Records, CDs and Music:

To say that November 22, 1963 is a day that has been burned into history is putting it mildly.

Not only was November 22, 1963 the day that The Beatles issued their second long-player in the United Kingdom, an album that truly ignited Beatlemania, it was also the day that President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas.

Looking back it seems like such a weird juxtaposition of joy and terror. Kids in Britain were exploding with anticipation of the latest Beatles release while people in the States were greeted with a tidal wave of horror and disillusionment that sadly has permeated the political and social landscape to this very day in my opinion.

How odd to have the candle of youth and vitality and hope distinguished so brutally by the winds of change (and an assassin) whilst in another breath the youth of the 1960s was galvanized by four lads from Liverpool that took the mantle of hope that JFK represented and began breaking down barriers socially and politically which led a generation on a quest for meaning and a desire for personal freedom.

Heady stuff certainly. And certainly low these sixty years later that powder keg of excitement and vitality that was lit by the music on “With the Beatles” still reverberates with all the energy and power it possessed on that far away day in November.

As a second generation fan who was born in 1966, it was ironically the early Beatles and the “Meet the Beatles” album (the American version of “With the Beatles”) that drew me toward the group and made me a fan.

I distinctly remember walking around the record section of a local Sears store in 1975, yes Sears sold records back then, and spending about an hour gazing at the cover of “Meet the Beatles” and “The Beatles’ Second Album” while my mother was shopping and being transfixed by images on the covers.

By this time in 1975 long hair was the norm yet their was still something different about these guys. They had an aura of excitement and yet an oddness that reached out to me even twelve years after these songs were originally recorded.

I had never seen this unique mixture of cool and strangeness (the suits and long hair was weird to me in 1975) plus there was just a magnetism that leap off of these record covers that drew to discover what the music was inside.

Shortly thereafter a few weeks later I received both albums, courtesy of my grandmother, and thus began my life-long love, some would say obsession, with The Beatles’ music.

Sure I was already familiar with The Beatles hits like “I Want to Hold Your Hand” and “She Loves You”, both on these records, but the pure power and force of Lennon’s vocals on songs like “It Won’t Be Long”, “You Really Got a Hold on Me” and especially “Money (That’s What I Want)” were even by 1975 standards so gutsy and vital that I had to hear more.

In the next few years I obtained most of The Beatles US albums followed a few years later by the British pressings. As they say it was the beginning of it all for me as far as my love of The Beatles music was concerned. Because I started listening to the early Beatles first I never felt like a second generation fan as I was discovering their music almost in order of release and marveling at each new twist and turn their music would make on the later albums.

So even after listening to “With the Beatles” and its US cousin “Meet the Beatles” for well over forty years myself I still find the music on them fresh and vital and something that stands outside of time for me.

So in celebration, above and below are some photos of the favorite issues I own of the “With the Beatles” album. The tattered and well-loved copy mono of this album pictured here is a first issue UK mono copy that I found in a flea market in the early 1980s and the first original UK pressing of any Beatles album I ever owned.

Despite the cover looking like it has been chewed up and spit out the vinyl itself sounds great and beyond a few pops and clicks retains all the energy and power as the day it was bought in the UK back in 1963.

There is a slight skip on “Roll Over Beethoven” but I have read that these first 1N copies (the number stamped in the matrix on the inner groove of the record) had this same skip on some or most copies so it was quickly withdrawn and redone. I see no visible scratch on any of the tracks on this album so I’m guessing it was one of the bad copies from this first issue.

I’ve also pictured my first CD pressing of “With the Beatles” that was made in West Germany plus my favorite stereo version of this album on CD the SHM-CD mini-lp version made in Japan.

And last but not least I have a photo of my favorite sounding US pressing of “Meet the Beatles” as this US version of the album was the start of Beatlemania in the States after its release in December of 1963 on Capitol Records.

Anyway, so happy 60th anniversary to one monumental record and to one of my all-time favorite records not only by The Beatles but by anyone.

Take some time and reflect on or maybe discover some of the truly wonderful music that’s contained in this album and maybe you can find a minute or tow of pleasure that will take you away ever so briefly from the troubled world of 2023.

As usual take a gander at the photos above and below and until next time I hope you are healthy and well and have a most Happy Thanksgiving tomorrow if you’re reading from this somewhere in the United States.

See you soon!

Well these past two weeks have certainly been a celebration for Beatles fans around the world!

Last week we had the premiere of The Beatles last new song “Now and Then” which has now ascended to the top of the UK charts becoming the Fabs 18th UK number one single (there are 20 US number one singles) and has become somewhat of an Internet sensation judging by the overwhelming proliferation of YouTube reviews.

To top off this monumental two week celebration we now have the 50th anniversary reissues of The Beatles classic hits collections “1962-1966” (The Red Album) and “1967-1970” (The Blue Album) which have both been expanded and filled with remixes of all the songs on each.

In the case of the “1962-1966” set most of the collection has been newly remixed in 2023 and there are several first-time stereo mixes of such Beatles gems as “Love Me Do” and “She Loves You”.

Both of these new sets officially come out tomorrow but as luck would have it I got ahold of them early and have done a quick overview of each set.

First off overall these two sets sound superb! I’m hit or miss with modern remixes of ’60s classics, especially The Beatles, but I have to say both of these sets are ninety percent wonderful with an occasional miss now and then (no pun intended) not spoiling the party (pun intended lol).

The first set, “1962-1966”, is an especially great sounding collection as for the most part these new stereo mixes are just wonderful. The highlights of this set for me are the early numbers from 1963 as well as the 1965 “Rubber Soul” mixes which are quite frankly the best stereo mixes of these tracks I’ve ever heard.

Songs like “She Loves You” (a convincing stereo mix), “Please Please Me”, “And I Love Her” and the highlight of the set “If I Needed Someone” are all worth the price of admission as they all sound so lively and crisp and an improvement on previous attempts to mix these tracks into stereo.

There are of course a few clickers, what in the heck happened to the first note of “A Hard Day’s Night”? (yikes), but overall this set is a winner.

(Note: having listened again this remix is not quite as weird sounding as I first thought it was. This is one of the tracks that makes the Beatles sound a little bit more punky, more aggressive than the original mix. Still not my favorite mix of this song but not bad.)

The newer MAL technology developed by director Peter Jackson, which also enabled the completion of the new “Now and Then” single, has permitted these early tracks to take on a new life and spark that is a true joy to listen to and enjoy.

The second set “1967-1970” is highlighted by the inclusion of the new Beatle single “Now and Then” (in my mind already a Beatles classic) but is also filled to the rim with recent remixes as well as six brand new remixes including 2023 remixes of songs like “I Am the Walrus”, “Magical Mystery Tour” and “Revolution”.

Again mostly this new set is a pleasure to listen to (thank goodness the 2017 remixes of the songs from “Sgt. Pepper” sound a bit less compressed) but the occasional clunker aside I’m very happy.

One mix in particular, the new 2023 mix of “I Am the Walrus”, is just downright odd sounding. It’s not terrible but it is very different from the original stereo mix as well as previous remixes from the recent past. I don’t hate it but I don’t quite love it either. 

It sounds like Giles Martin who remixed both sets has taken the mono fake stereo section of the later half of the song and applied the MAL technology with just bizarre results. Not great but still nice to have a different sounding version.

Oh and as for loudness, yes these sets are a tad louder than I would prefer but really they sound fine. Some of the new stereo mixes like “Twist and Shout” and “I Want to Hold Your Hand” burst though with such energy that they have the punch of mono with nice stereo separation. As usual online I see a lot of negative reactions to these remixes already but I really enjoy the early maternal most as these stereo mixes really pop – in a good way.

I’ll have to give both sets a more through listen but on first blush I love what I’m hearing and these sets are nice sampler collections of not only The Beatles musical output but a nice sampling of remixes of this material for those who’ve never dipped their toes in the remix pool.

As usual take a look at these new sets above and I can’t say enough how good these two sets sound and whether you find them online to stream or you go out and buy them I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the results.

I’m hoping that these lovely new stereo mixes of the early Beatles material prompts future remixes of all the pre-1966 Beatles studio albums in their entirety. And of course in physical media please. You never know when Apple will decide to go online only so I’m just hoping they finish The Beatles catalog before they make that decision.

Just a quick note at the end of this two-week Beatles bonanza. 

Be well and until next time I hope you are healthy and happy and that you go out and play some Beatles!

See you here soon.

Today is the official release date for the physical media of the last Beatles single “Now and Then” – yay, I say.

Like I said in yesterday’s post, I already own two of the colored vinyl 45’s that I got a day early but there’s also a red colored vinyl issue (a Target exclusive) as well as black vinyl issue of a 12-inch version of the single plus a cassette version (available exclusively from http://www.thebeatles.com Website) and upcoming in a couple of weeks (in the States that is, already available in Europe) a CD single.

Whew, I think that’s all the versions out there so far but I may have missed one. In this day and age there is no end to the many variations of physical media being issued but as usual I was sucked in by the joyous celebration worldwide of this last Beatles single and I broke down and added the black vinyl 12-inch version of the “Now and Then” single to my stash of Beatles items.

(Note: I told you being a collector is a sickness lol)

As I said hearing this song on one of the vinyl versions is the way to go, so far for me anyway, as this new 12-inch version sounds even better than the 45 and makes the songs sound warmer and more engaging than the digital versions I’ve heard online.

Plus the jet black vinyl and the superb Apple and Red Parlophone labels look stunning on the larger format so it’s worth it to me to have it in my collection.

I was struck yesterday by the absolute outpouring of reaction videos to “Now and Then” that I saw on YouTube with generally positive feedback to the song as well as the production of the single. I’m glad to see that there’s a large swath of Beatledom that is indeed as happy about this release as I am so that warms my heart.

Again there are several really over the top haters out there but the feeling of event from the first viewing of the mini-documentary a couple of days ago as well as listening to the song for the first time yesterday on Sirius; all the negativity just vanishes. It’s just been a FABulous few days culminating today with the physical releases of the single AND the premiere of the video just this morning directed by famed filmmaker Peter Jackson.

As for the video I thought it was FANTASTIC! There was a lot of video footage of Paul, George and Ringo circa 1995 in the studio during their initial attempt at making a record out of Lennon’s home demo of “Now and Then”. Truly this stuff is superb and one day hopefully we’ll get more.

There is also some lovely footage of Paul and Giles Martin in the studio in 2022 adding strings to the new recording as well as lots of old Beatles footage from a range of sources from home movies to scenes from their films as well as their music clips – again terrific stuff.

Now truth be told right before I watched the video for the first time I read some absolutely scathing reviews of the new “Now and Then” video online and while I’m all for differences of opinion there’s no reason to rant and rave about what a travesty this video and song are and how low The Beatles have stooped, etc. Enough already, you hate it we know.

It’s a little dramatic to be so hyper negative but whatever I’ve enjoyed both the song and video tremendously. I think the fact that Peter Jackson added a bit of humor and wackiness to the video (see images above and below) has gotten some peoples knickers in a twist but that attitude of let’s not be too serious is a Beatles trademark so I can see both Paul and Ringo wholeheartedly approving of it. If they didn’t the video wouldn’t be here end of story.

Anyway, just a brief note from me on what I’m dubbing Beatles Day 2023.

I hope those of you out there who are enjoying the good vibes, yes they are out there, are having a great day and enjoying being a Beatles fan. Life is too short, enjoy or ignore but please spare me the “woe is me this shouldn’t have happened ever” tude – too late, it’s here and it’s top gear lol.

As usual enjoy photos of the 12-inch black vinyl and several screen shots from the new “Now and Then” that came out today.

Be well and happy and see you soon!

More to come …

Expectations – they’re a bear.

Today the so-called last Beatles song hits the airwaves for the first time with a few month’s worth of intense speculation and about a week’s worth of media hype.

I do love that the premiere of this song has been turned into an event but I also know that this level of media scrutiny has people sharpening their knifes if the song doesn’t hit them in 30 seconds as the next “Ticket to Ride” or “Hey Jude” or whatever.

I’ve seen a lot of good and a lot of fairly nasty reports on “Now and Then” so here’s my take on the song and the fun of the last two days.

Basically “Now and Then” strikes me as a sweet coda to a brilliant musical career and loving tribute to two fallen friends by tow other friends who speak the language of music. What better way then to say I love and miss you than through a song – and what an emotional and sweet journey this song has already taken me on – in the best way of course.

I’m going to do something a bit different today as I’ve posted below the last two days of my first impressions of the unfolding “Now and Then” saga as I saw it plus my thoughts on hearing the physical 45 for the first time as well.

November 1, 2023 – The Mini Documentary:

Now that the moment is almost here I have to say I’m excited. I feel that whether or not the song/performance is any good unfortunately we live in the culture of “nothing is what I thought it would be so let’s tear it down” which is the way it is.

I’m to a point in my life where I try to seek out the positivity in most things so whatever the situation may be I try to find the positive perspective especially in music.

For me the fact that there’s any last Beatles song is a major win. I like the melancholic nature of the song but “Now and Then” doesn’t set itself up as a radio kind of staple in this day and age which is fine. Personally I don’t think it’s meant to be hit I think it’s meant to be a coda to a long and illustrious career.

To me the song is a wink and a nod to a dear old friend who died over forty years ago whom you still love and respect and what better tribute to The Beatles than to create one last song.

Who cares if it hits number 1? I’m all in for a new Lennon/McCartney collaboration anyway I can get it as long as McCartney is in charge and it’s not an AI concoction.

I’m prepared for the backlash but again that’s not a biggie. If you don’t like it fine. I’m sure a lot of folks will.

As for the new Red and Blue sets it’s also probably the last big Beatles physical release so great. I for one LOVE physical releases. I do think that this set will appeal to the newer vinyl folks more as a set as it’s a great one stop Beatles dip in a physical media form.

This mini-documentary (approximately 12 minutes long) is filled with terrific footage of the three Beatles recording in 1994/95. Supposedly there is over 14 hours of this footage so here’s to a much larger dip into that particular video pool as this would be as interesting to watch as the recent Peter Jackson “Get Back” film.

This documentary was the perfect way to lead up to the full audio release of the song and by itself was worth the media hype.

Anyway, it’s all good IMHO. Haters hate if you want I’m just sitting here watching the wheels go round and round and quite frankly even the negativity is nothing compared to a war or a broken democracy. Bring on some momentary glimpse of the past and a few words from Lennon reaching out from the beyond.

Maybe it’s Lennon’s spirit calling out to make love not war in protest to the times we live in. That works for me …

November 2, 2023 – The Sirius Debut:

I heard it this morning at 10 a.m. on Sirius. I loved it! After yesterday’s 12 minute documentary I was really excited to hear it and it doesn’t disappoint. To me though I find “Now and Then” to be an encore, a sort of bow to the audience and a nice way to tie up a majestic career.

I think some folks are getting the same reaction as when they bought the first Beatles Anthology and were miffed it was outtakes; I feel the hype is leading people to believe it’s a lost “Hey Jude” Part 2.

That’s not to say it’s not a good song, I think it is but it was created from an unfinished John Lennon demo that has been miraculously turned into a lovely song with a lot of emotional heft and punch.

I for one like the production. I like the strings and sure enough the song sticks in my head in a good way. I also like tune and the sadness fits. The song is about longing. Again, this song fits the times we live in now way better than if it had been completed in 1996 as The Beatles originally intended.

Everyone I know is longing for some comfort in an old friend or love these days. “Now and Then” seems made for 2023 and like I said previously it feels like Lennon is singing from beyond urging for people to hold onto love in hard times.

A Lovely nod and a wink from The Beatles to 2023. What more can you ask for?

Later That Day, the 45:

The physical release of “Now and Then” comes tomorrow, November 3rd, but I happened upon two different colored 45’s at my trusty local record shop so I snagged them and brought them home today.

I wasn’t going to buy both colors but as I am a rabid collector and Beatles fever took hold of me today I thought I’d go ahead and get both. It’s a good thing I did as the blue vinyl version was cup warped and had a warbly sounding “Love Me Do” on Side Two. while the marble version played and sounded great.

The slight warped misstep aside I love the labels on this 45 and the back cover. I honestly don’t love the front cover but am getting used to it. The back should be the front but oh well. It’s so nice to have a vinyl 45 of the last Beatles single as it would feel just plain weird as only a ghostly digital recording – The Beatles belong in a physical format.

As for the sound I think that “Now and Then” holds together a bit better on the 45 as it’s warmer sounding than what I heard on Sirius and YouTube and on a decent stereo system the vocals mesh together much better and the backing harmonies stand out more.

Don’t get me wrong I loved what I heard on the radio I just love the sound of the physical record better.

It actually reminded me of a Phil Spector record for some reason when I play the 45 tonight. The sound isn’t widely stereo as it sounds on the radio. I hear the bass more and it isn’t quite as loud as the digital version. I think the whole thing just hangs together much better on the vinyl version.

Damn, I know this is going to make me want the vinyl versions of the new Red and Blue sets alas but I’ll wait and see how the CD’s hold up when they come out next week.

As for the new stereo 2023 mix of “Love Me Do” on the B-Side of this 45 I really enjoyed that as well. It’s not a wide stereo mix mind you but it does sound nice. I’m curious to see how the digital version sounds as this 45 version isn’t as boldy stereo as I thought it would be but very good.

There’s also a groovy inner sleeve inside with the story of “Now and Then” on one side (the blue side) and the songs credits on the other side (see photos above).

Truly after listening to the song about six or seven times my reaction is that it’s the best, or most enjoyable, of the three reunion tracks for me anyway. I love the aching sound of Lennon’s voice and the production of this 45 screams both early and late Beatles to me.

Really this is the tonic I needed for the totally shit ridden 2023!

Well that’s all for now. I’ll update here on this blog my thoughts on the “Now and Then” music video that comes out tomorrow and the CD’s of the “1962-1966” and “1967-1970” sets that come out on November 10th.

Until next time be well and if you haven’t heard “Now and Then” what are you waiting for – it’s a must listen in my book.

See you soon.

In keeping with my last post on a rare unreleased Beatles concert, today I’m featuring not one but five complete and unreleased Beatles concerts (well, unreleased in their unaltered forms).

Today celebrates the 57th anniversary of The Beatles last paid public performance which took place at San Francisco’s famed Candlestick Park on August 29, 1966.  Since I was a mere seven months old my memories of that time are obviously a bit fuzzy.

So in celebration of this momentous event I thought I’d share a couple of underground CD sets that capture The Beatles in concert with the best live shows (in the U.S.) from their Beatlemania touring years of 1964-1966.

I have two superb sets by the His Masters Choice label that perfectly capture the frantic sounds of Beatlemania and the raw power and energy of The Beatles in concert as they took over the music world.

The first set features the three Beatles shows at the Hollywood Bowl (complete and unedited) from 1964 and 1965 which is probably the best recorded Beatles concert of the groups touring era. As an added bonus the famed Candlestick Park 1966 show is included as well and in the best possible sound quality.

(Note: the 1966 Candlestick concert was recorded on a cassette recorder in front of the stage by The Beatles press officer Tony Barrow at the suggestion of Paul McCartney. There is no multi-track quality recording. Even so the show is low-fi it’s certainly very listenable as the mic captured the concert at close range)

The other set is also a must hear as it features the true sound of The Beatles live at Shea Stadium in 1965 (this is the first time the unaltered live show has ever been issued) along with all the opening acts from the show as well. As an added bonus it also features the touched up re-recording of the Shea Stadium show that was featured on the 1967 TV special that was broadcast on television.

Many of you out there may say wait a minute, unreleased? Didn’t The Beatles Hollywood Bowl shows come out on CD a few years ago sounding really fantastic?

Well, yes they did but the “Live at the Hollywood Bowl” CD that came out in 2016 in lovely remixed sound courtesy of Giles Martin and Sam Okell featured only a selection of cuts from the three Hollywood Bowl concerts that were recorded and had the sound heavily worked on to make it sound more listenable.

The stupendous 2 CD set “Live at the Hollywood Bowl” features all three concerts in full with warts and all sound (there are a few songs on one of the 1965 shows that don’t feature vocals) and every stinking note as it happened.

That of course includes the din of over 18,000 screaming young fans which nearly drowns out The Beatles at times.

For historians these unaltered sets are a treat to hear as the complete shows, warts and all, are great to hear as it is a true document of the times and the full impact of The Beatles on a generation is evident and these shows really bring you front and center on what it was like to sit at a Beatles performance and experience it in the eye of the storm so to speak.

Plus the Candlestick Park show tucked on the end of this set is also a real treat as it documents the end of The Beatles live career and is the best example of how they sounded on the 1966 tour. The Beatles are putting in more of a performance at this show as compared to others on the tour as they know this may be the last time that they would play live in this Beatlemania type environment.

I’m fascinated by this show and despite it’s less than stellar sound it’s still a very enjoyable show and the best document of this last 1966 tour and fun to hear songs like “Day Tripper” and “Nowhere Man” played with real gusto as opposed to the much better recorded shows in Japan from earlier in 1966.

I must say though that the creme de la creme of these five shows is the actual audio from The Beatles most celebrated concert live at Shea Stadium in 1965.

I can see why the group felt the need to touch the sound up as the concert was not only recorded but it was filmed as well for a TV special and these early days of recording live shows could not have anticipated the chaos that over 55,000 Beatlemanics would have on the primitive recording equipment that captured this show.

When the show was broadcast in 1967 I’m sure the group preferred the much cleaner live presentation on display in front of millions but I have to say that I prefer the rawer sound of the real tapes as it’s just as exciting a show with the real sound and maybe even more fun to watch.

The slightly ragged sound of the real Shea audio fits the overwhelming feeling of chaos generated by the audience who are obviously taken by the whole spectacle of a Beatles show. And actually the sound of the show in this CD is really good and despite some flaws would make a great CD!

Complete contents of the two sets:

Live at the Hollywood Bowl

Disc 1:  Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles, CA – August 23rd, 1964: 

Intro., Twist And Shout, You Can’t Do That, All My Loving, She Loves You, Things We Said Today, Roll Over Beethoven, Can’t Buy Me Love, If I Fell, I Want To Hold Your Hand, Boys, A Hard Day’s Night, Long Tall Sally. 

Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles, CA – August 30th, 1965:

Intro., Twist & Shout, She’s A Woman, I Feel Fine, Dizzy Miss Lizzy, Ticket To Ride, Everybody’s Trying To Be My Baby, Can’t Buy Me Love, Baby’s In Black, I Wanna Be Your Man, A Hard Day’s Night, Help!, I’m Down 

Disc 2:  Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles, CA – August 29th, 1965: 

Intro., Twist & Shout, She’s A Woman, I Feel Fine, Dizzy Miss Lizzy, Ticket To Ride, Everybody’s Trying To Be My Baby, Can’t Buy Me Love, Baby’s In Black, I Wanna Be Your Man, A Hard Day’s Night, Help!, I’m Down. 

Candlestick Park, San Francisco, CA – August 29th, 1966: 

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, Long Tall Sally

The Beatles And The Great Concert At Shea

Disc 1, line recording: 

Introduction, Twist And Shout, She’s A Woman, I Feel Fine, Dizzy Miss Lizzy, Ticket To Ride, Everybody’s Trying To Be My Baby, Can’t Buy Me Love, Baby’s In Black, Act Naturally, A Hard Day’s Night, Help!, I’m Down. 

Plus: King Curtis:  National Anthem, Intermezzo, Discotheque Dancers:  medley. King Curtis:  What I’d Say, The Branch, Soul Twist, Intermezzo.  Cannibal & The Headhunters:  Out Of Sight, Nau Ninny Nau, The Way You Do The Things You Do, Land Of 1000 Dances.  Brenda Holloway:  Shake/Satisfaction, I Can’t Help Myself, You Can Cry On My Shoulder, When I’m Gone

Disc 2: 

Sounds Incorporated:  Intermezzo, America, William Tell Overture, instrumental, In The Hall Of The Mountain Kings. 

Original 1966 BBC soundtrack: 

Introduction, Twist And Shout, I Feel Fine, Dizzy Miss Lizzy, Ticket To Ride, Act Naturally, Can’t Buy Me Love,  Baby’s In Black, A Hard Day’s Night, Help!, I’m Down. 

The Beatles Live At Shea described by erupting fans, part 1 and part 2

Anyway, just a quick glimpse of some superb documents of five Beatles live shows as they sounded at the time. These shows are a fun time capsule to the pop/rock world of The Beatles as the group’s story and performances grow ever more intriguing as the years go by.

Also, each of these two sets are comprised of groovy small hardbound books with lots of cool photos and liner notes as well as two discs each. Really each set is the final word on the Hollywood Bowl and Shea Stadium concerts with the added bonus of the Candlestick show to round things out making these two sets the perfect way to experience Beatlemania in all its glory.

As usual there are pictures above and below of these fantastic two sets.

Enjoy the Candlestick show if you find these discs or you find it online. It’s a gem of a show and well worth hearing The Beatles final bow as one of the most beloved and enduring acts of the 1960s. Fifty seven years is a long ago but even that amount of time has not diminished The Beatles contribution to pop culture.

Until next time be well and safe and see you soon!

It’s not often that something truly monumental sneaks out of the blue, arrives out of nowhere and takes your breath away. This week my friends, that’s just what’s happened.

You see I discovered the audio of a previously unknown live recording of The Beatles from April 1963 two days ago online and nearly fainted. The story broke earlier this year that the tape of this concert had been found but the odds of hearing it were slim to none in my mind as it wasn’t owned by The Beatles.

The concert was recorded by a then 15-year-old student at the Stowe School (a boys school in Buckinghamshire, England) named John Bloomfield who recorded it with a microphone set on the stage with The Beatles that was connected to a newly acquired reel-to-reel tape machine.

How on earth this tape remained a secret for almost sixty years is amazing but more amazing is that Bloomfield captured The Beatles at the precise moment they were about to explode onto the music scene in Britain and the world and had yet to downsize their stage show to just ten to twelve of their recent hits.

(Note: Bloomfield recently donated the tape of this show to the British Library where the public can make an appointment to hear it. I’m guessing that’s the source of the leak of the audio of this show. A Japanese bootleg CD of this performance has recently been released as well and the audio I discovered online is from that CD).

This amazing concert features several songs that The Beatles never recorded in the studio as well as 3/4 of the their recently released first album “Please Please Me”. Truly an astonishing find and a must listen for any Beatles fan.

Of course being a physical media guy I promptly burned myself a homemade CD of this concert with an understated but if I do say so myself a lovely cover and thus a new Beatles CD (albeit homemade) was born – “The Beatles – Live at Stowe School, April 4, 1963”.

Now the recording isn’t exactly in commercial release quality. The vocals at times are buried (the recording mike seems to be nearer an amp with more of the guitar prominent and the vocals distant) and some songs are distorted from the volume on stage but overall it’s a very listenable recording.

The CD is a really fun listen and what it does give you is the best record yet of how much of a shit hot live band The Beatles were and if anyone disputes that play them samples from this show and they might just change their mind.

The main benefit of this recording is that the audience is totally male thus no screaming to drown out the music and the pure testosterone and energy coming from the audience seems to have made The Beatles more energized and they put on one hell of a good show.

Below are my song by song first impressions of this long lost concert:

I Saw Her Standing There – the vocals were a little distant on this one but it had a nice punchy sound to it. Much like the BBC versions but with more energy. In fact energy is how I would describe this entire show – energy and electricity

Too Much Monkey Business – this is an absolutely blistering take on this song and much better than the BBC take and just a terrific performance. This really shows the power of the Beatles live in the early 60s

Love Me Do – another great rocking yet bluesy performance! It’s great to hear all the males in the audience clapping along and howling to this song. It really went over well and this sounds so good live, probably my favorite live version of this song. It still has that slightly different arrangement that was played by Pete Best which is fun to hear as well.

Some Other Guy – another absolutely blistering take on this song, The Beatles sound like a freight train out of control –  such a great performance

Misery – this actually comes to life more than any other version I’ve ever heard. It’s great hearing the raw guitar push this song along and quite frankly the male audience is so energetic and so overwhelming with their response it really pushes The Beatles performance to be even gutsier

I Just Don’t Understand – another terrific performance. The vocals are actually much more up front on this song as it’s not quite as loud and blistering as the others but it’s my favorite version of this song and is even better than the BBC performance. It just seems rawer

A Shot of Rhythm and Blues – a great performance! The vocals aren’t nearly as clear as the last song. The highlight of this song is George Harrison’s absolutely wicked guitar playing, just terrific

Boys – a great rocking version of this one and you can actually hear Ringo’s vocal pretty darn clearly, so good and raw

Matchbox – what a powerhouse performance. The vocals are hard to hear because this one’s much louder than the others so it drowns out the vocals but another energetic take with Ringo on vocals (I think)

From Me to You – more energy than other live performances and the vocals are much clearer on this than the last song. It’s a raw and a somewhat chunky (I couldn’t think of another word for it) version of this song

Thank You Girl – well this is by far the ballsiest version of this song I’ve ever heard. What really makes this good is having the guitar so in your face which electrifies the performance, terrific

Memphis Tennessee – well this is the rockiest version I’ve ever heard the Beatles do this song mainly because George Harrison’s guitar is so prominent. Man is it raw and lively – love it

A Taste of Honey – the vocals are very easy to hear on this take. It sounds much like the record and the BBC version but this may have the edge

Twist and Shout – it’s hard to believe that this version could be almost as rocking and blistering as the take on the record but wow a terrific performance of this one

Anna (Go to Him) – again because of the prominence of George’s guitar this song sounds more raw and into almost more of a punk style version, so good live

Please Please Me – probably the biggest audience reaction to this song. Obviously they like it they really know it and they howl and sing along all the way through, a great performance egged on by the crowd

The Hippy Hippy Shake – wow this is an absolutely blistering take on this song. This is by far my favorite version of this song I’ve ever heard by The Beatles they just sound out of control but in a good way

I’m Talking About You – wow this one is equally blistering as “Hippy Hippy Shake”, just out of control rocking. Anyone who ever says the Beatles weren’t good live needs to listen to this tape! This is just an absolutely blistering show.

Ask Me Why – standard performance of this song great to hear it live with so much energy but very much like the BBC versions

Till There Was You – very much like the Ed Sullivan performance with a little bit more energy. Great

Money (That’s What I Want) – because the guitar is so loud and blaring this is much more menacing version. It ‘s like the BBC and the album version only on steroids. Unfortunately it’s only a fragment of the song which is too bad but what we have is great

I Saw Her Standing There (reprise) – by request the Beatles go into a blistering take on this with the audience loudly singing along. This is complete and ends with screams for the audience perfect way to end an exquisite find of a concert. Of the two versions of this song in the show this one is a bit better – more energetic and you can hear the vocals a bit better as well.

I think the all male audience really gives this show a different energy to most of the live Beatles performances out there. The crowd is boisterous and interact with the group by yelling out requests and frequently chatting with them between songs.

You get to hear a lot of interaction with the crowd which is something that doesn’t exist on the professionally recorded Beatles shows like the Hollywood Bowl and Shea Stadium.

This concert recording is the closet we’ll get to hearing what a Beatles show at the Cavern Club sounded like unless of course some tape of one of those shows jumps out of the sky and lands online – you never know, who’d have thought this tape existed.

Well, that’s all for now.

This show is out there online in several places if you look for it. It’s not for the casual listener as it’s a rough recording but it’s historical nature is so great that hearing it is a complete pleasure and something I didn’t think would ever be heard and not just a mere fours months after it was announced that the tape was discovered.

I’ve read other folks online say the concert didn’t sound as good as the Star Club tapes but I disagree, I think it sounds on par with that tape. It’s such an incredible find that even though it’s a bit rough it’s still amazing to hear.

More blog posts to come and as usual have a great day and I hope you’re well.

See you soon!

Today I am in the mood for another blast from the past – shocker I know.

I have done this topic before but since you don’t see these very much I thought I’d share some more of my CD longboxes. I may have shown some of these before but this is a more in-depth look at some of the boxes.

Also, this time it’s just George Harrison and Ringo Starr boxes … so here we go.

I won’t go into what a longbox is – there are several of my past posts that describe them – so above you can see some of the groovy George and Ringo boxes that have graced my collection for oh say over thirty some years or so.

These boxes represent the cream of the crop of solo music by Harrison and Starr and as you can see they are filled with great graphics and bright colors and really take me back to that brief moment in time when CDs were king and the music industry was really delving into their back catalogs. Finding new CD gems on the shelf seemed like it would never end but alas here we are now in a streaming world by and large.

Of course for me I’m sad that that era is over but as I admire 45 picture sleeves from the 1960s and 1970s these longboxes are the 80s and 90s equivalent and are a fun thing to take out every now and again to reminisce about – that is if your a collector of course.

And for all the other collector nutjobs (like me) out there are also a few choice hype stickers as well to add to the fun.

Take a gander above at these beauties. My favorite ones tend to be the ones that incorporate the artwork to the longer format of the box but all of them are fun to look at – at least to me.

(Note: The generic black Apple box is for the CD of Ringo’s album “Goodnight Vienna”. I have a couple of generic Apple boxes. These came out toward the end of the longbox era.)

Well, that’s all for today. Just a quick tip back in time for those of us who are old enough to remember spending hours back in the day perusing store racks for the new CD reissues of your favorite albums.

More soon.

Until then be safe and well and see you soon!

“It’s about a guy going off to war. Frankly, it’s an anti-war song. It’s about a guy going to Clarksville, Tennessee, which is an army base if I’m not mistaken. He’s obviously been drafted and he says to his girlfriend, ‘I don’t know if I’m ever coming home.’ Considering that it was a Monkees song and the first one, I was always surprised that the record company even released it unless it just went right over their head.“ – Micky Dolenz talking to Rolling Stone about The Monkees first number one hit “Last Train to Clarksville”

Sometimes summer just goes by so quickly – and this year is no exception.

I haven’t been posting much lately so I thought I’d recap some of my music finds/adventures from this past summer. In this post I’m going to take a look at some groovy vinyl I found as well as a mostly anti-climatic journey I took this past May to a legendary musical city – Nashville, Tennessee.

After years of contemplating I finally made the seven hour trek by car to experience the sights and sounds of the legendary Nashville, Tennessee. I’ve heard so many good things about Nashville that I was eager to see what all the fuss was about and try not only some of the local music scene but some of the local food as well.

As an added bonus Clarksville, Tennessee was within an hours drive or so from Nashville and quite frankly I was just excited to see that city as Nashville. Why Clarksville you may ask?

Well according to the quote above from Micky Dolenz, Clarksville, Tennessee may have been the inspiration for The Monkees first number one hit “Last Train to Clarksville” which has always been one of my all-time favorite Monkees songs.

There’s an army base located very near Clarksville – Fort Campbell – and I’m guessing Boyce and Hart who wrote “Last Train to Clarksville” for The Monkees somehow knew about it and used it as a jumping of point for the song.

Of course any real life inspiration for a Monkees song is well worth investigating, IMHO. So near the end of May I made my way to Nashville, the Music City, and hopefully to get a glimpse of the fabled Clarksville.

Let me just say that Nashville wasn’t exactly the dream trip I was hoping it would be. The first, and frankly the only, word that comes to mind when I hear the word Nashville from now on is … traffic. And when I say traffic, wow do I mean traffic.

I have never in my life seen so many cars crammed onto such weirdly designed highways. It was a nightmare driving anywhere in the Nashville area that didn’t involve a lot of frayed nerves and a lot of intense cursing. The drive to Tennessee even took an extra two hours just because of the God awful traffic that started to rear its ugly head about an hour and a half outside of Nashville – ugh.

To top it off It was a wet and dreary May weekend and the rain certainly didn’t help matters any as my spouse and I nearly lost ten years of our lives trying to maneuver our way through the dense and never ending highways around Nashville.

We did manage to get to see a show at the Grand Ole Opry which was a treat but other then that the weekend was one rainy bust plus a bicycle race throughout the city that same weekend made getting around a complete disappointment.

In fact the only thing that truly saved the weekend for us was our trip to the lovely and charming town of Clarksville, Tennessee.

After a hectic Friday of driving to Nashville and then barely making it to see the Grand Ole Opry, we were hoping for a Saturday of fun in downtown Nashville. Apparently fate had other things in mind as the pouring rain and the homeless folks everywhere and the overall dreary atmosphere really made the weekend seem like a lost cause.

What actually saved the whole trip was a Google search for antiques shops in Clarksville and the discovery of what looked like a really interesting record store.

After a rainy stop at one local Nashville record store – a nice store actually but I found nothing to buy – off we went to Clarksville and hopefully escape the wretched traffic and the odd tourist buses full of drunk people at 9 a.m. shouting into the rainy sky that filled the streets of downtown Nashville.

I must say the trip to Clarksville was much easier on the nerves as the traffic was much better and the scenery was nice as well. By the time we got there the sun had come out and the sky became blue and we knew that this must have been a good idea as both our moods got a lot cheerier.

The antique stores and the record store were indeed nice and I manged to score a near mint and unplayed copy of The Monkees 1969 single “Tear Drop City” in its picture sleeve and a lovely promo copy of the first Archies album which also looked unplayed (see photos above).

It’s kind of funny that I found the “Tear Drop City” 45 as that song is basically a rewrite of “Last Train to Clarksville” which was also recorded in 1966 but unreleased until 1969.

Ironically I went to three record stores and several antique stores in the Nashville area and the only Monkees album I found was three very used copies of their fourth album “Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn and Jones, Ltd.” which features some songs that were recorded in Nashville! Weird but true.

After walking around we could both say the definite highlight of our trip to the Nashville area was going to see the sleepy and charming Clarksville and of course finding some fun vinyl along the way didn’t hurt things a bit. There was also some really good food in Clarksville and that’s always a good way to ease the pain of traveling.

(Note: You can see photos below of Clarksville and the Grand Ole Opry show we saw below.)

Maybe we just had bad luck with Nashville but I am actually glad I finally got to see it as it’s such an iconic American city but really I have no desire to return. It was an interesting trip and at least I can scratch the Music City off of my list of things to see.

I’m sure other people have had much better experiences visiting Nashville but for me it will always be one dreary city full of dirty cars and … traffic.

Well that’s all for now.

As usual be safe and well and I hope you’ve had a good summer

There are more summer recaps coming soon.

Ta ta for now

“It’s been a long time, now I’m coming back home” … or so the song says.

I haven’t been around these parts for a few weeks now which is a long time for me. It’s not that I’m losing interest in music but recently I’ve been feeding one of my other passions – writing children’s books – and as it seems I’ve forgotten my way to this blog.

As it happens I just released three new children’s books that I wrote – see photos and link below – and I’ve been immersed in the world of fiction writing for these past few weeks.

Since I’ve been gone the biggest and most interesting music news, to me anyway, was the announcement a few weeks ago of the imminent arrival late this year of the infamous long lost Beatles track from the mid-’90s reunion sessions for The Beatles Anthology sets – “Now and Then”.

This is certainly the song that’s coming out though when Paul McCartney broke the news he didn’t mention the title. More than likely this will be the third John Lennon demo that Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr worked on in 1994/95 or it could even possibly be called “I Don’t Want to Lose You” which is another lyric from the demo.

My bet is on it be called “Now and Then” and from the incomplete demo that circulates it should be a fitting postscript to the whole Beatles experience.

Like “Free As a Bird” and “Real Love”, the surviving ex-Beatles took the raw informal cassette demo of “Now and Then” and edited it while cleaning it up and adding new instrumentation as well as new lyrics and vocals.

Supposedly “Now and Then” required much more work than “Free As a Bird” and “Real Love” so it was abandoned to the mists of time after 1995 when George Harrison nixed its completion and sat unfinished low these thirty some years; that is until now.

(Note: Apparently Harrison wasn’t that keen on the track for some reason but also the fact that it had a worse quality vocal than the other demos and a loud hum contributed to his decision to stop work on the song.)

Paul McCartney over the years has mentioned his desire to finish the track and now with the advent of AI technology the ability to totally isolate Lennon’s vocal from the murk of the original demo enabled the song to be mixed much better than the other reunion tracks making it the perfect final reunion of the Fab Four.

I’m also guessing that the lyrics which contain the phrase “now and then” are a real emotional trigger for McCartney as supposedly the last thing John Lennon ever said to him was “Think of me every now and then my old friend” which certainly makes this track a worthwhile thing to finish and release.

All four Beatles play on the song “Now and Then” as the three ex-Beatles all contributed to the track before abandoning it. The good thing is the use of AI did not go beyond cleaning the track up – no fake Lennon or Beatles vocals or instruments were added –  which makes me really excited to hear the finished result.

To those who’ve heard the original demo obviously a lot of work must have gone into the song as many lyrics weren’t completed and the song needed tightening as well.

(Note 2: One of the demos for “Now and Then” appears on the groovy bootleg CD set pictured above. I’ve always loved the melancholy feel of the song and can’t wait to hear it as a completed Beatles track.)

With the advent of all the recent media buzz on AI technology I’ve felt very uneasy about the abuses that it could bring but weirdly enough I too found a really good use for this technology my self these past few weeks.

Which brings me back to my books.

I’ve been writing children’s books for over twenty years and have assembled several completed manuscripts – everything from picture books to YA novels – but have lost my drive to continue to sent out to publishers.

My picture book manuscripts especially went unloved in a file cabinet until a few weeks ago when I decided to experiment with using AI to generate illustrations for my text.

I went to a Website that generates copyright free AI created images and after a lot of trial and error came up with some truly lovely illustrations that were perfect for three of my manuscripts.

No one is more surprised than me at the assistance AI has provided me in bringing these three books to life. I must admit I’m still leery of the technology but used wisely it does seem to provide interesting results.

Photos of the my three new books are featured below.

Two of the books are picture books (“The Star Miner” and “The Shadow Gardener”) meant for younger kids and one is a short story (“The Christmas Bees”) that consists of a Christmas saga set in the Depression era in the Midwestern United States that can appeal to all ages. It weaves in a bit of mystery with a bit of Christmas nostalgia without being cloying, in my mind anyway.

Anyone interested in taking either a better look at my books or even ordering them from Amazon in physical form or ebook can go to my Website for more details – click the link below:

J. Lawrence Grant Books

Anyway, that’s my update for today.

Oh and before I forget it’s also Ringo Starr’s 83 birthday! I thought I’d share a couple of photos (above) of one of the rarer Ringo items I own – the USB wrist band version of his “Liverpool 8” album that came out a few weeks after the CD and vinyl versions of that album.

It’s truly a one-off item from Ringo and who knows one day I may just open it and see if it works!

So that’s all for now. Happy Birthday again Ringo and more sooner here than later I hope.

Be well and healthy and see you soon.

This past week has really put me in a Paul McCartney mood.

Not only am I in a Paul McCartney mood but I’m in the mood for Paul McCartney from the 1970’s – Paul McCartney & Wings as a matter of fact.

You see last weekend I picked up the terrific RSD Half-Speed Mastered vinyl pressing of the second Wings album “Red Rose Speedway” and all week I’ve been binging on ’70’s McCartney music.

Fifty years ago today on April 30, 1973 Paul McCartney & Wings released “Red Rose Speedway” and it seemed to hit the public and critics in a better way than McCartney’s previous two albums “RAM” and “Wild Life”. A lot of that had to do I’m sure with the number one smash “My Love” but overall the album sounded more commercial than anything he’d released as a solo artist so far so that helped restore some of the negative attitudes toward McCartney at the time.

(Note: At the time of the release of “Red Rose Speedway” McCartney was being sort of persecuted in the press for being the one who broke up The Beatles and the negative reviews he suffered for his solo work in this period cast a pale on his music that even though it sold well was seen as a step down from his Beatles material)

That’s not to say that this album has been held in the same esteem as McCartney’s following albums “Band on the Run” and “Venus and Mars” as quite frankly “Red Rose Speedway” seems to be almost forgotten when people talk about McCartney’s solo career these days. And that’s too bad as I really enjoy this album and have played it more frequently then the “Band on the Run” album for example which is seen as the peak of McCartney’s solo career.

I came to “Red Rose Speedway” after having heard the “RAM” album but before discovering the “Wild Life” album. I happened on a used 8-track of “Red Rose Speedway” in the late 1970’s and found this album to be much like “RAM” as it’s a bit quirky and full of interesting and melodic tunes.

Since I loved the  “RAM” album it’s no surprise I took to “Red Rose Speedway” so quickly as two songs, “Get on the Right Thing” and “Little Lamb Dragonfly”, are actually leftovers from the “RAM” sessions.

To me the “Red Rose Speedway” album has always seemed  like a nice blend of the “RAM” and “Wild Life” albums but with a bit more commercial sounding songs. It has the quirkiness of “Wild Life” mixed with elements of sound paintings that fill the “RAM” album.

There’s a sparseness on songs like “Single Pigeon”, “One More Kiss” and “When the Night” much like the material on “Wild Life” plus the ultra quirky “Loop (1st Indian on the Moon)” plus the exquisite grandeur of “Little Lamb Dragonfly” and the pop confection of the medley “Hold Me Tight/Lazy Dynamite/Hands of Love/Power Cut” that both would have fit nicely on “RAM”.

Actually if you want to hear the way that “Red Rose Speedway” was originally envisioned as a two album set you need to check out the Paul McCartney Archive collection with either the 2 CD set or box set or 2 LP vinyl to hear the broad range of songs that would have made the album a much more diverse and interesting collection.

There’s a much more adventurous tone on the proposed 2 LP version of “Red Rose Speedway” than the released single album with songs like the instrumentals “Jazz Street” and “Night Out” plus the blistering live songs “The Mess”, “Best Friend” and the ominous and almost dirge like “1882”. Not to mention terrific songs like “Mama’s Little Girl” (another “RAM”– like song), the b-sides “Country Dreamer”and “I Lie Around” plus Wings superb cover of “Tragedy”.

My go-to version of  “Red Rose Speedway” is now the 2 CD version (see photos above) but the original album still holds a special place in my heart and is a McCartney album I still play a lot.

As far as CD versions of the original album go I’d say hands down the best sounding is the wonderful DCC gold disc version that simply does breath life into the album with nice rich bass and a clarity to the sound that other versions don’t capture. The original UK CD version is no slouch though either and the mastering on the Paul McCartney Archive collection is great too.

The only CD versions that aren’t quite as nice sounding are the original US Capitol CD and the 1993 remaster but frankly neither of those are bad really they are just bettered by the previously mentioned CDs.

And of course if you’re looking for a vinyl version of “Red Rose Speedway” then the current 2023 Half-Speed master on vinyl is one terrific sounding disc and if you can’t find an original UK vinyl version it’s probably the best vinyl version out there.

Well, that’s all for now.

Happy 50th “Red Rose Speedway” and as usual take a gander above and below at some of the different versions of the album in my collection and especially take note of the worn and torn 8-track that was my introduction to the album all those years ago.

Take care and be happy and well and see you soon!