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!

Saturday 30 July 2016

Hollywood Bowl preview

A pre-release review from a listening session.
Yosi Noz is a well known writing Beatles fan who knows the original "The Beatles At The Hollywood Bowl" very well. He was recently invited to attend a listening session for the new "The Beatles Live At The Hollywood Bowl" at the Universal Music's Japanese office at Akasaka, Tokyo. Here's his account of the sonic experience, referencing the original 1977 release for comparison.

"Live at the Hollywood Bowl" - My first impression
by Yosi Noz

Yesterday, I attended a listening session for this album Luckily we could hear the entire CD through the big speakers with loud volume, incredible experience! It felt like the band was actually there, playing.
Edit-wise, they replicate the '77 album faithfully. I didn't notice differences with the spoken intros and edits of the songs between the 1977 and 2016 versions. It sounded like a remaster of the '77 album (which it actually was not, for the record). The "show" ends temporarily with "Long Tall Sally".
Then after some silence, "You Can't Do That" starts.

On this song, Giles didn't fix the backing vocals problem (they are off for a while), to my surprise.

"I Want to Hold Your Hand" is supplemented with the spoken intro by Paul (such like "Thank you very much") probably lifted from "All My Loving".

George's vocal on "Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby" sounded most processed with reverb, eq and maybe compression, to my ears.

Unlike on the "Real Love" single, the spoken intro for "Baby's in Black" is the actual one from the August 30 performance.

By the way, the spoken intros are added with more reverb than on the singing voices.

The flow of the original lineup to the added 4 songs did not sound very good. It may be better if they were placed somewhere in the original lineup rather than together at the end, but Giles may not like altering the order of the original album, which his loving and respected late father created back in 1977.
Sound-wise, it's more natural and powerful than the original, to my ears. Reverb is far more subtle and the audience screaming is more moderate than on the 1977 version. The bass and drums sounds really energetic and lively.

The basic stereo picture is - left: bass and drums / center: vocals / right: two guitars. But the drums also sounded from (left-) center on the 1964 recordings. Overall, an excellent live album.
The Beatles were never quite there?
Listen to this, Keith!

(This of course, refers to recently published statements by Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones that The Beatles weren't such a great live band. WogBlog)

And here's a summary of each track that Yosi originally posted in the Steve Hoffman forum:

Note that there could be errors and I may miss some obvious points.

1 Twist and Shout
MCs' introduction: Same (Now, here they are! The Beatles!)
Performance: Same (Aug 30, 65)

2 She's A Woman
(No spoken intro = same)
Performance: Same (Aug 30, 65)

3 Dizzy Miss Lizzy
Introduction by John: Same
Performance: Sounded as the same edited version of the Aug 30 and 29 recordings in the same order

4 Ticket To Ride
Introduction by Paul: Same
Performance: Same (Aug 29, 65)

5 Can't Buy Me Love
(No spoken intro = same)
Performance: Same (Aug 30, 65)

6 Things We Said Today
Introduction by George: Same
Performance: Same (Aug 23, 64)

7 Roll Over Beethoven
(No spoken intro = same)
Performance: Same (Aug 23, 64)

8 Boys
Introduction by Paul: Same (singing a song called "Boys", Ringo! )
Performance: Same (Aug 23, 64)

9 A Hard Day’s Night
Introduction by John: Same (the black and white one. etc.)
Performance: Same (Aug 30, 65)

10 Help!
Introduction by John: Same
Performance: Same "edit" of two performances
(Though it is credited as from Aug 29, I believe this is the edit of two performances.
At least the opening verse is from 30th.)

11 All My Loving
Introduction by Paul: Same (from the first Capitol album. etc.)
Performance: Same performance (Aug 23, 64)

12 She Loves You
Introduction by John: Same (some old people might remember. etc.)
Performance: Same (Aug 23, 64)

13 Long Tall Sally
Introduction by Paul: Same
Performance: Same (Aug 23, 64)
(Fades out after this)

14 You Can’t Do That
(No spoken intro)
Performance: New (Aug 23, 64)

15 I Want To Hold Your Hand
Introduction by Paul: New (Just "Thank you very much, everybody." - probably the one before "All My Loving")
Performance: New (Aug 23, 64)

16 Everybody’s Trying To Be My Baby
Introduction by Paul: New (Thank you. etc. Probably the words after "I Want To Hold Your Hand")
Performance: New (Aug 30, 65)

17 Baby's In Black
Introduction by John: New (Aug 30, 65)
Performance: Same as the "Real Love" single (Aug 30, 65)

Approx. running time 44:30

The actual cover of the CD was never available at the listening party, just a facsimile of the cover photo.

"The Beatles: Live At The Hollywood Bowl" will be released on CD September 9, 2016, followed by an LP release on November 18, 2016. You may pre-order it from Amazon here (New price).

Amazon.com: CD
Amazon.com: 180g Vinyl LP

Friday 29 July 2016

Trailer for Eight Days A Week

Possibly newly discovered footage, as noticed by our reader Jan Chmelík.
Yesterday, The Beatles released a 2:15 trailer for the upcoming "Eight Days A Week" film, accompanied by the following statement:
Shea Stadium Gig to Screen as Part of Theatrical Release of The Beatles: Eight Days A Week – The Touring Years.



ONLY AVAILABLE IN THEATRES SEPTEMBER 15th

The Beatles played Shea Stadium on August 15th 1965 in what was to be the first rock concert ever staged in a stadium in front of more than 55,000 people. The event was filmed using fourteen 35mm cameras by Ed Sullivan Productions and Brian Epstein and for the very first time, the fully restored, remastered, 30-minute performance will be available to screen as part of the worldwide theatrical release of Academy Award®-winner Ron Howard’s authorized documentary feature film, The Beatles: Eight Days A Week - The Touring Years.

Only available in theatres, the 4K restoration with sound remastered at Abbey Road Studios by Giles Martin and Sam Okell, includes performances of the classic songs such as "A Hard Day’s Night," "I’m Down," "Everybody’s Trying To Be My Baby" and "Dizzy Miss Lizzy."

Order tickets for the Shea performances at thebeatleseightdaysaweek.com.


Okay, so they are not releasing the full 50 min. "The Beatles at Shea Stadium" film, we do get the Beatles concert performance from that film, losing probably just the footage of the warm up acts and possibly The Beatles' helicopter trip to the stadium and some footage from the dressing room before the show. And what's more, the restored Shea concert will be shown as a separate piece, not as part of the documentary itself. So it will not be a part of the Hulu broadcast, is what I'm reading. To see this concert in its latest incarnation, you will have to go and see it in a theatre/cinema. So if the film isn't provided on cinema in your country or area, tough luck.
Another issue is the sound. Are they going to use more of the original audio as performed on stage, or will they still be using the overdubs and re-recordings The Beatles did for the film's soundtrack in 1966? In particular, will they still be using the official record of "Act Naturally" as soundtrack to that song, like it was when it was televised? Note that one of the songs mentioned is "Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby", which should mean that they have managed to find footage from it. Alongside "She's A Woman", the song was missing when televised. Now we hear both these will be part of the new Shea Stadium concert film. According to Billboard, Dave Schwenson, the author of the concert book, The Beatles At Shea Stadium: The Story Behind Their Greatest Concert, said there was no footage of "She's a Woman" shot for the original show because cameramen were changing films, but he said he was told footage of the song has been located from home movies taken by fans in the stands for the Ron Howard film.

Through their YouTube channel, four different versions of the trailer has been published, one for UK audiences, one for German audiences, one for the French and one for Australia and New Zealand. The UK trailer was also released on the StudioCanal channel, here, and the Spanish trailer by Acontrafilms here.

It also seems the filmmakers have made good use of the various outtake footage from the "The Beatles Come To Town" 1963 colour film of the fabs performing in Manchester, as provided by British Pathé (see example here).

George Harrison appears through footage from The Beatles' Anthology TV series from the mid-nineties.

Thursday 28 July 2016

Glimpses of Eight Days A Week

The Washington DC concert, 1964.
As we are drawing closer to the premiere of the film, we are being treated to more clips. In an exclusive filmed interview with ET, we are treated to quite a few samples from Ron Howard's upcoming documentary on The Beatles, "Eight Days A Week". As is evident from these two sample screenshots, more than one Beatles concert has been colourised. What do you think about colourisation? We are fine with it over at the WogBlog HQ. It's not as if these televised concerts are fine art.

See the film at ET.

Blackpool, 1965.

First song from "Beat Bugs"

Beat Bugs, a Netflix original series for kids, incorporates more than 50 songs from the Beatles' "Northern Songs" catalogue and features covers by contemporary music artists.

Here's the first song out from the series, which premieres next week. We’ve already seen a teaser trailer, and today, the full trailer has arrived, along with a clip of the Shins covering Rubber Soul’s “The Word” while animated critters cavort around a colorful cartoon world.

The show will also feature Beatles covers from Eddie Vedder, Sia, Chris Cornell, P!nk, Of Monsters And Men, Regina Spektor, and many more.



“The Word” featuring The Shins. Now you know what to get on the TV when your grandchildren are visiting...
Here's the full trailer.



All episodes of Beat Bugs will be available 8/3 on Netflix. Here’s the full list of Beatles covers in the first two seasons:

Season 1:
Pink: "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds"
James Corden: "I’m A Loser"
Aloe Blacc: "Rain"
Robbie Williams: "Good Day Sunshine"
Eddie Vedder: "Magical Mystery Tour"
Frances: "In My Life"
The Shins: "The Word"
The Lumineers: "Honey Pie"
Sia: "Blackbird"

Season 2:
Rod Stewart: "Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band"
Chris Cornell: "Drive My Car"
Regina Spektor: "And Your Bird Can Sing"
Jennifer Hudson: "I’ll Follow The Sun"
Of Monsters and Men: "Eleanor Rigby"
James Bay: "Hey Bulldog"
Tori Kelly: "I’m Happy Just To Dance With You"

Tuesday 26 July 2016

New extended I Me Mine

Pack shot of the new edition I Me Mine from Genesis Publications.
It was with the autobiography "I Me Mine", the first collaboration with the late George Harrison, that Genesis Publications decided to change their focus and start exploring the territory of rock music in a series of expensive, limited edition books.

Working with the estate of Harrison, the 2016 edition has been significantly developed since the book's first printing in 1980. In his own words "I Me Mine" now covers the full span of Harrison's life and work with lyrics to 141 songs (59 more than any previous edition), an extended text commentary and new photographs. At 632 pages, the entire work is reproduced in full colour throughout and is presented for Genesis subscribers as an exclusive book and vinyl boxed set of only 1,000 numbered and estate-stamped copies worldwide. At £325.00, it's for the well off Beatle/Harrison fan, but the limited edition Genesis books tend to increase in value over the years.

Part 1 of "I Me Mine" offers readers the story of George Harrison's life and music in his own words, and those of his friend and collaborator, Derek Taylor. Taylor and Harrison's partnership began with a column for The Daily Express and continued for many years; here they write candidly about The Beatles' rise to fame, Harrison's solo career, and his philosophy and spirituality. This is a fascinating insight into Harrison's childhood, and his inspirations and projects - from making albums to planting new gardens, and organising the world's first ever relief concert in aid of Bangla Desh.

'A book which tells the story of growing up, not necessarily the hard way but certainly not the easy way, for no matter how greatly privilege and wealth may have seemed to grace the Beatles' evolution, "easy" is not the word for what happened to them on their way to what has come to be known as The Top.' - Derek Taylor.

The text of the book was to cause a widened rift between George Harrison and John Lennon upon its first publication in 1980. Lennon felt that he was underrepresented in the book, something he was keen to stress in interviews. In his extensive interviews with David Sheff for Playboy magazine, Lennon said "Well, I was hurt by George's book, 'I, Me, Mine' - so this message will go to him. He put a book out privately on his life that, by glaring omission, says that my influence on his life is absolutely zilch and nil. In his book, which is purportedly this clarity of vision of his influence on each song he wrote, he remembers every two-bit sax player or guitarist he met in subsequent years. I'm not in the book".

Unlike other books from Genesis Publications, "I Me Mine" has been published in cheaper editions for mass consumption, first in 1981, and again after Harrison's death. The 2016 Extended edition will also be made available in this fashion on October 18, 2016 - both in hardcover and paperback editions.


"I Me Mine" contains 53 rare photographs, capturing George Harrison's early years; his many concerts with The Beatles and solo, and time spent relaxing at Formula One races and in Maui. For this Extended Edition, more photos have been unearthed and restored and the resulting collection prepared for colour printing. A unique view is provided of Harrison's world, his early days, and his friends and collaborators through the years.

'The truth within us has to be realised: when you realise that everything else that you see and do and touch and smell isn't real, then you may know what reality is and can answer the question "who am I?"' - George Harrison.

Part 2 of "I Me Mine" is a treasury of Harrison's song writing. 141 of the musician's songs are charted in chronological order, explored in handwritten lyrics reproduced in facsimile, typeset lyrics and a commentary narrated by Harrison himself.

The resulting collection provides an unparalleled insight into Harrison's writing process, and the creation of the songs that so many have come to know and love. For the first time, "I Me Mine" covers the full span of Harrison's life, from his earliest songs to his last compositions in 2001. The wit and insight of Harrison's commentaries, and the beauty of his lyrics, make this an essential for any lover of his work.

'Writing a song is like going to confession... writing songs to try and find out, to see who you are.' - George Harrison

The mass market edition.
One thing that will not accompany the cheaper editions of the book is the vinyl album (or is it an EP or a single?), the third such release accompanying a George Harrison book from Genesis Publications. In 1988, the book "Songs by George Harrison" included an EP of rare or previously unreleased Harrison recordings: three songs that Warner Bros. Records had rejected in 1980 for inclusion on Harrison's album Somewhere in England, "Sat Singing", "Lay His Head" and "Flying Hour", together with a live version of George's interpretation of the Beatles track "For You Blue", recorded during Harrison's 1974 North American tour.
A second volume of "Songs by George Harrison" included a second EP of previously unpublished tracks,  "Life Itself" (George's demo version), "Hottest Gong In Town", "Tears Of The World", and yet another song from the 1974 tour, the instrumental "Hari's On Tour (Express). No rumours yet about the contents of the new vinyl disc.

George Harrison became friends with Brian Roylance, the founder and owner of Genesis Publications. Now they are both dead, Roylance suffered a heart attack during a soccer game with friends at 60, in 2005. His son Nicholas, friends with Harrison's son Dhani, now runs the company.

Book facts:
• 1,000 boxed sets
• Numbered & stamped
• 53 archival photos
• Handwritten lyrics
• 59 more songs added
• 141 songs total
• Extended to 632 pages
• Craft printed & bound
• Cover by Shepard Fairey
• Limited edition vinyl

Link: I Me Mine at Genesis Publications

The Ray Connolly Beatles Archive

Ray Connolly was a journalist friend of the Beatles, who has recently published a paperback book of various writings from over the years. Connolly went to Beatles recording sessions and followed their Magical Mystery Tour around England.
During a visit to Canada in 1969, John Lennon told Connolly that he had left the Beatles. This was months before it was official. Paul McCartney asked Connolly to interview him to explain his side of the break-up. Lennon phoned Connolly to tell him that he was returning his MBE to the Queen, and asked him to break the news. Connolly wrote the manuscript to the "That'll Be The Day" film where Ringo played a character. He was about to fly to New York in December 1980 to interview Lennon, when he got a phone call about the senseless murder of the Beatle. In February 1981, Connolly was one of the first authors to chronicle Lennon's life, in the book John Lennon, 1940-80.

The Ray Connolly Beatles Archive is Connolly's account of the Beatles’ story, a selection of some of his many interviews with them and others connected with them, as well a collection of news stories and reflections that he has published over the past half century in various British national newspapers.
You can get the book from Amazon UK through this link. Amazon.com has this book as a paperback, as well as on Kindle.

Book facts:
The Ray Connolly Beatles Archive
Paperback: 372 pages
Publisher: Plumray Books (July 17, 2016)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0956591531
ISBN-13: 978-0956591531
Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.8 x 9 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds

Friday 22 July 2016

Coming up from HMC

TMOQ Gazette #24
This has already been published by Steve Marinucci over at the Beatles News Insider (congrats with the new job at Billboard, Steve!), but we thought we should publish it here as well, considering that we've kept you updated in the past about bootleg releases from HMC. The next edition of their TMOQ Gazette will be a companion to their (somewhat cropped) DVD+CD release of the stereo Ron Furmanek restoration of "Let It Be" (see review). The "Let It Be" Gazette was no. 23 and this one is no. 24, but in between the company released Gazette no. 25, which had the Beatles 1966 concerts in Tokyo (previously reported by us here).

Contents:

OUTTAKES & MORE

Complete Outtake Sessions
Brother Malcolm version of «Let It Be» 2 full takes in colour (Jan 31)
Two Of Us Rehearsal Session
(With medley that also includes «Hey Good Lookin'», «Take This Hammer», «Five Foot High & Rising», «Bear Cat Mama», «Run For Your Life», «Friendship», «Step Inside Love» and «Let It Be» (Jan 31).

For You Blue Brand New Re-edit
«For You Blue» - newly re-cut with new arrival footage from another day.

Newly discovered sound outtake snippets
«I Me Mine» (Jan 8)
«Don't Let Me Down» (Jan 22)
«Two of Us» (Jan 22)
Paul and Heather (Jan 26)
«Besame Mucho» (Jan 29)
I Told You Before (Jan 27)
«Three Cool Cats» (Jan 29)
«Let It Be», tk 27a (Jan 31)
«Two Of Us» (Jan 31)

Newly discovered silent outtake snippets
After John's «Charles Hawtry» speech
After Paul's «Maharishi» story
Paul singing at the piano

From The Long & Winding Road special
Yoko's bit (upgrade)
«You Win Again» (upgrade)

Trailers, etc
Original movie trailer – theatrical version
Original movie trailer – TV version
Original slate from the 1992 restoration
Ed Sullivan's «The Beatles Songbook» (Feb 25, 1970)
«Don't Let Me Down» - from Imagine 1988 workprint

Let It Be... Naked promotion
April trailers
Japanese TV commercial
Let It Be...Naked medley
November 17 texted trailer
November 17 textless trailer
Webtrailer
2013 iTunes trailer

PROMOTIONAL FILMS

The promos
«Don't Let Me Down» 1970
«Get Back» 1970
«Let It Be» 1970
«Two Of Us» 1970

«Don't Let Me Down» 1992
«Get Back» 1992
«I Me Mine» 1992

«For You Blue» 1996
«Let It Be» 1996
«Two Of Us» 1996

«Get Back» 2000
«Let It Be» 2000

«Don't Let Me Down» #1 2003
«Don't Let Me Down» #2 2003
«Get Back» #1 2003
«Get Back» #2 2003
«Let It Be» 2003
«Two Of Us» (animated) 2003

«One After 909» 2009

«Don't Let Me Down» 2015
«The Long and Winding Road» 2015

HQ video with native audio re-dubbed
«Let It Be»
«Two of Us»

Other promotional films utilizing Get Back/Let It Be footage
«Old Brown Shoe» 2007
«Old Brown Shoe» dissolving version
«The Ballad of John and Yoko» 1969 (cencored)
«The Ballad of John and Yoko» 2000

We have to stress though, that we have no idea about where to get these black market releases, so please don't write to enquire.

The Hollywood Bowl tapes: Missing for decades

Original 1977 U.S. edition of The Beatles At The Hollywood Bowl
A Facebooker who calls himself Michael McCartney tells an interesting tale on Facebook about how the Hollywood Bowl tapes went missing after possibly an aborted attempt to mix them for a CD reissue, and how difficult it was to bring them back. Here's what he writes:

Something that Giles Martin did not know about in his announcement yesterday of the upcoming re-release of "The Beatles Live At The Hollywood Bowl". I'll add an important footnote but you can read his quote first:

"A few years ago Capitol Studios called saying they’d discovered some Hollywood Bowl three-track tapes in their archive. We transferred them and noticed an improvement over the tapes we’ve kept in the London archive. Alongside this, I’d been working for some time with a team headed by technical engineer James Clarke on demix technology, the ability to remove and separate sounds from a single track. With Sam Okell, I started work on remixing the Hollywood Bowl tapes."

Inner sleeve photo from the original U.S. version of The Beatles at The Hollywood Bowl
Here's a little bit of background for your info. Capitol Studios did not discover the Hollywood Bowl three-track tapes in their archive. They were given to them by my friend who had them in his home for years. He tried to return the original tapes to Apple but they said it wasn't their property but actually Capitol Records. I'm not sure how Capitol misplaced the tapes decades ago (possibly to remix for CD release in the late eighties or early nineties) but they ended up on my friend's desk and they were truly a treasure to listen to.

I actually had the pleasure of mixing my own Beatles concert at the Hollywood Bowl with those tracks about ten years ago. I had fun bringing up Paul's bass or George's guitar on songs like "Baby's In Black" and "You Can't Do That". I could bring the audience screaming down, not much though (*lol). I should stress that I was just messing around with the mixing aspect and did not actually dedicate anything to tape or digital source as this was not my property to begin with but it was an afternoon of being behind the console that I will never forget.

Inner sleeve photo from the original U.S. version of The Beatles at The Hollywood Bowl
Another friend of mine in an heritage rock and roll band that is a household name, that will remain nameless, also played around with those same tapes and felt like a kid again. Bless my friend for not giving up and finally getting someone at Capitol to finally take responsibility for taking care of the tapes for historical purposes.

Basically, if these tapes never made it back to Capitol, there would still be no official re-release of this album. This is the very first time it is being released in the digital world. It's been thirty-nine years since the album was released and vanished completely when the compact disc format took over the marketplace in the late eighties, so this is truly a musical gem and a piece of history for Beatles fans. The addition of the four previously unreleased live performances will amaze even the casual Beatles fan.

This story was previously attributed by us to the real Mike "McGear" McCartney, Paul McCartney's brother. We apologise for this.

Thursday 21 July 2016

Lost McCartney demo for Cilla Black found

The demo disc
A mystery that has caused confusion to Beatles fans worldwide for fifty two years has now been solved and will be a major attraction at the 25th Liverpool Beatles Memorabilia Auction on Saturday, August 27th, at the Paul McCartney Auditorium in the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts.

Cilla Black, who died after falling at her Spanish holiday home on August 1st last year, wrote in her book ‘What’s It All About’ "John and Paul wrote my next single ‘It’s For You’ and Paul introduced me to the song by sending a demo disc that he had made of it round to The Palladium. Although Paul had sung it as a waltz, George Martin took a big hand in my recording of it and asked Johnny Spence to arrange it".

The record shot up to No 7 in the charts. It was written especially for Cilla by Lennon and McCartney and sung by Paul for just under two minutes on a 7 inch Dick James demo disc.

The demo disc was delivered to The Palladium where Cilla was performing in 1964. The disc vanished and people have been trying to locate it for fifty two years. It was thought that it had been lost or destroyed.

A member of Cilla’s family came across a brown envelope which had the words "It’s For You" hand written on the front and Cilla Black’s name underneath. They assumed that it was a copy of her hit record.

The family member took the disc along with other items for a valuation into The Beatles Shop in Mathew Street, Liverpool and handed it to Stephen Bailey who has managed the shop for thirty one years and is a world authority on The Beatles.

Stephen said "We played each of the various demo discs that we had been asked to value. The ‘It’s For You’ Cilla copy was not there but was a recording by Paul McCartney!!  I was shaking with excitement and speechless!! I realised that this was the long lost Beatles demo disc from 1964 and I was probably one of the few people to have seen and heard it in over 50 years. What I had in my hand was probably the only copy in existence and this is going into The Beatles Auction in Liverpool."

Beatles fans from all over the world can go to the website  – www.beatlesauction.co.uk _ to hear Paul McCartney sing an extract from  "It’s For You" that he recorded fifty two years ago.

Last word from Stephen, "I urge all Beatles fans to search their bottom drawers and attics where they could have put Beatles memorabilia years ago and forgotten all about them – you just never know what you may find or what it is worth".

It is thought that the long lost Paul McCartney recording is estimated to realise £15.000  to £ 20.000 at The Beatles Liverpool Auction on Saturday, August27th.

The demo of "It's For You" was probably recorded by McCartney at home in March or early April, 1964. Cilla first taped "It's For You" at EMI April 10th, according to Mark Lewisohn.

Hollywood Bowl - mixed for quad!

1964 Hollywood Bowl concert
Renowned Beatles author Chip Madinger (see www.lennonology.com) comes to us with a great story. While researching for the excellent Strange Days Indeed, the first in a series of books on John Lennon, Madinger discovered documentation that both the August 29th (Sunday) and August 30th (Monday) 1965 shows from the 1965 Hollywood Bowl concerts had been mixed and mastered for both stereo and Quad at Record Plant (Project #623) in July 1971. There is no paperwork regarding the recording of the 1964 performance.

1965 Hollywood Bowl concert.
Although it was not documented, it is very likely that it was Phil Spector behind the board and, one would suspect, that John Lennon participated as well. The reason for this being that they had mixed six of the ten tracks on John's Imagine LP in Quad just the day before. Capitol was getting in to the multi-channel market, and who could blame them for preparing albums by their biggest artists for holiday release.

In a single session, Quad mixes were prepared of both 1965 shows (in their entirety), after which a hybrid performance was created (which tracks were taken from which show was not annotated). The following session, both a Quad and a stereo (presumably a collapsed version of the Quad) LP master were prepared at 15 ips and taken away.

Considering the source material, one could argue that the resultant production would have been disappointing (just have a listen to the Quad Imagine LP). But how many of us would have suspected that such a recording even existed?

And, for that matter, how to prepare a three track tape for a four channel quadrophonic system? It's of course doable today, Giles Martin and Sam Okell did manage to digitally separate instruments and vocals, as well as the audience noise for the upcoming remix of "Live at The Hollywood Bowl", due out September 9.

The new edition "Live at the Hollywood Bowl" will be promoted with a video in mid-august, and radio shows and podcasts will be made available around a week before the release date of the CD.

Now also available to pre-order from Amazon in the UK, the vinyl album ranked no. 1 in their hourly updated best seller's charts when we ordered it, whereas the CD edition was at no. 5.

Links:
Amazon UK - CD edition
Amazon UK - vinyl edition

Giles Martin's people are now saying that the mix of "Baby's in black" on the 1996 "Real Love" single was a hybrid of the August 29 and 30 performances of the song, thus the new version - which is just from the 30th - can still be promoted as previously unreleased. This info from Mitchell Axelrod.

Products roundup

Ringos Time Takes Time album
Okay, so this happened while we were away: July 1, Ringo Starr's album "Time Takes Time" was rereleased in a new edition on green translucent vinyl in a gatefold cover as a limited edition. They still have some copies over at Amazon.com. Time Takes Time was Ringo's tenth studio album, originally released back in 1992 to great reviews. It was a comeback for Ringo, he hadn't been heard from on an album since "Old Wave" in 1983. "Time Takes Time" came out after Ringo had successfully freed himself from alcohol and had been on the road with his first All-Starr Band. As usual, Ringo brought along some famous guests on his album, on "Time Takes Time" are names like Brian Wilson, Harry Nilsson and Jeff Lynne. After the release, he toured again with another All Starr Band lineup, and I was able to see him live for the first time in Gothenburg - where I also secured his autograph!

The Beatles and World War II
Another thing that became available for pre-order is Tony Palmer's reedited version of All This and World War II, which we wrote about earlier. The new edition is titled "The Beatles and World War II" and is available both in USA and Europe. Amazon in the UK has it on 2CD+DVD, so if we do get that one, we will have three CD editions of the album, as well as the old vinyl one. To be released July 29 in Europe.

I Wanna Hold Your Hand is out in Europe.
Another good thing that happened while we weren't watching, was the first ever region 2 release of Robert Zemeckis' excellent "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" film. I got it at great expense when I was in New York in 2005, but now it's out a lot cheaper on Blu-ray and DVD here in Europe as well. Of course, I had it on a bootleg VHS cassette since around 1982, but it's well worth the admission fee to get the new one.

Wednesday 20 July 2016

Hollywood Bowl - official announcement

The delay of the vinyl album is likely caused by capacity issues at the remaining vinyl records plants.
The Beatles’ Companion Album to New Ron Howard-Directed Feature Documentary Presents Remixed and Mastered Recordings from Three Hollywood Bowl Concerts.

Preorder The Beatles: Live At The Hollywood Bowl:
Amazon.com: CD
Amazon.com: 180g Vinyl LP

Apple Corps Ltd. and Universal Music Group are pleased to announce global release plans for The Beatles: Live At The Hollywood Bowl, a new album that captures the joyous exuberance of the band’s three sold-out concerts at Los Angeles’ Hollywood Bowl in 1964 and 1965. A companion to The Beatles: Eight Days A Week – The Touring Years, Academy Award®-winner Ron Howard’s authorized and highly anticipated documentary feature film about the band’s early career, The Beatles: Live At The Hollywood Bowl will be released worldwide on CD and for digital download and streaming on September 9, followed by a 180-gram gatefold vinyl LP on November 18. The album includes a 24-page booklet with an essay by noted music journalist David Fricke, and its cover art features a sunny photo taken on August 22, 1964 by The Beatles’ then-U.S. tour manager, Bob Bonis, as John, Paul, George and Ringo boarded a chartered flight from Seattle Tacoma Airport to Vancouver, BC for their first concert in Canada.

Documenting The Beatles’ Hollywood Bowl concerts on tape was no easy feat, as producer Sir George Martin explained in his album notes for 1977’s The Beatles At The Hollywood Bowl: “The chaos, I might almost say panic, that reigned at these concerts was unbelievable unless you were there. Only three track recording was possible; The Beatles had no ‘fold back’ speakers, so they could not hear what they were singing, and the eternal shriek from 17,000 healthy, young lungs made even a jet plane inaudible.”

While The Beatles: Live At The Hollywood Bowl references the long out of print 1977 album, it is an entirely new release, directly sourced from the original three track tapes of the concerts. To preserve the excitement of the shows while unveiling the performances in today’s best available clarity and quality, GRAMMY Award® winning producer Giles Martin and GRAMMY Award® winning engineer Sam Okell have expertly remixed and mastered the recordings at Abbey Road Studios, including the thirteen tracks from the original album produced by Giles’ father, plus four additional, previously unreleased recordings from the momentous concerts.

“A few years ago Capitol Studios called saying they’d discovered some Hollywood Bowl three track tapes in their archive,” says Giles Martin. “We transferred them and noticed an improvement over the tapes we’ve kept in the London archive. Alongside this I’d been working for some time with a team headed by technical engineer James Clarke on demix technology, the ability to remove and separate sounds from a single track. With Sam Okell, I started work on remixing the Hollywood Bowl tapes. Technology has moved on since my father worked on the material all those years ago. Now there’s improved clarity, and so the immediacy and visceral excitement can be heard like never before. My father’s words still ring true, but what we hear now is the raw energy of four lads playing together to a crowd that loved them. This is the closest you can get to being at the Hollywood Bowl at the height of Beatlemania. We hope you enjoy the show…”

Featuring rare and exclusive footage, Ron Howard’s The Beatles: Eight Days A Week – The Touring Years is based on the first part of The Beatles’ career (1962-1966) – the period in which they toured and captured the world’s acclaim. The film is produced with the full cooperation of Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Yoko Ono Lennon and Olivia Harrison. The Beatles: Eight Days A Week – The Touring Years touches on the band’s Hollywood Bowl concerts and includes footage of the “Boys” performance featured on The Beatles: Live At The Hollywood Bowl.

White Horse Pictures’ GRAMMY Award®-winning Nigel Sinclair, Scott Pascucci, and Academy Award® and Emmy Award®-winner Brian Grazer of Imagine Entertainment are producing with Howard. Apple Corps Ltd.’s Jeff Jones and Jonathan Clyde are serving as executive producers, along with Imagine’s Michael Rosenberg and White Horse’s Guy East and Nicholas Ferrall.

Following a world premiere event in London on September 15, the film will roll out theatrically worldwide with release dates set in the U.K., France and Germany (September 15); the U.S., Australia and New Zealand (September 16); and Japan (September 22). In the U.S., Hulu is the presenting partner for Abramorama’s theatrical release of the film, which will be available to stream exclusively to Hulu subscribers beginning September 17. Studiocanal and PolyGram Entertainment are also anchor partners on the film, having acquired U.K., France, Germany and Australia and New Zealand rights. For more information about the film, visit www.thebeatleseightdaysaweek.com.

The Beatles: Live At The Hollywood Bowl track list:

1. Twist and Shout [30 August, 1965]
2. She’s A Woman [30 August, 1965]
3. Dizzy Miss Lizzy [30 August, 1965 / 29 August, 1965 – one edit]
4. Ticket To Ride [29 August, 1965]
5. Can’t Buy Me Love [30 August, 1965]
6. Things We Said Today [23 August, 1964]
7. Roll Over Beethoven [23 August, 1964]
8. Boys [23 August, 1964]
9. A Hard Day’s Night [30 August, 1965]
10. Help! [29 August, 1965]
11. All My Loving [23 August, 1964]
12. She Loves You [23 August, 1964]
13. Long Tall Sally [23 August, 1964]
14. You Can’t Do That [23 August, 1964 – previously unreleased]
15. I Want To Hold Your Hand [23 August, 1964 – previously unreleased]
16. Everybody’s Trying To Be My Baby [30 August, 1965 – previously unreleased]
17. Baby’s In Black [30 August, 1965 – previously unreleased]*

* Although labeled previously unreleased in the press statement, the Hollywood Bowl live version of "Baby's In Black" from 1965 was previously out as a b-side to the "Real Love" single in 1996.

Hollywood Bowl album cover

Album cover? This is the image Amazon has provided.
The formal announcement of the new "Live At The Hollywood Bowl" CD has been postponed until today, we're told. Meanwhile, Amazon has provided this image to go with their pre-order product page. A bit disappointing if this is how they want it to look like. Still, it ties in with the documentary film poster. The photo was taken at Sea-Tac Airport, Seattle, 22 August 1964 - the day before the first concert at the Bowl.
Original photo from the Bob Bonis archives.

Tuesday 19 July 2016

Hollywood Bowl shows up on Amazon


Amazon has been updated with pre-order info for the new editions "Hollywood Bowl" set, due out september 9 on Apple, distributed by Universal Music Group. The vinyl edition will follow on November 18, again Amazon is the source. We expect the official announcement to be out later today. The album, now retitled "The Beatles Live at the Hollywood Bowl" is likely to be out on LP, CD and as iTunes downloads.

Links:
http://amzn.to/29QokDE (CD)
http://amzn.to/2apwy1l (vinyl)

Monday 18 July 2016

Hollywood Bowl reissue planned?

Illustration (1977 release)
One of our blog readers, Daniel Whitleley, who works in a record shop, reported to us that the title "The Beatles - Beatles Live at the Hollywood Bowl" recently showed up in their database as a record to be distributed by Universal Music:
LP: Cat no. 5705499
CD: Cat. no. 5705497
Release date was given as July 19, 2016. That's tomorrow, folks! The title is slightly different than the 1977 vinyl album and cassette release, as the word "Live" wasn't part of the title back then. So, perhaps a re-thinking of the contents and art work as well?
This may or may not be a tie-in with the upcoming "Eight Days A Week" documentary, and it may have been rescheduled to appear closer to the release date of the film. After all, The Beatles usually prepare for an upcoming release by a campaign before the release date. We'll just have to wait and see, I guess.

Further reading: The Beatles at the Hollywood Bowl revisited

UPDATE: It has been suggested by one of our sources that Tuesday is the day of the announcement, and not the release day. Another source says it is indeed a re-release of the original Hollywood Bowl album, including 4 bonus songs (from the same shows) which has previously only been available on bootlegs. Release date will be around September/October to coincide with the Ron Howard's documentary. You'll probably get all the details tomorrow then, if our sources are to be believed.

The Beatles "Love" 10th Anniversary Gala

Anniversary logo
This is already old news, but since this blog has been in hiatus for a while while I was moving house, here goes:

It all started when The Beatles presented a new video for the Love version of While My Guitar Gently Weeps. A further four videos were posted on their YouTube channel, under the common slogan The Beatles LOVE, titled Evolution of Props, Evolution of Sound, Beginning of Evolution and Octopus's Garden.

The gala performance of the revamped "Love" show by Cirque du Soleil at Hotel Mirage in Las Vegas was held July 14th. In attendance were Paul, Ringo , Yoko Ono, Sean Lennon, Giles Martin, plus multiple celebrities like Joe Walsh, Ron Howard, Kevin Nealon, Olivia Newton John, Jack Black, Paul Schaffer, etc. George's widow, Olivia Harrison was also there, but their son Dhani was absent, due to prior commitments. An unconfirmed report said Paul McCartney's daughter Mary was also in the crowd. From the Beatles writers camp, Matt Hurwitz and Allan Kozinn were in attendance, and Gillian Lomax, the Beatles LA tour guide was there, representing Beatle-a-rama, the internet radio station.

Gillian Lomax with Sean.
A mini site was created at love.thebeatles.com to further promote the show, which has by now lasted longer than The Beatles did as a group.



The above film was uploaded by people in the audience who had no idea that the show they attended was indeed the 10th anniversary one, and they were thoroughly surprised when the two Beatles appeared on stage after the performance. Here's a different angle:



Sean Lennon took this photo of Paul and Yoko, which he shared on social media:

Photo: Sean Ono Lennon.

Matt Hurwitz wrote three articles for Variety for the anniversary, and a further piece about the gala performance in the aftermath:
- Behind the Tech of Cirque Du Soleil’s ‘Love’
- A Day in the Life of Cirque’s ‘Love’ Artisans
- Cirque’s Beatles-Themed ‘Love’ Gets a 10th Anniversary Makeover
- Beatles Family Reunites for 10th Anniversary of ‘Love’ Show

After the show, both Paul and Ringo tweeted this photo to their followers:

Paul and Ringo's twitter photo.

Sunday 17 July 2016

Marriage proposal in Philly

Our faithful blog follower, Dylan Berwick from Philadelphia managed to get called up on stage by Paul McCartney during a recent concert, and proposed to his girlfriend while on stage with Paul. Here's his story:

Around March of 2016, it was announced that Paul McCartney would be returning to Philadelphia for his new One on One tour. Members of his website would be able to have exclusive first dibs at tickets. Naturally tickets sold out within minutes, but I was able to get two tickets in section AA. The extreme left of the stage. I was happy in that I never had floor seats before. The tickets arrived and there was nothing left to do except wait until the July 12th concert.

On July 11th, the night before the concert, I was laying in bed unable to fall asleep so I began looking on stubhub for people selling their tickets last minute. I found two tickets in row four of section DD. Directly in the centre of the stage. I tossed the idea around of buying them being as they were expensive, at nearly $625 USD a seat. In the end I made the decision to buy them as it was my home city and I didn't know if I'd ever have the chance again.

This would be my 5th time seeing Paul. I previously saw him in Washington D.C., Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and New York City. I was able to sell my AA tickets to a man coming down from NYC. I contacted my friend Joy, who I had met when there were only a few of us in the Facebook group 'Fans On The Run'. Now with over 12,000 members, it's the place to go when seeking out Paul McCartney concert information. I talked with her about ways to improve my odds. Afterwards I promised her that if I was called up, and since she would also be attending, I would give her a shout out. I went to my local hobby shop and bought the brightest neon coloured signs I could find. I made two signs.

I was taking my girlfriend Marissa with me. This was her second time seeing Paul McCartney with me. Marissa is one of the kindest and most thoughtful people I have ever met. I knew from the second that I met her that she was going to change my life. She instantly accepted my love of the Beatles. When we moved in together, she had no problem with the amount of Beatles decor around the house. We even have a China cabinet in our dining room simply filled with my Beatles memorabilia. She knew from the beginning that it was important to me and she fully embraced it. I knew I couldn't imagine life without her. I made it my mission to propose on stage to her.

China cabinet with Dylan's Beatles memorabilia.

We arrived to the show, received our floor wristbands and headed to our seats. Much to my surprise we had seats 18 and 19 which put us directly underneath Paul. I had no idea when buying the tickets where in the row I would be. Marissa and I were both shocked with how close we were. It was the experience of a lifetime.

Paul took the stage and as expected blew everyone away. He played his normal three hours without drinking any water and was a true professional. We told the people sitting next to us and behind us prior to the show that we would be holding up the signs and they were all encouraging. We only held them up in between songs, never during. Paul finished his main set-list and left the stage. It was at this point that we figured it wasn't going to happen. Even though we had great seats and a fantastic show, I would be lying if I said I wasn't slightly disappointed. Paul returned to the stage for his encore. He began playing 'Yesterday' and I noticed a bright flashlight being shined into my face. It was Paul's head of security and he was waving me down. He instructed us to move to the isle, where he sent us to the left side of the stage. Another security guard opened the fence and told us we had to run to the stage side. He said we had to be waiting to go on when Yesterday was over. Marissa and I were in complete disbelief that it was happening. Something I thought impossible was becoming a reality.

Dylan, Marissa and their signs.
The moment was here, Paul said that he had a few fans to bring out on stage. It was happening. We both walked out and there he was. There had to be around 15 people on stage including his backing band and security but as far as I remember it was Marissa, Paul and I. I don't even remember the nearly 50,000 people in the crowd. I was so star struck and in disbelief that I was on stage with a Beatle that my brain blocked out everyone else. Paul read our signs to the crowd. Our signs read;
"Paul, I've followed you for five shows. Can I propose?" and "He said he'll marry me if he meets you Paul. Can he propose?"

The conversation with Paul went as followed;

Paul: What's your name?
Dylan: Dylan Berwick.
Paul: Where are you from?
Dylan: Philadelphia (at which point the crowd roared with approval)
Paul: (whispered into my ear, not into the mic) Are you nervous?
Dylan: No.
Paul: (Still whispering) Well you should be! Look at all these people.
Paul:(Back on the mic) And what's your name?
Marissa: Marissa Gray
Paul: And where are you from Marissa?
Marissa: Also from Philadelphia (again a roar of approval)
Paul: So you guys want to propose huh?
Marissa: If you'll allow it.
Paul: It's got nothing to do with me, so I don't mind. Well, down on your knee boy."

I dropped to one knee and took Marissa's hand and began speaking. I didn't know I was supposed to speak into the mic which Paul had moved down to my level. So the first few sentences weren't picked up.
The proposal.

Dylan: I love you so much, and I want to do this with you for the rest of my life. I want to propose to you here in front of my mom and my dad. In front of Bonnie and Judy. In front of all the other Fans On The Run here in the city of brotherly love. Will you marry me?
Marissa: I will
Paul: She said yes!



I slid the ring on her finger and kissed her on stage. There was a roar of approval from the crowd and Marissa and I waved to the crowd. Paul grabbed my hand held it into the air as if we just won a race. He proclaimed that we needed a group hug and the three of us hugged on stage. I shook his hand and thanked him for everything. Marissa also shook his hand and told him to "Keep rocking." to which he laughed and said "See you later, kids."

Happy couple and Paul.
We walked off stage and Paul said to the crowd "Well good luck to them, right?" and begain playing the song 'Birthday'. As we were being escorted off, we passed Paul's wife Nancy, to which I exchanged a hello. We were let back into the crowd just as the Abbey Road melody was starting. We didn't return to our seats, and watched what remained of the show from the side. When it was all said and done, we were on stage for around two minutes.

After the show, hundreds of people came up and congratulated us as we were walking to the car. Some even stopped us for pictures. It was one of the best experiences of my life. I am so appreciative of Paul for giving me this opportunity and memories that will stay with me forever.