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International Beatleweek in Liverpool

January 23, 2015, 3:28 am
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International Beatleweek is celebrated in Liverpool, England, UK at the end of August every year. This year's week runs from August 26 to September 1, 2015.
A returning gust this year is Donovan, who first performed at the week in 2006. He will perform a very special show 'The Shram-Rock Concert'. Expect all his hits and of course the music of The Beatles who he influenced in India.
International Beatleweek regulars Mark Hudson and Mark McGann will both headline their own shows respectively at The Royal Court Theatre. Joining these guys in a return to Beatleweek are The Original Quarrymen, Badfinger's Joey Molland and Wings drummer Steve Holley.
Making their Internationsl Beatleweek debut is Patti Boyd, Bob Gruen, Peter Asher, Earl Slick and Gary van Scyoc.

The Anniversary Concert will be dedicated to the memory of the legendary Cavern Club owner Ray McFall, who recently passed away.
Of course, there's also, as ever, going to be a Beatles market and an auction.

You may download your copy of the festival brochure here.
Beatleweek Web page
Beatleweek Facebook page
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Rihanna with Paul and Kanye

January 25, 2015, 2:43 am
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Surprise from Paul McCartney

Rihanna surprised her fans on Saturday by debuting her new single “FourFiveSeconds” featuring Kanye West and Paul McCartney. The stripped-down track, which was released to iTunes via Roc Nation and Rihanna’s own company Westbury Road Entertainment, features Paul McCartney on guitar and RiRi’s raw vocals.


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Comprehensive BBC set starts circulating

January 26, 2015, 5:26 pm
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Starting to circulate among collectors is a new, free 24 disc set of Beatles material from BBC Radio. The set is designed to accompany Kevin Howlett's book The Beatles: The BBC Archives 1962-1970. Each disc can be stored in a separate case, or they can be placed in slim cases and housed in the box intended for the book. They will fit in the UK box, not in the US one, because that box was a bit smaller.
In the book box
The set includes every known surviving BBC radio music and interview appearance from 1962-1970, plus guest appearances by other acts, and (as bonus items) interviews with those involved in the sessions.

The sessions are arranged chronologically, with several Special Editions including the complete 5th birthday Saturday Club, The Beatles Abroad, all of the group's appearances on the Top Of The Pops radio series up to 1970, the BBC Beatles Night in December 1963, and even a DVD of their surviving BBC TV appearances.

All tracks have been pulled from the best possible sources including original transcription discs and tapes. Dropouts, mains hum and other annoyances have been carefully removed. Noise reduction has not been used, however it is present on some of the tracks, because noise reduction was used on the releases they are sourced from. Early fades have all been fixed where possible. This has been a huge undertaking, and I am sure the people behind it have spent years of research and audio enhancement work to accomplish such a comprehensive set. These are probably the dedicated and knowledgable fans who should have been trusted to master the Beatles' own official BBC recordings albums... A number of upgrades are included, plus some previously unheard guest appearances. And as a special bonus, a selection of never before heard continuity from the Light Program and Home Service is included, giving a bird's eye view into the hilariously stuffy state of British radio in the early 1960s.

The makers of this amazing collection are not doing it for profit, but because they feel all of The Beatles BBC material should be out there for fans to enjoy and historians to scrutinise. In fact, the set is distributed as free download links, and the people behind it are is are encouraging the fans to continue to distribute this set freely before it gets picked up and distributed for profit by the real bootleggers. They are also encouraging everyone to buy Kevin Howlett's book, not only to get the box to house the collection, but also because it's a vital piece of the BBC puzzle and will enable everyone to put the audio discs into context.  They are also asking people to support the artist and buy the official BBC albums. As they say: This is a fan project, not a bootleg. Don't charge money for copies.

Volume 1
If you have any of the previous releases of the material, like the one from Purple Chick (an earlier non-profit Beatles BBC project), this is a huge update, both regarding upgrades of songs, chat, intros and outtros as well as newly unearthed material. And if you have managed to get hold of the 2010 "Unsurpassed Broadcasts" series, this one surpasses it, both in volume and because it contains material that has been found since then. The set covers the same period that Howlett's book covers, so it goes all the way to 1970, whereas older BBC sets come to a halt after The Beatles' final original music performances in 1965. Doug Sulpy calls this set "core" in his latest issue of The 910, in fact he even hints that it may be too comprehensive! The one thing is, if you want discs, you have to burn them yourself, and the same goes for the artwork, you'll have to print it out.

You won't get this set from my blog, but look around the neighbourhood blogs, and I'm sure you'll stumble over it somewhere.
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The smelly revolution

January 29, 2015, 1:54 am
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Looks like my recent piece on this blog about The Beatles music videos has made one of my readers upload the film for all to see. What I wrote was: The footage shot for “Revolution” would result in two versions. The Beatles again sang live to a prerecorded tape.
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It has been rumoured that in the eighties, the other version of "Revolution" became standard, because in the first version George moves away from John, commenting to Paul "John smells like s**t!"

Now you can be the judge:



And here's the full video:

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Paul returns to Japan

January 29, 2015, 2:02 am
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Poster for Paul's concerts in Japan
As you know, Paul McCartney fell ill last year when he visited Japan and had to cancel his concerts there as well as in South Korea and postpone concerts in the USA. Just announced from PaulMcCartney.com: Paul has scheduled new concerts in Japan. The first of these will be 21 April at the Kyocera Dome in Osaka, and then three concerts at the Tokyo Dome 23, 25 og 27 April in Tokyo. The general ticket sale starts on 28 February, no doubt members of his website will get access to tickets a few days in advance, as is his custom.

Meanwhile, Daily Mail reports that McCartney will join Kanye West and Rihanna in a performance of "Four Five Seconds" at the 2015 Grammy Awards ceremony Feb. 8 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

Source: PaulMcCartney.com
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Postcards from Paradise

January 29, 2015, 4:30 am
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Ringo to release new album - but first a tour. Photo: Rob Shanahan
Ringo's new album (or CD, as he refers to it as) is going to be called "Postcards From Paradise", according to the drummer himself on Twitter. The album (his 18th studio album) is currently slated for release 31 March via Capitol (Universal Music) in the USA, Monday 30 March in Europe.

It has 11 new original songs, and the album is the first to include a song written by Ringo in collaboration with his present All Starr Band, with members Steve Lukather (Toto), Todd Rundgren, Gregg Rolie (Journey), Richard Page (Mr. Mister), Wally Palmar (The Romantics) and Gregg Bissonette (David Lee Roth a.o.). ”POSTCARDS FROM PARADISE” is produced by Ringo Starr himself, and the album was recorded at his own home studio in Los Angeles.

As usual, friends and family are involved in the album. As Ringo himself says: "If I am recording and you're in town and drop by, you're going to be on the record!".

Among the guest stars on the album are people like Joe Walsh (The Eagles), Benmont Tench (Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers), Dave Stewart (Eurythmics), Peter Frampton, Richard Marx, Ann Marie Simpson, Nathan East (Phil Collins etc.), Amy Keys and songwriter/producer Glen Ballard (Alanis Morissette, Van Halen, Katy Perry, Aerosmith, The Corrs etc.)

Tracks:
1. Rory And The Hurricanes
2. You Bring The Party Down
3. Bridges
4. Postcards From Paradise
5. Right Side Of The Road
6. Not Looking Back
7. Bamboula
8. Island In The Sun
9. Touch And Go
10. Confirmation
11. Let Love Lead

On 18 April 2015 Ringo Starr will be inducted into ‘The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’ in Cleveland, Ohio where he will receive the honour in the category ‘Musical Excellence’. Link: Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame

Before releasing the album, Ringo is taking his All Starr Band on a new tour of the Americas:

February:
13. Riverdome, Bossier City, Louisiana, USA
14. Cowan Center, Tyler, Texas, USA
15. BJCC Concert Hall, Birmingham Alabama, USA
17. The Peace Center, Greenville, South Carolina, USA
21. Hard Rock Hotel Punta Cana, The Dominican Republic
22. Coliseo de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico, USA
24. Van Wezel PAC, Sarasota Florida, USA
26. HSBC Brasil, Sao Paolo, Brazil
27. Vivo Rio, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

March:
1. (to be determined)
3. Movistar Arena, Santiago, Chile
6. Bogota Corferias, Columbia
8. Coliseo Merida, Yucatan, Mexico
10. National Auditorium, Mexico City, Mexico
12. Chumash Casino, Santa Ynez California, USA
13. Masonic Theater, San Francisco California, USA
14. Pala Casino, Pala, California, USA
15. The Pearl at Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

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Postcards From Paradise - vinyl edition

January 29, 2015, 10:35 pm
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Postcards From Paradise. Photo: Rob Shanahan.
Even though Ringo Starr refers to his upcoming album as "my new CD", Amazon in the USA is accepting preorders for the vinyl edition of the album. The CD is due out on March 31st in USA, and the LP edition has the preliminary release date June 2, 2015.
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Eight arms to hold you - upcoming book

January 30, 2015, 4:02 pm
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Front cover of new book about the filming of Help! for the upcoming anniversary.
Eight Arms To Hold You – The Forgotten Archives is an upcoming LP size book about the filming of "Help!", being crowdfunded via Pledge Music.

The photo agency Rex Features has access to Help! director Richard Lester's private collection, and the book will also contain various sets of images taken by people on the film set. All in all the book will have 250+ photographic pages, featuring fully restored colour and black and white photographs.

The project and the book is being curated by Simon Wells, who previously wrote the "Beatles 365 Days" book, and the Rolling Stones "Great Drugs Bust", among others.

The crowdfunding venture has 100 days to go. Those who order the 965 first edition copies will go into a draw to win a Höfner bass guitar too.

A set of seven restored and remastered art prints (10x16 inches) will be available in a very limited number.
All photographs are courtesy of Rex Features.

Details and film at PledgeMusic.
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Howlett's BBC book - new edition

February 2, 2015, 1:10 am
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Second edition of Kevin Howlett's The Beatles - The BBC Archives
Looks like the first edition of Kevin Howlett's 2013 book "The Beatles - The BBC Archives", released to coincide with the second volume of The Beatles' BBC recordings, "On Air: Live at the BBC Volume 2" was a success. So, due out on April 16 2015 is a new edition of the book, now with a slightly different cover design and, unlike the first edition, not in a slipcase.

This book reveals how the relationship between the BBC and the world's most celebrated pop group developed between 1962 and 1970. The book has an in-depth account of The Beatles' BBC appearances, featuring transcripts of broadcast interviews plus photographs of the group and documents from the BBC archives.

Following Mark Lewisohn's decision to write his ultimate biography of The Beatles, Kevin Howlett seems to have replaced Lewisohn as the person The Beatles' Apple company goes to when they are releasing new product, Howlett having written liner notes for all their new releases, from "Let It Be...Naked" (2003) to last year's book that accompanied the "Beatles in mono" vinyl boxed set.

The 336 page hardcover book is being published by BBC Books in English.
ISBN-10: 1849906890
ISBN-13: 978-1849906890

The Amazon (UK) pre-order price for the new edition is currently £13.60, whereas you can still get a copy of the first edition for £29.25.
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Sir Paul McCartney on music making

February 2, 2015, 1:50 am
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Upcoming TV performances by Paul

February 3, 2015, 3:43 pm
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Photo: ©Kevin Winter/Getty Images
Paul McCartney has been confirmed to appear during the 2015 Grammy Awards at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on February 8, backing Kanye West and Rihanna's performance of FourFiveSeconds. Here's the official music video for the track:



Paul will also be on the Saturday Night Live 40th Anniversary Special, where Kanye West is one of the other musical guest stars. The show airs February 15th at 8 p.m. EST on NBC.
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Beatles UK reel to reel tapes

February 9, 2015, 2:04 am
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THE BEATLES: Reel to reel tapes released in the UK - price and reference guide.

Help! First edition mono twin track reel to reel tape,
Reel-to-reel tape recording is the form of magnetic tape audio recording in which the recording medium is held on a reel, rather than being securely contained within a cassette.
In use, the supply reel or feed reel containing the tape is mounted on a spindle; the end of the tape is manually pulled out of the reel, threaded through mechanical guides and a tape head assembly, and attached by friction to the hub of a second, initially empty takeup reel.

In 1952, EMI started selling pre-recorded tapes in Great Britain. The tapes were twin-sided and mono (2 tracks) and were duplicated in real time on modified EMI BTR2 recorders.

The heyday of prerecorded reel tapes was the mid-1960s, but after the introduction of less complicated cassette tapes and 8-track tapes, the number of albums released on prerecorded reel tape dropped dramatically despite their superior sound quality. By the latter 1960s, their retail prices were considerably higher than competing formats, and musical genres were limited, only the major pop stars had their albums released in this format. And of course, the Beatles were major pop stars and their albums in the UK were available as prerecorded reel to reel tapes,

Original releases (first editions 1963-1967).

All the following releases are on 4" spools and has the title of the album printed on the leader tape. They are in cardboard boxes, with the album cover photo printed on the carton. The spool is mounted on a cardboard tray, and the tape used is Emitape, EMI's own, durable brand of high quality magnetic tape. There's also a packing slip in the package, and often a sheet with some information about the Emitape.
Reel to reel tapes, provided thay have been properly stored and taken care of, generally have very good sound, and of course, are not affected by vinyl surface noise, only tape hiss and mechanical noise from the motor of the playback device.

Cardboard box back

White leader tape

Emitape sheet and packing slip
Another type of Emitape square sheet

The back of the Emitape listed various types of tape available.

A rare Parlophone sticker, most of these will have fallen off.

The tray with the tape spool

Reel to reel tapes sold on the internet (typically on Ebay) are usually not tested by the seller, because he/she doesn't have the equipment to play back the tape. So if you buy an untested tape, that tape may have been wiped or damaged by magnetic fields, or even used to record other stuff in the mean time, it's a chance to take. Usually though, the tape will be ok.

Very few sellers have any idea about the value of reel to reel tapes, and rarely check out what other sellers of similar tapes are charging or how much previous sales of the same release went for, so the prices vary enormously. This is my attempt to remedy this, by way of releasing this reference and price guide.

The rarity/scarcity of the release is indicated by this letter code:

A = £10-£20
B = £25-£40
C = £30-£60
D = £80-£100
E = £100-£500

These are guiding prices, and the price depends on the quality of the various elements of the release: the tape, the spool, the tray, the cardboard front and back, whether or not the packing slip or Emitape sheet is included etc. Prices are on their way up.

The following twin-track (= mono) reel to reel tapes were released in the UK alongside their corresponding LPs:

A 1963 - Parlophone TA-PMC 1202 - PLEASE PLEASE ME
A 1964 - Parlophone TA-PMC 1206 - WITH THE BEATLES
A 1964 - Parlophone TA-PMC 1230 - A HARD DAY'S NIGHT
A 1965 - Parlophone TA-PMC 1240 - BEATLES FOR SALE
A 1965 - Parlophone TA-PMC 1255 - HELP!

B 1966 - Parlophone TA-PMC 1267 - RUBBER SOUL
B 1966 - Parlophone TA-PMC 7009 - REVOLVER
B 1967 - Parlophone TA-PMC 7016 - A COLLECTION OF BEATLES OLDIES
B 1967 - Parlophone TA-PMC 7027 - SGT. PEPPER'S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND

The 1967 A Collection of Beatles Oldies

The 1st edition Sgt Pepper. Note that the reel to reel tape presented the front cover photo less cropped than the LP edition.
Sgt Pepper 1st edition, back

Second editions (1968)

After 1967, the cardboard boxes were abandoned, and the reel to reel tapes got a new look, with plastic cases and inlay cards, much like the later cassettes and CDs.
In general, these second editions from 1968 are more rare than the first editions of the same tapes. These are issued on 4" spools, housed in plastic cases with the album cover art and track information printed on a glossy inlay card. This time around, the tapes were available both in mono and stereo editions. The mono tapes were twin track, the stereo tapes were 4-track.

C 1968 - Parlophone TA-PMC 1202 - PLEASE PLEASE ME mono
C 1968 - Parlophone D-PCS 3042 - PLEASE PLEASE ME stereo

C 1968 - Parlophone TA-PMC 1206 - WITH THE BEATLES mono
C 1968 - Parlophone TD-PCS 3045 - WITH THE BEATLES stereo

C 1968 - Parlophone TA-PMC 1230 - A HARD DAY'S NIGHT mono
C 1968 - Parlophone TD-PCS 3058 - A HARD DAY'S NIGHT stereo

C 1968 - Parlophone TA-PMC 1240 - BEATLES FOR SALE mono
C 1968 - Parlophone TD-PCS 3062 - BEATLES FOR SALE stereo

C 1968 - Parlophone TA-PMC 1255 - HELP! mono
C 1968 - Parlophone TD-PCS 3071 - HELP! stereo

C 1968 - Parlophone TA-PMC 1267 - RUBBER SOUL mono
C 1968 - Parlophone TD-PCS 3075 - RUBBER SOUL stereo

C 1968 - Parlophone TA-PMC 7009 – REVOLVER mono
C 1968 - Parlophone TA-PCS 7009 - REVOLVER stereo

C 1968 - Parlophone TA-PMC 7016 - A COLLECTION OF BEATLES OLDIES mono
C 1968 - Parlophone TD-PCS 7016 - A COLLECTION OF BEATLES OLDIES stereo

C 1968 - Parlophone TA-PMC 7027 - SGT. PEPPER'S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND mono
C 1968 - Parlophone TD-PCS 7027 - SGT. PEPPER'S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND stereo

The 1968 A Collection of Beatles Oldies

The 2nd edition of Sgt Pepper was in a plastic case. Depicted is the mono release.

Sgt Pepper inlay card for the plastic case

The Beatles (aka The White album) (1968)

The "White album" releases were issued on 5" spools, needed to hold the amount of tape required for a double album. It was housed in plastic cases with the album cover art and track information printed on a glossy inlay card.

D 1969 - Apple DTA-PMC 7067/8 - THE BEATLES mono
D 1969 - Apple DTD-PCS 7067/8 - THE BEATLES stereo

White album monaural tape

Red leader tape

Red leader tape with printed title

White album back
White album back - detail

The final releases (1969-1970)

The final releases, "Abbey Road" and "Let It Be" were issued on 4" spools, housed in plastic cases with the album cover art and track information printed on a glossy inlay card. The mono tapes were twin track, the stereo tapes were 4-track. These were the only monaural releases of "Abbey Road" and "Let It Be" in the UK, but they are merely folded down stereo mixes into mono as opposed to the dedicated mono mixes found on the other albums. Still, the novelty of having these monaural editions have driven the prices for these up lately. The availability of the mono versions of these albums on reel to reel tape was due to twin track mono machines by far outnumbering four track stereo machines in domestic audio equipment setups.

E 1970 - Apple TA-PMC 7088 - ABBEY ROAD mono
D 1970 - Apple TD-PCS 7088 - ABBEY ROAD stereo

E 1970 - Apple TA-OMC 7096 - LET IT BE mono
D 1970 - Apple TD-PCS 7096 - LET IT BE stereo

Abbey Road
Abbey Road back. This is the stereo edition.

The monaural Abbey Road.

Let It Be tape

Let It Be tape back (stereo edition)
The corresponding mono edition
Note: the "Yellow Submarine" album was not released on reel to reel tape in the UK. Neither was the "Magical Mystery Tour" album, since this was a double EP only in the UK.

The prices quoted are for guidance only. As we said, dealers are not generally aware of the market prices for Beatles reel to reel tapes, and upscale buyers are always willing to part with large sums of money for the rarer among these releases to complete their collections.

A mono "Let It Be" reel to reel tape went for £420.00 in October 2014, and the same month, a 1st edition "With The Beatles" was sold for £11.56 on Ebay. A stereo White album tape was sold for £120 in October and a stereo "Abbey Road" brought £114 in December. We hardly ever see mono "Abbey Road" twin tracks, but I found that one was sold for £149 back in 2007, and in 2014 a similar tape fetched £500.

Prices on Ebay are usually a bit inflated in comparison to record fairs, due to a world wide audience of collectors, but bargains can still be found and made.

The cardboard boxes used to house the first editions of The Beatles' reel to reel tapes were of a rough quality, and easily attract smudge marks and stains, so nice looking copies will be rare and are therefore likely to be more expensive.

A Tandberg series 15 twin track reel to reel tape player/recorder.
In the late sixties, technology had overtaken the reel to reel tapes as four track cassette tapes became the standard for tape collectors, and the manufacturing of reel to reel tapes was discontinued. Cassette tapes are smaller tapes, and as such more hiss is affecting playback, but since the tape is incapsuled by a cassette housing, they are easier to handle, and the format became very popular. By 1973 the prerecorded open-reel offerings had almost completely disappeared, even from record stores and audio equipment shops.

For reel to reel tapes of The Beatles in the USA, see this Price & Reference Guide.
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Postvards from Paradise - cover

February 9, 2015, 11:34 pm
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Postcards from Paradise. Photo: Rob Shanahan.

The photo used to announce Ringo Starr's upcoming "Postcards from Paradise" has been somewhat refined in order to use it as cover for the album. The CD is due out on March 31st in USA (March 27 in Germany and March 30 elsewhere), and the LP edition has the preliminary release date June 2, 2015. I guess the remaining pressing plants are quite busy these days. If you go to BrunchRadio.com and click the Vox amp in the upper left corner, you can listen to the title track.
Meanwhile, here's Ringo's February update:

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Something is rotten

February 10, 2015, 4:44 am
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The Norwegian "Something"/"Come Together" single
The people running the Beatles website, YouTube and Twitter accounts, Facebook page, Instagram account etc are releasing images through their various social media outlets, in order to promote TheBeatles.com. Yesterday the above photo was release with the caption: "Something/Come Together single sleeve - Netherlands, 1969. #BeatlesArchive http://gnikn.us/ExploreBeatles". 

As you can see, and "something" that is easily verified, that is not the Dutch release, but the Norwegian one. And one that has been licenced out by Apple to various manufacturers of new Beatles apparel. I have a shopping bag with the image of this particular single.

I really can't get it. How come someone knowledgable and a fan of the group can't be employed to administer The Beatles' presence in the social media division?

For those who wonder, this is what the Dutch release looked like.

Something/Come Together single sleeve, Netherlands, 1969. #BeatlesArchive http://gnikn.us/ExploreBeatles.
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The photographer and the photo: Lennon New York City

February 10, 2015, 5:15 am
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Classic John Lennon/New York City photo by Bob Gruen
In our occasional series of photos of a photo being taken, here is a polaroid of Bob Gruen taking pictures of John Lennon with the New York City t-shirt after he ripped the sleeves off. The snapshot photographer is presumably May Pang.


More photos from this session over at feelnumb.com
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A Day In The Life music video

February 10, 2015, 12:00 pm
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The Beatles just uploaded A Day In The Life to YouTube! A sign of things to come?
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Postcards from Paradise single - first listen

February 11, 2015, 2:39 am
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Album cover.
Prior to the release of Ringo Starr's upcoming new album, "Postcards From Paradise", Universal Music have provided Joe Johnson's Beatle Brunch radio show with the title track, which is also going to be the first single from the album. You may listen to the track by clicking on the Vox amplifier in the upper left corner of the colourful website. It took us a while before the track started to play on our computer. The lyrics are full of references to past songtitles, not uncommon for Ringo - but this was possibly overkill.

Link: BrunchRadio.com
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Come Together - A Beatles Tribute

February 12, 2015, 5:37 am
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International Beatleweek takes over Liverpool in late August every year, attracting thousands of tribute bands and over 300,000 Beatlefans from all over the world. A new documentary, titled Come Together - A Beatles Tribute, takes fans inside the festival by following a handful of the world's estimated 8,000 Beatles tribute bands as they pay homage to the most influential band of all time. The film, which was released digitally on February 3rd, takes place in a variety of Beatle-friendly haunts, including the famed Cavern Club.

Julia Baird, John Lennon's sister narrates the film.

You may buy or rent the film from various outlets, including Vimeo, iTunes, Google Play and Amazon.

Here's the trailer:


Billboard recently interviewed Julia Baird about the documentary and her Beatles experiences.
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Paddy, Klaus & Gibson

February 13, 2015, 12:18 am
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Paddy, Klaus & Gibson

From Thorsten Knublauch:

In the autumn of 1963, Klaus Voormann moved from Hamburg to London, where he stayed with The Beatles in their Green Street 57 apartment. The Beatles actually lived together here from circa September 1963. Paul and John moved out shortly afterwards, but George and Ringo remained there until well into the spring of 1964.
Klaus then moved along with Ringo to Whaddon House in William Mews, where George also briefly lived in another apartment. Shortly after, Klaus found a job in the advertising agency Smith & Warden and moved into his own apartment. It did not take long before he got a call from his friend Gibson Kemp from Hamburg, asking if Klaus would join his band The Eyes. Bass player Lewis Collins, today knows as an actor from the TV series “The Professionals”, had left, and they needed his successor. Gibson previously had been the direct replacement for Ringo in the Hurricanes and in 1963 went with Kingsize Taylor and the Dominoes to Hamburg's Star Club after which he remained in Hamburg as a partner, and later husband of Astrid Kirchherr. Klaus grabbed Stuart Sutcliffe's Höfner bass, which he had bought from him in 1961 and went along as a bass player in the band alongside Gibson (drums), Paddy Chambers (guitar) and John Frankland (vocals, guitar). Frankland had also previously been with the Dominoes, Chambers had been in the Big Three.
One of the first gigs the band played with Voormann was an appearance in the Star-Club in Bielefeld, alternating with Pete Best in October 1964. Apart from that, they played in a number of other small clubs. With "The Eyes", Klaus released a total of four songs. For the now incredibly rare Star Club single "She"/"Peanut Butter" (Star-Club 148519) Klaus even painted the group's picture for the back cover. The Eyes' titles "Baby Baby" and "Another Saturday Night" only appeared on a sampler in the Sixties. At the end of 1964, they also backed Tony Sheridan in the Star-Club in Hamburg.

Reduced to a trio, in 1965 they went under the new name "Paddy, Klaus & Gibson" to England and quickly got in touch with the local scene. In the group's bio, Klaus was made five years younger than he actually was, during his Paddy, Klaus & Gibson days. Even today one finds the wrong year of birth 1943 in biographies of Manfred Mann.
Klaus was probably made much younger to suit the other band members, as Gibson Kemp was born in 1945. Brian Epstein became the band's manager. According to a report by the Bravo Magazine, Epstein bought out the band for DM 56,000 from their previous management by Tony Stratton-Smith. But Brian was not able to help the band – or perhaps he would not. Chambers recalls: "We got £50 a week from NEMS as a retainer whether we worked or not. And that's all we ever got because we never worked. It was a joke as far as the business was concerned."

They released three singles, but only in England: "I Wanna Know"/"I Tried" (Pye 7N 15906) was released in 1965 and "No Good Without You Baby"/"Rejected" (Pye 7N 17060) and "Teresa/Quick Before They Catch Us" (Pye 7N 17112) followed in 1966.

Unfortunately, the records were not very successful and today they are hard to find. However, the song "Quick Before They Catch Us" became the theme for a British television series and can be found today on the various soundtrack collections. Paddy, Klaus and Gibson appeared in the show “Thank Your Lucky Stars” on British television. The band broke up shortly after a tour with the Everly Brothers and Cilla Black in 1966. The disbanding was announced to the press on June 13, 1966. Paddy went to join The Escorts, he passed away in 2000.

Klaus played for a very short time with the Hollies. Since they wanted him only as a session musician and didn't consider him as a full member, he was quickly gone. In the meantime, he designed the cover for "Revolver".

Klaus then got an offer from Manfred Mann to join his band as the successor to Jack Bruce who had left to start the band "Cream" with Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker. In his biography, Klaus said that he thought Paddy, Klaus & Gibson was the inspiration for Clapton to form a trio. In contemporary reports it is noted that Klaus was released on July 15, 1966 from his contract with Epstein, in order for him to join Manfred Mann. In retrospect Klaus said in an email to me about Paddy, Klaus & Gibson: "The band was a good live band, but had no good songwriter. It lacked many things that you need to be a successful band. Just playing well is not enough!”

Paddy, Klaus & Gibson - limited edition 10" release.
Paddy, Klaus & Gibson – limited edition 10 inch release! 

The orthopedist and Beatles fan Dr. Dieter Hoffmann gave himself a labour of love when he produced a 10 inch EP with all the six tracks released by Paddy, Klaus and Gibson. This is an official,  limited to 300 copies edition (in 3 vinyl colours), and with the permission of Klaus Voormann and Gibson Kemp.  The cover has the original Klaus Voormann drawing from the rare "She"/"Peanut Butter" back cover, retouched by John Frankland. The record can be ordered for € 27 including shipping, only from Dr. Hoffmann himself, by sending a mail to drdieterhoffmann@aol.com.

The well sounding EP is a great momento of this chapter of Klaus' life and is recommended to all - but hurry before it is sold out!

Full cover art
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Paul plays Irving Plaza for Valentine's Day

February 14, 2015, 2:55 am
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Valentine's Day
Paul McCartney will be playing an unannounced show tonight, Valentine's Day, at Irving Plaza.
Macca will be in New York City this weekend for the taping of the Saturday Night Live 40th anniversary special, and the 1,025-person venue has been booked for an intimate concert from the superstar.
SNL 40 will air on NBC this Sunday, from 8-11 PM. The live special will feature a whole slew of past and present cast members and musical guests. The Irving Plaza gig may be an event exclusively held for the cast, crew and friends of Saturday Night Live. Jimmy Fallon reportedly gave away two tickets to members of his TV audience yesterday night.
Ringo Starr held an intimate concert at the venue back in 2005, backed by the Roundheads.

Meanwhile, the rumour mill is talking about an upcoming concert by McCartney to take place in Paris, France in June - a rumour which has rekindled hope for a European tour among McCartney's fans there.
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