Tag Archives: Rare Beatles

Some Unusual Asian Beatles Items – Part Three

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Herewith Part Three in a series of posts on some unusual Beatles and Beatles-related items I was able to buy on a recent visit to Vietnam. I should say again here that all my collection of records, CD’s, books and DVDs have been, to date, the official record company releases. I don’t collect pirate or illegal Beatles material. However, I was presented with something of a dilemma in Vietnam by not knowing if these quite intricately produced items were illegal or the real thing. As they were all sealed in heat-shrink plastic and on the outside had official-looking logos, etc. it made it very difficult to tell. In the end because they were so cheap and I didn’t have ready access to the internet to do research on them I decided to buy and check out their credentials later. So far I have not found anything on the web about this next CD.

Its another one I got in Hanoi in the country’s north:

As you can see its called John Lennon “Definitive Lennon”.  It has a shiny, iridescent almost 3D cover that is very nicely done in green, white, silver and black. It really looks expensively produced. The photo above is of the printed slipcase around the over-sized plastic CD jewel case, which contains two CDs.

CD 1 is exactly the same track list as an official EMI Asia and Australia-only release called John Lennon “Peace, Love and Truth” from 2005. The release I have of that CD was printed in the Philippines (see below for info and images).

CD 2 has the same track listing as the CD re-issue of John Lennon’s “Rock’n’Roll” which came out in 2004. It has the same bonus tracks as that CD.

The Vietnam CD has the same SHM-CD logos that are on the Beatles Double Golden Collection series I posted about earlier. SHM-CD seems to be a legitimate process to improve CD technology and they have quite a few authorised releases – you can read more about it here.

Here’s the front cover image of the CD jewel case for “Definitive Lennon”:

The rear cover contains the track-listing:

When you open the jewel case there’s a booklet (with song lyrics) and two CD’s on a swinging “door”:

Here’s a close-up of the printing on CD 1:

As with the “Beatles Double Golden Collection”, the CD box is oversized. Here’s a comparison with the standard CD jewel case for “Lennon Legend”:

You can also see this by comparing the spines of the CD cases. The unofficial one is much wider:

The is what appears to be an official-looking Universal records logo on the outer slipcase, though to my knowledge John Lennon never had a record deal with Universal:

As mentioned above CD 1 from this set is copied from an official 2005 release called “Peace, Love and Truth” which came out in the Asian and Australian markets only. It contains a number of (then) newly remixed version of some classic Lennon songs including “Give Peace a Chance 2005  (featuring Voices of Asia)”, “Gimme Some Truth (Remix), “Love (Remix)”, “Hold On (Remix)”, “Give Peace a Chance 2004 Y2K+”, “Imagine (Remix)”, “Bring On the Lucie (Remix)”, “Mind Games (Remix)” and “I Don’t Want to Be a Soldier (Remix)”. There are also versions of “Real Love (Slow Version)”, “Help ME To Help Myself”, “I Don’t Want to Face It”, “Bless You”, “Happy Xmas (War is Over)”, “Listen the Snow is Falling” and the standard version of “Give Peace a Chance”.  The cover of the official “Peace, Love and Truth” looks like this:

The rear cover:

The “Definitive Lennon” SHM-CD was amongst some other purchases made in Vietnam. You can see posts on those in Part One and Part Two.  Again, there has been quite a lot of thought, expense and detail put into the production of the disc and its packaging, making it difficult to categorically rule it out as a fake.

I think this is the first detailed information about this release I have seen on the Internet.

UPDATE: I just realised where this CD cover comes from. It always reminded me of something I’d seen before – and its the artwork for the cover of the 2009 charity release “Make Some Noise – The Campaign to Save Darfur”:

Make Some Noise - various artists cover John Lennon songs for the Amnesty International CD release to raise funds for troubled Darfur

If the South East Asian CD “The Definitive John Lennon” is a fake then not only are they ripping off the Lennon estate, they’ve stolen artwork probably donated to the Amnesty International cause……

See also Some Unusual Asian Beatles Items – Part One, and also Some Unusual Asian Beatles Items – Part Two

Some Unusual Asian Beatles Items – Part Two

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This blog is sub-titled “Adventures in Collecting Beatles Music”, and this post continues an examination of some South East Asian Beatles releases purchased in Hanoi on a recent trip to Vietnam.

Further investigation of these hasn’t categorically ruled out their legitimacy but it seems more likely that they’re actually illegal fakes that someone (in China) has taken a lot of time and trouble to manufacture to make them appear very much like official releases…..

In Part One I wrote about the 5 DVD “Anthology” box-set I found in Hanoi.  This next post is about a series of six double CDs called “The Beatles Double Golden Collection”:

It’s a series where two Beatles albums have been released in one CD box, each with an outer cardboard slipcase. The ones I was able to purchase were:

Magical Mystery Tour and Yellow Submarine

Please Please Me and Sgt Pepper

Revolver and WIth the Beatles

Help and Rubber Soul

Abbey Road and Let It Be

Hard Days Night and Beatles For Sale

Each CD has the same documentaries as those found on the recent stereo “Beatles Remastered” discs. So, its clear that these CDs came out following the October 2009 release of those new “remastered” CDs.

If that’s the case then I can only assume that there must be at least two more titles in the “Beatles Double Golden Collection” series. There should be one that has the 2 CD “The Beatles” (White Album)”, and one for the 2 CD “Past Masters” release.  These would then fill out the catalogue. The shop in which I purchased the CD’s above mustn’t have these two titles in stock at the time – so I was able to get only these six.

These releases are interesting for a couple of reasons. As you can see above, they have a large logo at top left of the packaging for something called SHM-CD or “Super High Material CD”.  According to the internet this is “…an advance in the materials used in the production of Compact Discs that uses super quality, enhanced transparency polycarbonate material in the manufacture of CD’s”. The aim of this is to improve the sound. A Google search reveals what looks to be legitimate information about SHM-CD . It says it was invented by Universal Records and the Japanese electrics company JVC – both well-known and respected companies. This official-looking website has more information about the technology and some of the releases on SHM-CD. The rear of the slipcase also has some detailed information (in Chinese) about SHM-CD – see the top right-hand side of the image below (click on the image to make it larger):

Slipcase for Magical Mystery Tour and Yellow Submarine, with panel about SHM-CD

There’s also a panel showing what looks like very official logos for Apple Records, QuickTime, Enhanced CD, and Compact Disc:

I’d really love to hear from anyone out there who can read Chinese and can shed some light on what the small print says, or who knows if these are legal Chinese copies of Beatles discs.

As to the contents of each CD, they appear to be exactly the same as the recent Beatles Stereo Remastered series – and the quality of the recordings is first rate. The 2-CD jewel cases are not of a standard size but larger in every dimension. You can see this clearly below when they are placed side-by-side with a standard CD jewel case:

Standard CD jewel case (top) compared to Double Golden Collection jewel case (below)

The spines are also wider than standard:

Spine of a standard CD (right) compared to the Double Golden case (left)

Inside there are two CD’s on a swinging inner “door” with CD disc “A” on one side and CD disc “B” on the other:

The booklets in the “Double Golden Collection” contain lots of photographs of the Beatles. There is no text in the booklets at all. All the photos are exactly the same as those found in the booklets which come with the latest official Beatles “Remastered” series:

"Please Please Me" and "Sgt. Pepper" booklet

"Please Please Me" and "Sgt. Pepper" booklet

Here’s a closer shot of one of the CDs in the set:

"Please Please Me" and "Sgt. Pepper" CD 1

The rear cover of the jewel case details all the songs on the two albums. Notice the reference to the the special mini-documentaries. These were produced by Apple and accompany each album in the “Remastered” series as well:

Rear cover of the CD jewel case for "Please Please Me" and "Sgt. Pepper". Notice the last track for each title is the "making of" mini documentary for each album - just like in the official "Remasters" series

Again, the official logos (including Apple) and even a bar-code appear, making it tough when you are standing in a Hanoi record store trying to decide if these are indeed legitimate releases sanctioned by the Beatles and their record company Apple Records. If these are fakes whoever produced them has gone to extraordinary lengths to make them appear to be legitimate Beatle releases.

The other thing is – since returning home I’ve researched these titles fairly extensively on the web and can find nothing about them. I think that this post may be the very first to detail them.

See also Some Unusual Asian Beatles Items – Part One, and also Some Unusual Asian Beatles Items – Part Three

From A Lover To A Friend – Rare US version

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Ned in the US sent me images of another rare and collectable CD in his collection. This time, Paul McCartney’s US version of the CD single “From A Lover To A Friend”.

It was released in 2001 just after the terrible news of the World Trade Centre attacks in New York City came through. (In fact, at the time of the attacks McCartney himself was stranded on a runway at JFK Airport just outside NYC in a plane that had been grounded that day due to fears that other aircraft might be hijacked….).

In September 2001 Paul McCartney had just released the first CD single from his new album “Driving Rain”. On both sides of the Atlantic this was to be Track 2 from that record, the song “From A Lover To A Friend”.

However, as a result of what happened on 9/11 he decided to withdraw “From A Lover to a Friend” in the US and rush-release a different single, a patriotic song called “Freedom” which he’d written the day after September 11.

This is the stuff that collectors items are made of and Ned was in the right place at the right time yet again. He’d purchased a copy before it was taken off the shelves forever and kindly sent through these images of the now-rare US CD:

"From A Lover to a Friend" - rare withdrawn US version (front)

"From A Lover to a Friend" - US withdrawn version (rear)

"From A Lover to a Friend" - US version (case open)

Incidentally, all profits from the “Freedom” single (right around the world) went to aid the families of the New York Fire Brigade and Police who lost their lives trying to assist those in need and to deal with the catastrophe.

The promo cover of the US “Freedom” single looked like this:

Promo cover for US "Freedom"

Interestingly “From A Lover to A Friend” remained on sale in UK. Its got the same cover as the withdrawn US version:

"From A Lover to a Friend" - British release (front)

In Britain McCartney released “Freedom” as a second CD single later, backed with “From a Lover to a Friend” plus a different remix of that song. Here’s that British edition of “Freedom”:

British version of "Freedom" (front)

The same thing happened in Australia. Here’s a very rare “rush release” promo copy of “Freedom” that was sent to radio stations here:

Australian "Freedom" promo copy

The hand-written look and signature on a piece of paper from an exercise book was actually properly printed.

Following the release of the single McCartney performed four songs, including “Freedom”, at a special concert called “The Concert for New York City”. It was staged in 2001 to raise funds for victims the disaster and was recorded and released on CD and DVD later. Here’s the CD cover:

The Concert For NYC (front)

There’s more info about “Freedom” and a video of the Concert for New York live performance of the song (plus a live “Let It Be” with Eric Clapton) here.

Some Unusual Asian Beatles Items….Part One

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OK. I’m going to preface this first post on some unusual CD and DVD items I acquired in a South East Asian country with a statement that I don’t collect Beatles bootlegs and I don’t support or promote piracy in the music business. All my collection to date has been made up of legitimate, officially released discs – that’s CDs, LPs, singles, books, DVDs, magazines and other printed items.

Recently I was able to spend some time on holiday in Vietnam. Like most Asian and developing countries there are many opportunities to buy fakes – everything from Louis Vuitton luggage and Gucci handbags to Ray Ban sunglasses and Tag Heuer watches. Of course there are lots of stores, markets and street vendors selling illegally copied DVD films as well. There are not so many places to buy music – but they’re there if you seek them out. In the central Vietnamese city of Hue I walked into a store selling mostly fake DVDs and a bit of music on the side and saw a copy of Paul McCartney’s latest 2 CD release “Good Evening New York City”. It was easy to tell it was a fake. It came (like all the cheaply copied DVDs do) in a flimsy clear plastic bag (i.e. no hard jewel case or Digipac cardboard). The artwork was all there ready to put it into a CD jewel case, but it looked like a cheap photocopy. The discs had rudimentary labels printed on them but clearly looked fake. No catalogue numbers, copyright info, not even the title of the disc. One disc had the words “Paul 1” printed roughly on it, the other “Paul 2” and that was it. It was selling (in the local currency) for 20,000 Vietnamese Dong – that’s US$1.03, or $1.17 Australian. And that’s even before any bargaining over the price. I decided I really didn’t want to buy a copy – even for the novelty value.

At the other end of the scale are those CDs and DVDs where its obvious that a lot of time and effort has gone into producing what looks to be an absolutely legitimate release. Standing in a shop in Hanoi (which I did last week) it becomes really hard to tell. Is what I’m looking at the version sanctioned by the artist and record company as the official release for China and South East Asia?

Take this example of the Beatles “Anthology” 5 DVD box set. I got it from a shop in Hanoi that was filled with what looked like official releases. All movie stock was in standard DVD packaging with proper labels. It was not one of the shops dealing in fakes.

It looked like this. Here’s the front of the box:

Chinese Beatles Anthology - front

This copy still has the shrink-wrap around the sturdy cardboard box, though the opening has been cut by me so that the DVDs can be removed. The sticker is attached to the shrink-wrap.

Compare this to this official release purchased in Australia:

Official Beatles Antholgy DVD - front

Again, the shrink-wrap is still around the box. The sticker is also on the shrink-wrap.

Here are the Chinese DVD spines:

The five Chinese DVDs

Compared to the official release:

The official release

The number “12” in the pink circle on each refers to the censorship rating in Australia. Apart from that, not a lot of difference….Here is the sticker on the base of the Chinese version:

Sticker on base of Anthology DVD box - Chinese

As you can see, the Apple word is written but the Apple logo itself is missing. Also, apparently common with cheap copies, there are small spelling mistakes. Notice in the centre box of the sticker the words “Doldy Digital 5.1 surround sound”. It should be Dolby Digital 5.1 sound. This sticker appears to be stuck over the printed label actually on the box. You can faintly see the bar code, etc. underneath. Otherwise the Capital, Abbey Road, DVD Video, Dolby Digital and DTS logos on the right-hand side all look legit. Compare it to the Australian official release, where the label is printed onto the box:

Official Anthology DVD box - sticker on box base

Notice the official release has a Parlophone logo instead of Capitol which is just a territory thing (Parlophone seems to get half the world, and Capitol the other half!). There’s also a Region 1 DVD symbol, and a bar code.

Inside the individual DVD containers the story is similar. The actual discs in the Chinese version are very well-printed and look very official:

Chinese DVD disc

They even say “Printed in the USA”. Compare this to the official release:

Anthology DVD - official release

However, the Chinese stuff up the sequencing of labels on the DVD discs.

Disc One, as you can see above, has Episodes 1 & 2 on it and correctly contains those episodes. Sadly, Disc Two is also labeled Episodes 1 & 2, but actually has Episodes 3 & 4.

Disc Three is incorrectly labeled Episodes 3 & 4, but contains Episodes 5 & 6. And Disc Four is incorrectly labeled Episodes 3 & 4, but correctly contains Episodes 7 & 8.  The “Special Features” 5th disc is incorrectly labeled Episodes 5 & 6 but contains the correct Special Features material…….so, all the contents is there across the five discs. Just a severe lack of attention to detail on the part of the counterfeiters. However, they all play well and the quality of the video looks perfect.

The other noticeable difference to the official release is that the Chinese versions don’t have the small booklets inside each DVD box outlining the contents of each episode. These are in official release and look like this:

DVD Booklet - front - from episodes 1 & 2 in official release

Anthology booklet (rear) - inside each DVD box of the official release

So, you can see that standing in a shop in Hanoi, deciding if this is official or not (especially while it’s still sealed up in its shrink-wrap) is very tricky. The price might have been a give-away: this 5 DVD box set cost 250,000 Vietnamese Dong. That’s around US$12.80 or AUS$14.80. Very cheap. It also doesn’t help if you don’t read Chinese. Here’s a close-up of the sticker on the front:

Sticker on the front of the Anthology DVD box set

Vietnam is actively cracking down on pirate or illegal copies of DVDs, CDs, clothing and watches. While there I read an article in one of the national papers that police are actively trying to break up the flow of counterfeit goods from across the border in China. When departing the country via Ho Chi Minh City airport all travelers bags are X-Rayed separately to the usual security check specifically to identify and confiscate goods, or to fine travelers for having fake DVDs. A New Zealand family in front of us were caught. They had in their bags over 60 copied DVDs they’d bought on the street. They were given the option of handing them over, or keeping them and paying a fine of US$50.00 (at first they were asked to pay a US$100.00 fine, but talked the official down…interesting). They decided the pay the fine and keep their DVDs. All the CDs I had purchased, plus the Beatles “Anthology” 5 DVD box above were in our suitcases and were also X-Rayed. We were not stopped by the airport officials. I’ll detail some of the Beatles compact discs I purchased in the next posts. Again it was confusing and difficult to pick the real from the fake.

See also Some Unusual Asian Beatles Items – Part Two and Some Unusual Asian Beatles Items – Part Three

John Lennon – Gimme Some Truth

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To mark what would have been the 70th birthday of the late John Lennon Yoko Ono, EMI Music and the Lennon Estate are to embark on what can only be described as a huge re-issue and release program – starting on October 4, 2010.

Called the “Gimme Some Truth” campaign, it will comprise a series of Lennon albums remastered from the original mixes as well as new collections compiled for CD and digital download release. One of the new releases will be a “naked” version of the Grammy Award winning album “Double Fantasy” – made available for the first time in a newly remixed, stripped down version produced by Yoko Ono and Jack Douglas, co-producers of the original album with Lennon. The new version will come in an expanded 2 CD edition which will include with the original mix, remastered.

Eight of  the original solo albums and other recordings have also been newly digitally remastered.  These include:

• A hits compilation in two editions titled “Power To The People: The Hits”

• A 4CD set of themed discs titled “Gimme Some Truth”

• A deluxe 11CD collectors box with the remastered albums, rarities, and non-album singles, titled “The John Lennon Signature Box”

Yoko Ono said: “In this very special year, which would have seen my husband and life partner John reach the age of 70, I hope that this remastering / re-issue program will help bring his incredible music to a whole new audience. By remastering 121 tracks spanning his solo career, I hope also that those who are already familiar with John’s work will find renewed inspiration from his incredible gifts as a songwriter, musician and vocalist and from his power as a commentator on the human condition. His lyrics are as relevant today as they were when they were first written and I can think of no more apposite title for this campaign than those simple yet direct words ‘Gimme Some Truth’.”

The albums have been digitally remastered from their original mixes by Ono and a team of engineers led by Allan Rouse at EMI Music’s Abbey Road Studios in London, and by George Marino at Avatar Studios in New York. All of the remastered titles will be packaged in digisleeves with replicated original album art and booklets with photos and new liner notes by noted British music journalist Paul Du Noyer.

The albums to be reissued are:

• John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band (1970)

• Imagine (1971)

• Some Time In New York City (1972)

• Mind Games (1973)

• Walls and Bridges (1974)

• Rock ‘n’ Roll (1975)

• Double Fantasy Stripped Down (2010) / Double Fantasy (1980)

• Milk and Honey (1984)

Yoko Ono added: “Double Fantasy Stripped Down” really allows us to focus our attention on John’s amazing vocals. Technology has advanced so much that, conversely, I wanted to use new techniques to really frame these amazing songs and John’s voice as simply as possible. By stripping down some of the instrumentation the power of the songs shines through with an enhanced clarity. “Double Fantasy Stripped Down” will be complemented by the original album in the 2 CD format. It was whilst working on the new version of this album that I was hit hardest emotionally, as this was the last album John released before his passing.”

“Power To The People: The Hits” will gather 15 of Lennon’s most popular songs, and will be available as a 15-track single-disc, and as whats being called an “Experience Edition” with additional content. Both versions will be packaged in digisleeves with booklets including a new liner note essay by Du Noyer. “Gimme Some Truth” will be packaged in a slipcase with rare photos and a new liner notes essays by respected American music journalist and author, Anthony DeCurtis. It will contain 72 of Lennon’s solo recordings on four themed CDs:

• ‘Roots’ – John’s rock ‘n’ roll roots and influences

• ‘Working Class Hero’ – John’s socio-political songs

• ‘Woman’ – John’s love songs

• ‘Borrowed Time’ – John’s songs about life

The “John Lennon Signature Box” is a deluxe 11 CD and digital collection of the eight remastered albums, a disc of rare and previously unreleased recordings, and an EP of Lennon’s non-album singles. The CDs will be housed in digisleeves within a deluxe box including a collectible limited edition John Lennon art print and a hardbound book featuring rare photos, artwork, collages, poetry, and new liner notes by DeCurtis.

Check out johnlennon.com for more info, official announcements and updates as the release dates for these new John Lennon collectables draws closer.

Beatles – Paperback Writer/Rain Re-issue

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I’ve been sweating on the postman arriving this week as I bought a copy of the “Paperback Writer/Rain” Parlophone Record Store Day re-issue, and it arrived today. Mine came from the US. It was finally released there on June 8 after an on-again/off again series of dates came and went. This followed the initial UK release on Record Store Day proper earlier this year on April 17.

In the UK the re-issue was limited to just 1000 copies – and hence the prices being asked went through the roof. I believe (see below) that the US releases are imports of the exact same UK pressings – and so are a chance to catch up on that really rare initial UK release.

You can see five close-up images here – three of the most recent “Paperback Writer/Rain” US release, and two of a previous US Capitol issue.

Steve Marinucci, who has a Beatles news column online at the Examiner newspaper, published this story about the UK release, and this story about the then US re-issue plans. Reviewer, writer and Beatles fan Matt Hurwitz sent the Examiner the following description of the new vinyl single:

I’ve just received a copy of the new “Paperback Writer”/”Rain” 7″ vinyl single from Capitol, which will be issued to participating indie record stores as part of continued celebration of Record Store Day. The disc & sleeve are actually the same as was released in England. This is an import of that release (i.e. not pressed here in the States by Capitol). The record features a black-and-white Parlophone die-cut sleeve with dark blue label backdrops. The A-side label lists both songs; the B-side label features art that matches that on the back of the sleeve – letters spelling out “Parlophone.” For those who keep track, the disc is Parlophone R-6813/EMI 50999-6-41639-7-0. The disc itself features stereo mixes of the two songs. It’s important to note – this is the first vinyl release taken from the new masters, and they sound fantastic. The stereo spread sounds as if the mastering engineer pulled in the left and right a hair (i.e. so that the hard-left and hard-right panning of some channels isn’t quite as far left or right). And, of course, being mastered at Abbey Road, my needle didn’t jump out of the groove on “Paperback Writer”.

After reading all this I got a bit inquisitive and wanted to find out if the Beatles Parlophone re-issue was a one-off, or part of a bigger re-issue by the company around Record Store Day. Turns out “Paperback Writer” was just one of many re-issues by the label – all done with similar dark blue sleeves and labels. Here is the official Parlophone press release

Parlophone Plan Vinyl Series For Record Store Day – Twelve artists will be taking part (Posted 8th April, 2010)

Parlophone have announced plans to release a series of limited vinyl (1000 copies each) for Record Store Day (17th April).

Twelve artists will be taking part, including Hot Chip, Bat For Lashes, Pet Shop Boys, Lily Allen and The Beatles. Each release will come in a vintage-style paper Parlophone house bag which has been designed ‘specially, and uses elements of historic sleeves from the 1960s to the present day. From this year’s hottest new urban artist Tinie Tempah to the band that made the label what it is today, The Beatles. Each release will come in a vintage-style paper Parlophone house bag which has been designed especially for the releases and uses elements of historic sleeves from the 1960’s to the present day.

The releases are:

Babyshambles Side of the Road/UnBiloTitled

Bat For Lashes Howl! (Live at De La Warr Pavillion)/Wild Is The Wind (Live at Grove Music Studios)

The Beatles Paperback Writer/Rain

Chiddy Bang Opposite of Adults/Sooner or Later

Danger Mouse & Sparklehorse Just War (featuring Gruff Rhys)/Just War (instrumental)

Eliza Doolittle Pack Up/Rollerblades

Hot Chip I Feel Bonnie (featuring Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billie)/Bear Witness

Jónsi Go Do/Boy Lilikoi

Lily Allen Back To The Start/Kabul Shit

The Pet Shop Boys Love Life/A Powerful Friend

Tinie Tempah Pass Out/Pass Out (SBTRKT Remix)

(plus one other release)

Miles Leonard, President of Parlophone said: “Parlophone and our artists recognise the importance of our Indie stores and their contribution to not only our new and developing artists but to our catalogue as a whole. Being able to support this campaign with some great 7″ releases from The Beatles to Bat For Lashes is our way of thanking them for their continued support. After all ‘Music Matters’.”

Of course Capitol in the US also released The John Lennon Singles Bag as part of the celebrations for Record Store Day as well, and you can read more about that here.

Beatles USB Apple – not the First Apple-shaped Product Released….

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I’ve always had a fascination with the Beatles and their music. From the very first days of being old enough to buy my own records I’ve had at least some copies of their albums and singles in my collection – mostly vinyl, starting with Sgt Pepper, The White Album, Abbey Road, and Let It Be, plus the odd single here and there.

But the way I got into seriously collecting a wider range of related records, CDs and books was when I became intrigued by their Apple Records label and the eclectic stable of artists they signed up – both the well-known and the more obscure. Its a quest I’m still on. There are some titles and artists out there on Apple Records that I still don’t have…

In launching Apple Records in 1968 the Beatles produced what was then and is now an exceptionally rare promotional box-set of the very first Apple singles called “Our First Four”.  According to Richard DiLello in “The Longest Cocktail Party”, his 1972 memoir about being an Apple Records “house hippie”, this was a presentation box containing the first four 45 rpm vinyl singles from the label. It was “….a box made of plastic, 10 by 12 inches in matte black with a recessed lid carrying the Apple sticker that announced it as Our First Four, 3 Saville Row, W1.” It contained The Beatles “Hey Jude/Revolution” (R 5722), Mary Hopkin – “Those Were the Days” (APPLE 2), Jackie Lomax – “Sour Milk Sea” (APPLE 3), and The Black Dyke Mills Band – “Thingumybob” (APPLE 4).  Richard DiLello again: “There was a single coloured folder containing the biographies and photographs of the artists with the records in a polythene sleeve. The name of the person to whom the box was going was printed on the outside Apple sticker. This was primarily an inter-industry gift presentation package for the benefit of Capitol Records and selected disc jockeys and journalists.” Here’s a website that has a photo of one of these extremely rare boxes – although I’m not sure how authentic it is. DiLello says in his book that one of these boxes was presented to Stanley Gortikov, President of Capitol Records in 1968. Others were hand-delivered to the Queen Mother at St James’s Palace; Her Majesty the Queen at Buckingham Palace; Princess Margaret at Kensington Palace; and to British Prime Minister Harold Wilson at Number 10 Downing Street, London.

In 1991, when it came time for Apple to conduct a big re-issue program of all the Apple album releases, they decided to do something similar (but not exactly the same – and certainly not as rare) with a special Limited Edition CD.

The Apple EP

The Apple E.P. (1991) CD

As you can see it’s an official, apple-shaped CD release to mark the re-issuing of the Apple LP catalogue on both CD and vinyl – back in 1991.

When you open the “apple” it looks like this:

Apple EP

The Apple EP opened to reveal the 4-track CD

Inside is a 4-track compact disc with a song each from Mary Hopkin – “Those Were the Days”; Billy Preston – “That’s the Way God Planned It”; Jackie Lomax – “Sour Milk Sea”; and Badfinger – “Come and Get It”. Not exactly the same tracks as Our First Four, but still two tracks written by Beatles (“Sour Milk Sea” by George Harrison and “Come and Get It” by Paul McCartney):

Apple EP - rear cover

The Apple E.P. - rear cover with track details

As well tracks 1 and 4 were produced by Paul McCartney, and tracks 2 and 3 were produced by George Harrison.

OK, so there is no “Hey Jude”/”Revolution”,  but there is still a pretty large Beatle quotient here. And for me its a reminder that the current Beatles USB (containing all the remastered Beatles albums in high quality digital format) is not the first time that Apple has used an apple-shaped object to market product.

Apple EP CD

The artwork for the Apple EP compact disc (1991)

Its also not the first time that Apple has collected together four songs from artists in their stable and released an EP for promotional purposes. In 1969, not that long after Our First Four, they gave permission for the British ice cream company Walls to issue a vinyl EP:

Walls Ice Cream EP

The Walls Ice Cream EP from 1969

Click here for more information on this release.

As for the Apple re-issue program from 1991, I have quite a few of the vinyl LP re-issues from that time (complete with bonus tracks and original and additional artwork) and will post some pictures and info on these in the future.

John Lennon “Lennon” 4 CD Box Set

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It never ceases to amaze me how many variations there are out there of particular Beatles or Beatles-related items. I guess that’s part of what makes collecting interesting….

Some are big differences, and include completely revised or unique artwork or track running orders, others are small and subtle. This one, sent to me by Beatlesblog reader Ned in the United States, is a case in point. Ned writes: “One favorite Beatles-related item of mine is a still-sealed, 4 CD “Lennon” box from 1990 with a blank space on the back cover art where the song “Imagine” should be listed (the song is on the disc, however) that I bought from a woman going through a bad divorce. She only wanted US$15 for it. Even though I was very much interested I IMPLORED her to ask for more because I knew she could get it.  However, she insisted because, to her, it represented her former husband.  (Years earlier, I had regretfully sold my copy due to being laid off and needed to pay my bills. I was desperate to get a copy back in my possession after my work life returned to normal).”

Ned sent me a photo of this unusual John Lennon collectors item. Check out the space in the listing on Disc 2:

Its a strange little mistake or variation….who knows why “Imagine” was left off that particular print run? And Ned having a still-sealed copy makes it pretty collectable too. (By the way, it was Ned who sent the additional photos of the Japanese Beatles “Love” rarity from a previous post).

To compare, here’s my copy of the Lennon set:

“Imagine” is definitely still there. This 4 CD “Lennon” box set was released by Parlophone/EMI in 1990. It was compiled by Mark Lewisohn, one of the band’s insiders and a long-time writer and commentator on official Beatles releases and their history. Wikipedia has a song list for each CD. As you can see, most songs were previously released, but there are a couple of hard-to-find tracks, like the three live from Madison Square Garden with Elton John (“Whatever Gets You Through the Night”, “I Saw Her Standing There” and “Lucy In the Sky With Diamonds”) recorded 24 November, 1974.  I believe these three songs had only ever been previously released on a vinyl single in 1975.

The box set comes with a nice (if plain) 70-page booklet:

Booklet - Front

The booklet has the words to each song, a song index, small images from the album each track comes from, plus some nice photos – both black and white, and some in colour:

Booklet - inside

Each of the jewel cases has an individual image of Lennon. Here’s the one used for Disc 1:

The printing on each CD follows a similar theme, but each jewel case spine, rear artwork and the actual CD disc is a slightly different colour. For example here are discs 1 and 2:

The 4 CD set came out in 1990 and followed the 1989 single CD release “The John Lennon Collection”. In Australia at least EMI released this 4-track EP CD in a gate-fold Digipak to promote both:

As you can see, they used the rear of the cover to promote both the single disc “John Lennon Collection”, and the 4 CD box set:

So, thanks to Ned for another unusual and collectable Beatles-related item.

There is a new set of John Lennon box sets and anniversary releases on the way. Called the Gimme Some Truth  project, these remasters will mark what would have been Lennon’s 70th birthday and will be released in October, 2010.

McCartney – Big Q Magazine Feature

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The current (June, 2010 – Issue 287) edition of “Q” magazine has a front cover featuring an angry Paul McCartney:

This is a collector cover – one released just for subscribers to the magazine, something that publishers seem to be doing lately to get people to buy product from them rather than just down-loading or getting a copy from the newsagent. I think the newsagent copy will look like this:

The magazine contains a 26-page special feature on Paul McCartney – and its highly recommended reading. The dramatic cover photo(s), and some shots inside, are by David Bailey – who is not new to photographing the Beatles. His work in the Sixties helped define the decade – Swinging London in particular – and he photographed the Beatles from time-to-time. Here’s a photo he took a LOT earlier:

Inside the current “Q” magazine Editor-In-Chief, Paul Rees, gets to spend a month on the road with the man, interviewing him in England and the USA. We get a look at some really interesting and previously un-seen Linda McCartney photographs, and there’s a couple of pages about Paul the avant-garde member of the Fab Four. This is followed the likes of Brian Wilson, Chris Martin, Jamie Callum, Dave Grohl and Paul Weller, to name just a few giving their favourite Paul song recommendations. And finally an in-depth feature on what happened to Wings in Lagos, Nigeria during the making of 1973’s “Band on the Run”. Some really scary stuff….not the greatest place to choose to record an album, but what an album it turned out to be.

One of the best sections in the magazine is the one featuring the many rare photos by Linda McCartney. This one, of McCartney sitting on a straw bale at his farm in Scotland in 1978, is previously unpublished:

The other one I really like is a candid photograph taken during the shoot for the famous “Abbey Road” cover. The caption says: “McCartney and band banter with passer-by in a shot documenting The Beatles’s Abbey Road cover session on 8 August 1969. Note Macca’s sandals, which he’d remove for the iconic final cover picture”:

Its all pretty good stuff and I reckon well worth the cover price (no matter which cover you get).

Postscript: In a spooky co-incidence, I just found out that the very first issue of “Q” magazine, dated October 1986, also had Paul on the front cover…..Issue 001 included articles on Paul McCartney, Big Audio Dynamite, Cocaine, Bob Dylan, Lenny Henry and John Blake.


Beatles “Love” – A Further Collectable Variation

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Following my post on some of the release variations I have in my collection of the Beatles “Love” CDs and LP, I had a note from Ned in the United States who has a very interesting and unique CD single from the “Love” releases.
He has in his collection this rare Japanese promo CD single:

LOVE rare promo single - front cover

As you can see above, it has the familiar bright yellow “Love” cover art work – but it contains just one track from “Love” called “Within You Without You/Tomorrow Never Knows”, a mash-up mix by George and Giles Martin of the basic track and vocal from “Within You Without You” (originally released on “Sgt Pepper”), and the drum track from “Tomorrow Never Knows” (taken from “Revolver”).  Giles Martin said “This was the first thing we did (for the “Love” project). We played it for them (Paul and Ringo) and they said ‘we want more like that!’  We had to remind them, ‘Fellas, you know that on most songs you did actually change chords!”  George Martin said at the time: “‘Within You’ is not the most memorable song, but it’s much more interesting with that rhythm.”
According to Ned this CD single was created for Japanese radio stations and issued by EMI Japan without the full knowledge of EMI’s London office. When they found out it was withdrawn shortly after release, thus making it a very collectable item. “It is absolutely NOT an unauthorized release but remains the only CD single issued from the “Love” project”, says Ned.

LOVE single - inside

It has a nice insert that lists the other tracks on the full CD release:

LOVE single - booklet

Ned writes: “I mail ordered this from Japan right at the time of the opening of the show in Vegas.  I believe it ran me around US$20 – including shipping.  I have no idea what the value is now as I only collect what I like and not what might be worth something someday.  Apparently, Yoko Ono had (has) the same collecting philosophy and it has served her well.
Ned has two other favorite Beatles-related items. One is a still-sealed, 4 CD Lennon box from 1990 with a blank space on the back cover art where the song “Imagine” should be listed (the song is on the disc, however). “I bought this one from a woman going through a bad divorce.  She only wanted US$15 for it.  Even though I was very much interested I IMPLORED her to ask for more because I knew she could get it.  However, she insisted because, to her, it represented her former husband.  (Years earlier, I had regretfully sold my copy…and I was desperate to get a copy back in my possession).”
The other item is a withdrawn, mid-80’s CD release of Lennon’s Shaved Fish – manufactured in Japan for the U.S. market – that has slightly different artwork on it. “It was withdrawn because EMI either failed to use “No-Noise” on the master tapes or the tapes they did use were from inferior sources.  Either way, the hiss is more apparent than the common one.  But the fact that it was quickly pulled off the market makes it of interest”, says Ned.

But back to the “Love” promo CD. “Promo Sample” is printed in Japanese around the hub. The catalogue number on the disc is PCD-3275.

LOVE single - the Japanese promo writing around hub

Sincere thanks to collector Ned for all the info and photos. Here’s a clearer picture of the black  promo writing around the center of the CD single’s hub:

LOVE single - promo hub close-up