Move over, Ms L!

Hi all, wondering why you are looking at this jumbled up page? This is due to the fact that Facebook didn't like our url since it starts with wog, so we have been forced to move the blog. This was some time ago, and we have placed a script which would automatically send you to our new location. Obviously, this hasn't worked for all of you, since we have just finished moderating some of your comments which appeared on this site recently, and not on our new (and improved!) site. So what we're saying is head on over to our new site, and update your bookmarks!

Friday 28 May 2010

From Q Magazine

Q Magazine gave us a 26 page special on Paul McCartney in their May issue. Some of the photos that showed up were better than the ones we had, and there was also a never-before published one.
John Lennon and Paul McCartney on the steps of EMI studios at Abbey Road, on the same occasion that the cover for the Abbey Road album was shot.
Just before crossing the road, this photo was taken in the opposite direction of the road than the ones on the album cover. I took the liberty of replacing a red square with text with colours from the background. I also added a little bit at the bottom of the picture, from a previously published cropping of the same photo.

Paul McCartney and George Harrison, along with a brass section, recording Honey Pie October 4th, 1968. Previously unseen.

In other news, here's the set list from yesterday's Paul McCartney concert in Mexico:

1. Venus And Mars/Rock Show
2. Jet
3. All My Loving
4. Letting Go
5. Got To Get You Into My Life
6. Highway
7. Let Me Roll It / Foxy Lady
8. The Long and Winding Road
9. Nineteen Hundred And Eighty Five
10. Let 'Em In
11. My Love
12. I'm Looking Through You
13. Two Of Us
14. Blackbird
15. Here Today
16. Dance Tonight
17. Mrs Vandebilt
18. Eleanor Rigby
19. Something
20. Sing the Changes
21. Band on the Run
22. Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
23. Back in the U.S.S.R.
24. I've Got a Feeling
25. Paperback Writer
26. A Day in the Life / Give Peace A Chance
27. Let It Be
28. Live and Let Die
29. Hey Jude
Encore:
30. Day Tripper
31. Lady Madonna
32. Get Back
Encore 2:
33. Yesterday
34. Helter Skelter
35. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)
36. The End

Tonight's concert will be streamed live on the internet throughout Mexico, and Paul McCartney has also paid for the erection of a giant screen at a plaza in the capital's Chapultapec park, where 10 000 people can watch the concert for free. While Paul is in Mexico, almost 100 people have gathered outside the hotel where he is staying hoping for a glimpse.

Wednesday 26 May 2010

Let It Be Documentary

To mark the 40th anniversary of the release of Let It Be, and the accompanying Academy Award-winning film (both released in May 1970), Guy Garvey tells the story of the fractious and often bitter sessions that documented the demise of The Beatles.

Featuring contributions from many of those who worked on the Let It Be sessions, including director Michael Lindsay-Hogg, engineer Alan Parsons, photographer Ethan Russell, author Richard DiLello and engineers Dave Harries and Brian Gibson, this programme explains how a project (originally a TV documentary, titled Get Back, which was designed to re-energise the band and capture their stripped down rock'n'roll roots), instead documented power struggles, bickering and conflict.

The project was perhaps doomed from the start. Paul McCartney's original suggestion was for the group to play three shows, which he hoped would refocus and invigorate the band after the tensions experienced during the recording of the White Album. When this plan failed to materialise, the idea evolved into a worldwide broadcast of a live concert.

Paul decided that the rehearsals should be filmed for a documentary that would promote the live broadcast and they began at Twickenham Studios on 2 January 1969. Everyone involved in the rehearsals considered them to be disastrous. Harrison was increasingly resentful because he felt his songs were either derided or ignored; Paul's attempts to hold the band together and rally spirits came across as controlling; John had all but withdrawn creatively, seldom contributing even to the arrangements of his own songs; and Yoko Ono - who often spoke on John's behalf as he sat silently by - was a major source of tension.

The intrusive film cameras and the cold, unfamiliar settings of Twickenham Studios contributed to the ill feeling. Fed up with John's creative and communicative disengagement, George announced that he was leaving the band. He went to Eric Clapton's house, where he wrote Here Comes The Sun, but within a few days he was persuaded to return to the group.

After three weeks of filming, the band were still unable to agree on a location for the proposed concert, so Michael Lindsay-Hogg suggested they stage an impromptu performance on the rooftop of their Apple headquarters. The live performance took place on 30 January in front of a small audience of friends and employees but it was short by the police after complaints about noise. Filming continued the following day and then no further work was carried out on the project until March, when John and Paul called engineer Glyn Johns to EMI and offered him free rein to produce an album from the recordings.

Johns booked time at Olympic Studios to mix the album and presented it to the group at the end of May. Originally intended for release in July 1969, it was pushed back to September, to coincide with the TV special and film about the making of the album, and then further delayed because the band decided to release Abbey Road instead.

On 15 December, Glyn Johns was approached again, but this time with the instruction that the songs must match those included in the [as yet unreleased] film. New mixes were prepared but once again rejected. Then in March 1970 the session tapes were given to American producer Phil Spector, who worked on the tracks and compiled Let It Be. By the time the album and the film with the same name were finally released on 8 May 1970, the Beatles had broken up.
You can listen to this hour long radio documentary from BBC 2 on their homepage here, and it will be available for a period of only 7 days from now.

Tuesday 25 May 2010

Paul is Live on the internet

The second concert of Paul McCartney at the Foro Sol in Mexico will be transmitted in real time by internet Mexicana. This is a great opportunity for those who do not live in Mexico or those who had no opportunity to attend. The transmission will commence at 9pm Mexican time on the 28th of May from this page.

50 years since The Beatles in Hamburg

On the 17th of August, it will be fifty years since the Beatles started their professional careers by quitting their jobs and schools, changing the band's name to The Beatles, taking on board their drummer for the next two years, Pete Best, and starting their residency at the Indra Club in Grosse Freiheit off the Reeperbahn in Hamburg, Germany.
The anniversary will be commemorated by a four day Beatles festival on location at the Indra Club, featuring a band from New York City who are going to try and recreate what they think the Beatles' set list might have been back in the day. The band's name: Bambi Kino, after the cinema across the road from the Indra, where the Beatles had their first sleeping quarters in the city. The members of the band come from various other groups. They are: Mark Rozzo (Maplewood), Ira Elliot (Nada Surf), Darren Murphy (Moby) and Erik Paparazzi (Cat Power). The concerts are a joint venture between the Indra Club and Hamburg based Tapete Records. The festival starts on Tuesday the 17th of August and ends on Friday the 20th.
Details of other happenings at the festival or events in Hamburg during the festival has yet to reach us, but we'll bet Beatlemania Hamburg wants to be in on the act.
Indra Club Official Site
Concert Tickets

Monday 24 May 2010

Back To Battersea

Sir Paul will play a private performance for 450 people in The Boiler House at Battersea Power Station June 30th, according to This Is London. The party is planned as the first of what is intended to be a major addition to the summer social circuit.
Tickets range from £500 for the straight champagne reception, dinner and art auction to £10,000 for a premium table of 10 which offers a VIP reception with Kevin Spacey and star guests.
Proceeds from the venture will help the Old Vic Theatre Trust. Spacey said: “We are thrilled Paul McCartney will lend his extraordinary talents on the evening alongside brilliant artists who've generously donated their artworks for auction. It's set to be quite a night.”

Scorsese's documentary on George set for 2011

CANNES (Hollywood Reporter) – Martin Scorsese says he hopes to release his George Harrison documentary next year, and is promising plenty of unseen footage and unheard songs.

He has been developing the project with the former Beatle's widow, Olivia, for the past three years, even while he was working on his recent thriller "Shutter Island."

Titled "Living in the Material World: George Harrison," the documentary will take on the whole of Harrison's life before, during and after his time in the world's most popular and successful band.

Among other things, Scorsese says he related to Harrison's quest for "spirituality," something the filmmaker has explored his whole life, and especially in movies from "Mean Streets" to "Kundun."

"That subject matter has never left me," said Scorsese. "The more you're in the material world, the more there is a tendency for a search for serenity and a need to not be distracted by physical elements that are around you."

"He always said he gave his nervous system for the Beatles," Olivia Harrison added.

Scorsese met Harrison several times, first when he, Jack Nicholson and Robbie Robertson knocked on his door in a frantic moment during the filming of "The Last Waltz" in the late '70s, and then again in the early '90s.

Olivia initiated the current project several years ago because after having been approached by numerous production companies, including the BBC, looking to make a documentary about Harrison from the moment he died of cancer in 2001. She resisted at first because Harrison had always wanted to do his own documentary using his own archive of videos.

Eventually, she realized it "was something that needed to be done," and was pointed to financier Nigel Sinclair, who had produced the Bob Dylan documentary "No Direction Home" that Scorsese directed. But still, it was a traumatic experience for her to dig back through all of that history.

"This is a deeply personal journey for me, it's been excruciating," she said. "I've been archiving for five years -- 35 years, really. Throwing cassettes and letters in drawers, little things and pieces of paper that you find that say, 'Goats on my roof.' You think, What does that mean?"

She said that during the research period, Scorsese would ask for something from 1945, she would dig something up, and then get lost in old letters, drawings, ideas and reveries. Or she'd come across a lost cassette from 1966 with music she had never heard.

"So that's been wonderful, but emotional, too," Olivia said. "But I feel really safe, I feel protected. Marty had a connection with George, and they spent time together. And he's passionate about film and music as George was passionate about music and film."

"This is undertaken, not casually," Scorsese said. "It's a great deal of reticence and thinking."

And juggling, since the director was working on it as he developed and shot "Shutter Island." His editor on the Dylan doc, David Tedeschi, has been working on the Harrison piece as well, and would forge ahead when Scorsese was indisposed on the fiction film. Scorsese noted that their work on the Dylan film stretched from "The Aviator" through to "The Departed."

"'Shutter Island' took a great deal out of me," Scorsese said. "This was a form of interest and a really good sense of ignorance -- not knowing what you're getting into. I know the level is deep, and I know at some point there's going to be conflicts between the projects. But this is a labor of love, it's not something that has that kind of a deadline."

So Scorsese spent weekends and margins looking at footage and cuts of the Harrison work, and doing research.

The film will feature plenty of rare footage since Harrison saved everything and left a ton of material. Scorsese said all of that personal music led the way to the nonchronological exploration they wanted to take.

"Ultimately, we're trying to have the development of his own music tell the story, if we can," he said. "And the images that he shot, that (Olivia) shot, a lot of this is telling the story. There are some famous bits and some very interesting new material."

Olivia added: "I think it's not only about George Harrison, but about how a person moves through life and deals with his own life. And it was a pretty intense life for a young person."

In addition to his achievements as a master filmmaker and preservationist, Scorsese has now made a number of films -- "Shine a Light," "Last Waltz," "No Direction Home," "The Blues" (he was even an editor on the "Woodstock" concert film) -- that he is personally building a library of the history of rock.

"We certainly haven't done it intentionally," Scorsese says. "We never really intended to make a chronicle of rock music. But the music inspires so much of what I do with my fiction films that they both seem to be blending now. They seem to be interweaving."

Sunday 23 May 2010

Beatles at the BBC for 2010 part 7

The final installment of the updated Beatles at the BBC series, "Unsurpassed Broadcasts" has been released, with vol. 1.
Here's the break down:

Unsurpassed Broadcasts Volume One

Teenager's Turn rcd 7th March / txd 8th March 1962

1. Announcer
2. Dream Baby
3. Announcer
4. Memphis Tennessee
5. Announcer
6. Please Mr. Postman


Here We Go rcd 11th June / txd 15th June 1962

7. Announcer
8. Ask Me Why
9. Announcer
10. Besame Mucho
11. Announcer
12. A Picture Of You

13. Interview with Monty Lister part 1 (*)
14. A Taste Of Honey (excerpt from People And Places tv show **)
15. Interview with Monty Lister part 2
16. Love Me Do (single version)


Here We Go rcd 16th Jan / txd 25th Jan 1963

17. Chains (excerpts)
18. Please Please Me (incomplete)
19. Ask Me Why (incomplete)

Saturday Club rcd 22nd Jan / txd 26th Jan 1963

20. Some Other Guy
21. Announcer
22. Love Me Do
23. Please Please Me (excerpts)
24. Keep Your Hands Off My Baby
25. Beautiful Dreamer

The Talent Spot rcd 22nd Jan / txd 29th Jan 1963

26. Ask Me Why

Here We Go rcd 6th March / txd 12th March 1963

27. Announcer
28. Misery
29. Announcer
30. Do You Want To Know A Secret?
31. Announcer
32. Please Please Me

Saturday Club txd live 16th March 1963

33. I Saw Her Standing There
34. Chat
35. Misery
36. Too Much Monkey Business
37. I'm Talking About You
38. Chat
39. Please Please Me
40. Hippy Hippy Shake


Easy Beat rcd 3rd April / txd 7th April 1963

41. Gerry Marsden & Brian Matthew
42. From Me To You

(*) Recorded for closed circuit broadcast to Cleaver and Clatterbridge hospitals on 27th October, 1962

(**) Recorded for the Granada television programme People And Places on 29th October 1962, and broadcast on 2nd November.

A 36-page booklet is included with this final release.

Saturday 22 May 2010

Beatles in Egypt

As some of you may have noticed, I'm currently enjoying a short holiday in Egypt. I have yet to hear a Beatles tune here, and the locals are asking me who those guys on my t-shirt are. I try to tell them that it's the Beatles, I tell them the names, I sing a bit of "Yesterday", but they don't understand. So I guess, The Beatles are not so well known amomg the natives. But here in the tourist town of Sharm El Sheikh, there is a Hard Rock cafe. And in that restaurant, they have some nice Beatles items on display.

The biggest attraction is this pea coat, once owned by John Lennon, "early in his career". I can't think of a photo where he is wearing this, can you? Perhaps at a Christmas show?

Next up, John's hand written poem "I Sat Belonely", with the cartoon. This is also an original item, mounted beside his portrait.

Then there's this gold disc of "Whatever Gets You Through The Night", once presented to Elton John. I didn't know the session musicians got these gold discs? Elton is not mentioned on the label, but is clearly present on the record on piano, vocals and general "feel".

A friend of mine collects the autographed "white album" photos. He has gotten Paul's and Ringo's in person, and was given one of John that he had signed while in Denmark in 1969. Now all he needs is George's. Well, one candidate is this one, found here in Egypt.

Friday 21 May 2010

Beatles at the BBC for 2010 part 6

Just first, on a personal note: I am currently on holiday in Egypt and I'm only taking time off for a few minutes to update you on this series. I'm returning home on Sunday (hopefully, if the ash cloud will let me land). Please don't pester me about the where's of this series. I am sure that it will find it's way to easily accessible websites or peer-to-peer networks within weeks. Also, about the "Odds & Sods Extra" DVD, I don't have it myself, I was only informed about the track list, which I shared with you.
On to the topic: Volum 11 of the new Beatles BBC series.

Unsurpassed Broadcasts Volume 11.

The World Of Books rcd 16th June / txd 3rd July 1965

1. John discusses his writing and drawing with Wilfred De'Ath


The Beatles Abroad rcd August 1965 / txd 30th Aug 1965

2. US tour interviews with Brian Matthew


Pop Profile rcd 30th Nov 1965 / txd March 1966

3. John talks with Brian Matthew

Pop Profile rcd 30th Nov 1965 / txd March 1966

4. George talks with Brian Matthew

Saturday Club rcd 29th Nov 1965 / txd 25th Dec 1965

5. Chat with Brian Matthew (unedited session tape)

Saturday Club rcd 2nd May 1966 / txd 4th June 1966

6. Chat with Brian Matthew

Pop Profile rcd 2nd May 1966 / txd 1966

7. Ringo talks with Brian Matthew


Pop Profile rcd 2nd May 1966 / txd 1966

8. Paul talks with Brian Matthew

The Lennon And McCartney Songbook rcd 6th Aug / txd 29th Aug 1966

9. John and Paul talk with Keith Fordyce


Top Of The Pops rcd 20th March 1967 / txd 1967 (overseas only)

10. Penny Lane (extract)
John and Paul talk with Brian Matthew


Scene And Heard 13th Sept / txd 30th Sept 1967

11. Interview with George

Where It's At rcd Nov 1967 / txd 25th Nov 1967

12. John talks with Kenny Everett and Chris Denning (extracts)
13. All Together On The Wireless Machine (Paul, Kenny Everett & Chris Denning)

Monday 17 May 2010

Beatles at the BBC for 2010 part 5

Unsurpassed Broadcasts Vol. 9

From Us To You (3) rcd 1st May / txd 18th May 1964

1. From Us To You
2. Chat / Whit Monday To You
3. I Saw Her Standing There
4. Kansas City/Hey Hey Hey Hey
5. Chat
6. I Forgot To Remember To Forget
7. Chat
8. You Can't Do That
9. Sure To Fall
10. Chat
11. Can't Buy Me Love
12. Chat
13. Matchbox
14. Honey Don't
15. From Us to You

Top Gear rcd 14th July / txd 16th July 1964

16. Promo
17. Promo (outtake)
18. Long Tall Sally
19. Announcer
20. Things We Said Today
21. Chat
22. A Hard Day's Night
23. Chat
24. And I Love Her
25. Announcer's intro to album track
26. If I Fell
27. You Can't Do That
28. Announcer / Top Gear Theme

From Us To You (4) rcd 17th July / txd 3rd August 1964

29. From Us To You
30. Chat
31. Long Tall Sally
32. If I Fell
33. I'm Happy Just To Dance With You
34. Chat
35. Things We Said Today
36. I Should Have Know Better
37. Chat
38. Boys
39. Kansas City/Hey Hey Hey Hey
40. It's For You (performed by Cilla Black)
41. Chat
42. A Hard Day's Night
43. From Us To You


BONUS TRACKS:

From Us To You (4) recording session 17th July 1964

44. From Us To You (outtake)
45. From Us To You (no voice-over)
46. I'm Happy Just To Dance With You (backing track)
47. I Should Have Known Better (false start)
48. I Should Have Known Better (no harmonica / single-tracked vocal)



Top Gear recording session 17th Nov 1964

49. I'll Follow The Sun (outtake)
50. Studio chat / I Feel fine (false start)
51. I Feel Fine (single-tracked vocal)
52. Studio chat

Unsurpassed Broadcasts Vol. 10

Top Gear rcd 17th Nov / txd 26th Nov 1964

1. Chat
2. I'm A Loser
3. Chat
4. Honey Don't (edited by Transcription Services)
5. She's A Woman
6. Chat
7. Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby
8. I'll Follow The Sun
9. Chat
10. I Feel Fine

Saturday Club rcd 25th Nov / txd 26th Dec 1964

11. Announcer
12. Rock And Roll Music
13. Chat
14. I'm A Loser (rcd 17th Nov 1964)
15. Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby (rcd 17th Nov 1964)
16. Chat
17. I Feel Fine (rcd 17th Nov 1964)
18. Chat
19. Kansas City/Hey Hey Hey Hey
20. Announcer
21. She's A Woman (rcd 17th Nov 1964)

Pop Inn txd live 13th April 1965

22. Interview with Keith Fordyce


The Beatles Invite You To Take A Ticket To Ride rcd 26th May / txd 7th June 1965

23. Ticket To Ride (extract)
24. Announcer
25. Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby
26. I'm A Loser
27. Chat
28. The Night Before
29. Honey Don't
30. Chat
31. Dizzy Miss Lizzy
32. She's A Woman
33. Announcer
34. Ticket To Ride (with 'bye now' intro)

BONUS TRACKS:

Top Of The Pops show 32 (*) rcd Spring 1965 / txd July 1965 (overseas only)

35. Chat
36. Chat
37. Ticket To Ride (with clean intro - rcd 26th May 1965)


British Information Service rcd 30th July 1965 / txd 1965

38. Interview with Dibbs Mather for the BBC Transcription Service (broadcast in the US only


Top Gear rcd 17th Nov / txd 26th Nov 1964

39. Honey Don't (unedited original version)

And, by the way, WogBlog is brought to you from Egypt tonight!

Friday 14 May 2010

Odds and Sods Extra

There's an extra volume of the acclaimed Odds and Sods series out. It contains the following:
01.opening
02.1962/08/22 at the Cavern Club, Liverpool - Multi Angle, Comparison of the three versions
03.0963/04/04 at the BBC Radio Paris Studio, London - Color 8mm Film
04.1963/08/27 at the little theatre, Southport - Upgrade
05.1963/10/27 at the Cirkus Lorensbergsparken, Göteborg - Upgrade
06.1963/11/20 at the ABC Cinema, Manchester - Multi Angle
07.1963/12/07 at the Empire Theatre, Liverpool - "It's The Beatles", Upgrade
08.1963/12/14 at the Palais, Wimbledon - Upgrade
09.1964/02/11 at the Washington D.C. Coliseum - Multi Angle
10.1964/02/11 at the Washington D.C. Coliseum - "Digital Tele-Cine", Restored
11.1964/08/23 at the Hollywood Bowl - Multi Angle
12.1964 U.S. Tour - Roll Over Beethoven-Can't Buy Me Love-If I Fell
13.1964/10/14 "Scene at 6.30."
14.1964/10/20 at the Caird Hall, Dundee
15.1965/06/20 at the Palais des Sports, Paris - Upgrade
16.1965/08/29 at the Hollywood Bowl - Color 8mm Film, Digital Tele-Cine
17.1965/12/10 at the Hammersmith Odeon, London - B&W 8mm Film
18.1966/08/28 at the Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles - Color 8mm Film, CVS
19. PV "Love Me Do" - Multi Angle
20. PV "Ticket To Ride" - Upgrade
21. PV "A Day In The Life" - Upgrade
22. PV "Something" - Upgrade

Here's a YouTube-version of item 11:

Tuesday 11 May 2010

Beatles at the BBC for 2010 part 4

So, Vol. 8 hits the internet. The collector responsible for these releases has plans to put together a booklet with text and photos to accompany the compact disc set eventually.

Unsurpassed Broadcasts Vol. 8

Saturday Club rcd 7th Jan / txd 15th Feb 1964

1. All My Loving
2. Money
3. Chat
4. The Hippy Hippy Shake
5. Chat
6. I Want To Hold Your Hand (rcd 17th Dec 1963)
7. Roll Over Beethoven
8. Announcer
9. Johnny B. Goode
10. Announcer
11. I Wanna Be Your Man

Saturday Club rcd 22nd Feb / txd 22nd Feb 1964

12. Phone interview with Brian Matthew from London Airport

The Public Ear rcd 18th March / txd 22nd March 1964

13. Letter from listener / Ringo
14. George and Ringo request tk1
15. George and Ringo request tk2
16. John reads from In His Own Write
17. George and Ringo read the credits

From Us To You (2) rcd 28th Feb / txd 30th March 1964

18. From Us To You
19. Announcer
20.. You Can't Do That
21. Chat
22. Roll Over Beethoven
23. Chat
24. Till There Was You
25. Chat
26. I Wanna Be Your Man
27. Chat
28. Please Mr. Postman
29. All My Loving
30. Chat
31. This Boy
32. Chat
33. Can't Buy Me Love
34. Announcer
35. From Us To You


Saturday Club rcd 31st March / txd 4th April 1964

36. Announcer
37. Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby
38. Announcer
39. I Call Your Name
40. I Got A Woman
41. Chat
42. You Can't Do That
43. Chat
44. Can't Buy Me Love
45. Chat
46. Sure To Fall
47. Long Tall Sally

Paul is Undead


A somewhat different Beatles book is on it's way.
For John Lennon, a young, idealistic zombie guitarist with dreams of global domination, Liverpool seems the ideal place to form a band that could take over the world. In an inspired act, Lennon kills and reanimates local rocker Paul McCartney, kicking off an unstoppable partnership. With the addition of newly zombified guitarist George Harrison and drummer/Seventh Level Ninja Lord Ringo Starr, the Beatles soon cut a swath of bloody good music and bloody violent mayhem across Europe, America, and the entire planet.

In this searing oral history, discover how the Fab Four climbed to the Toppermost of the Poppermost while stealing the hearts, ears, and brains of smitten teenage girls. Learn the tale behind a spiritual journey that resulted in the dismemberment of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Marvel at the seemingly indestructible quartet’s survival of a fierce attack by Eighth Level Ninja Lord Yoko Ono. And find out how the boys escaped eternal death at the hands of England’s greatest zombie hunter, Mick Jagger.

Through all this, one mystery remains: Can the Beatles sublimate their hunger for gray matter, remain on top of the charts, and stay together for all eternity? After all, three of the Fab Four are zombies, and zombies live forever....

Monday 10 May 2010

Beatles at the BBC for 2010 part 3

The new series of the Beatles broadcasts for BBC radio continues (see earlier postings)
The Beatles: Unsurpassed Broadcasts Vol 6

Non Stop Pop rcd 30th July / txd 30th Aug 1963

1. 'Pop Chat' interview with Phil Tate

Pop Go The Beatles (13) rcd 3rd Sept / txd 10th Sept 1963

2 Pop Go The Beatles (short version)
3. Announcerouncer
4. Too Much Monkey Business
5. Chat
6. Love Me Do
7. Chat
8. She Loves You
9. I'll Get You
10. Chat
11. A Taste Of Honey
12. Chat
13. The Hippy Hippy Shake


Pop Go The Beatles (14) rcd 3rd Sept / txd 17th Sept 1963

14. Pop Go The Beatles (short version)
15. Announcer
16. Chains
17. Chat
18. You Really Got A Hold On Me
19. Misery
20. Announcer
21. Lucille
22. Announcer
23. From Me To You
24. 'Brackets!'
25. Chat
26. Boys

Pop Go The Beatles (15) rcd 3rd Sept / txd 24th Sept 1963

27. Pop Go The Beatles (short version)
28. Announcer
29. She Loves You
30. Announcer
31. Ask Me Why
32. Announcer
33. Devil In My Heart
34. Chat
35. I Saw Her Standing There
36. Chat
37. Sure To Fall
38. Chat
39. Twist And Shout
40. Announcer / Theme From The Flowerpot Men
41. Pop Go The Beatles (long version)

Saturday Club rcd 7th Sept / txd 5th Oct 1963

42. Saturday Jump / Announcer
43. I Saw Her Standing There
44. Memphis Tennesse
45. Happy Birthday Saturday Club
46. Continuity / Announcer
47. I'll Get You
48. Announcer
49. She Loves You
50. Lucille
51. Announcer / Saturday Jump

Easy Beat rcd 16th Oct / txd 20th Oct 1963

52. Announcer
53. I Saw Her Standing There
54. Announcer
55. Love Me Do
56. Please Please Me
57. Chat
58. From Me To You
59. She Loves You


The Beatles: Unsurpassed Broadcasts Vol. 7

Radio Newsreel rcd 16th Oct 1963 / txd 16th Oct 1963

1. Interview with Peter Woods

The Ken Dodd Show rcd 3rd Oct 1963 / txd 3rd Nov 1963

2. She Loves You

The Public Ear rcd 9th Oct 1963 / txd 3rd Nov 1963

3. Interview with Michael Colley

Saturday Club rcd 17th Dec 1963 / txd 21st Dec 1963

4. All My Loving
5. Chat
6. This Boy
7. All I Want For Christmas
Chat
8. I Want To Hold Your Hand
9. Till There Was You
10. Roll Over Beethoven
11. Chat
12. She Loves You
13. Crimble Medley

From Us To You (1) rcd 18th Dec 1963 / txd 26th Dec 1963

14. From Us To You
15. Announcer
16. She Loves You
17. Announcer
18. All My Loving
19. Roll Over Beethoven
20. Chat
21. Till There Was You
22. Chat
23. Chat
24. Boys
25. Money
26. I Saw Her Standing There
27. Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport
28. Chat
29. I Want To Hold Your Hand
30. Announcer
31. From Us To You

Saturday Club rcd 7th Feb 1964 / txd 8th Feb 1964

32. Malcolm Davis in New York
33. Interview with Murray The 'K'
34. Interviews with fans at Kennedy Airport
35. Arrival at Kennedy Airport
36. Interviews with fans outside Plaza Hotel
37. Beatles phone interview with Brian Matthew

BONUS TRACKS:

Dateline London rcd 10th Dec 63 / txd early 1964

38. Interview with Dibbs Mather for the BBC Transcription Service

From Us To You (1) rcd 18th Dec 1963 / txd 26th Dec 1963

39. I Want To Hold Your Hand (1996 BBC edit)
40. I Want To Hold Your Hand (1996 edit with missing sections inserted)

As usual, don't ask us where to find these.

Friday 7 May 2010

Bonham's auction June 13th in LA

After 44 years in a near-forgotten cigar box, a tape recording of a press conference by the Beatles in Toronto goes on the auction block next month.
Retired photographer Paul Hourigan made the tape when he was a freelance reporter before joining the Hamilton Spectator newspaper. In 1966 he hoped to get $50 for it, but neither The Spectator nor any of Hamilton's radio stations was interested. Today the auction house is listing the one-of-a-kind piece for as much as $25,000.
The catalogue for the auction describes the 14-minute tape as: "Recorded that day by the current owner ... these tapes are believed to be the only audio known to survive from that press conference, though written transcripts of the event have always been available as countless reporters were there."
During the short interview session, reporters focus on John Lennon's controversial remark about the Beatles being more popular than Jesus Christ, in addition to Vietnam and the generation gap. The guys do add some levity, though, and a few laughs are heard throughout, especially when asked how long the band will be together. Lennon responds, "We're obviously not gonna go around holding hands forever" and McCartney adds "...it would be a bit, you know, embarrassing at (age) 35..."
The auction also includes other Beatles and related items, among them a never before seen black and white photograph showing the band onstage at their last concert on August 29, 1966 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, snapped by Robert Stinnett (see illustration above). Stinnett shot a whole series of photos that night, most of which have never been published.
Other interesting items: a third state butcher cover, a collection of magazines and fan memorabilia from 1964-1980, a US Beatles record collection (albums and 25+ singles) purchased when the records were first released, the Incredible! poster, a contract for "Live and Let Die" signed by McCartney, the Sgt Pepper costumes from the film of the same name, starring the Bee Gees, Peter Frampton, and Billy Preston etc. Take a look at the full catalogue here.

Thursday 6 May 2010

Beatles at the BBC for 2010 part 2

Volumes 4 and 5 of the new "remastered" Beatles radio sessions for BBC have been made available, and it is now revealed that the set will contain eleven volumes when complete, with Vol. 1 being the final release.

Unsurpassed Broadcasts Vol. 4

Pop Go The Beatles (5) rcd 2nd July / txd 16th July 1963

1. Pop Go The Beatles (short version)
2. Announcer
3. That's All Right Mama
4. Chat
5. There's A Place
6. Announcer
7. Carol
8. Chat
9. Soldier Of Love
10. Announcer
11. Lend Me Your Comb
12. Chat
13. Clarabella

Easy Beat rcd 17th July / txd 21st July 1963

14. I Saw Her Standing There
15. Shot Of Rhythm And Blues
16. There's A Place
17. Twist And Shout

Pop Go The Beatles (6) rcd 10th July / txd 23rd July 1963

18. Chat
19. Sweet Little Sixteen
20. Chat
21. A Taste Of Honey
22. Announcer
23. Nothin' Shakin'
24. Announcer
25. Love Me Do
26. Chat
27. Lonesome Tears In My Eyes
28. Chat
29. So How Come No One Loves Me
30. Announcer
31. Pop Go The Beatles (long version)

Pop Go The Beatles (7) rcd 10th July / txd 30th July 1963

32. Memphis Tennessee
33. Chat
34. Do You Want To Know A Secret?
35. Chat
36. Till There Was You
37. Chat
38. Matchbox
39. Announcer
40. Please Mr. Postman
41. Chat
42. The Hippy Hippy Shake
43. Announcer
44. Pop Go The Beatles (long version)

Pop Go The Beatles (8) rcd 16th July / txd 6th August1963

45. Pop Go The Beatles (short version)
46. Announcer
47. I'm Gonna Sit Right Down And Cry (Over You)
48. Chat
49. Crying, Waiting, Hoping
50. Kansas City/Hey Hey Hey Hey
51. Announcer
52. To Know Her Is To Love Her
53. Chat
54. The Honeymoon Song
55. Twist And Shout
56. Announcer
57. Pop Go The Beatles (long version)


Unsurpassed Broadcasts, Vol. 5

Pop Go The Beatles (9) rcd 16th July / txd 13th August 1963

1. Pop Go The Beatles (short version)
2. Announcer
3. Long Tall Sally
4. Announcer
5. Please Please Me
6. Announcer
7. She Loves You
8. Announcer
9. You Really Got A Hold On Me
10. Announcer
11. I'll Get You
12. I Got A Woman
13. Announcer
14. Pop Go The Beatles (long version)

Pop Go The Beatles (10) rcd 16th July / txd 20th August 1963

15. She Loves You
16. Announcer
17. Words Of Love
18. Announcer
19. Glad All Over
20. Announcer
21. I Just Don't Understand
22. Announcer
23. Devil In Her Heart
24. Announcer
25. Slow Down

Saturday Club rcd 30th July / txd 24th August 1963

26. Long Tall Sally
27. She Loves You
28. Glad All Over
29. Chat
30. Twist And Shout
31. Chat
32. You Really Got A Hold On Me
33. I'll Get You

Pop Go The Beatles (11) rcd 1st August / txd 27th August 1963

34. Ooh! My Soul
35. Chat
36. Don't Ever Change
37. Twist And Shout
38. Chat
39. She Loves You
40. Announcer
41. Anna
42. A Shot Of Rhythm And Blues


Pop Go The Beatles (12) rcd 1st August / txd 3rd September 1963

43. Pop Go The Beatles (short version)
44. Announcer
45. From Me To You
46. I'll Get You
47. Chat
48. Money
49. Announcer
50. There's A Place
51. Honey Don't
52. Chat
53. Roll Over Beethoven

Don't ask us where to get these, we are trying to not be another one of those download blogs. We are merely reporting and giving you information of what is available.

Beatlesnytt 163

The swedish magazine "Beatlesnytt" ("Beatles-news") has a tradition for making "clever" covers and the current issue is no exception, being a parody of the World Records album boxed set from the early eighties. The swedish method is to have a chronological approach to news from the Beatles world, and it picks up where the previous issue left. The main focal point remains on new releases, and these are presented in detail after the chronological news. This time, they are the Beatles USB Apple stick, the "Contemporary Sound" bootleg, Ringo's "Y Not", Paul's "(I Want To) Come Home", "Good Evening New York City", CD/DVD "Live at Knebworth", "Live in Los Angeles" (Mail on Sunday), a bootleg DVD from the Roundhouse concert in 2007, and the grammy DVD presentation of "Live at Olympia" from that same year, the "Nowhere Boy" soundtrack, the DVD "It's Gonna Be Alright" by Gerry and the Pacemakers and the books "Liddypool, Birthplace of the Beatles", "Echoes of Liverpool" and "The McCartneys, In the town where they were born". The colour inside covers are stills from "Nowhere Boy" and the back cover is a "Mad day out" studio photo. A few magazines have also been reviewed, among them the norwegian Tunes (see here and here).
Even though I try to keep on top of things happening in the Beatles world, "Beatlesnytt" can always be relied upon to bring me information I have missed out on. It had escaped me that Paul held a press conference at the "Roxy and Screen" in London on the 25th of November, answering questions from the press about his new release "Good Evening New York City". He was asked why he was playing Lennon's "Give Peace A Chance" in his concerts and replied by revealing that he would have loved it if Lennon was playing "Maybe I'm Amazed". As a matter of fact, Lennon actually did do a McCartney tribute when he played the mostly McCartney-penned "I Saw Her Standing There" at his last live performance together with Elton John at Thanksgiving 1974 in Madison Square Garden.
One release that had gone under my radar was the Christmas Pack Limited Edition Box Set, four remastered Beatles CD albums packaged together in a special box for the Christmas sales.
Other interesting facts: it was Pink Floyd's David Gilmour who rediscovered the lost original Julian Lennon drawing of "Lucy in the sky with diamonds", Ringo's movie costume for "Caveman" went under the hammer just before Christmas, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Annex in NYC closed for good in January, Capitol released a boxed set of John Lennon's "Shaved Fish", "Imagine" and "Rock'n'Roll" called "Instant Karma! John Lennon's All Time Greatest Hits! in the USA in January, and a wine with a label from the "butcher cover" photo session as reimagined by Beatles artist Shannon was released in a limited edition of only 50 in February.
In their mention of the 3 disc vinyl single pack of John Lennon records for Record Store Day, "Beatlesnytt" identifies "Watching The Wheels"/"Yes, I'm Your Angel" as a new single release when it was actually released as a single in all major markets in 1981.
"Beatlesnytt" are also speculating about the future. 2010 will bring us the remastered George Harrison CD "Dark Horse" with extra material, there'll be a new studio album from Paul McCartney and Tony Bramwell will publish a new book. For 2011, they predict that Paul will marry Nancy Shevell.

The review of the Apple USB stick concerns several flawed sticks with crc errors in some of the FLAC files, but concludes that once the errors were fixed, the Beatles albums sound much better in 24 bit sound than on CD. They are using the following analogy: If the remastered CD's sounded like you were sitting in the control room of Abbey Road studios listening, the 24 bit versions sounds like you are in the studio itself along with the group.
"Beatlesnytt" is published in swedish only, and is a quarterly publication published by the swedish Beatles Information Center.
Official site

Tuesday 4 May 2010

Beatles at the BBC for 2010

Due to the surfacing of some new and some upgrades of the recordings The Beatles did for the BBC in 1962-1965, the old Beatles at the Beeb catalogue has gotten a facelift. It is being re-released in full, and is starting to appear as individual releases, packaged as bundled flac and cue files on the internet, together with artwork for those who still like to store physical media on their shelves.
 The releases is the undertaking of a single collector, who has done improvements to the material in the following fashion:
  • new and better versions of quite a number of songs were broadcast by the BBC last year and has been included, 
  • some vinyl-only bootlegs have been found to contain material in better quality than previous CD releases, 
  • audio equipment for the home computer has improved and has been put to good use in 'cleaning up' the sound quality. 
The standard catalogue for the Beatles BBC recordings has for the past few years been Purple Chick's The Complete BBC Sessions (upgraded for 2004), and this new set is called Unsurpassed Broadcasts. The first two volumes released thus far have been Vol. 2 and 3. They have been distributed freely on the internet, and if you have connections, I'm sure you will be able to find them. Here's the tracklists for the first released volumes:

Unsurpassed Broadcasts Vol. 2

Swinging Sound '63 recorded 18th April 1963 / txd live

1. Twist And Shout
2. From Me To You

Side By Side recorded 1st April 1963 / txd 22nd April 1963

3. Side By Side Theme (partial)
4. Chat / Do You Want To Know A Secret? (fragment)

Side By Side recorded 1st April 1963 / txd 13th May 1963

5. Chat
6. Long Tall Sally
7. Chat
8. A Taste Of Honey
9. Chains
10. Chat
11. Thank You Girl
12. Chat
13. Boys

Side By Side recorded 4th April 1963 / txd 24th June 1963

14. Side By Side Theme
15. Announcer
16. Too Much Monkey Business
17.Chat
18. Boys
19. Chat
20. I'll Be On Way
21. From Me To You

Saturday Club recorded 21st May 1963 / txd 25th May 1963

22. Announcer
23. I Saw Her Standing There
24. Chat
25. Do You Want To Know A Secret?
26. Boys
27.Chat
28. Long Tall Sally
29. Chat
30. From Me To You
31. Money

Steppin' Out recorded 21st May 1963 / txd 3rd June 1963

32. Please Please Me
33. I Saw Her Standing There

Pop Go The Beatles (1) recorded 24th May 1963 / txd 4th June 1963

34. Announcer
35. Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby
36.Chat
37. Do You Want To Know A Secret?
38. Announcer
39. You Really ot A Hold On Me
40. Misery
41. Chat
42. The Hippy Hippy Shake


Unsurpassed Broadcasts Vol. 3
 
Pop Go The Beatles (2) recorded 1st June 1963 / txd 11th June 1963

1. Too Much Monkey Business
2. Chat
3. I Got To Find My Baby
4. Announcer
5. Young Blood
6. Announcer
7. Till There Was You
8. Chat
9. Baby It's You
10. Announcer
11. Love Me Do
12. Pop Go The Beatles (long theme)

Pop Go The Beatles (3) recorded 1st June 1963 / txd 18th June 1963

13. Pop Go The Beatles (short theme)
14. Announcer
15. A Shot Of Rythm And Blues
16. Chat
17. Memphis Tennessee
18. Chat
19. A Taste Of Honey
20. Announcer
21. Sure To Fall
22. Announcer
23. Money
24. Chat
25. From Me To You


Easy Beat recorded 19th June 1963 / txd 23rd June 1963

26. Some Other Guy
27. Chat
28. A Taste Of Honey
29. Thank You Girl
30. Announcer
31. From Me To You


Pop Go The Beatles recorded 17th June 1963 / txd 25th June 1963

32. I Saw Her Standing There
33. Announcer
34. Anna
35. Chat
36. Chat
37. Boys
38. Chat
39. Chains
40. Chat
41. P.S. I Love You
42. Chat
43. Twist And Shout
44. Announcer
45. Pop Go The Beatles (long theme)


Saturday Club recorded 24th June 1963 / txd 29th June 1963

46. I Got To Find My Baby
47. Chat
48. Memphis Tennessee
49. Money P
50. Till There Was You
51. Chat
52. From Me To You
53. Roll Over Beethoven


The Beat Show recorded 3rd July 1963 / txd 4th July 1963

54. A Taste Of Honey
55. Twist And Shout

Saturday 1 May 2010

Last Play at Shea new documentary

For the final performance at New York's doomed Shea Stadium in July 2008, Sir Paul McCartney joined Billy Joel on stage for a duet on "I Saw Her Standing There". McCartney then performed "Let It Be". A fitting goodbye to the stadium, who's era as a concert arena was started by the Beatles in 1965.As we know, the concert was filmed for a future documentary. That documentary is now here, and it's called "Last Play at Shea". And it's a film looking for a distributor. Here's the description of the film:

"From The Beatles' first-ever arena performance in 1965 until Billy Joel's concert before its demolition in 2009, Shea Stadium played host to some of the biggest names in music from around the globe in addition to serving as home to the New York Mets. This lovingly crafted documentary interweaves the history of this recently lost New York City landmark with the career of Long Island native Billy Joel, a performer whose personal connection to the stadium made him the perfect choice to close the curtain on Shea's storied past."

"Director Paul Crowder draws on a wealth of historical footage as well as personal interviews with Joel to provide an intimate look at the intersecting histories of a stadium, a team, and a music legend. Set to the soundtrack of Joel's final Shea performance and featuring exclusive concert footage with guests like Tony Bennett and Roger Daltrey, Last Play pays a timely tribute to one of America's most significant venues for both music and sports."

Here's an excerpt from Dana Brand's review of the film, we focused on the McCartney part of this:
"The film includes extensive footage from these concerts and it captures the powerful emotional bond between the crowd and Joel and McCartney in particular."
and
"McCartney lands and in what any New Yorker will recognize as the greatest miracle in the film, makes it from JFK to Shea in eleven minutes. It is exciting to follow his motorcade and it is moving to see him arrive. As ordinary as you could ever ask anyone to be, McCartney gets into the bullpen cart driven by groundskeeper Pete Flynn, who reminds him that he also drove the Beatles onto the field for the concert that created the stadium concert on August 15, 1965."
and
"McCartney's miraculous arrival prepares us for the full emotional experience of the last three numbers performed: I Saw Her Standing There, Piano Man, and Let It Be."
Cast & Credits
Primary Cast: Billy Joel, Paul McCartney, Roger Daltrey, Steven Tyler, Garth Brooks, Tony Bennett, Mike Piazza, Keith Hernandez, Tom Seaver
Director: Paul Crowder
Screenwriter: Mark Monroe
Producer: Steve Cohen, Nigel Sinclair
Executive Producer: Todd Kamelhar, Glen Zipper
Co-Editors: Mike J. Nichols, Paul Crowder

Tribeca Film
Another film review