Tag Archives: Paul McCartney

Beatles on CD – The “Sgt Pepper” Box Set

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When the Beatles catalogue came out on Compact Disc for the first time back in 1987 it was a very big deal and the British record store chain HMV (which has close ties back to the Beatles record company EMI) released a series of limited edition 12” x 12″ box sets to mark the occasion. These boxes look just like those which contain 12″ LP’s so I guess there was a certain symbolism in releasing them in this way – the boxes containing CD’s indicating a move forward from the LP to the Compact Disc.

In all there were 12 individual box sets containing either individual or grouped CD’s, plus there was also a large (and expensive) HMV box housing every Beatle CD title then available.

You can see here all the “Beatles on CD” HMV Box Sets (minus “Abbey Road”) above. These (except for the 1962-1966 and 1967-1970 sets) all came out in 1987.

The box numbered BEACD25 contained “Please Please Me”, “With The Beatles”, “Hard Days Night” and “For Sale” on CD, plus a 224-page book ‘The Book Of Beatle Lists’, plus a Beatles fact sheet.

BEACD25/2 contained “Help”, “Rubber Soul” and “Revolver”, plus a reprint of Beatles Monthly No. 12 and a Beatles fact sheet.

“Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band” (BEACD25/3) had the album with a slipcase, an 8-page ‘behind the scenes’ booklet, the 12″ cut-outs sheet and  a badge.

The “White Album” (BEACD25/4) featured an individually numbered double CD album, a 12-page glossy booklet and a badge.

BEACD25/5 was “Yellow Submarine” and came with an insert, a cut-out ‘Yellow Submarine’ model, and a fact-sheet, while “Magical Mystery Tour” (BEACD25/6) had a 12-page booklet, a large fold out colour poster and badge.

“Abbey Road”  (BEACD25/7) comprised the 17-track CD album, two different posters, a badge and an 8-page booklet.

The “Let It Be” HMV box has a 12-page booklet and badge, and has the catalogue number BEACD25/8.

The “Past Masters Vol.1” and “Vol. 2” came in separate boxes – each with a badge and a 12-page booklet with pictures and track-by-track details. These were numbered BEACD25/9 and BEACD25/10.

Finally, when they were released in 1993 the “Beatles 1962-1966” Red Album and the “Beatles 1967-1970″ Blue Album also came in separate boxes containing the double CD sets, a 12-page colour booklet featuring song reviews, a 16″ x 24” colour poster and a badge. These were numbered BEACD25/11 and BEACD25/12 respectively.

I got a bargain the other day – I was able to get the “Sgt Pepper” HMV box and the “Beatles 1962 – 1966” – both practically mint copies. I’ll give you a close up look at the “Sgt Pepper” box set here, and post on the “62-66” red box next time.

You can see the front of the box above – and it features a different photograph from the one used on the CD. When you take the lid off this is what you first see:

This is an 8-page booklet with lots of photographs taken at the photo shoot for the famous cover of “Sgt Pepper”. There’s also some text about each song. Here are couple of pages from the booklet:

Underneath that there’s the same “Sgt Pepper” cardboard cut-out sheet which came with the original copies of the LP version:

Then comes the CD itself, held in place by a special cardboard holder with a slot just right for the CD and it’s outer cardboard sleeve. There’s a small thumb-slot at the bottom to help you get the CD out:

Also in the box is a small metal pin or badge:

The CD that comes with this is the original release with the cardboard sleeve, booklet with additional info, and an insert that has details of all the faces used in the famous Peter Blake photograph of the band standing with all their heroes:

Inside the lid of the HMV box there’s a limited edition stamped number:

Next post we’ll take a look at the “Beatles 1962-1966” HMV Limited Edition box set.

Abbey Road – Crossing to be Heritage Listed

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The zebra crossing made famous by the Beatles has just been designated a site of national significance by the British government. Fans from around the globe flock to the crossing every day to have their photo taken walking over Abbey Road, just down from the EMI studios of the same name. The Abbey Road studios became almost a home-away-from-home for the Beatles and was where they recorded just about all their greatest songs.

The story of the heritage listing (which means it will be preserved forever from change) has been picked up by media around the world.

Here’s how the BBC World Service covered it this morning:

Paul McCartney says he’s pleased with the news, and that for him it caps off what has been a run of recent success: “It’s been a great year for me and a great year for the Beatles and hearing that the Abbey Road crossing is to be preserved is the icing on the cake.”

The photo-shoot for the album which put the pedestrian crossing on the map took just ten minutes to complete. On a sunny day on August 8th, 1969 photographer Iain Macmillan took what would become one of the best-known, copied, and parodied album covers of all time.

Getting ready to cross

People today can’t get the exact same look as the Beatles got for their cover for two reasons. First is that the crossing is not in exactly the same place it was back in 1969, and second is that Iain Macmillan was about ten feet up on a ladder. He took just six photos and it was the fifth one that was used for “Abbey Road”.

Starting the famous walk. Paul is in bare feet and getting nicely out of step....

There is a webcam (run by Abbey Road Studios) that looks over the crossing now 24 hours a day –  so even if you can’t get to London you can experience it virtually any time you like. The latest release to bear the photo that put a zebra crossing on the map is the remastered CD of “Abbey Road” – which came out last year in the new look with the white strip down the left-hand side. The legend lives on:

Paul McCartney – Tripping the Live Fantastic (Highlights)

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Well, there are always some surprises in the Beatles and Beatles-related collecting game.

I’ve had a vinyl copy of Paul McCartney’s “Tripping the Live Fantastic – Highlights” LP for many, many years. In fact my copy – in mint condition by the way – dates from the time it was first released way back in 1990. It’s a single LP with 12 tracks, a cut-down version of the full, triple-LP version. The cover looks like this:

The LP I have is on the Australian black and silver Parlophone/EMI label:

I always thought that the “Highlights” LP had an identical track-listing to the compact disc and so have never paid much interest in getting that particular disc….until about a week ago when I decided to look on the Internet for a copy of the full “Tripping the Live Fantastic” 3-LP version to add to the collection. (Turns out these are pretty rare and subsequently expensive, and so I am still looking….).

I did discover, by accident really, that the single CD version of  “Highlights” comes with additional tracks that are not on the single LP “Highlights” version I have had for twenty years now. In fact there are 17 tracks on the CD version, with six extra tracks than the LP (although the LP has one song not on the CD “Put It There”), and so I decided to bid for a copy online and here it is:

Tripping the Live Fantastic - Highlights CD (front cover)

Tripping the Live Fantastic - Highlights CD (rear cover)

“Tripping” is a live disc of songs McCartney recorded in different locations around the world, as he says “….from Rio to Glasgow, Tokyo, through most everywhere and back again…”.

The CD song list is:  1. Got To Get You Into My Life (Not on LP),  2. Birthday,      3. We Got Married (Not on LP),  4. Long And Winding Road,   5. Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,  6. Can’t Buy Me Love,  7. All My Trials (Not on LP),  8. Things We Said Today (Not on LP),    9. Eleanor Rigby,  10. My Brave Face,  11. Back In The USSR (Not on LP),    12. I Saw Her Standing There,          13. Coming Up,   14. Let It Be,   15. Hey Jude,    16. Get Back,                                  17. Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End (Not on LP).

This is a really nice mint copy of the “Highlights” CD. Its a UK pressing – I think. I say that because the label is a bit confusing. In the small print around the CD outer is says “Manufactured in England by EMI”, but just under the catalogue number it says “Made in Austria”.  Weird.

I am still on the lookout for the 3-LP vinyl version, or maybe a nice copy of the double CD full version of the release. Or maybe both! Will let you know how I go….

Cool photo of Paul from the CD Booklet

Rolling Stone – 100 Greatest Beatle Songs – Australian Edition

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Back in September I posted on the Rolling Stone magazine special edition release called “The Beatles – 100 Greatest Songs“.

Finally, its been released in its Australian and New Zealand version. This 122 page “book” has a different cover!

Clearly its a photo by Bruce McBroom from the same photo-session in London on April 9th, 1969 – but it is different to the one used for the front cover of the US version of this special edition Rolling Stone magazine:

Band on the Run – Deluxe CD and Vinyl

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Finally, my copies of “Band On The Run” –  in both the 2 disc vinyl edition and the deluxe 4 CD bound-book special edition – have arrived from the United States.

They both came together, packaged in the same big cardboard box – and I have to say it was pretty beaten up by the time it got here to Australia.

As I opened it up I was really worried about what I might find inside. It’s not the first time I’ve had vinyl records in particular arrive in a less than optimum state. For example, when I ordered The Fireman “Electronic Arguments” LP (direct from the official McCartney website back in 2008).  It was, to put it mildly, pathetically packaged up for such a long journey in the post. It’s a fragile vinyl double record that needed to travel from the United Kingdom half-way ’round the world to Australia. And how had they prepared it for such an epic journey? Simply plonked it in a loose-fitting cardboard box and put two of those large bubble “fillers” inside tho make up the volume. These didn’t stop the record moving around, being tossed from side to side when being dropped and bounced and placed at the bottom of piles of other packages along the way. Consequently the cover was bent and torn in places by the time it got here….I’d have expected more from the company charged with dispatching orders to collectors direct from the McCartney site….

Anyway, the box of “Band On The Run” goodies which arrived this week from Amazon was, I have to say, similarly packaged  – only this time for some reason both the LP and the CD set had survived unscathed! They were both enveloped in a tight shrink-wrap that really helped keep everything together. I’m very pleased with the results actually, though it could have been an entirely different story as again, the box they came in was bashed around considerably.

Here’s what was in the box. Firstly, the 2010 double LP – which is a gatefold cover. It is still sealed I’m afraid. I can’t bring myself to open it!:

Front cover "Band on the Run" 2010 vinyl LP - still sealed!

Here’s the rear cover, and its the same photo layout as the original UK version:

Rear cover "Band on the Run" 2010 vinyl LP

There is a sticker on the bottom left-hand side of the LP’s front cover:

Now onto the Deluxe, 4 disc edition – which comes as a large format, thick hardback book. This one I have opened up so you can see some of what is inside. Here’s how it presents when you first get it in its plastic seal:

Sealed front cover "Band on the Run" deluxe

Here’s a close-up of the sticker on the front right-hand side:

On the rear when the book is still sealed is a card insert:

Rear when sealed. This is a card that can be removed when the plastic comes off.

On the card you can see the MPL, Hear Music and Concord Records labels. Once you have the plastic off here’s what you have:

Deluxe edition "Band on the Run" book - front

It is a cloth-bound, hardback book. Really thick and solid and beautifully done. The photo is recessed and the printing of “Paul McCartney Archive Collection” and the signature are embossed into the cloth. On the rear there is a Limited Edition stamped number:

Inside, the 121 page book is richly illustrated with photographs and text. The chapter headings are: Introduction; The Songs; A Trip to Lagos; Return to London; The Photo-shoot; Release; Press; Film and Video; and Lyrics.

A page from the chapter "A Trip to Lagos"

A page from the chapter "The Photo-shoot:

A page from the chapter "Release"

Inside there is also a business card sized card which says: “This card offers you free access to the 24bit 96kHz High Resolution audio download of the remastered album….”, and gives you a code number to use:

One side of the free download card

Finally, right at the very back of the book are two thick cardboard pages that hold the four discs you get. Three CDs and one DVD:

As you can see, each of these discs has individual artwork to differentiate between them.

All-in-all its a very nicely put together item. It’s not cheap – but you can see the work that has gone into it and it will probably become a very collectable item in my view.

To close then, that rear, removable card says: “Look for future re-issues in the Paul McCartney Archive Collection, including “McCartney”, “McCartney II”, “Ram” and more, coming soon”. It makes you wonder if that’s the planned release order by Paul McCartney and Concorde Records, and if so just how soon the “McCartney” re-issue will be available. How long will it be between this one and the next? You can imagine your bookshelf beginning to fill up with a line of these beautifully finished books….if you can afford them that is.

See also the very limited edition vinyl 45 released as part of the promotion for “Band on the Run” 2010.

If you like John Lennon see the “Signature Box” and the “Gimme Some Truth” collections.

Paul’s Poem For John – Still Poignant After All These Years

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As part of the recent commemoration of John Lennon’s 70th birthdate, the respected NPR radio program “Fresh Air” re-broadcast a wide selection of interviews it had done over the years about Lennon.

One of them was an interview that host Terri Gross did with Paul McCartney. It comes from back in 2001 when he was on the promotion trail for a new book of his collected words called  “Blackbird Singing – Poems and Lyrics 1965-1999“. Its a beautiful little book. If you haven’t seen a copy it looks like this:

In it are the lyrics to “Here Today (Song for John)”, the song Paul wrote specifically for John Lennon after he’d been murdered. It had first appeared on the 1982 album “Tug of War” with a lovely string arrangement by George Martin. More recently though McCartney has been performing it live as a solo acoustic guitar number and speaking more openly about how much he misses his friend and colleague. There’s a very emotional version of the song on the live “Good Evening New York City” (2009), for example.

Anyway, back to the “Blackbird Singing” book interview…..in 2001 radio host Terri Gross asked Paul to read the words to “Here Today” out loud as a poem. In 2010, at this time of remembrance for John, its also very moving:

In his book “FAB – An Intimate Life of Paul McCartney“, author Howard Sounes recounts a story from composer and musician Eric Stewart (ex 10cc) which also sheds some light on how those words might have come about. During the early sessions for “Tug of War” McCartney was working at his friend Stewart’s Strawberry South Studios. He says at the time McCartney was going through a pretty low period:

“He said, ‘I’ve just realised that John has gone. John’s gone. He’s dead and he’s not coming back.’ And he looked completely dismayed, like shocked at something that had suddenly hit him. I said, ‘Well, it’s been a few weeks now.’ He said, ‘I know, Eric, but I’ve just realised.’ It was one of those things maybe he wanted to say something to him [John], but it was too late to say it then….”

Beatles Finally on iTunes

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Well, the cryptic iTunes advertisement yesterday certainly had people speculating again:

Forget the fact that the term “…just another day” isn’t actually a Beatles song (it’s a Paul McCartney solo song), it was more those clocks being side-by-side that triggered off the guesswork that it was Beatles-related.  Something about the position of the hands:

Thanks to the TechCrunch website for starting that one off. It was quickly followed up by the MacRumours site, too. Once that happened it was on for young and old.  The New York Times then got in on the act, stating they had spoken to an anonymous insider who’d told them everything:

Apple is expected on Tuesday to announce that it has finally struck a deal with the Beatles, the best-selling music group of all time, and the band’s record company, EMI, to sell the band’s music on iTunes, according to a person with knowledge of the private deal who requested anonymity because the agreement was still confidential.  (Read the full article)

Then today, finally, came confirmation. The Beatles entire catalogue is now available for digital download. The New York Times has updated its stories – this one in particular has some interesting history and background. And they’re also running an article with information about what we’ll pay for the Beatles back-catalogue digitally. Certainly from what I can see in the Australian iTunes Store its a premium price, thats for sure. (The outrage at the Aussie pricing by Apple is growing. See here and here).

There is one thing for free though if you are quick. On iTunes there’s a free download of the 1964 concert live at that Washington Colliseum, the Beatles first ever on US soil. Its quite fascinating to watch. Its the entire performance – complete with associated pandemonium, between-song banter, screaming, bad sound and a rawness thats revealing.

Thanks to Henry for sending me the MacRumours link.  iTunes have an Artist page here.

Three Copies of “Q” Magazine

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I needed to visit Australia’s national capital Canberra for work the other day and ended up staying overnight. That meant driving back to Sydney on a Saturday morning and so I had time to call into the large-ish New South Wales country town of Goulburn, which is just off the freeway on the way home.

Goulburn, I had discovered on a previous trip, has a very large second-hand book and record shop just off the main street called The Argyle Book Emporium. When I say big I’m talking an extensive old rambling period building with room after room literally filled floor-to-ceiling with books. One room at the rear is devoted to music. There’s a small selection of music-related books and magazines, and boxes and boxes of records and CDs. Its a bit frustrating as these boxes are just randomly grouped together. They’re not split out into Male Vocal, Female Vocal or Groups for example. Not even 50s, 60s ,70s and 80’s. Just everything mixed in together – making finding anything of interest a needle-in-a-haystack affair….

I didn’t have a lot of time and so I gave the LPs just a cursory flip through. I looked at a couple of boxes at the front which were easy to get to and didn’t find anything. What was more interesting was a very large pile of “Q” and “Rolling Stone” magazines. A collector had obviously off-loaded a lot of past editions that were no longer wanted. The “Rolling Stone” magazines had been pretty well picked over. Nothing really of interest to the avid Beatles collector. However, in the “Q” magazine pile I found these three editions: 

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The first dates way back to June 1987 – a time when we were all celebrating the 20th Anniversary of “Sgt Peppers”. Inside there are ten pages of photos and text:

Sadly, there was a “Sgt Pepper Part II” article that was due to be published in the following month’s magazine. It wasn’t on the pile of mags I found in Goulburn….oh well.

The next “Q” magazine I found featured an extensive article about Paul McCartney from July 1989. The headline on the front cover screams: He sings! He plays! He writes his own songs! For  PAUL McCARTNEY OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS! * Now available for live work! *.  Inside there’s a nine-page article about Paul. It begins: “He never expected to be doing this when he was 46 – “We thought 25 was the end of the line” – but Paul McCartney has stoutly refused to give up his day job. Engaged in rustic rehearsals for his first British tour in 10 years, and with a fresh solo album on offer [“Flowers In The Dirt”], he’s preparing once again to be public property. With mixed feelings…”. In the article there’s reference to the number of times McCartney makes reference to his father, Jim McCartney….”a Liverpool cotton broker and part-time musician who brought Paul up after his mother’s death (when McCartney was 14), and who died himself in 1976. One song on McCartney’s new album “Flowers In The Dirt”, is called “Put It There”, after a favourite phrase of his Dad’s”.

Finally, the “Q” magazine with that awesome David Bailey portrait of Paul and John on the cover. It comes from August 1999. Its a pretty simple premise on the part of “Q”. As the century draws to a close why not run a reader poll asking who are the 100 greatest stars of the 20th Century. According to “Q” readers back then the top ten are (were):

10. Michael Stipe; 9. Liam Gallagher; 8. Noel Gallagher; 7.Madonna; 6. David Bowie; 5. Elvis Presley; 4. Bob Dylan; 3. Kurt Cobain; 2. Paul McCartney; and and number one the runaway winner (according to “Q” by a long way)…..John Lennon.

It is kind of fitting to look back and read a magazine like this (from 1999) in this year (2010) when Lennon would have turned 70, don’t you think? Kind of cements the fact that his presence could in fact be enduring. That now, a further eleven years down the track, his music is still around and he’s still held in very high regard by many. There’s an additional article right at the end of the poll headed: “John Would Have Been Proud”. It says: “Yoko Ono, the keeper of the Lennon flame and the Lennon vat of money, telephoned Q as soon as she heard about the readers’ tsunami-sixed endorsement of her late husband’s transcendental magic and generation-straddling stature….”. That article is illustrated with this beautiful photograph:

Enough said.

(see also “Nine Copies of Rolling Stone”)

Band on the Run (2010) – Vodcast Episodes

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In the lead-up to the release of the newly remastered “Band on the Run” reissues, Paul McCartney is publishing via his official “Band on the Run” website a series of vodcasts.

The first episode is “Making Band on the Run”:

The second episode is “Wings in Lagos”:

The third episode is “Band on the Run Deluxe”:

Episode Four is “Wings The Band”:

Will post more as they become available. Thanks to TVpiotrek and pmc27 for putting these up on YouTube.

Band on the Run – Limited Edition 45 Single

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Just secured (via Ebay) a copy of the very limited, re-released 7″ vinyl single “Band on the Run”.

It’s a 45rpm single that is apparently only being distributed in the US to some of the Record Store Day shops. Its part of the build up to the forthcoming re-issue of the album “Band on the Run”, which will be available in a number of formats.

Haven’t got the single in the post yet – but here are some photos:

Band on the Run (2010) - front cover

Taken from the forthcoming Paul McCartney Archive Collection reissue, the paper sleeve front cover replicates the original U.S. and European single releases which came out in 1973 (1974 in the UK).

The rear though gives away the fact its a 2010 release with its bar code and references to Concord Music and Hear Music – Paul McCartney’s new record label since he left EMI.

Band on the Run (2010) - rear cover

Originally this would have been released on the Apple label, but this time around its a plain black and white label from Concord Music:

Back in 1974 in the UK the B-side was a song called “Zoo Gang”, but everywhere else it was another track from the “Band on the Run” LP – “Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Four”:

Much thanks to Wogblog – who once again was the first with the info that this special and limited Paul McCartney and Wings vinyl single was going to be released.

See also the full 2 LP vinyl re-issue, and the 4 disc Deluxe re-issue.