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….
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.”
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.
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.
Beatles Blog 