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This is a website about all things Beatle. There will be news if we find them attractive, there will also be articles and features about sol...
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Meeting fans - March 29, 1969 - On this date, John and Yoko met some fans from the Dutch Beatles Fan Club. Here you see John signing the copy of their fan club n...
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CLASSIC ROCK - THE STORY OF PAUL McCARTNEY - 🟠BEATLES STORES (Associated with Amazon, Shipments Worldwide)→ *HERE* , HERE & *HERE* 👉All t...
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LIBB P764: 25 March 2024 - Show 1457 Panel: Gary Lally, Sam Barres, David White *LIBB Show 1457 WynFM Podcast P764* Download Or Stream LIBB Show 1457 WynFM Podcast P764 Part 1 ...
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Revamping the Red and Blue albums – it’s all too much - Amid all the hullabaloo surrounding the release of ‘Now and Then’ in November, the major facelift and expansion of the definitive Beatles compilations whic...
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Paul McCartney – CHOBA B CCCP – Two Editions (How to distinguish them, what needs to be checked) - Last post we looked at how to go about identifying an unusual Australian pressing of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. This type of id task comes up a...
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Having a Large Time! - I’m still working on the manuscript, but I just got the proof for the cover for my upcoming book about Southern music, and I’m very pleased with how it tur...
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Harry Benson : « Paul » livre l'intimité de McCartney - C’est en 1964 que Harry Benson commence à photographier le jeune Paul McCartney, année charnière pour les Beatles qui déferlent sur l’Amérique, sillonnen...
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ED治療の際はシルデナフィルの使い方を正しくマスターしよう! - シルデナフィルはED治療によく使用されていますが、使い方を間違えると命に関わることもありますので注意が必要です。一番良い方法は、医師や薬剤師など専門家に相談し、指示を守って服用することですが、ここでは一般的に言われているシルデナフィルの正しい使い方についてご紹介します。 市販されているシルデナフィルには25...
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William Leslie Anthony (Les Anthony): 30 April 1933 - 21 May 2020. - Les Anthony, John's driver from 1965-1971, has died. The story goes that John was having problems finding a suitable chauffeur, and so Brian Epstein, upo...
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The Decca Tapes - First Time In Stereo (By Lord Reith) - BITRATE: FLAC TRACK LISTING: Money The Sheikh Of Araby Memphis, Tennessee Three Cool Cats Sure To Fall September In The Rain Take Good Care Of My Baby Till...
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The Final Beatles' Recording Session - On April 01 1970, final work was done on three of the tunes for the upcoming "Let It Be" (formerly known as "Get Back") project. The session was held in St...
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There are seven levels. - [image: giphy (4)]
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Bitcoin and Other Donations - Hello fellow Beatle-people! I have not been idle but been working on many things including the promised book for Comprehensive Beatles. I hope to have new...
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Beatles Rarity of the Week – “Act Naturally” (Ringo Starr duet with Cilla Black, 1971) - Welcome to the Beatles Rarity of the Week. On August 1st, 2015 long-time Beatles-friend and fellow Liverpudlian Cilla Black (real name Priscilla Maria Vero...
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The Beatles' "Long Tall Sally" EP, featuring a photo of The Beatles in Sweden. Ok, so we brougth you a survey of the most ...
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"Pure McCartney" is a new 2CD or deluxe 4CD compilation of previously released songs. So the news are out...er somewhat. I gue...
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At least the airline was partly Norwegian. As you know, the Beatles never played in Norway - a sore point for us Norwegian fans of the g...
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The Beatles in Madrid (the photos, that is) Okay, we fell for it, hook, line and sinker. It was after all, a good story with a beautiful...
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Hi all, due to the fact that Facebook didn't like our url since it starts with wog, we have moved the blog. This was some time ago, and...
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In 1985, when Paul McCartney was performing "Let It Be" at the Live Aid concert on Wembley Stadium, his vocal microphone was no...
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Record store in Amsterdam From Monday to Friday last week, I've been in Amsterdam in Holland. And that's where I was when the ne...
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The original 1970 boxed set of the "Let It Be"-album. According to sources close to the projects, the yet-not-announced 50th a...
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This website is all about The Beatles and the individual members of The Beatles. It is kept by Roger Stormo, who has been associated with the Norwegian Beatles fan club, "Norwegian Wood", since 1980. Feel free to quote from the site, but please give me credit and a link back to the original item. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. This is not a news site per se, but if we hear about something that has yet to be reported by other Beatles news services, we tend to write about it. Apart from that, we will write stuff about the Beatles on an irregular basis at the whim of the author. A lot of our readers arrive at specific articles from internet searches or references to this site from forums and other Beatles sites. If you did, we encourage you to click here to access the main page, and also to indulge in our archives - you may find other posts that are interesting. You may also subscribe to news from the site and have each new issue delivered to your rss feed reader.
This is not a begging letter... but feel free to support me by donating money! It'll keep me in business... Or just buy a t-shirt! Or take a look at my Amazon wish list...If you have Beatles related product to push, feel free to send us a copy, the address is:
Roger Stormo
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email: roger.stormo@gmail.com
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Saturday 31 December 2011
Happy New Beatles Year!
It was 50 years today that The Beatles auditioned for Decca Records. Ever since the mid-seventies, the Decca audition tape has been floating around among Beatles fans, but always from the same source tape. Some of the tracks were released by small record companies in the eighties and nineties, until The Beatles/Apple won a court case, and became the exclusive owner of the recordings. In 1995, The Beatles released the album Anthology 1, which included five of the songs performed at the audition: "Searchin'", "Like Dreamers Do", "Hello Little Girl", "Three Cool Cats", and "The Sheik of Araby". The full session tape goes like this:
"Like Dreamers Do" (Lennon–McCartney)
"Money (That's What I Want)" (Gordy/Bradford)
"Till There Was You" (Meredith Willson)
"The Sheik of Araby" (Smith/Wheeler/Snyder)
"To Know Her Is to Love Her" (Phil Spector)
"Take Good Care of My Baby" (King/Goffin)
"Memphis, Tennessee" (Chuck Berry) (not released)
"Sure to Fall (In Love with You)" (Cantrell/Claunch/Perkins)
"Hello Little Girl" (Lennon–McCartney)
"Three Cool Cats" (Leiber/Stoller)
"Crying, Waiting, Hoping" (Buddy Holly)
"Love of the Loved" (Lennon–McCartney)
"September in the Rain" (Warren/Dubin)
"Bésame Mucho" (Consuelo Velázquez)
"Searchin'" (Leiber/Stoller)
2012 is a big year for The Beatles, and will no doubt be a year which we'll see some new Beatles releases. Why I think this is the case is because EMI has always used the release of "Love Me Do" in 1962 as a reference point to stage their Beatles anniversaries. But we fans know that New Year's Day is the real anniversary. So how about it, Apple? Even though this is the Pete Best incarnation of the Beatles, the full Decca audition tape is riper than ripe for an official release. And in late 2011, a new and better source tape started to circulate among Beatles collectors...
Friday 30 December 2011
Ringo on BBC Radio 6
A second chance to hear a radio show we missed out on before, Matt Everitt discusses musical milestones with the one and only Ringo Starr. Ringo talks Matt Everitt through his remarkable career - from the early days when his family inspired him to pick up the drumsticks, the influence of Radio Luxembourg and his very first performance with The Beatles; to Beatlemania, conquering the world and how the band's slow and painful break-up felt to an insider. Ringo also discusses life after The Beatles, his solo career and his All-Starr Band in an interview first heard in September 2011. 5 days left to hear this here.
"Home" finds a home
"Home (When Shadows Fall)" was composed around about 1931 by Peter Van Steeden, Harry Clarkson and Jeff Clarkson. The McCartney household may have had a recording of it, or even more likely, sheet music. Paul's father James used to play songs on the family piano, and this song seems right up his alley.
Paul McCartney's valentine's day album "Kisses on the bottom" was recently leaked in the form of an audio stream played by several internet radio stations. Fan reactions to the album have been mixed, and the subtle use of autotune commented on. The most ridiculous reactions have been of ignorants speculating that McCartney has run out of songs of his own. As we know, McCartney has recorded not one but two albums, one with cover versions and one regular album. The other album, due out in the future, is full of new McCartney compositions, no doubt. And even the cover album has got two new McCartney compositions.
Thursday 29 December 2011
Ringo 2012 DeLuxe
Details about the forthcoming album by our favourite singing drummer have been revealed. The regular CD will be released on January 24th, followed by a DeLuxe edition (CD + DVD), which will be an Amazon exclusive, on January 31st. On that same date, the album will also be released on 180 grams vinyl.
Wednesday 28 December 2011
Kisses on the Bottom
The new McCartney album, due out February 6th (7th in the USA), has leaked out to the internet in it's entirity today. And the title has been revealed (and twittered by Paul), "Kisses on the Bottom" - a lift from the lyrics of "I'm Gonna Sit Right Down And Write Myself A Letter".
Amazon's editorial review: While many a musician is often asked about the tunes that have influenced their songwriting, it is not a question Paul McCartney ordinarily gets to answer - until now. Paul is about to offer a glimpse into "the songs which inspired the songs" with the upcoming release of a brand new album of those standards he grew up listening to in his childhood-plus two brand new McCartney compositions. With the help of Grammyr Award-winning producer Tommy LiPuma and Diana Krall and her band-as well as guest appearances from Eric Clapton and Stevie Wonder, McCartney's new album is a deeply personal journey through classic American compositions that, in some cases, a young Paul first heard his father perform on piano at home. As authentic and daring a musical statement as he could make, this is the album Paul has been thinking about making for more than 20 years - and probably the last thing his fans are expecting. "In the end it was 'Look, if I don't do it now, I'll never do it'," he says. In short, Paul believes it is about time "the songs me and John based quite a few of our things on" received the recognition they deserve.
Moreover, the record also features a couple of new original McCartney compositions in the spirit of those classics. "When I kind of got into songwriting, I realized how well structured these songs were and I think I took a lot of my lessons from them," Paul explains. "I always thought artists like Fred Astaire were very cool. Writers like Harold Arlen, Cole Porter, all of those guys - I just thought the songs were magical. And then, as I got to be a songwriter I thought it's beautiful, the way they made those songs." Determined to approach the record in a new and unique manner, Paul enlisted the help of LiPuma and Krall and her band-who delivered ultra-high quality musicianship and were completely in tune with Paul's restraint and feel for the music.
In the studio, the recording of this album was also a new challenge for Paul who, for the first time ever, performed exclusively in the vocal booth without an instrument - no guitar, no bass, no piano - which led to a vocal performance like no other in his career. He adds, "It was very spontaneous, kind of organic, which then reminded me of the way we'd work with The Beatles. We'd bring a song in, kick it around, when we found a way to do it we'd say 'Okay, let's do a take now' and by the time everyone kind of had an idea of what they were doing, we'd learnt the song. So that's what we did, we did the take live in the studio." "It was important for me to keep away from the more obvious song choices so, many of the classic standards will be unfamiliar to some people. I hope they are in for a pleasant surprise." The album was recorded at the legendary Capitol Studios in Los Angeles, New York and London throughout 2011. It also features guest musicians Eric Clapton and Stevie Wonder, respectively, on the original compositions "My Valentine" and "Only Our Hearts."
The deluxe version will include the same tracks below but have expanded artwork and a download card for an exclusive live performance.
The vinyl will be 180 gram with a download card as well.
1 I'm Gonna Sit Right Down And Write Myself A Letter 2:36
2 Home (When Shadows Fall) 4:04
3 It's Only A Paper Moon 2:34
4 More I Cannot Wish You 3:03
5 The Glory Of Love 3:45
6 We Three (My Echo, My Shadow And Me) 3:22
7 Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate The Positive 2:31
8 My Valentine 3:14
9 Always 3:49
10 My Very Good Friend The Milkman 3:04
11 Bye Bye Blackbird 4:26
12 Get Yourself Another Fool 4:41
13 The Inch Worm 3:42
14 Only Our Hearts 4:21
Thursday 22 December 2011
BBC Radio 4 Beatles Christmas
Christmas 1963 saw The Beatles taking to the stage for 16 shows across the seasonal period and it's surprising they took to wearing pantomime costume so well.
The Beatles did a second spell in pantomime, this time playing 21 shows in London Christmas '64 and the programme has comments from supporting acts, singer Elkie Brooks and Barron Knights guitarist Peter Langford.
Time is also devoted to the group's Boxing Day broadcast on BBC 1 for their 'Magical Mystery Tour' film, and we hear how the movie was made and scheduled for festive family viewing, with comments from the film's editor Roy Benson.
And all this in only thirty minutes. First broadcast on the 27th of December, and repeated on the 31st.
Programme website
Off The Beatle Track album cover
Sunday 18 December 2011
My Valentine tracks
1. I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter (Alhert/Young) 2:36
2. Home (When Shadows Fall) (Van Steeden/Clarkson/Clarkson) 4:04
3. It's Only a Paper Moon (Arlen/Harburg/Rose) 2:35
4. More I Cannot Wish You (Loesser) 3:03
5. The Glory of Love (Hill) 3:45
6. We Three (My Echo, My Shadow and Me) (Dorsey/Robertson/Mysels) 3:22
7. Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive (Arlen/Mercer) 2:31
8. My Valentine (McCartney) 3:14
9. Always (Berlin) 3:49
10. My Very Good Friend the Milkman (Burke/Spina) 3:04
11. Bye Bye Blackbird (Henderson/Dixon) 4:26
12. Get Yourself Another Fool (Forrest/Heywood) 4:42
13. The Inch Worm (Loesser) 3:42
14. Only Our Hearts (McCartney?) 4:21
My Valentine will be the fifteenth solo studio album by Paul McCartney, and is set to be released on 7 February 2012 from Concord/Hear Music.
Wednesday 7 December 2011
Ram update
While on the subject of Paul McCartney, his next studio album will be entitled "My Valentine" and is expected to be released on Feb 6th 2012. It will be an album of old standards, along with his own compositions in the same style. "You Gave Me The Answer", "When I'm Sixty-four" and "Honey Pie" comes to mind. "My Valentine" is also the title of the composition he serenaded his wife with at their wedding recetion.
Ringo Starr 2012
So here's the cover and the track list! The new Ringo Starr album Ringo 2012 will feature the following nine songs:
1. Anthem (Richard Starkey/Glen Ballard)
2. Wings (Richard Starkey/Vince Poncia) re-working
3. Think It Over (Buddy Holly/Norman Perry) from the Buddy Holly tribute album
4. Samba (Richard Starkey/Van Dyke Parks)
5. Rock Island Line (Arrangement by Richard Starkey)
6. Step Lightly (Richard Starkey) re-working
7. Wonderful (Richard Starkey/Gary Nicholson)
8. In Liverpool (Richard Starkey/Dave Stewart)
9. Slow Down (Richard Starkey/Joe Walsh)
Saturday 3 December 2011
Let's all be Beatles!
LET'S ALL BE BEATLES!
Currently for sale on ebay is the rare movie poster for a 1963 compilation of Pathe Newsreels, claiming to be the first Beatles movie poster.And here's the film in question:
Monday 28 November 2011
New Russian wish list
Paul's Moscow concert is scheduled for December 14th.
Sunday 27 November 2011
Italy - set lists
• Hello Goodbye (was "Magical Mystery Tour" in Bologna)
• Juniors Farm
• All My Loving
• Jet
• Drive My Car (was "Got To Get You Into My Life" in Bologna)
• Sing The Changes
• The Night Before
• Let Me Roll It
• Paperback Writer
• The Long and Winding Road
• 1985
• Come and Get It (moved, was played before 1985 in Bologna)
• Maybe I'm Amazed
• I've Just Seen A Face (was "I'm Looking Through You" in Bologna)
• I Will (was "And I Love Her" in Bologna) Starting from the next one, the set lists are identical:
• Blackbird
• Here Today
• Dance Tonight
• Mrs Vanderbilt
• Eleanor Rigby
• Something
• Band on the Run
• Ob la di, Ob la da
• Back in the USSR
• I've Got A Feeling
• A Day in the Life/Give Peace A Chance
• Let it Be
• Live and Let Die
• Hey Jude
• The Word/All You Need Is Love
• Day Tripper
• Get Back
• Yesterday
• Helter Skelter
• Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End
And this is probably the two different set lists he will stick to for the tour. As we are drawing nearer to Christmas, "Wonderful Christmastime" will probably enter the set list, and perhaps "Mull of Kintyre" in London.
Come And Get It - Live!
Paul also played a medley of the songs The Word/All You Need Is Love for the first time at this concert. I hope they stay on the set list, as I've got tickets for the Stockholm concert. It's always nice when he pulls out a few surprises for us die-hards.
McCartney's new website
Saturday 26 November 2011
Record Store Day boxed set.
The singles and poster boxed set from yesterday's "record store day" event. |
Yesterday's "Black Friday" Record Store Day event saw two new Beatles and related releases, available only in participating stores. A boxed set of four vinyl singles and a poster from The Beatles and a special commemorative edition of John Lennon's "Imagine" album. And it was a nice gesture from the powers that be to have the included poster feature a Robert Whitaker photo. A silent homage to the recently deceased photographer?
The thing about these releases is that they're only pressed in limited quantities and only available if you visit the store in person, you can't buy these things online. Of course, the day following the event, you can visit ebay and other online shops and find these items by resellers.
Details for the Beatles release:
Box-set of four 7" picture sleeve singles.
Includes Record Store Day branded singles adapter and poster.
1. “Ticket To Ride” / “Yes It Is”
2. “Hey Jude” / “Revolution”
3. “Something” / “Come Together”
4. “Yellow Submarine” / “Eleanor Rigby”
Through a special arrangement, you can now get the Beatles singles boxed set online from the official Beatles stores. $50 in USA, £45 in the UK. The box was pressed in a quantity of 10 000 for the US market. (It was also made available in UK stores, limited to 1500 copies.)
Box - front |
Details for the Lennon release:
John Lennon Imagine (40th Anniversary 180-gram 2-LP Box) Capitol
Extremely limited 40th Anniversary box set containing "Imagine" on 180-gram vinyl remastered in 2010, Imagine Sessions EP on white Vinyl, the original poster and two postcards. Availability limited to 500 copies in the UK and 5000 in the USA.
TRACKS
Imagine:
Side One
Imagine
Crippled Inside
Jealous Guy
It's So Hard
I Don't Wanna Be A Soldier
Side Two
Gimme Some Truth
Oh My Love
How Do You Sleep?
How?
Oh Yoko
sticker |
Imagine Sessions (from John Lennon Anthology)
Side One
Baby Please Don't Go
Imagine
How Do You Sleep?
Side Two
Jealous Guy
Oh My Love
I Don't Wanna Be A Soldier
Box - back |
Thursday 24 November 2011
New album from Ringo in January
According to Amazon.com, January 24th it's all set for the new Ringo album. No cover art or title as of yet (unless it will be called "Ringo 2012". Ringo spoke a bit about the album in a Q&A with Norwegian Wood this summer:
Q: What’s your fondest memories of growing up in post-war Liverpool?
Ringo: Every woman in the street is your mother. We were close. I lived in that neighbourhood. I’m doing a Liverpool track on every CD. This will be the third on the new album. I mention the Iron Door in Liverpool which was a club.
Q: When you start working on a new album do you have a plan?
Ringo: I wake up and think what a great day. I call the engineer and fire up the computer. I have no idea how it is going to turn out.
Q: What musicians are on the new album?
Ringo: Benmont Tench from Tom Petty, Don Was the producer and great bass player, Charlie Haden, America’s premier jazz bass player, Joe Walsh of course, Dave Stewart, Glen Ballard, Van Dyke Parks who wrote a song and is playing accordion. If you look at the back of the Y Not record it is a similar group
Q: Who do you mainly work with?
Ringo: ... I made the last record and the new record ... at home with ProTools. People, musicians, pass by and they are on the record. I record mainly in Los Angeles at home in the guest house
The Christmas before last, when the guests left, I had all the furniture taken out to storage. The ProTools and the board are in the living room / kitchen and the two kits of drums and the amp are in the bedroom.
You can be sitting and doing something and a line just comes, I have notebooks and I write down lines. And suddenly that line is a song. It’s the start. And now with my iPhone I can sing to it wherever I am. It is interesting as a writer, usually I write the chorus first, I can jam with the chorus and then with other writers we make it into a song. I love to hang out with other musicians. Most of the time we get something.
Beatles/Orbison tour recording
Someone claims to have made an audio recording of songs from the Roy Orbison and Beatles concerts that took place in Walthamstow on May 24th, 1963. And he still has the tape.
He posted an email to a mailing list for Beatles collectors, asking for advice on how to get a good price for the tape.
This is the first time we've heard of anyone having a recorded portion of a concert from the Beatles/Roy Orbison tour, and people are sceptic about the authenticity of the samples he provided.
The would-be-seller says it's a 15 minute 3" reel-to-reel tape, containing:
Roy Orbison - "Runnin' Scared", "In Dreams".
The Beatles - "Some Other Guy", "Thank You Girl", "Please Please Me", "I Saw Her Standing There", "From Me To You".
"Thank You Girl" was a rare song to have heard in concert, because it was only featured a few times.
Samples:
30 second clip: Please Please Me
30 second clip: Some Other Guy
Tuesday 8 November 2011
Silver Beatles At Home 1960 (2CD)
Here's a customer's review:
A document of historical importance or just 3 or 4 kids badly recorded bashing and sawing away at guitars to little effect. Considering what became of these lads these early recordings are rubbish, the best of them already appearing on the Beatles Anthology volume 1. The packaging is also rather annoying two discs side by side each in a digipack with the card sleeve acting as both cover for the discs and booklet. The information is minimal like the playing with no real details on the source of the contents. The sound quality is bootleg at best and really the price is reflective of that, this really is for Beatle complete-ists casual fans of the mop tops will really gain no benefit at all from this release beyond what became of them over the following ten years.
This is probably the same material as on the Quarrymen At Home vinyl bootlegs. Taped possibly by Mike McCartney.
Sunday 23 October 2011
Let It Be - official Blu-ray coming?
One of the many "unofficial" DVD releases of Let It Be |
"Let It Be" director Michael Lindsay-Hogg, who has been making the rounds to promote his autobiography Luck and Circumstance: A Coming of Age in Hollywood, New York, and Points Beyond spoke about The Beatles in an interview with radio station WNYC-FM. "We have been working on it pretty much every year for the last couple of years. And the plan is, at the moment, to have it come out, I think, in 2013," Lindsay-Hogg said.
He says that second disc will be filled with the film's outtakes. "When we first put 'Let It Be' out, I had to cut out a lot of stuff that I really like and wanted to stay in there. The stuff in the new DVD has a lot of the stuff that had to be cut out. So for me, it's like the egg is now complete." Lindsay-Hogg also directed the Beatles' TV show "Around The Beatles", the promotional videos for "Paperback Writer," "Hey Jude" and "Revolution," as well as The Rolling Stones - Rock and Roll Circus
A home video release of "Let It Be," featuring outtakes and additional footage highlighting the making of the 1970 documentary, would follow a planned DVD release of the band's self-directed 1967 TV special "Magical Mystery Tour" in 2012, according to Beatles Examiner.
Both films were briefly available in various now dated formats (various video cassette systems and video discs) in the early 1980s, and "Magical Mystery Tour" was also out on DVD in the USA in 1997, but is now a collector's item. Unfortunately one of the restored prints for the 1988 video cassette was overlooked when releasing the DVD and they used an inferior version of the film. Beware of an even more inferior pirate edition by the Avenue One label, which is freely available in shops.
Monday 10 October 2011
Paul's European Tour
Saturday 26th November Unipol Arena, Bologna, Italy
Sunday 27th November Mediolanumforum, Milan, Italy
Wednesday 30th November Omnisport Arena, Bercy, Paris, France
Thursday 1st December Laxness Arena, Koln, Germany
Monday 5th December O2 Arena, London, England
Saturday 10th December The Globen, Stockholm, Sweden
Monday 12th December The Hartwall Arena, Helsinki, Finland
Wednesday 14th December The Olympinski Arena, Moscow, Russia
Monday 19th December The MEN Arena, Manchester, England
Tuesday 20th December The Echo Arena, Liverpool, England
Tickets
Paul to Europe for Christmas
The newlywed Paul McCartney has been confirmed by French media to play in Paris on Wednesday November 30th. We wouldn't be surprised if Christmas dates for the UK are to be announced soon. Paul has given concerts in the UK for Christmas two years in a row now, and perhaps he is making this an annual tradition? Meanwhile, we'd like to see Mike Mac's photo (as we can see him take above)...
Sunday 2 October 2011
Friday 30 September 2011
Hamburg revisited
Also in time for the anniversary comes a new book from Spencer Leigh. The Beatles in Hamburg: The Stories, the Scene and How It All Began will be released by Chicago Review Press on October 1, 2011. The Beatles in Hamburg features interviews with the Beatles’ friends and contemporaries, including photographers Astrid Kirchherr and Jürgen Vollmer, bass player Klaus Voormann, Liverpool artists Gerry Marsden and Kingsize Taylor, singers Tony Sheridan and Roy Young, club managers Horst and Uwe Fascher, and many more. It is packed with close to 150 photographs of the Beatles and the Hamburg scene, some in full color and several never before seen.
Thursday 29 September 2011
George's bonus CD
Finally, the track list for the bonus "CD of never-before-heard tracks" to accompany the Deluxe edition of the "Living in the Material World" film package has been published.
1 My Sweet Lord (demo) 3:33
2 Run Of The Mill (demo) 1:56
3 I'd Have You Any Time (early take) 3:06
4 Mama You've Been On My Mind * (demo)3:04
5 Let It Be Me (demo) 2:56
6 Woman Don't You Cry For Me (early take) 2:44
7 Awaiting On You All (early take) 2:40
8 Behind That Locked Door (demo) 3:29
9 All Things Must Pass (demo) 4:38
10 The Light That Has Lighted The World (demo) 2:23
Also, a clip from the film has been published on georgeharrison.com where Eric Clapton and Ringo Starr talks about "Here Comes The Sun".
According to a Reuters report, the film itself features a 5.1 audio remix of dousins of included Beatles and Harrison tunes, overseen by Giles Martin.
Monday 26 September 2011
Eppy's Ebook
This is Brian Epstein’s own account (as ghost-written by Derek Taylor, WogBlog commentary) of his extraordinary life and, inevitably, it is the story of the Beatles, the greatest pop group of the twentieth century. What was the secret of Brian Epstein’s management of the Beatles, how did he guide a group from Liverpool to shake the world of popular music? Within two years of making their first record they were the biggest group in the world; how Brian Epstein achieved this is in this book. He frankly acknowledges his mistakes and weaknesses while identifying those factors that led to his achievements. Also included in the book are 33 photographs from Robert Freeman that provide revealing glimpses of the Beatles on their way to phenomenal success.
Saturday 24 September 2011
Basketball Jones
Cheech Marin - Tyrone Shoelaces (voice)
Darlene Love - Cheerleader (voice)
Michelle Phillips - Cheerleader (voice)
Ronnie Spector - Cheerleader (voice)
George Harrison - lead guitar
Klaus Voormann - bass
Jim Karstein - drums
Jim Keltner - percussion
Carole King - electric piano
Nicky Hopkins - piano
Tom Scott - saxophone
Billy Preston - organ
Thursday 22 September 2011
Manchester 63
Yes, it's "The Beatles Come To Town" again, this time from Pathe's official YouTube account! Posted a few days ago, the film is available in 720p for your viewing pleasure. But what's with the new title?
Tuesday 20 September 2011
Robert Whitaker
Whitaker was running a freelance penthouse photo studio in Flinders Street, Melbourne when he had his fateful meeting with The Beatles and their manager Brian Epstein, during the group's June 1964 Australasian tour. This came about more or less by accident, when Whitaker accompanied a journalist friend to an interview with Epstein for an article for the Melbourne Jewish News. Whitaker's picture was published with the article, which led to his introduction to Epstein and his first shots of the Beatles—pictures of Paul McCartney and George Harrison each holding up boomerangs presented to them by Australian fans.
"I photographed Epstein, saw he was a bit of a peacock and a cavalier, and put peacock feathers around his head in photographic relief. He was knocked out when he saw the picture. After that, he saw an exhibition of collages I had at the Museum of Modern Art and immediately offered me the position of staff photographer at NEMS, photographing all his artists. I initially turned it down, but after seeing The Beatles perform at Festival Hall I was overwhelmed by all the screaming fans and I decided to accept the offer to return to England ".
Whitaker's most celebrated work is the 1966 photo which was appropriated for The Beatles' infamous Yesterday and Today album cover, which was briefly released in the U.S. in 1966 but hastily withdrawn.
When I visited Liverpool in June for Ringo Starr's homecoming concert, I grabbed Whitaker's book "Eight Days A Week", which featured photos he took during the fabs' tour of the Far east in 1966.
Wednesday 14 September 2011
Think It Over - Ringo Starr
Tuesday 13 September 2011
Astrid For Sale
Die Beatles in Hamburg by Astrid |
Astrid continued to take photos of the group after Ringo had replaced Pete Best. |
France: New Images Of The Beatles In Concert
The Beatles performing in Versailles, France on Jan. 15, 1964. (AP Photo/Tellier) |
Saturday 10 September 2011
John's Shea jacket
Thursday 8 September 2011
Wednesday 7 September 2011
The Love We Make
"During TV and radio interviews leading up to the concert, Paul touches on issues dealing with how he’s dealt with grief in his life, how he deals with the conflict of being a pacifist after the devastation of 9/11 and how he came to the realization that he needed to do something while sitting in a plane on the tarmac watching the twin towers burn."
"Mixed in with the interviews are Paul and his band rehearsing for The Concert for New York with many guest cameos as Paul discusses debuting his new song, “Freedom” for the first time at the show." Beatles-Freak goes on to award the film four beetles (out of er... four).
The film was made by Albert Maysles, whose Beatles connections started with the 1964 Beatles film "What’s Happening! The Beatles in the U.S.A.". And just as back then, the new film has also been shot in 16mm black and white.
Friday 2 September 2011
"1" commercial
They have also produced a limited edition, numbered lithograph print featuring the covers of the Beatles singles. There are only 250 of these high quality prints and are exclusive to order from each of the US, European and Japanese official Beatles stores. Oh, how I long back to the old days, when the vinyl edition of "1" came with a free poster for everyone, "featuring the covers of the Beatles singles".
Of course, there's also a new YouTube commercial:
Thursday 1 September 2011
Let It Be on Blu-Ray
Although this fills a void in any Beatles video collection, everyone is anticipating a definitive, official release of this Beatles movie. It has been suggested that since 2012 will be a big anniversary year for the group (50 years since "Love Me Do"), we may see an official "Let It Be" after all these years.
Another Blu-ray title from the Fab Productions company is a 2-disc release from Paul McCartney's recent "On The Run" tour. The film contains every song performed on the tour, taken from 7 of the 8 concert performances. Since many of the people who upload songs from the concerts on YouTube are filming in 1080p resolution with an aspect ratio of 16:9, it certainly makes sense to make the switch from DVD-R to recordable Blu-ray discs for releases like this.
Wednesday 31 August 2011
The Beatles and fashion
Anyway, Paolo Hewitt examines the Beatles' inluence on fashion in the upcoming book Fab Gear: The Beatles and Fashion. Here's the blurb: The Beatles' incomparable fashion sense takes center stage in this unique look at how the world's most popular band influenced the fashion of the times. The Beatles knew how much image mattered in the 1960s, and whether it was Nehru jackets, skinny ties, granny glasses, or the Cuban heel boot--if John, Paul, George, or Ringo wore it, the rest of their millions of fans followed. Renowned music and fashion author Paolo Hewitt takes readers on a fashion tour of the Beatles' career and the trends they co-opted. From their Hamburg debut in sunglasses, leather, and black sweaters to the conservative suits they were ordered to wear by their manager Brian Epstein; from their infatuation with Pierre Cardin's collarless jackets to their more casual corduroy; from their Mod madness to psychedelic spaciness to faux-military attire to hippy-chic--each style is revealed as a reflection of the music they made and the world views they embraced.
Filled with fabulous photographs and with an appealing retro feel, the book features numerous images, many of which have never been published before. It offers insights into how the band's meteoric rise and enduring success shaped their fashion choices.
There's even a chapter devoted to their hairstyles.
Fans of all ages, as well as anyone interested in fashion, will be enthralled with this first ever Beatles stylebook that proves the Fab Four were as timely as they were timeless.
In an interview with Liverpool Echo, author Hewitt says that he enjoyed finding another angle to writing a Beatles book, and that he spent an enjoyable week in Liverpool as part of the research.
"They had the same ideas with their clothes as with their music," says Paolo. "As soon as another bands started to copy their look, they’d move on and wear something else. they were innovators, and they hated following the pack."
The book will be released on October 24th.
Monday 29 August 2011
How many roads...?
We will continue to update our page "The Road Goes On Forever" with the Abbey Road cover shot images that mysteriously emerge as time goes by.
Updated September 2nd with a higher resolution version of the image, care of Miss Tammy's site. The uploader also revealed the source of the photo, it was hidden away in the Beatles RockBand game.
Wednesday 24 August 2011
Blokker clip
HIWAX has posted the longest version of the "Blokker" clip so far on YouTube.
The sound + video sorcerer has also just made a new DVD, which pairs together news footage of The Beatles in concert with appropriate sound clips synched to the moving images. Here's what's on the new DVD of his:
THE BEATLES : Re-Constructions
01.1963/11/01 Cheltenham
02.1963/11/13 Plymouth
03.1963/11/16 Bournemouth
04.1963/11/20 Manchester
05.1963/12/07 Liverpool
06.1963/12/14 Wimbledon
07.1964/01/15 Versailles
08.1964/01/16 Paris
09.1964/02/11 Washington D.C.
10.1964/02/11 Washington D.C.
11,1964/06/18 Sydney
12,1964/08/19 San Francisco
13.1964/08/23 Los Angeles
14.1964/08/23 Los Angeles
15.1964/09/02 Philadelphia
16.1965/06/25 Genova
17.1965/07/02 Madrid
18.1965/07/03 Barcelona
19.1965/08/17 Toronto
20.1965/08/29 Los Angeles
21.1966/06/24 Munich
22.1966/06/24 Munich
23.1966/06/24 Munich
24.1966/06/25 Essen
25.1966/06/26 Hamburg
26.1966/06/30 Tokyo
27.1966/07/01 Tokyo
28.1966/08/12 Chicago
29.1966/08/28 Los Angeles
30.1966 U.S. Tour Collage - Rock'n'roll Music
31.1966 U.S. Tour Collage - She's A Woman
And there's some rare footage included as bonus tracks.
It's currently being torrented and will probably show up soon as a regular download.
Want a sample? Here's Cheltenham!
McCartney on Decca Records since 1967
Today's no-story in the less-than-acquainted-with-Beatles-facts part of the press is the fact that Paul McCartney's music for the new ballet Ocean's Kingdom will be released by Decca Records. Here's Reuter's take on it:
LONDON (Reuters) - Decca has teamed up with Paul McCartney to release his upcoming ballet nearly 50 years after the record label famously rejected taking on the Beatles in what has been called one of the music industry's biggest blunders.
The ballet, "Ocean's Kingdom," is the former Beatle's first foray into the world of dance, and has its world premiere at the New York City Ballet on September 22. There will be four additional performances in September and five more in January.
The Decca recording hits shelves in Britain on October 3.
Decca famously snubbed the Fab Four early in 1962, reportedly saying at the time that "guitar groups are on the way out" and "the Beatles have no future in showbusiness."
The quartet from Liverpool went on to sign with EMI label Parlophone and became arguably the most successful and influential pop band in history.
"Ocean's Kingdom," commissioned by the New York City Ballet, is conducted by John Wilson and performed by the London Classical Orchestra.
When he decided to write a ballet, McCartney visited the Royal Opera House in London and saw "Giselle," meeting the dancers of the Royal Ballet afterward to discuss the work.
McCartney's ballet tells of a love story set in an underwater world where people are threatened by humans. The score lasts an hour and is divided into four movements -- Ocean's Kingdom, Hall of Dance, Imprisonment and Moonrise.
In a statement, the 69-year-old singer/songwriter said he was "trying to write something that expressed an emotion -- so you have fear, love, anger, sadness to play with, and I found that exciting and challenging."
McCartney has written classical music before, including the award-winning choral work "Ecce Cor Meum."
Of course, everyone has (conveniently?) forgotten that Paul McCartney's very first soundtrack album, "The Family Way" from 1967 (re-released on CD in July this year) was released on Decca Records in the UK and Australia.