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Still no sign of the "1" DVD

September 16, 2014, 2:49 am
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A latter day incarnation of the bootleg DVD "Chronology"
We must admit that we are starting to lose faith in the previously leaked news about a release of a Beatles promo video collection for October, themed to the "1" album.  The Dutch Beatles promo special last month was to us an indication that perhaps they were gearing up for a DVD, but October keeps creeping up on us and no word from Apple. Word was, the "1" promo DVD was going to come out alongside a new vinyl edition of the album, as well as promotion of the Avedon posters. The "1"vinyl reissue did actually appear on the last release plan from Universal Music, but the date was still pending. Perhaps it is being pushed further towards the Christmas market? And where does that leave "Bootleg Recordings 1964"?
We have seen a lot of official product from the Beatles camp this year, starting with the release of the USA albums on CD, the Blu-ray/DVD of the restored and remastered "A Hard Day's Night" film, the 5 CD Japanese boxed set and now the mono vinyl boxed set (also available individually), but all of these have been re-releases of stuff that's already out there, even though it has been sonically updated. What we fans would really like to see is something that hasn't already been sold to us many times over already.
A promo video collection would fit that bill very nicely. It has never been available commercially, even in the video cassette era, and the manufacturers of bootleg DVDs have been reaping all the profit from this non-release since forever. So Apple, if you are reading this - know that we are ready for it and that it is something we all would purchase. The reissues you have given us so far this year have all been very expensive stuff, geared towards the money strong audience, whereas a DVD or Blu-ray of the promotional films would be something we could probably all afford.

If you're curious about which music videos the "Chronology" DVD consists of, here's the list:

DVD 1:

01. Some Other Guy
02. Love Me Do
03. Please Please Me
04. From Me To You
05. She Loves You
06. I Want To Hold Your Hand
07. Can't Buy Me Love
08. A Hard Day's Night
09. She's A Woman
10. I Feel Fine
11. Eight Days A Week
12. Ticket To Ride
13. Help!
14. We Can Work It Out
15. Day Tripper
16. Paperback Writer
17. Rain
18. Strawberry Fields Forever
19. Penny Lane
20. A Day In The Life
21. All You Need Is Love
22. Hello Goodbye
23. Lady Madonna
24. Hey Jude Rehearsal Film
25. Hey Jude
26. Revolution
27. Get Back
28. The Ballad Of John And Yoko
29. Something
30. Let It Be

Special Features:
- Baby It's You
- We Can Work It Out (Version 1)
- Paperback Writer (Version 2)
- Paperback Writer (Version 3)
- Rain (Version 2)

DVD 2:
01. Love Me Do
02. Please Please Me
03. Twist And Shout
04. I'll Get You
05. I Want To Hold Your Hand
06. This Boy
07. You Can't Do That
08. She's A Woman
09. I Feel Fine
10. Help!
11. Yeterday
12. We Can Work It Out
13. Day Tripper
14. Paperback Writer
15. Rain
16. Eleanor Rigby
17. Yellow Submarine
18. Strawberry Fields Forever
19. A Day In The Life
20. All You Need Is Love
21. Hello Goodbye
22. Hello Goodbye
23. Hey Bulldog
24. Helter Skelter
25. Blackbird
26. Hey Jude
27. Revolution
28. Get Back
29. Let It Be
30. The Long And Winding Road

Special Features:
- Paperback Writer (The Ed Sullivan Show)
- Rain (The Ed Sullivan Show)
- Hey Jude (The Smother Brothers Comedy Hour)
- Don't Let Me Down
- Come Together (Color 1969 8mm Montage)

We found it on ebay. Note that there were made several versions or videos of certain songs, so no material on disc 2 duplicates what was on disc 1. Note that the Chronology DVD has been improved upon by later DVD compilations, notably the "Unsurpassed Promos" 4 discs set, divided into the 2 DVD "Tour Years" and the 2 DVD "Studio Years". I guess we can only dream that Apple should be as thorough as the Beatles fan bootleggers, and make such a comprehensive collection, but they should at least give us something.


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Uncirculating Dark Horse

September 16, 2014, 11:28 pm
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Dark Horse
The promotion campaign for the new George Harrison release "The Apple Years 1968-75" is kicking into high gear, with a week of celebrations coming up on "Conan" and the upcoming Georgefest in Los Angeles. And they are also using the bonus tracks for what they're worth. A version of This Guitar (Can't Keep From Crying) popped up on last week on npr.org, now a version of "Dark Horse" appeared on RollingStone.com. And it turns out to be an early take that hasn't been heard before, even on bootlegs. So head on over and take a listen!
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New "New" confirmed for October

September 17, 2014, 12:48 pm
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Time for another new New
We told you before, and now it's official: There will be yet another edition of Paul McCartney's album "New" from October 2013, the release date is October 28th, 2014. This will feature a hardbound cover, which will hold 2 CDs and 1 DVD, and it's called "Collector's Edition".

Tracks:
1. Save Us
2. Alligator
3. On My Way To Work
4. Queenie Eye
5. Early Days
6. New
7. Appreciate
8. Everybody Out There
9. Hosanna
10. I Can Bet
11. Looking At Her
12. Road
13. Turned Out
14. Get Me Out Of Here

Disc: 2

1. Struggle (previously available only in Japan)
2. Hell To Pay (previously unreleased)
3. Demon's Dance (previously unreleased)
4. Save Us (Live at Tokyo Dome 2013)
5. New (Live at Tokyo Dome 2013)
6. Queenie Eye (Live at Tokyo Dome 2013)
7. Everybody Out There (Live at Tokyo Dome 2013)

DVD:

01. Something New
02. New Interview (Bang & Olufsen Presents The Living Room Tour: Launching Paul McCartney’s Album ‘New’)

03. The Promo Tour:
03.1. MGM Grand for iHeartRadio Music Festival, Las Vegas, 21st September 2013
03.2. Hollywood Boulevard with Jimmy Kimmel, Los Angeles, 23rd September 2013
03.3. NBC Studios with Jimmy Fallon, New York, 7th October 2013
03.4. Times Square, New York, 10th October 2013
03.5. The Shard, London, 15th October 2013
03.6. BBC Maida Vale Studios, London, 16th October 2013
03.7. The London Studios with Graham Norton, London, 17th October 2013
03.8. Covent Garden and HMV Oxford Street, London, 18th October 2013

04. Music Videos:

04.1. Queenie Eye
04.2. Save Us
04.3. Appreciate
04.4. Early Days
04.5. Making Of Queenie Eye
04.6. Making Of Appreciate
04.7. Making Of Early Days

Total DVD Running Time: 1 hour 58 minutes

As excited as we are of getting two new songs, we have to admit that as long standing fans, we are getting a bit tired of this constant repackaging of music that we have already bought.
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Beatles jigsaw puzzles

September 18, 2014, 7:00 am
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Jigsaw Puzzle Group (NEMS Enterprises, Ltd. 1963).

Looking for something special for a Beatle fan's birthday? Forget about records, how about one of these original vintage 1963 jigsaw puzzles? They come in a variety of four.

The back of the box displays all four variations 

Easy to make, too - it's only 340 pieces! Each puzzle measures approximately 11" x 17" when assembled, and makes for a fine display when framed.

Tough to find the box in great condition
They may prove to be slightly expensive though, although more so in the USA than in the UK. Of course, if you should come across one, make sure to count the pieces. Otherwise, your friend may be in for another surprise after having (near) completed it.

Completed? Or a new search begins...



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George updates

September 23, 2014, 4:33 am
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Catering to the U.S.A. market.
Sorry for taking so long between posts these days, but I'm currently busy putting together the new "Norwegian Wood" magazine, where I'm both editor, lay out designer and writer (most of the articles, anyway). Also, the plans for the Norwegian Beatles festival have made me pretty occupied for a while.
I'm so busy, I haven't even been to the record shop to look for George Harrison's Apple box. So as a service to those of you who are still holding out on that box, here's a promotional film they made for the new edition "Living In The Material World".


Also, they've made one of the "Wonderwall Music" bonus tracks available to hear on the internet, it's the instrumental "The Inner Light". You can find that track over at  Stereogum.
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Free EP from iTunes

September 24, 2014, 2:02 am
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Free EP to download from iTunes featuring four solo songs
iTunes have made available a free EP, consisting of a song each from the solo careers of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. The songs are:

Love (3:23) by John Lennon
Call Me Back Again (5:00) by Wings
Let It Down (4:59) by George Harrison
Walk With You (4:41) by Ringo Starr (Paul McCartney guest starring)

We assume Call Me Back Again is a preview of the remastered Venus & Mars.

Here's the iTunes page for the EP.

A button a Beatle - The iTunes Solo Beatle page
This EP release is probably in conjunction with marketing a new iTunes Store page, which gathers together each Beatle's solo career. Click these buttons to explore releases available on iTunes, not only single tracks and albums, but a few music videos as well:

For John Lennon there are a few clips from single songs taken from the Live Peace in Toronto 1969 concert, for George Harrison you'll mostly find music videos from the Traveling Wilburys, Ringo Starr has three or four music videos, and there's also a thin selection of clips from Paul McCartney, mainly three songs from the Prince’s Trust concert in 1986, along with the music videos for Queenie Eye and Nod Your Head. Now, with all the music videos produced by these guys throughout their careers, their video pages on iTunes could have had so much more to offer!

You'll find the solo Beatles iTunes page through this link: iTunes/soloBeatles
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The Beatles: Work in progress

September 24, 2014, 4:48 pm
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The Beatles: Work in progress - Outtakes 1963
A week ago, we told you about a new live single from the Beatles, released on a small Italian label. The release was made possible because The Beatles Bootleg Recordings 1963fell a bit short to secure The Beatles EU copyright on two songs from the 1963 radio concert in Sweden. Two of our readers, bri286 and Charles E. Moore then alerted us to this upcoming release, which seems to exploit that shortcoming further.
Here's the track list for this CD:

1. There's a Place (Take 1)
2. There's a Place (Take 2)
3. There's a Place (Take 4)
4. There's a Place (Take 10)
5. There's a Place (Take 7)
6. I Saw Her Standing There (Take 4)
7. I Saw Her Standing There (Take 5)
8. I Saw Her Standing There (Take 6)
9. There's a Place (Take 11)
10. I Saw Her Standing There (Take 10)
11. Misery (Take 2)
12. Misery (Take 4)
13. Misery (Take 6)
14. From Me to You (Take 3)
15. From Me to You (Take 4)
16. From Me to You (Take 7)
17. Thank You Girl (Take 4)
18. Thank You Girl (Take 11)
19. Thank You Girl (Take 12)
20. From Me to You (Take 8)
21. Hold Me Tight (Take 22)
22. Hold Me Tight (Take 24)
23. Hold Me Tight (Take 28)
24. Don't Bother Me (Take 10)
25. Don't Bother Me (Take 13)
26. Don't Bother Me (Take 12)
27. I Want to Hold Your Hand (Take 9)

The CD is due out November 24th, 2014. Rock Melon is mentioned as the label on the product page for the CD release. At £6.99, it's cheap enough, but the contents is for completists only. Apparently, there will also a double vinyl version available. And there's a single, duplicating Kutmusic's release. Rock Melon was also the label behind the 2012 Silver Beatles At Home 1960 release, an album which is even available from iTunes...
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New Beatles vinyl albums for November

September 25, 2014, 5:12 am
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"Love" and other albums scheduled for rerelease.
Apple Corps Ltd and Universal Music are in full flight to take advantage of the current rise in popularity of vinyl albums, witness the stereo and the more recent mono vinyl boxed sets and individual releases. Coming up in November is another batch of vinyl Beatles albums for hipsters, new record lovers and fans who missed the boat first time around. These are all re-releases, but as they are out of print there'll be a re-launch of the following albums:

"Love", "1", "1962-1966" and "1967-1970". Due out in November for the Christmas market, the exact date(s) are still not known.
Of course, among these, "1" is a beauty with both inner sleeves and a big poster depicting Beatles singles from around the world. Still no word of an accompanying "1" music video collection, though. And now with the other relaunched albums, they needn't confine to the "1" theme, either.
Here they are again: The old new vinyl albums.

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John Lennon On The Air With Dennis Elsas

September 27, 2014, 9:25 am
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Dennis Elsas: "John Lennon was my "surprise" on-air guest on September 28th, 1974, 40 years ago this weekend. What began simply as an opportunity for John to promote his just-released Walls and Bridges album turned into two hours of radio magic: John as the DJ, John discussing his former bandmates and speculating on the possibility of a Beatles reunion, John sharing some of the secrets behind the songs, and John just being John. These are some of my favorite moments from that unforgettable day".
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Beatles photographer: Terry O'Neill

September 28, 2014, 4:30 am
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Terry O'Neill: 'The pictures are so naive. They didn’t know what to do either, but it was the beginning of everything. They were recording Please Please Me, and people didn’t know they’d be big".

In 1963, young Cockney photographer Terry O’Neill snapped four unknowns from Liverpool as they took a break from a recording session at Abbey Road. The pictures were splashed across the front page of a national newspaper – and Beatlemania was born.

Terry O'Neill: "1963. The very first pop picture I took, in the backyard at Abbey Road. I didn’t know what to do, nobody had photographed a group before so I just got them outside with their guitars, and Ringo with a cymbal. It was the only thing I could think of. The pictures are so naive. They didn’t know what to do either, but it was the beginning of everything. They were recording Please Please Me, and people didn’t know they’d be big. But they were four great personalities, it shone out of them. John was in charge, you can see that he’s the leader from the picture, he was definitely the stronger force. He wanted to be at the front. John and Paul were a great double act, not just on stage. Off stage they were clever young hustlers. John had the irony, Paul the charm. They were nobody’s fools. George was a brilliant musician, but shy and serious. Ringo was new to the band and was a very funny guy. An editor had asked me to photograph the emerging youth culture. They just seemed to sum up the changing mood of the times. They had hair that was long for the day, and their clothes were smart, but relaxed, almost casual. I took the pictures back to the paper. They sat in the editor’s in-tray but one day there were no train crashes or wars or sensational trials to put on the front page, so he put The Beatles on it – and there was this amazing response. The newspaper sold out. It was a revelation – young people bought the paper because a young unknown band was on the front page. A few weeks later the record was released and it went straight to No 1. In weeks, they were the biggest news in Britain; in months the biggest news in the world – and the Sixties took off".
"Terry O’Neill’s Rock ’n’ Roll Album" is published by ACC Editions, priced £45 / $50.05
Source: The Daily Mail
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The geography of collecting the Beatles

September 29, 2014, 6:59 am
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Australian pressing
The Beatles is, of course, history. But when I grew up and started to assemble my Beatles collection, it was also geography. In the late seventies I started collecting Beatles and solo-Beatles records. Since I was in my home country, Norway - you might be forgiven to think that the records I collected were pressed and printed in Norway.
Not so. EMI in Norway had ceased to print their own records for the domestic market, and relied on imports. Most of these were from Sweden, since EMI for a while kept up producing records there, but after a while they closed that pressing plant. So EMI Norway started importing records from Holland.

Meanwhile, the Polygram distribution company was still printing records in Norway, so for some Ringo, George and John titles, Norwegian pressings were available. Those were albums like "Ringo the 4th", "Somewhere in England" and "Double Fantasy". There was even a "McCartney II" record with a sleeve printed in Norway, if I remember correctly. The record inside, however, was imported from Sweden.
Even if I had been staring to collect records back in the sixties, my collection would have been a mix of domestic and foreign pressings. "A Hard Day's Night" was the first album pressed in Norway. Prior to that, I would have had to buy Swedish, Danish or UK imports of "Please Please Me" and "With The Beatles". Even when they did start printing and pressing Beatles albums in Norway, they didn't do that with all of them. "A Collection of Beatles Oldies" would have been a foreign pressing, as would "Magical Mystery Tour", "The Beatles" and "Yellow Submarine". As for EP's, only three of those were domestic pressings, the rest of the EPs found in record shops were from Sweden or the UK.


Now singles was one thing we did press in Norway, and in abundance. I believe there were 34 different Beatles singles released here, all pressed domestically and with individual picture sleeves. But that only lasted up until around 1975. "Mrs Vandebilt" / "Mamunia" was the final domestically pressed single from EMI, from then on they imported singles from Sweden, and after that, from the Netherlands.
The most sought after singles were from the UK, because their covers were more cardboardy than their Dutch or Swedish counterparts. Even the albums had a stiffer cardboard than those flimsy Swedish sleeves. But UK imports were few and far between, in most cases you'd have to go to the UK to find them. I was able to complete my Beatles album collection, but the albums were mainly from Sweden.
EP from France
When it came to solo albums, that was a completely different story altogether. Did you know that in the late seventies, Paul McCartney's (arguably) first album, "The Family Way" was all out of print everywhere, except for in one country in the world? That's right. If you told your local record shop to get you that album, they would get it - from Australia. So that's the reason why many of us fans in their fifties will have the Australian "Family Way" in their collections. The same went for George Harrison's album "Wonderwall Music". Out of print in every single country in the world, except Germany. So we all have the German edition of that album. John and Yoko's experimental albums, "Life With The Lions" and "Wedding Album" were only kept in print in Japan, and the same applied to George's "Electronic Sound". Although USA pressings of that album wasn't uncommon to find. Fortunately, one of my mother's tenants, a woman who was a few years older than me, had the original UK pressing of "Life with the Lions". I swapped it for my newly acquired Japanese reissue. She didn't care about which country her records came from.

LP from Germany
"Two Virgins"? Forget it. That one wasn't kept in print anywhere, except for with the counterfeiters. My generation all have counterfeits of that album.

But those were the tricky ones. And often they were the final ones you had to get, and only to have a complete collection. You wouldn't actually play them, not more than once, anyway. Except perhaps "The Family Way". One album I was lucky to find in the bargain bin was "Holly Days", a Wings album in all but name. Not to mention "Thrillington", another lucky find. Most people didn't have those. But the rest were easy peasy, mainly Swedish pressing, a few German ones, some USA ones and only the lucky would find a few UK pressings.

As my collection grew and I had them all in stereo, I had to get the Beatles albums again, now in mono. A few trips to London later, I had most - and completed the collection when the mono albums were rereleased in 1982.
Oh, Canada
With the UK album collection completed, my next task was to et a full collection of the USA albums. And. like an answer to my prayer, a record shop in Oslo started to import the cheaper Canadian albums. So I got those, including those early Canadian only releases.

In 1984, I bought my first CD player (thanks to Paul McCartney releasing a CD of Give My Regards To Broad Street with an extra song that was neither on the LP, nor on the cassette), and that resulted in having to get the collection again - this time in that new format. And for some strange reason, I again had to get my collection together from different countries. The solo Beatles albums were released on CD, but some in USA pressings only, and some from the UK. And not the same titles, so you had to cross shop to get them all. And then of course, you had to get both the UK and USA pressing of McCartney's "All the best" because of the different track lists. And you had to get the USA "Band on the run" for "Helen Wheels".

Italy has some of the nicest looking Beatles singles covers anywhere.

Along the way, you'd come across foreign records with nice picture sleeves, and you'd pick up those if you could afford them. The French EPs suddenly appeared at a used records shop in Oslo. I wanted them all, but could only afford one. And the next day, they were all gone.

Now and then, German albums would be available in some shops. And you'd pick them up if you had the money there and then. And everyone was always bragging about how much better the vinyl on the Japanese pressings was, so you'd sample a few of them, as well.

Beatles singles from all over the world.

Along comes ebay, and now you have a smorgasbord of Beatles releases from all over the world to choose from.
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Paul McCartney Off The Ground

September 30, 2014, 1:18 am
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Off The Ground - vinyl LP, British pressing. Note the white border, not a feature on the CD,
Believe it or not, the vinyl edition of Paul McCartney's LP, "Off The Ground" sells for a lot of money these days. Why? Because when this album was released in February 1993, most people had converted to the CD format, so the vinyl albums sales were in steady decline, and this album simply didn't sell. It was probably not pressed in too many copies either. Now that CD is turning into an abandoned format, people are buying vinyl again, and this is a rare album, vinylwise.

At the time of writing this, only three copies of the UK pressing are for sale on ebay, a used one from a UK seller, priced at GBP 98.99, one from a US based seller at US $160.00, and finally a still sealed UK pressing from a seller in the Russian Federation, priced at US $399.00 or best offer.
Then there's a Korean pressing in poor condition, but the seller is asking $99.99! Apart from those, three Spanish pressings of the album are on ebay, asking prices are EUR 19.95, US $49.75 and US $99.75.


Having made the switch to CDs myself, nonetheless I still did buy vinyl albums, and "Off The Ground" is one of the ones I bought.
And then I came across a 2CD version of "Off The Ground", called "Off The Ground - The Complete Works". I bought it, of course. It's almost like a deluxe version of the album, and I believe it was only released this way in Japan, Germany and perhaps Holland.

Track Listing

DISC 1 (like the regular CD)
1. Off The Ground
2. Looking For Changes
3. Hope Of Deliverance
4. Mistress and Maid
5. I Owe It All To You
6. Biker Like An Icon
7. Peace In The Neighbourhood
8. Golden Earth Girl
9. The Lovers That Never Were
10. Get Out Of My Way
11. Winedark Open Sea
12. C'mon People


DISC 2 (Extra tracks from singles B-sides etc)
1. Long Leather Coat
2. Keep Coming Back To Love
3. Sweet Sweet Memories
4. Things We Said Today
5. Midnight Special
6. Style Style
7. I Can't Imagine
8. Cosmically Conscious
9. Kicked Around No More
10. Big Boys Bickering
11. Down To The River
12. Soggy Noodle

Of course, the single "Hope of Deliverance" from this album turned out to be probably Paul's final hit single, and it charted mainly in Europe. It went to number 83 in the USA, no. 18 in the UK singles charts, no. 3 in Germany, no. 1 in Spain and number one for a week on a general European chart. Here in Norway it peaked at no. 4. "Off The Ground - The Complete Works" can also be found on ebay these days, priced from EUR 69.99 and up.

Off The Ground as a regular CD was rereleased on CD in January 2014 on Hear Music, now also featuring a digital download card for those who want the audio files available to them.
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New Dutch Beatles Museum

October 1, 2014, 2:10 am
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The still empty museum.
Azing Moltmaker's Beatles museum is about to get bigger! Yesterday he got the keys to the new building. The new Beatles museum is huge, over 5000 square feet, making this museum one of the largest Beatles museums in the world. The grand opening will be on November 29, 2014. Like his current Beatles museum, the new one will also be located in Alkmaar, the Netherlands.

The current Beatles museum
Official website
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Collecting the Beatles

October 1, 2014, 11:07 am
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Quad movie posters for the new A Hard Day's Night.
There are various types of Beatles collectors. It usually begins with the music, and then branches out.
The record collector
Starts out trying to get a complete Beatles collection, that means all songs recorded by the Beatles. In this day and age, that's relatively easy - because of all the boxed sets available. It used to be a lot trickier, because the Beatles often gave their 45s added value by including B-sides, and even A-sides that weren't available on an album. At least that's how it was in Great Britain. In the USA, Capitol used Beatles singles, As and Bs to make up new albums. Still, they missed a few - so you'd have to hunt for those. The solo Beatles continued this practice, and McCartney and Wings' singles were often treasure troves with their funny and sometimes brilliant B-sides.
In the CD era this changed, because the record companies started making bonus tracks from those old B-sides. Mission was finally accomplished with the recent release of Dark Horse, which gave the B-side "I Don't Care Anymore" a home on a CD.
Then there were mixes. Of course, now everyone knows about the Beatles' mono mixes being somewhat different than their stereo counterparts, so you'd have to get those as well. A particularly rare mono mix was the one of "Ram", only sent to radio stations back then, but now available to anyone. Then there were the elusive quad mixes of some solo albums, which you needed to set up quadrophonic equipment at home to be able to enjoy. Mixes became a nuisance to collectors in the late eighties when Paul McCartney's record company started releasing all too many different mixes of his tracks on various hard-to-find records.

All Together Now, the 1972 Swedish single.

The mixes collector
The mixing of Beatles music for stereo in the sixties was an experimental business, at least up to, and including, the white album. Many find that they are able to improve on what the audio engineers of the era managed to do, so the Beatles' RockBand single tracks are exploited to be able to put them together in a new, more interesting, or pleasing ways. The same goes for the 5.1 soundtracks captured from the Anthology series and movie releases. The mixes collector doesn't necessarily make his own mixes, but downloads the work of audio amateurs dabbling in this.

One of many CDs made from the RockBand multi tracks.


The music collector
Is interested in the music, and doesn't care too much about the packaging. Once a music collector has all the officially released music, he might go into the realm of bootlegs, which is the only way to get Beatles music new to his ears.

Early CD bootleg

The historian:
Collects minute details regarding one or more subjects in Beatles history. He'll (and sometimes she'll) collect photos, newspaper clippings, interviews and piece them together for a great look at for instance a day in the life of the Beatles.



The quiz expert
Gathers every sort of fact about the Beatles. Likely to attend Beatles quizzes, or serve as quiz master. Often very interested in music charts, which record charted where, how long was it on the charts and where did it peak. The fifth Beatle? He/she can list at least fifty contenders to the title.

The first quiz book?


The rare records collector
This is when Beatles collecting becomes stamp collecting. At first he/she will try to get all the domestic releases from his/her own country. The next step is to get records with particularly interesting photo sleeves. After that, maybe interesting couplings. like the Finnish Ob-la-di-ob-la-da / Happiness is a Warm Gun single. Or the Mexican EPs put together by John Lennon. The rare record collector will then start to scrutinize things like labels and matrix numbers, anything that is different than the standard release. Misprints is another stamp/Beatles collector's favourite.

The French 1973 singles series "flashback"


The memorabilia collector
A lot of Beatles related product was available in the sixties, and even more so now. The memorabilia collector is likely to be more interested in sixties memorabilia, either because it's stuff he/she has lost through the years, never owned but always wanted or if it's a younger generation fan, stuff that's old and quaint.

Ice cream gone, but box survives


The photo collector
Will amass a huge collection of Beatles photos. Divides into professional and amateur photos. Uncropped versions of a well known photo is like finding gold. As is candid moments captured by a bystander.
Introducing...


The cheap collector
Always looking for bargains at garage sales, flea markets or overlooked gems at ebay and other places. Will also find pleasure in collecting photos of Beatles records and memorabilia he/she wished they could afford.

Garage or yard sale finds

The rich collector
Paying top prices for mostly well known rarities. Sometimes these will be hunting at pop memorabilia auctions from well known auction companies to get that one item that no one else can afford.
Signed publicity photo.

The hoarder
Anything goes.
Peel job gone bad
The relics collector
A brick from the original Cavern Club, a piece of wood from the stage, a bit of rubble from the burned down Star Club, a half smoked cigarette from Ringo, these are items you'll find in the home of a Beatles relic collector. Me, I have a little piece of wood from the tree in the Strawberry Fields Forever video.
Certified brick

The film collector
Interested in getting as much available footage of the Beatles as possible. It all started with 8mm films, then super 8, 16mm films, 35 mm films, video cassettes, DVDs, Blu-rays and then just computer film files. If they appeared on TV in some country somewhere, he/ she will have footage from it. As long as it exists. Swaps with fellow film collectors.

Let It Be on Beta

The private collector
Has interesting and unique films and/or recordings of the  Beatles, which he keeps for himself and or close friends to see and hear.
Acetate of unreleased version of Lady Madonna

The curator
Makes a Beatles museum so that other people may partake in his/her vast collection of everything Beatle.
The curator


The tourist
Everywhere he/she goes on holiday has a Beatles connection. Will visit the places they went to, and take modern day photos of locations they used for photo sessions.
Yours truly, London Town ca 1985

I am sure that there are more types of collectors as well, these came from the top of my head as I was writing. And most Beatles collectors will have stuff from several of these departments. Still, we have to remind ourselves that the starting point for every kind of Beatles collector is the love of the music they made.
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Ringo goes digital

October 2, 2014, 2:16 am
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Ringo's Rotogravure, 1976
Two of Ringo Starr's out-of-print CDs have been made available for digital download on iTunes, "Ringo's Rotogravure" and "Ringo the 4th".
When Ringo Starr's recording contract with EMI ended on 26 January 1976, he signed with Atlantic for the USA and Polydor for the UK market, on 10 March. The first non-Apple album was this, "Ringo's Rotogravure" - but it was still based on the winning formula of 1973's "Ringo" and 1974's "Goodnight Vienna". The formula was to invite Ringo's superstar friends to write songs and play on the recordings. Friends this time was Eric Clapton, Harry Nilsson, Peter Frampton, Melissa Manchester, Dr. John, and Beatle buddies John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison. Produced by Arif Mardin, sessions began in April at Sunset Sound Recorders in Los Angeles, and eventually moved on 12 June to Cherokee Recording Studios, also in LA. Ringo was joined at this session by John and Yoko, recording "A Dose of Rock 'n' Roll", which featured Lennon on piano, and the Lennon-penned "Cookin' (In the Kitchen of Love)".

Paul and Linda, while on break from the Wings Over America tour, made the backing track to "Pure Gold", which McCartney got Starr to sing over, on 19 June. George donated a song too, but because of his commitments to get his album "Thirty Three & 1/3" done on schedule, he couldn't take part in any recording for Ringo's Rotogravure. Harrison's contribution was a song previously known as "When Every Song Is Sung", which he had attempted to record first with Ronnie Spector in 1971, then with Cilla Black (on which Starr also played), and later still with Leon Russell's wife Mary. Ringo's version of the song was renamed "I'll Still Love You". Eric Clapton played guitar on the track "This Be Called a Song".

The back cover of Ringo's Rotogravure featured the front door of 3 Savile Row, the Apple HQ.
"Pure Gold" had been influenced by Starr's then-girlfriend Nancy Andrews. "Cookin' (In the Kitchen of Love)" was written specifically for Ringo by Lennon. "Las Brisas", a track co-written between Starr and Andrews in Mexico, features a local Mexican Mariachi band with Ringo on maracas. Ringo claimed that he had "looked around all these Mexican restaurants and found this band who were sensational.""Lady Gaye" was based on Clifford T. Ward's "Gaye", which in turn gave him co-credit on the Starkey–Poncia composition. "Spooky Weirdness" is an ad-libbed piece that closes the album.

"Ringo's Rotogravure" (the album's title came from the film "Easter Parade" from 1948) was released on 17 September 1976 in the UK, to a lukewarm response. Despite letting him record the song, Harrison was not pleased with Starr's version of "I'll Still Love You", and proceeded to take legal action against Starr, which was soon settled out of court. This was what the guys were referring to, when they both appeared on the talk show "Aspel & Company" in the UK in March, 1988. At the time living as a UK tax exile, Starr promoted the album with interviews in Denmark, France and Italy.

The album was packaged with a free magnifying glass so that those who bought the album could read the graffiti that was featured on the album's back cover. Things were a bit more fun in the LP era.

Magnifying glass.

The "A Dose of Rock 'n' Roll" single, backed with "Cryin'", on 20 September in the US, reaching number 26.
Released in the US on 27 September, the album performed poorly, only reaching number 28 in America and quickly falling off the charts, while it never even appeared in the UK charts.
A music video was made for "You Don't Know Me at All".

Ringo with a shaved head in this video, where he also revisits old haunts in Hamburg.

On 15 October the "A Dose of Rock 'n' Roll" single was released in the UK and elsewhere.

The follow-up single, his cover of Bruce Channel's "Hey! Baby", backed with "Lady Gaye", was released on 22 November in the US and stalled at number 74. The single was released in the UK on 26 November.

A music video for "Hey! Baby" was also made.

A single comprising "Las Brisas" and "Cryin'" was released in Mexico.

"Ringo's Rotogravure" was issued on CD on the same day as "Ringo the 4th", on 16 August 1992, in the US by Atlantic. The album has now been remastered for iTunes, marketed by Rhino Entertainment Company, and can now be downloaded.

Ringo the 4th, 1977

After the commercial disappointment of "Ringo's Rotogravure", Ringo decided to shift his formula of using his well-known musician friends to write songs and appear on his albums. Instead, he intensified his partnership with Vini Poncia, with whom he wrote several of the songs featured here, while using the input of different musicians. Sessions began on 5 February 1977, at Cherokee Studios in Los Angeles, again produced by Arif Mardin. In June, recording sessions were held at Atlantic Studios in New York, where the tracks that ended up on the album were recorded. In addition, the B-side "Just a Dream" was recorded.

Promotional copy of the "Wings"/"Just A Dream" single.

"Wings", backed with "Just a Dream", was released as a single in the US on 25 August 1977. On 16 September, "Drowning in the Sea of Love", backed with "Just a Dream" was released in the UK.

Music video for "Drowning in the Sea of Love".

"Ringo the 4th" was released on 20 September in the UK and 10 days later in the US. The album was a failure upon its release, both commercially and critically. Never touching the UK charts, the album managed to make it to number 162 in the US. The "Drowning in the Sea of Love" single, originally planned as the first US single, was released in the US on 18 October. Shortly thereafter, disappointed record company Atlantic dropped Ringo from their roster.

Neither of the two singles pulled from Ringo the 4th, "Wings" and "Drowning in the Sea of Love" charted in the US. In other countries, other songs were released as singles: "Sneaking Sally Through the Alley", backed with "Tango All Night" (Australia) and "Tango All Night", backed with "It's No Secret" (Spain). The cover photos were by Starr's fiancee, Nancy Lee Andrews. Ringo the 4th was reissued on CD, on the same day as Ringo's Rotogravure, in the US on 16 August 1992 by Atlantic. The song "Wings" was re-recorded years later, and released on Ringo's "Ringo 2012" album and again as a lead single in 2012. Like "Ringo's Rotogravure", "Ringo the 4th" is now marketed by Rhino Entertainment Company, and has been remastered for iTunes.

Ringo's follow up album to "Ringo the 4th" was called "Bad Boy" in 1978. This too was a commercial failure, and Ringo was to return to "the formula" after that, with "Stop And Smell The Roses", which originally went under the working title of "Can't Fight Lightening" and was again going to feature all three Beatle buddies. However, John Lennon was gunned down and killed a little over a month before he was supposed to join Ringo in the recording studio.
The album was delayed but eventually completed with a lot of help from Paul, George and Harry Nilsson. Even though it was a return to form from Ringo, the record buying audience had lost faith in Ringo, and it flopped.
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Wings microsite

October 2, 2014, 6:10 am
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Venus and Mars/Wings At The Speed of Sound microsite
Paul McCartney has published a microsite for the upcoming remastered albums "Venus & Mars" and "Wings At The Speed of Sound", accessible here.
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Childhood home of George Harrison goes up for auction

October 4, 2014, 4:41 am
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George Harrison at home in Upton Green, Speke, Liverpool, 1961.
(Liverpool Echo) A piece of Beatles history will go under the hammer at Liverpool’s world-famous Cavern Club later this month when the childhood home of George Harrison goes up for auction.
The three bedroom, mid-terraced property in Upton Green, Speke, has a guide price of £100,000-plus. But because of its historical associations as a popular hang-out for the band during their formative years, it has already attracted worldwide interest and is likely to go for much more.

John Lennon’s first home in Newcastle Road, Wavertree, sold at auction for £480,000 last year, from a guide price of £150,000-plus. The buyer is still unknown.

George was born on February 25, 1943, at his family’s previous home on Arnold Grove, a cramped two-up, two-down terrace in Wavertree. His dad Harold was a bus driver, while his mum Louise was of Irish descent. He also had two brothers and a sister.
George's parents, Harold and Louise, sorting through fan mail.

After his parents were offered a brand new council house, the family moved to Upton Green, Speke, in 1950. George spent 12 happy years living there before fame and stardom whisked him away in 1962.
It was from here that George walked the short distance to the bus stop to take him to school at the Liverpool Institute for Boys each day. And at that same bus stop, he befriended another Institute pupil, Paul McCartney.
Shortly after getting to know McCartney, who was already part of John Lennon’s band The Quarrymen, George was invited to join the group, with 25 Upton Green becoming a regular rehearsal venue – due in large part to the tolerance of Mr and Mrs Harrison.
It was from the very doorstep of number 25 that the iconic photo was taken of a 15-year-old George on his way to a Quarrymen gig, guitar case in hand.

Off to rehearsals: 15-year-old George Harrison outside his folks' home 25 Upton Green, Liverpool 1958.

After the band’s success George bought his mum and dad a bungalow in Appleton, outside Warrington, in 1965.

In recent years, the former council property in Upton Green has undergone a complete renovation with a hallway, lounge, kitchen/dining room and a family sized rear garden. The first floor includes three spacious bedrooms, bathroom and WC.

George Harrison's home, Upton Green 25, Liverpool, Speke.

The sale of the house is being organised by Countrywide Property Auctions, and will take place at the Cavern Club on October 20, at 7pm.

Two other former Beatles homes, Lennon's house "Mendips" in Menlove Avenue and the McCartney family home in Forthlin Road have both been purchased by the National Trust, restored back to what they looked like when the young composers lived there, and turned into Beatles tourist attractions. No such interests has been expressed in relation to the former homes of the "tourist class" Beatles members George Harrison or Ringo Starr.
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John Lennon’s Gretsch guitar may fetch $1m at auction

October 6, 2014, 3:11 am
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© Copyright Tracksimages.com
A guitar that John Lennon played on the recording of “Paperback Writer” is expected to fetch as much as $1m (£626,250) at auction.

Lennon gave his Gretsch 6120 guitar to his cousin, David Birch, in November 1967 – a year after the hit was recorded in April 1966 at London’s Abbey Road studios. Mr Birch said he had fancied forming his own band. “I was just cheeky enough to ask John for one of his spare guitars,” he said. “I had my eye on a blue Fender Stratocaster lying in the studio, but John suggested the Gretsch and gave it to me.”
TracksAuction.com said yesterday that this casual favour meant Mr Birch was now in possession of one of the most significant of Lennon’s guitars to come on to the market in the past 30 years. Online bidding begins on 14 November.


Auction site
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The photo and the photographer

October 7, 2014, 3:23 am
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3 Beatles in Paris
In our ongoing albeit somewhat sporadic series about the photo and the photographer, we are moving along to Paris, January 1964. The Beatles, represented by three of them, are strolling around the arc de triomphe with their cameras, both touristing and making themselves available to accompanying photographers.
"Come on, John, strike a pose!"

John stops to make one of his somewhat crippled poses, George and Paul's cameras are firing away.

John posing
And here's the result, although we're not sure which Beatle's camera the resulting shot comes from:

Ah, it's in front of a car dealer's shop!
The photo of the photographers was used on one of our all-time favourite Beatles vinyl bootleg packages, Les Beatles a Paris on the Neon label.

Double LP with foldout cover and souvenir booklet. Currently available as a repressing or as a russian CD.
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Lennon on Spotify

October 7, 2014, 6:52 am
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John Lennon is on Spotify
It was only yesterday that I was looking for John Lennon on the online streaming service Spotify, and all that was there were a few tracks. Today the albums depicted below have all been added to Spotify. McCartney and Starr was already there, so the only solo-Beatle missing is George (sorry, Pete). Listening to my favourite Lennon album Walls and Bridges while writing this.
Listen to this stream.

John Lennon's music is now available for you to listen to on streaming music services including:
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