The Beatles With Records – Part Seven

Posted on February 16, 2012 by beatlesblogger

OK. Some will be saying “Enough already!”

But still they come – photographs of the Beatles holding on to the things they produced so many of – records.

And now here’s another because some really good photographs have continued to trickle in.

I must say I like the ones that are of a Beatle holding a record that they didn’t actually make themselves. This one of Paul McCartney (above) is a great example submitted by Beatlesblog reader Lammert Mulder. In a great piece of detective work by Lammert we find out that Paul is holding a copy of this 1966 album by the Lovin’ Spoonful. What you can see in the picture above is the rear cover:

This is what the front cover looks like:

Staying with Paul, how many copies do you reckon he’s signed of Sgt. Pepper?

Yes, that’s a gate-fold original copy alright. And it’d be worth quite a bit now if it’s still around….

If anyone knows who the young woman is, and how she managed to find Paul McCartney out in the park walking his dog Martha on a summer’s day and just happened to have a copy of the LP with her at the time – let us know.

Here’s another one of Paul from around the same period, again running the gauntlet with fans, this time assisted by stalwart Beatle roadie, Mal Evans (in glasses) – who looks to be shepherding Paul from a fan holding a copy of the ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’/’Penny Lane’ single:

That is definitely the picture sleeve cover of the 1967 Beatles single ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’/’Penny Lane’. We had another photo of the same single being signed by John Lennon in the Beatles with Records Part Six.

Interestingly, the same image was used for the 1981 EP issue containing the songs ‘The Inner Light’/’Baby, You’re A Rich Man’/’She’s A Woman’/’This Boy’:

Paul has endured of course – right up to the DVD age – where he is asked to sign copies of those as well:

The Space Within Us, a McCartney concert DVD, comes from 2006.

George Harrison was also often collared to do an autograph or two – sometimes on Beatle records. This one looks like he’s been nabbed in the driveway, leaving his home Kinfauns in Surrey:

That’s gotta be the rear cover of this 1967 Beatle EP, don’t you think?:

Paul has also been snapped signing a copy of Magical Mystery Tour:

Thanks to Claude Defer for sending that photograph.

Sometimes, despite their familiarity with their own product, the Beatles can be seen studying their record covers quite closely:

That’s George with…..

I also like this one of George, but do you know which LP he is carrying out the door? His clothing suggests its around the time of “Sgt Pepper”:

If you know or can can figure it out please let us know at beatlesblogger@gmail.com

This LP that John is carrying is much more obvious:

And finally we have to have one of Ringo. This is from 1974, sitting with the late, great Harry Nilsson and holding up a copy of the Nilsson single “Daybreak”, taken from the album “Son of Dracula“:

Thanks to everyone who submitted photographs. You can see the other parts in “The Beatles with Records” series here: Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 , 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17.

Paul and Advertising

Posted on February 12, 2012 by beatlesblogger

“The Beatles position is that they don’t sing jingles to peddle sneakers, beer, pantyhose or anything else,” said Apple’s attorney in a statement of July 18, 1987. “Their position is that they wrote and recorded these songs as artists and not as pitchmen for any product.” [From the battle over Nike’s use of the song “Revolution”]

It was surprising to find while having a look around the website for 54th Grammy Awards (to be announced tomorrow February 12 in the US) to see an advertisement for JBL audio gear featuring Paul McCartney.

Clearly, well-prior to its official release just last week, deals were being done around his song “My Valentine”, and it’s already being used to market products. The YouTube copy elsewhere reads in part:

“A life-long user of JBL equipment in the studio, on tour and at home, McCartney’s appearance as a JBL “Hear the truth” artist is a testament to the enduring impact the brand has had on musicians and music fans since the dawn of the rock era. The video features his new single, “My Valentine,” from the album “Kisses on the Bottom,” which was released on February 7….”

The print ads look like this:

I’m not sure why I was surprised by this. Thinking about it some more McCartney has a history of associating his concerts, his music, and himself with commercial products. In fact he struck another deal prior to the release of Kisses on the Bottom – this time with the jewelers Tiffany and Co. Again one has to imagine this was largely attributable to the romance associated with Valentines Day, jewelry sales, and the song “My Valentine”. Tiffany and Co., on their website http://www.WhatMakesLoveTrue.com (no longer active), offered for a limited time a free download of “Only Our Hearts”, one of the other two original McCartney songs (the other is “My Valentine”) from Kisses on the Bottom.

The Tiffany and Co. site also includes links to the Kisses on the Bottom album video Electronic Press Kit video, with McCartney and producer Tommy LiPuma talking with veteran rock writer Robert Hiburn. This was available on the Tiffany site before it was available anywhere else – even on McCartney’s own website.

Other overt and sometimes criticised commercial associations come to mind. There were two from 2005. The first is the CD Never Stop Doing What You Love:

This was a 15 track “Best Of” limited-edition CD, not for sale but given away to employees of the Boston-based company Fidelity Investments. The company were sponsors of McCartney’s 2005 US tour, and he became their official spokesman. According to Wikipedia, on the day of the CD release company employees were treated to a special recorded message by Paul himself informing them that “Fidelity and I have a lot in common” and urging them to “never stop doing what you love”. There were TV commercials and print ads featuring home-movie footage – the first time McCartney had ever given such personal footage to an ad campaign. He received considerable criticism for his celebrity endorsement of Fidelity Investments, which many considered to be a vulgar attempt to increase his already astounding wealth.

The second example also comes from 2005 and another major concert tour sponsor, the car-maker Lexus. Paul even had his own Lexus/McCartney website, and a limited McCartney signature-edition Lexus RX 400 SUV release, complete with a Hoffner Bass paint job. The idea was for Lexus to promote his latest album too, which was Chaos and Creation in the Backyard. To be fair the site was also used to promote one of Paul’s main charitable focuses at the time: Adopt-a-Minefield. Also from the association came this limited-edition 2 CD set:

This Lexus Tour Edition pack contained the 13-track Chaos and Creation in the Backyard CD plus an exclusive 10-track Motor of Love compilation CD featuring McCartney “road-themed” songs like “The Back Seat of My Car” (originally from the album Ram, but this version from Wingspan); “Helen Wheels” (from Band on the Run – 25th Anniversary Edition); “Lonely Road” (from Driving Rain) and “Biker Like an Icon” (from Off the Ground). There were two rare live tracks: “Drive My Car” (from the Super Bowl XXXIX half-time show in Jacksonville, Florida on February 6, 2005), and “The Long and Winding Road” (from the Driving U.S. Tour, Annaheim, California, May 5, 2002. I’m pretty sure this is a different version than the one on the Back in the U.S. Live 2002 CD). The set is housed in a cardboard slipcase and was commercially available – but only for a brief time from US Lexus dealerships:

Of course, Paul McCartney lends his name and image to many a good cause too. Take cruelty to animals and PETA for example, an organisation he’s supported for years:

So, where do you sit on the question of commercial product endorsement? Does it worry you or change your view of the artist? Do you have any other advertising examples involving Paul or the other Beatles that you know of?

Use the “Comments” box below or write to: beatlesblogger@gmail.com

By the way, McCartney is nominated for a 2011 Grammy in the category Best Historical Album for last year’s Band on the Run, the deluxe edition from the Paul McCartney Archive Collection. He will perform at the event.

McCartney’s Kisses on the Bottom – Who Owns The Songs?

Posted on January 28, 2012 by beatlesblogger

Just had an email from Bruce Hamlin, an Australian collector who runs The Beatles Records Information Service, with some information about the new Paul McCartney release of Kisses on the Bottom (out on February 7).

Because the album is Paul interpreting some of the great old songs he loves, Bruce muses at the end of his email: “The cynic in me reckons that Paul owns the publishing rights to all these songs too. Just for that extra bit of icing on the cake when the royalties come in….”

McCartney of course owns MPL Communications Limited, one of the biggest song publishing and licensing companies in the world – and in fact does own the rights to literally thousands of songs and covering nearly 100 years of music.

So, how many of the songs he’s covering on Kisses on the Bottom does McCartney already own, and will he subsequently get song royalties from tracks he didn’t write back into his own business? In the album’s track-list below I’ve put in RED whether MPL administers the publishing rights:

1. I’m Gonna Sit Right Down And Write Myself A Letter – YES (written by Joe Young, Fred E. Ahlert, 1935)
2. Home (When Shadows Fall) – NO
3. It’s Only A Paper Moon – NO
4. More I Cannot Wish You – YES (written by Frank Loesser, 1949)
5. The Glory Of Love – NO
6. We Three (My Echo, My Shadow And Me) – YES (written by Dick Robertson, Sammy Mysels, Nelson Cogane, 1939)
7. Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate The Positive – YES (written by Harold Arlen, Johnny Mercer, 1944)
8. My Valentine (it’s a new McCartney composition, 2012) – YES
9. Always – NO
10. My Very Good Friend The Milkman – NO
11. Bye Bye Blackbird – NO
12. Get Yourself Another Fool – NO
13. The Inch Worm – YES (written by Frank Loesser, 1951)
14. Only Our Hearts (another new composition) – YES

The Deluxe CD Album will feature 2 bonus tracks:

15. Baby’s Request (a 1979 McCartney tune from Back to the Egg) – YES
16. My One And Only Love – YES

Therefore, in answer to Bruce’s question, for the standard CD edition of Kisses Paul McCartney owns half the songs. For the deluxe edition he owns the rights to 9 out of the 16 tracks.

Also, it’s just been pointed out to me by Beatlesblog reader Craig that two of the songs on the album have previously been released in versions on Apple Records. Ringo did ‘Bye, Bye Blackbird’ on Sentimental Journey (his 1970 tribute to old songs he loves), and Mary Hopkin recorded ‘The Inch Worm’ on her first album, Postcard (1968).

Peter Asher, Paul, Mary Hopkin at Trident Studios, London, 1968 (Apple)

Paul produced Mary Hopkin’s Postcard LP, so he must have liked the song ‘The Inch Worm’ for a long time. He chose the album’s songs, the arranger and even the artwork for the album cover. From the liner notes of the digitally re-mastered edition of Postcard from 2010:

Mary remembers that the show tunes and hits from yesteryear that make up half the collection were favourites of Paul’s father, Jim McCartney. They call to mind the valve-warming radio days of the BBC’s old Light Programme, Ringo Starr’s Sentimental Journey album that Apple would soon release, and the comfy familiarity that Paul evoked in Beatles songs such as ‘Honey Pie’, ‘When I’m Sixty Four’ and ‘Your Mother Should Know’.

Sounds just like the 2012 publicity for Kisses on the Bottom, doesn’t it.

‘The Inch Worm’ originally comes from the 1952 Danny Kaye film Hans Christian Anderson. And Paul’s company MPL Communications Limited now owns the publishing rights to the song.

You can access the database for all the songs that ML Communications has the rights to at: www.mplcommunications.com/search.php For most tracks in the database you can also listen to full audio examples, often by a range of performers.

For a great film of Mary Hopkin performing different language versions of ‘Those Were the Days’ see the Wogblog page. Great shots of the Apple offices in 1968, too.

Two New Videos – One From Paul, One From George

Posted on January 18, 2012 by beatlesblogger

Got home to find a press release from the George Harrison official site today announcing a new iPad app to be launched on February 23. It’ll bring a wide selection pictures, sounds and information about guitars from the George Harrison collection. Here’s the release:

Bandwdth Publishing, in conjunction with the George Harrison Estate, announces the release of a special iPad app celebrating the guitarist and his historical guitar collection. The Guitar Collection: George Harrison iPad app will be released through iTunes on February 23, two days before George’s birthdate.

The release continues:

The app brings George Harrison’s private guitar collection to life through photographs, detailed descriptions, audio, and video footage. For the first time, with the help of unique 360° imaging by photographer Steven Sebring, fans can see the scratches, dings, and worn threads on the guitars as if they were themselves holding the instruments.

Fans will be able to examine Harrison’s private guitar collection, through personal audio recordings from Harrison himself as he introduces many of the guitars and plays sections of songs.

The history of each guitar is laid out in great detail; including the origin of the guitar, when and how it became part of Harrison’s collection, modifications he made to it and why each was so important in creating his distinctive sound. Songs from his catalogue are organized by the guitars used on each track, which allows the user to appreciate the personalities of each instrument.

The video section of the app contains footage of Ben Harper, Josh Homme, Mike Campbell, and Dhani Harrison each playing and showcasing the guitars and exploring their feel and tone. In addition, Conan O’Brien and Dhani discuss what make these guitars so exceptional. Also in this section, guitar great Gary Moore shares his views on what made George Harrison such a distinctive and influential guitar player.

The app will sell for US$9.99 at the Apple App Store.

Also…….

Amazon has uploaded a video of Paul McCartney’s photo shoot for the cover images of his new CD and LP “Kisses On The Bottom”. It uses the song “My Valentine” as background. I’m not sure how long it has been up – but I only just saw it today so thought I’d pass it on. Paul was photographed by his daughter Mary McCartney for the album sleeve and she makes a very brief appearance:

Amazon – Kisses on the Bottom video

The Fireman – Fluid Remixes

Posted on January 12, 2012 by beatlesblogger

The music: This is a 12-inch vinyl disc released in 1999 containing remixes from “Rushes”, The Fireman (aka Paul McCartney and Youth) LP and CD from 1998. Paul’s Fireman work is electronic, ambient and experimental.

The remixes were done by British musician Nitin Sawhney and this 12 incher contains three of Sawhney’s remixes of the track “Fluid” plus one other song called “Bison”. All the original versions can be found on the “Rushes” CD and LP.

Back then McCartney was keen to keep as many details of his involvement in The Fireman project as low-key as possible. More recently for The Fireman’s “Electric Arguments” CD and LP he’s been much more open about who The Fireman is (see this official site for example). But back in 1993 (for their first outing “Strawberries Ocean Ships Forest“), and in 1998 (for “Rushes“) he was very much incognito and uncredited.

In the UK both “Strawberries Oceans Ships Forest” and “Rushes” came out on the little-known Hydra label. (In the US “Strawberries Ocean Ships Forest” was licensed to Capitol Records to distribute). One small McCartney give-away in the fine print of both these albums and their spin off remixes and singles is that all the songs are copyright to Juggler Music – a veiled reference to the McCartney company MPL Communications and its logo?:

The Cover: This, like all The Fireman releases so far, is an interesting example of design. It’s a triple-fold cardboard “sleeve” which wraps around the disc and is held together by a custom-made red elastic band. Unusual. No designer is credited, but it seems that Norman Hathaway (who did the extensive artwork for the “Electric Arguments” project) was involved. The colours used throughout the design have common themes and elements taken from the “Rushes” CD and LP covers. The vinyl disc has custom labels:

I think Paul is having a bit of a laugh with that second label….;-)

The inner cover is very plain, being three panels (moving left to right):

Only 3000 copies were released worldwide….my copy (which I only just got via Ebay) is no. 2658.

Paul McCartney – Kisses on the Bottom Latest

Posted on January 9, 2012 by beatlesblogger

Paul McCartney has updated the information available about his forthcoming new release “Kisses On The Bottom” his album of sentimental covers (plus two new original tracks written and performed in the same vein). Here’s the cover artwork:From the McCartney official website news page:

Paul’s tribute to personal favourites & two new self penned compositions out February 6th/7th

On December 19^th 2011 Paul announced that February 2012 would see the release of his brand new studio album. Scores of fans then streamed the new original track ‘My Valentine’, many assuming it would be the new record’s title track. While a few Twitter hints have been dropped and rumours have run rampant, Paul puts an end to speculation today, confirming that the album will indeed be titled ‘Kisses On The Bottom’.

Paul has apparently had some fun with his choice of album title—while causing some confusion amongst those who have historically subjected his every move to microscopic scrutiny (with many fixating on an anatomical interpretation!). The phrase ‘Kisses On The Bottom,’ however, actually comes from the album’s opener ‘I’m Gonna Sit Right Down And Write Myself A Letter’. Originally made a big hit by Fats Waller in 1935, the song opens with the lines ‘I’m gonna sit right down and write myself a letter and make believe it came from you. I’m gonna write words oh so sweet. They’re gonna knock me off of my feet. A lot of kisses on the bottom , I’ll be glad I got ‘em’.

‘Kisses On The Bottom’ is a collection of standards Paul grew up listening to in his childhood as well as the two new McCartney compositions ‘My Valentine’ and ‘Only Our Hearts’. With the help of Grammy Award-winning producer Tommy LiPuma and Diana Krall and her band—as well as guest appearances from Eric Clapton and Stevie Wonder, McCartney’s new album is a deeply personal journey through classic American compositions that, in some cases, a young Paul first heard his father perform on piano at home. The full tracklisting reveals that Paul has been both reverent and adventurous in his song choices.

Kisses On The Bottom

1. I’m Gonna Sit Right Down And Write Myself A Letter

2. Home (When Shadows Fall)

3. It’s Only A Paper Moon

4. More I Cannot Wish You

5. The Glory Of Love

6. We Three (My Echo, My Shadow And Me)

7. Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate The Positive

8. My Valentine

9. Always

10. My Very Good Friend The Milkman

11. Bye Bye Blackbird

12. Get Yourself Another Fool

13. The Inch Worm

14. Only Our Hearts

The Deluxe CD Album will feature two bonus tracks plus access to a download of an exclusive live show (available from Tuesday 14^th February via paulmccartney.com), plus longer liner notes and expanded packaging featuring three postcards)

15. Baby’s Request

16. My One And Only Love

The album will also be available digitally. You will be able to pre-order the album directly from PaulMcCartney.com soon!

The album was recorded at the legendary Capitol Studios in Los Angeles, New York and London throughout 2011. It also features guest musicians Eric Clapton and Stevie Wonder, respectively, on the original compositions ‘My Valentine’ and ‘Only Our Hearts’. Eric also appears on the track ‘Get Yourself Another Fool’.

The album artwork concept was conceived by Jonathan Schofield (Visual Director at Stella McCartney) and designed by Matthew Cooper (who has worked with artists such as Arctic Monkeys and Franz Ferdinand). Paul was photographed by his daughter Mary McCartney for the album sleeve.

The Wogblog website says the deluxe CD package will contain longer liner notes and expanded packaging featuring three postcards, along with the two bonus tracks mentioned above. He also reminds us that”Baby’s Request” is a McCartney composition that can be found on the Wings album “Back To The Egg” from 1979.

For vinyl collectors there’ll be a double LP version of “Kisses On The Bottom” released.

The Beatles with Records – Part Six

Posted on December 28, 2011 by beatlesblogger

Some further photographs of the Beatles being photographed with records have been sent in – and so it’s time to add a Part Six to the series.

These photographs are all great and they come from Claude Defer, co-author of a recent book about all the French Beatles record releases. Claude’s first pic is of Paul, Linda and Denny Laine in the back of a limo and for some reason they have with them a copy of John and Yoko’s rather controversial 1968 release Unfinished Music No.1: Two Virgins. Paul might simply be re-acquainting himself with the quote he provided for the cover of the album: “When two great saints meet it is a humbling experience. The long battles to prove he was a Saint“….

As you can see below, John also quotes Genesis 2: 21-25:

Of course there are lots of photos available of the Beatles being presented with gold records in honour of their huge sales – but in this one for his work on Band on the Run with his new band Wings, Paul looks particularly pleased:

In this series on the Beatles with records we’ve had a lot of hastily-taken fan photographs sent in. These have been when the band members have stopped to talk and to autograph copies of their LPs and singles for waiting fans. This is another one of those, this time with John Lennon signing a copy of the single ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’/’Penny Lane’:

In the recent Martin Scorsese documentary on the life and times of George Harrison (called Living in the Material World) there’s a fantastic photograph featured of George holding up a copy of All Things Must Pass, his 1970 triple-LP box set. I remember sitting in the cinema watching the film and thinking “Hmmm. Must get that photograph and upload it to the Beatles with Records series!”

Well, Claude Defer found it and sent it in:

Finally, a fairly early publicity photograph of the Beatles in front of a display of some of their releases, including A Hard Days Night, Please Please Me and With the Beatles:

If you have any other photographs you’d like to share please send them to: beatlesblogger@gmail.com

Oh, and I almost forgot…..of course there’s also this video of John and Yoko putting their Plastic Ono Band Live Peace in Toronto 1969 onto the turntable and playing it. It’s only the very first couple of seconds of this YouTube video – but it’s worth it.You can see the other parts in “The Beatles with Records” series here:

Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 , 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17.

Listen to “My Valentine” – New Paul McCartney Track

Posted on December 22, 2011 by beatlesblogger

Paul McCartney has issued a sneak preview of his forthcoming album of cover versions (plus two new McCartney originals). The full album will be released by Hear Music/Concord Records on February 7.

Wogblog has the full track-list, while the Beatles Examiner says that the album will definitely not be called “My Valentine” – this is despite the fact that it will be released in time for Valentine’s Day, 2012.

Special guests on the album include Diana Krall, Stevie Wonder and, as you can hear on the track below, Eric Clapton on guitar. The record is produced by the legendary Tommy LiPuma and looks to have a strong jazz-influenced tinge to it. It’ll certainly be interesting to hear McCartney exporing this new territory. The song “My Valentine”, while newly composed, sounds like it could have come from the same era as the other songs he has chosen to cover.

The Beatles Box

Posted on November 18, 2011 by beatlesblogger

In the city the other day I stumbled upon this box of Beatles books:

It gathers together four books by respected British Beatles historian and writer Alan Clayson. Collectively it’s called “The Beatles Box”, and contains four individual books on each member of the group. There’s one on John Lennon (which was originally published in 2003):

One on Paul McCartney (also originally published in 2003):

One on George Harrison (originally published in 1996 as “The Quiet One: A Life of George Harrison”, but updated here in 2003):

And one on Ringo Starr (originally published in 1996 as “Ringo Starr: Straight Man or Joker?”, but also updated here in 2003):

This box of books is nicely designed. The covers are all complementary and the book spines line up when they are placed side-by-side in the box, with photos of each looking out:

“The Beatles Box” is published by Sanctuary Publishing. Alan Clayson is also a musician and has his own website.

Beatles Blog

Adventures in collecting Beatles music

Tag Archives: Paul McCartney

The Beatles With Records – Part Seven

Paul and Advertising

McCartney’s Kisses on the Bottom – Who Owns The Songs?

Two New Videos – One From Paul, One From George

The Fireman – Fluid Remixes

Paul McCartney – Kisses on the Bottom Latest

The Beatles with Records – Part Six

Listen to “My Valentine” – New Paul McCartney Track

The Beatles Box

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