Blast From Your Past which came with the original inner sleeve of photos on one side and lyrics on the other:
Later in the week I got over to the Haight-Ashbury district were there were three stores in close proximity (Recycled, Rasputin and Amoeba – all on Haight Street).
The first I visited was Recycled Records. They had some vintage Beatles LP’s, but to be honest they were fairly expensive….and so I concentrated on the Beatles as solo artists. I’ve always been keen on collecting variations of Paul McCartney’s “Russian” album called Choba B CCCP. Well, Recycled was a bit of a treasure trove as they have numerous copies in their bins and tucked away underneath on shelves. There were thirty to forty copies in all, and so I set about identifying some versions I didn’t have. There are so many variations of this particular record because it came out firstly as an 11-track album, followed later by a 13-track version. And they were pressed in about six different Russian pressing plants, each with its own label styles and variations (sometimes subtle) within those labels. I turned up four distinct copies I wanted, and they were all very reasonably priced (between US$6.00-$10.00 each). There was one 11-track version (from the Aprelevka pressing plant), two 13-track versions (Tbilisi plant and Riga plant), and one “hybrid” that had an 11-track cover but a 13-track LP inside (which I didn’t realise until I got home). Both the cover and LP are from the same factory (the Riga plant) so I’m not sure if this is legit or just a mistake….
The rear cover of the 11-track version is identified by its yellow colour:
However, this one has a 13-track LP inside – on a plain white Melodyia Records label, made at the Riga pressing plant where the cover was made too:
So. A mystery there. If anyone knows if any other copies like this exist let me know. These are the labels from the other copies of Choba B CCCP purchased at Recycled:
Of course for the full detail on all Russian Beatle and Beatle-related vinyl releases you need to visit this one, fantastic central repository.
Further down Haight Street is another Rasputin Music store and so I ducked in for a look. No vintage Beatles here, but lots of copies of the latest remastered vinyl at good prices. I did find an interesting re-issue copy of the John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band’s Live Peace in Toronto LP however, complete with a reproduction of the 1970 calendar which was included with original copies. It is brand new, still sealed, looked like a good buy and so I got it:
I think this re-issue was released in 2012 through a company called Hi Horse Records (which is a subsidiary of City Hall Records). It’s on the original Apple label and has the same SW 3362 catalogue number. If anyone has any other info on this one it would be very welcome. Please drop us a line.
Then it was on to Amoeba Music’s Haight Street store – which is an enormous warehouse of a building with thousands of LP’s, CD’s and books…however, not a lot of vintage Beatles on display here either, but two very good vinyl buys none-the-less. The first was Paul McCartney’s first solo LP simply called McCartney. It is a US copy, a re-issue in very good condition and on the black Capitol label:
And last but not least a really nice copy – practically mint throughout – of George Harrison’s The Concert for Bangladesh. I already have an Australian and an unusual South African pressing of this, but have been on the lookout for a good UK copy, and of course a US example as well, which is what we have here. Amoeba had this priced at just US$14.99, which for a triple album set in such excellent condition was an absolute bargain. It came with a mint copy of the original 64-page book, and all the LPs were housed in their original brown paper inner sleeves:
So, that was a quick summary of the vinyl found in four San Francisco record stores during a short visit there last week. Next time a look at the CD’s and DVD’s I found and added to the collection.
Two Recent Russian Beatle Releases
Got an email the other day from friend Andrey in the Russian Federation letting me know about two recent Russian Beatles releases I hadn’t heard of:
They are both on the Doxy label. The first is The Decca Tapes [MiruMir Music Publishing / Doxy DOK326] which is on 180 gram vinyl and comes with a bonus CD of the same title, contents and catalogue number. There’s an additional plastic bag for the CD – inside the cover. It was released on March 14, 2013.
The second (above) is 1958-1962 [MiruMir Music Publishing / Doxy DOY011]. This one comes as a box set, complete with clear vinyl, a 20-page LP-size booklet and a 6-page A4-size replica of the original “Love Me Do” press-release. It is a limited edition of 1000 copies and was released on May 30, 2013
These can be found on Amazon or Ebay. They’re also available at the Music Direct site.
Andrey provided a little bit of background information about the MiruMir company. MiruMir in Russian is written as МируМир. This, says Andrey, is an old Soviet slogan which means “Peace To The World”. You can find the Moscow-based label on two websites http://mirumirmp.livejournal.com/ and http://www.miru-mir.info/?lables.html, and they have a Facebook site.
MiruMir release a lot of LPs by Russian and ex-Soviet artists, plus the Doxy label (not to be confused with Sonny Rollins’ label of the same name) release a very wide range of other artists from around the world.
Actually, in researching all this I discovered another Russian Beatles LP that looks like it comes from the same series as The Decca Tapes – only this time it’s a release on Lilith Records, another subsidiary of MiruMir:
This pressing of The Savage Young Beatles [LR305] was released in 2010. It is also a 180 gram vinyl and comes with a free bonus CD copy of the same songs. It’s available at the Music Direct site too. According to Discogs, Lilith has been a Russian reissue label since 2004 for mainstream rock albums re-released on vinyl and compact disc for Western markets. The records are manufactured at GZ Digital Media A. S. (Loděnice, Czech Republic). For more on GZ Digital Media see my post “Where “Made in the EU” Vinyl Might be Pressed“
If anyone knows anything about the quality of these recordings above please let us know. There are varying opinions out there.
Paul McCartney – In His Own Words
Just got a copy of this double Paul McCartney CD set released by the BBC and AudioGO. It was a nice gift from a friend:
It’s a double interview CD with lots of BBC radio and TV interviews with Paul McCartney and the title is In His Own Words issued by Audiogo in England. It takes material from the BBC Archives ranging from 1968 to 2009 including rare material from throughout his long-spanning career, delving into both his public and private life. McCartney talks about his early influences, song-writing and life as a Beatle. The band’s eventual break-up is covered, as is the forming of Wings.
BBC audiobooks are designed to give an insight into some of the major identities in British history. These interviews delve into the past and give the opportunity to put some context around the happenings in and around the group, as well as life post-Beatles. Here are two short extracts cut together to give you a taste. The first is Paul talking about meditation, and then songwriting and his relationship with the other Beatles:
[audio https://beatlesblogger.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/media_downloadables_samples_9781408497395.mp3]
At both the US and the UK sites this appears to be available as both a digital download and a hard-copy CD, which is what we have here.
AudioGo have also got a couple of John Lennon titles. There’s a similar-looking set also called In His Own Words which I’ll have to keep an eye out for:
They also have a HUGE book reading of a Lennon biography. It’s author Philip Norman reading his Lennon – The Life. Like Norman’s book, it is big! Volume 1 takes up no less than 16 CDs and runs 18 hours and 32 minutes:
And Volume 2 is 12 CDs, running time just a little bit shorter: 14 hours and 10 minutes….
Another Variation of McCartney’s Choba b CCCP
Another variation of Paul McCartney’s Russian album Снова в СССР has come into the collection. I found another version on Ebay which I didn’t have. It was listed by an Australian seller (so postage was relatively safe, fast and cheap). It was also at a very reasonable price and so I couldn’t resist:
Снова в СССР is Russian for “Back in the USSR” and last time I posted on this was way back in 2010 when I detailed some of the other variations in my collection. I had five different vinyl pressings then, plus the CD edition, but there are actually almost too many variations of this LP to count. This latest one I have comes from the Aprelevka pressing plant which was just on the outskirts of Moscow. It’s the 1989, thirteen track version.
You can see all the many variations of this disc at the amazing The Beatles Get Back in the USSR website. To get to the key Снова в СССР entries go to the site’s pages detailing the original 11 track release; the more common 13 track release (which we have here); and the very rare mis-pressed 12 track release. As well as the many label variations from the different Russian pressing plants you’ll be able to explore the many cover variations in the printing of this album as well.
Four Beatle Books for a Song…
Made the mistake of walking past my local discount book store today…..haven’t been near the place for weeks and it’s always a bit of a lottery to go in. They turn over discontinued and surplus titles very quickly and at very cheap prices so you never know what you might find. Today, in ten minutes, I came away with not one but four new Beatles titles for the collection.
This first one is a ripper and comes from 2010. It documents what is now a legendary photo shoot by the band in July, 1968 otherwise known as “The Mad Day Out”. Photographer Don McCullin shot about fifteen rolls of film over the course of a day out in the streets of London and back at Paul McCartney’s house at St John’s Wood.
Many of the photographs had until now remained largely unpublished. If you have the Beatles “1962-1966” or the “1967-1970” double LPs or CDs you’ll have seen at least one photo from this same photo shoot. It’s the black and white one inside the gate-fold album cover, or in the very centre of the CD booklets, labelled (incorrectly as it turns out) “St Pancras Old Church, 22 July 69”. Here’s two other photos from the book: 
This edition is in a smaller format than what I recall seeing in shops when this book first hit the shelves, but it is a very nice book to have none-the-less.
Here’s the rear cover:
I already had a copy of this next one, but not in the same format. The book I found in the discount shop today is a very small paperback copy. It’s Ringo’s Postcards From the Boys, and for just $4.99 how could I resist another copy?
Postcards is a collection of 51 postcards sent to Ringo from John, Paul and George. Each card (displayed front and rear) is accompanied by brief reminiscences from Ringo:
This book first came out as a hardback in 2004 after originally being released in a very limited and expensive edition by Genesis Publications. This one I found today is at the other end of the scale – a small-format, budget re-issue from 2005:
(If you want to see the absolute deluxe version in minute detail, check out this lengthy YouTube clip).
Next find was a what looks to be a very interesting study of the Beatle money trail, how they got ripped off, and lost and made fortunes:
Beatles For Sale – How Everything They Touched Turned to Gold is by John Blaney, the author of a number of Beatle-related books (including this one). It was published back in 2008. I have always been interested in the Beatle money matters (especially around the formation and eventual demise of their Apple Corporation) and so this one looks like it will be a very good read. Here’s the rear cover: 
Finally, a book about Beatles books.
Beatle Books – From Genesis to Revolution is an extensive compendium detailing all the books written about the band, by the band members, and about them as solo artists too.
There was only one copy of this on the shelf, and it has been pretty beaten up. It looks like its been dropped, or something heavy has been dropped onto it. But it’s a really handy reference book and one I have never seen before. The guy gave me an extra discount because of the damage – so I paid the princely sum of $5.99….
If you’re interested this came out in 2008, is manufactured in Canada, and was published by Collectors Guide Publishing in Ontario. Strange to find one copy floating around a discount bookshop in Sydney, Australia.
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