Tag Archives: Yoko Ono

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.

The Lennon Singles Bag – Whats Inside?

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Happy Record Store Day for last weekend (Saturday, 17 April)!

We managed (through our friendly local independent store, Red Eye Records) to get a copy of one of the special releases produced just for the weekend: The John Lennon Singles Bag.

See this post and this post for information on this very limited edition.

Apparently there are just 7000 of these packs made for the world…..mine is number 6644 of 7000. Not a low number, but it has a nice ring to it!

Here’s a picture from the web of how the pack looks:

A sealed copy of the John Lennon Singles Bag

Like this one, ours is still sealed – and we hope to be able to keep it that way – though it is very tempting to open it to see whats inside….

Fortunately, the Lennon Estate has given us a comprehensive look inside. Just click on this link: https://www.johnlennon.com/music/rarities/singles-bag/

“I Met the Walrus” – A Book….and a Film.

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In 1969, a 14-year-old Beatle fanatic named Jerry Levitan managed to get himself, a reel-to-reel tape deck and some cameras into John and Yoko’s hotel room in Toronto and convinced John to do an interview about peace. John and Yoko were in between their famous “Bed-ins for Peace” (the first in Amsterdam, the second in Montreal) and the world’s media wanted to talk to them. How a fourteen year-old pulled off such an exclusive is a fascinating story. The meeting had a profound effect on the boy and, thirty-eight years later, Jerry Levitan produced a film about it, and then a book. They are both called “I Met the Walrus”.

Released in 2009 (I only just got a copy) its a really good read.

The book gives a lot more background and detail about Levitan’s childhood, how as a teenager he came to be in the right place at the right time when John and Yoko blew into Toronto in late May, 1969, and how a personal brush with fame shaped his life as a result. The book is lavishly produced by Harper Collins, with an embossed cover, a collector’s DVD, unique photographs, great design, and illustrations like this one by artist James Braithwaite:  It was only after I bought the book that I remembered early last year seeing a terrific little animated film that was created about the same young boy going to visit the Lennon’s in Toronto. Turns out it was indeed this Academy Award-nominated film, also called “I Met the Walrus”:

As you can see, the film takes the original hotel interview recording as it’s soundtrack. Director Josh Raskin then illustrates Lennon’s every word in what’s been described as “….a cascading flood of multi-pronged animation”.

The amazing pen illustrations for the film were by James Braithwaite (who also illustrates the book), with digital illustration provided by Alex Kurina.

How the film came about so many years after the interview – and the story of it’s subsequent Oscar nomination – forms the Epilogue chapter of the book.

On the back cover Yoko Ono provides these words: “I remember fondly, how young Jerry came to us and did the interview, when so many journalists were trying to speak to us. He was not only brave but very clear and intelligent. Both John and I thought it was a very pleasant experience.”

Book cover

New John Lennon Limited Edition Singles

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Each year Independent Record Store Day in the US gets more interesting and influential, and it seems to be spreading to other countries.

This year to mark the day (April 17), EMI/Capitol in the US will release a limited edition pack of three John Lennon 45rpm vinyl singles.

Formally announced by EMI,  it is also in the “News” section of the official John Lennon site, at the Capitol Records vinyl re-issue site fromthecapitolvaults.com, and there are strong hints at the Record Store Day site itself as well.

The three singles, in original replica sleeves, will be:

John Lennon “Mother” / Yoko Ono “Why”
John Lennon “Imagine” / John Lennon “It’s So Hard”
John Lennon “Watching the Wheels” / Yoko Ono “Yes, I’m Your Angel”

All three will come in what is described as an individually numbered quality “Kraftpac” paper envelope with a poster, three postcards and a special custom adoptor hub for the 45’s.  There’s not a lot of artwork around yet but this looks like it could be the cover of the special bag:

So, here’s to Capitol for celebrating the survival of independent record shops and also the survival of the vinyl record with a special John Lennon release.

For readers in Australia, Record Store Day will also be celebrated on Saturday, April 17. For more info go to the local site.

More on Beatles Box Sets

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The other day I posted an item about two variations of a little box that was produced last year (2009) by Apple/EMI to hold up to four copies of the new Beatles Remastered series of CD’s, and it got me thinking about another “box” I have.

I don’t collect Beatles memorabilia (clothing, dolls, badges or Beatles wigs!), and I don’t have many paper-based items (posters, photographs, store-displays, etc.).  I tend to stick pretty solidly to just collecting officially released records, CDs and books – in all their many variations….

However, occasionally you come across some interesting Beatles-related paraphernalia that’s directly related to the Beatles and the record business that is of interest.

Back in the sixties and seventies Apple Records in the USA used to ship its 7-inch (45rpm) records out to record shops and stores in specially produced brown boxes that could hold up to 24 singles.

The one I have is a little worse for wear now, but it looks like this:

Official Apple 45rpm record Shipping Box

The catalogue number of the 7-inch record was written in large numbers on the top flap of the box to help identify the contents. This one would have been used to ship copies of John and Yoko’s “Happy Xmas (War is Over)” when it first came out in 1971. It carried the US Apple catalogue number 1842:

Apple Shipping Box - top flap with disc catalogue number

To give you an idea of the size of the box, here’s a shot with the 7-inch 45 rpm single alongside:

Apple Shipping Box with "Happy Christmas (War is Over)"

That’s not the US version of the single – it’s the Australian – but you can get the idea.