Screen capture from "Revolution".

Today, the full video of "Revolution", directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg was published on YouTube and Vevo. This is the first of five full length music videos to be published as promotion for the upcoming new editions of Beatles 1 and the DeLuxe Beatles 1+.
"Revolution" was filmed in tandem with "Hey Jude" on Wednesday 4 September 1968 at Twickenham film studios. Whereas "Hey Jude" was introduced by David Frost to be part of his television programme Frost on Sunday, "Revolution" was filmed to act as a music video to promote John's side of the single. There were three versions of "Hey Jude" and two of "Revolution" recorded and filmed. The songs all had live vocals on top of pre-recorded elements, a method that may have been inspired by the "All You Need Is Love" session for the satellite broadcast of "Our World". As a result of this, the audio tracks to the finished versions of each video are all unique and haven't previously been released in an official capacity.

The version of "Revolution" featured here is the one where it looks like George is saying to Paul, "John smells like sh*t!"
The Beatles arrived at the studios at 1.30pm and worked until evening.  For the "Revolution" clips, Paul McCartney performed the scream during the introduction, and the 'shoo-be doo-wop' backing vocals from the slower, then-unreleased "Revolution 1" was sung by Paul and George. Even Ringo joins in, but doesn't have a microphone.

The only contemporary UK screening of the "Revolution" clip was on the BBC's "Top Of The Pops" on Thursday 19 September.

Long time Beatles video collector and expert Steve Shorten informs us that when he watched this side-by-side with the original clip, he noticed some changes. In addition to trimming the beginning and end of the clip, a roughly 10-second segment of alternate footage has been inserted into the original edit of the promo at around the 1:30 mark. Shorten suspects we will be seeing several other changes of this nature throughout the disc(s).

As far as the sound is concerned, this is a new mono mix, with Nicky Hopkins' piano track added. It's a well known fact that John Lennon preferred the mono "Revolution", he didn't like the stereo mix which they released on "the blue album", Beatles 1967-1970. So it seems they have honoured his wish. Or perhaps they never had the live vocals taped separately, they may have only been recorded as part of the full mix including the backing track. Back in 1992 when Ron Furmanek remastered and remixed the promo videos for the first time, he also went with mono for "Revolution".

Click to see and hear the full "Revolution".

The next video is coming up in two days, on 22 October.

George Harrison, tuning and streaming.

This may be old news to many of you, but while I was away at the Beatles festival here in Norway, all 12 of George's solo studio albums plus "Live in Japan", "Let It Roll: Songs by George Harrison" and "Early Takes Vol. 1" have become available on all good streaming services.

Visit GeorgeHarrison.com to explore and listen to the catalogue now or click the below link and choose a streaming service to go directly to George's profile and start listening:
http://GeorgeHarrison.lnk.to/Streaming

Also, to celebrate the launch there are some special playlists curated by Dhani Harrison, Jim James & Ian Astbury.  Click on the image below to find out more.

Still from the new Revolution video.

Here is some more information about the Revolution video clip, and the various versions that have been published over the years. This info is courtesy of friend of the blog, Miguel Carrera from Mexico City - who forwarded it to us.
The first video for the soon to be released Beatles 1+ video clips collection has been published, as we posted about earlier. Some people may think there was only one version made for the “Revolution” clip, video collectors know that actually two (2) takes were made; but over the years these two films have been used to create even further versions. It could be argued that the video released today is in fact the fifth version so far.

Audio:
Both audio takes are using the original backing track, only the vocals are live. Paul’s initial scream (at the 7 second mark) is different on both takes, and take 1 does not contain Paul’s backing “Don’t you know it’s gonna be” (heard on take 2 at 0:48, 0:52, 2:49 and 2:54). Furthermore, take 1 does not include the distortion of an amplifier or a microphone that appears very constant in take 2 (before the second ‘We all want to change the world’ and also before ‘But when you talk about destruction’), this distortion has been digitally erased from the new video #5 (2015).

And using both of the video takes, 4 versions have been created, plus one variation.

The version presented on the official YouTube/Vevo channel is for the most part version #2, with a 14 second insert of Version #1 (starting at 1:26 and continuing through to 1:40).

Video:
The Beatles mimed to Revolution twice. But versions #1 and #2 are not simply takes 1 and 2. In creating the videos, director Michael Lindsay-Hogg edited in elements from both takes. Some angles and Paul’s and George’s movements are completely different on both takes.

Variations:

1. Revolution version #1 (Available on The Beatles Anthology video in 1996)

With a unique audio track, the initial video shoots are very different but also, footage from version #2 is included. This version remained unreleased until 1996.

2. Revolution version #2 (Apple Master from 1996 with Slate)

Apple Master 1996 where you can clearly see it labeled 'Revolution vers 2'.

Sent to the media as an 'alternate' videoclip to promote Anthology 3, this version features eight (8) seconds before the music begins: Paul and George are chatting and waiting for the 'one, two, three, four' cue; and at the very end, an additional six (6) seconds are available, when the lights went off but we can still see the band moving. This version also has a unique audio track, and the video also shows scenes from Version #1.

3. Revolution version #3 (Unreleased with “clean audio”, Apple Master 2005 with slate)

From a private collection, the unreleased Apple Master 2005. Part of a batch of unreleased promos made by Apple in 2005, in-house distribution only.

Audio: same as Version #2 but in a new mix which has also been cleaned up to erase the 'hiss' present on the original take at the intro and outro, the audio distortion is also present.

Video: Identical to Version #2, but without the initial and final seconds, and also does not contain the count in cue. This version was never released or seen, it has a unique audio mix which has never been published officially or on bootleg to date. We only know about it because it circulates among a select few private collectors.

4. Revolution Version #4 (1968 –Smothers Brothers)

Clapperboard for the Smothers Brothers show with the Revolution clip

As broadcast on TV, this is the same as version #2  (and version #3) but adding yet another different audio mix, with claps over the intro and outro. This buries some elements, like the count-in and the final guitar riffs.

5. Revolution Version #5 (2015- Apple/Beatles 1+)

Yet another variation, mostly created from version #2.

Audio: A new mix, digitally erasing the distortion noises caused by high volume on some amp or mic. The level on Nicky’s piano is higher, but this sadly buries some unique elements of Paul’s live vocal.

Video: This uses version #2, editing in 14 seconds from version #1 (from 1:26 through to 1:40).

All versions includes Nicky Hopkins’ piano, contrary to what I wrote in my earlier blog post today. What confused us was that this new version mixes the piano higher than before.

So in conclusion, it seems Apple keeps feeding us variations of their original music video clips, with elements added that weren't there before. Some of these may have been added to repair damages on the original two takes. It has been reported that the inserted seconds of version #1 to the new clip disguised some picture disturbance which previously occurred just there. Incidentally, "Revolution" will also be in mono on the Beatles 1+ collection.

Stills from 'Revolution'.

Thanks to the internet and Facebook, we were able to get in touch with someone who was present at the taping of the "Hey Jude" and "Revolution" videos. Her name is Margaret Morel, and she originally saw The Beatles in concert in Liverpool on 8th November 1964.  Originally from Morecambe, Lancashire, Margaret got married to a Frenchman in 1972, and has been living in France with her husband and children ever since. Here is her story about the events surrounding the filming of "Hey Jude" and "Revolution".

I left home when I was 16, and the agreement with my parents was that I live in a YWCA where I’d not be alone. During the first year I lived in London I met the Beatles (as a fan) very often. At the time I was working as a secretary in Mayfair. After a year I went back home to the North West of England, but after a while I wanted to go back to London.

So the second time I went to live in London, I was staying with my friend’s family in Feltham, Middlesex when one evening I got a telephone call from my American pen friend, who was on holiday in London at the time.  She said that my friend Coral and I should go quickly to the EMI studios in Abbey Road as The Beatles were looking for people to take part in an event. No-one knew what the event was at the time.

As Coral and I both knew Mal Evans, The Beatles road manager quite well, I phoned him at the studios.  He said we should go to sign a paper if we wanted to take part.  So we went along to the Abbey Road studio and asked for Mal, who brought us the papers to sign.  I don’t remember exactly what we had to sign for, but if me and Coral remember correctly, it was to say we wouldn’t ask for any payment for whatever we were going to do. We still had no idea what that was.

Whilst we were sat in the waiting room filling in our papers, Paul McCartney came in and was happy to know we’d be there next day.

After having signed our papers, we were given instructions to go to a meeting point in London next morning at a certain time.  I can’t remember exactly where the meeting point was, or the time. Wednesday September 4, 1968, the coaches were waiting for all the extras like us.  As the coaches set off, we still didn’t know where we were going.  It was funny that we ended up at Twickenham, because Feltham, where I was living at Coral's, was just nearby.

The weather must have been nice, because I was wearing a summer dress. Another friend of mine had made this dress about a year before. The bright yellow certainly helped me to be seen, although I didn’t realise this at the time. So of course my boss saw me on TV when the video was shown the same day, I think. (For the record: The Hey Jude film had its world premiere four days later, on 8 September 1968 on Frost On Saturday, presented by David Frost) I was supposed to be ill that day and had taken the day off.  I swore it wasn’t me. He was a lovely man and just let me think he believed me.

When we arrived at the entrance of the studios, we were told that we were going to be filmed in a video with The Beatles, who were up at a window watching us all, giving us smiles and waves.
Everyone was very excited and happy, of course.  Some of the people were regular fans like us, others were students, who I think had been invited from various London schools.

When we were taken inside the studio where the "Hey Jude" video was going to be filmed that morning, we were told what we had to do.  It might have been the director (Michael Lindsay-Hogg) who told us, but I don’t remember. I remember David Frost being there and him doing the introduction for his show, but I'm not sure how long he stayed. When The Beatles got to the end of the song we had to go up on the stage or gather round them and sing the "na na nas".  Paul helped by saying “now” when it was time to join in.  We were all sitting around the studio, waiting for our cue.

The audience. Still from video.

My friend Coral and I got up onto the stage each time and stood next to George Harrison.  I don’t know how we managed to do that with all the people who were scrambling to get as near as they could to The Beatles. Coral is the girl with the long blonde hair and me of course with my bright yellow dress and big hair (oh that big hair lol).  There was just one take right at the end of the day when I didn’t go up on the stage….too tired of pushing and shoving!

Here is a photo from the filming of 'Hey Jude'. You can spot Margaret in her yellow dress behind the neck of George's guitar, Coral's hair is just visible behind George's shoulder. Photo: Apple Corps Ltd.

At one point there was a break and all the extras were taken into a room where there were sandwiches and drinks for everyone.  The Beatles were not with us during the break. During one of the breaks (might have been after the lunch break), we were told they were going to film the video of "Revolution" and that we could go in the studio to watch.  I can’t remember too much about this but I think they just filmed "Revolution" once.

Coral with the blonde hair and Margaret with the yellow dress. Video still.

They filmed lots of takes of "Hey Jude" all day…we seemed to sing our "na na nas" dozens of times. They must have been wanting to choose the best versions of the song.  If I remember correctly, they began filming during the morning and we finished about 10pm or later. My friend’s parents came to collect us with their car.  We were exhausted but very happy, our heads full of all that had taken place that day.

Another video still. I believe it's the video labeled version 2 where we can't see the girls, they are present in videos #1 and #3.

Unfortunately I don't have any photos of those days.  Friends took lots of photos of The Beatles in London, but my friend Coral says she hasn't got hers any more now.  I've lost touch with other friends of that time.  Coral and I still keep in touch and she was a bridesmaid when I got married.  We met again recently when I was in London with the French group I work with, The Low Budget Men. They did a gig at the 100 Club in Oxford Street, and Coral helped me sell the merchandise for the charity the group are associated with.

Mal Evans did give me the badge from Paul McCartney's Sergeant Pepper uniform but I gave that to my American pen pal when I got married.  Have lost touch with her too, so no hope of ever getting it back....my own fault!!

Like Margaret said, she is currently promoting the French band, The Low Budget Men. All the proceeds of their music (CDs, DVDs, T-shirts, concerts) go to their charity "20 000 Vies" in order to purchase Automated External Defibrillators which they then offer to towns and communities where the group plays, for use in public places. So far, they have offered 100 defibrillators!

Link: The Low Budget Men

"In 1965, something monumental happened: The Beatles pioneered the promotional video. The band’s success was now so vast and far-reaching they could no longer satisfy the demand by appearing on every nation’s TV channels when they toured their particular country. So they filmed that batch of songs in Twickenham Film Studios to fill the vacuum, all included here – ‘I Feel Fine,’ ‘Day Tripper’, ‘Help!’, ‘Ticket To Ride’ and ‘We Can Work It Out’ – a rushed but highly entertaining format where they simply mimed the words." - Mark Ellen

ALL-NEW EDITIONS OF THE BEATLES 1 VIDEO COLLECTION PAIR BEAUTIFULLY RESTORED PROMOTIONAL FILMS AND VIDEOS WITH BRAND NEW STEREO SURROUND AUDIO MIXES.

Explore The Beatles 1 Blu-ray/DVD at thebeatles.com

Available to pre-order:

1+ Deluxe 2Blu-ray/CD

1+ Deluxe 2DVD/CD

1 CD/Blu-ray

1 CD/DVD

1 Blu-ray

1 DVD

1 CD

Today's free video by The Beatles is a version of "Hello Goodbye". Directed by Paul McCartney at the Saville theatre in London, three different videos were made on the 10th of November 1967. Film no. 1 saw the Beatles dressed up in their Sgt Pepper uniforms, and Ringo's drum kit was rather small. For film no. 2 they wore their everyday clothes, and film no 3 was put together of outtakes from the first two, with the Beatles hamming it up for the camera. Here's a snippet of film no. 3, courtesy of the Beatles' own YouTube channel:



All three of these will be published as part of the Beatles 1+ package. Videos 1 and 2 are quite commonly found, thanks to having been aired more frequently on TV. Number 1 was shown on Norwegian TV once in the eighties.
Video no. 2 was distributed to TV stations when the Red and Blue albums were released on CD for the first time, in 1993.
Apple also made a fourth version in the nineties, which was shown on the Anthology TV series. This was merely video no. 1 until the coda, then it switched to footage from video no. 3. For some reason, the Anthology edit also rendered the opening footage of the film in black and white.

"Hello Goodbye" is the second of five full length Beatles music videos to be published in anticipation of the new Beatles 1 and Beatles 1+ releases on November 6. The third full length video will be released by Mashable, and the two final ones by other outlets, possibly the Rolling Stone magazine website in USA and one of the UK magazine sites there.

Available to pre-order: 

1+ Deluxe 2Blu-ray/CD

1+ Deluxe 2DVD/CD

1 CD/Blu-ray

1 CD/DVD

1 Blu-ray

1 DVD

1 CD

Episode 2 of the restoration special confirms that Apple Corps Ltd have indeed found film copy of "Penny Lane" with faded colours to restore for the new Beatles 1 collection. The films used to restore "Penny Lane" and "Something" are said to have come from an American collector, who had better copies than Apple had in their archives. Of course, when film archivist and restorer Ron Furmanek was taking stock of Apple's archives of promo films in the early nineties, he discovered there were lots of outtakes from the "Penny Lane" film, but the film itself wasn't there anymore. The version we have seen on TV in the nineties onwards have all been taken from a video tape they had of the film. This was the 2 inch tape from 1967, as originally televised on The Hollywood Palace TV show. Earlier, they often used to show a black and white copy on TV, at least here in Europe.

It could be that the American collector is Furmanek himself, who had in his collection an original 1967 35mm composite print with faded colours.

In comparing the video tape version (as seen in The Beatles Anthology, for instance), it looks like they haven't been able to fully restore the colours in the faded film they are now using. But I guess we just have to wait until it is released to be certain.
Had they asked me, I would have referred them to the Swedish Television company, where Peter Goldman, director of "Penny Lane" and "Strawberry Fields Forever" was working in the seventies. They have given us glimpses of a pristine copy of "Strawberry Fields Forever" on TV there occasionally, so chances are they also have a great "Penny Lane" in their archives. Could be that Goldman also had good copies of these films in his own collection. Born in Germany, Peter Goldman died in 2005, at 69.

As for the remastered sound on the music videos, it seems that Giles Martin have chosen the same approach as Furmanek did in the nineties, to use the mono mix as a template to create a new stereo image. The surround sound is said to just add "room" to the stereo mix.

1 = 1961 Höfner, 2 = 1963 Höfner bass guitar.

Paul McCartney bought his first bass guitar, a 500/1 Höfner 'violin' 3/4 scaled model, while the Beatles were playing in Hamburg in 1961. He played it on stage and in the studio through "With The Beatles", at which point Hofner gave him a new, updated 1963 model. It was first seen in the "Ready, Steady, Go!" TV show, broadcast 4 October. In 1964, he had this first bass refinished in polyester sunburst by Sound City of London and had new pickups and pots installed. After that it served as a backup on the '64 tours but in general took a back seat to its newer brother. He then started using his new Rickenbacker bass guitar for recordings from Rubber Soul onwards, Paul McCartney still brought out the Höfner bass guitar for live performances. Some time in 1966 he removed the pickguard. As you know, the 1966 US tour which ended at Candlestick Park August 29, 1966 was the final concert for a paying audience.

Cellotaped to the bass guitar was the setlist from that concert.

When miming to the Revolution song for the music video at Twickenham, Paul opted for his first Höfner, the 1961 model, minus its pickguard. A few months later, both Höfner bass guitars were brought along to the "Let It Be" album sessions. The one seen in the film is the 1963 model, now with a Bassman sticker, lifted from his speaker cabinet. The 1961 Höfner can be seen only in outtakes from the film, for instance in the "Ballad of John and Yoko" promo clip.

The 1961 Höfner in the "Ballad for John & Yoko" video.

The 1963 Höfner with the Bassman sticker at the rooftop concert.

The cellotaped setlist from the 1963 model was read out loud by McCartney on January 8, 1969, as heard in outtakes from the "Let It Be" sessions. The 1961 bass guitar has since been stolen, so upon recreating his younger self for the "Coming Up" video in 1980, the 1963 model Höfner was brought out. Nine years later, it also reappeared in the "My Brave Face" music video, and Elvis Costello then persuaded McCartney to bring it back, and he then started using it on the road again. McCartney had strap buttons added so he'd no longer have to "dog-clip" one end to the tailpiece and tie the other end around the heel and under the fretboard.

The set list was still cellotaped to the bass guitar.

The set list that McCartney had cellotaped to his 1963 Höfner Violin Bass had started to go yellow and was having to have yet another layer of cellotape placed over it, to keep it attached to the guitar. As McCartney went on new tours in 1989-90, the short unplugged tour of 1991 and the new world tour in 1993, he had brought along a few Japanese replica violin bass guitars as back ups, but still preferred playing the original 1963 Höfner model on stage. In early 1993, Paul's assistant John Hammel took the bass guitar to New York, in order for it to be repaired by the world's finest luthier,
Flip Scipio. Because the Höfner was only a cheap instrument, it never held it's tune. Flip Scipio was able to sort this out in two days, before the New World Tour commenced. The Höfner had it's own seat on the Concorde flight.

Flip Scipio and John Hammel with the guitar.

At this time, there were so many layers of cellotape holding it onto the guitar, that the list of songs was now barely visible.
As McCartney then retired from touring indefinitely, the set list was finally removed from the Höfner during the "Flaming Pie" recording sessions.

The setlist as it appears today.

Here's the actual set list, as it looks today, after having removed it from the bass guitar and then peeled off the various layers of cellotape. You can see how yellow it has become, plus the horizontal cellotape marks are visible. The saving grace for the set list may have been that Paul originally had written it on a piece of a Senior Service cigarette box, which is on sturdy thin cardboard.

Still touring after all these years, the 1963 Höfner bass guitar.

After nearly a decade, Paul returned to touring again in 2002, and has been on a never ending tour with different names ever since. Still employing his 1963 model Höfner violin bass guitar on stage, it now no longer has the 1966 set list attached to it.

Thanks to Peter Hodgson for the photos and the story.

New "Cavern" Höfner violin bass, 2006

In 2006, Paul was presented with Serial # 1 of Höfner's 500/1 50th Anniversary Model. This model was produced by Höfner as a limited run of 150 basses to commemorate the 50 years over which the 500/1 Bass Guitar has been produced. It was modelled on Paul's first Höfner 500/1 Bass, and features a solid carved spruce top. Paul has never been seen to play it in concert.

The two vintage Höfner bass guitars:
The 1961 Model
The 1963 Model 

A couple of new Beatles video updates have arrived in the form of yet another teaser (above), this time for "Help!" and also (below) another installment of their restoration series. This third installment concentrates on the restoration of "Something" and "From Me To You" from the 1963 Royal Variety Show.


Also, Paul McCartney has uploaded or made public a number of videos related to the Archives series of "Tug of War" and "Pipes of Peace", available from this page.

Meanwhile, a third version of "Revolution" seems to have been made, also at Twickenham alongside the two previously known versions. These photos were published by a serious Beatles video collector.

Clock slate labeled "Revolution" Take 3.

Still from "Revolution" Take 3.

As "A Day In The Life" was made available yesterday on a Mashable page, sourced from Vevo, this clip was only available in the countries where Vevo works. Today it was published on The Beatles' Vevo YouTube channel as the window of exclusivity closed. Promoting Beatles 1+, this is A Day In The Life as it looks now.



Miguel Carrera has sent us the following index of The Beatles' official music videos. While mostly of importance for video collectors, the list reveals that Apple has been working on promotional videos for a long time, and it also sheds light on an earlier attempt of making a "Beatles 1" compilation in 2011. In the following, I have used descriptions from my own article on the subject from January 2015, and I have also changed Carrera's chronology.

THE BEATLES: The Original EMI, Capitol & Apple promo videos 1965-2015

Some videos were filmed a particular year, but remained unreleased at the time. Many appeared through the years until the Anthology project was released, or later. Indicated here: Year it was filmed but for the most part the year a clip became an official "music video". If the same version was used to promote different official releases over the years, the changing only of the slate and the closing credits with year of release is also included. All the variations over the years, available sometimes from the masters that Intertel/Apple/EMI created, or good to very good copies of them, with original VRT or clock ("w/slate") and with a few exceptions these are not taken from TV or music channels.

Only official videos are included here, no clips from TV shows, like "The Music of Lennon & McCartney", or concerts that have appeared over the years on bootlegs or fan made compilations like "Chronology", "By the Bushel", "Unsurpassed Promos", etc. Clips from the movies/concerts or TV shows are included only when they come with the original Apple VTR slate, which means it's an official video clip, and not a "fan-made compilation", extracting all songs from the movies to create "Lost Videos" compilations. Also, no fakes here. If you can’t find a particular video that you may recall having seen, it was either taken directly from the movies or was a fake. Also, no "outtakes", or videos created from the outtakes (like "Rain", "Paperback Writer", "Strawberry Fields Forever", "I Am The Walrus", "A Day in the Life" etc, that have appeared recently on a few HMC titles or YouTube are described here.

"Beatles 1+" claims it will be giving us 50 music videos, but actually only 35 of these, plus four newly created ones are actual videos, the rest are clips from the movies, TV-shows or concerts, which we only now will have to count as official “videos” as well. Circulating among video collectors there are over 120 Beatles music videos.

1965 & variations from other years:

Help!  #1 (dartless version  w/slate)
(1965/1996 –Anthology 2)

The first music video: "Help!" was filmed in black and white.

On 22 April 1965 Richard Lester shot The Beatles performing the song at Twickenham Film Studios in London. The black and white clip, meant to simulate a television performance, served two purposes. The first was that it was used in the opening of the movie as the film at which the villain Klang (played by Leo McKern) throws darts. The second ( a different edit) was as a promotional film that could be sent to various television programmes. The “Help!” promotional film aired on Thank Your Lucky Stars on ITV on 17 July 1965 and on Top of the Pops on the BBC on 29 July 1965. A little bit of it was later successfully used as part of the opening shot of the Beatles' Anthology TV series.

From 1965 to 1968, film company Intertel provided all facilities to record the videos, that’s why they are referred by the fans as the “Intertel” versions. The batch of ten music videos, made on November 25th, 1965, also shot at Twickenham, but by Intertel (V.T.R. Services) Ltd., were quick to make. They were "Help!,""We Can Work It Out" (three versions), "Day Tripper" (three versions),""Ticket To Ride" and "I Feel Fine" (two versions). Directed by Joe McGrath.
The BBC paid NEMS £1750 for several broadcasts of the clips (largely on Top of the Pops), while the cost of the production itself was just £750. And of course, other TV companies around the world also paid good money in order to show these clips.


Help!  #2 (Intertel w/slate)
(1965)

The new "Help!" music video.

I Feel Fine  version 1 (w/slate) *First broadcast on ‘Top of The Pops’, December 1965.

I Feel Fine

I Feel Fine  version 2 (“Fish & Chips”- Unused version until "Beatles 1+")

I Feel Fine (fish'n'chips version)

Slate

Ticket to Ride  #1 (w/slate)

Large tickets on display for "Ticket To Ride".

Day Tripper version #1 (black turtle neck- uncirculated)

Slate, version 2, take 1

Day Tripper version #2 (black turtle neck, w/slate) *Version #1 was reported to be similar to #2.

Still from version 2

Day Tripper version #3 (Shea Jackets, w/slate) *First broadcast on ‘Hullabaloo’, January 3, 1966.

Slate, version 3

"Day Tripper" #3.

We Can Work It Out version #3, take 1

We Can Work It Out version #1 (black turtle neck w/slate) *First broadcast on ‘Hullabaloo’, January 3, 1966.

We Can Work It Out version #1, Take 1

Photo released to promote the 2015 edition of "Beatles 1". Photo: Apple Corps Ltd.

We Can Work It Out version #2 (black turtle neck w/slate) *Similar to Version #1

We Can Work It Out version #2, take 1

We Can Work It Out version #3 (Shea jackets w/slate)

Colour photo provided by our reader, Marcelo Ravelo from Barcelona.

We Can Work It Out, version #3, still

1966 & variations from other years:

THE ABBEY ROAD STUDIO FILMS
On 19 May 1966 The Beatles and the film crew (also from Intertel VTR Services, the same company that filmed the earlier music videos) gathered at Studio One at Abbey Road where they made three promo films for their single track “Rain” and six for “Paperback Writer”. Director was Michael Lindsay-Hogg. One of the promo films for “Rain” and one for “Paperback Writer” were shot in colour for the American market, while the rest were filmed in black and white. Video tape was used on this first day, while the following day's footage was shot on film. Intertel was a professional company dealing in video tape recording (V.T.R.), and made sure that the colour clips were shot in NTSC/525 line, as they were specifically made for The Ed Sullivan Show. After lunch The Beatles recorded black-and-white versions for UK and European viewers, two for Paperback Writer and one for Rain, between 3.30pm and 6.15pm. These were all 405 line but was later transferred to t/r for some overseas sales.
The colour versions of “Rain” and “Paperback Writer” would air on The Ed Sullivan Show on 5 June 1966, along with a filmed introduction by The Beatles themselves.

Filming in studio 1

The first filmed black and white version of “Paperback Writer” aired on the final edition of Thank Your Lucky Stars on 25 June 1966 and the second black and white version of “Paperback Writer” as well as a black and white version of “Rain” aired on Ready, Steady, Go! on 3 June 1966, which was the first time the programme had broadcast footage not from its own studio.



Paperback Writer version #1 (Take 1) *Colour “sitting Beatles version”, Clean (no applauses) for use in "Ed Sullivan Show"
Paperback Writer version #2 (Take 2) *b/w “sitting Beatles version”, different angles, for use in ‘Ready Steady Go’ June 3, 1966.
Paperback Writer version #3 (Take 3 w/slate) *b/w “standing Beatles version”
Paperback Writer version #4 (Take 4 w/slate) *b/w “standing Beatles version”, different angles
(1966 – Intertel)


Variations:
Paperback Writer version #5 (alternate edit) *“standing Beatles version” using Takes 3 & 4
(1966 - Broadcast on Top of The Pops)
Paperback Writer version #6
(colour, as broadcast on the Ed Sullivan Show with applause, June 5, 1966)








Rain version #1 (Take 1 w/slate) *b/w –For use in ‘Ready Steady Go’
Rain version #2 (Take 2 w/slate) *b/w –For use in ‘Top of The Pops’
Rain version #3 (Take 3) *Colour & Clean (no applauses) for use in "Ed Sullivan Show"
(1966 – Intertel)

Variation:
Rain version #4
(colour, as broadcast on the ‘Ed Sullivan Show’ with applause, June 5, 1966)

THE CHISWICK HOUSE FILMS
On 20 May 1966 The Beatles and the Intertel film crew went to Chiswick House, an 18th century house and gardens in West London, to shoot one more promo film each for “Paperback Writer” and “Rain”. Both were shot on 35mm colour film. The film for “Paperback Writer” was more or less a straightforward performance clip, with most of the film devoted to The Beatles miming in the statue garden of Chiswick House.

The film for “Rain“ followed The Beatles wandering about the grounds of Chiswick House as well as footage of children at play around one of the house’s cedar trees, bringing us step away from standard performance clips towards more conceptual videos. Just like in their work in the studio for new songs and albums, as well as their approach when it came to the Christmas flexis, not to mention posing for photos, 1966 is the year when experimentation starts to blossom.

Both films were shot in colour, but they were aired in black and white on Top of the Pops, as the BBC had yet to make the shift to colour. The Chiswick promo film for “Paperback Writer” debuted on 2 June 1966 on the show, while the Chiswick promo film for “Rain” debuted on 9 June 1966 on the show.



Paperback Writer  version #7 (Colour ,w/slate)
(1966/1996 –Anthology 2) *For original use in "Top of The Pops".
Rain  version #5 (Colour,w/slate)
(1966/2003 –Anthology DVD release) *For original  use in "Top of The Pops".

Variation:

Rain (Colour with inserted outtake film)  *As shown on ‘Anthology’ video, never released as individual promo clip, but worth mention it here.

1967 & variations from other years:

The Beatles' next two promo films, one each for “Strawberry Fields Forever” and “Penny Lane”, would be purely conceptual promo films, with no miming.  This was probably because of the then ban on miming on TV, brought about by the Musicians' trade Union. John Lennon can be seen mouthing a few words now and then, eye-witnesses claim that he was merely singing the theme from the Monkees TV-show!

Tony Bramwell again produced the two promotional films for Subafilms. The film crew was provided by Don Long Productions. The director on both films was the German Peter Goldman, who had been recommended by The Beatles’ friend Klaus Voorman.

Filming Strawberry Fields Forever and Penny Lane at Sevenoaks.

Shooting of the music video for “Strawberry Fields Forever” began on 30 January 1967 at Knole Park in Sevenoaks, Kent, and finished on the next day. Many of the films sequences centred on a dead oak tree in the park, under which sat a piano. The “Strawberry Fields Forever” film uses a number of effects that had never been done before as far as promotional music films are concerned. The film includes jump cuts, reversed film, various speed techniques, etc.

Along with the promotional film for “Penny Lane”, “Strawberry Fields Forever” has been named among the most influential music videos of the 1960s by the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. When the music video was shown during the Beatles' Anthology TV-series and later commercial releases of same, home movie footage shot by the Beatles themselves was inserted into the video here and there, thereby creating a new version of the video.

Strawberry Fields Forever (w/slate)

Variation:

The Beatles shot home movies of their own during filming.

Strawberry Fields Forever (with inserted home movie footage shot by the Beatles themselves) *As shown on ‘Anthology’ video, never released as individual promo clip, but  worth to mention here.

Penny Lane (w/slate)
(1967/1996/2000  -Anthology 2)

Shooting for “Penny Lane” began on 5 February 1967, and Peter Goldman later shot some additional footage without The Beatles at a later date. Even though “Penny Lane” was inspired by the street of the same name in Liverpool, only a few shots of buses, the barber shop, and “the shelter in the middle of the roundabout” were actually shot there. Most of the film was shot on Angel Lane in Stratford, London, with several scenes shot in Knole Park as well. As with “Strawberry Fields Forever”, The Beatles do not mime to the song. Instead they wander about Angel Lane and ride horses in Knole Park.

The promo clips for both "Penny Lane" and "Strawberry Fields Forever" were shown on Top Of The Pops 16 February, 1967, in glorious black and white. In the USA on February 25th 1967, both films were shown on the variety show The Hollywood Palace. Of course, the films were also televised everywhere else in the world where the Beatles were popular, either in black and white or colour, depending on whether or not each country had made the switch.

After this, the two films were largely forgotten about, and when the popular early eighties British television programme "The Tube" discovered a silent colour copy of the "Strawberry Fields Forever" film, they had no clue as to which song it was the music video for, and screened it to the audio of "Good Day Sunshine"!

Inserted into the 2015 edit of Penny Lane.

When Beatles fan and film archivist Ron Furmanek was put in charge of restoring the Beatles' music videos in the early nineties, the one film that was missing from the Apple Corps' archives was "Penny Lane". Both the 35mm camera cut negative and IP's are missing, probably stolen or lost ages ago, although they have all of the trims and outtakes. Furmanek ended up restoring "Penny Lane" from the colour copy from The Hollywood Palace TV show 2 inch tape from 1967.  In 2015, the "Beatles 1" release used a faded film copy of "Penny Lane" as a starting point to rebuild the video. Partly restored, partly colourised, this version also inserted a few shots from the outtakes, making it a new edit/version.

Still from the "A Day In The Life" music video.

Taking the home movie footage idea to it's fullest extent, the Beatles’ next promo film was not made for a single release. The Beatles had planned to make on a television special on the making of the "Sgt. Pepper" album. For this, it was decided to film the recording of the orchestral overdubs on the song “A Day in the Life”. A number of guests were invited to the studio for the recording, including Donovan, Marianne Faithfull, Mick Jagger, Brian Jones, Michael Nesmith, and Keith Richards. The Beatles, the various guests, and even the orchestra dressed up in costumes.
Tony Bramwell was put in charge of a team of seven people with handheld cameras to record the event for the television special.


The idea of a Sgt. Pepper’s television special was quickly abandoned, but the footage was there, and was later edited together with stock footage from other sources to create a promo film for “A Day in the Life”. Unfortunately, “A Day in the Life” would remain unseen for years - although short excerpts of it were shown on various television stations worldwide. Perhaps it was forgotten about when the BBC banned the playing of the song because they thought there were drug references in the lyrics. “A Day in the Life” resurfaced in the in-house 1983 documentary "The Beatles at Abbey Road" and later most of it was later included in The Beatles' Anthology TV series and subsequent home video release.

A Day in the Life version #1
(1967/2015 –Beatles 1+) *the original film has the sound slightly in different synch, it was fixed by Apple in 2003 and restored in superb visual quality in 2015.

A Day in the Life version #2
(1996 –Anthology 2) *Includes different footage starting just before the first orchestra crescendo and until it’s end (this is the ONLY version where Mal Evans appears undisguised, for example). This version is also available on the ‘Anthology’ TV special/video and DVD, but incomplete.

Mal Evans in A Day In The Life

Variation:

A Day in the Life version #3 (w/slate)
(2003 –Anthology DVD release) *This version is the same as #1, but fades 20 seconds earlier than #1 and 24 seconds earlier than #2. This is the shortest of all three.

*All versions directed by Tony Bramwell on February 10, 1967. This clip was distributed to the media for individual promotion and it’s not the version that appears on the DVD release (see Version #2).




The Beatles next returned to performance clips, although they would have elements of conceptual video. Footage for the promotional films for “Hello Goodbye” would be shot at the Saville Theatre in London on 10 November 1967. Paul McCartney served as the director on the three different promotional films. They were edited by Roy Benson, fresh from editing the television special Magical Mystery Tour.


Three different “Hello Goodbye” music videos would emerge from the footage shot on 10 November 1967. The first film shot featured The Beatles in their “Sgt. Pepper” uniforms performing against a psychedelic backdrop and featured cutaways to The Beatles, seated and waving, wearing their grey, collarless stage suits from 1963.



At the end of the film they were joined by a group of hula dancers.

The second film featured The Beatles wearing what would be everyday clothing for 1967 (for a Beatle, anyway) performing against a different backdrop, showing a vibrant rural scene.
The third film combined The Beatles’ performance in their “Sgt. Pepper” uniforms from the first clips with outtakes from the second clip of The Beatles hamming it up (including John and then the other Beatles doing the Twist). All three videos show a clean shaven Lennon without his granny glasses. These films for “Hello Goodbye” was the last time The Beatles wore their Merseybeat suits and the last time they wore their “Sgt. Pepper” uniforms - collectively. George's suits would reappear in his own music video for "Ding Dong, Ding Dong", and his "Sgt Pepper" suit again reappeared in his music video for "When We Was Fab". Paul's "Sgt. Pepper" suit had a cameo in his music video for "My Brave Face".

Hello Goodbye version #1 (Pepper suits)
Hello Goodbye version #2 (Psychedelic/casual/mod clothes)
Hello Goodbye version #3 (Outtakes)

One of the promotional films for “Hello, Goodbye” was scheduled to air on Top of the Pops on 23 November 1967. Unfortunately, as it was clear that The Beatles were miming, the film ran afoul of the Musician’s Union’s ban on miming. For the 23 November edition of the show, then, Top of the Pops ran footage from the movie A Hard Day’s Night instead. Eventually footage from one of the promotional films for “Hello, Goodbye” combined with still photographs was aired on Top of the Pops on 7 December 1967. In the United States Version 1 was aired on The Ed Sullivan Show, introduced by Sullivan reading a telegram from The Beatles. The third version of the “Hello, Goodbye” music video (the one which combined The Beatles in their “Sgt. Pepper” uniforms with outtakes from the second promotional film) is also said to have been aired on The Ed Sullivan Show. One of these Ed Sullivan airings took place on November 26th, but we don't have information whether this was version 1 or version 3.

A fourth promo clip for the song, credited to "Top of the Pops 1967", appeared as a bonus feature on the 2012 DVD release of a digitally restored version of the telefilm Magical Mystery Tour. It is all in black-and-white and features all four Beatles as well as their then-girlfriends at an editing table in an editing room, handling film reels and editing a film referencing the song's lyrics by utilizing simple in-camera editing techniques to make people seen in a field "magically" appear and disappear.

Hello Goodbye version #8 (Unreleased, directed by Roy Benson in 1967 using outtakes from the MMT movie)

1968 & variations from other years:

The Beatles’ next set of films would be for their single “Lady Madonna”. To avoid the Musician’s Union’s ban on miming, it was decided that The Beatles would simply be filmed recording another song. On 11 February 1968 Tony Bramwell then shot The Beatles recording the song “Hey Bulldog”. Two individual promotional films for “Lady Madonna” emerged from the footage. In one the first shot of a Beatle is of Ringo on drums. In the other the first shot of a Beatle is of George eating a plate of beans.
In 1996, a new version Lady Madonna clip was made, using footage from the first two, and editing in studio footage of the Beatles shot at other times, like from the Experiment in Television: Music! TV special. Never released on it's own as a promo video, many unofficial video compilation has featured this edit.


In 1999 the footage would be used again, this time to create a video for the song that The Beatles had actually been recording at the time, “Hey Bulldog”.

Lady Madonna version #1
Lady Madonna version #2
(1968)

On 4 September 1968, the music videos for “Hey Jude” and “Revolution” were filmed. In order to get around the ban on miming, the vocals for both songs were recorded live, even though they sang over pre-recorded tracks. These colour music videos were directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg, who had earlier directed the videos for “Paperback Writer” and “Rain”.
The footage for “Hey Jude” was shot with an audience, from which three individual but similar looking music videos would emerge: one for release to various television programmes around the world, one that would be shown on David Frost’s show Frost on Sunday in the United Kingdom, and one that would be shown on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour in the United States. All three music videos would follow the same format, as straight performance clips in which an audience joins The Beatles for the final, long chorus of “Hey Jude”. The differences between the three promotional films were minor at best.
 On the version shown on Frost on Sunday the audience is shown a few seconds earlier and there are more close ups of individual members of the audience.
The version shown on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour tended to be closer to the promotional film meant for general release, although there were a few subtle differences. At the same time that footage was shot for the “Hey Jude” promo films, and several introductions by David Frost was also shot for his programme, as well as a short instrumental version of the David Frost theme played by The Beatles.

Hey Jude

One of the promotional films for “Hey Jude” debuted on Frost on Sunday in the United Kingdom on 8 September 1968. Another made its debut in the United States on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour on 6 October 1968. A fourth promotional film for “Hey Jude” was later created for The Beatles Anthology in 1995. This version was shorter than the other versions by several seconds, using a combination of clips from the three videos.

Hey Jude #1  Take 1 (unbroadcast w/slate)
(1968/Nov 15, 1996, sent as separate promotional clip for ‘Anthology’ 3 campaign)

Hey Jude #2 Take 2 (Used for ‘David Frost Show’ w/slate)
(1968/2000- Beatles 1)

Hey Jude Take 3 (complete take, audio & video is not circulating)

Hey Jude #3 Takes 1 & 3
(Used for ‘Smothers Brothers’ show)

Slate for 1996 version

Slate for 2000 version

Hey Jude #4 (alternate edit from takes 1, 2, & 3)
(1996/2003- Anthology Video & DVD release) *The ‘Anthology TV’ version as shown on ABC in 1995, later released as home video and DVD, shows interview footage over the song, plus is not complete, but it’s also available in full as an individual promotional video, that’s the version described here. The recording introduction for ‘The David Frost’ show (two different takes) is not part of the video, it was recorded separately.

While the footage shot for "Hey Jude" would result in three music videos, the footage shot for "Revolution" in between takes of "Hey Jude" would result in two versions. The Beatles again sang live to a prerecorded tape. One of the promotional films for “Revolution” would make its debut (and only contemporary screening) in the UK on Top of the Pops on 19 September 1968. A promotional film for “Revolution” also aired in the United States on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour on 13 October 1968.

Revolution Take #1 (complete take on video is uncirculated, audio is available)
Revolution Take #2 (complete take on video is uncirculated, audio is available)
Revolution Take #3 (unused & uncirculated)

"Revolution".

Available versions:

Revolution version #1 (audio: Take #1, video is a mix of Takes 1 & 2)
Revolution version #2 (audio: Take #2, video is a mix of Takes 1 & 2 ,w/slate)
(1968/1996 –Anthology 2)

Variations:

Slate for take 3 of Revolution. The number 3 looks too white, though so it may be fake.

Revolution version #3 (w/slate)
(1968 –Smothers Brothers) *Same as Version #2 with additional applause.

1969, 1970 & variations from other years:

The shooting of the promotional films for “Hey Jude” and “Revolution” would be the last time all four Beatles gathered for the shooting of promotional films.

Their next promotional films would be for the single “The Ballad of John and Yoko”, which was released on 30 June 1969. By the time of “The Ballad of John and Yoko”, John Lennon and Yoko Ono were filming much of their life and the various events in which they were involved. Much of this footage naturally found its way into the promotional films for the song. The promotional films for “The Ballad of John and Yoko” also feature footage of The Beatles rehearsing in the studio in January 1969 (taken from the Let It Be sessions), even though only John and Paul were actually involved in recording the song. As to the two promotional films for the for “The Ballad of John and Yoko”, they were essentially similar.

The Ballad of John and Yoko

One of the films for “The Ballad of John and Yoko” aired in the United Kingdom on Top of the Pops on 5 June 1969. A music video for “The Ballad of John and Yoko” aired on the television show Music Scene in the United States on 22 September 1969. In The Beatles' Anthology, it is believed that the version of the music video shown there was a mixture of the previous two, this time using as many colour clips as possible.

The Ballad of John & Yoko version #1
(1969)

The Ballad of John & Yoko version #2 (w/slate)
(1969/2000 – Beatles 1) *Version #1 starts with pictures of John & Yoko, that’s the easiest way to identify both versions.

From outtakes from the January 1969 shooting of the "Let It Be" film, music videos were made. "Don't Let Me Down" premiered in colour on April 30, 1969 on The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour in USA, and featured footage of The Beatles rehearsing in the studio as well as performance footage from the rooftop concert.

"Get Back" from the rooftop concert January 30, 1969 was aired on Top Of The Pops in the UK on 17 April, 1969 in black and white. The clip was reprised several times during the year, and on Christmas Day, it was shown in colour for the first time.

On 5 March, 1970, Top of the Pops showed a promotional clip of the Beatles performing "Let It Be" from 31 January 1969. The clip was repeated on 19 March.

The clip of "The Long and Winding Road" from the film is likely to have been made available as a music video when the song was selected as a single in USA and other countries. It was present on Anthology  and was also selected for ‘Beatles 1+’.




The Beatles' last appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show was in form of a clip of "Two Of Us" from the "Let It Be" film, on March 1, 1970. Whether this was meant to be a music video is not known, but is likely. The clip was also used in remastered form as music videos in 1996 and 2000.

Get Back  version #1
(1969) *Rooftop with audio from the single, uses different footage from the ‘Let it be’ movie. For use in "Top of the Pops", April 1969.

Don't Let Me Down version #1
(1969) *with outtake footage from ‘Let it Be’ movie. Uses the single version as audio.

Let It Be  version #1
(1970) *with outtake footage from ‘Let it Be’ movie. Uses the single version as audio.

The final music video made while all four Beatles were together as a band (unless one counts footage from the Get Back sessions) was “Something”. The single “Something”, backed by “Come Together”, was released on 6 October 1969 in the United States and 31 October 1969 in the United Kingdom, just as The Beatles were on the verge of breaking up - George Harrison's first Beatles single A-side.

Something #1 (w/slate)
(1969/2000 – Beatles 1) *Directed by Neil Aspinall.

Still from the "Something" promo, this is Maureen Starkey.

Since the individual Beatles had drifted apart by this time, each of The Beatles and their wives at the time (George Harrison and Pattie Boyd, John Lennon and Yoko Ono, Paul and Linda McCartney, and Ringo Starr and Maureen Cox) were shot around their respective homes. The individual footage was then edited together to create the promotional film for “Something”, very reminiscent of how the 1969 Christmas flexi disc was made. The film was directed by Neil Aspinall and premiered in the UK on Top of The Pops 13 November, 1969.

The post-Beatles Emi/Capitol/Apple videos:

1976:

In 1976, EMI/Capitol was promoting their "Rock and Roll Music" compilation album by releasing the single "Back In The USSR"/"Twist and Shout", and a music video was made for "Back In The USSR". The video was compiled from newsfilms of the Beatles arriving at airports etc.

Back in the USSR version #1
Back in the USSR version #2
(1976 – Rock ‘n’ Roll LP) *Both versions uses different archival footage from many Beatle periods. Nothing exclusive.

1982:

Next up was the music video for "The Beatles' Movie Medley", a single made to promote the compilation album The Beatles: Reel Music, as well as to capitalise on the success of the Stars on 45 cover version single. The music video was made up of clips of Beatles songs from their motion pictures and the Magical Mystery Tour TV-film, in itself a compilation of music videos held together by a thin plot. Also used was a clip from the "Our World" performance of "All You Need Is Love". The footage was put together by Ron Furmanek.

Beatles Movie Medley
(1982- Reel Music LP) *With footage from the movies and Our World.

Music clips from the Beatles' movies were included in the "Movie Medley" video.

In 1982 and 1983, music videos were made for the 20th anniversaries of "Love Me Do" and "Please Please Me", utilising a short, mimed performance of the former and Washington DC concert footage of the latter, interspersed with unrelated clips from newsfilms and TV-shows. Ron Furmanek was involved in the creation of these two videos, and is billed as co-director and co-producer.

Miming to a part of "Love Me Do" at the Little Theatre in Southport in 1962, later used in a 1982 music video.

Love Me Do -version #1
Love Me Do -version #2
Love Me Do -version #3

(1982 - 20 Greatest Hits)  * Three, not two as sometimes reported, were produced by David M Blum and Ron Furmanek, all three using footage from ‘The Mersey Sound’ TV show. Version #1 is a combination of ‘Mersey Sound’ and pictures from the EMI sessions, this version (editing out the intro and outro with The Beatles logo) was also used on the Anthology video, it was NOT created in 1995 for this project, since it’s available along with #2 since 1982 as part of an EMI In-house video. Version #2 incorporates more archival footage (airport arrivals, with fans, backstage, etc) and less ‘Mersey Sound’ footage. This is the rarest of the three. And version #3 uses completely different off-stage footage compared with #2, along with some color footage from ‘Come to Town’, plus Washington 64 concert, and ‘It’s The Beatles’ TV show, just to help you identify this version.

1983 & other Years:

Please Please Me -version A (w/slate)
Please Please Me -version B (w/stale)
(Produced in 1982, released in 1983)

Please Please Me -version C (w/slate)
(1983)

*Versions A & B directed by Ron Furmanek; Version C directed by Jim Yukich, David M. Blum and Furmanek; and all use the Washington 1964 concert as base. The intro  and outro has the original concert audio, and  the studio version is used later. Version A adds footage shot at EMI Studios during the recording of "And I Love Her" and other archival video; Version B shows only Washington concert footage, while Version C adds photos and more off stage archival footage similar to Version A but with different effects.

In 1983, Capitol Records made a music video for the 20th anniversary of the "I Want To Hold Your Hand" single. Made from old stock non-performance footage, the clip was shown on Friday Night Videos, on the 10th of February, 1984 with Paul McCartney also appearing on the show. Again, film archivist Ron Furmanek was involved in the creation of the video and is credited as producer.
The single was also reissued in USA, this time with Paul McCartney's cigarette airbrushed away from the cover photo.

I Want to Hold your Hand – version #1
(1983 - 20 Greatest Hits) *Uses archival footage from many sources, like "Big Night Out" TV show, ‘It’s The Beatles’, Washington 64 concert, etc; and starts with the audio from "Sgt. Pepper" (“It was twenty years ago today..”) and a long intro. The audio also includes girls screaming at the beginning and end of the song.

I Want to Hold Your Hand  - version #2
(1984) *Both versions directed by Ron Furmanek, this one uses  different footage from Version #1, and does not include the long ‘Pepper’ intro or applauses.

1987:

Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
(1987 -20th Anniversary) *Animated ‘Pepper’ album cover from the ‘It Was 20 Years Ago Today’ documentary. Sometimes used as a promo video for this song, at least in fan made promo video compilations.

1992

An anniversary year, in 1992 it was thirty years since The Beatles released "Love Me Do" on EMI. A bunch of videos with an anniversary logo was made available to television companies.

Day Tripper #4 (w/slate)



(1992 - 30th Anniversary/Version 3, Shea Jacket) *With ‘Beatles Anniversary’ Logo on Screen.

New Say Say Say 12-inch single for RSD.

Format: 12" Vinyl
Label: Concord/Hear Music
Release type: RSD Exclusive Release
More Info:
2015 remix of the 1983 hit "Say Say Say", originally recorded with Michael Jackson for the album Pipes of Peace. Artwork features silver and black ink with a graphite finish, and the vinyl is transparent. B-side is an instrumental version of the song. This remix is exclusive to this limited edition piece.

Track List
"Say Say Say (2015 Remix)"/"Say Say Say (Instrumental)"

Available from stores participating in Record Store Day's "Black Friday", November 27, 2015.

Filming "Penny Lane".

So here it is, the new "Penny Lane" video. This video has been rescued from a positive film with faded colours. And the restoration crew has indeed been able to correct the colours, although they are perhaps more subdued than we remember from the old 2-inch U-matic video tape the previous restoration came from. The skin tones vary a bit throughout but in general, the Beatles look winterly pale and their bright (newly colourised?) red coats make the contrast stand out even more.

New insert.

It also looks like they have inserted a few shots from the trimmings, which look more like a natural colour. Does the shot above of Lennon on horseback look familiar to you? It's nowhere to be found in the video that was made from the U-matic video tape in 1992, it wasn't in the original video from 1967, and here in the new version it appears at 1:53.
As for the new stereo mix, renowned remaster engineer Steve Hoffman posted this comment on his own site:
"Penny Lane remix? Sterile, unemotional, everything stands out, nothing blends, all subtlety gone, sounds like 20 overdubs all on separate lines being squeezed together to make one artificial picture. Too much top end EQ on everything, no soul, just clinical sound from a mixer (no idea who it is) that decided that "the Beatles need to be brought into the 21st century". The original (mono or stereo) at least has heart and sounds like a "whole" of something. The remix sounds like someone broke a china teacup, glued it together and shone a big light on it. "Hear what I did? I "fixed" this song. It's good now."

"Horrible thing to do to such a classic song."

You be the judge.




For comparison with the previous incarnation of "Penny Lane", here's that:



You'll notice that during the line "he likes to keep his fire engine clean..." they inserted individual short shots of the Beatles faces in this order:
Paul, George, Ringo
The new one goes:
John, Paul, George, Ringo
So the quick shot of John here is new, making this a new edit, however unobtrusive.

In the fourth part of the restoration series, Sam Okell and Giles Martin explain their decisions.




The vinyl edition of "Beatles 1" with the new stereo mixes will be out on December 4.

Out now: A book about the Zapple label, Apple's subsidiary

Barry Miles, renowned cultural historian and writer, brings us the fascinating inside story of Zapple, the Beatles' experimental and spoken word label. Appointed as manager of Zapple in 1968 by Paul McCartney, Miles set up the label and planned its proposed list of radical releases in co-operation with the Fab Four.

Featuring many of the author's previously unpublished photos, The Zapple Diaries is written as an engaging journal and illustrated with rare memorabilia from the author's archive (now housed at the British Library). As Barry Miles takes us through this period of his career, he grants the reader unique insights into the lives and working methods of many of the leading literary and countercultural figures of the era. Artists discussed along the way include Charles Bukowski, Richard Brautigan, Frank Zappa, Allen Ginsberg, Lawrence Ferlinghetti and the City Lights poets, and many others.

Barry Miles's leading role within Zapple's recording projects mean that The Zapple Diaries gives us a unique insight into the passions and ambitions of the members of the Beatles as they began to develop individual careers as solo artists. The book includes self-contained feature spreads on topics featured in the narrative including items detailing Barry Miles's relentless travel schedule and his home-from-home, the famed Chelsea Hotel and its numerous bohemian inhabitants.

Miles records the increasing tensions developing within Apple Corps as he shuttled between the USA and Apple HQ in London. He documents the Beatles disquiet over the appointment of Allen Klein as Business Manager of Apple Corps, the eventual closure of Zapple, and the final breakup of the Beatles. The Zapple Diaries is packed with a winning combination of great stories, rare illustrations and beautiful designwork. A highly readable work of cultural history, the book is sure to please both dedicated collectors and avid fans.

Released in the UK 28 Sept. 2015, due to be released in USA March 1, 2016.

Hardcover: 224 pages
Publisher: Peter Owen Publishers
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0720618606
ISBN-13: 978-0720618600
Product Dimensions: 16.4 x 2.5 x 24.6 cm

Links:
Amazon (UK)
Amazon (USA Pre-order)

The Nation's favourite Beatles number one.

TV alert: As part of the promotion for the re-release of The Beatles '1' album on CD and the new BluRay/DVD editions, ITV in the UK has scheduled a new two hour programme called 'The Nation's Favourite Beatles Number One' on Wednesday 11th November at 8:00pm.

The programme uses extraordinary footage from a number of sources, including ITV's own archives and rare and exclusive footage from Apple – from the only surviving clips of the band playing in Liverpool’s iconic Cavern club in 1962, to the band’s final, public performance on the roof of the Apple building seven years later.

The programme also features appearances from Beatles fans like Michael Palin, Sandie Shaw, David Tennant, Twiggy, Björn Ulvaeus and Sue Johnston, who was a Cavern club regular herself, talking about the tracks.

Across 120 minutes, this prime-time celebration of the biggest and most influential band the world has ever seen uses extraordinary footage from a number of sources, including ITV's own archives and rare and exclusive footage from the Beatles’ company Apple Corps – from the only surviving clips of the band playing in Liverpool’s iconic Cavern club in 1962, to the band’s final, public performance on the roof of the Apple building seven years later.

Produced by Shiver, ‘The Nation’s Favourite’ format has previously counted down the hits of musical sensations and genres including Abba, Elvis, Queen, and Motown.

The Nation's Favourite Beatles Number One is commissioned for ITV by Priya Singh, Commissioning Editor, Factual and Richard Klein, Director of Factual.

Commissioning Editor Priya Singh said: “The Beatles are a band that have defined popular culture and music for decades and so we're thrilled to be celebrating their hits on ITV. Everyone's got a favourite Beatles number one - but which is yours and which will be the nation's?”

The programme is executive produced by Mark Robinson and produced by Stephen McGinn and John Piper.

Executive Producer Mark Robinson said: “The Beatles have had more number one singles in the UK than any other band. It’s a tough call to even start predicting what might be voted the nation’s favourite.

“It’s extraordinary to think that The Beatles’ output changed so dramatically within seven years – these are 27 songs that chart that extraordinary revolution in popular music”.

Producer of a large number of The Beatles' promotional clips was Tony Bramwell, for The Beatles' film company Subafilms which later became Apple films. He has also been interviewed for the programme, talking about the "litte films I made".

WE CAN WORK IT OUT There were three versions of the 'We Can Work It Out' video filmed at Twickenham Film Studios on 23 November 1965. This is version 2 in which all four Beatles are wearing black polo neck sweaters.

Record store in Amsterdam

From Monday to Friday last week, I've been in Amsterdam in Holland. And that's where I was when the new Beatles product was due to be released on Friday. So a Beatles friend of mine and I went to a record store to buy a few copies. Actually I was a bit surprised when I found out not only that there was a Beatles poster in the window advertising the new releases, but a bit of hoopla around the event was in the store. Everyone who bought a configuration of "Beatles 1" that day could enter a lottery, free of charge, and the ones who won got their pick of two large Beatles prints. An advertising poster for "Beatles 1" was hanging on the wall, with a black and white image of the lads from the "Revolution" video.

Sorry about the quality, I had no idea it was going to turn out so blurry.

There seems to have been a problem somewhere along the line, regarding the Limited Edition "Beatles 1+" in it's Blu-ray configuration. As I had already ordered this package from Amazon in the UK, I was alerted by mail that there was a problem and that the content of what I had ordered had changed. I had make note of the fact that the Amazon page for the Blu-ray edition "Beatles 1+" was a bit mixed up, some times referring to the video discs as DVDs, and sometimes as Blu-ray discs. Now everything had been reverted back to DVDs and I had to cancel my order and order it again, this time from a page which advertised the edition as Blu-ray discs consistently.
Now that I was in an actual record store, and not a virtual one, I witnessed that they had every edition for sale, except the Limited Blu-ray edition of "Beatles 1+". The same thing has been reported from other countries in Europe, plus Amazon UK has yet to confirm shipment of my new order, so it looks like this edition has been delayed here in Europe. Back in the record store in Amsterdam, my friend bought the DVD version of the Limited Edition "Beatles 1+", and since I was expecting to get the Blu-ray edition of that same package in the mail when I got home, I went for the yellow 1CD + 1DVD of "Beatles 1". Since I'm still waiting for my "Beatles 1+" edition, I'll leave it to others (below) to review the full package.

The version I purchased in Amsterdam: 1CD / 1DVD.

It also sounds like, from reports by Beatles fans unsuccessfully trying to get hold of the new release, that it was understocked in most of the record stores. A lot of people who arrived late in the day to purchase the release have had to visit quite a few record stores to find copies.

Blu-ray.com has provided us with the following details regarding video quality:
The contents of the two Blu-ray discs are listed below, along with the resolution of each track (resolutions seem to be independent of the original source formats, e.g., some supposed 16mm or 35mm sources are presented interlaced while some that look to have been sourced from broadcast video are progressive).

Beatles 1
Love Me Do (1080i, 29.970 fps)
From Me to You (1080i, 29.970 fps)
She Loves You (1080i, 29.970 fps)
I Want to Hold Your Hand (1080i, 29.970 fps)
Can't Buy Me Love (1080i, 29.970 fps)
A Hard Day's Night (1080i, 29.970 fps)
I Feel Fine (1080p, 23.976 fps)
Eight Days a Week (1080p, 23.976 fps)
Ticket to Ride (1080p, 23.976 fps)
Help! (1080p, 23.976 fps)
Yesterday (1080i, 29.970 fps)
Day Tripper (1080i, 29.970 fps)
We Can Work It Out (1080p, 23.976 fps)
Paperback Writer (1080i, 29.970 fps)
Yellow Submarine (1080p, 23.976 fps)
Eleanor Rigby (1080p, 23.976 fps)
Penny Lane (1080p, 23.976 fps)
All You Need Is Love (1080i, 29.970 fps)
Hello, Goodbye (1080i, 29.970 fps)
Lady Madonna (1080p, 23.976 fps)
Hey Jude (1080i, 29.970 fps)
Get Back (1080p, 23.976 fps)
The Ballad of John and Yoko (1080i, 29.970 fps)
Something (1080p, 23.976 fps)
Come Together (1080i, 29.970 fps)
Let It Be (1080p, 23.976 fps)
The Long and Winding Road (1080p, 23.976 fps)

Beatles 1+
Twist and Shout (1080i, 29.970 fps)
Baby It's You (1080i, 29.970 fps)
Words of Love (1080i, 29.970 fps)
Please, Please Me (1080i)
I Feel Fine (1080p, 23.976 fps)
Day Tripper (1080i, 29.970 fps)
Day Tripper (3rd version) (1080p, 23.976 fps)
We Can Work It Out (1080p, 23.976 fps)
Paperback Writer (1080i, 29.970 fps)
Rain (1080i, 29.970 fps)
Rain (alternate) (1080i, 29.970 fps)
Strawberry Fields Forever (1080p, 23.976 fps)
Within You Without You/Tomorrow Never Knows (1080i, 29.970 fps)
A Day in the Life (1080p, 23.976 fps)
Hello, Goodbye (1080i, 29.970 fps)
Hello, Goodbye (alternate) (1080i, 23.976 fps)
Hey Bulldog (1080i, 29.970 fps)
Hey Jude (1080i, 29.970 fps)
Revolution (1080i, 29.970 fps)
Get Back (1080i, 29.970 fps)
Don't Let Me Down (1080i, 29.970 fps)
Free as a Bird (1080i, 29.970 fps)
Real Love (1080i, 29.970 fps)

The Beatles 1+ Deluxe is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Apple and Capitol Music with AVC encoded transfers in both 1080i and 1080p (see above for a list of the various resolution presentations), and in a variety of aspect ratios, most of which hover around the 1.33:1 size (some are a bit narrower, a few get to wider aspect ratios like 1.66:1). As should probably be expected from a compilation like this one, video quality is quite variable, with some of the broadcast videos having baked in issues like ghosting, tracers and combing artifacts. The more professionally produced items, especially those on 35mm and 16mm, look significantly better, with very good (if perhaps not exceptional) levels of detail, and some great color (especially during the psychedelic Sgt. Pepper era). The 16mm films show requisite (heavy) grain, and the finer grain field of the 35mm elements is also generally organic looking. Whatever restorative efforts which were undertaken have resulted in elements which are largely problem free, at least in terms of damage that can be ameliorated with digital tools.

Steve Shorten has gone through all of the videos on the 'Beatles 1+' set with a fine-toothed comb, and has this to report. Here's what we get. Aside from the TV show clips, the videos for:

- Ticket to Ride
- Help!
- I Feel Fine (both versions)
- Day Tripper (two versions)
- We Can Work it Out (two versions)
- Paperback Writer (Ed Sullivan version)
- Strawberry Fields Forever
- All You Need Is Love (colorized version)
- Hello Goodbye (all three versions)
- A Day in the Life
- Lady Madonna
- Get Back (1969 version)*
- The Ballad of John and Yoko
- Something
- Within You Without You/Tomorrow Never Knows
- Don't Let Me Down (from LIB Naked)
- Come Together
- Free As a Bird
- Real Love (version 2)
- Hey Jude (version 1)*

are all the original untouched restored edits (plus Eleanor Rigby and The Long and Winding Road which are ripped from their respective feature films).

*Get Back has an asterisk because the common copy of it is a slightly different edit at one point, but I believe it's because missing footage from that print was replaced with a section duplicated from later in the film, so that shouldn't count.

Original promo films that have had slight reediting done (insertions of small frames or shots that don't affect the overall experience of the original films) are:

- Paperback Writer (Chiswick)
- Rain (Chiswick)
- Penny Lane
- Hey Bulldog (two shots have been swapped to correct an error in assembly back in 1999)
- Revolution
- Let it Be

The 'Let It Be' promo has been recreated from the same footage from the film, but fails to crossfade between the opening four closeups of John, Paul, George & Ringo. Instead, the clips are connected with straight edits. Either someone wasn't paying attention or some of the material needed to reconstruct this accurately was lost when the original opticals were composited back in 1970.

Completely new creations for these discs are:

- Love Me Do
- Eight Days a Week
- Yellow Submarine
- Rain (b/w)
- Get Back (Naked) (this is a composite of the two versions released in 2003)
- Baby It's You
- Hey Jude (second version)*

*Hey Jude: the version on disc 1 is a complete original take which formed the majority of the version that aired on the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour (that version substituted an ending from an otherwise unused take). This unedited original take was distributed by Apple as a music video in the wake of The Beatles' Anthology. The version on disc 2 is a new edit which interpolates shots from the unused take into the basic take which aired in the UK on Frost on Sunday. While the 1+ disc has inserted footage from take 3 into take 2, they are video insertions only. The audio remains take 2 throughout.

The Beatles posted this version of the 1 poster, full of positive reviews from small and big sources.

Thanks to Steve Shorten for clearing that up. The 'Please Please Me' video is from the Ed Sullivan Show but the sound has been piched up. They pitched The Beatles up because as we all know, the Beatles tuned down for the 1st Ed Sullivan show, and Martin and Okell have put some elements of the record in the background. In 'A Hard Day's Night', the studio guitar solo (and piano) has been flown in to the Paris footage. There was no call for that, the live solo was fine! As for the Intertel 1965 videos, it looks as though they've deinterlaced all the videos and slowed them down to 24fps, hardly an improvement!
The rest of the videos are great, though. Those sourced from 16mm film will be grainy, because that's inherent in the film. Why they haven't removed the 'hair' from the 'Long and Winding Road' film is a mystery. The Shea Stadium clips used to accompany 'Eight Days A Week' look as great as ever, and they have managed to edit this video so well that newbies will believe that The Beatles are actually performing this song in concert. Each clip on disc 1 is preceded by an animated title screen, which looks quite quaint, and a bit on the cutesy side. As bonus material, Paul McCartney doesn't have much to add in his audio commentary, except that he tells the story of a man named Bill in the 'Hey Jude' video, a story which we only heard last year from Lizzie Bravo, but is otherwise not a story most people know about.

"Homeless Bill", performing with the band.

Ringo takes a look at some of the videos, but doesn't provide much insight either. They both agreed that Ringo's horse had a habit of running away with him during 'Penny Lane'. Talking about 'Penny Lane', isn't it funny that all the Beatles were riding on white horses, except for one, and that was of course that Dark Horse himself, George Harrison!



So much for video. Blu-ray.com has this to say about the new audio, as it is on the video discs: The changes here may rankle some purists, but when taken on pure fidelity terms, there's very little to complain about here. Some of the actual live performances suffer a bit from clarity issues, but generally speaking, this is a precise sounding release that offers excellent clarity and at times some relatively extreme stereo imaging in the 2.0 versions. The surround iterations are interesting, with an attempt to thrust the listener "inside" the music, though several of the tunes seemed to be awfully "wet" (i.e., lots of reverb) sounding. Due to that fact, some of the surround mixes sound slightly diffused at time, and those wanting a more focused "archival" sound will probably want to opt for the stereo versions.

Free As A Bird/Real Love - new audio mixes/versions:
McCartney's vocals are way more up front, almost singing in unison with Lennon on especially 'Free As A Bird', but apart from that, the biggest differences are in regards to Harrison's performance. His guitar lines in the first half of 'Real Love' are alternative takes and 'Free As A Bird' even has a different vocal take by him. Also, the intro to 'Real Love' is completely overhauled, Lennon's home demo doesn't come in until after the intro, the backing doesn't come in fully until the second (half of the) verse. On 'Free As A Bird', you now hear John say 'Turned out nice again'. On the original release that phrase was played backwards, which made it sound like John was saying his own name. So these are new creations, made to make these songs sound better.

The CD
Whereas the video disc is a mixed bag of audio with bits coming from the TV and concert performances, the CD sticks to the studio versions. As for the sound of the remixed CD, in general most of the vocals and instruments sound clearer and with better fidelity, this is due to them coming from the original studio session tapes and not from the downmixed masters, which of course are all at least one generation further down the tape duplication line, some more. Furthermore, instruments, vocals and sound effects have been placed differently than what we are used to from older stereo mixes. The 1999 stereo mixes from 'Yellow Submarine Songtrack' showed us what to expect, but these are all mixed anew again. 'Eleanor Rigby' sounds mainly like the YSS stereo mix, but has been redone to synch up McCartney's vocals better with the backing. 'Paperback Writer' finally has the bass more prominent in the mix, mimicking the mono single mix. Too bad though, that they have mixed the "Frére Jacques' backing vocals so low that they are almost inaudible. The tambourine in "Ticket To Ride" now occupies it's own little space and you can sit and just listen to that element all through the song. 'Can't Buy Me Love' now has crystal clear vocals in the opening, while the version we know always was a bit muffled. The backing track is in the middle, the vocals and guitar solo are spread across the stereo field. An extra guitar is on the right during each chorus. On 'A Hard Day's Night', George's lead guitar is so clear you can hear him pluck each string. This is a mixed blessing, as I think the famous intro chord loses a bit of it's original impact. It will take some getting used to. The bongos have also been mixed lower. 'All You Need Is Love' now has a longer fadeout, but still not as long as in the mono mix. 'Greensleeves' has been mixed out, as per the copyright problem with that song. Whereas 'The Long and Winding Road' has the audio from the released version without Spectorization on the promo, Spector's version has been used on the CD.

On the "Beatles 1" download album on iTunes, the 2009 remastered versions were replaced by the 2015 remixes at the stroke of midnight, Nov 6. There is nothing on the store page that acknowledges this, except a new @2015 Calderstone Productions copyright.

The accompanying book with the Limited Edition 'Beatles 1+' is not available to take out and read on it's own, as it is glued together with the plastic cases that hold the discs, which is a bit annoying.

Repro Pipes of Peace single sleeve.

In the USA, Barnes & Noble has released exclusive editions of the Tug Of War and Pipes Of Peace LPs.  Each one comes with a "Manufactured in the USA" bonus 45 with picture sleeve.

Tug Of War [B&N Exclusive] [2 LP 180g]
EXCLUSIVE VERSION: Includes a Limited Edition 7" single of "Ebony and Ivory" with "Rainclouds" in a color sleeve reproduction of the original release.

Link

Pipes Of Peace [B&N Exclusive] [2 LP 180g]
EXCLUSIVE VINYL VERSION Includes a Limited Edition 7" single of "Pipes of Peace" with " So Bad" in a color sleeve reproduction of the original release.

Link

Label design.

This Beatles drum head sold for $2,125,000.00.

The 1962 J-160E Gibson guitar
Saturday November 7, Julien’s Auctions sold what many have called the most important Beatle guitar to ever hit the auction block for a record $2,410,000 price. The John Lennon original 1962 J-160E Gibson Acoustic guitar had been lost for over 50 years and represented a rare and significant guitar to John Lennon’s history.

It’s September of 1962 and The Beatles’ John Lennon and George Harrison each purchase "jumbo" J-160E Gibson acoustic guitars from Rushworth’s Music House in Liverpool for £161. Never would one imagine that the guitars would become so significantly important to the history of the Beatles nor engage such an undeniably intriguing story of its future whereabouts. When purchased by two of the members of the Fab Four the guitars were the only ones of their type in the country which were said to have been flown to England by jet from America after being specially ordered. The two guitars were identical apart from the serial numbers, and they likely were mixed up as they were delivered - George ended up with John's guitar and John with George's.

Both guitars in the studio. Note the old drum head logo.

The Beatles drum head
The most famous of the seven known Beatles drop-T logo drum heads — The Ed Sullivan drum head — was also auctioned today at Julien’s Auctions, bringing in a final price of $2,125,000.00. Aside from its status as the most celebrated of the seven drop-T logo drum skins, the Ed Sullivan Show head (also known as drum head #2) is the only one that was featured on a Beatles album jacket. It appeared on the covers of the Capitol LPs "The Beatles Second Album" and "Something New" as well as on the interior gatefolds of Capitol’s "The Beatles Story" and Parlophone’s "Beatles for Sale".

Other stuff
Notable highlights from the auction also included The Beatles signed “Please, Please Me” album cover (sold for $28,125), a lock of John Lennon’s hair and inscribed card (sold for $25,000), a Beatles signed baseball 1966 (sold for $100,000), John Lennon prescription glasses (sold for $25,000) and The Beatles Yellow Submarine sculpture (sold for $20,000). More information on the auction at juliensauctions.com

Black and white work print from one of the cameras during the "Let It Be" sessions.