The Guide To Collecting Beatles

including:
- Beatles Recordings Timeline
- Beatles Studio Sessions
- Unreleased Songs By The Beatles
- Beginner's Guides To Beatles Bootlegs
- Core Beatles Collection
- Dr Ebbetts Beatles Remasters
- The Guide To Beatles Recording Variations

Download .pdf

The Beatles Book Sixties Editions CD-ROM

Reposted under requests (new links)

This CD-Rom contains all 77 editions of the legendary The Beatles Book magazine, which were published between 1963 and 1969. Every pictures, every articles are included. A monitor set to 1024x768 is required to view the pages at their original size.
This project was made for all the Beatlepeople who never had the chance to obtain these fab magazines originally. I for one was hunting these copies for decades and know how difficult it is to get them all. At last now everybody can enjoy and study the best magazine set ever published on the liverpudlians.


PART 1: here PART 2: here PART 3: here PART 4: here PART 5: here

Warning: .dcr files! Download only if you can open it!!!

She Loves You is Beatles top seller

It was only the band's second number one, issued as Beatlemania was in its infancy, but newly compiled figures show She Loves You to be the biggest selling Fab Four track ever released in the UK. BBC broadcaster Ken Bruce said, "The song that gave us 'yeah yeah yeah' has obviously been getting the seal of approval from the public ever since."

An interview with Doug Sulpy

An interview with author of the most comprehensive book about the Beatles' 'Let it Be' sessions...
“Drugs, Divorce and a Slipping Image – The Complete, Unauthorized Story of The Beatles’ ‘Get Back’ Sessions,” by Sulpy and Ray Schweighardt, is the closest and most comprehensive look there is at what happened 40 years ago.

We asked Doug, who is well known in the Beatle collecting community for his 910 newsletter and other books that study the Beatles released and unreleased catalog, some questions via email on the sessions and other issues.

Q. In your view, who or what was the biggest problem in the “Let It Be” sessions?

Doug Sulpy: In all seriousness, I think the biggest mistake was having the sessions in the first place. Remember, The Beatles initially intended to perform a live show to promote the “White Album,” which had been released a month or so earlier. If they had stuck to that, things might have gone more smoothly, but, instead, they decided to rehearse all new material for the show ­ a dreadful mistake, since their creative juices were at an all-time low after spending most of the previous year recording the “White Album.”

Q. Where does “Let It Be” and [Let It Be… Naked] rank in the Beatles canon, in your opinion?

Doug Sulpy: Personally, I’d put “Let It Be” ahead of several of their other albums. In spite of the reputation it has, it’s really not all that bad. ­ It’s just that, unlike every other album they made, it really didn’t push the envelope, musically. Also, I think that Phil Spector should get the credit he deserves. ­ He really did take a bunch of uninspired tapes and manage to create a listenable product out of them.

The Beatles' Interviews 1967

Disc 1 Disc 2

Beatles remasters = resignation of Dr. Ebbett

The famous Dr. Ebbett, who experiment is a niche in the audiophile world, making available of needledrops popular vinyl of the Beatles, among others to hear the Beatles in mono in the digital transfer of high quality, officially announced his retirement after hearing excerpts of remasters.
A copy of the letter of resignation ...

Dear friends,

I sincerely hope all is well with you and yours.

Indeed, this is an unexpected mass-mailer. Please forgive the unsolicited rambles that follow.

To start, there are many of you who have outstanding orders with me at this time. Some of you have been waiting for a while, and I wish to apologize for that. Please don't worry. Each and every one of these outstanding orders will be tended to this week. You have my word.

I appreciate your patience and understanding.

Second, there has been considerable buzz surrounding the new Beatles remasters, due for release in September. There should be. We have all been waiting for this day, and it is about to arrive - finally! Thanks to a long-time supporter and friend to this project, I have had the opportunity to hear genuine samples of the new remasters due out in two months.

They are good.

Very good.

Those of you who will be buying them - and those of you who have already preordered - will not be disappointed.

In fact, I will venture to guess than many of you will be more than pleasantly surprised at how good they sound.

And with what promises to be outstanding packaging all around, it will be a collector's nirvana.

From the outset of the Dr. Ebbetts Sound Systems project, I swore that once EMI did the right thing and released remasters to be proud of, I would not continue doing what I was doing. After all, the only reason I did this was because Apple/EM /Capitol would not - and because I so very much love the Beatles.

While my love for the band has not changed, everything else has.

EMI/Capitol began their release of the American LPs on compact disc a few years ago, and now EMI has tackled the British catalogue in fullest detail.

It's what we all wanted. As Beatles fans, it's what we've prayed for.

To that end - and with the heaviest of hearts - effective immediately, Dr. Ebbetts Sound Systems will cease operations.

Many of you will recall that the entire purpose of the Dr. Ebbetts project was to make available to the public the best sounding versions of the Beatles' original LP releases - with emphasis on the American and British catalogues. Believe me, it wasn't a hard thing to do considering the substandard quality of the original CD catalogue from 1987 onward.

The fact of the matter is, the Dr. Ebbetts material does not - and will not - sound better than what is coming commercially in September. People I trust agree with me. The remasters sound remarkably well balanced, with solid, punchy bass, smooth mids and not-to-harsh, yet crisp highs. In comparison, many of the Ebbetts masters fall short - weaker bass, dimished mids, and often too-bright highs.

It's a given that the remasters will not please everyone, but they will be good enough to make the Ebbetts catalogue solidly inferior.

The artwork and packaging of the EMI material will prove to make current Dr. Ebbetts releases look like Xerox machine fodder.

It pains me, seeing as I have invested so much time in this thing, but I humbly and officially put this nearly-fourteen year project to bed.

I have outlived my usefulness in this hobby.

I know there are many who will ask why I just don't continue releasing titles that are NOT being put out by Apple/EMI - foreign releases, rare pressings, etc..

My reasons are complicated, but they are what they are. In short, if the Dr. Ebbetts BLUE BOX set is not the definitive sounding version of the original UK stereo LPs, then why issue them at all?

Many will remember the original BEAT CDs of the 1990s that presented the Beatles US LPs sourced from cassettes. I surely do. They became immediately obsolete with the advent of Dr. Ebbetts. No one bought those BEAT CDs anymore when I came along. Why would they? At the time, my material was far superior.

The Ebbetts BLUE BOX series was only issued because Apple/EMI's versions were substantially inferior to anything I - or any number of needledroppers - were putting out. The Ebbetts BLUE BOX set is at THE HEART of the Dr. Ebbetts Sound Systems collection, in my estimation. If that set is now inferior to the commercial release, then it has no business existing. Suffice to say, I would not release the BLUE BOX set today if new remasters were already commercially available.

I would have no need.

And if my CORE SET is inferior, I don't wish to have the rest of the catalogue branded as such either.

Therefore, it is time to put it all on the shelf.

I am requesting that all of you who have LPs with me contact me as soon as possible and let me know which ones are yours so that I might send them back to you. I promise I will get those to you in short order.

So that your return LP requests will not be lost in what promises to be a hectic e-mail shuffle, please put "MY LPs" somewhere in the subject line.

Your generosity, kindness and willingness to share your treasured possessions with me is something I shall never forget.

To each and every one of you who has supported me and befriended me throughout the years, I wish to extend my deepest gratitude. Your loyalty has moved me beyond words. This entire project began as a fanciful hobby many years ago and has mushroomed into something far beyond anything I could have imagined.

From every corner of the entire world, I have been blessed to meet some of the best Beatle people out there. I will never forget you.

But now it is time to make way for the "big boys."

Please be sure to secure your copies of the remasters. I guarantee they will replace your Dr. Ebbetts CDs in your rotations and playlists - as they should. Display them proudly and let people know who the greatest band of all time is.

Remember, quoting my project motto from all those years ago, it is ONLY about the music.

That is why I do what I do today.

Now go put your hard-earned money to good use!

God Bless.
Drew

The Beatles Still Reign Supreme Among Americans

Nearly 40 years after their demise, the Beatles remain the most popular band among Americans. In a generation gap survey by the Pew Research Center, the Fab Four came up tops among 1,815 Americans over the age of 15 who were asked their opinions on 20 popular musical acts, past and present.
A whopping 49% of all who were polled said they like the Beatles -- in scientific terms -- "a lot." Modern acts like Coldplay and Kanye West were considerably less popular than the legendary lads from Liverpool among those aged 16 to 29. Michael Jackson, the Rolling Stones, Nirvana and Jimi Hendrix also placed highest among this age group.

In the age 30 to 49 bracket, the Eagles were tops with MJ and the Beatles rounding out the top three. Meanwhile the Beatles, Eagles and Elvis Presley were the most favored in the 50 to 64 age group. For those 65 and older, Frank Sinatra reigned supreme with Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley also extremely well-liked.
Overall, Madonna was named as the most disliked among all surveyed. And lest you think the survey was conducted only in the suburbs, 45 percent of respondents said they hadn't heard of Coldplay.

Ultimately, based on our limited background in research analysis, it seems that people younger than 29 and older than 65 agree on a lot more than the indie-loving hipsters we know.

The Beatles' Remasters unboxed

Opinions: The 5 Worst Beatles Songs.

by Paulo.

I’m always talking about how brilliant the Beatles were, and they were – for me the greatest band of all time and my ultimate childhood, teenage, and adulthood heroes. People think therefore that I am boring, and also have been brainwashed by the Beatles bandwagon that has been rolling since late 1962 and seems to place the band above all reproach. I take issue with this.

They weren’t infallible. Oh no. Whilst I don’t think that they ever consciously ripped their audiences off by putting out songs that they knew were crap, their efforts sometimes have to go down as a swing and a miss. With that in mind, I have constructed a shortlist of their 20 worst songs and picked the top 5 for an alternative look at their output.

EXCEPTIONS:
These songs are not counted in the list because it would make it far too predictable.

• That entire second side of the Yellow Submarine album. Not because they’re bad – as instrumental pieces, they’re alright – but because they’re not Beatles songs.
• Revolution 9. Is it a song? If it is, it’s terrible. But it isn’t, it’s an avant-garde project and therefore is probably quite good. Terrible to listen to though.
• Maggie Mae – doesn’t count. Why did they put this on the album? Why does it even exist?
• Dig It – Not a song, just a jam session, indicative of the lack of effort, enthusiasm and enjoyment that went on during these sessions, and sadly indicative of how little they cared about the band by this point.
• Any Tony Sheridan/Anthology/Live at the BBC songs. No – because they’re often out-takes, and un-released for a reason, so they’re collector’s items more than they are a part of the legacy that the band wanted to create for themselves.
• The German songs. They’re just great songs, but sung in German – I don’t think you can reasonably count them.
• You Know My Name (Look Up The Number) – Yes, it is terrible, but it’s also not a real song, quite hilarious, and has Brian Jones on sax, so I think it just about survives.
• Any of the individual songs on the Abbey Road medley. Several of these would qualify on their own, but as part of a greater entity they all hang together well enough to class as one whole great song, I think.

The Shortlist: (An asterisk * denotes that the song is a cover)

1. Wild Honey Pie (White Album, 1968)
2. What Goes On (Rubber Soul, 1965)
3. Run For Your Life (Rubber Soul, 1965)
4. PS I Love You (Please Please Me, 1962)
5. Mr Moonlight* (Beatles for Sale, 1964)
6. What You’re Doing (Beatles for Sale, 1964)
7. Another Girl (Help, 1965)
8. Yellow Submarine (Revolver, 1966)
9. Lovely Rita (Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, 1967)
10. Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da (White Album, 1968)
11. Cry Baby Cry (White Album, 1968)
12. All Together Now (Magical Mystery Tour, 1967)
13. Little Child (With The Beatles, 1963)
14. Words of Love* (Beatles for Sale, 1964)
15. Don’t Pass Me By (White Album, 1968)
16. Flying (Magical Mystery Tour, 1967)
17. Love Me Do (Please Please Me, 1962)
18. I’m Happy Just To Dance With You (A Hard Day’s Night, 1964)
19. I Need You (Help, 1965)
20. I’ll Get You (B-side, 1962)

The final 5, and why...

5. Wild Honey Pie
I’m all for McCartney in “experimental” mode, and I’m also all for him in “recording acoustic songs on his own” mode, after all, that method brought us Blackbird and pretty much every good song on McCartney too. That being said, he and the other Beatles ought really to have been able to spot a pointless song when they heard one. It’s only 53 seconds long I suppose, so even though it’s appalling it’s over relatively quickly, but even so – it really is appalling. Apparently the song was going to be left off the album, but Patti Boyd really liked it so they kept it on. Patti Boyd was not a musician by trade, and she certainly wasn’t an established rock and roll superstar who had been correctly judging what songs should and should not go on albums for the past 6 years. My basic point here is that they really should have listened to their instincts, told Patti to stick to being pretty, and kept this one for the vaults.

4. What Goes On
There are three things that count against this song. Well, there are 4 really, but the fourth is just the outcome of the equation formed by the other three. The three things are this. Firstly, The Beatles were at their absolute best when they loved what they were doing, and played/sang with enthusiasm. Examples of this include Long Tall Sally, I Saw Her Standing There and She Loves You from the early days, and Helter Skelter, I’ve Got a Feeling, and Come Together from the later days. They’re bad examples, because they’re all great songs – but even songs like I’m Happy Just To Dance With You, Little Child, Dig A Pony, and Octopus’ Garden are made considerably better than they actually are by a bit of enthusiasm and energy. This song is not only worse than all of those listed, but it sounds like the band were completely and utterly bored during the recording of the song. It’s telling that they also recorded “12 Bar Original” during this session, on November 4th, 1965 – and if I was allowing Anthology songs onto this list, that would also definitely be on there. It’s sluggish, tired, and completely without imagination or creativity. Secondly, Ringo sings it. I don’t mind Ringo’s singing, he does a good job on Boys and I Wanna Be Your Man, but this song requires just a little bit more than he has in his locker. Thirdly, the rest of the album is brilliant – and contains so much of what made the Beatles great. The songs are quirky, original, progressive, creative, bright and sparky – and all of that is missing from this wet flannel that dampens the middle and sucks all the momentum out of what should be one of the best albums ever made. The 4th thing then, is that this is just a terrible song. Lennon wrote the song way back in the Quarrymen days, and that is exactly where it should have stayed.

3. Yellow Submarine
Now, this one is relatively contentious, in so far as it’s quite a self-aware bad song. McCartney knew what he was doing with this one, and he achieved it to a T, and so I feel somewhat bad picking it out as one of the worst things the band did. However, it is dreadful, let’s be honest, and while it’s catchy and kids love it (McCartney’s goal) and it does conjure up a whimsical kind of childish fantasy world, it’s also a cartoon song of idiocy on Revolver, which was the band’s most mature and forward thinking album to date. You have to look at the songs they left off in order to make room for Yellow Submarine, and if you think that the album could have had Paperback Writer and Rain on instead, there really is no excuse for keeping it on the album – especially when it would be re-released on the soundtrack to the movie just two years later, although I suppose there’s no way they could have know that would happen. It’s worth noting though that the song is in much more comfortable surroundings on that album and doesn’t sound quite so horribly out of place. But placed inbetween Here, There and Everywhere (arguably McCartney’s most beautiful song thus far) and She Said, She Said, Lennon’s first real introspective acid trip, featuring the most beautiful interplay between Lennon and Harrison’s guitars...well, it just feels wrong. And it’s a terrible song, when all else is said and done. Maybe it could have worked for a lesser band on a lesser album...but not this band, and not this album.

2. Run For Your Life
Ah, John Lennon – how did we love thee? Let us count the ways. Well, people refer to him as a great rock star, a poet, a peace-inspiring, policitian-worrying freedom fighter, and in the years since his death (often telling referred to as an assassination), a saint. But people very rarely focus on the working-class, misogynistic, wife-beating side of him, and I can see why – it doesn’t make for good press and it does somewhat sully his public image as a loveable mop-top turned proper artist type person. But hold on there a second Paul, I hear you cry, isn’t there a song that Lennon wrote at the height of the band’s popularity which not only comes at the end of one of their most melodically, harmonically and musically beautiful albums but also reveals quite explicitly just how unpleasant Lennon could be when he set his mind to it? Yes, I reply, there is. And this is it. Now, Lennon isn’t the only Beatle to write a fairly self-satisfied song about basically being a misogynist – McCartney’s “Another Girl” on the Help album doesn’t sit comfortably and hasn’t aged at all well, but at least has some musical interest and decent moments. This one doesn’t. Now, in Lennon’s defence, he said plenty of times that this was the song he most regretted writing, and that it was his least favourite Beatles song – and the opening line was actually lifted from an Elvis song, but that doesn’t excuse its inclusion here, in my opinion. Let’s just have a look at a few of the lyrics...

Well I'd rather see you dead, little girl
Than to be with another man
You better keep your head, little girl
Or you won't know where I am

You better run for your life if you can, little girl
Hide your head in the sand little girl
Catch you with another man
That's the end, little girl

Well you know that I'm a wicked guy
And I was born with a jealous mind
And I can't spend my whole life
Trying just to make you toe the line

Let this be a sermon
I mean everything I've said
Baby, I'm determined
And I'd rather see you dead

People will say “yeah, but it was a different time...” and it was, but that doesn’t make it ok. They used to lynch people too, but I don’t think any of us would feel comfortable listening to songs about how much fun they thought it was. So, not only a pretty rubbish song, but actually offensive too? Definitely should have been left off. Incidentally, that’s two songs from Rubber Soul on this list. Although the Beatles didn’t put their singles on the albums, (at least not in 1965) I can’t help but feel that the inclusion of We Can Work It Out and Day Tripper instead of the two songs here would have improved this album considerably, and also reduced the number of songs about murdering cheating girlfriends in the Beatles catalogue to a more pleasing 0.

1. All Together Now.
The only good thing about this song happens in the first second. The song is in F, but McCartney slides into the opening chord from E, and it sounds quite good. And it gets worse from there. As with Yellow Submarine, it’s effectively nothing more than a children’s song, but that still begs the questions, why write it and why record it? They weren’t a comedy Disney band, this isn’t the title track to Pre-School Musical, so what’s it doing? It’s not even a proper song, it took 5 hours to record and Lennon played the banjo on it. Now, to re-iterate, I’m not against the Beatles ever having had a bit of fun, or writing and recording something for a laugh – but they had so much more in their locker than this. Good Morning Good Morning is pretty stupid, but at least it has interesting time-signatures. Hey Jude is simplicity itself but at least has some good lyrics at the start to offset the irritation of the stadium sing-a-long at the end. If they wanted to have a lark in the old days, they would record a cover of a childhood favourite, and it usually turned out pretty well, with the odd exception. So why come up with this garbage just to fill album space? They recorded their entire first album in just 12 hours, and every song on it is better than this. Now it was recorded in May 1967, so the band were presumably a) tired from recording Sgt Pepper, (which is immense) and b) off their faces. But neither of these things forgive the song a) being released or b) even existing in the first place. My feelings about why this song is so bad can be summed up by this part of its Wikipedia entry. “The song ends with an old fashioned hand-pumped car horn.” What is this, Carry on Beatling?

I could have written equally scathing things about the other songs on that shortlist, none of which are really anything special, though several of which are saved by at least one or two redeeming qualities – but if you ask me, these 5 could just drop off the face of the earth and nobody would be any worse off for it.

God bless the Beatles though, still the best band of all time.

Paulo.

The Remastered Stereo Box Set: A Sneak Preview...

Description:
Dimensions: 12″x6″x3″
Hard black glossy lift top with magnet clasp
CD’s packaged in three panel digi-pak with digital mini documentaries
Remastered by Guy Massey, Steve Rooke, Sam Okell with Paul Hicks and Sean Magee
Contains:
All 13 Studio remasters plus Past Masters (digi packaging with digital mini documentaries)
Please Please Me
With The Beatles
A Hard Day’s Night
Beatles For Sale
Help!
Rubber Soul
Revolver
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
Magical Mystery Tour
The Beatles
Yellow Submarine
Abbey Road
Let It Be
Past Masters
DVD of all 13 mini-documentaries (Running time: 40 minutes)

The value of the Beatles

by Donald J. Boudreaux,
chairman of the Department of Economics at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va.

If each viewer of only The Beatles' first two "Sullivan" appearances deposited $1 into an account in return for watching The Beatles on these telecasts, this account would have had in it, on Feb. 16, 1964, $143.7 million. If this money had been invested at the historical rate of return earned by U.S. stocks, it would have earned an annual return, on average, of 8 percent. Today, this account would be worth about $4.4 billion.

One of my earliest memories is sitting on my grandmother's lap in February 1964 to watch The Beatles' first appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show." I was only 5 years old, so much of my memory is hazy, but I do have a very clear recollection of Maw (that's what I called her) shaking her head sadly and telling her sister, who was sitting beside us, that "these boys' mommas must have wanted girls."
People forget now that The Beatles were not only famous for their music but also infamous for their shaggy, long hair. To many Americans back then, The Beatles' mop tops made them look girlish.
I recall marveling at those haircuts.

But even as a young child I marveled even more at Beatles music. I was a fan from the start. Although my parents and grandparents assured me that their music was unintelligible noise, they indulged my desire to listen to it by buying me Beatles records.
I've never tired of listening to The Beatles and, now that I'm pushing 51, I'm sure that I never will.

So I was teenager-like happy when I saw, for the first time, Paul McCartney in concert. He performed at Washington's FedEx Field on Aug. 1. When he broke into "I Saw Her Standing There" -- one of my all-time favorites -- I was indescribably thrilled.
Although the night was warm and muggy, McCartney, 67, performed nonstop for nearly three hours and was soaked in sweat. I have no idea how much he was paid for that performance but he earned every cent of it.
And he's a billionaire. Estimates of his post-divorce net worth vary, but $1 billion seems to be a consensus figure. How many of us would continue to work really, really hard at the age of 67 if we had $1 billion in the bank?

In 2006, when he was divorcing Heather Mills, more than one pundit wondered how any one person could really "be worth" a billion or so dollars.
Discussions of a person's worth quickly become very misleading. To say that McCartney is worth $1 billion is to say nothing more than what that former Beatle owns in the form of financial assets. It says nothing whatsoever about his worth as a person, a father, a husband, a friend.
But many people on the political left are so obsessed with money that they have a difficult time knowing that one person (say, Paul McCartney) is worth billions while millions of other persons are worth far less.
"How is it justified that a mere musician is worth so much money?" they ask.
My reaction is very different. When I read of McCartney's fortune, I am struck by how puny it is compared with the amount of pleasure he has contributed to humankind.

Consider:
If each viewer of only The Beatles' first two "Sullivan" appearances deposited $1 into an account in return for watching The Beatles on these telecasts, this account would have had in it, on Feb. 16, 1964, $143.7 million. If this money had been invested at the historical rate of return earned by U.S. stocks, it would have earned an annual return, on average, of 8 percent. Today, this account would be worth about $4.4 billion.
Divided equally among John, Paul, George and Ringo, Paul's share today would be $1.1 billion -- his approximate current net worth. And this from only a small payment made 45 years ago by each viewer of a mere two episodes of an American television show.

Add the value of the pleasures McCartney helped to bring to us from The Beatles' other "Sullivan" appearances, the value of their many live performances around the globe, the value of their many recordings, the value of The Beatles movies and the value that McCartney's post-Beatles music brought to countless people.
And the man is worth only $1 billion. Because no one forced him to write and perform and record music, I'll certainly not argue that McCartney is undercompensated. But I do insist that his net worth of $1 billion is paltry, puny, insignificant compared with his contributions. And that's quite a bargain.

© 2009 by The Tribune-Review Publishing Co.

Beatles Cartoon: I Am the Walrus

A routine day's drive takes a bizarre turn into a strange realm of eggmen, space-walruses, and uncertain identity!

Beatles Cartoon - Taxman

From 1967, the Beatles dream they are back in the time of Merry Olde England, and try to pay Ringo's whopping tax bill with the aid of Robin Hood and that swingin' hepcat, Little John!

Remastered Beatles CDs: A sneak preview

How do the newly remastered Beatles CDs sound?
by Randy Lewis

As one who got a sneak preview recently at Capitol Records in Hollywood, let me boil it down to one word: Fab.
These won’t leave anyone feeling that they’ve been missing out for all these years, and they’re not likely to make Beatlemaniacs out of anyone who hasn’t cared for the Liverpudlians’ sound before now.
But they do offer something that might have seemed nearly impossible so many years down the line: a fresh listen.

Two of EMI Records’ engineers who have overseen the remasters, Allen Rouse and Guy Massey, were on hand to A:B the new versions against the CDs that Beatles fans have been accustomed to since they were first issued 22 years ago.
Three of us — I was joined by writers for a couple of audiophile magazines — listened to a CD that included portions of new and old versions of 14 songs spanning the group’s recording career.
Calendar will have an in-depth piece in Sunday's Arts & Music section looking behind the scenes of the remastering process as well as a glimpse into the Fab Four’s entry into the world of videogames through The Beatles: Rock Band.

But here are a few observations from the preview session:

• “Till There Was You”: On the ’87 CD, Paul McCartney’s voice still sounds dreamily mellow, somewhat masked, on the Meredith Willson love song from “The Music Man”; the new version brings out more fullness in his voice, as well as more crispness in the percussion work.

• “Eight Days A Week”: This exuberant track sounded immediately compressed in the old CD master; the new one gains openness and adds noticeable presence to the signature hand claps.

• “Yesterday”: Remastering can’t alter the beauty of McCartney’s classic lament, but now the pluck of his fingers on the strings of his acoustic guitar is even more visceral.

• “In My Life”: As in many of the previewed tracks, it’s the drums and bass that are most immediately improved. Even though it’s not a powerhouse track, Ringo’s rhythmic accents are bigger and sharper.

• “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”: The opening guitar riff felt like it would rip through the speakers in Capitol’s Studio C with the added vibrancy Paul's lead guitar gets in the new version.

• “Good Night”: The closing track from “The Beatles,” a.k.a. the White Album, starts with string accompaniment that sounded canned on the old CD. I noted a slight harshness in the remastered version but also a fuller orchestral sound and an especially appealing purity in the flutes behind Ringo’s sweetly melancholy vocal.

• “The Long and Winding Road”: Paul may cringe at those sweeping strings that Phil Spector overdubbed onto his swan-song Beatles ballad, but they sound even broader and more spacious on the remaster than on the 1987 CD.

After the prepared A:B CD was through, Rouse and Massey opened the floor for requests. I asked to hear "She's Leaving Home" from the mono mix of "Sgt. Pepper," because the track was slowed down for the stereo mix that most U.S. listeners (myself included) are used to. McCartney's voice sounded sweeter, the harp more luminous.
I also got them to cue up Harrison's "Savoy Truffle" from the White Album. As a longtime sax player, I wanted to hear how the sax section came through the remastering -- nicely fat -- but the part that grabbed the attention of everyone in the room was the screaming guitar solo, which picks up considerable sting in the new version.

@ Los Angeles Times, 202 West 1st Street, Los Angeles, California, 90012

McCartney Interview Releases

The McCartney Interview

Label Parlophone
Catalogue No. CHAT 1
Release date 23rd February 1981
Total time 54:13
U.K. Album Chart Detail : Entry Date : 7th March 1981
Highest Position : 34
Weeks in Chart : 4

Sleeve Notes : The Beatles were more than just the greatest pop phenomenon of our time - through their music, inspiration and example they became a kind of spiritual catalyst for our generation that helped to liberate our creative energies and open up new possibilities to us. So when Columbia Records offered us at "Musician:Player and Listener" magazine the chance to interview Paul McCartney, we were delighted - but also a bit sceptical, since the ex-Beatles are notoriously reluctant to talk about their time together.
Happily, the interview that took place in McCartney's London office was everything that we could have hoped for - and more.
For reasons he fully explains in the interview, Paul decided that afternoon to finally break what he called "the voodoo against talking about the Beatles". It was a fast-paced and cathartic conversation, ranging from the group's early struggles in Hamburg on through their conquest of America, including insights into "Sgt. Pepper", "Abbey Road" and McCartney's solo career.
After the interview was published in the August 1980 issue, Columbia suggested making it available on record, first as a promo disc for radio, and then in this limited edition for the general public.

Detail : This album was released on the 23rd February 1981 and deleted the SAME DAY !
This is the ONLY interview album featuring Paul to enter the U.K. chart, where it reached number 34.

The album features two photographs of Paul taken by Linda.

Secret Message
It is widely reported that this album has a "secret" message at the end of it. The U.K. edition does NOT have any such message. BUT, I do have a copy of the original U.S. issue on Columbia (PC 36987) and this edition DOES have a "secret" message in the run-out groove at the end of side 2.
It comprises just four words and confirms what John told us in Glass Onion.

Side 1 (29:38) - Paul Discusses :
McCartney II
Negative criticism of the Beatles and Wings
His influences
Venus and Mars - Wild Life
Band On The Run
Musical direction - Ringo - George - "Hey Jude"
"The White Album" - Tension - Helter Skelter
Abbey Road
Musical background - Trumpet, guitar, piano - Learning bass in Hamburg
Early Beatles mixes - Motown and Stax influences
The Sgt.Pepper story - The Beach Boys "Pet Sounds"
Rubber Soul - Revolver
Fame and success - Paul and John's reactions
Stage fright during the Beatles and Wings
How Wings started
New Wave - Early Beatles
Creating the Beatles sound - "Love Me Do" and early songs
Side 2 (24:35) - Paul Discusses :
The Beatles conquest of America
Beatles haircuts and image
Paying dues in Hamburg and Liverpool - Early tours
Weathering pressures - The break-up
Video of "Coming Up" - Reliving the Beatle image
Playing bass
Lennon-McCartney songwriting - Dislike of formulas
Beatles Imitators
I Am The Walrus - The Black Carnation - Sgt.Pepper L.P. cover
New Wave - Bowie, Ferry, Elvis
Pop music and radio
Getting Married - Changing perspective - Waterfalls
Give Ireland Back To The Irish, Hi Hi Hi - Banned songs - Children's songs - Mary Had A Little Lamb

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Paul McCartney Interview

Label Baktabak
Catalogue No. BAK 2003
Release date January 1987
Detail : A picture disc album featuring an interview with Paul made in September 1986 by Chris Salewicz of "Q" magazine.
The interview was also printed in "Musician".
It was re-issued later as Chat With The Stars: Paul McCartney ZUFG 003

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London and Rome Press Conferences

Label Wax
Catalogue No. BAND ON THE 1 / PM 7
Release date 22nd January 1990
Total Time 56:25
Detail : The Rome press conference is recorded 15th June 1989 at the Teatro Delle Vittorie, before Paul and his band appear on the RAI TV show Saint Vincent Estate '89 and lasts 29:36.
The London press conference is recorded at 1 o'clock p.m. on 27th July 1989 prior to a concert at the Playhouse Theatre and lasts 26:47.

These press conferences were actually released on a variety of special editions :
BAND ON THE 1CD - Limited to 500 copies, this box contained a CD, and two 5x7 colour photographs.
BAND ON THE 1 - Limited to 500 copies, this coloured vinyl L.P. added a 7" single (PM 7).
BAND ON THE 1P - A picture disc L.P. which without the single, did not include the full recording.
PM 7 - Limited to 250 copies, the single was released on it's own, on red, blue and orange vinyl.

The box is a 7" plain white cardboard box with two small stickers on the front. One is a 2"x3" copy of one of the free photographs, the other just has the edition number (mine is numbered 384).
The C.D. is in a normal jewel case within the box, and the two photographs are 5"x7" good quality glossy pictures

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Press Conferences: Madrid and Los Angeles

Label Wax
Catalogue No. TUGA 4
Release date July 1990
Detail : Side 1 - 23:25
The Los Angeles press conference is recorded 27th November 1989 at The Los Angeles Forum.
Paul refers to the recent Apple settlement with E.M.I. and actually states that the Beatles might perform together again. Paul also says that he has never written with George and would love to do so.
The following day George issues the following statement :
"There will be no Beatles reunion as long as John Lennon remains dead".
Side 2 - 21:28
The Madrid press conference is recorded 2nd November 1989 at the Palacio de Sportes, Madrid.
On the C.D. version ONLY, the Detroit press conference is added.
The Detroit press conference is recorded 1st February 1990 at the Palace of Auburn Hills.

The album features two photographs of Paul taken by Linda.

These press conferences were actually released on a variety of special editions :
TUGA 4 - A white vinyl L.P.
TUGA 4P - A picture disc L.P. with a bonus 7" single
TUGA 4CD - A C.D.
PM PACK 1 - This is a set of four singles which add a further interview recorded in Rotterdam, released separately below.

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Rotterdam Press Conference

Label Wax
Catalogue No. PM 10
Release date August 1990
Detail : A 10" coloured vinyl L.P. featuring the Rotterdam press conference recorded 11th November 1989 at the Ahoy Sportpaleis in Rotterdam.
This interview was broadcast on Radio 1 over Christmas 1990.

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Liverpool Press Conference

Label Wax
Catalogue No. FORNO 1
Release date 14th December 1990
Detail : A release containing a press conference Paul gave in Liverpool on 28th June 1990 at half past 5.
During his conversation Paul talks of his plan to include a surprise tribute to John during the live show he will be giving that evening in the Kings Dock in Liverpool. He also discusses the Performing Arts School, Yoko's tribute concert, the Get Back film, and Friends of the Earth.
It is released in Coloured vinyl edition, a picture disc, and a C.D.
The C.D. is boxed in a 7" plain white cardboard box with two small stickers on the front, both can be seen above. It is released in a limited edition, mine is numbered 571.
The C.D. is in a normal jewel case within the box, and contains three 6"x4" photographs

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Press Conferences: Tokyo/Chicago 1990

Label Discussion
Catalogue No. LMW 281F
Release date December 1991
Total Time 34:45
Detail : The Tokyo press conference is recorded 1st March 1990 at the MZA Ariake Theatre, which is attended by 800 people and lasts 24:25.
At the start of the conference Paul sings "Matchbox".
This event is also broadcast live on Japanese T.V. show Super Time.
The Chicago press conference is recorded 29th July 1990 at Soldier Field, Chicago it lasts just 10:17. It is recorded before the concert which will be the last date of Paul's ten month Tripping The Live Fantastic tour.
This event is also shown on MTV.

Released on Vinyl and on C.D.
The C.D. is boxed in a 7" plain white cardboard box with two small stickers on the front, both can be seen above. It is released in a limited edition, mine is numbered 695.
The C.D. is in a normal jewel case within the box, and contains two 5"x7" super glossy photographs

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Press Conferences: London and New York

Label Discussion
Catalogue No. BROADS 003
Release date July 1992
Detail : Two press conferences, the first in London in 1991 and
A press conference on 24th August 1989 at Lyceum Theatre in New York, broadcast live by Westwood One.
Released on red vinyl and on C.D.
The C.D. is boxed in a 7" plain white cardboard box with two small stickers on the front, both can be seen above. It is released in a limited edition, mine is numbered 820.
The C.D. is in a normal jewel case within the box, and contains two 5"x7" excellent glossy photographs, one of which is a much bigger version of the rear cover above. The other shows Paul and Linda eating hamburgers !

The farewell of The Beatles according to Paul

Sir Paul McCartney has lifted the lid on his friendship with John Lennon and denied the pair did not get on. Sir Paul put some of Lennon's outbursts down to drugs and talking "crap" he did not mean.
The pair enjoyed one of the best-known and most successful writing partnerships in history. But as their success grew, their relationship appeared to rupture and the band split up in 1970.

He denied Lennon's complaints in interviews that he sabotaged songs in the studio by not committing his full creative energy to them. Sir Paul told the Radio Times: "Oh, he was on drugs, wasn't he? This is the trouble with history, with journalism. John said so much crap that he later said he hadn't meant. It's bulls***. We were there. We all enjoyed it. I never really criticised John. I'm not that critical. It's a question of personalities. John's was more abrasive than mine, and that was good for his corner of the square that made up the Beatles.If we'd had two people like that - forget it - I don't think it would have worked."

Sir Paul told the magazine: "The image of John is seriously flawed because he was not the hard, mad man that people think he was. He was a very soft-centred guy and we had a lot more in common than people think. His favourite song when we were kids was Little White Lies, which was very sentimental. It was a smoochy old standard that his mum liked. Whatever bad things John said about me, he would also slip his glasses down to the end of his nose and say, 'I love you'. That's really what I hold on to. That's what I believe. The rest is showing off."

Speaking about how the creative bond between the pair developed, Sir Paul said: "The actual reason John and I started writing in earnest was because we'd be at a gig and the bands on before us would play songs we were about to do."

The Beatles: Rock Band album DLC priced, dated, detailed

Harmonix has revealed approximate release dates, pricing, and track listings for the first three downloadable albums to hit The Beatles: Rock Band's Music Store. Abbey Road will arrive first on October 20 at a price of $16.98 (1360 ), with individual tracks for $1.99 (160). Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band will follow in November, and Rubber Soul will arrive in December. Full track listings are after the break, in case you aren't intimately familiar with Beatles albums.

If you purchase the full Abbey Road album, you'll have the option to play the B-side medley (from "You Never Give Me Your Money" through "The End") as one continuous track. Along with this news, Harmonix confirmed that the "All You Need is Love" DLC track (160) will be available as a timed-exclusive for Xbox 360 on the game's September 9 launch date.

Beatles Finally Available on iTunes?

Will the Beatles library finally arrive in iTunes September 9th?
by Steven Sande (RSS feed) on Aug 19th 2009 at 12:00PM
As intrepid TUAW reporter Mike Schramm told you a few days ago, Apple has an event planned for September 9, 2009. Pundits are expecting the event to be the usual Apple fall event where the new line of iPods will be announced, but there's something else happening on September 9th that could herald the long-awaited arrival of The Beatles in the iTunes Store.

The Official Beatles Shop website is showing 9/9/09 as the release date for new, digitally remastered versions of the entire Beatles library. That's also the day that The Beatles: Rock Band is released. What better way for Apple to finally bring Apple Corps into the digital age than to give the Fab Four a home in iTunes?

Of course, the Beatles and Apple, Inc. have had a tumultuous legal history, and recently George Harrison's son Dhani Harrison was quoted in Blender as saying he didn't feel that the iTunes Store's per-song charge was a fair price for Beatles songs. He also mentioned that the remaining members of The Beatles were looking into creating their own website for digital downloads. Given the shaky history of most Beatles business ventures, I wouldn't give that comment a second thought.

Just last month, Sir Paul McCartney told the Guardian that in terms of the Beatles library appearing in iTunes, "The last word I got back was it's stalled at the whole moment, the whole process... I really hope it will happen because I think it should."

The Mal Evans Diaries

When Mal Evans died in 1976, rumors swirled that he had been working on some memoirs. Tentatively titled “Living the Beatles’ Legend,” the book was to have been based on some 15 years of diary entries in which Mal was ensconced in the life of all four Beatles as they rose to superstardom, wrote and recorded scores of classic songs and ultimately broke up.

One would have thought that like other posthumous works, Mal’s memoirs would have been published soon after his death. This had the potential to be the mother of all Beatles biographies: A member of the Beatles’ inner circle – one that was honest to a fault – giving the real scoop on the Fab Four.

But the diaries vanished.

No one knew of their whereabouts; a briefcase was once found in Sydney, Australia that allegedly contained the lost diaries, but further inspection revealed it to be a fraud. Three years ago, however, the London Sunday Times Magazine revealed the truth. The diaries had been with Mal’s widow, Lily Evans, ever since the mid 1980s, when Yoko Ono saved them from the basement of a New York publisher.

While a book has yet to be published containing the full story, the Times published excerpts of the diaries that are tantalizing at times, but reveal little about the Beatles. It does, however, give us a great deal of insight into Mal’s life and his devotion to the Fab Four.

Only Mal Evans could (or would) chronicle his time with the Beatles with recollections such as, “Late afternoon went over to the McCartney’s in Wirral, and had dinner with them. Paul and Jane [Asher, McCartney's then girlfriend] had traveled up for the New Year – also Martha. Fan belt broke.” He writes of these times nonchalantly, but he was there when the Beatles let their guards down.

He gives us insight into possible alternatives to the name for Abbey Road, mentioning Four in the Bar, All Good Children Go to Heaven, Turn Ups and Inclinations as possible titles (none seem to fit in retrospect, do they?). He played on several Beatle songs; in a hilarious prelude to the Saturday Night Live “cowbell” skit, Mal played one on “With a Little Help From My Friends,” prompting Paul to ask, tongue-in-cheek, “Who played that great cow bell?”

At times, though, Mal felt he was being taken for granted. Being paid a pittance for his devotion and work – less than £40 per week – he was often broke, having to support a wife and two children while spending most of his time with the Beatles. He was the main go-fer boy: “”I would get requests from the four of them to do six different things at one time and it was always a case of relying on instinct and experience in awarding priorities.” Often, John would be in a stupor, only to snap out of it and mutter, “Socks, Mal,” and off Mal would go to the local department store to get several pairs of socks. Once, the Beatles had no cups to drink milk with their sandwiches; Mal pulled out four plastic cups from his pocket.

Mal realized his role within the Beatles, and it bothered him, but he was doing what he truly loved. In perhaps the most poignant moment of the diaries, he confesses:

I feel very hurt and sad inside – only big boys don’t cry. Why I should feel hurt and reason for writing this is ego… I thought I was different from other people in my relationship with the Beatles and being loved by them and treated so nice, I felt like one of the family. Seems I fetch and carry… I always tell myself – look, everybody wants to take from, be satisfied, try to give and you will receive. After all this time I have about £70 to my name, but was content and happy. Loving them as I do, nothing is too much trouble, because I want to serve them.

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