The Beatles.

From a recent interview with Giles Martin we found published in the Times of India:

In dealing with their catalogue, did you ever feel overwhelmed? Like working on music that is revered the world over...
- Yes and no is the answer. If you ask Paul McCartney whether it's sacred or not, he'll say that he wouldn't want their work to be 'covered in dust'. If there are ways to improve things technically, we should do it. And I think with these new mixes on 1, they just sound more powerful because they are a throwback to the mono mixes. And obviously, we have surround sound we well. It is sacred in the sense that it means so much to so many people and the music is so important to the world. At the same time, you can't be frozen in your actions. You can't not walk on holy ground, if that makes sense.

Are they best listened to in mono or stereo?
- Some of it was created for mono. But you create a song as a 'song' and not as mono or stereo. The Beatles spent way more time mixing their mono versions than stereo. On Strawberry Fields Forever, there's a mellotron pulse that works so well with John's voice. On the stereo version, that mellotron is on the right speaker and so it doesn't work as well. These new mixes are actually mono on stereo, so to speak. Taxman and Paperback Writer are such great tracks. The new mixes, called 1, are sort of like mono, but in stereo. So, it sounds very powerful.



What's your favourite Beatles track from a producer's standpoint?
- A Day In The Life. I love the bass playing, I love Ringo's drumming and John Lennon's voice. And added to that, the fact that it has such a lovely orchestral score. The band recorded a rhythm track — John on guitar, Paul on piano, Ringo playing maracas and George on congas. That's the bedrock of the whole song. Paul and Ringo played bass and drums later together. Ringo's drums are almost backwards drumming. Ringo's a drummer who plays songs, as opposed to just beats.

Signed promo photo.

Andy White — who played drums for The Beatles on a version of "Love Me Do," in 1962 — died on Monday, at the age of 85. A native of Glasgow, White had lived for many years in Caldwell, New Jersey.

White also played on the Tom Jones hit "It’s Not Unusual," and worked with a broad range of other artists, including Chuck Berry, Rod Stewart, Herman’s Hermits, Marlene Dietrich, Burt Bacharach and the BBC Scottish Radio Orchestra. In 2008, he made a guest appearance on the Smithereens album, B-Sides the Beatles, and he worked as a consultant on the 2012 movie "Not Fade Away," which is about a fictional ’60s rock band.

Andy White was a well established studio drummer in 1962, and he was called in for the second "Love Me Do" session with Ringo Starr. George Martin was concerned with the quality of Ringo Starr's drumming on the original "Love Me Do" on September 4, and so arranged for an experienced session drummer, Andy White, to play on the September 11 session. Andy already knew about the Beatles, because he had married one of Liverpool's "Vernon Girls", and she had told him about them. White was paid a standard fee of £5 15s (£5.75). While White drummed, Ringo played tambourine, effectively making White one of the candidates to the "fifth Beatle" title. On the B-side, Ringo plays maracas while White handles the drums on "P.S. I Love You".

Andy White in later days.

"It was a really enjoyable experience,"White told the British newspaper The Daily Record in 2012, "and what impressed me was they were doing some really good stuff, but it was all their own stuff and was really new".

"Everything else at the time was a copy of music from the States, which was very successful, but they were doing something new and you could tell it was something different and very special. But I didn’t know just how special it would become."

White's first wife was one of Liverpool's "Vernon Girls", through her he already knew about The Beatles.

Starr summed up the episode this way in the 2000 book, "The Beatles Anthology": "George didn’t want to take any more chances and I was caught in the middle. I was devastated that George Martin had his doubts about me. I came down ready to roll and heard, ‘We’ve got a professional drummer.’ He has apologised several times since, has old George, but it was devastating — I hated the bugger for years; I still don’t let him off the hook!"

A version with Starr on drums did come out as a single in the U.K. and several other countries including Canada and Norway, but the White version was used on the Beatles U.K. debut album, "Please Please Me", and as the U.S. single.

Andy White apparently came up with the snappy signature drum fills in "Please Please Me" as recorded on Sept. 11, 1962, and Ringo apparently followed the template that White set down when the Beatles re-recorded the tune on Nov. 26th. White's version of "Please Please Me" is on "Anthology 1".

Andy White moved to Caldwell after meeting his second wife Thea, who was a New Jersey resident, in 1983. He played in Scottish pipes and drums bands and also worked as a drumming instructor.

Andy White with the 12" single from 1982 with both his and the Ringo version of "Love Me Do".

When the "Love Me Do" single was rereleased for its 50th anniversary in 2012, EMI made the mistake of producing the single with White's version of the song, and there was also a printing error on the B-side, as they had used the wrong R-series catalogue number. After complaints by the fans, EMI corrected the first mistake on a second pressing, but the catalogue number was never corrected.

The correct catalogue number is R4949.

2015 vinyl edition of "Beatles 1" with contents.

The new vinyl edition of "Beatles 1" has finally shown up on Amazon, and this picture of the contents of the package shows that four photo prints of the famous psychedelic Beatles portraits by Richard Avedon will be among the included goodies, alongside the singles sleeves poster and the special inner sleeve, also depicting singles covers from around the world.

Poster depicting singles sleeves from around the world.

This is exactly as it looks like in my collection, but mine is an original from 2001 on EMI. Universal Music released their equivalent as late as December last year, so this new edition may seem to be quite superfluous. It has however been released in order to update the records so that they now contain the new stereo mixes by Giles Martin and Sam Okell.

For a while though, Martin and Okell thought they were only going to provide the new mixes for the DVD/Blu-ray collection, it seems that adding the CD to the package, and updating it with the new stereo mixes was a late decision, possibly made even after the release of the remastered "Beatles 1" on vinyl in December 2014. Probably, Universal reckoned that by making it a CD with bonus DVDs, it would be eligible to enter the records charts. Hence, they deviced a plan to do an update of the "1" album with the new stereo mixes to justify releasing it again, so shortly after it was released remastered on CD in 2011, and remastered on vinyl last year.

The vinyl edition of the album was only released in the UK initially, but has been available as import from the UK elsewhere in the world. The 2014 vinyl release was manufactured in Holland, according to small transparent stickers on the shrink wrap. What's especially nice about the vinyl edition of this album is that each of the four sides represents appropriately different styles and phases of The Beatles' career. Side 1 is Mersey Beat, side 2 is folk-rock/pre-psychedelic style,  side 3 is purely experimental/psychedelic style and side 4 is back-to-basics/rock style.

"Beatles 1" on vinyl will be released on December 4, 2015.

The new album, Ringo Starr: The Lifetime of Peace & Love Tribute Concert.

The music of Ringo Starr was celebrated on January 20th, 2014 at a tribute concert in Los Angeles, an event that also saw the Beatles drummer honoured with the Lifetime Of Peace & Love Award on behalf of the David Lynch Foundation. Recordings from the evening's concert will now be made available on a ten track album on December 4 via Communion Records, and the sales will benefit The David Lynch Foundation. The record has been mixed by Bob Clearmountain. On the ten tracks from that evening's concert, the performers were backed by a house band comprised of Don Was, Peter Frampton, Kenny Aranoff, Steve Lukather and Benmont Tench. Among the participating artists, tracks have been selected from The Head and the Heart ("Octopus’s Garden"), Brendan Benson ("Don’t Go Where the Road Don’t Go"), Joe Walsh ("Back Off Boogaloo"),  Ben Harper ("Walk With You") and Ben Folds ("Oh My My"). The album ends with Ringo himself taking centre stage, with renditions of "Photograph," "Boys" and "With a Little Help From My Friends." Listen to The Head and the Hearts "Octopus’s Garden" on YouTube.

Tracks:
1. Ark Life - “Can’t Do It Wrong”
2. The Head and the Heart - “Octopus’s Garden”
3. Brendan Benson - “Don’t Go Where The Road Don’t Go”
4. Bettye LaVette - “It Don’t Come Easy”
5. Ben Folds - “Oh My My”
6. Ben Harper - “Walk With You”
7. Joe Walsh - “Back Off Boogaloo”
8. Ringo Starr - “Photograph”
9. Ringo Starr - “Boys”
10. Ringo Starr - “With A Little Help From My Friends”

The Caravan panel

In the upcoming auction of Ringo Starr and Barbara Bach's belongings, lot 712 of 1367 is John Lennon's caravan panel & Photograph. The panel is depicted above. The description goes: The caravan itself was purchased by Lennon in 1967 as a gift for son Julian's fourth birthday. Lennon had the caravan custom painted with a Sgt. Pepper theme by The Fool who also painted his famous psychedelic Rolls Royce in a similar motif. Lennon and family reportedly used the caravan for vacations before it made it's final journey back to the garden of Tittenhurst Park in Ascot where it remained until Lennon's assassination. Starr acquired the caravan and had it fully restored in 1983 by John Pockett. This portion of the caravan features a back window with drape, and the chains that originally held the back gate, but most iconic is the bold Sgt. Pepper logo featured on the back panel. Together with a framed image of the caravan as it was kept at the Starr's English country home in Surrey.

The opening bid for this item has been set to $3,000, and it has been estimated to reach around $6-8,000.

As regular readers of this blog may recall, Ringo left his caravan behind when he sold his house, and it was left to decay. The remnants of the caravan was rediscovered in 2012 and a restoration project has been launched to have the caravan ready for the 50th anniversary of Sgt Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band in 2017. We think that Ringo probably never heard about the rediscovery of the caravan and the restoration project, or else he would probably have donated the panel to the charity project, don't you think? If any of my readers have a way of getting in touch with Ringo, please alert him to this project and suggest for him to pull the item and give it to the worthy cause. Thank you.

Links:
Auction site
The restoration project
Our blog post about the caravan

Back in the sunshine again, The Beatles' 1.

Universal Music got what they wanted, The Beatles'"1" compilation has reentered "Billboard" 200 at #6 after it has been reissued alongside an accompanying video disc or two. As reported here, the "1" themed release of the Beatles' promotional music clips was actually going to be just that, but the powers that be decided to also remix the best selling "1" CD in new stereo and package it with the video disc(s). That move was a smart one, because now the release again qualifies for the album charts. In USA, the album moved 40,000 copies — including 39,000 physical copies during the last week to reenter the chart at #6. The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week based on multi-metric consumption, which includes traditional album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA).

In the U.K., the album has done one better, reentering the top 100 official album chart at #5, according to the industry standard, The Official U.K. Charts Company.

No. 1 in Japan!
In Sweden, the "1" album has reentered "Topplistan" at #18. In Ireland, it's back at #6, while the highest reentry is Japan, where we find the album at #3 in the daily chart today, but at #1 in the weekly chart! In the Netherlands, "1" is at #3.  Many charts are still not published for this week, here in Norway the record charts are published Thursdays.

In Australia, we didn't think the album will be such a success, because reports by readers of the blog indicate that the new "1+" release (which is the one version most fans will want to have) was not automatically ordered by many record shops as standard stock, customers have had to pre-order the release and no extra copies were ordered. UMI has a job to do there. Despite these reports, the album has reentered the Australian charts, although a tad disappointingly at #45.

The original release spent eight nonconsecutive weeks atop the Billboard 200 during 2000 and 2001.  It has sold more than 11 million copies in the U.S., according to the Recording Industry Association of America. Worldwide, "1" has sold over 31 million copies and was the best selling album of the decade spanning 2000-2009.

Mystery session photo from the Get Back book.

At the end of the "Get Back" book, you know, the book that accompanied the deluxe boxed set of "Let It Be", there's a set of photos that were clearly taken after the filming of what was to become the "Let It Be" movie was over. John has a week or so old beard, and Paul is clean shaven. These photos have puzzled Beatles historians for years. When were they taken? What are they rehearsing or recording?

Page from the Get Back book

Ever since the internet enabled Beatles fans to interact in discussions, the photos have been speculated about. One thing that was established, was that the lads were depicted inside their own Apple studio. As you know, the studio was not finished, Magic Alex had failed to deliver, and they had to borrow equipment in order to use it for the last part of "Let It Be". This equipment had to be returned, and the studio needed to be refurbished. However, the equipment could still be there at the time when these photos were taken. The film sessions had to end by the end of January because Ringo was due to begin filming "The Magic Christian" February 3. But filming at this stage was confined to Twickenham and "London-area locations" until May 2.

John at the mystery session.

And he still had weekends off, plus it's not certain that he was acquired to film every weekday, either. Recording engineer Glyn Johns and Billy Preston were separately in America in early February. George Harrison was in hospital from 7-15 February to have his tonsils removed. Like the other photos in the "Get Back" book, the photos were taken by Ethan Russell, and he was also the one who documented that final photo session at Tittenhurst Park later in the year. The Beatles are known to have re-recorded parts of "Don't Let Me Down" at an undocumented session; the vocals on the session tapes and the single are different, with an extra overdub having been added sometime after January 1969. John Lennon and Paul McCartney both corrected elements of their vocals parts, with Lennon double-tracking his during the middle eight and ending.


Studio documentation at Apple was non-existing, it was not like at Abbey Road where everything was written down and filed in the archives. People just had to guess what the Beatles were doing. Was it overdubs for the upcoming single release of "Don't Let Me Down" as B-side to "Get Back"? Again, it was Mark Lewisohn who finally make a breakthrough. In 2007 he uncovered a letter from Peter Brown, on Beatles business, dated 18 February 1969, which mentions that on the 20th "they will be recording at the Apple studio". It's likely that these photos were taken on that occasion, which was a Thursday. So, what did they record? Perhaps the aforementioned overdubs?

A "mystery session" photo from the book that accompanied the stereo vinyl boxed set.

Or perhaps they started the recording of "I Want You", which they were to continue working on at Trident Studios two days later, on Saturday the 22. If they really started recording "I Want You" at Apple, it was probably no good. Perhaps they just rehearsed the song.

At Trident Studios in London's Soho that Saturday, The Beatles recorded 35 takes of "I Want You (She's So Heavy)", which at this stage had the working title "I Want You". Glyn Johns was the producer, and Billy Preston played an organ on the recordings. John Lennon sang live vocals on each of the takes.

Links:
Mystery Session page on Beatlesource
Steve Hoffman Music Corner discussion
The Beatles Bible

Still from Paul McCartney's music video to "Appreciate", his 184th, according to this index.

Mike Carrera has done it again, and sent me this index over Paul McCartney's music videos.
We did it with The Beatles and now is the turn to Paul as a solo artist.
The official 3 DVD box 'McCartney Years' only gave us 45 videos at the time, but to date there are 189 official video clips, plus 17 additional where Paul participates, for a total of 206 videos! (and a few more that are not available yet)

Let’s be very careful because many fake/ false videos are in circulation, not only on youtube but also on many bootleg compilations over the past 20 years or more! And also many that were extracted directly from TV shows, TV Specials, Concerts, etc.

Let’s be clear:
‘James Paul McCartney’: performances from this TV show are NO actual videos (‘Live and let Die’, ‘Uncle Albert’, ‘My Love’, ‘Mary Had A Little Lamb’, etc). Same with the TV Specials/DVDs: “Put it There”, “In The World Tonight”, etc, or the ‘Broad Street’ movie.
The  ‘album trailer’ for the LP ‘Band on The Run’ is also NOT an actual videoclip.

This is the list for all the known and also many unreleased and sometimes unknown by the fans, original videoclips. You won’t find any "video" here, extracted from the TV shows listed before. Any contribution/mistake report, etc are welcome!

Note: All the videos with this (*) mark, are available with his original slate or clocks. (sometimes more than one)

PAUL McCARTNEY VIDEO COLLECTION 1970- 2015
1-Maybe I’m Amazed #1 (1970)*
2-Maybe I’m Amazed #2 (1993)*
Version #1 and #2 are almost the same except for the aspect ratio plus the audio mix.

1993 version with audio from the new CD edition

3-Maybe I’m Amazed #3 (2001)*
A new version made to promote ‘Wingspan’.

4-Three Legs *
5-Heart of The Country  *

6-Mary Had a Little Lamb #1 (Farmyard with Live vocal) 
7-Mary Had a Little Lamb #2 (Psychedelic)
8-Mary Had a Little Lamb #3 (Psychedelic with live vocal/Flip Wilson show version)
9-Mary Had a Little Lamb #4 ((Animated) Partial available.

Do not confuse any of these versions with the one made for the TV show ‘James Paul McCartney’. Some seconds of a fifth version not available so far, are hidden inside the menus for the set 'McCartney Years'.

10-Hi Hi Hi  #1 *
11-Hi Hi Hi  #2
Version #1 and #2 are almost the same except for the aspect ratio, the size of the titles, plus both the intro and end is longer in Version #1.
12-Hi Hi Hi  #3 (2001) *
Shows a new edit using between Version #1 and the ‘Rockshow’ performance, along with some extra footage. The audio is also from ‘Rockshow’.

13-C Moon #1
14-C Moon #2
Version #1 and #2 are almost the same except for the aspect ratio, the size of the titles, plus both the intro and end is longer in Version #1.

My Love - two different ones.

15-My Love #1 (edit 1- live vocal version)
16-My Love #2 (edit 2 -live vocal version, alternate cameras) *unreleased
17-My Love #3 (edit 3- studio audio recording, alternate cameras) *unreleased
All four versions comes from the same performance with live audio (do not confuse it with the version for ‘James Paul McCartney’), but all are different camera edits. Version #1 is the common. #2 and #3 comes from private collection and were never broadcast.
18-My Love #4 (edit 1, variation B with studio audio recording)
Same as version # 1 but with different visual effects such as slow motion shots and zoom in Paul's face. The audio uses the studio version, not the live performance.

1993 version of Helen Wheels

19-Helen Wheels #1 (1973)
20-Helen Wheels #2 (1993) *
21-Helen Wheels #3 (SFX 1999 Version)*

1999 version of Helen Wheels.

Version #1 and #2 are almost the same except for the aspect ratio plus the audio mix. #3 adds special effects but is also the same video.

1999 version Band on the run.

22-Band on the Run  #1 (1973)
23-Band on The Run #2 (1999) *
24-Band on the Run #3 (2001 European Version) *
Three different videos. #3 shows some ‘Wings Over Europe’ concert footage of Paul with a moustache, from the final leg of the 1976 tour.

25-Jet #1 (1973) *
26-Jet #2 (1973)
# 1 is the short version and the # 2 the full. Definitely one of the rarest and least circulated videos of Paul, and also the least interesting, as only shows a picture of Paul and Linda with different animations and the lyrics of the song.
27-Jet #3 (1979) *
Taken from ‘Rockshow’, also released in 2001 to promote ‘Wingspan’.

28-Mamunia

29-Junior’s Farm  *
Originally distributed as a video in 1974, taken from the documentary "One Hand Clapping" (unpublished at the time and never officially released until 2010). Do not confuse with the presentation in the TV show "Top Of The Pops" which is included as a bonus on the official box 'McCartney Years'. That's not a music video.

30-Letting Go #1
31-Letting Go #2
Long and short version. Exclusive footage of Wings live during the mini UK tour in September 1975.

32-Venus and Mars/Rockshow #1
33-Venus and Mars/Rockshow #2
Long and short version. Exclusive footage of Wings live during the mini UK tour in September 1975.

34-Listen to What The Man Said (1979) *
Taken from ‘Rockshow’, also released in 2001 to promote ‘Wingspan’.

35-Silly Love Songs   *

36-Let’em In (1979)  *
Taken from ‘Rockshow’, also released in 2001 to promote ‘Wingspan’.

37-Maybe I’m Amazed (1977 Wings Over America)
Video created to promote the live album 'Wings Over America', using collage of photographs, completely different from previous versions.

38-Mull of Kintyre #1 * (Scottish Version)
39-Mull of Kintyre #2 * (Fog Version)
Two different videos, one shot in Scotland and the second on a film set in Elstree Studios in London. Incorrectly, a third version circulates, but is taken from the TV show "The Mike Yarwood Christmas Show" and is not a video clip.

40-With A little Luck  *

Slate for With A Little Luck

41-London Town #1  *
42-London Town #2  *

Slate for London Town.

43-The Oriental Nightfish

44-I’ve Had Enough #1
45-I’ve Had Enough #2  *
The intro for each version is different.

46-Rockestra Theme *

Keefco produced Getting Closer and the other Back To The Egg videos

47-Getting Closer #1   *
48-Getting Closer #2   *
Identical in the video, but with differences in audio mixing. #1 does not include the effects of ambient sound, like the sound of the truck at the beginning or end of it, which are present in #2; plus you can hear the cue signal to the sound track with four "beeps" that were eliminated in the second version.

49-Baby’s Request #1  *
50-Baby’s Request #2
The second version is a slight variation: the colour imaga is in sepia, cropped picture and an effect to make it look like an old movie.

51-Old Siam Sir *

52-Spin it On #1  *
53-Spin it On #2  *
Identical in the video department, but with differences in audio mixing. #2 does not include the effects of ambient sound, like the sound of the plane at the beginning. #1 presents the introduction of Denny Lane "This is It" incomplete, all we hear is "Is it" , #2 is complete and includes the initial guitar riff repeated twice as an echo, before hearing Denny’s voice.

54-Winter Rose/ Love Awake  *

55-Again Again and Again    *

56-Arrow Through Me   *

Goodnight Tonight - a jungle

57-Goodnight Tonight #1 (VERSION A)   *
58-Goodnight Tonight #2 (VERSION A, variation B)
59-Goodnight Tonight #3 (VERSION B, partially available)
60-Goodnight Tonight #4 (VERSION C)
61-Goodnight Tonight #5 (VERSION D) *
62-Goodnight Tonight #6 (VERSION D, variation B) *
Variants for this video can be a nightmare and has caused much confusion among fans and unofficial appearances on bootleg compilations, which always shows the wrong order; fortunately, we have some with original slates, where the type of version (Version A, Version D, for example) is shown.

VERSION  A is the rarest and uses two takes mixed simultaneously, in one of them the camera approaches Paul throughout the video, making faces and gestures not available in any of the other versions; also here are no scenes where McCartney plays the bongos, which does appear in versions B, C and D.

VERSION A VARIATION B  adds an effect to look like an old film and fuzzy but the video is the same. This is the only of the four that is in full colour, since the others available in its entirety, has an effect on startup of black and white when Linda appears with her fan.

VERSION B does not circulate in full today, and shows the group in their “street clothes” and informal, the hair is also normal.

VERSION C is a combination of A, B and adds exclusive footage not available anywhere else. And version D is a combination of A and C only.

VERSION D VARIATION B version differs only in aspect ratio, showing more approaches to faces.
To create more confusion, incorrectly a youtube video shows  a comparison of the "four" versions, which is  wrong and also are ordered wrongly. If you want to see it:



But we must correct the order: top left  is VERSION C, upper right is VERSION A, and the two lower left and right are VERSION D and VERSION D VARIATION B. Version B is not included but many fans of the guy who made it, thinks so.

63-Wonderful Christmastime

64-Coming Up #1 *
65-Coming Up #2 (variation B)*
66-Coming Up #3
Version #1 and #2 are almost the same except for the aspect ratio. #3 adds some different footage.


67-Waterfalls #1
68-Waterfalls #2
Unknown to most, there are two versions, almost identical (#2 starts a little earlier than #1, and the end is longer), but with different audio mix. #1 starts with the chirping of birds while the camera approach the window; and ends with the same ambient noise of nature while Paul turns off the light and closes the window.
In #2, to start the video the sound of birds is quite hidden by the sound of a sheep (bleating) and the barking of a dog; but the end is more dramatic: while Paul was about to close his window, again the bleating of sheep and the barking of the dog is clearer, Paul turns off the light, spend a few seconds and there is a noise as is he fell above a cabinet, things falling, broken glass, the dog barks louder, an owl hoots, birds chirping again and therefore the end extends longer. This is one of the most unknown official video versions of Paul.

69-Seaside Woman  #1 (1980)
70-Seaside Woman  #2 (1986) *
Version #2 was directed by Paul, and shows live action from Linda and the ‘Red Stripes’ mixed with the original animation.

The full version includes yawn by Paul in the very start

 71-Ebony and Ivory *
While running the clock before starting the video, Paul appears yawning during the filming of it, so collectors need to get the full video with the complete slate.

72-Ebony and Ivory (Solo)
* Weird that  this version was omitted from the recent ‘Archive Collection’ series.

73-Take it Away *

Tug of War

74-Tug of War #1 *
75-Tug of War #2 *
#1 is known by all. #2 was in the possession of private video collectors for many years and was unreleased until 2015 on the ‘Archive Collection’ series. It was certainly  one of the rarest unpublished videos, and shows images of Paul recording in the studio 'Keep Under Cover' and the unreleased 'It's Not On' (with audio of 'Tug of War') and talking to Japanese journalists, for example.

76-Here Today
This video also remains unpublished and was not included in the recent Deluxe 'Tug of War'. It is very similar to "Tug of War #2", but does not include Paul talking to journalists, but adds more scenes recording in the studio.
A second version, which is not available in full to date, shows a collage of photos of John and Paul taken by  Linda. Thirteen (13) seconds of this version can be seen on the official youtube channel of Paul, published in October 2015 with material left off from the 'Archive Collection' collection, from 1:02 until 1: 16:


Another version is also in circulation but it’s not official, although many do pass as such, it was created for a TV show, but not by MPL, therefore, is not on the list but here you can see it, remember, not an OFFICIAL VIDEO:

Say Say Say

McCartney started to make real interesting videos.

77-Say Say Say   *

78-Pipes of Peace  *

79-So Bad  *

No More Lonely Nights.

80-No More Lonely Nights   *
81-No More Lonely Nights (disco version) *

Rupert the bear decorates the slate for We All Stand Together.

82-We All Stand Together  *

83-Spies Like Us (UK Version) *
84-Spies Like Us (US Version) *
Although both versions includes slightly different scenes, the easiest way to identify  is in the final part: The US version includes the actresses Vanessa Angel and Donna Dixon doing backing vocals. They do not appear in the version for England.

The girls are only in the US version, due to the miming ban in UK.

Press, from the London Underground.

85-Press  *

Pretty Little Head

86-Pretty Little Head *
87-Stranglehold *
88-Only Love Remains *


89-Once Upon a Long Ago #1   *
90-Once Upon a Long Ago #2 (live Action Edit) *
The difference between the version known to all, #1, appears at 00:32 after the phrase "Making Up Moons In A Minor Key" and until second 00:39 where there is a completely different aerial shot; and from 00:40 until 1:04, the cartoon or animated sequence is not in this version, so Paul and his band gets more screen time. Once past this time, the rest is the same as Version #1.
Another variant is available: Once Upon a Long Ago # 3 (Live Action Edit-Clip) *, which is only a fragment of 1:29 seconds extracted from Version #2, to show differences versus #1, so it's not considered a different video clip.
Versions #2 and the clip #3 are the most difficult to get and are circulating only among collectors.

Once Upon A Long Ago.

91-Live and Let die (1987 All The Best -clip)
This version uses footage from the 1975 tour in the first part  and from the 1976 tour  after the explosions. Broadcast by VH1.

92-Band On The Run (1987 All The Best)
Extracted from 'Rockshow' to promote Paul’s hits collection. Broadcast by MTV.

My Brave Face

93-My Brave Face (UK Version) *
94-My Brave Face (Spanish Version) *
95-My Brave Face (French Version)
The difference between these versions are the subtitles in English, Spanish and French, the latter two being the most sought after by collectors. A fourth variant, subtitled in Italian was also produced, but is not circulating, only the initial slate.
96-My Brave Face (Japanese version/Making Of) *
Used mainly for the Japanese market to avoid the regular version showing a crazy Japanese fan, but this version was also broadcast in Europe and America.

This One, two completely different videos.

97-This One #1 *
98-This One #2 *
Two completely different videos. #1 was directed by Dean Chamberlain and is known as "Paul with hat"; #2  was directed by Tim Pope, known as the "Swan" Version.

99-Ou Est Le Soleil *

Video game look in this video.

100-Figure of Eight #1 (Short Version)
101-Figure of Eight #2 (Long Version) *
5 min and 10 seconds for #1 and 3 min 59 seconds for #2.
102-Figure of Eight #3 (UK live version)
To promote the live album 'Tripping the Live Fantastic', with completely different images to the two previous versions.

Figure of Eight, short version.

 103-Party Party

Put It There

104-Put it There #1 *
105-Put it There #2 (Variation B)
106-Put it There #3 (Paul Solo version) *
#1 mixes images of Paul with his acoustic guitar, and the story of fathers and sons. The photograph or image for the video is sepia colour. Variation B is identical in content to #1, but the colour is blue.
Version #3 shows only scenes of Paul and is the rarest.


107-We Got Married *
108-P.S. Love Me Do
109-Birthday #1  (Concert version)
110-Birthday #2  (Party version)  *

111-All my Trials #1 (Conceptual Version) *
112-All my Trials #2 (Paul version)
Paul and his band appear only in version # 2.

113-The Long and Winding Road (Tripping The Live Fantastic)
114-I Saw Her Standing There (Tripping The Live Fantastic)
115-Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Tripping The Live Fantastic) *
116-Band on the Run (Tripping The Live Fantastic)
117-Get Back (Tripping The Live Fantastic)
All videos to promote the live album 'Tripping The Live Fantastic' include very different scenes to the ones in Richard Lester's concert film 'Get Back', in many cases, completely different interpretations.

Save the Child from Liverpool Oratorio, versions 1 and 2.

118-Save the Child #1 (Liverpool Oratorio Version 1) *
119-Save the Child #2 (Liverpool Oratorio Version 2) *
Two of the most obscure videos on the film career of Paul, apparently, none were transmitted. The most interesting is #1, many scenes of Paul during rehearsals for the Oratorio, playing in Scotland with his sheepdog Arrow, a child pretending to be McCartney looking from the Liverpool Institute at the Cathedral. #2 is extracted directly from the  'Liverpool Oratorio' video for individual promotion. The two versions circulating among collectors with their respective slates.

Hope of Deliverance

120-Hope Of Deliverance #1 (1992) *
121-Hope Of Deliverance #2 (1993 version with stone) *
The main difference is the duration of the introduction. The version "with stone or grave" is the longest and is the least common.

The rare "Deliverance" video.

122-Deliverance  *

123-Big Boys Bickering
Another obscure video made exclusively for the MTV channel, which was the only US media that could present “offensive” language at that time; using footage from the TV show 'Up Close' with images of animals and people suffering extreme poverty.

Paul called on Industrial Light & Magic for flight scenes.

124-Off The Ground *

125-C’mon People #1 (Long Version) *
126-C’mon People #2 (Short Version) 
The length of  #1 is 5:47, using the album version as audio; and 4 minutes is # 2, using the radio edit as audio but fixing some lines to match with the video.

Kevin Godley directed C'mon People.

127-Get out of My Way

128-Biker Like an Icon #1 (With Performance/ studio audio version)   *
129-Biker Like an Icon #2 (With Performance/ ‘Paul is Live’ audio version) *
130-Biker Like an Icon #3 (Without Performance/ No Paul version)
131-Biker Like an Icon #4 (Performance Only)
132-Biker Like an Icon #5 (3 screen split)
Another nightmare with different versions. #1 and #2 are identical in video, where the story of the girl who follows her motorcycle guy appears in the foreground, and Paul is shown (similar to version #4) on the right side of the screen, but one uses the studio version and the other, the ‘Paul is Live’ audio.
#3 is the most common and Paul does not appear at all. The audio is the studio version.
#4 is only Paul and his band playing the song live exclusively for this video.
In #5, the screen is divided into three parts: right and left images of Paul and his band (similar to Version # 4), and center, the story of the girl. The audio is the studio version.

Version 1 of Biker Like and Icon.

133-Young Boy #1  *
134-Young Boy #2  *
#1 contains images of Paul recording the song and # 2 is the "surf version".


135-The World Tonight #1  *
This differs from the next three by showing Paul walking the streets with his tape recorder on his shoulder, or sitting on a beach "the center of a circle" (to paraphrase the lyrics of the song). This version is presented incomplete in the film 'In The World Tonight', editing the start where in slow motion, you can see Paul turning his head and behind him, a shooting star (this scene appears in the middle of the actual video # 1 not at the beginning, as in the film). This version of 'In The World Tonight' is not a different video, just an edit to highlight this event caught on tape.
136-The World Tonight #2  *
137-The World Tonight #3  (alternate edit) *
Versions # 2 and # 3 are identifiable by the large yellow umbrella charging Paul, but hardly distinguishable. The different scenes are very fast and seems to be the same. In # 2 at the end Paul and Linda give a big kiss and walk away, leaving only their shadows. In # 3, the kiss is shown briefly and ends there, plus you can hear at the beginning of it, over the chords that open the song, Paul saying: "Yeah Man". #3 is the hardest to get.
138-The World Tonight #4
The final version is distinguished mainly to contain scenes of the film 'Father's Day' with the actors Robin Williams and Billy Crystal, along with scenes of Paul taken from versions #1, #2, #3 and adding new shots.

Censored and uncensored versions of Beautiful Night.

139-Beautiful Night #1 (Uncensored version) *
140-Beautiful Night #2 (Censored version)
The only difference between the two is the editing in the body shot of the girl who stars in the video. The uncensored version shows a little more "skin" when she takes off her clothes, the second removes this exposure of her body and was edited for broadcast on television channels like VH1.

141-Little Willow
142-Wide Prairie

143-The Light Comes from Within #1 (Censored version)  *
144-The Light Comes from Within #2 (Uncensored version)  *
To promote Linda posthumous album 'Wide Prairie', another animated video was made. As for the image, the two are identical, but in the audio from the censored version, there is a "whistle" or “cuckoo” effect when Linda says a “bad word” many times. This audio mix is unique and it’s not available on CD to date.

145-No Other Baby #1  *
146-No Other Baby #2 (concert version) *
147-Brown Eyed-handsome man #1 *
148-Brown Eyed-handsome man #2 (concert version) *
Unknown to many, but we have second versions for "No Other Baby" and "Brown Eyed", taken from the charity concert for PETA in 1999, as directed by Joel Gallen.



149-From a lover to a Friend #1
150-From a lover to a Friend #2 (without cameras) *
151-From a lover to a Friend #3


In Version #1, the image was cropped up and down to make it widescreen. #2 named "Without Cameras" is full screen and image is untrimmed, showing details that are not seen in the first. And #3 is similar, but adds scenes unused in #1 and #2, and also adds footage from the Concert for New York in 2001. #2 and #3 circulates among collectors only.


Fake versions are in circulation. This for example:


taken from the Eurochannel TV special for 'Driving Rain', but it’s not different, it simply adds scenes of Paul with the interviewer at the beginning. And we have another, 100% FALSE  made by a fan and that has circulated many years in bootlegs collections, pretending to be real:



152-Freedom #1 *
153-Freedom #2 (revised version) *
154-Freedom #3 (football version)

Three versions of "Freedom".

#1 and #2 are the same, it seems that there is a slight edit in certain shots, but a comparative frame by frame indicates that is the same, but we have two different slates, the # 2 tells us that it is the "revised" version, so the difference is in the audio mix then?
#3 is the rarest and was created especially for ABC during Monday Night Football. Showing images of football players and fans, and scenes of Paul during the Concert for New York.

155-Lonely Road #1 *
156-Lonely Road #2 (studio version)
157-Your Loving Flame #1 *
158-Your Loving Flame #2 (studio version)
"Lonely Road # 2" and "Your Loving Flame # 2" are the rarest, and filmed the same day as "From a Lover to a Friend". Paul is shown in a recording studio, simulating taping these songs, plus scenes from the New York Concert.

159-Driving Rain (web video)
The video of this song was only available on a secret website by entering the DVD 'Back in the US'. The audio presents Paul’s demo for the song.

160-Fine Line #1 *
161-Fine Line #2 (animated) *

162-Jenny Wren #1  *
163-Jenny Wren #2
Version #1 is taken from the 'Chaos At Abbey Road' program recorded live and with an audience, #2 was filmed the same day, but there is no audience and it uses the album version. The video shots are similar, although the opening is the identification key.

164-Dance Tonight
165-Ever Present Past
166-Nod Your Head
167-222
168-Sing the Changes
169-Dance Till We’re high
170-(I Want to) Come Home
171-Blue Sway (2011)

172-My Valentine #1
173-My Valentine #2
174-My Valentine #3
175-My Valentine #4
176-My Valentine #5
177-My Valentine #6
Six different versions, all directed by Paul. One side only, front view only, Natalie Portman only, or Johnny Depp only, etc.

178-The Christmas Song
179-Band On The Run (2014 Version)
180-Call Me Back Again (2014)
181-Rudolph The Red Nosed-Reggae (2014)
182-New
183-Queenie Eye
184-Appreciate
185-Save Us #1
186-Save Us #2
187-Early Days
188-Hope For The Future
189-Say Say Say (2015 Remix)

Extra videos, with collaborations from Paul:
190-Moondreams -Denny Laine & Wings (1977) Filmed by Paul.
191-They Don’t Know -Tracey Ullman (1983) Paul makes a cameo.
192-One Love- Bob Marley (1984) Paul makes a cameo.
193-Let It Be- Ferry Aid (1987)
194-T-Shirt- The Crickets (1988) Paul produces it and also makes a cameo.
195-Veronica- Elvis Costello (1989) Paul does not appear but plays on the song.
196-Drive My Car -RADD #1 (1994)
197-Drive My Car -RADD #2 (1994)
Two slightly different versions. Julian Lennon and Ringo Starr, along with Paul (among many others) appear during this campaign to drive responsibly. Paul’s vocals were recorded exclusively for this version.

"Come Together" by The Smokin' Mojo Filters

198-Come Together -Smokin’ Mojo Filters #1 (1995) *
199-Come Together -Smokin’ Mojo Filters #2 (1995) 
There are two different versions of the video showing scenes of the sessions at Abbey Road.
200-Ballad Of The Skeletons- Allen Ginsberg (1996)  *
Although Paul does not appear in this video, he plays all the instruments that accompany the poet Ginsberg. This version is different from the one released on a single CD of the same name.
201-Appaloosa –Linda McCartney (1988)
Extracted from the promotional video for press (EPK) for the album 'Wide Prairie'. Never promoted as a video clip alone, worth to be included, and shows images of Paul and Linda with their horses.
202-Do They Know It’s Christmas -Band Aid 20 (2004) Paul appears playing Hofner bass on several occasions.
203-He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother- Justice Collective (2012) Paul can be seen singing a few lines.
204-Out of Sight – The Bloody Beetroots (2013)
A modern version for the Fireman song "Nothing Too Much Just Out Of Sight". Paul appears throughout the video along with the Bloody Beetroots.
205-Fourfive Seconds –Rihanna feat. Kanye West & McCartney (2015)
206-Food Revolution Day- Jamie Oliver (2015)
Another rare video with a big collaboration from Paul. This song is not available so far on CD, and Paul sings the chorus throughout the song.

More official videos, not available to date, or complete, or reported to exist:
-Mary Had a Little Lamb #5 (Circus Version) A few seconds are available.
-Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five (From ‘One Hand Clapping’ but eliminating the scenes of Paul with a cigar)
-Rockestra Theme Version #1 : differences from the circulating #2 are unknown.
-Here Today Version #2: collage of photos of John and Paul, taken by Linda . A few seconds are available.
-My Brave Face (Italian Version) Only the slate is available.

Note: Contrary to the myth that has circulated for years, no video of McCartney and Michael Jackson for the song 'The Man' circulates. The collage of home movie footage shot by Paul released this 2015 in the DVD of the 'Archive Deluxe Collection’ for “Pipes of Peace”  is NOT a video clip. If a video was filmed, is still in Paul’s vault.

New title from Misterclaudel.

 Glad to report that all the videos (minus 2, for some reason, the Version #2 for ‘Once Upon a Long Ago’ and Version #2 for ‘Jenny Wren” are not present), including the unreleased versions, are available for THE FIRST TIME EVER on a bootleg release. I’ve been collecting bootlegs since the VHS days and have all the DVDs compiling Paul’s videos, from labels like FAB and others and none of them have had even 50% of the videos including on the new 7 DVD box set “Complete Promo Clip- The Ultimate Collection” that Misterclaudel just released and that made me create this review list. Many videos from other bootleg compilations are taken directly from TV Channels like MTV, VH1, and on this new release, we have many (a few exceptions of course, not all the videos are available from master tapes) without any TV Logo, so, Macca fans will be thrilled. Also, in some cases, all the different slates before the clip starts are present here, plus the final credits for some videos, never shown on tv channels, all those little details that we collectors love! And for those saying Misterclaudel never releases unreleased materials on video, this release will shut down a few mouths.

De Volkskrant Magazine

During the weekend, a story in Dutch newspaper de Volkskrant and elaborated upon in their Magazine edition has shed some light on the circulating Nagra tapes from the Beatles' recordings in January 1969.
As you know, nearly everything the Beatles did while filming the "Let It Be" film was recorded by two mono Nagra tape recorders, as the soundtrack to the film. The tapes captured every rehearsal, discussion between the Beatles etc for a whole month.
The website DutchNews summed up the articles in English:

Dutchmen fight for Beatles Let it Be tapes; claim wrongful arrest in 2003.

Two Dutch Beatles fans are involved in a legal wrangle over their claim to own 504 tapes made during a Beatles recording session in 1969, the Volkskrant reported at the weekend. The two men say the recordings were illegally taken from them by Dutch and British police 12 years ago and should be returned. They also want €700,000 in damages from the Dutch state in compensation for wrongful arrest. 

The tapes feature members of the Beatles composing and in conversation during the Get Back sessions, which became the basis for the film Let it Be. The recordings were made on Nagra tape recorders and are thought to be the basis for a large number of bootlegs. 

Stan Snelleman and Jos Remmerwaal say they bought the tapes from former Apple Records worker Nigel Oliver for the equivalent of €36,000 in 1992 after being outbid by Apple for other tapes at a memorabilia auction. Twelve years later they were caught in a police sting when Oliver got in touch again and claimed to have a serious buyer to take the tapes off their hands. In January 2003, Snelleman and Remmerswaal were arrested and charged with money laundering and fencing stolen property. The case against them was formally dropped in 2007. 

According to Rolling Stone magazine at the time, ‘the arrests in Holland and London climaxed a year-round intercontinental hunt for the tapes, which have been missing since the early 1970s.’ The two Dutchmen deny they were in possession of stolen property and describe the charges of money laundering and fencing as ‘extremely curious’. In addition, they want to know why Apple Records never reported the theft in the first place. ‘Apple wanted the tapes back and theft has nothing to do with it,’ Snelleman told the Volkskrant. ‘We are the victims in all this and we want the tapes back. They belong to us.’ Apple Records would not comment on the case, the Volkskrant said.

So it appears that Stan Snelleman actually got wind of these tapes at the 1992 "Rock & pop memorabilia" auction at Phillips in London. Snelleman and Remmerwal were Beatles fans regularly organised Beatles days in Holland, where they were selling rare memorabilia and were franchisees of a series of record stores, as Silverlux Music. Unofficially, they also ran their own bootleg record label, Yellow Dog Records, which was in the business of distributing unknown Beatles material. The tapes they were interested in buying at this auction, was a set of tapes from the 1969 Get Back recording sessions. They were, however, outbid by a representative from Apple Records.

Busy making Nagra tapes: John and George.

After the auction, Snelleman was approached by a man who had been noticing what he had been bidding on. The man told him that he was in the possession of lots more of the same material, was Snelleman interested? Of course he was! It turned out that the tapes at the auction were mere copies of a fragment of what the unknown man had at home. The man lived in Slough, and his name was Nigel Oliver. As it turned out, he was a former Apple employee, office boy and tape library assistant at Apple studio. And the Nagra tapes were being kept at the studio. When the studio was shut down, Oliver asked if he could take the remaining Nagra tapes. No one objected to this, and he took them all back home with him.

Snelleman struck a deal with Oliver and bought all the tapes for about 80 thousand guilders (now 36 thousand euro), and loaded them into his Opel Omega. They drove to the ferry to Harwich Hook of Holland. Back in Holland, the contents of the tapes were transferred to digital, and divided into two file folders, the A-rolls and the B-rolls. Their bootleg company Yellow Dog was used to distribute discs of the material. In the early 2000s, Yellow Dog Records created Day by Day, a 38-part CD series comprising the Nagra tape recordings in their entirety.

Halfway through 2002, Nigel Oliver got in touch with them again. He said that he had found a new and serious buyer, who could pay 140 thousand euros or so for the original tapes. Since they now had all the tapes in digital form, Snelleman and Remmerwal fell for it, and after negotiating the price up to 170 thousand euros, a new deal was struck in January 2003. Of course, this "new deal" was a set up, the participants were all arrested, and the tapes were seized. At the same time, Oliver was arrested in England. Later he was given a suspended sentence and put under psychiatric treatment, and the charges against Snelleman and Remmerwal was eventually dropped in 2007.

Ten months after the seizure of the tapes, in late 2003, "Let It Be ... Naked" appeared as an official Apple release. Part of the package was a bonus single disc, "Fly on the wall", with all material taken from the seized Nagra tapes.

Compiled and edited by Kevin Howlett, this is the track list for that bonus single. All songs credited to Lennon–McCartney except where noted.

"Sun King"– 0:12–0:31
"Don't Let Me Down"– 0:32–1:05
"One After 909"– 1:30–1:38
"Because I Know You Love Me So"– 2:42–4:15
"Don't Pass Me By" (Richard Starkey) – 5:03–5:06
"Taking a Trip to Carolina" (Starkey) – 5:32–5:52
"John's Piano Piece" (Lennon) – 5:53–6:13
"Child of Nature" (Lennon) – 6:29–6:53
"Back in the U.S.S.R."– 6:54–7:06
"Every Little Thing"– 7:20–7:30
"Don't Let Me Down"– 7:31-7:51/8:00–8:31
"All Things Must Pass" (Harrison) – 9:00–9:38
"John's Jam"– 10:07–10:26
"She Came In Through the Bathroom Window"– 10:58–11:03
"Paul's Bass Jam"– 11:16–11:30
"Paul's Piano Piece" (McCartney) – 12:59–13:59
"Get Back"– 16:01–16:15
"Two of Us"– 17:03–17:24
"Maggie Mae" (Traditional, arranged by Lennon–McCartney–Harrison–Starkey) – 17:25–17:47
"Fancy My Chances with You"– 17:48–18:15
"Can You Dig It?" (Lennon–McCartney–Harrison–Starkey) – 18:39–19:10
"Get Back"– 19:35–20:08

A bit over twenty minutes then, is what Apple Records was willing to share from the "Get Back" sessions, which had already been distributed in full by the bootleggers. In comparison, Columbia Records recently released an 18 disc collection of Bob Dylan's recording sessions from 1965-66 in their ongoing official bootleg series.

Who would have thought that the first foreign language "Tune In" would be published in, was Icelandic?

In Reykjavik for the launch of the first foreign language edition of "Tune In", Mark Lewisohn participated in this podcast. The intro is in Icelandic, but when Lewisohn enters, the rest is in English.

Week 47 in the global albums chart.

Last week, the Beatles' new edition of "1" shifted 175.000 units around the world, which was enough to land them the top spot of the global albums chart. This week, week 48, they have only sold 77.000 more copies, and have fallen down the charts, currently residing at #10.

Meanwhile, new albums by teen idols Justin Bieber (the current #1) and One Direction (the current #2) have sold 863.000 and 764.000 units, respectively - far healthier first week sales than the Beatles. It will be interesting to see if TV advertisements (expected in December) and/or Christmas sales and/or the release of the vinyl edition will boost the performance of "1" on the chart.

In my own country of Norway, the "1" album has failed to show up on the albums chart at all. I believe this may have been because it was perhaps classified as a DVD with a bonus CD in this country, which disqualifies it from the albums chart. In the countries where it has entered the album charts, it has been counted as a CD with a bonus DVD.

Of course, the performance of the album may also have been affected by the fact that it's only four years since it was re-released in remastered form on CD, and now it's out again, remixed. The general public is not likely to understand the difference of remastering versus remixing.

Another factor is that the version most Beatle fans will need to get, is the "1+" edition, either on Blu-ray or DVD, because it's the most complete edition, with 23 more video clips than the regular edition. Reports from various countries suggest that the "1+" editions are still unavailable in many places, so a lot of fans may still be holding out, waiting for the edition they need to have in their collection.

The global album chart is compiled from sales figures as well as national charts from around the world.

Link: Global albums chart

Andy Babiuk's reference book about the Beatles' instruments, 2015 edition.

Andy Babiuk has released his new book Beatles Gear: The Ultimate Edition.

The new must-have 512 page book is double the size of the original with over 650 additional new photos including many never before published images of the Beatles with their gear. Lots of new finds and stories! This book is the ultimate guide to all the gear used by the Beatles, and details exactly which guitars, drums, amplifiers, and keyboards the Fab Four used throughout their career, from the Quarry Men to the dissolution of the Beatles in 1970.

In conjunction with the upcoming Ringo Starr & Barbara Bach auction, Julien's Auctions invites you to a book signing and presentation that Andy Babiuk, will be doing for his new must have book "Beatles Gear, The Ultimate Edition" tomorrow, December 2nd, 2015 at Julien's Beverly Hills showroom.

Andy will be doing an audio visual presentation about the new book and focusing on the history of Ringo's very first Beatles Ludwig drum kit and also John Lennon's Rickenbacker 325/1996 guitar. Both instruments will be on display.

The current issue of Guitar Player magazine features a look at what's new in this edition of the book.

Guitar Player magazine.

Links:
Preview book (issuu.com)
Official website
Order book from Amazon.com
Pre-order book from Amazon.co.uk (UK release date: 12 Jan 2016)

One of the photos from the Bob Bonis Collection

The Bob Bonis Archive has partnered with "Big Brothers Big Sisters Mentoring Programs" to sell never before seen prints of  the Beatles and Rolling Stones on their first US tours.

These prints are limited editions and once they sell out they will never be printed again. 25% of sales go directly to Big Brothers Big Sisters Mentoring Programs.

You can read more about this in Rolling Stone, and you may purchase prints from this website.

For those who couldn’t be in Reykjavik on November 25 2015 – all is not lost! Here’s the "Tune In" presentation Mark Lewisohn gave in the wonderfully atmospheric old Iðnó theatre, launching the Icelandic translated edition. (The video runs 49 minutes.)

ShowBiz TV, a brand-new U.K. entertainment channel for the discerning viewer, launches on 8th December 2015 @ 6.30pm.
ShowBiz TV is a free-to-view platform offering the broadest range of exciting programming, seven days a week. Broadcasting on Sky channel 266 (National), Manchester (Freeview 80) and TV Catchup Online, there will always be something for everyone, they say.


The channel launches on 8th December with a World Exclusive: “THE LAST LENNON INTERVIEW”. It's not really, but it's one of the last and the last really long one.
On 6th December 1980, having given not a single British press interview for ten years and having been a domestic recluse for half a decade, baking bread and bringing up the baby, John Lennon and his wife Yoko One spoke to Radio 1 broadcaster Andy Peebles in New York about their new album, “Double Fantasy”.
The interview covered an astonishing range, no subject taboo. John talked for more than three hours about the Beatles, their break-up, his first meeting with Yoko, his conversion to feminism, his heroin-addiction, his drinking, his music-making and song writing, and his hopes for the future, both for his family and for his career.
Andy Peebles flew back to London with an unprecedented eight precious reels of tape in his bag. But while he and his production crew were half-way across the Atlantic, the most famous rock star on earth was shot dead by a deranged assassin at point-blank range, outside his home, the Dakota building. Only upon landing was Peebles made aware of the tragedy. He was accompanied by uniformed policemen to the BBC's studio at Heathrow, where he was forced to talk about the murder live on air. Not since then has he discussed it publicly.
Now he does so, for the first time in thirty five years, to ShowBiz TV’s Creative Consultant and former Fleet Street journalist Lesley-Ann Jones: sharing experiences that, as he says, have “haunted me for decades.”
“The Last Lennon Interview has been an extraordinary piece to work on,” comments Executive Producer Scott Millaney.
“Once Andy opened up, there was no stopping him. This is an important piece which will remind viewers why Lennon mattered, and why he is still revered today as perhaps the greatest rock star of all time.”
“I had been trying to persuade Andy Peebles to talk about his historic interviews with John Lennon and Yoko Ono for more than twenty years,” adds co-producer Lesley-Ann Jones.
“He had always been constrained by his broadcasting contracts. Now that he is retired, with no allegiance to the BBC nor to any other broadcaster, he was at last free to speak openly about his experiences, and the profound effect they had on him. It is a most moving piece, and it was such a privilege to work on this with him. This interview should reverberate around the world.”

Beatles statue on Liverpool's waterfront. Photo: Paul Dean.

A new statue of the Beatles has been unveiled on Liverpool’s Pier Head .

John Lennon ’s sister Julia Baird and Liverpool deputy mayor Cllr Ann O’Byrne officially unveiled the giant bronze of the Fab Four today.

The statue has been donated to the city by the Cavern Club , and coincides with the 50th anniversary tomorrow of the Beatles’ last concert in their home city when they played at the Liverpool Empire. The statue, which weighs in at 1.2 tonnes, was sculpted by Andrew Edwards and looks like it has been modeled on the Dezo Hoffmann's photo which was used on the cover of "On Air - The Beatles Live at the BBC Vol.2".

Julia Baird said: "It’s a great honour to unveil this statue. I know John would have loved it. And I bet Paul comes to see it as soon as he comes back here."

The Beatles are facing the river Mersey, Ireland and across the Atlantic, USA. Photo: Paul Dean.

A 1916 bronze statue of King Edward VII, seated on horseback by sculptor Sir William Goscombe John keeps the Beatles company. Photo: Paul Dean

Two Quarry Men from John's first group were also there for the occasion. Photo: Paul Dean

The first Ludwig Beatles drumkit sold for $2,110,000

All in all, the 1300 items Ringo and his wife put up for sale through Julien's auctions brought in $9.2 million dollars. I'm sure this is some kind of a record, and certainly a good deal for the auction house in fees. Here are some of the starriest items and how much they went for:

• $2,110,000 - The first Beatles Ludwig Drum kit, used on songs like Can't Buy Me Love and I Want to Hold Your Hand
• $910,000 - John Lennon's 1964 Rickenbacker guitar, which he gave to Starr in 1968
• $790,000 - The White Album, numbered 0000001
• $179,200 - George Harrison's 1962 Gretsch Tennessean guitar, given to Starr by Harrison's family after the Concert for George concert following Harrison's death
• $179,200 - An 18 carat yellow gold Moonphase watch by Patek Philippe
• $125,000 - The back panel from John Lennon's psychedelic caravan, featuring the Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band logo
• $115,200 - Ludwig silver sparkle drum kit used in the 1967 Hello, Goodbye video
• $106,250 - A gold ring with rectangular sapphire that Starr says he wore during every show he ever played with the Beatles
• $100,000 - A gold and onyx ring, which was also worn for every single Beatles show

The white album surpassed the previous world record for a gramophone record, set when Elvis Presley's first acetate recording sold for $300,000 earlier this year.

The mono white album #0000001, UK edition.

A few of the items were bought by Indianapolis Colts' owner Jim Irsay, who seems to be establishing a museum of his own, having previously acquired roughly 30 famous guitars, including instruments used by Paul McCartney, John Lennon, Bob Dylan, Jerry Garcia and Eric Clapton. Earlier this year, he also purchased another of The Beatles' drumheads.
The drumhead of the first Ludwig Beatles drumkit which Irsay bought at Ringo's auction is a replica (depicted above), the original was kept by Paul McCartney after he had borrowed Ringo's kit to use on his first solo album, "McCartney" in 1970.

From Paul McCartney's "Mill" studio.

While many of us are looking at Beatles 1 sliding down the charts, the Beatles are still not promoting the collection on TV. But they are continuing to promote the release by uploading and publishing full music videos on their Beatles Vevo and YouTube accounts. The above "Hey Jude" video was published on December 7.
The publishing of this video may have been prompted by a December 4 article in The Guardian, who brought forth another fan's account of being present at the taping of the various "Hey Jude" films. This time, it's American fan Joel Soroka who steps forward in a piece called "That's me in the picture, Joel Soroka shakes a tambourine at the filming of Hey Jude, 4 September 1968". The article is posted online, here. You may read about Margaret Morel's account of that same event in one of our earlier blog posts.

Joel Soroka, shaking that tambourine in the center of the photo. Copyright Apple Corps Ltd.

"Hey Jude" topped the charts in Britain for two weeks and for 9 weeks in America, where it became The Beatles longest-running No.1 in the US singles chart as well as the single with the longest running time.

The Beatles did not record their promotional film until "Hey Jude" had been on sale in America for a week. They returned to Twickenham Film Studio, using director Michael Lindsay-Hogg who had worked with them on "Paperback Writer" and "Rain". Earlier still, Lindsay-Hogg had directed episodes of "Ready Steady Go!".  And a few months after the film for "Hey Jude" he made The Rolling Stones "Rock and Roll Circus" TV special that featured John and Yoko but wouldn’t be shown until 1996.

To help with the filming an audience of around 300 local people, as well as some of the fans that gathered regularly outside Abbey Road Studios were brought in for the song’s finale. Their presence had an unlikely upside for The Beatles in their long-running saga with the Musicians’ Union in that the MU were fooled into believing the band were playing live, when in fact they were miming for the vast majority of the song. Paul, however, sang live throughout the song. The video was first broadcast on David Frost’s "Frost On Sunday" show, four days after it was filmed. At that point transmission was in black and white although the promo was originally shot in colour. A version was first aired in America a month later on 6 October 1968, on "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour".

From the photo shoot.

In 1963, a Liverpool jeans company, Lybro Limited, asked if The Beatles would advertise their jeans. The request may either have come through the group's manager, Brian Epstein - or through their friend at the Cavern Club, DJ Bob Wooler. The advertising agency behind the campaign was Millican Advertising Limited, operating from Liverpool 3.

Some time in spring or early summer 1963, The Beatles were photographed for the advertisement. The photos weren't used as is, but formed the basis of drawings, which appeared in ads for the jeans.

The Lybro label.

The Lybro Factory was located in Liverpool on Mount Vernon Road. According to Photographer apprentice Richard Cooper, the photo shoot occurred on the week their third single, "From Me To You" reached number one in the UK. This would turn out to be the only non-musical product endorsement The Beatles agreed to venture in throughout their career, other than their own merchandise.

Looking north from the Liverpool Cathedral tower, 1962. Lybro factory in red frame in the upper left corner.

The advertising campaign was geared towards the Merseyside's youth as Lybro was competing against Levi's at the time. Their cheap and thin Empire denim was really no match for the likes of Levi’s.

"Lybro made four different jeans for the band. Paul’s were dog-tooth, John’s striped, Ringo’s were black and George’s royal blue. The band hated the jeans. They were hideous."
- Tony Bramwell, Fab Gear: The Beatles and Fashion

"The huge importance the band placed on always looking Fab can be gauged from the fact that the Lybro affair was the first and last time The Beatles would ever advertise anyone else’s product."
- Fab Gear: The Beatles and Fashion by Paolo Hewitt.

The folder, as closed

The folder, folded out

This is the main Beatles related item, a rare fold out advertising flyer for Lybro Jeans, featuring the drawings of the Beatles. The leaflet folds out to reveal a black and white image of Paul, John, George and Ringo with a facsimile signature next to each image and a comment on the jeans. When folded out it measures 35cm x 22.5cm (14 inches x 9 inches). The campaign, featuring the folder, at least one full page advertisement and at least one post card, was only in effect during the summer of 1963.

The folder, other side

The original photos came to light in 2004, when photographer Richard Cooper unearthed the pictures in an old file and remembered the shoot on which he worked as a young 20-year-old apprentice at a photo studio in Liverpool's "African Chambers". The photos formed the basis of drawings used on the final advertisements, whereas the actual photographs remained with the photographer until he brought them to public attention in 2004. Five photographs have been published: one group shot and one photo of each Beatle.

A drawing was also used in a full page ad.

The photo which the drawing in the full page ad was based on.

Recent colourised interpretation.

Richard Cooper said: "They look moody but they were very relaxed and amused about the whole business. It was at the shoot that John announced to the other members of the group that they would be number one by the end of the week, a fact they took completely in their stride. They stayed until the pictures were developed and made their comments about each one".

Here are the four individual full figure portraits of the Beatles which the drawings were based on. The photographs were all originally in black & white, but have turned up colourised in later years.





Here is a colourised version which has shown up in recent years:

Recent colourised version of the four individual shots.

The Beatles were photographed individually, and are mounted together on some interpretations of the photos:


A specialist in fantasy covers produced this colourised version of the photo for one of his imaginary albums:


The Lybro factory was demolished in 1983, as part of the extensive roadworks to improve access to the M62.

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Beatles 1 with the new stereo mixes has been available on iTunes since November 6, but now the videos are also available from Apple's namesake. Available now around the world on the iTunes Store, The Beatles 1+ longform video presents all 50 meticulously restored promotional films and videos, each with new stereo and 5.1 Dolby Digital surround audio mixes.

Screen capture from the Norwegian iTunes Store

1+ includes restored videos for all 27 of The Beatles’ No.1 U.K. and U.S. singles, plus 23 more, including alternate versions and other rarely seen clips. iTunes Extra: The bonus commentaries by Paul and video intros by Ringo are also included with this package, as is the 113 page illustrated booklet - now in digital form.