U.K. edition.

Philip Norman is publishing his new biography on Paul McCartney May 5th in the U.K. as "Paul McCartney: The Biography", May 6th in USA as "Paul McCartney: The Life", and for newspaper The Daily Mail, Norman has started a series of articles with excerpts from the book. As a tabloid newspaper, what interests them about McCartney is, you guessed it: not the music.

USA edition.

So far, the newspaper has published two excerpts, one about his relationship, marriage and divorce from Heather Mills, the other is about other romantic conquests of the Beatle.

Links:
The Daily Mail: Heather Mills
The Daily Mail: Other relationships with women
The Book: Amazon.co.uk / Amazon.com / Kindle

Get your tickets for a special recording session with Sir Paul at BBC Maida Vale Studios!

The radio series Mastertapes returns to BBC Radio 4 later in the year, and a special edition of Mastertapes with Paul McCartney at the BBC Maida Vale studios will be recorded on Wednesday 11 May. In this exclusive interview ahead of the release of a major retrospective collection, McCartney will talk to John Wilson about his music career and will answer questions from the audience.
A limited number of audience tickets will be available for 24 hours from today (Wednesday 27 April) at 12pm via the Mastertapes pages on the Radio 4 website.

The hour-long special edition of the programme will broadcast on BBC Radio 4 at 10am on Saturday 28 May, and a version will be filmed for BBC iPlayer.

John Wilson says: “Mastertapes looks at the nuts and bolts of songwriting, and draws back the curtain on what can often be a private and sometimes lonely art. Having interviewed McCartney many times before, I know he offers great insight into that process. As the most successful songwriter of all time, and the man behind some of my favourite music, I couldn’t ask for a better guest – it’s going to be a very special session.”

In Mastertapes, musicians and artists join presenter John Wilson to discuss their career-defining albums. Usually broadcast over two consecutive days and recorded at BBC Maida Vale studios, each edition of Mastertapes involves an in-depth interview with the artist (for the 'A-side'), questions from the studio audience (for the 'B-side') and exclusive live performances of songs from the albums in question.

The Mastertapes website, which includes additional and exclusive live performances of all the artists featured on the programme (as well as photographs and videos from the sessions), is rapidly becoming a valuable musical resource. It is also the place from which all the previous editions of the series can be downloaded: bbc.co.uk/programmes/b021mjc4. Former Mastertapes guests include Noel Gallagher, Robbie Williams, Natalie Merchant, Manic Street Preachers, Sinead O’Connor, Paul Weller, Corinne Bailey Rae and Rufus Wainwright.

Apply for tickets here.

The boys are checking out reviews of the previous night's concerts in Copenhagen. Photo: Tage Nielsen.

Danish newspaper Berlingske Tidende, BT for short, has been in print a hundred years in 2016, August 31 to be precise. To celebrate, they are going to publish significant stories and photos from their archives. As a preview of this, they have selected this photo of The Beatles, taken the day after their two concerts in Copenhagen, as Paul is showing Jimmy, George and John photos of Danish Beatlemania in BT.

Packing case.

How about a piece of memorabilia from the late nineties? Back in 1998, licensed by Apple Corps Ltd as an official Beatles product, a portable Beatles pick-up CD player/Radio was manufactured. Made to look like an old style record player, it was a fully functional CD player and 2 band radio, with a built in arial. This was before Beatles.com and their affiliated officially sanctioned Beatles merchandise shops, so it was only advertised in the printed media. A limited edition of 1000 units is said to have been manufactured.

Made to look like an old style record player.

The back photo of The Beatles lit up at the flick of a switch.

It had two drawers with storage space for CDs, a VU meter and headphone outlet.

The portability meant it ran both on batteries as well as it could be plugged into the mains.

As closed for carrying.

It had a carrying handle with embossed Beatles logo.

Instruction manual in many languages.

Features included:

• Full function CD-player
• Memories program/repeat
• 2 Band radio
• Light on/off switch
• 2x (1.2) (20) watt music power
• Radio/CD selector lights up radio dial scale or CD windows
• DC operated (8x D-batteries not included) or AC operated with detachable power cord
• Inside lid features lighted Beatles photo
• Integrated 2 Drawers for CD storage
• Carrying handle with embossed Beatles logo
• The lid opens with a full photo of the Beatles Band with a switch that turns 4 lights on and on that photo if desired.

These are now being sold used at ebay and other places, but at no fixed prices, as I don't believe any current Beatles memorabilia price guide exists.

The title of Ron Howard's Beatles live documentary has been settled on.

Word just reached us that Ron Howard's documentary film, previously known as "The Beatles Live Project" has gotten its final title, and they have gone the familiar route of using a Beatles song title. This time it's "Eight Days A Week" - a title shared not only with the song, but also with a 2004 book about the Beatles' visit to New Zealand in 1964, by Graham Hutchins as well as Robert Whitaker's 2008 book about The Beatles' final tour in 1966. Some late stage changes to the final cut of the film is rumoured to also have been implemented, an inside source tells us it's a great improvement.

Festival logo or poster.

The Rolling Stones and Paul McCartney have now both confirmed that this festival named The Desert Trip is taking place, and festival passes go on sale Monday, May 9 at 10am PT. As you can see, McCartney, the Rolling Stones and the Who play on separate days. Single day passes are $199 plus fees, whereas a 3 day pass is $399 plus fees. More expensive passes are also available.
This is at Indio, the same place as the Coachella festival grounds in California.


More information: Official Website 

John Lennon's Imagine, with original artwork by Jason Little.

Amnesty International UK has launched a campaign where 100 unique copies of John Lennon's "Imagine" single is available from ebay. The campaign is called Secret 7", where each pressing of the single was given a unique cover. The records come with an authentication slip.
There are also seven test pressings available,  featuring Yoko Ono's signature on the centre label. These come with an ink stamped Secret 7" blank sleeve, which is numbered 1-7/7 on the reverse.
Apart from the Imagine single, the project also has released the following other singles:

Chvrches - Clearest Blue
Etta James - At Last
Jack Garratt - Worry
The Jam - Art School
Max Richter - Dream 3
Tame Impala - The Less I Know The Better

Link: Ebay UK

The Beatles at the Hollywood Bowl.

Rant:
It's so disappointing to see that the documentary originally focusing on The Beatles as a touring band has been turned into a film about the general career of The Beatles during the touring years. Back in 1977, the release of The Beatles at The Hollywood Bowl album was able to put a stop to the claims from non-fans (mainly followers of The Rolling Stones) that the Beatles may had plenty of hits but were no good live. After the Hollywood Bowl album, the non-believers were effectively silenced. We so wanted The Beatles Live project to be the film equivalent of that, to show us all aspects of The Beatles as a live band, and to stick to that theme. And it looked promising at first. The people in charge of the original project excitedly shared stories and films that were sent in to the project through their Facebook page and the official website.

Sadly, it seems the film has now shifted it's perspective, and has become yet another in a seemingly never ending line of films, both officially sanctioned and independent releases, summing up all things Beatle. Only the time frame is kept, it's the touring years - but it's not all about touring any more.

Dear film makers, we already have the Beatles Anthology DVD series, we have From Liverpool to San Francisco, we have The Four Complete Ed Sullivan Shows Starring The Beatles, The First U.S. Visit, The Unseen Beatles, The Beatles Explosion, In Their Own Write, Rare And Unseen, The Long and Fabulous Road, From The Beginning To The End, Fun With The Fab Four, the list goes on and on.

From Liverpool to San Francisco (2005).

And the production team for the Beatles Live Project have seen all these previous DVD releases and wanted to do something else. They wanted to tell a story within the story, we were to be treated to the Beatles on stage and backstage, as well as to see them from their fans' point of view. And that story is worth telling, it is every bit as exciting as the career overview, even more so because it narrows it down.

From the modest package tours of the UK, first as a support act that worked their way up to becoming headliners - in the middle of such a tour - to the test drive first tour in a different country - Sweden, joking with royalty, encountering an audience in France mostly consisting of boys, not girls, conquering America, having to substitute Ringo for Jimmy Nicol, that enormous crowd turning up in Australia, the New Zealand visit with Aunt Mimi tagging along, inventing stadium shows, the not sold out tour of Europe, starring in the NME Poll Winners concerts four years in a row, returning to Germany including Hamburg, being the first performers at the Budokan Hall in Tokyo amidst protests from sports fans, the Philippines scandal and that final USA tour with threats from the Ku Klux Klan which ended the touring years. That story goes from one highlight to another!

And then the Hollywood brass enters and the mantra is general audiences, general audiences. The film gets a new title (although still a working title) of Eight Days A Week - a song the Beatles never performed live. Let me tell you one thing: General audiences will LOVE a focused film. For once you have the chance to actually live up to the hype! The story is there, and it's wonderful and has ups and downs as well as a dramatic ending, but you're watering it out! You have the footage, you have the Giles Martin soundtrack, you've already hyped us up - use it! We have no need of seeing The Beatles getting their MBEs again, we've seen it too many times before. You go that route and you WILL see disappointing reviews. Time to rethink the film, and return to the original idea.
End of rant.

Sara Schmidt's book about The Beatles' concert in St. Louis.

Why did Paul McCartney call the 1966 concert at Busch Stadium in St. Louis "the worst little gig the Beatles ever played?" Find out the true story behind the concert as well as other events of Beatlemania in St. Louis through the stories and memories of fans and insiders. Rare photographs and memorabilia from 1963-2015 will help you remember why you fell in love with the Fab 4.

Yes, our friendly neighbourhood blogger from Meet The Beatles For Real, Sara Schmidt has committed a book! Congratulations!

If you would like to purchase an autographed copy of the book Happiness is Seeing the Beatles: Beatlemania in St. Louis, they cost $25.00 plus $3.25 shipping (within the United States) $20 to ship overseas. She accepts paypal at beatlesbusch66@gmail.com or you may contact her for her address to send a money order. She also has available two great photos of the Beatles performing in St. Louis. 4.x 6 are $3.00 and 8 x 10 are $8.00

Tony Barrow outside The Beatles Story museum in Liverpool.

Anthony Frederick James "Tony" Barrow (11 May 1936 – 14 May 2016) worked as The Beatles'"press officer" between 1962 and 1968. He invented the phrase "the Fab Four", first using it in an early press release.

Before The Beatles
In the late 1950s, when teenagers John Lennon and Paul McCartney were putting together their earliest group in one part of Liverpool, Tony Barrow was presenting jazz bands and skiffle/folk groups at local dance halls and clubs across town in the south Lancashire suburb of Crosby. Educated locally at Merchant Taylors School, he later studied languages at Durham University. In 1954, when he was still a 17-year-old sixth form schoolboy, he landed his first regular freelance writing job as pop/rock record reviewer for the Liverpool Echo, the largest-selling provincial evening newspaper in the UK. The column was written under the pseudonym "Disker".

Decca
At the beginning of the 1960s, while the Beatles paid their dues in the Hamburg clubs, Barrow moved from Crosby to London to work for the Decca Record Company where he wrote the liner notes that appeared on the back of LP album covers. From his new London base he continued to contribute his weekly record column to the Liverpool Echo, and when Liverpool record retailer Brian Epstein signed the Beatles to a management deal at the end of 1961 he contacted Barrow for professional advice. In a 1968 interview, Barrow recounted that Epstein asked him to write a column about the band, as "Disker". Barrow's reply was that as he was mainly writing record reviews, The Beatles first had to make a record.

As "Disker", Barrow started writing about The Beatles in Liverpool Echo.

Working behind the scenes, Barrow then arranged to get the Beatles an audition with Decca, who in turn rejected them.

A privately pressed single record from the Decca audition led to a publishing deal.

But the Decca audition resulted in Epstein making a single record to bring with him to meetings with A&R men from other record companies, and the record was crucial in getting Lennon & McCartney a publishing deal, which again led to The Beatles getting a record contract with EMI's subsidiary, Parlophone Records. Barrow's involvement led to an informal arrangement whereby Barrow became the Beatles' part-time press/publicity consultant, which involved promoting the launch of the new EMI band from behind a desk at rival London record company Decca. His earliest task for Epstein was to co-ordinate a media publicity campaign to surround the release of the group's first UK single, "Love Me Do", on EMI's Parlophone label in October 1962. He was paid a one-off freelance fee of £20 to compile the Beatles' initial press kit.

NEMS
Epstein was looking for someone to handle the press on behalf of The Beatles. Again asking Barrow's advice, he was introduced to a 19 year old Andrew Loog Oldham, and for a short while Oldham functioned as their London publicist. But Oldham happened upon The Rolling Stones and became their manager, so Epstein looked to Barrow again. When Epstein promised to double his weekly Decca salary of £16 to £32, Barrow left the record company to join Epstein's new artists' management company, NEMS Enterprises, on a full-time basis in May 1963. Barrow opened Epstein's first London office and as head of the Press and Public Relations Division, began to promote the careers of not only the Fab Four but also Epstein's other artists, from Cilla Black to Gerry & The Pacemakers, from Billy J Kramer with the Dakotas to The Fourmost. In view of his previous employment as a liner-note writer with Decca, it was taken for granted that he would do the same job for the Beatles and Epstein's other acts.

Barrow wrote the liner notes on the back of the Please Please Me album.

Barrow saw Beatlemania as beginning with the band's appearance on Sunday Night at the London Palladium on 13 October 1963, at which point he no longer had to contact the press but had the press contacting him instead.

Getting Beatles headlines was soon to be no problem at all for Barrow.

Barrow also went to great lengths to keep John Lennon's marriage to Cynthia a secret, after the couple became parents to their son, Julian Lennon. Around this time Lennon took a 10-day holiday in Spain with Epstein – who was homosexual and had designs on his protégé. Epstein spent the trip picking up boys to make Lennon jealous. Barrow dealt with the fallout, which was triggered by a drunken remark at Paul McCartney’s 21st birthday party a few weeks later by Bob Wooler, the DJ at the Cavern Club, who announced that Lennon and Epstein had just returned from “their honeymoon in Spain”. Immediately Lennon leaped on Wooler, raining blows on him with his fists and, in Lennon’s own words, “beating the shit out of him”.

When the Daily Mirror got wind of the punch-up, Barrow sought to close the story down by spinning a line about an abject apology to Wooler from Lennon, headlined BEATLE IN BRAWL — SORRY I SOCKED YOU in the paper of June 22 1963, the first national press article on the Beatles, in which Barrow manufactured all the quotes from both participants.

The flexi discs
It was Barrow's idea to give out Beatles Christmas greetings to their fan club members. Barrow thought this goodwill gesture might limit the damage done to the group's reputation by delays in replying to an ever-increasing volume of fan mail. The Beatles were three weeks behind in answering membership applications. At the time he said facetiously that he thought of how the Queen always sent out yuletide greetings to her subjects every year on UK radio and TV, and he decided that the Beatles should "follow her fine example but in their own way". All members of the group's official fan club would receive an exclusive flexi-disc carrying messages from John, Paul, George and Ringo. What started as a one-off damage limitation job grew into an eagerly anticipated annual event. Barrow scripted the banter on the discs himself initially, but the boys also ad-libbed a bit, eventually taking over the reign completely by 1966 – on the "Pantomime! Everywhere it's Christmas" disc.

The third annual Beatles Christmas flexi disc.

On the road
Barrow was briefly joined by Derek Taylor in the Beatles' PR department, and it was Taylor who conducted The Beatles' press conferences in 1964. After a dispute with Epstein, Taylor left for California, and started to manage The Byrds. Barrow took over the task of conducting The Beatles' massive daily press conferences in 1965 and 1966, around the globe. He accompanied them on their private meeting with Elvis Presley at his home in Bel Air, California, and he was the guy setting up the Fab Four's media interviews and photo shoots when they returned home. Barrow also wrote articles about The Beatles for their fan club magazine, "The Beatles Book Monthly". It was Barrow who helped organise The Beatles' swift exit from the Philippines after their failure to attend lunch at the presidential palace was perceived as a snub.

Tony Barrow conducting a Beatles press conference in 1965.

Barrow continued to calm down waters after Lennon's interview with Maureen Cleave where he let fall the remark that the Beatles were now more popular than Jesus made it to U.S. teenage magazines and made headlines in the mainstream media. Later in 1966, Paul McCartney asked Barrow to record The Beatles' final concert at San Francisco's Candlestick Park to have a souvenir of The Beatles in concert. Barrow duly recorded the concert on his portable cassette player, but ran out of tape just as they started their final number, "Long Tall Sally". Somehow, the cassette tape fell into the hands of bootleggers and has been circulating among collectors ever since.

After the Beatles
One of Barrow's final tasks as the Beatles' Press Officer was to compile and edit the strip-cartoon story booklet which was part of the "Magical Mystery Tour" recording package at the end of 1967. When the Beatles set up their own self-management operation, Apple Corps, in 1968, the year after Brian Epstein's death, Barrow as the Fab Four's publicist quite naturally became redundant. He left NEMS Enterprises to set up his own independent show business PR consultancy, Tony Barrow International. Headquartered in London's Mayfair district, TBI and its sister company, Tony Barrow Management, represented many of Britain's entertainers and recording artists in the 1970s, including the Kinks, the Bay City Rollers, the New Seekers, Bob Monkhouse, and Hello, and American artists, including David Cassidy, Gladys Knight, David Soul, the Monkees, Tony Bennett, the Jackson Five, Andy Williams, and Neil Sedaka, for their European tours.

Barrow's first Beatles related book was just 56 pages.

In 1980, partly because he disliked the unsavory images portrayed by the era's new wave of punk bands, Tony Barrow quit the PR business to return to freelance journalism, writing various books including a highly successful career guide, Inside The Music Business (co-authored with Julian Newby). He wrote two books about The Beatles: 1999s "The Making of the Beatles' Magical Mystery Tour", and in 2006 "John, Paul, George, Ringo and Me: The Real Beatles Story". The latter is highly recommended, and as it was released in Australia in 2011, it shouldn't be too difficult to find.

Tony Barrow's second and final book about The Beatles.

As Barrow had become the last surviving professional writer from the Fab Four's original inner circle of business aides and associates, he continued to take on selected writing and broadcasting assignments, including some directly linked to his uniquely memorable years with the Beatles. He appears as one of the talking heads in several independent Beatles documentaries, including Freda Kelly's film, "Good Ol' Freda". As late as in 2015, Barrow participated in a discussion over at The Beatles Bible website, sharing a memory about The Beatles' autograph signing sessions at a couple of music shops in Widnes on October 6th, 1962. He seemed to still have vivid memories of the day even at this late stage. We can only hope that Mark Lewisohn was able to mine that mind as much as possible for his upcoming volume of "All These Years".

Barrow fell ill and was hospitalised on Friday 13 May and died Saturday 14 May 2016, three days after his eightieth birthday. In a statement, Paul McCartney said: "Tony Barrow was a lovely guy who helped us in the early years of The Beatles. He was super professional but always ready for a laugh. He will be missed but remembered by many of us." The Beatles also put out a statement on Twitter, saying "Our thoughts are with the family and friends of Tony Barrow, who passed away at the weekend. Tony was the Beatles' first press officer and he played an invaluable role in their early career. At a time when the band had a schedule of uninterrupted touring and countless appearances, Tony managed the ceaseless press activity. He also fulfilled a multitude of other jobs, from writing album sleeve notes to editing the 'Magical Mystery Tour' strip cartoon book. With love from all at Apple."

From that London based inner circle of The Beatles during their heyday, apart from Paul and Ringo the survivors are now limited to Tony Bramwell, Peter Brown, Jane Asher and Patti Boyd.

Sources:
Wikipedia
The Beatles Bible

From Me To You, issue #50.

The Russian Beatles fanzine "From Me To You" celebrates its fiftieth issue. The fanzine has been published quarterly since 2005 - in Russian.

The back cover of issue #50 depicts front pages of earlier #s.

You can leaf through a few sample pages of issue #33 as a pdf file here.

"Cover" for the online release of the remixed tracks.

If you were unable to secure a physical copy of the remixed versions of Paul McCartney & Wings'"Nineteen Hundred And Eighty Five (Paul McCartney & Wings Vs. Timo Maas & James Teej)" in April, the three versions have now been released as downloads from Amazon.com. It's the A and B sides of the extremely limited edition vinyl single, plus a radio edit.
The tracks are also on Spotify.

Links:
Amazon.com
Billboard: Details of these remixes

The white label 12" vinyl promo.

7" radio edit.

Just 100 copies of a one sided 7" single containing the radio edit were pressed at the Vinyl Factory and these were available only at Phonica Records in Soho, London.

McCartney on BBC 4

The recently taped interview with Paul McCartney on a special edition of BBC Radio 4's Mastertapes will be available today on the BBC iPlayer. Paul McCartney talked to John Wilson about his career and answered questions from the audience at Maida Vale studios. A couple of our readers were present during the taping.

During the interview session, Sir Paul said he had been at a loss when the band fell apart in acrimony in 1970.

"It was difficult to know what to do after The Beatles. How do you follow that?" he told John Wilson.
"I was depressed. You would be. You were breaking from your lifelong friends. So I took to the bevvies."

The Beatles officially split in 1970 with the release of Let It Be, but the seeds of their demise were sown a year earlier, when the band appointed Allen Klein as their manager, against Sir Paul's wishes.
Although Klein helped restructure the band's loss-making business, Apple, he also took a hefty share of their profits, and gave his own company the rights to press The Beatles' records in the US.
He further angered Sir Paul by hiring Phil Spector to overdub a choir, orchestra and additional drums on to Let It Be; and attempted to make EMI delay the release of the star's first solo album.
In order to divest himself of Klein's influence, Sir Paul had to sue his bandmates. The legal fall-out was the caustic agent that finally broke his bond with John Lennon.

"The business thing split us apart," said Sir Paul, adding that all the "heavy meetings" were "doing my head in".
He became so depressed that he did not know "whether I was still going to continue in music".
Eventually, he moved to Scotland - partly to make himself unavailable for the business meetings - and hit the bottle.

"I was far gone," he said. "It was Linda who said, 'you've got to get it together...' and that led to Wings."
"I liked the idea of a band. I wanted to go back to square one."

However, he admitted: "We were terrible. We weren't a good group. People said, 'Linda can't play keyboards,' and it was true.

"But John couldn't play guitar when we started [The Beatles]."
Here is a filmed version of the interview:



Mastertapes was recorded in Studio 3 of the BBC's historic Maida Vale, where the Beatles taped numerous radio sessions in the 1960s.

Among the audience were Brad Pitt, Paul Weller, Noel Gallagher, Martin Freeman, James Bay and Simon Pegg, as well as 100 members of the public, many of whom were able to put questions to Sir Paul.

Sir Paul talked about the writing of solo songs including Maybe I'm Amazed, Coming Up and Dance Tonight, as well as his Band on The Run and Sgt Pepper's.
The conversation also covered his recent collaborations with Kanye West, revealing: "We never appeared to write a song. A lot of what we did was just telling each other stories."

"People says he's eccentric... which you'd have to agree with. He's a monster. He's a crazy guy that comes up with great stuff."

And Sir Paul discussed how his relationship with John Lennon had improved in the months before the star's untimely death in 1980.

"I would make calls to John occasionally," he said. "We just talked kids and baking bread."

Sir Paul McCartney's Mastertapes interview is available now on the BBC iPlayer and Red Button. It will be broadcast on BBC Radio 4 this Saturday, 28 May..

Video from the interview session.

Edited into the new version of the "Penny Lane" film.

Six days ago, without any fanfare, The Beatles published eighteen "preview videos" on YouTube, taken from last November's release of the 1 and 1+ video collection. The lengths of the video previews vary from 33 seconds to 47 seconds. Perhaps the publication was done to include the videos on a promotional page, pages over at the Beatles.com website or it may have been done to celebrate that the video collection just won an award. The UK based FOCAL International group gave the collection the "Award for Best Use of Footage on non-Television Platforms" recently. Here's the entry, from the website of the FOCAL International awards:

The Beatles 1+ Video Collection
Apple Corps Limited   |   UK
Producers: Jonathan Clyde, Martin R Smith
Footage Archive Researchers: Aaron Bremner, Chris Purkiss

Top 5 Source(s) of Library Footage: Apple Corps Limited, ITN Source, Getty Images/BBC, SVT Swedish Television, Universal Music

The Beatles No. 1 Music Video Restorations for Apple Corp were completed in 2015. The project involved extensive picture research by Apple Corp and picture restoration by Deluxe Restoration of 27 No.1 videos and a further 23 new unreleased videos. Audio re-mastering was completed by Abbey Road Studios to produce a new BluRay Deluxe Collection released for sale on November 5th 2015. This restoration project involved every possible format of original source elements, from 35mm original colour negatives to 2 inch quad tapes, all from the period 1963-1970. The project required extensive research by Apple Corp to locate the originals and great versatility from the restoration team in meeting the restoration challenges of such varied content to deliver the highest possible quality HD masters for BluRay release



Apart from getting a whole lot of praise from not only FOCAL International, but also from the mainstream media, die-hard Beatles video collectors employed or educated in film restoration technology have criticised the finished product for it's omissions, for rushed colour jobs and for presenting some of the videos in formats that have caused jitter and other unwanted artefacts. Still, to the untrained eyes of regular viewers, the collection is great looking and sounding.

These are the newly uploaded samples, labeled "1s Preview":

1. A Hard Day's Night
2. From Me To You
3. I Want To Hold Your Hand
4. Lady Madonna
5. Let It Be
6. Love Me Do
7. She Loves You
8. Something
9. Ticket To Ride
10. Yellow Submarine
11. Yesterday
12. All You Need Is Love
13. The Ballad of John & Yoko
14. Can't Buy Me Love – also available as a full length video at The Beatles' Vevo YouTube channel
15. Come Together
16. Day Tripper
17. Eight Days A Week
18. Eleanor Rigby

The eighteen samples joins a YouTube collection of previously released samples from the project which were uploaded to promote the collection at the time of it's release:

1. Paperback Writer
2. We Can Work It Out – also available as a full length video at The Beatles' Vevo YouTube channel
3. Hello Goodbye – also available as a full length video at The Beatles' Vevo YouTube channel
4. Hey Jude - – also available as a full length video at The Beatles' Vevo YouTube channel
5. Get Back
6. The Long and Winding Road
7. Strawberry Fields Forever
8. Help!
9. I Feel Fine

Those samples were also labeled "1s Preview" and each video is 1 minute and 1 second in length.

For complete videos, The Beatles have made available these full length offerings at their Vevo YouTube channel:

Twist & Shout - Performed Live On The Ed Sullivan Show 2/23/64
I Want To Hold Your Hand - Performed Live On The Ed Sullivan Show 2/9/64
Real Love - new 2015 remix
Free As A Bird - new 2015 remix
Can't Buy Me Love - from Around The Beatles
Don't Let Me Down - from the Let It Be… Naked album – a composite of both rooftop versions
Hey Jude - with "By George! It's the David Frost Theme" and an introduction by David Frost
We Can Work it Out - Intertel video from Twickenham Studios, black suits
Penny Lane - 2015 edit
A Day In The Life
Hello, Goodbye - wearing the Sgt Pepper costumes
Revolution - One of the two different versions they made.
Words of Love - 2013 radio version from "On Air - Live at the BBC Vol 2"

Revolver Records & Video have uploaded to DailyMotion a few videos presented alongside different versions that didn't make it to the official collection:

Lady Madonna - both edits
Hey Jude - versions 1, 2 and 3
Revolution - versions 1 and 2

JOHN LENNON THE PROMOTIONAL VIDEOS
by Mike Carrera

We did it with Beatles and McCartney, now is time for Lennon. During his solo career, John taped or produced or gave permission to create promotional videos for only 5 songs:

1: Give Peace A Chance (1969, with two versions)
2: Cold Turkey (1969)
3: Instant Karma (1970, with two versions)
4: Happy Xmas (War is Over) (1972)
5: Whatever Gets You Thru The Night (1974)

Plus 10 songs from the "Imagine" album that were part of "Imagine The Film", a film from 1972 where each song have their own video. The original televised version was trimmed down when released on video cassette in the eighties.

Video cassette release.

And he also filmed two more videos that were never completed during his life,  "I’m Losing You" (original Double Fantasy version) and "(Just Like) Starting Over".

The rest of the versions and videos that we have, were created after his death and until more recent years, and  some, but not all are available on the official collections:

-The John Lennon Video Collection (VHS, Laserdisc 1992)
-Lennon Legend (DVD, 2003)
-Power to The People: The Hits (DVD, 2010)

This is a chronological list of all known OFFICIAL John Lennon music videos, a total of 76 which includes variations and new versions. Any comments on mistakes/contributions/etc are welcome.


 01 - Give Peace a Chance #1 (1969)

The first official Lennon video, edited together from a lot of "Bed In" footage recorded in Montreal, Canada May 1969 and other footage from Bahamas for example, available  from the original unedited 16mm film, 6 minute and 20 second version. Featuring John giving some instructions at the beginning and also at the end there is more chat after he says "let’s rest".

02 - Give Peace a Chance #2 (1969)

The second edit is a 5 minute version, no additional intro chat, starts directly with the count-in and ends when John says "let’s rest". There are different "bed-in" scenes inserted that are not present in version #1.

03 - Give Peace a Chance #3 (1992)



This is the same as version #2 but ends earlier, comes from the "John Lennon Video Collection" and features an additional intro teaser with the title of the song, also ends after John says "OK, Beautiful yeah".

The John Lennon Video Collection VHS release (1992)

04 - Give Peace a Chance #4 (2003)

From "Lennon Legend", this film features footage from war and political conflicts along with the same "Bed-in" Footage from past versions. 5 min and 10 second version, with all the dialogue at the end after the song is finished, but starts directly with the count-in.

05 - Give Peace a Chance #5 (2010)

This version from "Power To The People" starts with "two" on the count-in (the other 4 versions have the full "one, two" count- in) and is the same as Version #4 except for the very end, which has different footage, also only last 4 minute 57 seconds. Doesn’t have any additional dialogue at the end.

"Power to the People - The Hits" CD + DVD is the current video compilation.

06 - Cold Turkey #1 (1969)

Directed by Jonas Mekas using different footage from the "Bed-In" in Montreal and the Toronto concert 1969, plus some external footage to create an "experimental film", broadcast on BBC Nov 6, 1969 on Top of The Pops.

07 - Cold Turkey #2 (1992)


This is the same as version #1, comes from the "John Lennon Video Collection" and features an additional intro teaser with the title of the song.

08 - Cold Turkey #3 (2003)

A new video was created for "Lennon Legend" using footage from the "One to One Concert" and Lennon and Ono leaving the Marylebone Magistrates’ Court in London, 1968.


09 - Instant Karma #1 (1970)

10 - Instant Karma #2 (1970)

Two different Bag Productions videos using archival footage from John and Yoko from 68-70.
Version #1 was broadcast on Top of the Pops , February 5, 1970 and is in black and white, it features Lennon’s red clown’s nose while recording at EMI Studios on December 4, 1969, while Version #2 all in color, features a mix of archival footage along with a car ride video with a sunset effect; no available info whether this version was broadcast at that time. Both versions end with the Lavenham, England hot-air balloon ride shoot December 5, 1969. (later released using different footage as the 18 minute short experimental film "Apotheosis").



11 - Instant Karma #3 (1992)

12 - Instant Karma #4 (2003)

While these two  different versions were originally taped for the TV show "Top of the Pops" on February 11, 1970 (first version (John with blue denim jacket)  broadcast Feb 12, 1970 and second version (John wearing black turtleneck)  on Feb 19, 1970), were used as promo videos years later. Version #3 appears on the "John Lennon Video Collection" from 1992, using the original broadcast with live vocal audio over the studio track, while Version #4 was released on "Lennon Legend" in 2003, but changing the original audio track with live vocal and replacing it with the clean studio version (the original live vocal of this version is also in circulation).




13 - Working Class Hero #1 (1998)

This rare video was available only as part of the "John Lennon Anthology" EPK (Electronic press kit, only released to the media), features also the Anthology version with the "Well, Well, Well" coda. The video (like most of the Lennon videos) is a combination of well known footage from various periods of his solo years.



14 - Working Class Hero #2 (F… Version, 2000)

15 - Working Class Hero #3 (Non F… Version, 2000)

A 6:44 minute "video history" of John made for the 20th anniversary of this death using as musical bed the same version of "Working Class Hero" from the Lennon Anthology from 1998 but removing the "Well, Well, Well" coda and adding some comments by John himself, interview clips, pictures and archival footage from all periods of his life, as a Beatle and solo.

Version #2 is the well known one, having the “f” word, while Version #3, is the “non f word” one, the rarest, only removing the audio part while John says this word.





16 - Working Class Hero #4 (2003)

A completely different and new conceptual video was released for "Lennon Legend", having a child portraying a young Lennon.



17 - Love (2003)
A video created for "Lennon Legend" using archival footage.

18 - Mother (2003)

Another conceptual video created for "Lennon Legend" using  pictures of a young John, and also Fred and Julia, etc.

The "Lennon Legend" DVD featured a lot of newly created videos.

19 - Power To The People #1 (1992)

20 - Power To The People #2 (2003)

21 - Power To The People #3 (2010)

Version 1: 3 minute 11 seconds (plus 10 seconds of additional intro teaser)
Version 2: 3 minute 44 seconds
Version 3: 3 minute 22 seconds

While all three could look the very same, they are different versions. From start to the 3 minute mark, version 1 and 2 are the same, but after that, different footage appear, plus version 2 is the full length rendition without any fade out. Version 3, compared with version 1 and 2, has a strong red color on the "Power to The People" sign that appears several times, and strong white color on the same sign that appear just once, plus, from start to the 2 minute and 17 second mark, version 1 and 3 are the same, but after that, Version 3 is completely different until the end, featuring more footage from the August 11 , 1971 protest in London,  not available on any other version.




 22 - Power To The People #4 (The US vs John Lennon)

A 2 minute video created by Capitol in 2006 as part of the soundtrack of "The U.S. vs John Lennon" documentary, completely different from any of the other three versions.




23 - Imagine #1 (1972 long intro)

24 - Imagine #2 (1972 short intro)

Version 1 runs 4 min and 5 seconds, has the long intro sequence in the woods, while version 2 is 3 minute and 27 second long, and also features the title “Imagine” right before the song starts. Both versions comes from the "Imagine The Film" documentary.



25 - Imagine #3 (1992)

This is almost the same as version 1 and 2, except it has the introduction teaser clip that all videos from the 1992 "Video Collection" have, and starts directly with the piano notes and the end is complete, showing John and Yoko kissing each other and a picture of the ‘Double Fantasy’ cover shot.

Laserdisc edition of The John Lennon Video Collection.

26 - Imagine #4 (1998- conceptual)

A very rare and obscure video created to promote the “Imagine The Film” soundtrack, hardly seen after that. The video represents the cycle of life of a boy growing up, finding the right girl, problems of life, having children, getting older, all simply by crossing a door over and over and over. At the end, a grand white piano appears.



27 - Imagine #5 (2003)

A 3 minute 55 second video, almost  the same as Version 1 but the intro is a few seconds shorter, and the kiss at the end is complete and with a white fade-out effect.

28 - Imagine #6 (2003-instrumental)

A collection of pictures over the instrumental track.
Also in circulation among video collectors, is a 3 minute clip of outtakes from the “woods” intro sequence, although never released as an official video.


29 - Jealous Guy #1 (1972)

From "Imagine The Film" with footage shot at Tittenhurst Park, Ascot.



30 - Jealous Guy #2 (1988)

From the soundtrack of "Imagine John Lennon", directed by Steve Purcell, using  a collage of pictures and old Beatle videos, and footage from the recording session.

"Imagine John Lennon" documentary film.

31 - Jealous Guy #3 (1992)

Same as Version 2, adding the introduction teaser from the "Video Collection".

32 - Jealous Guy #4 (2003)

At some point, starts the same as version 1 just for a few seconds, after that, a completely different and new video created for ‘Legend’, using outtake footage from the 1972 Tittenhurst Park video shooting, plus footage from the recording session.

Laserdisc edition of Imagine The Film

33 - Gimme Some Truth #1 (1972)

34 - Gimme Some Truth #2 (2010)

Both are the same, but the 2010 version has the video in top quality. Version 1 was part of "Imagine The Film" but also as an individual promo with his own slate.



35-How? (1972)
36-Oh My Love (1972)
37-Crippled Inside (1972)
38-It’s So Hard (1972)
39-I Don’t Want to be a Soldier (1972)
40-How Do You Sleep? (1972)
41-Oh Yoko (1972)

The laserdisc edition had artwork based on the album cover.

All the videos comes from the "Imagine The Film" documentary from 1972 but also available as individual promo films with their own slates, at least "How?", "Oh My Love" and "Crippled Inside".






42 - Happy Xmas (War is Over) #1 (1972)

Rare version 1 was produced by the BBC, first broadcast on December 14, 1972, and features footage from a church, along with still pictures of the Lennons recording with the Harlem choir. Available among video collectors from a BBC re-broadcast, this version is not present on any of the official video collections to date.

43 - Happy Xmas (War is Over) #2 (1992)

This second version was directed by  Gerard Meola and features video footage of the 1992 incarnation of the Harlem choir along with still pictures of John and Yoko.



44 - Happy Xmas (War is Over) #3 (2003)

The final version is a very cruel video showing moving images and footage of war consequences, suffering around the world.




45 - Mind Games #1 (1992)

46 - Mind Games #2 (2010)

Version 1 shows footage from the hot-air balloon ride December 5, 1969, along with outtake footage from the "Whatever Gets You Thru The Night" video shoot on October 17, 1974, plus some other stuff. While version 2 uses only more outtake footage from the Oct 17, 1974 video shoot, bought by Yoko Ono in 2003.





47 - #9 Dream #1 (1992)

48 - #9 Dream #2 (2003)

Version 1 is simply a collage of well know videos from 1969/1972, and Version 2, another collage of videos, using as base, the experimental film "Smile" from 1968, with John’s face in slow motion.

49 - Whatever Gets You Thru The Night #1 (1974)

The original 1:52 video for this song was filmed on October 17, 1974. Director Peter Cooper and a film crew followed John as he travelled around the city. More of this footage appears in the "Mind Games" video from 1992. In 2003, Yoko Ono bought all the outtake silent 16mm footage (over 40 minutes) at a Christie’s Auction and later used some fragments for the 2010 video of "Mind Games".

From the Christie's Auction description of the film footage: This footage (...) truly captures "a day in the life" of a post-Beatle John. One stipulation Lennon had was that he would "direct" the film and be able to edit and keep portions of it for his own use, which he later did. 

The footage (...) is briefly described in the following ten "scenes:"

1. Lennon attending the premiere of the Robert Stigwood play, "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band on the Road" at the Beacon Theater; also evident are Lennon's close friends Peter Brown, Jack Douglas and girlfriend May Pang as well as Robert Stigwood himself

2. Lennon walking around midtown NYC and making a special stop at famed jewelry store, Tiffany's, on 5th Avenue

3. Lennon walking around Central Park and dancing on a bandstand for a number of minutes, then playing on an empty bench; John, May and friends take a short car ride

4. Lennon feeding animals at the zoo with several children and then imitating a baboon for them

5. Lennon in Central Park signing autographs for children and playing on park statues with them

6. Lennon walking alone in Central Park with some excellent close-ups of his face

7. Lennon playing an organ and dancing on a small stage in Central Park 
8. Lennon taking over a vending cart in Central Park performing some magic tricks as a small crowd gathers; John shares some food with fans 
9. Lennon riding in a hansom cab around the streets of NYC, making several stops along the way to admire the buildings and to talk with fans, police, cab drivers and others; many great close-up shots of John (and the white hansom cab horse)


10. Lennon in his office bending some paperclips and taking phone calls; many close-up shots of John here with his "I Love Elvis" and "Save Lennon" buttons evident

Some of the footage was to be used for the European promotion of the single, but may never have been broadcast. A two minutes edit was used for "#9 Dream" in February 1975 (BBC1 Top Of The Tops, not listed as a separate promo video here). This footage was later used in 1992 in "The John Lennon Video Collection" for the video assembled for "Mind Games". A different edit saw the light in 2003 in the "Lennon Legend" video compilation.

More outtake footage is available among collectors, and a 6:05 edit of this footage is available on YouTube here.


50 - Whatever Gets You Thru The Night #2 (1992)



51 - Whatever Gets You Thru The Night #3 (2003)

Cartoon- animated video using John’s drawings. Versions 2 and 3 could look the very same but they are not. Without counting the extra 11 second teaser intro for the 1992 video, Version 2 is 3 minute and 24 seconds long, while version 3 is 3 minute and 35 seconds long, so Version 3 is 11 seconds longer. Both are the same until 2:43, where there is extra cartoon animated video on Version 3 that is not on the other, plus the audio track used for the 2003 version is the full-length take with no fade out.


52 - Slippin’ and Slidin’ (1992)



53 - Stand By Me #1 (1992)

Originally taped for the "Old Grey Whistle Test" TV show,  on April 8, 1975, these two "live in the studio" clips were used as music videos in 1992, respecting the live renditions.

54 - Stand By Me #2 (2003)

55 - Stand By Me #3 (2010)

Newly created videos using the "Old Grey Whistle Test" footage but also adding other well known footage from many Lennon eras. Plus, using the studio audio track from the record.
Version 2 is 4 min and 3 seconds long because it uses the full-length take,  while Version 3 is the common version that last 3 minutes and 28 seconds. Both videos are the same from start to the 3:10 mark, after that, Version 2 has new footage not available on the other.


56 - (Just Like) Starting Over #1 (1992)

The original video shoot for this song was filmed November 26, 1980 in Central Park and the Superone Westwater Gallery, in New York, but the video was never finished because of his death. Later this footage was used on the 1981 video for "Woman", and in 1992, reused for the new "(Just Like) Starting Over" video.

57 - (Just Like) Starting Over #2 (2000)

To commemorate 20 years of his death, this video was released December 8, 2000 (later used also in "Lennon Legend" from 2003). A very good conceptual video in the style of "Free as a Bird", using tons of references to his life and musical career.



58 - Watching The Wheels (2003)

A video for "Lennon Legend", created using home movie footage of the Lennons at home and on vacation.

59 - Woman #1 (1981)

60 - Woman #2 (1992)

Directed by Yoko Ono, adding some additional footage of her from 1981. Both versions are the same, except that #2 has the additional teaser intro. This video is also on the "Lennon Legend" compilation from 2003.



61 - Beautiful Boy (2003)

Another "Lennon Legend" video using home movie footage, this time from a vacation in Cold Spring Harbor, New York, April 13, 1980.



62 - Nobody Told Me #1 (1983)

63 - Nobody Told Me #2 (1992)

Version 1 and 2 could also look the same  from start to 3:20, but from 3:21 to the end, both versions have different footage.



64 - Nobody Told Me #3 (2003)

A newly created video for "Lennon Legend", using footage from Ascot, England and very rare footage from Riverdale, NJ , both from 1971.

65 - Grow Old With Me #1 (1983)

66 - Grow Old With Me #2 (1992)

Produced by Stanley Dorfman, both versions are the same, except for the 1992 teaser intro. A collage of not so rare footage.




67 - I’m Stepping Out #1 (1984)

68 - I’m Stepping Out #2 (1992)

Another Stanley Dorfman video, both versions are the same, except for the 1992 teaser intro. Another video collage using every possible Lennon footage (including some from the  "Let it Be" sessions), sometimes the very same footage that is present on many other videos.



69 - Borrowed Time #1 (1984)

70 - Borrowed Time #2 (1984)

71 - Borrowed Time #3 (1992)

The first three versions are the same, but each has a unique variation:
Version 1 has a slate showing a picture of Yoko and John with the title "Living On Borrowed Time", and during the final part the credits appear over John’s face: "Copyright 1984 Polygram Records, Inc".

Version 2 has a blue screen, no picture, with a slate that reads "Borrowed Time" and there is no copyright credits during the end.

Version 3 has the teaser intro from the 1992 Video Collection.




72 - Borrowed Time #4 (2003)

Another new conceptual video created for "Lennon Legend", using pictures of John as a child creating a “motion sequence”, plus some other footage from various periods of his career and life, some very rare. The audio is also the full-length take, no fade-out.



73 - Every Man has a Woman (1984)

A not so well known official video. A conceptual story of a man meeting a woman in a restaurant. This video has never been on any of the official video collections to date.

74 - I’m Losing You (Anthology Version) (1998)

75 - I’m Losing You (Anthology Version) (1998 Behind The Scenes)

76 - Only You  (1998)

As part of the ‘Lennon Anthology’ box set, two promotional videos were created. "I’m Losing You" featuring the original members of Cheap Trick and a combination of original Lennon drawings in animation, directed by Dean Karr. And "Only You", another collage of well known footage.
Plus, a "Behind the Scenes" video for "I’m Losing You" was also sent to the media as an individual video.






Do not confuse this video ("I’m Losing You (Anthology Version))" with the unreleased footage from 1980, that recently was released by the bootleg label His Master’s Choice. That comes from an unfinished attempt to record a video for the released version on LP of the song "I’m Losing You" (which is not the Cheap Trick version), Lennon didn’t liked the way he looked and the video was never finished, also, it does not count as an official videoclip because all we have is outtake footage.

John Lennon footage is also present on two Yoko Ono Videos:

Walking on Thin Ice (1981)

Goodbye Sadness (1981)

And also original footage of John was used for some charity videos:

Give Peace a Chance (1991 The Peace Choir)

Imagine (2014 UNICEF Various Artists)

The Japanese bootleg label Misterclaudel have put together all the videos in a 4 DVD Box set, using the best possible sources and quality, adding some goodies, like slates, outtakes and original TV commercials, plus the unreleased or hard to find versions of some videos.


Mike Carrera supplied the text and many images for this article, we have inserted appropriate video examples from John Lennon's official YouTube channel and made a few corrections, as well as depicted some of the official releases where you can find the videos discussed here.

George Martin and The Beatles.

Before his death, Sir George Martin was involved in the making of a television series called Soundbreaking. The series has now started to air in a few markets, notably Australia and The Netherlands. More countries to follow. In USA, the PBS series is scheduled to air in November 2016, but the first two episodes have already got early airings on certain PBS stations. Both initial episodes feature segments on George Martin's work with the Beatles, as well as interviews with McCartney, Harrison & Starr.

The following is a description of each episode in the series.

Episode 1: The Recording Artist
Soundbreaking begins where a recording does--at the intersection of inspiration and execution. There stands the enigmatic figure of the record producer, the person charged with the critical task of both realizing an artist's vision and capturing it for posterity. Profiling some of the most accomplished and revered producers in the recording industry, Episode One offers a study in contrasting styles and approaches: between the inspired guidance of George Martin in his work with The Beatles and Phil Spector's dictatorial insistence on his signature sound; between the gentle coaxing with which Rick Rubin brought Johnny Cash back to greatness, and the fierce creative independence of artist-producers such as Joni Mitchell and Sly Stone. In the process, The Recording Artist underscores the way in which any music recording is the product of a delicate and infinitely variable balance between man and machine.

Episode 2: Painting With Sound
The second episode in our series chronicles a watershed event in the history of music: the moment when the recording studio itself effectively became an instrument and gave rise to sounds that could never be reproduced live. Beginning with the advent of magnetic tape and multi-tracking technology, and charting its evolution from the four or eight tracks used by The Beatles and The Beach Boys, to the sixteen- and twenty-four track productions created by Pink Floyd and Fleetwood Mac, to the digital innovations that today fuel the work of artists such as Beck, Bon Iver, and Radiohead, Painting with Sound traces the birth and development of a new art form--one wholly distinct from what throughout all prior human history had been meant and understood by the word "music."

Episode 3: The Voice - The Human Instrument
Celebrating the most powerful of all instruments--the human voice--the third episode of Soundbreaking surveys the range of ingredients that go into a perfect vocal track. At once the most fundamental component of a song and the most challenging to capture, the vocal track is the product of a complex collaboration between performer, producer, and sound engineer--a titrate of artistic commitment, compelling concept, and technical wizardry that, at its best, turns a lyric into the soul of the song. Featuring rare studio footage of some the world's most renowned vocalists--from blues divas to suave crooners to rock star screamers--the show considers the gamut of tricks and techniques that can both enhance and alter the human voice, and explores the ineffable emotional quality that makes a vocal track truly great.

Episode 4: Going Electric
The fourth episode in our series tells the story of the most elemental force in recording--electricity--and the musical revolution it sparked. Highlighting the way in which electricity has been harnessed and channelled to create new and never-before-heard sounds, Going Electric traces both the chain reaction unleashed by the invention of the electric guitar and the evolution of synthesized music. From Delta blues to Chicago blues to The Rolling Stones and Jimi Hendrix, from Stevie Wonder and The Who to EDM, Episode Four looks at the process by which science and engineering becomes sound, and reveals the power of technology to continuously redefine what we mean when we say the word "music."

Episode 5: Four On The Floor
If the vocal track is the heart of a song, the rhythm track--the beat--is its body. It is the sonic element that taps into the most primal part of us and makes us want to move. The Rhythm Track breaks the beat down, and examines the endless experimentation that has taken place in its core, the very bedrock of all music. Charting the progression of the beat from drum and bass to beatbox and beyond--from Little Richard and James Brown to disco and EDM--Episode Five listens in on the ongoing dialogue between dance floor and recording studio, and captures the ever-evolving process of building an irresistible beat.

Episode 6: The World Is Yours
The sixth episode of Soundbreaking looks at a musical revolution that was not only inspired by recording but born from its history: the art of sampling--a kind of musical equivalent of Adam's rib. Beginning with the pioneers of hip hop (Afrika Bambaataa, Chuck D, Rick Rubin), the episode tracks the way in which the practice of borrowing fragments from existing records created a new genre--a potent musical form that emerged from the margins, up-ended the establishment, and set in motion a controversy over copyright that has yet to be resolved. As we survey the development of sampling and its multiple, varied incarnations over the years since, Episode Six explores the complex sonic landscapes which, by their very existence, pay tribute to the art of recording itself, and examines the eternally blurred line between theft and homage.

Episode 7: Sound & Vision
The penultimate episode in our series proceeds from the once-preposterous notion that music is a visual art form. Chronicling the era in which MTV forged an indelible and inextricable link between recorded music and the newly emergent music video, Sound and Vision considers what it means to see music as well as hear it. Offering unprecedented exposure to artists with a knack for the form-- Michael Jackson, Madonna, Billy Idol, the Eurythmics--MTV turned singles into smash hits and musical performers into international celebrities. It also created new expectations of musical entertainment and imposed new burdens on recording artists. Tracking the music video from MTV to the internet, Episode Seven tells the story of how a one-time marketing tool became a powerful mediator between artist and audience, and illuminates the music video's role in the popular music of today.

Episode 8: The Way We Listen
Soundbreaking's final episode, I Am My Music, shifts the focus away from the creation of music to the experience of listening to it, and to the formats that have shaped and ultimately defined that experience. From vinyl discs to the cassette tape, the CD, and the MP3, each generation has had a piece of musical media to call its own--a way of listening that determines not only how and where we listen, but also the manner in which we collect, store, and share the music we love. What was once an almost tactile experience--a matter of cover art and liner notes and record collections that encapsulated our identity and even telegraphed it to visitors--has now become a blizzard of 0s and 1s, a kind of listening that is at once more intangible, more private, and arguably, by virtue of our nearly limitless access to history's entire catalogue of recorded music, also far more varied than ever before. What remains unchanged is the fundamental miracle of recorded music for the listener: it is music that is ours to command and control. As Soundbreaking concludes, we come to understand the true meaning of that miracle: we listen to what we like when we like, and the music we hear entwines itself with our daily lives and then our memories--until, at last, it becomes an essential part of who we are.

When The Beatles met Muhammad Ali, February 1964.

Friday, boxing legend Muhammad Ali (born Cassius Marcellus Clay) left this planet, at 74. Ali was a major icon when he was alive, not only because of his victories in the boxing ring, but also for his memorable quotes, a number of them in lyrical verse form, and his political and religious convictions.

Meeting The Beatles in 1964
The Beatles met up with Muhammad Ali at a photo opportunity when he was still Cassius Clay, during their first U.S. visit in February, 1964. Clay was in Miami, in training for the fight that would bring him the world heavyweight championship when he beat Sonny Liston - also known from the Sgt Pepper album cover. In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, Ringo remembers their intitial meeting.

For consciousness reasons, Ali refused to be drafted during the Vietnam war, and lost his title in 1967. He appealed and the High Court suspended the sentence in 1971.

Muhammad Ali with John Lennon and Yoko Ono, 1977.

Muhammad Ali had a well known nickname: "The Greatest", which must have been on John Lennon's mind when he penned "I'm The Greatest", which Ringo sang on a record, John and George participating.

Paul's parody
When Paul McCartney's band Wings was touring USA in 1976, at every town or city they visited, he was always asked about a possible Beatles reunion. Tired of this after a while, Paul came up with a Muhammad Ali-type verse:

The Beatles split in '69
And since then they've been doing fine
And if that question does not cease
Ain't no one gonna get no peace
And if you ask it just once more
I think I'm gonna break your jaw!

Beatles reunite for Ali
A comic book, "Superman vs Muhammad Ali" was published by DC Comics in 1978. On the front cover, several famous people are drawn into the crowd watching Superman fight Ali, among them are some familiar faces.

A reunited Beatles in 1978: Linda and Paul, John and Yoko, George and Ringo alone.

Enlargement from the 2010 hardcover edition of the comic book.

Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame
When The Beatles were inducted into the Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame in 1988, Muhammad Ali was one of the people present, and in his thank you speech, George Harrison mentioned Ali. George had been thanking all the musicians who inspired The Beatles, singling out Little Richard, who also was present, when he was interrupted by Ringo.

Ringo: Don't forget Muhammad Ali!
George: We won't forget Muhammad Ali, he picked us up in Miami Beach one day.

Paul and Ali
In 2002, Paul McCartney and Muhammad Ali were two of the recipients of the UNA-USA's Global Leadership award in New York, and the two met up again. Paul published this statement when notified of Ali's death: "Dear Muhammad Ali. I loved that man. He was great from the first day we met him in Miami, and on the numerous occasions when I ran into him over the years. Besides being the greatest boxer, he was a beautiful, gentle man with a great sense of humour who would often pull a pack of cards out of his pocket, no matter how posh the occasion, and do a card trick for you. The world has lost a truly great man. Love Paul"

New from HMC.

Coming up from the HMC bootleg label is a new edition of their TMOQ Gazette series, this time focusing on The Beatles' concerts in Tokyo in 1966. The contents are supposed to be as good as ever, with no no subtitles, no logos and no station IDs. Two of The Beatles' concerts in Tokyo were filmed, and they both have been circulating among video collectors. One of the concerts was also out officially in Japan only by the VAP company, on video cassettes in 1984 and as a laser disc in 1993, in collaboration with Apple Corps Ltd. This DVD brings us both concerts, previously labeled "the black suits" (actually green) and "white suits" (actually cream and with pin stripes), now re-nicked "dark suits" and "light suits". Word is that the "dark suits" concert (which was the one used on the official Japan-only releases) is better here than on the laser disc. Actually, the 1984 beta cassette release of the "dark suits" concert is considered the best in quality, as the laser disc suffered from audio problems and artefacts from the video conversion.

The official laser disc; note the Apple logo.

The Beatles' set list during both shows: Rock And Roll Music, She's A Woman, If I Needed Someone, Day Tripper, Baby's In Black, I Feel Fine, Yesterday, I Wanna Be Your Man, Nowhere Man, Paperback Writer and I'm Down.

Video cassette from VAP

The concerts, from June 30 and July 1, were video taped by Nippon Television. The two shows were edited together and broadcast during The Beatles Recital, From Nippon Budokan, Tokyo, which was screened on NTV Channel 4 on 1 July from 9pm. The June 30 concert (dark suits) was shown in Japan three times: in 1977, 1980 and 1988. The July 1 concert was only shown in Japan in 1966 and never reprised. The Beatles performed five concerts over three days, one on June 30, and two on each of the two following days, July 1 and 2.

Extra bonus material on the TMOQ Gazette release comes in the form of the Japanese support acts from the second evening.

Contents of the new HMC release.

A new series, "Great lives" debuts with a closer look at John Lennon.

This may be old news from 2010, but it's available now from BBC Radio 4. Journalist John Harris, author of influential books on music, politics and popular culture, was born just as the Beatles were splitting up, and was only 11 when John Lennon died. Yet Lennon's mischievous anti-establishment position - and the richness of his lyrics and music - makes him Harris's nomination for a Great Life. Matthew Parris tries to define what it is that makes this enigmatic, often difficult figure an inspiring subject for reflection. The expert witness is Barry Miles, in whose London gallery John first met Yoko in the mid 1960s.

This is from the series of Great Lives from BBC Radio 4 - available here.