Records, CDs and Music:

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!

*** The Monkees Complete Series VHS Box By Rhino Records***

“Hey, Hey We’re the … TV Box”.

The TV Box?

Yes, that’s right. A few years ago, oh say about thirty years give or take, a monumental Monkees box set was issued that featured all 58 episodes of The Monkees TV series released for the first time on the home video market.

VHS you say? Yep, 21 VHS tapes in fact.

This groovy box sets 21 VHS tapes contained not only the complete Monkees series but also the first time release of the unaired pilot episode of the series featuring songs with vocals performed by Boyce and Hart instead of The Monkees themselves plus the release of The Monkees bizarre yet entertaining 1969 TV special “33 1/3 Revolutions Per Monkee”.

This deluxe set also came with a lovely Monkees watch with a bright red watch band as well as a terrific booklet that gave detailed descriptions of each and every episode including listings of all the songs that were originally broadcast with each episode and a lot of really cool photos to boot.

(Note: Even though I rarely if ever look at the VHS tapes nowadays I do love this booklet and still use it as a reference guide when I watch the much superior blu-ray set)

Well let me say that I was drooling at the thought of owning all The Monkees TV episodes in good quality. I didn’t have much access to “The Monkees” series other than the reruns on MTV in 1986/87 and those were in hit or miss quality. And of course those rerun versions featured on MTV were a hodgepodge of original soundtracks mixed with songs from later airings on CBS and ABC from the Saturday morning reruns of the late ’60s and early ’70s.

I had rarely seen the original opening credits for the first season of The Monkees TV show so it was pure delight for me to see a decent copy of that plus the episodes with the original songs all for the princely sum of $399. Yes, you heard right, this limited edition set sold for $399 and even at that price it sold out fairly easily.

I have to admit looking back that I can hardly believe I paid the then (and now) steep asking price for this monster box set. Really I must have been a bit Monkees obsessed to plunk down that kind of change.

(Note 2: that last sentence was totally tongue and cheek as I still am a tad bit Monkees obsessed which you may well know if you’ve ever read this blog before)

At the time of course this set was the only game in town if one wanted to own the complete Monkees series on home video. So at that time I was VERY happy with this set and watched it a lot and enjoyed rediscovering the TV side of The Monkees project which for me had mainly been seen through the lenses of their recordings. Truth be told that’s still the main way I reach for any Monkees fix I need – music first, series second.

Having said that since the fantastic blu-ray set was released a few years ago I can honestly say I enjoy the series much more than I ever have. Yes it’s quirky and weird but even the episodes I enjoy the least are easier to get into with the stunning HD remastered look of the blu-ray set.

(Note 3: Not to mention all the great extras on the blu-ray set. If you’re curious I did an overview of the blu-ray box set and you can look for it with the search button at my home page.)

The blu-ray set was the first time that the complete Monkees series was overhauled from the absolute original negatives and scanned in exquisite quality. (The same VHS box set transfers were also used when the Monkees series came out on DVD which was issued a few years after the VHS set thus it was only marginally better quality than the VHS set).

It’s hard to imagine the appeal of the VHS set now that the new and sparkling HD transfers of The Monkees series exist but it’s still a fun time capsule to look back on and this monster VHS package sure does look purdy. As usual take a gander above and below and if you’ve never seen this set it’s still pretty cool and boy is it hefty – it weighs a ton.

Oh, one last thing. Having looked at some of the VHS tapes on my 48 inch 4K TV I must say the VHS tapes don’t look half bad actually (see screen photos below). Now of course they can’t compete with the newer HD transfers but they are very watchable and not that different from the DVDs except they have less detail overall obviously.

That’s all for now. Just another Monkees blast from the past for a cool spring evening.

Take care and be healthy and more coming soon …

Anyone who may have read this blog before knows that it’s obvious I love my hype stickers!

Hype stickers, for those who aren’t familiar, are the little (or sometimes big) stickers on the shrink wrap of vinyl albums or CDs that pretty much hype the new release with various superlatives trying to entice a buyer into purchasing that particular recording.

For me a hype sticker makes the album or CD seem closer to the time it was sitting brand new on a retail shelf. It’s makes it the nearest to traveling back in time to the albums release day. You don’t run into them too often so finding one is a thrill. Most of these elusive stickers were torn off, discarded and forgotten so it’s always a pleasure for me to find new ones as they can be quite rare.

About a month ago I happened to find a really cool hype sticker on an original Colgems mono copy of The Monkees fourth album “Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd.”. The fact that I have never seen any sort of hype sticker on an original Colgems Monkees album makes this discovery even more special.

Now granted, this hype sticker more then likely wasn’t put on the album at the factory by Colgems Records so it must have been used by a small local retailer. I found the album in Michigan so I have no idea if any retailers there used this but whomever put it on it’s a very cool thing to see.

I have also seen two different local retailer type hype stickers online for Colgems stereo pressings of “Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd.” so I’m guessing retailers around the country wanted to make sure buyers knew the albums was by The Monkees. Unless you were quite familiar with the outline of the group members, which I’m sure most young fans were, you may have passed over this album if you walked by it not knowing it was a new Monkees album.

Sure any true fan can see the top of The Monkees guitar logo peeking out of the flowers on the front cover but I’m sure most places that sold records didn’t want to take any chances.

By the time this album was released The Monkees were huge sellers so that meant many small stores selling records wanted their share of those sales. And his album did indeed hit the top of Billboard’s Hot 200 selling over two million copies in the process so I’m sure a hype sticker was a welcome thing.

Anyway, I thought I’d share this groovy hype sticker here as there might be several weirdo fans like me out there who really enjoy this kind of thing. I was also inspired to dig out my other copies of “Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd.” on both vinyl and CD and post photos of their hype stickers as well.

By the time the later vinyl copies and CDs reissues of this album were released the hype sticker had become the norm and almost every reissue of this album post the Colgems release has one. Looking at some of my other vinyl pressings of this album that I haven’t played in ages really takes me back. I especially love the flyer in the Rhino mid-’80s vinyl reissue of the “Pisces” album that advertises Monkees episodes on VHS! I haven’t seen that in years – too fun.

And of course the 1981 Japanese vinyl with the lovely OBI strip is fun to see again as well. If I remember correctly this Japanese pressing sounds only so-so but the Rhino reissue sounds great even though it’s a bit odd in that it contains a mixture of mono and stereo mixes as Rhino couldn’t find the original stereo master at the time. I remember really loving the mono version of “Hard to Believe” with Davy Jones single-tracked vocal at the closing of the song which gives it a very different feel.

So below are all my vinyl and CD issues of the “Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd.” album that feature some sort of hype sticker. Take a gander at the photos below and you’ll see quite a nice range of Monkees hype on display.

Btw, all this talk of “Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd.” has really primed me up for a Deluxe box set treatment of this album along the lines of last years spectacular “Headquarters” set that has recently sold out on Monkees.com.

Well that’s all for now. Just thought I’d take a quick trip back to November of 1967 with what I consider to be the high water mark of The Monkees career with the release of this timeless and classic album.

As usual be healthy and well and see you soon.

***Beatles Albums from the Philippines, Spain and the UK***

Maybe I’m amazed at the vinyl you can find in the Midwest … sorry couldn’t resist!

This past weekend I happened upon a dealer in an antique mall and a record store that had some pretty nice and fairly rare Beatles vinyl at reasonable prices. That last statement is uncommon these days as most booths in antique malls see the name Beatles and charge you $50 and up for a totally beat up copy of … fill in the blank.

Luck with good vinyl buys goes in spurts but today I’m pleased to say that my Beatles luck has been in “Top Gear” recently (sorry again, really this is the last time). I’ve managed to find one really lovely UK black and yellow pressing from the late 1960s (A stereo “Beatles for Sale”) and two great compilation albums from the 1970s – one from the Philippines (the 1976 “Rock ‘N’ Roll Music” 2 LP set) of all places and one from Spain (“The Beatles 1967-1970” 2 LP set).

Not only where each of these albums bought for a decent price they are all three in really good shape for the most part and play excellently!

Let’s take a look at each album:

“Beatles for Sale”

This is a really nice one. I found this lovely pressing in a small record store that had most of their vinyl at very reasonable prices. This particular copy of “Beatles for Sale” was pressed in 1968, I believe, as it has a strange crossed out and corrected 2 in the matrix of Side 1 – YEX 142-1. The original apparently did not have this correction.

I have an early ’70s copy of this album with the “-1” stampers on the silver and black Parlophone label but have not had a black and yellow stereo pressing until now. I must say the “-1” pressings of this album are superb sounding! There is a magic in the mid-range in this pressing and it’s my favorite stereo pressing of this album by far. I love the thick yet punchy sound from the tube equipment it was originally mastered with – easily my favorite ’60s Beatles stereo mix.

Both the cover and the record are in really nice shape and I was surprised to find a black and yellow Parlophone pressing in a record store in the Midwest – a real rarity for me.

I have to say that the original black and yellow Parlophone Beatles albums in good shape are the best way to hear these albums. Even though I love the CD versions of Beatles albums there’s just a magic to the sound of these original pressings that can’t be replicated with the mastering on modern equipment.

“Rock ‘N’ Roll Music” 

Now this record I was truly surprised to see sitting in front of me. I had gone through a large stack of average looking Beatles records at an antique mall when this beauty popped up. I had to check it a couple of times to make sure I wasn’t seeing things.

I have never seen a copy of any Beatles record made in the Philippines so even though the cover wasn’t in the best condition I was thrilled to discover it. At least the vinyl was in near excellent condition and looks largely unplayed. So of course it was a no-brainer for me to snatch this puppy up and add it to my collection.

It appears that this pressing was made from British parts as the sound matches the regular mixes found on the UK copies of “Rock ‘N’ Roll Music” and not the George Martin equalized versions that were found on US copies.

A rare find for me and one of my favorite discoveries this year so far.

“The Beatles 1967-1970”

Shortly after finding the Philippines copy of “Rock ‘N’ Roll Music” I happened upon another small antique mall (I went to a small town that had several unique malls within a five mile radius) and was shocked to find a beautiful copy of the 1973 double album “The Beatles 1967-1970” pressed in Spain.

Because the album was in such good shape I snapped it up before closely looking at it. After I got home I was pleasantly surprised to find that this particular pressing had an alternate track list from the rest of the world. There on Side Three, as I was cleaning the vinyl, the song title “One After 909” jumped out at me and I was flabbergasted – in a good way of course.

I know next to nothing about Beatles records pressed in Spain but apparently the song “The Ballad of John & Yoko” was dropped from this album because of the lyrics “you can get married in Gibraltar near Spain” as there was a diplomatic conflict between the UK and Spain about Gibraltar. I had no idea. I was so happy to see that they substituted the song “One After 909” as it’s one of my favorite songs from the “Let it Be” album and it works really well on this collection.

Had I known that this was the case I would have for sure scooped this pressing up quicker but as it is I’m just happy to have it and it sounds great and is a really fun listen. It’s very close to sound of the original UK copy. I’m not sure if it’s a first pressing or not but I don’t care as I love foreign pressings like this that differ from the norm.

Anyway, that’s my latest update. Feast your eyes, above and below, on my three recent foreign acquisitions.

That’s all for now.

See you soon and I hope you are well and healthy.

It was sixty years ago today … well, almost.

Tomorrow on March 22 it will be sixty years since The Beatles released their first album in the UK. Sixty years, wrap your mind around that for a moment. I’ve done a lot of fifty year anniversary posts in the last few years but now that we’re up to the sixty year range it’s truly a bit surreal.

When The Beatles “Please Please Me” Lp was released in Britain on March 22, 1963, they already had one Top Twenty hit (“Love Me Do”) released in October 1962 and a second hit (“Please Please Me”) that reached No. 1 (or No. 2) in early 1963 depending on which UK sales chart you followed.

Since The Beatles popularity was rapidly growing making a full-length Lp seemed like the next logical step for their career. I’m sure their record company EMI and producer George Martin felt the same way so the time was right to try a full album.

After spending the day in the studio on February 11, 1963, The Beatles recorded ten more songs to add to the four songs from their first two singles and presto the “Please Please Me” album was born. While it may have only taken a day to record most of the album, the album certainly has stood the test of time.

In 1963 albums weren’t big sellers for the teen market in the UK as they were much more expensive than the average teen could afford in that era. Even EMI I’m sure had not anticipated The Beatles first album not only hitting the top spot on the UK sales charts but spending a whopping thirty weeks at the top which was something unheard of for a new pop group especially one from Liverpool of all places.

(Note: The north of England was looked down upon at that time and no pop groups from port cities like Liverpool had ever become top sellers let alone a world wide phenomena. The Beatles in may ways broke the mold of what a pop group could do and achieve).

So here we are sixty years later and to celebrate I thought I’d share my all-time favorite mono and stereo vinyl as well as CD versions of the “Please Please Me” album that I have in my collection.

First up, the vinyl:

Please Please Me – UK gold label mono first vinyl pressing

What can I say, this first pressing of The Beatles very first album is special in more ways than one.

Firstly it’s the only pressing that features the gold colored Parlophone label, that in itself is really cool. But it is also one heck of a great sounding disc as even if you have a beat up copy these early British pressings were made to last and even a worn looking copy probably sounds great.

Since my pressing is a fairly early copy I think (Matrix/Stampers: Side One XEX 421-1N 1P and Side Two XEX 421-1N 1L) the sound on this pressing just shines; it’s full of life, punch and clarity.

Overall I prefer the mono mix of this album though I do enjoy the stereo as well. This first mono pressing is nice and punchy and jumps out of the speakers and hits on all cylinders. I also own a 1982 repress of this mono mix but this first pressing just has a life and excitement that other pressings lack.

(Note: Mono copies of this album on the regular black and yellow Parlophone  label that were also pressed in 1963 sound just as good. If you can find one of those at a decent price and can’t find a black and gold label copy you’ll be quite pleased.)

I know it’s becoming harder and harder to find a decent copy of this first pressing mono that won’t break the bank but if you can manage to swing it this copy does not disappoint. Even though many of the second issue UK mono copies sound great as well there’s just something special about this first issue that’s well worth seeking out.

Please Please Me – German Stereo vinyl pressing:

This stereo copy from Germany was first released in the late 1960’s on the Horzu label and was titled “Die Beatles”. I guess the first pressings of this album sounded like the UK stereo pressing but later pressings with the matrix numbers SHZE 117-A-2 and SHZE 117-B-2 come from an uncompressed tape that sounds a lot better than any other stereo pressing of this album out there including the first UK stereo pressing.

I’ve read that either an early twin-track tape before compression was added was copied from EMI and sent to Germany or somehow the German record company did some kind of eq to get this result but whatever the case this version is the version to have of this classic album as it’s the best sounding version of this album I’ve ever heard.

My particular copy has the following matrix numbers; Side 1: SHZE 117-A-2 04219-A-2 and  Side 2: SHZE 117-B-2 04219-B-2. This copy is on the Apple label (see photos below) and was released under the original “Please Please Me” title. If you look closely at the photos below you can faintly see the SHZE 117-A-2 and SHZE 117-B-2 matrixes followed by the 04219-A-2 and 04219-B-2 which are easier to see.

Copies without the SHZE 117-A-2 and SHZE 117-B-2 in the run-out groove are out there but they don’t have the uncompressed sound so if you look for this album make sure to check the run-out groove for these matrix numbers.

The CDs:

“Please Please Me” – Mono 2009 CD remaster

The 2009 CD remaster of the “Please Please Me” album which came in “The Beatles in Mono” box set is my go-to version of this album in mono on CD. The original 1987 CD version which was the only official CD version from 1987 to 2009 is actually not that bad but suffers from being mastered on a stereo tape deck instead of a full mono deck which left the sound a bit lacking compared with the 2009 remaster.

Plus the 2009 remaster mono CD comes in a stunning mini-CD cardboard cover that replicated exactly the original UK mono album even down to the correct inner sleeve. I love the flip-back style mini sleeves which really give you a feel for what an original copy looks like and with the better sound it’s my favorite mono CD version of the album.

“Please Please Me” – Stereo 2009 CD remaster (SHM-CD mini-lp CD version):

The 2009 stereo remaster CD of the “Please Please Me” album is the only official stereo version of this album available in the CD format. Like I said previously up until the 2009 remaster the “Please Please Me” album was only available on CD in mono and on an inferior version as well.

The version I’m sharing here is the groovy Japanese SHM-CD mini-lp CD which was a limited release of the 2009 stereo CD in a stunning flip-back style mini sleeve of the original UK stereo pressing of the album.

I know others feel the SHM-CD format is some sort of snake oil but I think this SHM-CD version of the “Please Please Me” CD has better bass and separation that the regular CD so this makes it my go-to version of the stereo album on CD. It’s nice to finally have a decent sounding stereo version of this album on CD and hopefully a box set of the “Please Please Me” album is on the horizon so maybe an even better version of the stereo CD will happen soon.

Well there you have it. This is my special celebration the 60th birthday of the wonderful “Please Please Me” album. I have to say it’s the most dated sounding of The Beatles original albums, which is no surprise, but to me that’s part of its charm.

I remember when I first heard this album on a 1970s Parlophone UK vinyl pressing and thinking that I loved the older sounding songs like “Chains”, “Baby It’s You” and “A Taste of Honey” because that took me to another place and time. To me the energy of the performances on this album still transcend time making this album one of my favorite Beatles albums of their entire catalog.

So happy birthday “Please Please Me” and until next time be well and safe and see you soon! That is all.