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McCartney's Valentine's Day concert

February 15, 2015, 1:27 am
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The concert poster was handed out to people as they left the venue.
Paul McCartney's setlist from last night's intimate surprise concert at New York City's Irving Plaza:

Eight Days A Week
Save Us
All My Loving
One After 909
Matchbox (finally ready for prime time)
Let Me Roll It
1985
My Valentine
Maybe I'm Amazed
I've Just Seen A Face
It's So Easy (and not in Lubbock!)
Every Night
Another Day
We Can Work It Out
And I Love Her
New
Lady Madonna
Jet
Drive My Car
Ob-la-di, Ob-la-da
Back In The USSR
Let It Be
Hey Jude
Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End




Despite rumours of special guest appearances on stage, nothing came of it, but there were plenty of celebrities in the audience, like Chevy Chase, Bruce Springsteen, Peyton Manning, Eddie Murphy, Emma Stone, Tom Hanks, and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, Jim Carrey, Paul Rudd, Kristen Wiig, Q-Tip, Charlie Day, Jason Sudeikis, David Spade, Andy Cohen, Billy Crystal, Meryl Streep, Lorne Michaels, Fred Armisen, Steve Buscemi, Steve van Zandt and Chris Rock. It was an abbreviated concert which lasted around an hour and a half, usually McCartney's concerts are closer to three hours. The audience was showered with confetti and rose petals during "My Valentine", during which a disco ball appeared! A wonderful time was had by all.

It's So Easy. Photo Mitchell Axelrod

Read Mitchell Axelrod's account and check out his photos!
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Ringo's set list

February 15, 2015, 11:47 pm
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Ringo has been touring with the same All Starr Band since 2012: Gregg Bissonette, Richard Page, Todd Rundgren, Ringo Starr, Steve Lukather, Warren Ham and Gregg Rolie.
Ringo and his All Starr Band started their American tour this weekend, Friday they played in Louisiana, Saturday in Texas and Sunday in Alabama. Here is the set list from the opening show:
  1. Matchbox
  2. It Don't Come Easy
  3. Wings
  4. I Saw the Light (Todd Rundgren)
  5. Evil Ways (Willie Bobo)
  6. Rosanna (Toto)
  7. Kyrie (Mr. Mister)
  8. Bang the Drum All Day (Todd Rundgren)
  9. Boys
  10. Don't Pass Me By
  11. Yellow Submarine
  12. Black Magic Woman / Gypsy Queen (Santana)
  13. Honey Don't
  14. Anthem
  15. You Are Mine (Richard Page)
  16. Africa (Toto)
  17. Oye como va (Tito Puente)
  18. Love Is the Answer (Utopia / Todd Rundgren)
  19. I Wanna Be Your Man
  20. Broken Wings (Mr. Mister)
  21. Hold the Line (Toto)
  22. Photograph
  23. Act Naturally
  24. With a Little Help from My Friends
  25. Give Peace a Chance
As you can see, "Matchbox" from Carl Perkins opens the ball, funny coincidence that Paul McCartney also elected to play that song on Saturday in New York City.
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French box

February 16, 2015, 12:36 am
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The French box
We have previously mentioned that a series of Beatles CDs and DVDs currently is being released on a weekly basis in France. At the time, a box to hold the collection was not planned for, but it has later been made available together with the "White album", see the illustration above. A Special Edition of the magazine "Le Monde Magazine" has also hit the news stands in France:

It was during this photo session that Ringo fell ill and was rushed to a hospital, forcing him to have a stand in for the opening concerts of the upcoming tour with the Beatles.
The French releases can be ordered from this site.
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Now Again! The Beatles

February 17, 2015, 2:31 am
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Now Again!
South Korea is a country which has produced a number of Beatles albums unique to the country, and also with some rare picture sleeves. Several albums have also been manufactured in the U.K. for export to South Korea. However, one particular album stands out. Essentially, it's a radio promo album  from around 1975. It bills The Beatles as the artist, but it features only solo material.
As far as we know, it is the only album from anywhere in the world ever authorized by EMI that contained solo songs by all four Beatles. Manufactured under license in South Korea by Oasis Record Co., it contained such solo classics as "Stand By Me", "Band On the Run", "No No Song", and "Ding Dong, Ding Dong" (See complete track listing below).

The back cover owes a lot to "Revolver".

The disc was manufactured in Great Britain, on the EMI label, making this an extremely rare U.K. export album. In addition, under the catalog number (OL 107) on the label are the words "For Broadcast Only", and some copies sold have a paper insert. On the label is a South Korean import tax sticker. On the back cover, a separate catalog number is shown for each of the songs, indicating their release as singles in South Korea.

With the paper insert. Also note the tax sticker on the label.
The song selection is probably based on their popularity in South Korea, a country which is known for favouring other songs than the ones which were popular in the rest of the world. One of the best known Beatles hits in South Korea is "I Will". Featuring just one song from Paul, three each from George and Ringo, and four by John may be an indication on the popularity of the various solo carreers as well.

Side One:
  1. #9 Dream (John Lennon) 4:45 (OLE 1762)
  2. Old Dirt Road (John Lennon) 4:10 (OLE 1758)
  3. Stand By Me (John Lennon) 3:29 (OLE 2006)
  4. Love (John Lennon) 3:15 (OLE 1681)
  5. Band On The Run (Paul McCartney) 5:07 (OLE 1637)

Side Two
  1. Only You (Ringo Starr) 2:29 (OLE 1752)
  2. No No Song (Ringo Starr) 2:29 (OLE 1752)
  3. Photograph (Ringo Starr) 2:27 (OLE 227)
  4. Ding Dong, Ding Dong (George Harrison) 3:38 (OLE 1977)
  5. Dark Horse (George Harrison) 3:52 (OLE 1978)
  6. Bye Bye Love (George Harrison) 4:02 (OLE 1975)

The front cover.
Popsike indicates that this album has been sold only seven times on ebay since 2004, once that year, once in 2005, once in 2007, twice in 2009, once in 2012 and once in 2013. People don't seem to know what to charge for it, the selling prices have ranged from just $49 to $518. One seller said in the description that he has come across five of these albums through the years. The site rareBeatles.com knows only about two copies of the album, one of them unopened.

The two Koreas
North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, is a single-party communist state, now centred on Kim Il-sung's Juche ideology, with a centrally planned industrial economy.

South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea, is a multi-party state with a capitalist market economy. The two states have greatly diverged both culturally and economically since their partition, though they still share a common traditional culture and pre-Cold War history.

What with Paul McCartney visiting South Korea for his first ever concert there in May, perhaps we will see an autographed copy of the album next?
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Star Club tapes for sale again (yawn)

February 17, 2015, 7:29 am
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Pete, George, John, Paul and Stuart in Hamburg, 1960 - two years before the Star Club days. Colourised.
Looks like the Star Club tapes with the Beatles and others have appeared for sale once more, as reported by The Guardian and echoed by Rolling Stone, who are inferring that the famous rock'n'roll venue was a strip club... So much for rock and roll journalism.

The original tape recorders and another tape appeared for sale by Heritage Auctions in December without attracting any buyers.

The current tape offered up for sale is supposedly a seven-inch reel safety master of the original unedited Beatles mono tape that ran during the performances, often when John, Paul, George and Ringo were not playing. It has previously been up for sale over at American Memorabilia, where it has been around for years without anyone bothering to buy it. Now that it has attracted the attention of the mainstream media, maybe they'll find a buyer, who knows?

Auction house Ted Owen & Co. will offer up the tape with a reserve price of £100,000. Registration and bidding commences from the 27th of February with the online auction to start on March 26th 2015 6pm (GMT) 10am (PST).
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Yellow Submarine print from comic book artist

February 17, 2015, 11:45 pm
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Alex Ross, working on his "Yellow Submarine" painting.
Dark Hall Mansion, a company that specializes in officially licensed posters and prints, is about to release a limited edition "Yellow Submarine" print from renowned comic book artist Alex Ross.

In regards to the project, Ross explained, "For as long as I can remember hearing music, I have loved the Beatles. Not only do I believe they are the greatest musical group of all time, but also one of the greatest things to have happened in human history. 'Yellow Submarine' has also been one of my favorite films since I was six years old. The opportunity to work with the Beatles' likenesses in the very inspired context of the 'Yellow Submarine' film is an absolute dream come true. There is so much I love about these men, their legacy, and this film."


The full size painting
Ross cited surrealist Salvador Dali and Heinz Edelmann's original "Yellow Submarine" film as inspirations for this print. Beyond his work in comics, Ross' resume includes work for Hollywood studios and a print for the Academy Awards.

Closeup of The Beatles in the painting.
Coming in at a full 72 inches, the print will be distributed on paper and canvas in exact scale to the original painting. Only 295 paper editions will be available for $375 each; the canvas edition will have 125 copies available at $550 per poster.

Ross'"Yellow Submarine" poster is available for order from Dark Hall Mansion on Thursday, February 26.

Alex Ross is best known for his realistic looking renderings of super heroes, like the "Justice League of America" painting below.

Alex Ross, “JLA: The Original Seven”, 2000, © Alex Ross™ & © DC Comics.
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Fake "remake of Abbey Road" article upsetting fans

February 18, 2015, 1:04 am
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Cashing in on the recent negative comments from Beatles fans on Paul McCartney's collaborations with Kanye West, National Report featured a satirical article which implied that West was to "take John Lennon's place" in a remake of the Abbey Road album.
The unfunny article has confused a lot of fans, who thought it was true, and is being spread like wildfire through various social media channels, and has showed up as gospel on other sites, too.

Comedy writer and Beatles fan Howard Fox put it best when he said that the difference between good and bad satire is that you'll can recognise good satire as satire by it being funny.

As far as we know, the offending article hasn't been commented on by official sources, but Tony Bramwell, close friend of Paul McCartney, released a statement on his facebook page: "All this gossip about a Kanye West and a remake of Abbey Road is total Bullshine! I just thought I'd let you know!"

Fans disgust at the very idea and the failure to read the article as satire also comes quite clear in the commentaries section of the article page.

Sources:
National Report: Kanye West Replaces John Lennon On 2015 Remake Of Abbey Road
Something New - The Beatlefan blog
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The Beatles at the Hollywood Bowl revisited

February 24, 2015, 2:33 am
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The Beatles At The Hollywood Bowl.
Still not out on iTunes or CD, and, perhaps more importantly: not out on Universal Music.
Rumour has it that the audio in the films below of The Beatles playing live at the Hollywood Bowl has been cleaned up by a renowned producer and Beatles fan, surpassing the efforts made in 1977 by George Martin. Of course, technology has improved immensely since then, Martin cleaned it up as good as he could for the 1977 LP and cassette release of the combined Hollywood Bowl 1964 and 1965 concerts.




Initially, Capitol Records considered recording The Beatles' February 1964 concert at Carnegie Hall in New York, but it could not obtain the necessary approval from the AFM to record the performance. Six months later, Bob Eubanks booked The Beatles' 23 August 1964 performance at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles where Capitol recorded their performance with the intent of releasing a live album in America.

The recordings were no secret, as this cutting from the New Musical Express from two days before the concert shows.

It's funny that the album was only considered for the American market, due to the fact that "it will consist primarily of their standard material", as the NME put it. Clearly, the mere fact that it was a real live concert performance wasn't enough to impress the British particularly. Although the news item mentions that George Martin had flown over to supervise the recordings, the de facto producer was Capitol's Voyle Gilmore, and Martin was a foreigner who didn't have any influence over how the recordings were done, miked or mixed.

The sound quality of the tapes proved to be inadequate for commercial release, and when The Beatles returned to the Hollywood Bowl a year later during their 1965 American tour, Capitol recorded two performances by the group at the same venue. The sound quality of the 1965 recordings was equally disappointing. Capitol did, however, utilise a 48-second excerpt of "Twist and Shout" from the 1964 Hollywood Bowl concert on the 1964 documentary album, "The Beatles' Story".
In 1971, the Hollywood Bowl tapes were given to Phil Spector to see if he could fashion an album out of the material. Either Spector did not complete the job or his production was unsatisfactory, and the tapes continued to sit unreleased for another six years.

Probably as a reaction to the imminent independent release of the infamous 1962 "Star Club tapes" from Hamburg in 1977, Capitol felt that they had to release something on their own. When George Martin was asked by Capitol Records' president, Bhaskar Menon to listen to the tapes again with an album in mind, he was impressed with the performances, but disappointed with the sound quality, and the fact that vocals and guitars were interlocked on a single track. In working on the three-track Hollywood Bowl concert tapes, Martin discovered quite a challenge. The first difficulty was finding a working three-track machine with which to play back the master tapes. Once he found one, he discovered that the machine overheated when it was running, melting the magnetic tape. Martin and recording engineer Geoff Emerick came up with the solution of blowing cold air from a vacuum cleaner to keep the tape deck cool whilst the recordings were transferred to 16-track tapes (some sources say 24-track tapes, Martin's sleeve notes just uses the phrase multitrack tapes) for filtering, equalisation, editing, and mixing. The album cover mistakenly showed the 29 August recordings as the second date used, but Martin had found the 29 August 1965 recording lacking, as a technical fault left Paul McCartney's vocals and introductions inaudible during the first four songs, and just two songs, "Ticket to Ride" and "Help" from that concert was in fact used. A third song, "Dizzy Miss  Lizzy" is a composite using parts from both nights in 1965. Otherwise, the album compiled by Martin consisted entirely of songs recorded on 23 August 1964 and 30 August 1965.

Hollywood Bowl 1964
Voyle Gilmore, who was the American producer during the original recordings of both the 1964 and 1965 concerts downplayed Martin's problems with cleaning up the tapes in 1977:

"George Martin made such a speech. It sounds like he changed it but I doubt it. There's not much he could do. It was recorded on three-track machines with half-inch tapes. The Hollywood Bowl has a pretty good stereo sound system so we plugged our mikes right in there. I didn't do an awful lot. There wasn't much we could do. They just played their usual show and we recorded it. It wasn't that bad. I kept thinking, 'Maybe we'll get permission to release the tapes.' So I took them back to the studio and worked on it a while. I worked on the applause, edited it down, made it play and EQd it quite a bit. The Beatles heard it and they all wanted tape copies. I had five or six copies made and sent over. That's where the bootlegs must have come from. We had a system at Capitol and we knew where all our copies were. The Beatles said they liked the tapes, that it sounded pretty good, that they were surprised but they still didn't want to release it. I thought the first concert was a little better than the second. I don't know if I would have put them together like they did because doing it that way they have sacrificed an album. They really could have made two albums."

Martin counteracted that "We recorded it on three-track tape, which was standard US format then. You would record the band in stereo on two tracks and keep the voice separated on the third, so that you could bring it up or down in the mix. But at the Hollywood Bowl they didn't use three-track in quite the right way. I didn't have too much say in things because I was a foreigner, but they did some very bizarre mixing. In 1977, when I was asked to make an album from the tapes, I found guitars and voices mixed on the same track. And the recording seemed to concentrate more on the wild screaming of 18,700 kids than on the Beatles on stage."
Martin's comment is from Mark Lewisohn's book, "The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions".

Hollywood Bowl 1965

Hollywood Bowl 1965
Because "The Beatles at the Hollywood Bowl" included songs from two tours recorded a year apart, a number of songs performed were not included on the album. Songs from the 1964 show not included on the album are:
"Twist and Shout", "You Can't Do That", "Can't Buy Me Love", "If I Fell", "I Want to Hold Your Hand", and "A Hard Day's Night".
Songs from the 1965 show not included on the album are:
"I Feel Fine", "Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby", "Baby's in Black", "I Wanna Be Your Man", and "I'm Down".

They still had to get approval from the four Beatles in order to release the album. Paul seems to have approved it without hearing it, John was given a tape from George Martin and was delighted, Ringo and George were more lukewarm to it, George likening it to a bootleg, albeit an official one.

The album was released in May 1977, in the middle of the punk rock and disco era, but still sold over a million copies worldwide, topping the NME chart in the UK, and stopping at the no. 2 spot on the Billboard chart in the USA.

1984 re-release.
In the UK, the album was re-released in September 1984 on the budget "Music For Pleasure" label owned by EMI, but still only on vinyl and cassette and not on the new CD format. In comparison, Paul McCartney's album that same year, "Give My Regards to Broad Street" was released on LP, cassette and CD, with the cassette and CD utilizing the extra space available to include longer versions of the tracks, and the CD even included a bonus track not available in the two other formats. In my mind, this proves that Paul was still a groundbreaker, whereas the collective Beatles had become quite conservative.

"Baby's in Black" from the 1965 Hollywood Bowl concert was finally issued as the B-Side of the 1996 "Real Love" single, splicing together John's spoken introduction from the 29th of August followed by the performance of the song from the 30th.

"I Want to Hold Your Hand" from the 1964 concert was mixed into the studio version of the song for the 2006 Love album.

With "The Beatles Live Project" due out later this year (rumours have it that it will be realised for the Christmas market), an offspring of the project could well be a remastered, remixed and improved "The Beatles at the Hollywood Bowl". Certainly the stereo audio from these professionally recorded concerts would be of good use in the Ron Howard produced documentary.
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Congratulations, George Harrison

February 25, 2015, 1:11 am
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On the occasion of what would have been George Harrison's 72 birthday, a hitherto unseen video of him singing the Traveling Wilburys song "Congratulations" has been published. The video was filmed at the same time as footage for the "All Things Must Pass" EPK on the lawn at Friar Park in 2000.
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George and me

February 25, 2015, 7:08 am
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Poster for "When We Was Fab".
Back in 2001, I was taking a course in how to become a webmaster and make websites. As an exercise, I made a Beatles website. It was part of the course - and the website was to demonstrate various techniques we had learned.  It was offline, just available on the school server and could only be accessed from within the school. At the same time, I was also responsible for the real life website of the Norwegian Beatles fan club, Norwegian Wood.

On that school Beatles website, I wrote a little bit about the members of the Beatles and what they were up to at the time. In George's entry, I commented that all Beatles fans were very concerned about George's health. At the time, I knew that he was troubled.

Near the end of November, I was lucky to attend an intimate concert with one of my favourite Norwegian performers, a very popular and talented singer, songwriter, guitar player and comedian - it was truly a great night out. The next day, I woke up to the news that George Harrison had died.

I didn't show up for school that day, I stayed in and wrote updates on the Norwegian Beatles fan club website, I wrote about George and put up photos of him, as well as making a protocol where fans could write a few words to share their sorrow.

One regret I'll always have, is that I never got to see George, not is concert and not in person. Just like Paul McCartney's appearance on the Prince's Trust concert in 1986, George's appearance at the 1987 gig was a secret before the show. Had I known, I probably would have been there - I used to go to London at least once a year throughout the eighties.


I wanted to go and see his concerts in Japan in December 1991, but it was too far away and far too expensive. I traded videos with people, and had quite a few amateur recordings of the shows, recorded by Japanese fans with camcorders.


Shortly before George was to play his Royal Albert Hall concert in 1992, I read about it in a Norwegian newspaper and contemplated going over to see the show, but decided against it. I reckoned that the Japan tour must have made him enjoy doing concerts again, and I was hoping that he would tour elsewhere as well, possibly even coming to Norway. I also figured that the concert at the Royal Albert Hall would probably sell out quickly, so I thought my chances of getting tickets were slim.

Sadly, that concert was to be his final full concert and he never toured again. And when I read that the concert hadn't sold out after all, I deeply regretted not dropping everything and flying over to England.

My one "near George" experience happened a few years earlier, when I went to see Bob Dylan in London in 1984, as he was playing a concert at Wembley Stadium. Van Morrison, Eric Clapton and Chrissie Hynde joined him on stage, I later learned that George had been there too, but he was just standing in the wings of the stage and didn't step forward to play alongside the others. Six songs from the concert I attended were released on an LP later that year, as "Real Live".

I also happened to be in London in 1988 when George was due to appear on the popular chat show "Wogan", which was being broadcast live from BBC Television Theatre in Shepherd's Bush. I bought an empty VHS cassette and asked the receptionist at my hotel if she could tape the show for me and then I went over to the theatre. I was not the only one, several other Beatles and George fans were there, waiting for George to arrive at the scene. A large poster for "When We Was Fab" was promoting his current single on a nearby wall. Sadly, the night was a waste, as we never saw George arrive or leave. When I finally got the chance to view the taped show after having arrived home in Norway, I understood why: yes, George appeared live on the show, but via satellite from Hollywood.


The year after George's death, I got word about the "Concert For George", which was going to take place in Royal Albert Hall. The day the ticket sale started, I engaged all my fellow students at the school to try and get me tickets via the internet, while I was on the phone, trying to get tickets that way. Our efforts were fruitless, the tickets were soon sold out. Still, I didn't let that stop me, and I managed to score a ticket from my friend in Liverpool, Jean Catharell. I went over to London a few days before the concert, and there I managed to buy some more tickets, which enabled me to phone friends in Norway and have them come over for the show.

It was a beautiful concert and a fitting tribute. The best part was of course when Paul and Ringo were on the stage at the same time, exchanging nods and looks during their performances. This was the first time the song "Photograph" took on a whole new meaning, and you can actually spot me in the background on that song during the chronological version of the concert film. We all felt close to George that night.
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Carol Tyler's Fab 4 mania

March 1, 2015, 11:55 pm
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Carol Tyler's illustration of Beatles '65
Carol Tyler (born 1951) is an American painter, educator, comedian, and Eisner Award-nominated cartoonist known for her autobiographical stories. She is also a huge fan of the Beatles. In 1965 she saw the Beatles in Chicago and kept a journal of the events in the week leading up to it. So now, 50 years later, she is channelling her inner 13 year old self to set the stage in the months prior, so that the 'week of' journal is more meaningful.

Her blog can be found here: http://fab4mania.blogspot.com.

The blog is written in 50 years ago real time, and will lead up to August 20, which is the concert date. After that, it becomes a book.
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Spoof interview confuses fans

March 2, 2015, 12:59 am
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The fake news item
The World News Daily Report used George Harrison's birthday, 25 February this year to publish an "interview" with Ringo Starr, where Starr was to have claimed that the real Paul McCartney died in 1966 and was replaced by a lookalike. Of course, long time Beatles fans realised that this was just a retelling of the 1969 "Paul is dead" rumour. By putting the myth into the mouth of Ringo Starr, the spoof news page was taken seriously by some, and fuelled the "Paul is dead" cult, which still blossoms on the internet, courtesy of people who are prone to conspiracy theories. In the article, writer Barbara Johnson claimed that Ringo came up with the story in an interview with the Hollywood Inquirer in his LA home "this morning".
In reality, Ringo is currently touring, and on 24. February he was giving a concert in Sarasota, Florida, and while "the interview" was supposedly done in his home in LA the next morning, Ringo was really en route to Brazil, where he played in Sao Paolo on the night of the 26. February.

While not ‘satire,’ per se, World News Daily Report follows the old-school Tabloid-styled faux-journalism of its predecessors, such as the Weekly World News. As such, you will find disclaimers neither revealing its satirical nature nor reveling in its journalistic integrity. It’s just for entertainment purposes, so they rely on the sheer audacity of the topics covered to be its built-in disclaimer.

To be blunt, World News Daily Report is one of the sites on the internet who just publishes fake sensational stories in order to earn money from people clicking on their advertisements.

This is the second time in a short while that a fake news story has been confusing Beatles fans, last week a story of a 2015 remake of Abbey Road, featuring Kanye West as John Lennon caused similar controversy.

Source: World News Daily Report
The "Paul is dead" rumour on Wikipedia
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Ringo preview

March 4, 2015, 3:06 pm
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Ringo Starr has made available three of the songs from his new album, Postcards From Paradise on Spotify in the shape of a virtual EP. The songs are the title track, "Postcards from Paradise", "Right side of the road" and "Not looking Back"

Link: Spotify
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McCartney plays in Europe in May-June-July

March 5, 2015, 3:51 pm
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Paul last played Europe in 2013, and that was just Austria, Poland and Italy.
After Seoul, South Korea on 2 May, McCartney is heading towards Europe. As part of the European leg of the "Out There" tour, the Daily Telegraph reports that three dates in the UK are planned, Birmingham, London and Liverpool. The Saturday May 23 O2 show in London will take place 50 years after he finished writing his classic track "Yesterday".
Paul said: "I'm often never aware of these anniversaries until someone points it out. People always say to me 'hey, did you know it was 30 years since this and 30 years since that', so it's impossible to stay on top of it all. But I never need an excuse to celebrate so it's always nice to hear! "For me it's a happy coincidence that The O2 show falls at this time. It's great that people all over the world reacted so well to the song, it's all you can hope for! It feels like it has taken on a life of its own over the years. "The song still is and always has been an important part of our live show. "It's always very emotional for me to hear crowds singing it so loudly at my concerts and I'm looking forward to singing it along with the audience at the O2 in May."
Paul said: “It’s always great when you get to play in your home country. It’s been a little while since I’ve performed here so we’re planning a few surprises and looking forward to playing some songs we’ve never played here. We’ve taken this tour all over the world but there’s nothing quite like rocking out with your home audience. We’ll see you soon.”

Tickets for the UK dates go on sale on Monday at 10am, probably Saturday or Sunday from Paul McCartney's own web site. The Birmingham concert is Wednesday May 27 at the Barclaycard Arena, and in Liverpool Paul will play at the Echo Arena on Thursday May 28. In June, Paul visits France and Holland before heading over to play at the Firefly festival in Delaware June 18th - his 73d birthday.
McCartney returns to Europe in July, when he will play three concerts in Scandinavia, one of them at the Roskilde Festival in Denmark, then he's off to Norway before finishing the European tour in Stockholm, Sweden - the first country The Beatles toured in outside of Great Britain.

The full European tour:

Saturday May 23rd – The O2, London, Great Britain
Wednesday May 27th – Barclaycard Arena, Birmingham, Great Britain
Thursday May 28th – Echo Arena, Liverpool, Great Britain
Friday 5th June - Nouveau Stade Velodrome, Marseille, France
Sunday 7th June – ZiggoDome, Amsterdam, Holland
Thursday 11th June - Stade De France, Paris, France
Saturday 4th July – Roskilde Festival, Denmark
Tuesday 7th July – Telenor Arena, Oslo, Norway
Thursday 9th July – Tele2 Arena, Stockholm, Sweden
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Ringo Starr - Postcards From Paradise (Lyric Video)

March 6, 2015, 7:42 am
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Paul quits the Beatles....in 1968!

March 7, 2015, 3:13 pm
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George and John at George's house. Photo: Michael Herring
Today's Daily Mail has the story and photos of a 19 year old fan who turned up uninvited on John’s doorstep in 1968 and was invited in for breakfast with John and Yoko. The fan, Michael Herring, later shared a car ride with John to George Harrison’s house to see the Beatles recording – and he witnessed the opening of a letter said to announce McCartney’s resignation.

Do we need to rethink history? The Beatles' biographer Hunter Davies also offers his comments on the episode.

 Read more: The Daily Mail
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McCartney adds 2nd show in London

March 9, 2015, 6:53 am
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May 24 added to Europe tour
A second date has been added to Paul McCartney's European leg of the "Out There" 2015 tour. It's in London's O2, and it's the day after the regular concert there. Tickets are already on sale from Ticketmaster.

Updated Europe tour schedule:

Saturday May 23rd – The O2, London, Great Britain
Sunday May 24th – The O2, London, Great Britain
Wednesday May 27th – Barclaycard Arena, Birmingham, Great Britain
Thursday May 28th – Echo Arena, Liverpool, Great Britain
Friday 5th June - Nouveau Stade Velodrome, Marseille, France
Sunday 7th June – ZiggoDome, Amsterdam, Holland
Thursday 11th June - Stade De France, Paris, France
Saturday 4th July – Roskilde Festival, Denmark
Tuesday 7th July – Telenor Arena, Oslo, Norway
Thursday 9th July – Tele2 Arena, Stockholm, Sweden
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The Beatles: Filming Help!

March 10, 2015, 1:05 am
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In the swimmingpool
CBS Local: A new photo gallery of photos of the Beatles filming Help! was just published. We don't know if this has something to do with the upcoming "Eight Arms To Hold You" book, but they are nice, candid shots, quite a few of them from the scene where the fabs emerge in a swimmingpool after having escaped the thugs near the beach. It's 23 photos in all.
Take a look at the gallery

Another image appeared on an Austrian site recently, showing the Beatles' body doubles in the film:

Not quite the Beatles
The image illustrated the upcoming TV documentary of the Beatles filming "Help!" in Austria. "Help! - 50 Jahre Beatles in Obertauern" will be televised on Friday 13 March on Servus TV, and is likely to be available on their web TV player.

Another "Help!" photo gallery comprising 12 images can be found at msn.com, and those are published in conjunction with the book.

The upcoming "Eight Arms To Hold You" book.

Book website
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RSD 2015: The Family Way on vinyl

March 11, 2015, 2:27 am
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"The Family Way" soundtrack album from 1967 is due out on vinyl for Record Store Day 2015
There wasn't much in the way of Beatles related releases for Record Store Day 2015, but this one warrants attention.

Paul McCartney
The Family Way: Original Soundtrack Recording
Format: 12" Vinyl
Label: Varese Sarabande
Release type: RSD Exclusive Release
Info by RSD: This 1967 soundtrack composed by Paul McCartney is one of the most elusive Beatles souvenirs. The original vinyl album has been long out of print, and it is commanding sky-high prices on the collector's circuit.

The Family Way is a 1966 British comedy-drama film based on Bill Naughton's play All in Good Time (1963). It began life in 1961 as a television play, Honeymoon Postponed.The film was produced and directed by John and Roy Boulting, respectively, and starred father and daughter John Mills and Hayley Mills.

The soundtrack was composed by Paul McCartney and released on an album in January 1967, effectively the first solo-Beatles outing, musicwise. The album was credited to "The George Martin Orchestra" and issued under the full title The Family Way (Original Soundtrack Album). A 45rpm single, again credited to the George Martin Orchestra, was issued on 23 December 1966, comprising "Love in the Open Air" backed with "Theme From 'The Family Way'", as United Artists UP1165. The Family Way won an Ivor Novello Award in 1967 and was last seen on CD in 2011, remastered from the original first generation stereo master tapes. Varese Sarabande was the company behind the release then, as they are now, only on vinyl. The CD included the unreleased stereo mix of "A Theme From The Family Way" as a bonus track, which had appeared originally as the B-side of the 1966 UK/US 7-inch single by the Tudor Minstrels. It is not known if this track will be included on the vinyl edition, or if it will merely mimic the original album release.

The recording took place over November and December 1966, before the Beatles began work on their album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. McCartney's involvement in the project was minimal, according to biographer Howard Sounes, who quotes George Martin's recollection that he had to "pester Paul for the briefest scrap of a tune" with which to start writing the score. After McCartney had provided "a sweet little fragment of a waltz tune", Martin continued, "I was able to complete the score."


Despite the RSD blurb about the rarity of the vinyl album, it's easily found on ebay, prices range from £3.72 (auction) to £85.12 (Buy it now). When we first came to London on an interrail trip back in 1982, "The Family Way" album, Australian edition was readily available at the HMV shop in Oxford Street.

Record Store Day is April 18, 2015.
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Star club boot claims to be raw tape

March 12, 2015, 5:10 am
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The Beatles at the Star Club, Hamburg 1962.
The notorious Japanese bootleg company Misterclaudel has released information about yet another revamp of the historic 1962 tapes featuring recordings of concerts by The Beatles and other groups at Hamburg's Star Club from late December that year. They claim that these particular recordings are from the raw, unprocessed tape - and that will be a first if it's true.
It's a 5 disc extravaganza featuring not only The Beatles, but also recordings by Kingsize Taylor and the Dominos, the Rebel Rousers and Tony Sheridan. This is the most comprehensive outing of these recordings to date, we believe.
Largely ignored by the public, fans of the Beatles are very fond of this historical document, and once one learns to live with the mediocre quality of the recordings, the concerts can be enjoyed for what they are, a glimpse of what the Beatles sounded like in Hamburg, taped just a few months before they became a household name.

Rare colour photo from inside the Star Club (not the Beatles on stage)

LIVE AT THE STAR CLUB RAW TAPES - Misterclaudel MCCD470-474 (5CD)

RELEASE Date :25th March

DISC ONE

DECEMBER 21, 1962

1st SHOW "1973 TAPE" reel #1
01. Be-Bop-A-Lula
02. I Saw Her Standing There
03. Hallelujah I Love Her So
04. Red Hot

2nd SHOW "1973 TAPE" reel #2
05. Adrian Barber Voice Memo
06. Shelia
07. Kansas City - Hey Hey Hey Hey
08. Shimmy Like Kate
09. Reminiscing
10. Red Sails In The Sunset
11. Sweet Little Sixteen
12. Roll Over Beethoven
13. A Taste Of Honey

DOMINOS
14. Money with TONY SHERIDAN
15. Sparking Brown Eyes
16. Lovesick Blues
17. First Taste Of Love
18. Dizzy Miss Lizzy
19. Do You Believe
20. Ooh Pooh Pah Doo
21. Twist And Shout
22. Cannonball with BETTINA DERLIEN

DISC TWO

DECEMBER 25, 1962

"1973 TAPE" reel #3
01. Nothin' Shakin'
02. I Saw Her Standing There
03. To Know Her Is To Love Her
04. Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby
05. Till There Was You
06. Where Have You Been All My Life?
07. Lend Me Your Comb
08. Your Feet's Too Big
09. Talking About You
10. A Taste Of Honey
11. Matchbox
12. Little Queenie

DECEMBER 28, 1962

1st SHOW "1973 TAPE" reel #3

13. Twist And Shout
14. Mr.Moonlight
15. Besame Mucho
16. Talking About You
17. Falling Love Again
18. Long Tall Sally

2nd SHOW "1973 TAPE" reel #3

19. I Remember You
20. tuning
21. Roll Over Beethoven
22. I'm Gonna Sit Right Down And Cry Over You

REBEL ROUSERS
23. Hully Gully
24. I Take What I Want

DISC THREE

DECEMBER 31, 1962

"1973 TAPE" reel #4

01. tuning
02. Road Runner
03. Hippy Hippy Shake
04. A Taste Of Honey
05. ‘ It’s five to twelve ‘
06. ’ Ein Zulage ‘
07. Ask Me Why
08. ‘ Goodnight ’

DOMINOS
09. Horst Fascher Announcement
10. You Can't Sit Down
11. Roll Over Beethoven
12. Black & Blue
13. Do You Love Me
14. Let's Twist Again
15. Red River Rock
16. Mashed Potatoes
17. Forty Days
18. Ja-Da
19. The Sheik of Araby
20. Buckeye
21. La Bamba
22. Early in the Morning
23. The Twist
24. The Kid
25. The Paris Jam

DISC FOUR

EXTRA DISC

1977 FAN CLUB FLEXI DISC
01. I Saw Her Standing There

1978 RADIO DOCUMENTARY
02. Red Hot

1992 SOTHEBY’S SAMPLER
03. Kansas City
04. Shimmy Like Kate
05. Roll Over Beethoven
06. Fallin’ In Love Again

1993 ANTHOLOGY DIRECTOR’S CUT
07. Red Hot - Shimmy Like Kate - Red Sails In The Sunset

1995 ANTHOLOGY
08. Red Hot - Shimmy Like Kate - Red Sails In The Sunset

2005 FUEGO SAMPLER TAPE
09. ‘ Lost Tapes ’
10. A Taste Of Honey
11. Hippy Hippy Shake - A Taste Of Honey - I Saw Her Standing There - Lovesick Blues

MATRIX
12. Till There Was You
13. Where Have You Been All My Life?

OUT-FAKE EDIT
14. Red Hot #1
15. Red Hot #2
16. A Taste Of Honey

“MACH SHAU”
17. A Taste Of Honey
18. Till There Was You
19. Where Have You Been All Of My Life?
20. Lend Me Your Comb
21. Your Feet's Too Big
22. I'm Talking About You
23. To Know Her Is To Love Her
24. Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby
25. Matchbox
26. Little Queenie
27. Nothin' Shakin'
28. Roll Over Beethoven

DISC FIVE

RARE LIVE! ‘62 Complete Version
01. Introduction
02. I'm Gonna Sit Right Down And Cry Over You
03. I Saw Her Standing There
04. Roll Over Beethoven
05. Hippy Hippy Shake
06. Sweet Little Sixteen
07. Lend Me Your Comb
08. Your Feet's Too Big
09. Twist And Shout
10. Mr. Moonlight
11. A Taste Of Honey
12. Besame Mucho
13. Reminiscing
14. Kansas City - Hey Hey Hey Hey
15. Where Have You Been All My Life?
16. Hully Gully REBEL ROUSERS
17. Till There Was You
18. Nothin' Shakin'
19. To Know Her Is To Love Her
20. Little Queenie
21. Falling In Love Again
22. Ask Me Why
23. Be-Bop-A-Lula
24. Hallelujah I Love Her So
25. Sheila
26. Red Sails In The Sunset
27. Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby
28. Matchbox
29. I'm Talking About You
30. Shimmy Like Kate
31. Long Tall Sally
32. I Remember You


Meanwhile, the tapes and tape recorders that went unsold on Heritage Auctions last December is due for another auction from Ted Owen & Co. Here are the descriptions:


Description:
The year was 1962, the place Hamburg, Germany. Ted “Kingsize” Taylor and the Dominoes were in town for a three-night stand at the Star-Club. Taylor had asked for a recording of the gig, and someone at the club obliged with a simple one-microphone setup plugged into a mono tape recorder (offered above). The machine ran continuously, capturing Taylor’s performances and those of two lesser-known acts also on the bill: Cliff Bennett and the Rebel Rousers and an up-and-coming quartet from Liverpool that called itself the Beatles. The complete set of original un-edited mono Master recording tapes and the subsequesnt re-mixed and remastered tapes that became Beatles live at the star club lp Comprising- The Original unedited mono Master 7” safety reels. The Original First Generation Master(s) for the double album LP A set of two 10 ½” reels USA version 15 ips DBX sides (C&D), (A&B) The Original Studio Masters used for the matrix and subsequently the pressing of the Hamburg, Star-Club double album. The complete DBX work reels, both edited and unedited consisting of 1 x 10 ½” reel 15 ips 2 TR (mono) DBX edited, 1 x 10 ½” reel 15 ips Mono DBX master, 1 x 10 ½” reel 15 ips Mono DBX safety and 1 x ½ ” reel ¼ tr. Unedited mono work reels (1&4), (2&3) and All in plain white / black ink marked cartons. The Master tapes are being sold with a written hard backed history of the origin and ownership title of the tapes comprising the history of the original release and the intervention of Apple and the offers made to Yoko Ono. Described as the crossroads of the Beatles rise to fame. The tapes provides a crucial glimpse into the Beatles’ development. In a very short time, they would play to massive audiences, and would rely much less on the early rock and R&B covers that dominated their earlier set lists. Lennon and Harrison would later assert that their best days as a live band were in their Liverpool and Hamburg days, and these recordings document that time period, flaws and all. Note for further details please contact Ted Owen & Co 
Estimate: 100,000 GBP - 150,000 GBP 


 

Description:
Beatles - Portable Reel To Reel Tape Recorder Used At The Star-Club, Hamburg With a Tape Recording of The Beatles. This vintage Phillips portable tape recorder is of great importance to the history of the Beatles, for it is the machine on which the album Live! At The Star-Club, Hamburg, Germany; 1962 was originally recorded. The four-track recorder was purchased in Berlin in October 1962 by Ted "Kingsize" Taylor, the leader of the Liverpool group Kingsize Taylor and the Dominoes. The Dominoes shared a Star-Club residency with the Beatles in December 1962, during the last of the Beatles' extended trips to Hamburg. Taylor had suspended a microphone from the ceiling of the club which ran to the Phillips recorder, and had taken to recording his group - and then others - at the venue. According to Taylor, he approached John Lennon one evening and asked if he had any objections to Taylor recording a Beatles performance. John's reply was that it was fine "so long as you get the ale in"- which Taylor did, and he also rolled the tape. Taylor, left the tape at his mother's home upon his return to Liverpool, and didn't address the recording again until 1965 when he presented an edited version to Brian Epstein to gauge his interest for possible release. Epstein purportedly replied that due to the substandard quality of the recording there would be no commercial interest, with a purchase offer to Taylor of 20 pounds for the tape Offered in this lot are two portable recorders owned by Kingsize Taylor: one, the Phillips recorder purchased in Germany and used to record the Beatles at the Star-Club, and two, a Grundig recorder subsequently purchased in Great Britain, and used by Taylor to create the edited tape presented to Brian Epstein. The Grundig recorder does include a microphone, however, it is not the mic that was used to record the Beatles at the Star-Club. A copy of the edited tape as presented to Epstein is also included. This tape is not the master used for the Lingasong release, and no copyright is conferred with its purchase. A two-record vinyl copy of the Lingasong release is included for listening enjoyment. 

Estimate: 25,000 GBP - 35,000 GBP 

The Star Club operated from 1962 through 1969 and the building it occupied was destroyed by a fire in 1987.  Through the sixties, the club was a popular rock'n'roll club in Hamburg, and was visited by many of the stars from the rock'n'roll era:  The Beatles, Chicken Shack (featuring Christine McVie (Perfect)), Cliff Bennett and the Rebel Rousers, Cream, Lee Curtis and the All-Stars, Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich, Earth (pre-Black Sabbath), The Graduates, The Jimi Hendrix Experience (US/UK, March 1967), The Jaybirds (featuring Alvin Lee of Ten Years After), Billy J. Kramer and The Dakotas, The Liverbirds, The Overlanders, The Pretty Things, The Remo Four, The Searchers, Kingsize Taylor and The Dominoes; Richard Thompson, Soft Machine, and Tony Vincent and The Giants, Jane Cane, The Roadrunners, Katch 22, Ray Charles, Bo Diddley, Fats Domino, Everly Brothers, Bill Haley, Jimi Hendrix, Johnny and the Hurricanes, Brenda Lee, Jerry Lee Lewis (who released a highly praised live album recorded at the club in 1964) and Little Richard, who at that point had Billy Preston in his band. 
In an article recently, Rolling Stone magazine made the mistake of identifying the venue as a strip club, something it was definitely not, but it was situated in a street where those kinds of clubs could also be found.
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