Tag Archives: Music

Paul McCartney Now & Then – Part Two

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OK. This is where I have to admit that my Beatles collection might be getting a little out of hand….

One of the most visited pages in this Beatles Blog so far has been one I wrote in October last year when I picked up a paperback version of a book called “Paul McCartney – Now and Then”.  You can view this entry here if you missed it. For some reason a lot of people have visited that particular blog page.

I was sitting at the computer the other day and just glanced up at a bookshelf nearby. The shelf I was looking at contains a lot of the Beatles or Beatles-related books I’ve acquired over the years. I suddenly found myself staring at the cover of a book called, wait for it, “Paul McCartney – Now and Then”…….not the paperback one I’d posted about earlier, but the original hardback edition. I’d forgotten I had it!

Its in a larger format and has a different cover to the paperback:

Now and Then (Hardback Edition, 2004)

Here are the two books side-by-side:

Now and Then (2004 Hardback, with 2006 Softback edition on right)

If you’d like a peek inside the hardback version, Amazon UK has one of those “click to look inside” features for the book.

The fact that I only just realised I had two different copies of this book is making me worried….

SEE ALSO: Paul McCartney – Now and Then – Part One

“All Together Now” nominated for a Grammy

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From the Beatles official news site:

“All Together Now”, the documentary about the making of  the Beatles and Cirque du Soleil’s “The Beatles: LOVE”, has been nominated for a Grammy Award in the Long Form Music Video category (Adrian Wills, video director; Martin Bolduc & Jonathan Clyde, video producers).

“All Together Now” details the story behind the unique partnership between The Beatles and Cirque du Soleil that resulted in the creation and 2006 launch of “LOVE”, the stage production still playing to packed houses at The Mirage in Las Vegas. The film also documents the creation of the show’s music, the experimental Beatles soundscape album of the same name which garnered two Grammy Awards for producers Sir George Martin and Giles Martin in the categories of Compilation Soundtrack Album for Motion Picture, Television or other Visual Medium and Surround Sound Album.

You can see two short trailers from “All Together Now” here.

The 52nd Annual Grammies will be presented Sunday, January 31, 2010 in Los Angeles.

The Film
“All Together Now” is a feature-Length documentary chronicles the making of “The Beatles’ LOVE” by Cirque du Soleil. The film details the story behind the unique partnership between The Beatles and Cirque du Soleil that resulted in the creation and launch of “LOVE” and the double Grammy-winning album of the same name. The film is dedicated to the memory of Neil Aspinall, an Executive Producer.

“All Together Now” faithfully recounts how the “LOVE” project came into being, borne from the personal friendship between George Harrison and Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberte. George saw how the twin talents of Cirque’s artistry and The Beatles’ music could be fused into something new and totally original.

The director, Adrian Wills, records early meetings between the Cirque & Apple Corps Ltd. creative teams, as well as contributions from Sir Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Yoko Ono Lennon and Olivia Harrison discussing how The Beatles’ music can be used in a different way. We hear about the decision to utilize the combined talents of Sir George Martin and his son Giles Martin to produce what became a 90-minute soundscape created from The Beatles’ multi-track recordings and how this new audio adventure was being quietly worked on in the famous Abbey Road Studios in London, England whilst the first creative ideas for the show were being formulated in Montreal, Canada.

These early stages of the project were all filmed, as were the first rehearsals at the Mirage Hotel theatre in Las Vegas, which was completely rebuilt with a one-of-a-kind sound system and complex round staging to house the “LOVE” show. George and Giles Martin, the show’s Musical Directors, were involved every step of the way with the remarkable Cirque du Soleil creative team, performers and backroom staff.

It wasn’t all “plain-sailing” and there has been no attempt to disguise some of the disagreements that took place along the way regarding how some of the songs would be portrayed visually. These creative differences, a necessary part of the overall process of bringing “LOVE” to its most vibrant life, illustrate the participants’ love and respect for the music and vision of The Beatles.

The “All Together Now” documentary provides fascinating insight into the creative skills and passion that went into making this project a groundbreaking critical and commercial success.

UPDATE: It won!

More on the Beatles 2009 “Christmas Pack” – Another Variation Exists

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Before Christmas I wrote about Apple/EMI putting together a small box set containing four of the most popular of the new stereo remasters.

I decided as it was a variation in an officially produced box that it’d be worth having in the collection. I found a place in the UK on Ebay that was selling them for a reasonable price (quite a bit cheaper than my local record shops) and so I got one. Who knows, maybe one day it might become a collectable because these were only produced in limited numbers as I understand it.

It arrived the other day – here’s the front view of the box:

Beatles "Christmas Pack" Box Front

And here is the rear:

Beatles "Christmas Pack" Box Rear

I can’t show you the CD’s inside because I’m going to keep this one sealed.

Well, the other day I was in the city and called in to one of the best independent record shops going around – Red Eye Records. They’re great and stock a wide variety of hard-to-get music from around the world. If they haven’t got it they’ll search for you and order it in too. Anyway, while there I saw that they had quite a few copies of what at first appeared to be this same box set up on the shelves behind the counter.

Just out of curiosity (I guess to confirm that I’d got a good deal!) I asked what the price was. The assistant said “Those? Oh, they’re just empty boxes. The record company gave them to us to give to people who bought a few Beatles stereo remasters as something to put them in as gifts. We’ve got a lot of them left over. You can have one if you want.” I thought, well one might be handy to have in case any other remasters come my way, or it could store any Beatles CDs really.

Also, something about the box looked a bit different, though I couldn’t figure out what straight away in the shop, and so I took up the offer. It wasn’t until I got home and compared it to the box above that I realised it was quite different. Here’s the front of the free box:

Beatles "Gift Box" Front

Notice just an Apple logo instead of the four small stereo remasters cover images on the other box. And the rear is different, too:

Beatles "Gift Box" Rear

All the cover images for the entire remasters series are shown.

So, a genuine little gift box that can be used for multiples of any of the new re-issue series. And another collectors item?

Big Price set for Rare “Butcher” Cover

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Earlier this week I posted an item about a rare, first-state copy of the Beatles “Yesterday and Today” famous butcher cover which was up for auction on Ebay.

Well, it sold for a pretty impressive price.

Have a look here for the results.

McCartney Mail on Sunday Free Live CD

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Here’s a heads-up if you live in the UK.

This coming weekend (Sunday January 17, 2010) the British newspaper the Mail on Sunday will contain a free giveaway CD of Paul McCartney live tracks.

All the songs on the CD have been chosen by Paul McCartney, and he apparently designed the CD cover art himself  (which, by the way, is based largely on a previous limited edition live 12 inch record he released in 2007 called “Amoeba’s Secret” – more on this below). However, as the Mail on Sunday says, this new giveaway will be “….a CD that is unavailable anywhere else”.  The cover will look like this:

Mail on Sunday - free giveaway - front cover

Mail on Sunday - free giveway - rear cover

The free CD will feature seven Beatle songs – including “I Saw Her Standing There”, “Lady Madonna”, “Get Back”, “Blackbird” and “Hey Jude”,  as well as five of McCartney’s solo compositions. So, twelve tracks in all. That makes it quite different to any previous releases and therefore a collectable item for Beatles fans. From what I can tell from the info so far, the songs all come from a live gig recorded at the huge Amoeba record store in Los Angeles. Of the twelve tracks to be given away free this Sunday, only five have been previously released: “Only Mama Knows”, “That Was Me”, “I Saw Her Standing There” and “C Moon” on the limited edition 12 inch “Amoeba’s Secret” (2007) and CD (2009), and “Dance Tonight”, which was a bonus live song on the CD single for “Ever Present Past” (2007). Therefore all the additional tracks are bonuses.

As well, this Sunday’s “Live” magazine will feature an interview with McCartney with some previously unseen backstage pictures.

As you can see the artwork is very similar to the original used for both the vinyl and CD covers of “Amoeba’s Secret”:

"Amoeba's Secret" - limited edition - front cover

Its not the first time McCartney has teamed with the Mail on Sunday though.

On Sunday 18 May, 2008 his 13 track album “Memory Almost full” was given away free to millions of readers. It was essentially identical to the officially released version of the album of the same name, just with much simpler packaging.

Mail on Sunday - "Memory Almost Full" free giveaway - front cover

Mail on Sunday "Memory Almost Full" free giveaway - disc image

As you can see in the pics above, the cover contains the Mail On Sunday logo, which is also on the disc itself. Both contain the words “For Promotional Use Only – Not For Sale”. The “Live” magazine supplement that came with the previous week’s Mail on Sunday newspaper included a track-by-track analysis by Paul and exclusive photos of him too.

Following on from McCartney’s “Memory Almost Full” giveaway CD, the Mail On Sunday also gave away a free John Lennon CD on January 18, 2009.

Unlike McCartney’s freebie though, which was his most recent studio album, Lennon’s is a selection (12 tracks) of greatest hits and album tracks – largely taken from the official best-of CD release “Working Class Hero – The Definitive John Lennon”. Like the “Memory Almost Full” CD, the Lennon release came in a similar small cardboard sleeve:

Mail on Sunday - "John Lennon" free giveaway - front cover

Mail on Sunday - "John Lennon" free giveaway - rear cover

Harry Nilsson’s “Son of Dracula” – US Vinyl

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No trip to Newcastle (the one in Australia on the New South Wales north coast) can go without a visit to one of my favourite second-hand record store haunts – Antique Sounds on King Street.  Its a tiny little shop that is literally chock full with a wide range of second-hand items – from clocks, to clothing, bakelite radios, trinkets, toys….you name it and its probably there.

Up the back of the shop are racks and racks of old vinyl and amongst them many Beatles and Beatles-related collectables. To be perfectly honest most of these are not in the best condition or what you might call at the high-grade end of the collectable spectrum. And for the condition that some of the items are in the owner is usually asking an inflated price.  But, the thing about this store is that you just never know what you might find.

The other day I had to pass through Newcastle briefly and so dropped in.

While there I discovered a nice clean copy of an interesting Beatles-related 12-inch vinyl disc I have had on my “should get” list for some time: Harry Nilsson’s “Son of Dracula”, which is the soundtrack to the Apple film of the same name.

Way back in 1974 Apple Corps, the Beatles’ company, was still operating its soon to be defunct Apple Film division. When they first set up Apple the Beatles always envisioned a film arm and, while not prolific, some films they made include the well-known “The Concert for Bangladesh” and the lesser known “Born to Boogie”, a concert film featuring T-Rex and Marc Bolan – directed by Ringo Starr.

Well ahead of the present-day fascination with vampires,  “Son of Dracula” was billed as “the first rock-n-roll Dracula movie musical”.  It starred Nilsson, Ringo Starr, Peter Frampton, John Bonham and Keith Moon….

A film poster from the 1974 Apple film "Son of Dracula"

Apparently it wasn’t much of a film – but the soundtrack and songs provided by Harry Nilsson (still relatively fresh and marketable from his huge, world-wide hit album “Nilsson Schmilsson”) along with contributions from legendary orchestrator Paul Buckmaster, had some really great songs – all largely taken from the LP’s “Nilsson Schmilsson” and its follow-up “Son of Schmilsson”).

I already had the Australian release of this record – which came out here with a very plain, single sleeve cover, and on the standard orange-coloured RCA record label. However, the original US pressings were released with a unique cover, complete with opening bat wings (see pics below):

Front cover - "Son of Dracula" US pressing

The "bat wings" gate-fold cover

Cover with the "bat wings" open

“Son of Dracula” is also interesting to Beatles collectors because it was on something of a unique hybrid label called Rapple Records. There isn’t a lot of detail about this but I can only assume that as Nilsson was contracted to RCA at the time, and this was an Apple film, they decided to combine RCA and Apple and came up with the name Rapple! Its the only time this label was ever used to my knowledge. I like it because they also created a custom record label for the project, complete with a half-eaten apple….perhaps a sign of things to come as the company slowly self-destructed:

The very unusual "Rapple" label

So, another junk shop treasure to add to the collection: an original US pressing (in great condition) of 1974’s “Son of Dracula” – on the intriguing Rapple Records.

Harry Nilsson’s own site has some further reading and pictures from the project if you are interested.

(By the way, the record cost me $8.00 Australian).

Label Variations – Part One – Sgt. Pepper

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For some reason today I started to think about all the different label variations there must be of Beatles LP and single vinyl discs – released over time and from a wide range of countries around the world.

Different countries have different labels of course, but there have been many label artwork changes over the years – from the original issues to the more recent re-releases. For some collectors this is a never-ending fascination. How many different label variations can they possibly find of a particular album or single?

For me as a collector it’s not the primary reason I’ll purchase an item – but for certain titles I already have it can be a factor. For some reason if browsing a stack of second-hand Beatles LPs I’ll always go looking for different labels or covers for Sgt. Pepper, Abbey Road and Let It Be. Don’t know why – I guess they where formative in my initial collection and mean more to me as records than the other titles in the collection.

As a result, over many years,  I have accumulated a few variations which I’ll share with you over the coming few weeks. (To see larger images just click on each picture).

First up – Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band. My very first copy of this on vinyl was the Australian pressing. Originally all Australian pressings were on Parlophone. By the time I was old enough to buy it the Parlophone label was a bright orange colour and looked like this:

Australian pressing – Orange Parlophone

However, there where a couple of other Australian variations on the Parlophone label prior to it becoming orange like the one above. I think when Sgt. Pepper originally came out it was on a black and silver label like this:

Australian Parlophone – Black and Silver

After the black and silver there was a further Australian variation (seen below) which was very much like the original UK release. It’s a black and yellow Parlophone label. Note in the picture below that this is the Mono version (denoted by the catalogue number PMCO-7027. The stereo versions are all PCSO-7027):

Australian Parlophone – Black and Yellow variation

Across the Tasman Sea in New Zealand they had their own range of variations. An early NZ Parlophone was quite different to both the British and the Australian:

New Zealand Parlophone – Blue and White variation

As you can see, the New Zealand version was unique. New Zealand later went on to release the entire Beatles catalogue on the Apple label, and again there are differences here to the “usual” Apple look – quite distinctive in its way and I reckon collectable for that very reason:

New Zealand – Apple label

This Apple has some unusual features – most prominent among them the large STEREO lettering on the right hand side.

Back to Parlophone – on which most versions of Sgt. Pepper were/are released.  This is how the current UK version of the label looks today:

United Kingdom – the current Parlophone LP label

As you can see in the picture above, the Parlophone name and logo is in a large box, and the EMI label is also present twice on the label in smaller boxes. This is the label you will see if you go out tomorrow to buy a vinyl UK release of this classic Beatles record.

A couple of years ago EMI Australia re-issued Sgt. Pepper on the Parlophone label – and the label looked like this:

Australian Parlophone – Black and Silver c. 1987

The label above comes from 1987 when a special 20th Anniversary commemorative edition of Pepper was released. The pic above is of the more common black vinyl edition, but the record was also released on limited edition red vinyl (same label though!):

Australian Parlophone – Red vinyl edition 1987

OK. On to the US now – and I only have two label variations – which is not that impressive as there are many, many more. In the USA Capitol Records, as an EMI/Parlophone US subsidiary, is the principal label you’ll find Sgt. Pepper released on. This version below is the traditional black and “rainbow” surround Capitol label:

US Capitol – black and rainbow label

Later there were other Capitol variations. This one is the orange Capitol, which I bought originally in the late 1970s or early 1980s:

US Capitol – orange label

Another unusual US variation is the Sgt. Pepper released as part of the MFSL (Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab) company’s high fidelity “Original Master Recording” series. This has a different label, but also quite a different cover image as well. The series was released in a big boxed set of all the Beatles records given the MFSL treatment –  which you occasionally see come up on Ebay for many thousands of dollars. I don’t have the box set – but I do have an individual copy of Pepper – picked up at a second-hand shop for a few bucks!:

Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs edition

Finally, two foreign releases worthy I think of a pic of the labels. The first is from Singapore – interesting because it is so similar to the UK “black and yellow” edition:

Singapore Parlophone – black and yellow

And a very different Sgt. Pepper label from Odeon, the subsidiary of EMI that released the Beatles’ records in countries like Germany and France. This one comes from Germany and is an early version fo the Odeon label there:

German Odeon label

I hope you’ve enjoyed a peek at some of the label variations for Sgt. Pepper from my collection. These really only touch the surface of some of the different labels out there. If you have any other information or pictures or scans of Sgt. Pepper labels please leave a comment, or email me at: beatlesblogger@gmail.com

See also:  Label Variations – Part Two – Let It Be

See also: Label Variations – Part Three – McCartney’s Choba B CCCP

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

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.