Yoto players are designed for kids to listen to stories and music on pre-recorded digital cards that slot into the player, plus they can record their own creations onto blank cards and play them back. The Boys of Dungeon Lane card contains the full album, and it comes with unique cover art. So far it looks like this edition is only available through the UK Yoto store.
The company is slowly building up quite a relationship with McCartney and The Beatles. A couple of years back they issued short versions of The Beatles 1962-1966 [Yoto Edition]:
They also have a unique compilation album called Say Hello to Paul McCartney, designed to introduce kids to McCartney’s back-catalogue:
This 14-song card includes two tracks never-before released on a music product – the ‘Hey Grandude’ and ‘Hey Nandude’ themes in full, from Paul’s two children’s books.
Speaking of which, in line with the kid’s storytelling aspect of the players, Yoto has audio book versions of the two titles, Hey Grandude and Grandude’s Green Submarine:
Now, if you’re thinking these cards look kind of cool and collectable but I don’t want to buy an expensive device just to listen to them, you don’t actually need a stand-alone Yoto player. The Yoto app can be downloaded for free to your phone, and a simple tap of the card gives you access to the contents. The cards are the size of a credit card:
Is it just me, or are there a lot of books about Beatle managers around at the moment?
There are not one but three new books (out now or soon to be released) looking into what it is like to work at building the Beatle business.
The first is a new release by Philip Norman called Mr. Moonlight – Brian Epstein and the Making of The Beatles. As it’s title suggests, this is a new examination of the life of Beatle manager Brian Epstein.
Philip Norman is a British writer, novelist, journalist and playwright, probably best known for his first book, Shout!: The Beatles in Their Generation (also published as Shout!: The True Story of the Beatles). First published in 1981 it has sold over a million copies and has often been re-issued and updated. No doubt you’ve seen or heard of this one. His other works have been on the Rolling Stones, Buddy Holly, and Elton John, and he’s penned individual biographies of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison.
Now Norman turns his attention to Brian Epstein.
From the press blurb: Brian Epstein didn’t just manage the Beatles – he transformed them into the most famous band the world has ever known. A young record-shop owner from Liverpool, he took four relatively unknown musicians and set out to make them ‘bigger than Elvis’, changing pop music, celebrity, and British culture forever. Only a few years older than John, Paul, George and Ringo, he called them ‘the Boys’, guiding, protecting and relentlessly believing in them as no one else did. Without Brian Epstein, there would have been no Beatles as we know them.Drawing on a remarkable cache of exclusive interviews with those closest to him, Philip Norman delivers the most intimate and revealing portrait yet of this complex, conflicted and ultimately tragic figure. Mr Moonlight reveals the depths of Brian’s many trials and tribulations – how he almost lost the Beatles to organised crime; the antisemitism and homophobia he endured even at the height of his success; his intense and fraught relationship with John Lennon; and the haunting circumstances of his lonely death during the so-called Summer of Love.
Mr Moonlight looks worthwhile and it’ll be interesting to see if after all this time if any truly new material and insights emerge.
The second new book is also about Brian Epstein, but it comes from a very different perspective indeed.
1967 – The World of Brian Epstein and The Beatles: The Address Book That Defined an Era is by Gary Kemp and Simon Halfon. It isn’t published until October in the UK (and not until January 2027 in the US), but it looks to be a fascinating insight into the life of Brian Epstein through an unlikely primary source: his 1967 personal address book. Kemp, one of the UK’s most successful songwriters and guitarists – and founding member of the iconic 80s band Spandau Ballet, secured the address book five years ago at a Sotheby’s auction.
“When I first saw Brian Epstein’s black Twinlock binder, I was struck by how small and unassuming it was – just 160 by 100 millimetres, the kind of thing you could slip into a coat pocket. But inside, it held a universe. The book felt alive, buzzing, ready and waiting to be explored. So I dug deeper.”
Simon Halfon is one of the UK’s leading graphic designers, so the book should be visually interesting as well.
This book looks very cool and different. It explores Epstein and the Beatles’ world using 404 contacts in that unique personal address book from that pivotal year. Through detective work and biographical research the authors illustrate and unpack some of the extraordinary characters who appear, each one telling a different part of Brian’s story. A really interesting and unusual approach! Genuinely looking forward to this one.
The third book also promises a unique insight into managing a Beatle, away from the bright lights and public face. What’s it really like?
Richard Ogden was Paul McCartney’s manager from 1987 to 1993. In his self-published memoir, Bigger Than The Beatles – Sixty Years in Showbusiness he looks back on those years working in the pop music industry with more than 200 artists – from some never-heard-of’s, to a handful of the all-time biggest names. Ogden’s book includes chapters on Shirley Bassey, Black Oak Arkansas, Black Sabbath, Ted Nugent, The Motors, Michael Jackson, Aerosmith, Mariah Carey, Ricky Martin, and Van Morrison amongst many others. But none are bigger or enormously famous than Paul McCartney, to whom he devotes three chapters.
It was during Ogden’s time with McCartney that he embarked on one of his biggest world tours. It saw him set a Guinness Book of Records first as he performed in front of 184,000 people at the Maracana Stadium in Rio De Janeiro. The Brazil gig was particularly special for Ogden as it was when Sir Paul said the words that inspired the title of this new memoir: “It’s what Paul McCartney shouted at me when he came off stage in Rio in April 1990″.
Speaking to The Liverpool Echo though Ogden said it wasn’t success and fun all the time. “It wasn’t all roses and champagne, I can assure you. We fell out. After three years, we fell out. I don’t know why. It’s a mystery to me. I pursue that in the book, trying to understand why it happened. We parted on very bad terms. It was a great shame because I did great work with him. Why it ended the way it did, you’d have to ask him. I’ve never been really sure.”
“You could say that he just didn’t renew my contact. But we had a bit of a to-do. At one point this was the title of my book, but I changed it. I said to him, ‘All you want around you is yes men.’ But he said, ‘I tell you what I don’t want. A no man like you.’ My book for a while was called No Yes Man.”
Ogden doesn’t pull any punches when it comes to describing what it was really like working for Paul McCartney: “Dealing with him had become even more difficult than it was when I first started. And his dissatisfaction with me was affecting Linda who, as everybody who worked at MPL [McCartney Productions Ltd] knew, tended to ‘get it in the neck’ first when the boss was unhappy… it wasn’t unusual for my ‘McCartney hotline’ phone to ring first thing and for a tearful Linda to warn me that all was not well with His Nibs.”
Even on popular discussion forums (like the Steve Hoffman Music Forum – currently up to 846 pages talking about The Boys of Dungeon Lane), there are fans who doubt anyone could possibly try to collect each and every variation of the latest McCartney release. We’ve tried to capture all of the current variations we’re aware of in this chart. Here’s the latest version:
[Click image to see a larger version]
However, there ARE collectors out there who do go for gold (and silver, and red, and white, and splatter…..etc. etc.!) and try to get everything.
One of our readers, Guy in the United States, has now amassed no less than 18 versions of Dungeon Lane. He sent us through this image:
The variants in the covers are: red, green, blue, embossed white (i.e. ‘the gatefold’), Third Man Records, Jacaranda Records, and Amoeba.
The vinyl LP variants: red, white, black, silver, green, yellow, pink, blue, purple, gold, splatter, picture disc, and white label.
Inner Sleeves: red, green, blue. Booklet.
Other Formats: red CD, green CD, red CD sleeve, green CD sleeve, cassette and booklet.
Doo Dads: eight different postcards, plus the Dungeon Lane tote bag from the listening party (not pictured).
I think you’ll agree his collection is an impressive sight displayed as it is. Thank you Guy for sending through the image, and big congratulations on the effort in tracking each of those variants down.
Another avid collector is Beatle Dustino, who has been detailing on YouTube his quest to collect every variant of The Boys of Dungeon Lane from around the world. As each came in he’s been uploading an unboxing video. As an example, here’s his video showing all the different lyric cards and photo prints that came in various editions.
As you can see he includes the lyric cards that came with the McCartney Store exclusive green vinyl; the Target exclusive red vinyl; and the Target CD. Plus the photo prints exclusive to the McCartney Store green CD; the Walmart exclusive CD; the Barnes & Noble or Rough Trade gold vinyl; and the listening party exclusive silver vinyl. Plus he shows the lyric card, photo print and post card that came with the Japanese SHM-CD Deluxe Edition. Phew!
If you were wondering what direction Tom Greene, the new CEO of Apple Corps Ltd., was going to take the Beatle franchise, then wait no more. The brief official notification says it all:
The first-ever official Beatles fan experience, opening in London in 2027
3 Savile Row is one of the most famous locations in The Beatles’ history as the original headquarters of Apple Corps, the recording studio for Let It Be, and the location of the legendary rooftop concert in 1969. Now, 3 Savile Row will open its doors to all for the first time. The Beatles at 3 Savile Row will feature seven floors of never-seen-before archive material, rotating exhibitions, a fan store, and the recreation of the original studio where Let it Be was recorded. It will also give fans the opportunity to tread in the band’s footsteps as they relive the iconic rooftop concert – as immortalised in Peter Jackson’s Get Back – on exactly the spot it happened.
Word is that Apple Corps has re-acquired the famous building in Mayfair in central London and plans to open it to the public as a new tourist attraction called The Beatles At 3 Savile Row. Setting up a physical space for fans to come and explore Beatle history and honour the band’s legacy seems at odds with Greene’s previous expertise in the world of e-commerce. Before being hired to run the Apple he worked with the biggest video game developers and publishers in the world on the production, commercialization and audience growth of e-sports programs. And prior to that he was helping to manage the ginormous Harry Potter franchise in the digital realm with “over 50 million members, supported by immersive digital experiences, daily content publishing and an innovative e-commerce offering.” Greene’s digital background seems at odds with creating and operating a physical space, a Beatle theme park in London for fans.
According to The Guardian, the building – across all its seven floors – “…will showcase items from the Apple archives and host temporary exhibitions and a shop. The biggest attractions, however, will be a recreation of the basement studio where the band recorded their last album, Let It Be, and access to the rooftop where that poignant final concert was performed.”
Paul McCartney, who recently revisited the Georgian mansion house, said: “There are so many special memories within the walls, not to mention the rooftop. The team have put together some really impressive plans and I’m excited for people to see it when it’s ready.”
McCartneytold the BBC that the idea to move back was proposed by Tom Greene. “He’s a live wire and he’s bringing a lot of energy into looking at what the Beatles mean, and what people want these days from us. There are so many special memories within the walls, not to mention the rooftop. The team have put together some really impressive plans and I’m excited for people to see it when it’s ready.”
The timing couldn’t be better. Four movie-length biopics – directed by Sam Mendes – are currently filming. There’s one film for each band member and they are due for simultaneous release in April, 2028. The “four-film cinematic event” will star Paul Mescal as Paul McCartney, Harris Dickinson as John Lennon, Joseph Quinn as George Harrison, and Barry Keoghan as Ringo Starr.
You can sign up to find out more about The Beatles at 3 Savile Rowhere.
It hasn’t even been released yet but quite a bit of work is being done by fans to identify the source of every image seen on the striking collage that fills the inside of the newly announced gatefold edition of Paul McCartney’s forthcoming Boys of Dungeon Lane LP:
There’s also a cassette which includes the same collage as a fold-out print and, in what’s turning into a big crowdsourced research project, fans from around the world are turning amateur detective and contributing to a special “Collage” Tumblr page set up by @bodl-gatefold.
The Tumblr page says: “We’re trying to source all the photos that went into this collage. If you think you’ve spotted one, send us an ask with a screenshot of the section where it appears, and a copy of the photo. The more info you can provide with your photo the better, but if you don’t know anything about where it was taken or even who’s in it, that’s find, send it!”
Here’s the collage (click the image to enlarge):
An email announcing the new gatefold edition says this “…screen‑printed collage is made from over 100 archive images, including previously unseen photography from Paul’s personal archive.”
So, here’s the artwork showing with red marks all the images @bodl-gatefold has identified so far:
As you scroll through the Tumblr page you’ll see examples of each of them – and there are a lot! The collage image is shown, and then the original source photo – usually (where known) with a time and place the original image was taken. The two below for example come from a hitchhiking trip Paul and George’s made in August, 1959:
There are many, many more great discoveries.
One thing that’s also immediately obvious, apart from the all the people, is that there’s a lot of bird images used throughout the collage. This helps explain the many bird references and little bird emojis in the current marketing teaser campaign. For example:
From what we can tell the album is deeply nostalgic and young Paul was once a very keen birdwatcher. Turns out that all the bird images on the collage come from The Observer’s Book Of Birds (which Paul has several times mentioned owning), plus two other books Coloured Figures of the Birds of the British Islands and The Birds of the British Isles and Their Eggs. So the Tumblr investigators have obviously been pouring over these. Here’s a detail example of the depth of the detective work being done just to identify the birds in the collage (again, click the image to see a larger version):
It seems that the making of this complex artwork for the gatefold was one of the reasons the release has been slightly delayed.
Back in March Paul’s brother, Mike McCartney posted a message on X leaking the title of the album and it’s front cover logo – a British street sign. He said that the album artwork was designed by his son Josh McCartney, Paul’s nephew.
Then a member of the Steve Hoffman Music Forum said he’d attended a screening of the Wings film, Man On The Run where Paul’s manager, Scott Rodger was a special guest. Rodger did a brief Q&A following the film and said, “There will be new Paul music in 2026. The record is done. The only reason it’s not out already is Paul took his time with the artwork.”
This collage is reminiscent of the collage poster that came with the White Album and has the potential to stand as a landmark piece of imagery, a permanent tribute to Paul’s amazing past.
McCartney’s Instagram and other socials have been carrying a short “behind the scenes” video of the collage being created. The artist who is making the collage is Kate Gibb:
Since we posted about the new Paul McCartney solo releaseThe Boys of Dungeon Lane there’s been some developments, mostly to do with new variations and vinyl colours being added.
As we did for McCartney IIIand it’s sibling McCartney III Imagined, we’ve started the chart below showing all the known variations so far to help you keep up. We’ll add to this as more come down the pipeline:
(Click the image above to see a larger version)
Two new collectable vinyls have been added to the list. They’re not actually new covers or colours, but consist of a limited edition outer sleeve which slips over the cover of either the standard black vinyl, or the pink vinyl being made available to independent record stores. These come from The Jacaranda Records and Club in Liverpool (which has a long association with the Beatles, going back to the early 1960s). You also get a printed 12″ insert and a replica 1960 Jacaranda Club membership card:
We’ve also added to the graphic the two Japanese pressings (standard black vinyl and limited red vinyl) along with their unique OBI strips. These images have not been available previously:
Last week the big news was blue. A very limited blue vinyl was made available to The Beatles mailing list subscribers for a limited time. If you’re a subscriber you got an email with a link through to your country’s UMe store (e.g. for us it is Universal Australia). This limited blue vinyl comes with alternate embossed cover artwork with blue text, an alternate red and blue inner sleeve, and a 12-page lyric booklet:
Prior to that a spectacular blue splatter vinyl variation was announced. This one was strictly limited to 4000 copies pressed and was exclusive to Blood Records in the UK. It sold out in a matter of hours:
Blood Records is an interesting cross between pressing plant and online retail store – a boutique supplier producing limited edition, exclusively pressed vinyl. They pick and choose only those artists who resonate with their ethos of making only exclusive records and promoting listening to music as something special. And they’ve added The Boys of Dungeon Lane to their catalogue – in an embossed cover with blue lettering and a “Ripples in a Pond” splatter LP with a crystal clear and blue/white liquid effect. As mentioned, it is limited to 4,000 copies in a one-time only pressing run and is hand-numbered. It also has a red and blue inner sleeve, the same as the limited blue vinyl version from UMe stores mentioned above.
The previous week a very limited, UK customer-only pink vinyl with a Japanese-inspired OBI strip was announced. It’s available exclusively through Assai Record stores based in the UK. This was limited to 500 copies, each hand-numbered with an embossed Assai logo. There’s a 12-page lyric booklet and embossed cover artwork. It too is now sold out:
There was also a very nice looking picture disc featuring the screen-printed collage announced. This is only available through official McCartney stores (i.e. UK and US), plus Universal Music stores like Bravado in Germany, Udiscover Music in Mexico, The Sound of Vinyl in Australia, etc.:
And don’t forget the “extremely limited” silver vinyl. This one is only to be sold at “listening parties” to be held in a limited number of US bricks and mortar record stores on release day (May 29), and then for the following two days while stocks last. It comes with a fourth variation of the black and white portrait postcard included (see below). Customers, who have to show up in person at their participating store, will also get a Dungeon Lane tote bag plus entry into competition to win “a very special prize”.
A couple of weeks back a McCartney and UME Store exclusive with 180g black vinyl, gatefold blind-embossed cover artwork, full collage interior spread, and a 12-page lyric booklet was also added to the list, as was a cassette which comes with a fold-out print of the same collage.
Gotta admit, the collage looks great. It is screen‑printed and made from over 100 archive images, including previously unseen photography from Paul’s personal archive:
Along with the different cover art and vinyl colour variations, one other difficult thing emerging for the absolute completists (who must have everything in every permutation) is the different lyric cards to be included with some of the vinyl and some of the CDs.
So far there are 7 different cards: 3 collage lyric cards, and now 4 b&w portrait postcards.
In the green vinyl exclusive to the McCartney and Universal Music stores it is a green/purple collage card, while in the red vinyl – exclusive to larger chain stores – the card is an orange/red/blue colour with different images. It is also orange/red/blue in the Target exclusive CD, but it depicts a different collage of faces.
Then, in those releases that come with the portrait postcard, there are 4 different photos in use. One for the gold vinyl (exclusive to Barnes & Noble, and possibly Rough Trade UK – but this is still to be confirmed); one for the green cover CD (a McCartney Store/Universal Music exclusive); a third variation for the Walmart exclusive CD; and now a fourth iteration for the exclusive US launch-day silver vinyl just announced. We’ve tried to show these on the chart, but here they are side-by-side for comparison.
We’ll be updating this variations page and chart as soon as any more different colours or packaging is announced.
No doubt you’ve heard by now there’s to be a brand spanking new Paul McCartney solo album called The Boys of Dungeon Lane – due in stores from May 29. Very exciting to get a whole album’s worth of new material from the master – especially after a five year wait.
A new Paul McCartney release means inevitably there’ll be lots of variations to collect. Already there are 8 different vinyl colours you can pre-order, plus four different CD packages. Based on his last solo release (McCartney III), there’ll no doubt be more….
If you are collecting, here’s a bit of a guide to what’s available so far. And please bear in mind we haven’t seen the packaging in full as yet, so who know what artwork will be on the rear covers, spines, etc.
However, with the guide below you need to note some subtle differences between some of the versions – especially if you are a real packaging nerd. A few come with slightly different features (inserts, etc.), so we’ll try to point these out for you as we go along.
OK. Lets start off with the most obvious, and it’s the black vinyl. It is available from the official McCartney store, at Universal Music stores in various parts of the word (Australia for example), and seems to be widely available at most other places too from May 29:
The black vinyl includes embossed cover artwork (with red and black lettering), a printed inner sleeve and a 12-page lyric booklet.
As you can see above, this comes with a unique cover with green and black lettering on the front (not red and black). It includes the store-exclusive green vinyl LP, a lyric card, and the 12-page lyric booklet. So, different to the black vinyl.
The Rough Trade listing says “Includes 12-page lyric booklet and embossed cover artwork”. The Barnes and Noble listing is a little more vague as to what this version contains packaging-wise, but the hype sticker clearly states “Includes Photo Print”:
Now, until the launch of The Boys of Dungeon Lane last week we’d never heard of TalkShopLive. A quick Google reveals it is “the live streaming, social selling online network for anyone, anywhere, to buy & sell almost anything!” Hmmm. Still not exactly sure what that even means….BUT, the site has a purple vinyl exclusive. Could this have the potential to become the rarest version?
There’s precious little detail of what the packaging is for this TalkShopLive edition.
At the other end of the spectrum is the big online retailer, Amazon. They get a white vinyl Amazon exclusive:
Pressed on Amazon exclusive white vinyl, this LP includes the 12-page lyric booklet and embossed cover artwork.
The red vinyl edition comes with the lyric card and the 12-page lyric booklet and embossed cover artwork.
Actually, jpc in Germany has quite clear images of the labels (which are common across the variants). Obviously they’re printed but look to be originally hand-written by Paul?
This Indie-only pink vinyl features an embossed sleeve and comes with a 12-page lyric booklet.
So as you can see there are a number of little packaging wrinkles amongst the coloured vinyls.
But the biggest variation (so far) is probably the Amoeba Music exclusive just announced. It has completely out there alternate cover artwork (riffing on the Amoeba store’s official logo), and is on exclusive limited edition yellow vinyl:
No word on what else is included in this love-or-hate packaging! This looks to have unique labels as well.
As far as CD’s go it looks like there’s the widely-available standard CD: white disc, embossed cover with red lettering. Includes lyric booklet.
There’s an exclusive “green cover” CD: white disc, green lettering on front cover. Includes a “Paul McCartney photo print”, and lyric booklet. This again is a McCartney store exclusive (plus through various Universal Music outlets – Umusic Shop Canada for example):
Meanwhile in Japan there are two different SHM-CD variants available for pre-order. The first is the standard SHM-CD:
Not a lot of detail about what you get here, but it is almost certain to come with a lyric booklet and an insert with a Japanese translation of the lyrics.
There is also a limited Deluxe Edition SHM-CD described as a “Cardboard Sleeve (mini LP) in a 7-inch cardboard sleeve. Bonus item(s) are planned. Includes commentary, lyrics, and a Japanese translation”. Both SMH-CD’s do not have any bonus tracks.
This will obviously be a brilliant companion piece to the recent documentary One To One: John & Yoko by Kevin Macdonald, a revelatory inside-look at John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s life in Greenwich Village in the early 1970s.
The One To One doco featured music from the two benefit concerts the pair played at Madison Square Garden in August, 1972, all newly remixed and produced by Sean Ono Lennon. Now, we get to see the concert in full – with the best performances taken from the two shows – in multiscreen on the big screen. Power To The People will also form a great visual companion piece to the multi-disc box set, also called Power To The People, released last year.
Newly restored, re-edited and remixed by the Lennon Estate’s seven-times GRAMMY®-Award winning team, the film will premier exclusively in cinemas worldwide from April 29 for a limited time only. Tickets go on sale March 20. There’s no word of a physical release yet, but a Blu-Ray/DVD is expected later in the year.
Of course we’ve just had the release of the Morgan Neville-directed documentary Man On The Run, which follows Paul McCartney stepping out for the first time as a solo artist and forming his new band Wings during the 1970s:
But one of the other great stories in McCartney lore is the search for his legendary long-lost bass guitar – a 1961 Höfner 500/1 which was stolen in 1972. Now comes a behind-the-scenes documentary film about tracking it down and getting it back to it’s original owner, The Hunt For The Lost Bass:
From the official site:
“For over 50 years the disappearance of McCartney’s original Höfner bass has been one of rock ‘n’ roll’s enduring mysteries. McCartney: The Hunt for the Lost Bass tells the extraordinary story of this iconic instrument, and the fan-powered quest to find it. This rock ‘n’ roll detective story features exclusive interviews with McCartney, his brother Mike, Klaus Voormann, Elvis Costello and the roadies, journalists and fans who embarked on a mission to track down and restore the bass to its proper place in music history and to Paul. It’s a story about fandom, creativity, love, loss, memory and the transformative power of music.”
Gotta admit, this looks like it’ll be great fun. It is in cinemas only in the UK to start, on April 2 & 4. It’s unclear if other countries will be rolled in, if the film will be streamed at some stage, or if there’s to be a physical release for fans to buy. I guess it is a case of “watch this space”.
Last but not least is the official release of an extraordinary biographical doco on Billy Preston, That’s The Way God Planned It. This film follows the life and six-decade career of the Grammy Award-winning keyboardist whose sound helped shape the work of a virtual Who’s Who of the music world: The Beatles, Ray Charles, Mahalia Jackson, Aretha Franklin, The Rolling Stones, Barbara Streisand, Eric Clapton and many others. He had his own solo No.1 hits too including ‘Outa-Space’, ‘Will It Go Round In Circles’, ‘Nothing From Nothing’ and ‘You Are So Beautiful’. Billy’s first hit single, ‘That’s The Way God Planned It’ – recorded in 1969 for Apple Records – was produced by George Harrison.
Two variations of the film’s promo trailer are out there on YouTube, both with different cuts and content, so both are worth watching. Here’s the official trailer:
And this next one is great as it focuses specifically on Billy’s time with The Beatles:
Billy Preston, for a time, truly did deserve the title, “The Fifth Beatle”:
Not sure if this is coming to one of the streaming platforms after it’s cinema release (we certainly hope so) but for more info on That’s The Way God Planned It and where you can see it go to billyprestonfilm.com
Meanwhile, to tie in with the film’s release, Dark Horse Records has re-issued Billy’s two Apple Record LPs. Encouraging Words (produced by Billy and George Harrison) is now available to stream and to buy on gold vinyl:
If I said the name Rick Ward to you, you’d probably reply, “Rick who??”
Which is interesting because if you’re a Beatle fan with even a half-decent collection you’ll definitely have at least five or six examples of his work amongst your vinyl, CDs and DVD’s.
We’re all aware that long-time Beatle mate, bass player and artist Klaus Voormann (along with fellow artist Alfons Kiefer) painted the fantastic cover art for the Anthology series, but did you know the entire Anthology concept and packaging brief was the brainchild of a guy called Rick Ward?
In 1995 Ward was working for The Team, a top London design and branding company. He’d already done some work for George Harrison, designing the sleeve and contents of his 1992 double LP, Live In Japan (now long out of print but soon to be re-issued on Dark Horse/BMG):
Ward had met George through a client of The Team, the F1 car designer Gordon Murray. They’d been working together on the graphics, marketing and launch of the McClaren F1 supercar. As we know, Harrison was a mad F1 racing fan and it turns out that he knew Murray who had given the Beatle a book for his birthday on the history of fairground art – co-authored by none other than Rick Ward:
George obviously loved that book because he called Ward and invited him to visit Friar Park. The two subsequently became friends and before you know it he was designing the Live in Japan package. A year later it was George who suggested Ward might come up with the design for The BeatlesLive at the BBC packaging. He was soon invited into Apple to discuss and produce concepts for what would be the band’s first new album of previously unreleased material since Let It Be:
Ward recounts a funny story behind the hand-written title of the front cover: “The concept was a fan’s photograph with an autograph on the front. I had found a great image, got the picture retouched, and then just wrote “Live at the BBC” in the corner. It was supposed to mimic the bootleg albums that were cropping up at the time. They instantly loved it, but we had to decide whose handwriting was going to be on the front. I asked Paul, George, Ringo and Yoko to take a pen and write “Live at the BBC” just like they were signing a photograph. I then printed all the versions out, randomly adding mine and Neil Aspinal’s to the mix. I then sent the options back to the four of them and asked them to choose their favorites. When they came back with their votes, I couldn’t believe it: It was mine!”
Ward also got involved in the cover for Baby It’s You, the four-song EP released in support of Live at the BBC which featured three additional previously unreleased songs:
So, another success. It proved worthwhile because in 1995 The Beatles and EMI started on Anthology, the largest music project ever attempted by the band: three triple albums plus a multi-part TV documentary subsequently released on VHS tape (and DVD) as boxed sets. Not to mention a book, all covering their entire recording career, released across every major format of the time. Anthology was to be a definitive statement, the band telling their own story and setting the record straight. The concept for it all, conceived by Ward, was an artist’s painting, a ‘masterpiece’ and a rediscovery of ‘their art’.
Last year when talking about the design Ward recalled: “I had always considered their music and lyrics as works of art, so that was my starting point. The idea was for the project to literally be a work of art that could be divided up into three sections that charted and reflected their career – giving equal presence to all four members…..To realise this, we invited six artists, each with their own creative connection to the band, to respond to the brief.”
Those artists were David Hockney, Peter Blake, Brian Grimwood, Humphrey Ocean, David Oxtoby and Klaus Voormann. Only five submitted their thoughts. Peter Blake (the artist behind the iconic Sgt Pepper‘s Lonely Hearts Club Band cover art) simply refused. He wasn’t going in a competition. They could either choose him outright, or not at all. Of the other five Ward recalls it was Voormann’s concept that immediately stood out. “It perfectly captured the album and importantly, it allowed us to work with pre-approved imagery, which was vital, because literally everything had to be unanimously approved by each individual Beatle before it could move forward.” Klaus later decided to take the idea further, transforming his collage into a painted work that retained its layered quality but added more depth.
“Together, we developed the vision by using the idea of a large billboard poster on the side of a fictitious concert hall they had played at from the beginning to the end of their recording career. It became both an artwork and a metaphor for their legacy.”
“A small but defining design touch came on the back covers. Since the concept revolved around a “work of art,” I chose to show the reverse of the canvas, as a teaser for the pre-release marketing. It gave the sense of seeing a masterpiece in progress, an artist’s work evolving before your eyes, while also serving as a teaser for what was to come. This gave Klaus much needed time, between each release date to then go on to do the second image, and then finally the third completed image.”
Very clever, but even so they worked right down to the strict deadline for each release to get the covers completed:
Ward also had to take into account all the different ways these images would or could be used. “It was extremely challenging to lay out due to the varying proportions of the different design formats like cassettes, 45s, 12″ LP covers, LaserDiscs, VHS covers, etc., and so on. I developed a grid matrix which we constantly laid over the rough visual to keep checking that it would fit every format, and that each of the four Beatles were equally represented.” The genius of this is well illustrated by how the individual spines of the VHS tapes present when on the shelf:
Ward was also involved in many of the Anthology spin-offs, like press kits and the quite substantial promo CD samplers for each Anthology album, not to mention the singles that came out for ‘Free As A Bird’ and ‘Real Love’. Each carried over elements of the original concept:
As is the way with these things, one thing lead to another. In 1996 Ward was also commissioned to design the Ravi Shankar retrospective compilation called In Celebration, a 4 CD box set co-produced by George Harrison:
This was followed the next year by Ravi Shankar’sChants of India, also produced by Harrison:
Interestingly, in 1997 Ward’s company The Team also designed the cover art and packaging for Paul McCartney’sFlaming Pie:
And then, in 2000, came another big one, probably the biggest – certainly from a sales perspective. Ward received a further commission from the Beatle camp to come up with ideas on how to present globally a new compilation of every Number 1 hit they’d had (all 27 of them) in an album simply to be called 1:
Speaking in PRINT Magazine in 2023 about the ideas he came up with Ward recalled: “I had always loved the graphic look of basic ticket printing for entry into dances in town halls, then we treated the bold “1” as a piece of graphic art, the “hero,” so to speak. So we kept it minimal, strong and simple. We obviously needed to have pictures of them somewhere in the album, and as the cover had turned quite pop art–ish, I was reminded of the ultimate iconoclastic photos Richard Avedon had taken of them in the ’60s for Look magazine, so I suggested using them.”
Inside the packaging was an absolute wealth of visual material for Beatle fanatics, including hundreds of picture sleeves from singles released around the world. There was also unique artwork and a common design theme which tied it all together as a musical and visual celebration of the band’s incredible success.
When asked which album design he was most happy with, Ward said, “I thoroughly enjoyed working on all of them, as they were each so different in what they were setting out to achieve and all had challenges to overcome. There is no one album that’s my favorite, and I learned so much doing each one. It was always interesting, stimulating and very challenging. Live at the BBC, being my first one, was initially quite overwhelming; being invited to design an album cover for the greatest band in the world was a bit unreal. But upon reflection, the fact that they were asking me meant that they had enough respect for me and my work, and so I was able to accept it, and take it as a compliment, and for the amazing opportunity it was.”
From time-to-time we like to bring you the background stories like highlighting some of the lesser-known players who helped The Beatles (either as a group or as solo artists) to extend their music through the art, design or photographs created for record covers, stage designs, tour programs and the like. You can find some more of those stories here:
There has been a lot of speculation about the forthcoming documentary film, Paul McCartney – Man On The Run. Would there, or wouldn’t there, be an accompanying soundtrack release on physical media?
Director Morgan Neville dropped a hint a few weeks ago saying yes, there would be one. But many fans figured he was simply referring to last year’s Wings triple LP band retrospective. Well, it turns out he was correct as the McCartney camp has today announced a single LP (or CD) 12-song Man On The Run soundtrack album. There are just four rarities/unusual tracks on it though alongside more standard back-catalogue songs which all collectors no doubt already have – probably many times over. The rarities are one previously unreleased version of ‘Arrow Through Me’; ‘Silly Love Songs (Demo)’; ‘Gotta Sing Gotta Dance’ (from the 1973 James Paul McCartney TV special); and a version of ‘Live and Let Die’ (taken from the live video, Rockshow).
The version that is already sold out is a limited “New York Taxi Yellow” edition, pressed by Third Man Records. This was limited to just 3,500 copies:
And of course it’ll be available on standard black vinyl as well:
Each of the vinyls comes with a poster.
Plus there’s a CD:
Pre orders are available now and they’ll be released on February 27.
The documentary film itself is due for a limited, one-day-only theatre run in cities around the world on Thursday, February 19 before it premieres on Amazon Prime. You can see where it is is playing and book tickets online. EDIT: Some cities have now added additional screenings for Sunday, February 22.
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