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| USA Tour Programme |
Last week, we told you about a limited edition package which included reproductions of concert programmes, tickets and Beatles buttons. We've been thinking how great it would have been if they had saved these for inclusion in some live boxed sets.
How great wouldn't that be? Imagine three LP sized boxed sets, featuring live CDs and DVDs from each of the Beatles touring years, with facsimiles of concert tickets and tour programmes!
What would they contain? Here's what we could have had:
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| Dream boxed set |
The Beatles Live Project: "Tour Years: 1964"
CD: Hollywood Bowl 1964 - one full concert from the famous performance in Los Angeles. Part of this has already been released on LP/cassette in 1977.
DVD: Washington Coliseum, Washington DC 1964 (already released on iTunes in 2010 as a bonus for those who preordered the remastered iTunes stereo UK catalogue). Plus a look at the World Tour, which saw Jimmy Nicol temporarily replace Ringo Starr as a drummer. There's lots of great footage from the Dutch chapter of the tour, with the Beatles sightseeing on the canals of Amsterdam, adding live vocals to the record playback at a TV-studio and a completely live "I Saw Her Standing There" from Blokker. Follow this with footage of the Beatles travelling through New Zealand and Australia, ending it with Ringo's triumphant return for an almost complete concert from the Festival Hall, Melbourne. The NME Poll Winners concert.
Book: Chronicling the 1964 Beatles tours with photos and an essay focusing on the Beatles concerts of this year.
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| Australian Tour Programme, 1964 |
Reproductions of tour programmes, concert tickets and a bumper poster.
The Beatles Live Project: "Tour Years: 1965"
CD: Live at Sam Houston Coliseum and Hollywood Bowl 1965.
DVD: NME Poll Winners concert 1965, Paris 1965 and Shea Stadium.
Book: Chronicling the 1965 Beatles tours with photos and an essay focusing on the Beatles concerts of this year.
Reproductions of tour programmes and concert tickets etc.
The Beatles Live Project: "Tour Years: 1966"
CD: Live at the Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan.
DVD: The best of the Budokan concerts. There's already been official releases of one of the Budokan concerts on video and laser disc in Japan, why not release it for a world wide audience? Clips from the German "Bravo Beatles Blitz Tournee", ending with the six available songs from Munich 1966. Clips from that final USA tour, including press conferences and amateur footage from Candlestick Park. The Award ceremony from the NME Poll Winners concert 1966.
Reproductions of tour programmes and concert tickets etc.
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| Reproduction of the Candlestick Park concert poster, 1966 |
Of course, there should be enough material to also release a 1963 compilation. We've got the live for radio recordings from Sweden and the soundtrack to "It's The Beatles" from the Liverpool Empire Theatre. For a DVD, the full "Drop In" performance from Stockholm, the remaining footage from "It's The Beatles", the Royal Variety Performance, "The Beatles Come To Town" film from Manchester with outtakes.
Now, wouldn't that have been an upcoming Apple/Universal Music project worthy of the band? And it could all be accomplished by using material they already have in their vaults. No new interviews need to be made, everything is there.
Paul McCartney is doing his Archive series, with beautiful books, remastered CDs, bonus CDs and DVDs. Why not the Beatles?