Saturday, August 16, 2008

The Beatles - Please Please Me (Japanese Mono LP) Red Wax

Label: Dr. Ebbetts, EAS 70130

1. I Saw Her Standing There (Lennon/McCartney)
2. Misery (Lennon/McCartney)
3. Anna (Go To Him) (Alexander)
4. Chains (Goffin/King)
5. Boys (Dixon/Farrell)
6. Ask Me Why (Lennon/McCartney)
7. Please Please Me (Lennon/McCartney)
8. Love Me Do (Lennon/McCartney)
9. P.S. I Love You (Lennon/McCartney)
10. Baby It's You (David/Bacharach/Williams)
11. Do You Want To Know A Secret (Lennon/McCartney)
12. A Taste Of Honey (Marlow/Scott)
13. There's A Place (Lennon/McCartney)
14. Twist And Shout (Russell/Medley)

Liner Notes:
THE FOLLOWING TITLES ARE PART OF A NEW DR. EBBETTS VINYL SERIES – THE RED JAPANESE MONO VINYL COLLECTION – OR SIMPLY PUT, THE “RED MONOS.” THE FOLLOWING ADDITIONS TO THE EBBETTS CANON ARE SOURCED FROM THE ORIGINAL SERIES 1982 JAPANESE RED MONO VINYL LPs, CONSIDERED BY MANY TO BE AMONG THE VERY BEST REPRESENTATIONS OF THE BEATLES ORIGINAL MONO CATALOGUE. ALL BUT TWO OF THE TEN TITLES THAT COMPRISE THIS SET ARE INCLUDED HERE. THE REMAINING TWO TITLES WILL BE RELEASED VERY SOON.

The Beatles and the Great Concert at Shea

The Beatles and the Great Concert at SheaLabel: His Master's Choice, HMC 001

Line recordings of the famous 1965 show!
No overdubs or re-recordings and complete for the first time.
Including the original 1966 BBC soundtrack.
Plus... The Beatles Live at Shea described by erupting fans.

CD 1: LINE RECORDING (part 1)
1. Introduction (2:29)
2. Twist and Shout (1:19)
3. Shes a Woman (3:02)
4. I Feel Fine (2:39)
5. Dizzy Miss Lizzy (3:23)
6. Ticket To Ride (2:44)
7. Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby (2:47)
8. Can't Buy Me Love (2:48)
9. Baby's in Black (2:56)
10. Act Naturally (2:55)
11. A Hard Day's Night (3:30)
12. Help! (3:09)
13. I'm Down (3:22)

King Curtis
14. National Anthem (2:10)
15. Intermezzo (2:26)

Discotech Dancers
16. Medley (3:52)

King Curtis
17. What'd I Say (3:54)
18. The Branch (2:13)
19. Soul Twist (1:57)
20. Intermezzo (2:10)

Cannibal & Headhunters
21. Out of Sight (2:05)
22. Now Lady Now (2:38)
23. The Way You Do The Things You Do (1:21)
24. Land of 1000 Dances (4:39)

Brenda Holloway
25. Shake/Satisfaction (3:23)
26. I Can't Help Myself (2:45)
27. You Can Cry on My Shoulder (3:26)
28. When I'm Gone (2:42)


CD 2: LINE RECORDING (part 2)
1. Intermezzo (3:57)

Sounds Incorporated
2. America/Fingertips (3:21)
3. William Tell Overture (2:07)
4. Instrumental (3:44)
5. In The Hall of The Mountain Kings (2:30)

Original 1966 BBC Soundtrack
6. Introduction (1:49)
7. Twist and Shout (1:31)
8. I Feel Fine (2:10)
9. Dizzy Miss Lizzy (3:21)
10. Ticket To Ride (2:13)
11. Act Naturally (2:41)
12. Can't Buy Me Love (2:32)
13. Baby's in Black (2:32)
14. A Hard Day's Night (3:04)
15. Help! (2:29)
16. I'm Down (3:26)

The Beatles Live at Shea Described by Erupting Fans
17. Part 1 (12:39)
18. Part 2 (11:11)

Liner Notes:
We are excited to be able to offer this piece de resistance of Shea Stadium memorabilia... the never before nor circulated, professionally recorded audio tape of the internal line feed from the public address system as it all happened, minute by minute on the evening of August 15, 1965. In laymen's terms, this is the "warts and all" version of the most famous rock concert in history.

No remixing, no re-recording, and no overdubs. And when we say minute by minute, we mean just that... from the playing and singing of our National Anthem by King Curtis and thousands in attendance... to Cousin Brucie and Murray the K... to the complete performances by all of the support acts... to the singing of the Beatles/WMCA jingle by the "Good Guys"... to Sid Bernstein's introduction of Ed Sullivan, and on to the last crescendo of "I'm Down" and, finally the Beatles departure from the stage! Except, of course, for The Beatles themselves and their inner circle, this writer was assured that he would be only the second person in the world to hear this historic recording that has been stored away since 1965. In a word... or, maybe phrase... this is one for the time capsule! It is not generally known how much "doctoring" was done to prepare "The Beatles At Shea Stadium" for television. Until the publication of Mark Lewisohn's "Complete Beatles Chronicles", in 1992, even the most ardent Beatles experts, were under the impression that, other than the fact that several songs were cut from the television special due to time constraints, the only such "doctoring" was the substitution of the recorded single version of "Act Naturally" for Ringo's live vocal. Lewisohn's chronicle of the Beatles activities on January 5, 1966, however, reveals in detail the extent of remixing, re-recording, and overdubbing. For it was on this day that the group entered CTS Studios in Kensington Gardens Square, London, to do just that. CTS (Cine Tele Sound) was the UK's state of the art audio-to-film dubbing studio at the time. Since the advent of sound motion pictures, such dubbing has been an integral pat of movie-making. The practice has been common in live music film just as long. What artist doesn't want to release the best possible performance? The reasons The Beatles, Brian Epstein, and producer George Martin, elected to facilitate a makeover, was two-fold. First, even though state of the art technology, by 1965 standards, was utilised for the film and audio recording of the event, a myriad of complications with the audio feed arose (eg. drop-outs, missing bass tracks, microphone malfunctions, equalisation problems... etc.) The filming of the Shea Stadium concert for television was the first even of any kind (live or in the studio) to utilise eight cameras. Boy, would we love to get a look at that from eight camera angles and zooms! The bottom line: technical difficulties necessitated re-recording and overdubbing on certain tracks. Second, the conditions at Shea Stadium were electrifying from the audiences standpoint. After all, it was the largest audience in history to ever attend a concert, and the high-decibel screaming was to be expected. From the Beatles standpoint, between the sheer immensity of it all with 55,600 in the seats, they had a hard time hearing themselves. Under such conditions, the performance itself is bound to suffer somewhat. But there is no need to make excuses because from this listener's standpoint, this Beatles "warts and all" performance was just fine. Sure, there were some strained vocals, a few mangled lyrics, and the like, but overall, nothing avid listeners to the abundance of Beatles concerts haven't become accustomed to from other '65 shows. It's too bad that some of the banter was cut, and Ringo's lyric could have made the cut as well. Lewisohn relates that the re-recording and overdubbing that took place at CTS Studios that day was taken very seriously, as the group wanted to adhere to the live-concert sound and be careful in matching the singing and playing to the on-screen images... a tough task. The most striking aspect of listening to the Beatles performance particularly, was the fact that the screaming, while constant throughout, on this line feed is relegated to the background on this mix. Lewsiohn confirms that screaming from the unreleased Hollywood Bowl performance of August 30, 1965 was extensively incorporated into the Shea Stadium film. Interesting, eh? We urge you read Lewsiohn's full account in "The Beatles Chronicles." And now... on to the show!

Tape #1 (28 minutes) crowd sounds and King Curtis tuning up Introduction of the King Curtis Band... King Curtis "National Anthem" with unknown vocalist and audience participation... WABC's Cousin Bruce Morrow welcomes the audience and introduces Murray the K... Murray the K introduces the Discotech Dancers medley of songs... It's Not Unusual, Downtown, Can't Buy Me Love, I'm Telling You Now, A Hard Day's Night... Cousin Brucie introduces Scott Ross of WBIZ, Long Island... Ross introduces the King Curtis Band... What I'd Say, The Branch, Soul Twist... Cousin Brucie addresses the audience and introduces WMCA's Frank Stickle... Stickle introduces the WMCA "Good Guys"... Each "Good Guy" introduces himself, then they harmonise on a Beatles/WMCA jingle (quite well, actually)... and they introduce Cannibal & the Headhunters... Out of Sight, No Lady Now.

Tape #2 (32 minutes) Cannibal & the Headhunters continued... The Way You Do The Things You Do, Land Of 1000 Dances... Cousin Brucie introduces DJ Hal Jackson... Jackson introduces Marvin Gaye... Cousin Brucie introduces Brenda Holloway... Shake, Satisfaction, I Can't Help Myself, You Can Cry On My Shoulder, When I'm Gone... Cousin Brucie introduces WABC DJ Charlie Greer... Cousin Brucie introduces Sounds, Inc.... America (from West Side Story), Fingertips, William Tell Overture, Instrumental, In The Hall Of The Mountain Kings.

Tape #3 (37 minutes) Sid Bernstein introduces Ed Sullivan... Ed Sullivan introduces The Beatles... Beatles tuning up and cutting up TWIST & SHOUT... unreleased... the version heard in the TV special was taken from the Hollywood Bowl recording of August 30, 1965. SHE'S A WOMAN... unreleased... this song was cut from the TV special. I FEEL FINE... unreleased... the version heard in the TV special was recorded on 1/5/66 at CTS Studios, London. DIZZY MISS LIZZY... Paul overdubbed a new bass track on 1/5/66 at CTS Studios, London. TICKET TO RIDE... Some instrumental overdubbing was added on 1/5/66 at CTS Studios, London. EVERYBODY'S TRYING TO BE MY BABY... this song was cut from the TV special. CAN'T BUY ME LOVE... Paul overdubbed a new bass track on 1/5/66 at CTS Studios, London. BABY'S IN BLACK... unreleased... the version heard on the TV special was recorded 1/5/66 at CTS Studios, London. ACT NATURALLY... unreleased... the version heard in the TV special was dubbed from the commercially released single recorded on 6/17/65. A HARD DAY'S NIGHT... this version is not obscured by the voice-overs heard in the TV special. HELP!... unreleased... the version heard in the TV special was recorded on 1/5/66 at CTS Studios, London. I'M DOWN... Paul and John overdubbed new bass and organ tracks, respectively, on 1/5/66 at CTS Studios, London. Beatles leave The Stage.

"At Shea Stadium, I saw the top of the mountain."
John Lennon, 1970

The Beatles' performance at Shea Stadium in August 1965 probably remains the greatest and craziest live moment of their career.

The third U.S. tour started on August 13 when the band took off from Heathrow, London to JFK, New York City, the same day the U.S. version of "Help!" was released. The tour would last until the end of the month and include shows in New York, Atlanta, Houston, Chicago, Minneapolis, Portland, San Diego, Los Angeles and San Francisco. The next day, August 14, The Beatles went to the CBS studio to rehearse and record The Ed Sullivan Show for that evening.

But the tour really opened on August 15 with a show at Shea Stadium, home of the New York Mets baseball team. It was the first time in the history of popular music that a stadium was used for a pop concert! Seen by 55,600 fans, it created a new world record in terms of attendance and gross revenue. The Beatles' share of the $304,000 box office takings was also a record: $160,000.

No less than a dozen camera teams were ready to follow the Beatles' journey from the hotel to the stadium. They travelled both by car and by helicopter. The police feared that fans would jam the tunnels in and out of Manhattan, so they were first escorted by limousine to the Manhattan East River Heliport and from there they flew over New York City to the roof of the World's Fair building in Queens. There they switched to a Wells Fargo armoured van and given a Wells Fargo badge.

As usual for those days, there was a full bill, and the 55,600 fans sat through the King Curtis Band, Cannibal and the Headhunters, Brenda Holloway, The Young Rascals and Sounds Incorporated before Ed Sullivan walked on stage to announce The Beatles:

Now, ladies and gentlemen, honoured by their country, decorated by their Queen, loved here in America, here are The Beatles!

Rushing out from the Wells Fargo van, The Beatles ran through a tunnel, out into a deafening wall of screams and onto the stage positioned at second base. The band did their standard 30-minute set of a dozen numbers and then, ran straight back to the Wells Fargo van to leave the stadium. The intense excitement of this record-breaking concert, mixed with a high degree of fan hysteria, resulted in a fantastic atmosphere!

Vox had prepared new amplifiers for the Beatles' tour. The usual power for tour amplifiers was 30 Watt; now they were able to deliver 100 Watt! But this was still insufficient, the screaming of the crowd was much louder... Fans couldn't hear the Beatles' performance... which didn't really matter because they only came to see the band.

But it was a huge problem for The Beatles who couldn't hear what they were playing! They had to look at each other to check whether they were still synchronised, unable to rely on Ringo's beat or on anyone else for that matter. This was particularly hard for Ringo who was behind the others and could neither see nor hear them. When Paul started to perform "I'm Down," John totally flipped out. He stopped playing seriously and went into a hilarious performance, playing on the harmonium using his elbows. This affected George who cracked up as well and was soon unable to play the right chords, but who cared?

Together with the helicopter ride and backstage sequences, the show was filmed by Sullivan Productions (Ed Sullivan's company) in association with NEMS Enterprises (Brian Epstein's), and released as a documentary film called "The Beatles At Shea Stadium". Its world premiere was on March 1, 1966 (BBC1).

Not all of the Beatles' Shea set is in the film - "She's A Woman" and "Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby" are both omitted - and what is included was subjected to audio sweetening back in London. Additionally, throughout the film, the Beatles are heard via voice-overs, recorded by U.S. broadcaster Larry Kane.

Just as it would be naive to believe that the sound on live albums is truly live and undoctored, the same is true for live concert films. In this case, the audio tapes specifically revealed not only musical flaws on the Beatles' part but also technical imperfections caused by the sheer size of the venue, the high-decibel screaming and the less than state-of-the-art mobile recording equipment in 1965. To have screened unaltered such a high-profile film on peak-time television would have done the group a disservice.

So it was that, amid some secrecy, the Beatles came to CTS Studios in central London on January 5, 1966, to 'sweeten' the soundtrack, by whatever means necessary, of their in-production television film "The Beatles At Shea Stadium". The session began with Paul only, overdubbing new bass tracks onto "Dizzy Miss Lizzy", "Can't Buy Me Love", "Baby's In Black" and "I'm Down" (on which John also overdubbed a new organ track). More drastic repair work was then effected by the group as a whole, with entirely new recordings of "I Feel Fine" (done at George Martin's specific request) and "Help!".

The Beatles strove to re-create a live-concert sound with these recordings rather than their more typical EMI studio feel, and they also had to match carefully their singing and playing with the on-screen images, hence the use of CTS, the premier audio-to-film dubbing studio in London.

To fix "Act Naturally" the Beatles did nothing: the film's post-production team merely replaced the Shea recording with the Beatles' disc version (recorded June 17, 1965), syncing it to the picture by means of audience cutaways and even, in places, cuts in the music (intentionally or otherwise, one moment - where Ringo's vocal is evidence but his mouth is closed - was left in the film uncorrected).

Documentation also suggests that John wished to record a new version of "Ticket To Ride", and that it was done during this CTS session, but close study of the film indicates that the original Shea version was used (although perhaps a little instrumental overdubbing was effected).

Additionally, George Martin desired a new recording of "Twist And Shout", but there wasn't time to do this. Instead, the post-production team used the unreleased August 30, 1965 Hollywood Bowl concert recording to bolster the sound, causing - in one place - John's live vocal to be double-tracked. In fact, the Bowl recording was used extensively during the film's post-production processes for recordings of the screaming audience, especially on the two all-new London recordings.

No doctoring appears to have been done to either "She's A Woman" or "Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby", suggesting that, by this time, they had already been excluded from the film. They were, however, included in an early print which Epstein received from Sullivan Productions around November 5, 1965, which then ran to 54 minutes. By January, as it would be for the transmission, the film's duration had been cut to just under 48 minutes.

Fans Themselves Describe Action While It's Happening
HISTORIC PERFORMANCE: LAST-EVER BY WORLD'S TOP ROCK 'N ROLL GROUP?

Religion, Mass Hysteria, Other Groups, Sinatra, Presley, John, Paul, Ringo, George, Beethoven, Fence-Leaping, Hair-Pulling are Talked About, Howled About, Screamed About, Scowled About & Commented On by Boy-Fans, Girl-Fans, Parents, Teachers, Cops & Others - Before, During & After Concert.

NEW YORK, August 24, 1965--Last night, The Beatles came to Shea Stadium and 55,000 fans came to their feet en masse to welcome the world's top rock 'n roll group in what may be their last-ever appearance anywhere as a group (Strong rumor has it that The Beatles will only appear on records and in films from now on).

The millions of fans unable to attend this historic performance can now share with the fans who were there, the sounds, the build-up of excitement, the surging expectation and the wild enthusiasm that greets the Beatles as they come on stage.

Hears fans as they board subway cars at Broadway and 42nd Street, headed for the Stadium. As the train starts up, girls talk about John Lennon and Jesus Christ. They talk straight, but certain giggles tell part of the story.

Then you're at the stadium. Barkers are selling binoculars, "Get up tight with The Beatles tonight." Two girls tell why "they make me so happy." You begin to feel the excitement building up.

Preliminary groups come on, but are all but drowned out by the constant groundswell of sound pouring from the stands. The kids know good rock 'n roll from something else: "They act stupid on the stage," says one boy.

The M.C. leads the whole stadium in singing "We love you Beatles." It's a big sound. The Beatles come on and there is a stupendous roar from the crowd.

As you turn the disc, you hear individual close up comments from girls as they react to their heroes. Boys describe how kids are leaping the fence, trying to get at The Beatles. Several hundred of N.Y.'s finest cops take up positions in the infield and brace for the possible onslaught.

As the Beatles start to perform, the unending roar swells to new highs and few in the stands can hear their favorites. But that's not what they're here for. This is an occasion, a happening, to tell one's children about. As one girl says, "We didn't pay $5.75 for nothing". A night to remember.

Suddenly it's over. Now you get the fans rehashing it as they leave the stadium--how it felt, what it meant. This includes a girl who tells exactly what she would have done to one of the Beatles if the cops had not prevented her from running out there and getting her hands on him. A cop also gives his viewpoint in like circumstances. A good time was had by all and is now yours to share.

Every Little Thing: The Definitive Guide to Beatles Recording Variations, Rare Mixes & Other Musical Oddities, 1958-1986

by William McCoy and Mitchell McGeary

An account of the many technical recording variations of Beatles' songs available commercially. Special chapters include the "White Album" and the "Rarities" LPs. These are followed by a song-by-song listing of available variations of songs by both the Beatles as a group and as solo artists.

Excerpt

In November 1973, John started hanging out with an old friend, singer Harry Nilsson. Harry had wandered into A&M Studios one night not knowing who was recording and ended up working on John's album for the next month. The two of them soon became drinking buddies and together they started putting away Brandy Alexanders "like milkshakes."

By March 1974, John was fed up waiting around for the Spector tapes so he decided to produce a Harry Nilsson album for RCA Records, Pussy Cats (US: RCA CLP 1-0570). John figured the best way to pull this project together in a hurry was to have everyone involved move into his Santa Monica beach house. Living under one roof were John, Harry, Harry's fiancee Una, Ringo Starr, Klaus Voorman and Keith Moon.

Reports of John and Harry's drunken antics became a staple of the Hollywood gossip columns. In March, the two of them were thrown out of the Troubador club in Los Angeles for heckling during a reunion performance by the Smothers Brothers. John finally had to lock himself in his bedroom for several days to give up booze so he could settle down to some serious recording with Harry and friends at Record Plant West.

About a month before the sessions started, Harry's voice became hoarse. Most of his friends attributed it to hard living and figured it would clear up in time. Others thought the problem was psychological. It turned out he was actually suffering from a ruptured vocal chord that was bleeding every time he sang.

During the sessions, rumors started to circulate about what had happened to Phil Spector. In April, Spector's secretary, Judy Sakawye, issued a statement that said Phil had been in a serious automobile accident somewhere between Los Angeles and Phoenix around February 10 and had received numerous head and body injuries. Sakawye said she got her information by phone from Spector's personal aide and bodyguard, George, but that no one she knew had actually seen Phil. (Phil's New York attorney, Martin Machat, later told Rolling Stone that the accident happened just outside Phoenix.)

Then on March 31, Spector was supposedly involved in a second accident, this time definitely in Los Angeles. Phil himself said he was thrown through the armor-plated front window of his car and suffered multiple facial cuts and severe burns when the automobile caught fire. According to Phil, he was almost pronounced dead on the way to the emergency hospital. Spector later told Roy Carr of New Musical Express that he received 380 stitches in his face and 480 stitches on the back of his head, that his nose had to be sewed back on after it was completely torn off the bridge and that his hair turned white overnight from shock. Phil also said that after being on the critical list for seventy-two hours, he underwent complete plastic surgery on his face.

Whatever the circumstances, Spector was released from the hospital the week of July 8. His first public appearance was in a Santa Monica courthouse where he was trying to keep ex-wife Veronica Bennett (Ronnie Spector of the Ronettes) from getting visitation rights to see the youngest of their three adopted children, five-year old Dante. The Spectors divorced earlier in 1974 and Phil was awarded custody of all three kids.

In August 1974, John finally gave up waiting to hear from Spector even though Phil was back in the studio producing an album for Dion. John flew back to New York to finish remixing Pussy Cats. He had also written a new song, Nobody Loves You (When You're Down And Out), and was anxious to record a new album of his own.

John had a court appointment to keep in New York as well. As of July 17, the U.S. Justice Department had given him sixty days to leave the country voluntarily or face deportation. John appealed the ruling.

Before leaving Los Angeles, John wrote the title track for Ringo's next album, Goodnight Vienna, and joined Ringo, producer Richard Perry and a host of familiar session men, including Jim Keltner, Jesse Ed Davis and Bobby Keys, at Sunset Sound studios to play piano on the cut.

Friday, August 15, 2008

The Beatles - Hear The Beatles Tell All (US Mono LP - VeeJay)

Label: Dr. Ebbetts, VJ PRO 202

1. Impressions Of America
2. The Group's Name, Hairstyle And History
3. Reaction To Their American Success
4. Formation
5. Early Recordings, Early Success
6. Beatles On British Radio
7. Huge Success
8. The Crowds, The Reactions
9. Threat Of Injury From Fans
10. The Future? Writing Maybe
11. Educational Background And Liverpool
12. In Closing
13. Ringo-Throat Woes? Paul? Pete Best
14. Paul-Staying Where? Fan Mail, Jane Asher
15. John-The Film, His Book, A Baby? Leaving The Beatles?
16. George-His Parents, Patti Boyd
17. Paul-Addresses And Fishing
18. John-Favorite Part In Film, Ad-Libbing, New Film, Moving
19. Paul-Dad's Racehorse, Fave Bits In The Film
20. Ringo-Maureen, Sightseeing, Audiences
21. George-Disneyland? Film Favorites
22. Ringo-Goodbye L.A.

Liner Notes:
Jim Steck, a radio newsman with KRLA in Los Angeles, and Dave Hull, a popular disc jockey with the same station, each conducted interviews with the Beatles during their 1964 American tour. After portions of these interviews were aired on KRLA, Vee-Jay approached the pair and reached an agreement to release the interviews on an album. Here they are - Jim Steck interviews John Lennon (tracks 1-12), Dave Hull interviews the Beatles (tracks 13-22). In mono.

Meditation...

After he appeared with George on the David Frost programme in the television discussion show "The Frost Programme" John commented: "If just one in every thousand viewers who watched the programme was encouraged to look into Transcendental Meditation then it was well worth doing. We want to get the message across to as many people as possible that meditation can help everyone. Not just a special few, or brainy people or cranks but EVERYONE."

The following is an abbreviated transcript of the views and explanations given in London by John and George before they left for India:--

JOHN: Through meditation I've learned how to tap energy that I've had in me all the time. Before I could only reach this extra energy on good days when things were going well. With meditation I find that if it's not too good a day I can still get the same amount of energy going for me. It means I am more use to myself and to others. Put it another way--the worst days I had without meditation were much worse than the bad days I have now, days when it's difficult to get going.

GEORGE: The energy is latent within everybody. It's there anyway. Meditation is a natural process of being able to contact that energy each day and give yourself a little more. You're able to do whatever you normally do with a little bit more happiness, maybe.

Each individual's life sort of pulsates in a certain rhythm. They give you a word or a sound which pulsates with that rhythm. The idea is to transcend to the most subtle level of thought, to replace your ordinary thoughts with the word or sound. Finally you lose even that and you're at a level of pure consciousness.

JOHN: You sit there and let your mind go. You introduce the word, the sound, the vibration to take over from your thoughts. You don't will thoughts away.

GEORGE: When your mind is a complete blank it's beyond all previous experience. That level is timeless, spaceless. You can be there for five minutes or much longer. You don't actually know how long when you come out of it and back to the everyday, the gross level of thinking.

JOHN: It's like sleeping. You don't know you've been sleeping until you're awake again. It seems as though no time has gone at all.

GEORGE: You can't really tell anybody exactly what it is. The teaching of Transcendental Meditation is all based on the individual. If you want to do it you get instruction. That leads to some sort of experience. After that experience you're taught the next part and told how you can go on from there to the next stage.

JOHN: It's like asking someone to say what chocolate tastes like. It's impossible to describe.

GEORGE: Or to tell somebody how it is to be drunk. They've got to be drunk themselves before they know what it is.

JOHN: You don't feel you have more actual knowledge--or at least I don't--but you feel more energetic. You come out of it and it's just a sort of "Let's get going" feeling about whatever work you've got to tackle.

GEORGE: It takes a lot of practice to arrive at a point where you can remain in that frame of mind, that attitude to life, permanently. I've had definite proof after only six or seven weeks that this is something that really works. It'll take a long time to arrive at a state where I can hold the level of pure consciousness and bring it back with me into everyday levels of acting and thinking. That's the eventual aim.

JOHN: One of the Maharishi's analogies is that it's like dipping a cloth in and out of gold. If you leave it in it gets soggy. If you leave it out the sun will fade it. So you keep dipping it in and bringing it out and, eventually, there's the same amount of gold in the cloth whether it's in or out. So you don't meditate ALL the time but you DO meditate regularly if you want to get anywhere with it. Twenty minutes a day. Something like that.

GEORGE: You can take certain drugs which heighten your perception. From there you can go on and try to get on to a subtler level of thought but drugs, in themselves, would never get you there and it's a mistake to believe they will. Drugs are on the same level as sleeping and dreaming and waking they're all relative and comparatively superficial.

JOHN: We dropped drugs long before we met the Maharishi. It had done all it could do for us. There was no going any further. That was more associated with finding out about yourself and your ego. It's more psychological than anything else. Meditation is a bit more gentle and much deeper.

GEORGE: Drugs don't really get to the true you, the real self. The way to approach the real YOU is through meditation or some form of Yoga.

JOHN: Meditation doesn't actually change you, make you different in any way. It's just something beneficial which you can ADD to yourself, add to your routine. When you add to your religion you don't CHANGE your religion. Whatever you are--you carry on. If you ask any of the Maharishi's people to give you a few laws for living by they'd be virtually the same as Christianity. Christianity is the answer as much as this is.

GEORGE: The word God means all sorts of things to me. The first concept I had of a man in the sky, well, I kicked that one a few years ago BUT I'm coming back to that now because, yes, it's a man in the sky as well if you like, it's just every aspect of creation, all a part of God.

JOHN: I think of God as a big piece of energy, like electricity, a big powerhouse.

GEORGE: Or the energy which runs through everything and makes everything one.

JOHN: Everything you read about, all the religions, are all the same basically. It's just a matter of people opening their minds up. I don't know how divine or super-human Maharishi is. He was probably born quite ordinary but he's working at it.

GEORGE: If everybody took up meditation it would help them to sort out their own problems, put their houses in order, if you like. People cause all the world's problems. So if people fix up their personal problems that's it, we're well on the way aren't we. It's up to each individual, every person, to make his own move.

JOHN: The main thing is it's simple. All you've got to do is to be INTERESTED. If you don't believe in meditation and you're cynical about it there's still no reason why you shouldn't try to find out WHAT you're so cynical about. And the only way to find out is to learn about meditation and give it a try. THEN you'll have the right to condemn or otherwise.

Thursday, August 14, 2008

The Beatles - With The Beatles (UK Mono LP - Parlophone)

Label: Dr. Ebbetts, PMC 1206

1. It Won't Be Long (Lennon/McCartney)
2. All I've Got To Do (Lennon/McCartney)
3. All My Loving (Lennon/McCartney)
4. Don't Bother Me (Harrison)
5. Little Child (Lennon/McCartney)
6. Till There Was You (Willson)
7. Please Mister Postman (Dobbin-Garrett-Garman-Brianbert)
8. Roll Over Beethoven (Berry)
9. Hold Me Tight (Lennon/McCartney)
10. You Really Got A Hold On Me (Robinson)
11. I Wanna Be Your Man (Lennon/McCartney)
12. Devil In Her Heart (Drapkin)
13. Not A Second Time (Lennon/McCartney)
14. Money (Bradford/Gordy)

Recording produced by George Martin
Front cover photograph: Robert Freeman

Recording first published 1963

George Harrison (lead guitar)
John Lennon (rhythm guitar)
Paul McCartney (bass guitar)
Ringo Starr (drums)

Original Liner Notes
Fourteen freshly recorded titles---including many sure-fire stage-show favourites---are featured on the two generously filled sides of this record. The Beatles have repeated the successful formula which made their first 'Please Please Me' LP into the fastest-selling album of 1963. Again they have set eight of their own original compositions alongside a batch of 'personal choice' pieces selected from the recorded repertoires of the American R.&B. artists they admire most.

The first half of the sessions gets away to a rip-roarin' start with John's powerful treatment of IT WON'T BE LONG NOW. Two more Lennon/McCartney compositions follow with these two remarkably talented tunesmiths handling their own lyrics on ALL I'VE GOT TO DO and ALL MY LOVING. On the first slower number John takes the vocal lead with Paul supplying the harmony. On ALL MY LOVING Paul stands in the vocal spotlight with John and George chanting in the background. Listen to George's superb, slightly Country and Western guitar solo, an intriguing feature of ALL MY LOVING.

DON'T BOTHER ME marks the disc debut of George Harrison as composer. It is a fairly fast number with a haunting theme tune. Behind George's double-tracked voice the rest of the fabulous foursome create some unusual instrumental effects. Paul beats out a lean, hollow-boned rhythm from the claves, John uses a tambourine and Ringo hits out at a loose-skinned Arabian bongo (don't ask me where he picked that up!) to pound out the on-beat percussive drive.

On a fair number of previous recordings by The Beatles produce George Martin has joined the group to add suitable piano sounds to their instrumental arrangements. His keyboartd contributions come a little later in this new programme but on LITTLE CHILD it is Paul McCartney who plays piano. John and Paul join forces for the vocal on this rocker and, whilst Paul was over-dubbing the piano bits, John was standing beside another microphone adding in some neatly-timed mouth-organ phrases.

Those who considered Paul's interpretation of A taste of honey to be a stand-out attraction of The Beatles' first LP will be more than pleased to hear him assume the role of romantic balladeer again on TILL THERE WAS YOU, the near-standard hit from the show 'The Music Man'.

Ringo plays the bongos behind Paul's solo performance. George and john switch to acoustic guitars for this track---only Paul's pulsating bass uses electricity.

If you have read a great deal in the musical press about Merseyside's beat basement, The Cavern, you might imagine that the cellar stompers of Liverpool would demand an all-up-tempo programme. Curiously Paul's persuasive handling of TILL THERE WAS YOU used to go down extremely well at the club long before the Love me do days when The Beatles were frequent bill-toppers at this now-famous venue.

The first half closes with another number which dates back to The Beatles' Cavern Club period. Once an American chart-topper for a recording group called The Marvelettes, PLEASE MR. POSTMAN features a double-tracked John Lennon with George and Paul in vocal support.

Chuck Berry's ROLL OVER BEETHOVEN has been one of the most requested items at recent concert performances by The Beatles. George duets with himself on this one; the boys add to the atmosphere of excitement by their hand-clapping.

Paul issues forth with the invitation HOLD ME TIGHT on the fairly brisk second track of Side Two. More handclapping and energetic vocal support from John and George.

The boys have an immense admiration for America's rhythmic group The Miracles, to whom they pay tribute via their interpretation of YOU REALLY GOT A HOLD ON ME. John and George tackle the wild, relentless vocal with Paul joining them for the chorus lines. Incidentally that IS George Martin on piano this time!

Observing the tremendous audience response that Ringo has been getting whenever he sings Boys, John and Paul put their heads together to pen a special new number for their fierce-voiced drumming man. The result is a real raver entitled I WANNA BE YOUR MAN. The Hammond organ in the background is played by John Lennon.

Though they are lesser known on our side of the Atlantic than The Crystals of The Shirelles, the American all-girl group The Donays have always commanded plenty of professional respect from The Beatles. Therefore they switched around the lyrics of DEVIL IN HER HEART and handed the medium-paced beat offering to George Harrison. John and Paul provide the harmony with Ringo using his maracas.

The final Lennon/McCartney composition of this session features a double-tracked John Lennon singing NOT A SECOND TIME. George Martin's piano work is featured on this number and again upon the programme's closing track MONEY. Paul describes MONEY as 'a really big screamer' and he recalls the numerous Cavern Club occasions when this item brought forth the same type of overwhelming response given to Twists and Shout. Much recorded by American blues merchants, MONEY has John shouting the raw lyrics with tremendous force and feeling whilst George and Paul supply the answers.

MONEY makes a completely worthy climax to this knock-out programme. Hope it doesn't leave you too breathless to flip back to Side One for a repeat-plat session WITH THE BEATLES.

TONY BARROW

Notes
Parlophone PMC 1206 original mixes in mono sound.

The Beatles - Live: Adelaide Reaction, June 1964

Label: Purple Chick, PC-163/64

The fourth in our live collection takes us through to the conclusion of their first world tour, with Jimmy Nicol still in the drummer's seat for all of Disc One.

What's interesting is that we have two different in-line mixes for (most of) the second Melbourne show. We briefly toyed with the idea of combining them, but they didn't produce a satisfying stereo image.

Purple Chick discs are fan created and NEVER FOR SALE!

DISC ONE

The Beatles in Nederland - 5 June, 1964
1: interview (Denmark and The Netherlands)
2: She Loves You (Denmark and The Netherlands)
3: All My Loving (Denmark and The Netherlands)
4: Twist And Shout (Denmark and The Netherlands)
5: Roll Over Beethoven (Denmark and The Netherlands)
6: Long Tall Sally (Denmark and The Netherlands)
7: Can't Buy Me Love (Denmark and The Netherlands
+ The Beatles In Holland + Denmark and The Netherlands)

Veilinghal, Blokker, The Netherlands - 6 June, 1964 (early)
8: intro (Miscellaneous Tracks 2005)
9: I Saw Her Standing There (Miscellaneous Tracks 2005 + Denmark and The Netherlands)
10: I Want To Hold Your Hand (Denmark and The Netherlands)
11: intro (Denmark and The Netherlands)
12: All My Loving (Denmark and The Netherlands)
13: She Loves You (Denmark and The Netherlands)
14: intro (We'd Like To Carry On)
15: Twist And Shout (We'd Like To Carry On)
16: Long Tall Sally (We'd Like To Carry On + Vinyl To The Core)

Veilinghal, Blokker, The Netherlands - 6 June, 1964 (late)
17: intro (We'd Like To Carry On)
18: I Saw Her Standing There (We'd Like To Carry On)
19: I Want To Hold Your Hand (We'd Like To Carry On)
20: intro (We'd Like To Carry On)
21: All My Loving (We'd Like To Carry On)

Centennial Hall, Adelaide, Australia - 12 June, 1964
22: intro (300,000 Beatle Fans Can't Be Wrong)
23: I Saw Her Standing There (300,000 Beatle Fans Can't Be Wrong)
24: I Want To Hold Your Hand (300,000 Beatle Fans Can't Be Wrong)
25: All My Loving (300,000 Beatle Fans Can't Be Wrong)
26: She Loves You (300,000 Beatle Fans Can't Be Wrong)
27: Till There Was You (300,000 Beatle Fans Can't Be Wrong)
28: Roll Over Beethoven (300,000 Beatle Fans Can't Be Wrong)
29: Can't Buy Me Love (300,000 Beatle Fans Can't Be Wrong)
30: This Boy (300,000 Beatle Fans Can't Be Wrong)
31: Twist And Shout (300,000 Beatle Fans Can't Be Wrong)
32: Long Tall Sally (300,000 Beatle Fans Can't Be Wrong)
33: outro (300,000 Beatle Fans Can't Be Wrong + 300,000 Beatle Fans Can't Be Wrong vinyl)

DISC TWO

Festival Hall, Melbourne, Australia, 17 June, 1964 (early)
1: intro (Australian Tour 1964)
2: I Saw Her Standing There (Australian Tour 1964)
3: You Can't Do That (Australian Tour 1964)
4: All My Loving (Australian Tour 1964)
5: She Loves You (Australian Tour 1964)
6: Till There Was You (Australian Tour 1964)
7: Roll Over Beethoven (Australian Tour 1964)
8: Can't Buy Me Love (Australian Tour 1964)
9: This Boy (Australian Tour 1964)
10: Twist And Shout (Australian Tour 1964)
11: intro to long tall sally All The Best From Australia)

Festival Hall, Melbourne, Australia, 17 June, 1964 (late)
12: intro (Message To Australia)
13: I Saw Her Standing There (Message To Australia)
14: You Can't Do That (Message To Australia)
15: All My Loving (Message To Australia)
16: She Loves You (Message To Australia)
17: Till There Was You (Message To Australia)
18: Roll Over Beethoven (Message To Australia)
19: Can't Buy Me Love (Message To Australia)
20: This Boy (Message To Australia)
21: Twist And Shout (Message To Australia)
22: Long Tall Sally (Message To Australia)

Sydney Stadium, Sydney, Australia - 18-20 June, 1964
23: intro (Make As Much Noise As You Like)
24: I Saw Her Standing There (Make As Much Noise As You Like)
25: You Can't Do That (Make As Much Noise As You Like)

Festival Hall, Melbourne, Australia, 17 June, 1964 (late - video mix)
26: I Saw Her Standing There (Ultimate Sing For Shell)
27: You Can't Do That (Ultimate Sing For Shell)
28: All My Loving (Ultimate Sing For Shell)
29: She Loves You (Ultimate Sing For Shell)
03: Till There Was You (Ultimate Sing For Shell)
31: Roll Over Beethoven (Ultimate Sing For Shell)
32: Can't Buy Me Love (Ultimate Sing For Shell)
33: Twist And Shout (Ultimate Sing For Shell)
34: Long Tall Sally (Ultimate Sing For Shell)
35: outro (Ultimate Sing For Shell)
"The Beatles Sing For Shell" mix. Some songs are incomplete.

The Beatles - Live: Conquering America, February - June 1964

Label: Purple Chick, PC-161/62

The third volume in our overview of The Beatles' live career: their first U.S. visit and back to begin their first world tour - albeit with Jimmy Nicol subbing for Ringo from 4-13 June. Not that you can hear him very well on any of the surviving recordings.

Although we compiled this series, as always, from the best sources we could find, please don't assume we just lifted the audio. Everything has been cleaned up, speed corrected and equalized where necessary, although we always shy away from noise reduction. Unfortunately the quality still varies from dire to delightful, but that's part of the appeal.

Purple Chick discs are fan created and NEVER FOR SALE! If you buy them, that means somebody sold what they got for free.

DISC ONE

Ed Sullivan Show 3 - 9 February, 1964
1: intro (Complete Ed Sullivan DVD)
2: Twist And Shout (Complete Ed Sullivan DVD)
3: Please Please Me (Complete Ed Sullivan DVD)
4: I Want To Hold Your Hand (Complete Ed Sullivan DVD)
5: outro (Complete Ed Sullivan DVD)

Ed Sullivan Show 1 - 9 February, 1964
6: intro (Complete Ed Sullivan DVD)
7: All My Loving (Complete Ed Sullivan DVD)
8: Till There Was You (Complete Ed Sullivan DVD)
9: She Loves You (Complete Ed Sullivan DVD)
10: ed (Complete Ed Sullivan DVD)
11: I Saw Her Standing There (Complete Ed Sullivan DVD)
12: I Want To Hold Your Hand (Complete Ed Sullivan DVD)
13: outro (Complete Ed Sullivan DVD)

Washington Coliseum, Washington, DC - 11 February, 1964
14: intro (First U.S. Concert)
15: Roll Over Beethoven
(First U.S. Concert + Can You Hear Me + First U.S. Concert)
16: From Me To You (First U.S. Concert + Anthology DVD)
17: I Saw Her Standing There (Anthology DVD + First U.S. Concert)
18: This Boy (First U.S. Concert)
19: All My Loving (First U.S. Concert)
20: I Wanna Be Your Man (First U.S. Concert + Anthology DVD)
21: Please Please Me (Anthology DVD + First U.S. Concert)
22: Till There Was You (First U.S. Concert)
23: She Loves You (First U.S. Concert)
24: I Want To Hold Your Hand (First U.S. Concert)
25: Twist And Shout (First U.S. Concert)
26: Long Tall Sally

Ed Sullivan Show Rehearsal - 16 February, 1964
27: She Loves You (Ultimate Collection)
28: This Boy (Ultimate Collection)
29: All My Loving (Ultimate Collection)
30: ed (Ultimate Collection)
31: I Saw Her Standing There (Ultimate Collection)
32: From Me To You (Ultimate Collection)
33: I Want To Hold Your Hand (Ultimate Collection)
34: outro (Ultimate Collection)


DISC TWO

Ed Sullivan Show - 16 February, 1964
1: intro (Complete Ed Sullivan DVD)
2: She Loves You (Complete Ed Sullivan DVD)
3: This Boy (Complete Ed Sullivan DVD)
4: All My Loving (Complete Ed Sullivan DVD)
5: ed (Complete Ed Sullivan DVD)
6: I Saw Her Standing There (Complete Ed Sullivan DVD)
7: From Me To You (Complete Ed Sullivan DVD)
8: I Want To Hold Your Hand (Complete Ed Sullivan DVD)
9: outro (Complete Ed Sullivan DVD)

NME Pollwinners Concert, Empire Pool, Wembley, London - 26 April, 1964
10: intro (25 April 1964 to 26 April 1964 + Telecasts)
11: She Loves You (Telecasts)
12: You Can't Do That (Telecasts)
13: Twist And Shout (Telecasts)
14: Long Tall Sally (Telecasts)
15: Can't Buy Me Love (Telecasts)

Around The Beatles - 28 April, 1964
16: Twist And Shout (Around And Around)
17: Roll Over Beethoven (Around And Around)
18: I Wanna Be Your Man (Around And Around)
19: Long Tall Sally (Around And Around)
20: introducing PJ Proby (Around And Around)
21: a midsummer night's dream (Around And Around)
22: intro (Around And Around)
23: Medley (Around And Around)
24: Can't Buy Me Love (Around And Around)
25: Shout (Around And Around)

KB Hallen, Copenhagen, Denmark - 4 June, 1964
26: I Saw Her Standing There (Danmark + Nederland)
27: I Want To Hold Your Hand (Danmark + Nederland)
28: All My Loving (Danmark + Nederland)
29: She Loves You (Danmark + Nederland)
30: Till There Was You (Danmark + Nederland)
31: Roll Over Beethoven (Danmark + Nederland)
32: Can't Buy Me Love (Danmark + Nederland)
33: This Boy (Danmark + Nederland)
34: Twist And Shout (Danmark + Nederland)

Rock 'N' Roll Times: The Style and Spirit of the Early Beatles and Their First Fans

by Jurgen Vollmer

John Lennon, in his forward to Jurgen Vollmer’s book Rock ‘N’ Roll Times remarked “… Vollmer was the first photographer to capture the beauty and the spirit of The Beatles…We tried very hard to find someone with his touch after we returned from Hamburg, Germany…nobody could…The photographs…speak for themselves.”

In the '70s, three photographic books by Jurgen Vollmer were released in New York. Nureyev in Paris utilised images Vollmer had taken of the star in 1966; African Roots included photographs from his trips to Senegal and Gambia (which was published with the endorsement of Alex Haley, author of Roots); and finally Sex Appeal, a collection of candid, youthful images taken in Europe and America with an introduction by William S. Burroughs. Rock 'N' Roll Times, his book chronicling his early 'rocker' shots wasn't released until the following decade.

"You know, I began to see the significance of many of my photos only decades after they were taken," Vollmer admits. "At the time I took them I just followed my instincts. I couldn't tell you why I took the photos when I did. It's so hard to explain. It's like a drive. For most great writers when they write, it comes naturally; they don't analyse, they don't construct sentences intellectually. This is why they also say if you as a writer are too intellectual, you might destroy or suppress the instinctive, creative urge. For me, it's the same with photography. I never know why I take a photo at a particular time because you can't know consciously as these moments pass so quickly; it is an instinctive action. It's odd. You're always learning about yourself from what you produce creatively. If you allow creativity to come from that subconscious, instinctive matter, you are reaching inside to where you yourself can't always know what is there. This is true for my art, for my photography.

"I am not a trend photographer. I want to go to the essence of what life is all about, what people are all about and I think in my lifetime, I have achieved that with some of my images. And these are the ones I'll always treasure."

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

The Beatles - Please Please Me (UK Mono LP - Parlophone)

Label: Dr. Ebbetts, PMC 1202

1. I Saw Her Standing There (McCartney-Lennon)
2. Misery (McCartney-Lennon)
3. Anna (Go To Him) (Alexander)
4. Chains (Goffin-King)
5. Boys (Dixon-Farrell)
6. Ask Me Why (McCartney-Lennon)
7. Please Please Me (McCartney-Lennon)
8. Love Me Do (McCartney-Lennon)
9. P.S. I Love You (McCartney-Lennon)
10. Baby It's You (David-Williams-Bacharach)
11. Do You Want To Know A Secret (McCartney-Lennon)
12. A Taste Of Honey (Scott-Marlow)
13. There's A Place (McCartney-Lennon)
14. Twist And Shout (Medley-Russell)

Recording first published 1963

George Harrison (lead guitar)
John Lennon (rhythm guitar)
Paul McCartney (bass guitar)
Ringo Starr (drums)

Original Liner Notes

Pop picking is a fast 'n' furious business these days whether you are on the recording studio side listening out, or on the disc-counter side listening in. As a record reviewer I find myself installed halfway in-between with an ear cocked in either direction. So far as Britain's record collecting public is concerned, The Beatles broke into earshot in October, 1962. My natural hometown interest in the group prevented me taking a totally unbiased view of their early success. Eighteen months before their first visit to the EMI studios in London, The Beatles had been voted Merseyside's favourite outfit and it was inevitable that their first Parlophone record, LOVE ME DO, would go straight into the top of Liverpool's local hit parade. The group's chances of national chart entry seemed much more remote. No other team had joined the best-sellers via a debut disc. But The Beatles were history-makers from the start and LOVE ME DO sold enough copies during its first 48 hours in the shops to send it soaring into the national charts. In all the busy years since pop singles first shrank from ten to seven inches I have never seen a British group leap to the forefront of the scene with such speed and energy. Within the six months which followed the Top Twenty appearance of LOVE ME DO, almost every leading deejay and musical journalist in the country began to shout the praises of The Beatles. readers of the New Musical Express voted the boys into a surprisingly high place via the 1962/3 popularity poll...on the strength of just one record release. Pictures of the group spread themselves across the front pages of three national music papers. People inside and outside the record industry expressed tremendous interest in the new vocal and instrumental sounds which The Beatles had introduced. Brian Matthew (who has since brought The Beatles to many millions of viewers and listeners in his "Thank Your Lucky Stars", "Saturday Club" and "Easy Beat" programmes) describes the quartet as visually and musically the most exciting and accomplished group to emerge since The Shadows.

Disc reviewing, like disc producing, teaches one how to be wary about making long-term predictions. The hit parade isn't always dominated by the most worthy performances of the day so it is no good assuming that versatility counts for everything. It was during the recording of a Radio Luxembourg programme in the EMI Friday Spectacular series that I was finally convinced that The Beatles were about to enjoy the type of top-flight national fame which I had always believed that they deserved. the teen-audience didn't know the evening's line-up of artists and groups in advance, and before Muriel Young brought on The Beatles she began to read out their Christian names. She got as far as John...Paul...and the rest of her introduction was buried in a might barrage of very genuine applause. I cannot think of more than one other group---British or American---which would be so readily identified and welcomed by the announcement of two Christian names. To me, this was the ultimate proof that The Beatles (and not just one or two of their hit records) had arrived at the uncommon peak-popularity point reserved for discdom's privileged few. Shortly afterwards The Beatles proved their pop power when they by-passed the lower segments of the hit parade to scuttle straight into the nation's Top Ten with their second single, PLEASE PLEASE ME.

This brisk-selling disc went on to overtake all rivals when it bounced into the coveted Number One slot towards the end of February. Just over four months after the release of their very first record The Beatles had become triumphant chart-toppers!

Producer George Martin has never had any headaches over choice of songs for The Beatles. Their own built-in tunesmith team of John Lennon and Paul McCartney has already tucked away enough self-penned numbers to maintain a steady output of all-original singles from now until 1975! Between them The Beatles adopt a do-it-yourself approach from the very beginning. They write their own lyrics, design and eventually build their own instrumental backdrops and work out their own vocal arrangements. Their music is wild, pungent, hard-hitting, uninhibited...and personal. The do-it-yourself angle ensures complete originality at all stages of the process. Although so many people suggest (without closer definition) that The Beatles have a trans-Atlantic style, their only real influence has been from the unique brand of Rhythm and Blues folk music which abounds on the Merseyside and which The Beatles themselves have helped pioneer since their formation in 1960.

This record comprises eight Lennon-McCartney compositions in addition to six other numbers which have become firm love-performance favourites in The Beatles' varied repertoire.

The group's admiration for the work of The Shirelles is demonstrated by the inclusion of BABY IT'S YOU (John taking the lead vocal with George and Paul supplying the harmony), and BOYS (a fast rocker which allows drummer Ringo to make his first recorded appearance as a vocalist). ANNA, ASK ME WHY, and TWIST AND SHOUT also feature stand-out solo performances from John, whilst DO YOU WANT TO KNOW A SECRET hands the audio spotlight to George. MISERY may sound as though it is a self-duet created by the multi-recording of a single voice...but the effect is produced by the fine matching of two voices belonging to John and Paul. There is only one 'trick duet' and that is on A TASTE OF HONEY featuring a dual-voiced Paul. john and Paul get together on THERE'S A PLACE and I SAW HER STANDING THERE: George joins them for CHAINS, LOVE ME DO and PLEASE PLEASE ME.

TONY BARROW

Notes
Parlophone PMC 1202 original mixes in mono sound.

The Beatles - Anthropology

Label: Silent Sea Productions, SS005

1. Some Other Guy (live) - 2:07
62.08.22. The Cavern Club, Liverpool. "Know The North" Granada TV.

2. Kansas City/Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey (live, partial) - 1:02
62.09.05. The Cavern Club. "Know The North." With voice-overs.

3. Red Hot (live, partial) - 0:33
62.12.31. Their last night at the Star-Club, Hamburg.

4. I Want To Hold Your Hand, take 1 (partial) - 0:13
5. I Want To Hold Your Hand, take 9 (partial) - 0:33
63.10.17. Abbey Road Studio #2, London. 2:30-10:00 pm.

6. I Saw Her Standing There (live) - 2:45
7. Long Tall Sally (live) - 1:36
8. Drop In (live, partial) - 0:17
63.10.30. "Drop In" SVT. Narren-teatern Grona Lund, Stockholm. 7:00-7:30 pm.

9. From Me To You (live) - 2:04
63.11.04. "The Royal Variety Performance" ATV and BBC Radio. Princes Of Wales Theatre, London. Evening.

10. Sie Liebt Dich, take 10 - 0:12
64.01.29. Pathe Marconi Studios, Paris. Late morning-early afternoon. Stereo.

11. I Saw Her Standing There (live) - 3:35
12. Please Please Me (live) - 2:41
13. She Loves You (live) - 2:48
64.02.11. Washington Coliseum, Washington, DC. 8:30-9:00 pm.

14. I Should Have Known Better, take 8 - 0:15
15. I Should Have Known Better, take 11 (partial) - 0:15
64.02.26. Abbey Road Studio #2, London. 2:30-5:30 pm.

16. And I Love Her, take 11 (partial) - 0:13
64.02.26. Abbey Road Studio #2, London. 7:00-10:00 pm. Stereo.

17. Tell Me Why, take 4 - 0:15
64.02.27. Abbey Road Studio #2, London. 10:00 am-1:00 pm.

18. I'll Be Back, take 12 - 0:11
19. I'll Be Back, take 13 - 0:12
20. I'll Be Back, take 14 - 0:04
21. I'll Be Back, take 15 (chat only) - 0:07
64.06.01. Abbey Road Studio #2, London. 8:00-11:15 pm.

22. You Can't Do That (live) - 2:39
64.06.17. Festival Hall, Melbourne. Evening.

23. Mr. Moonlight, take 1 - 0:11
24. Mr. Moonlight, take 2 (partial) - 0:13
64.08.14. Abbey Road Studio #2, London. 7:00-9:00 pm.

25. No Reply, take 1 - 0:41
64.09.30. Abbey Road Studio #2, London. 6:30-10:30 pm.

26. What You're Doing, take 5 - 0:29
64.10.26. Abbey Road Studio #2, London. 7:30-10:00 pm.

27. I'm A Loser (live) - 2:52
28. Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby (live) - 2:17
65.06.20. "Les Beatles" Channel 2 TV. Palais Des Sports, Paris. Evening.

29. Act Naturally (live) - 2:48
"Blackpool Night Out" ABC-TV. ABC Theatre, Blackpool. 9:10-10:05 pm.

30. I Feel Fine (live) - 2:26
31. Baby's In Black (live) - 2:53
32. Help! (live) - 2:29
33. I'm Down (live) - 2:08
65.08.15. "The Beatles At Shea Stadium" film. Shea Stadium, New York City. Evening.

34. Got To Get You Into My Life, take 5 (partial) - 0:21
66.04.07. Abbey Road Studio #3, London. 8:15 pm-1:30 am.

35. Nowhere Man (live) - 2:07
66.06.24. Circus-Krone Bau, Munich. 9:00-9:30 pm.

36. Rock And Roll Music (live) - 2:27
37. Yesterday (live) - 2:05
66.07.01. "The Beatles Recital From Nippon Budokan, Tokyo" NTV. Nippon Budokan Hall, Tokyo. Afternoon.

38. Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite, take ? (partial) - 0:10
67.02.17. Abbey Road Studio #3, London. 7:00 pm-3:00 am.

39. All You Need Is Love, take ? - 0:26
67.06.25. Abbey Road Studio #1, London. Evening.

40. Don't Pass Me By, take 3 (partial) - 0:16
68.06.05. Abbey Road Studio #3, London. 2:30 pm-1:30 am.

41. Good Night, take ? - 0:26
68.06.28. Abbey Road Studio #2, London. 7:00 pm-4:30 am.

42. Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da, take ? - 0:10
68.07.03. Abbey Road Studio #2, London. 8:00 pm-3:15 am. Stereo.

43. Sexy Sadie, take 28 (partial) - 0:23
68.07.24. Abbey Road Studio #2, London. 7:00 pm-2:30 am. Stereo.

44. While My Guitar Gently Weeps, take 1 (partial) - 0:28
68.07.25. Abbey Road Studio #2, London. 7:00 pm-3:15 am.

45. Mother Nature's Son, take ? (partial) - 0:15
68.08.09. Abbey Road Studio #2, London. 7:30 pm-2:00 am.

46. What's The New Mary Jane, take 2 (partial) - 0:34
68.08.14. Abbey Road Studio #2, London. 7:00 pm-4:30 am.

47. Rocky Raccoon, take 10 (partial) - 0:13
68.08.15. Abbey Road Studio #2, London. 7:00 pm-3:00 am.

48. By George! It's The David Frost Theme (live) - 0:58
49. Revolution (live) - 3:20
68.09.04. Twickenham Film Studios, London. 1:30 pm-late evening.

50. I Will, take ? - 0:07
68.09.16. Abbey Road Studio #2, London. 7:00 pm-3:00 am.

51. Piggies, take ? - 0:13
68.09.19. Abbey Road Studio #1, London. 7:15 pm-5:30 am.

52. "...you're very negative..." - 0:15
68.06-10. Abbey Road Studios, London.

53. I'm So Tired, take 14 (partial) - 0:13
68.10.08. Abbey Road Studio #2, London. 4:00 pm-8:00 am. Stereo.

54. Why Don't We Do It In The Road, take ? (partial) - 0:21
68.10.09. Abbey Road Studio #1, London. Time unknown.

55. Julia, take ? (partial) - 0:16
68.10.13. Abbey Road Studio #2, London. 7:00 pm-6:00 am. Stereo.

56. For You Blue, take ? (partial) - 1:41
69.01.25. "Let It Be" film. Apple Studios, London. Time unknown. Stereo.

57. "...I would like to go on the roof..." - 1:31
69.01.29. Apple Studios, London. Time unknown.

58. Don't Let Me Down (live, partial) - 2:52
"Let It Be" film. 69.01.30. Rooftop of Apple Studios, London. Stereo.

59. Let It Be, take ? - 4:00
"Let It Be" film. 69.01.31. Apple Studios, London. Time unknown. Stereo.

60. I Will/Dehra Dun - 0:53
94-95. The Threatles at Paul's home.

total time - 72:59

The Beatles in Hamburg: Photographs 1961

by Jurgen Vollmer

Magically drawn by a sound they had never heard before, art student Jurgen Vollmer and his friends stepped into a dingy juke joint in the famous Hamburg red light area St. Pauli in 1960. A teenage band form Liverpool called The Beatles, in black leather jackets, pointed shoes and Elvis quiff, played rock 'n' roll. Very young, completely unknown and still five of them, without Ringo: cool John; Paul, the charmer; Stuart Sutcliffe; Pete Best; and George, a 17 year old minor who had to leave the club at 10 p.m. Fascinated, Vollmer and his friends came back every night of the two-month gig. And when The Beatles returned to Hamburg in 1961, Vollmer brought a camera to take--and partly stage--the pictures published in this nostalgic dream book. In his introductory note, Vollmer recollects his memorable encounter forty years ago.

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

The Beatles - A Collection Of Beatles Oldies (UK Mono LP - Parlophone)

Label: Dr. Ebbetts, PMC 7016

1. She Loves You*
2. From Me To You*
3. We Can Work It Out***
4. Help!***
5. Michelle***
6. Yesterday***
7. I Feel Fine**
8. Yellow Submarine
9. Can't Buy Me Love**
10. Bad Boy (Williams)***
11. Day Tripper***
12. A Hard Day's Night**
13. Ticket To Ride***
14. Paperback Writer
15. Eleanor Rigby
16. I Want To Hold Your Hand

All songs (except "Bad Boy") composed Lennon-McCartney
P 1963*, 1964**, 1965***, 1966
Recording Produced by George Martin
Cover: David Christian
Back Cover Photograph: Robert Whittaker

Once There Was a Way...: Photographs of the Beatles

by Harry Benson

‘An extraordinary record of an extraordinary time’
– The Daily Express

‘Iconic images of the Fab Four at their best’
– The Bookseller

‘About as good as it gets for Beatles fans’
– Sky Text

Harry Benson was a young photographer for the Daily Express when he joined The Beatles in Paris at the beginning of their first international tour. This heralded the start of his uniquely intimate but tumultuous two-and-a-half year relationship with the world's most famous band: a period in which he chronicled the amazing excesses of Beatlemania in a style unmatched by any other photographer.

Harry Benson chronicled the eye of the hurricane: four young men who caused a phenomenon the likes of which had never been seen before – nor since.

Over a glittering 50-year career Harry Benson has covered the central events and personalities of our time. His unforgettable images have found their way onto the pages (and often the covers) of such major magazines as Life, Vanity Fair, the New Yorker and People. He has twice been named magazine photographer of the year by the National Press Photographers Association.

Monday, August 11, 2008

The Beatles - Help! (Japanese Mono LP) Red Wax

Label: Dr. Ebbetts, EAS 70134

Songs from the film 'HELP!'

1. Help! (Lennon-McCartney)
John (+ Paul and George)

2. The Night Before (Lennon-McCartney)
Paul (+ George and John) (electric piano: John)

3. You've Got To Hide Your Love Away (Lennon-McCartney)
John (+ flutes)

4. I Need You (Harrison)
George (+ John and Paul)

5. Another Girl (Lennon-McCartney)
Paul (+ John and George) (guitar: Paul)

6. You're Going To Lose That Girl (Lennon-McCartney)
John (+ Paul and George)

7. Ticket To Ride (Lennon-McCartney)
John (+ Paul) (guitar: Paul)

8. Act Naturally (Morrison-Russell)
Ringo (+ Paul)

9. It's Only Love (Lennon-McCartney)
John

10. You Like Me Too Much (Harrison)
George (+ Paul) (electric piano: John; Steinway: Paul and George Martin)

11. Tell Me What You See (Lennon-McCartney)
John and Paul (electric piano: Paul)

12. I've Just Seen A Face (Lennon-McCartney)
Paul

13. Yesterday (Lennon-McCartney)
Paul (+ guitar: Paul, and string quartet)

14. Dizzy Miss Lizzy (Williams)
John

Unless otherwise stated Lead Guitar is George Harrison

Photography: Robert Freeman
Recording Produced by George Martin

Notes
THE FOLLOWING TITLES ARE PART OF A NEW DR. EBBETTS VINYL SERIES – THE RED JAPANESE MONO VINYL COLLECTION – OR SIMPLY PUT, THE “RED MONOS.” THE FOLLOWING ADDITIONS TO THE EBBETTS CANON ARE SOURCED FROM THE ORIGINAL SERIES 1982 JAPANESE RED MONO VINYL LPs, CONSIDERED BY MANY TO BE AMONG THE VERY BEST REPRESENTATIONS OF THE BEATLES ORIGINAL MONO CATALOGUE. ALL BUT TWO OF THE TEN TITLES THAT COMPRISE THIS SET ARE INCLUDED HERE. THE REMAINING TWO TITLES WILL BE RELEASED VERY SOON.

The Beatles - Soul Sessions

Label: Silent Sea Productions, ss032-33.v2

DISC ONE

Complete recording dates and information for each track on the "Rubber Soul" LP, and other "Rubber Soul" era tracks, can be found in the notes for Disc Two.

"Rubber Soul" era demos
1. We Can Work It Out - home demo (partial) (0:41)
2. Michelle - home tape, instrumental (0:56)
Both of these McCartney productions were probably recorded at Paul's home in St. John's Wood. The first track, most likely taped in September or October of 1965, was given to John, who recorded over the last half of the song. Though home tapes of the second song go back as far as 1963, this particular pass at the tune is usually dated around this time.

"Rubber Soul" era sessions
3. Day Tripper - take 1, RS'82 (2:08)
4. Day Tripper - take 2, RS'82 (1:06)
5. Day Tripper - take 3, RS'82 (3:09)
The complete session tape (see Disc Two, Track 16), with two breakdown attempts at the rhythm tracks and the final, overdubbed take 3 - all mixed to stereo in 1982 by Abbey Road engineer John Barrett for his own enjoyment.

6. We Can Work It Out - take 1, RS'82 (2:02)
7. We Can Work It Out - take 2, rough mix (2:18)
8. We Can Work It Out - SI onto take 2, RS'82 (2:29)
Another complete session tape (see Disc Two, Track 15). Sandwiched between two John Barrett stereo mixes is a rough mix of the track as it stood at the end of the October 20th session, before further overdubs.

9. 12-Bar Original - rehearsal take, RS'82 (1:52)
10. 12-Bar Original - take 1, RS'82 (0:33)
11. 12-Bar Original - take 2, RS'82 (6:50)
The only unreleased song from these sessions was this instrumental, recorded on November 4th in just two takes (following a rehearsal, part of which was captured on tape), with George on tone pedal lead guitar, John on the other lead guitar, George Martin on the harmonium, Paul on bass and Ringo on drums. At the time, the only remix the track received was on November 30th, when they produced mono remix RM1 (Track 39). Abbey Road engineer John Barrett made the stereo mixes heard here in 1982 for his own enjoyment. In 1995 the track received a new stereo remix and was severely edited for the "Anthology 2" CD release (Track 40).

12. Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) - take 1, RS'82(a) (2:08)
13. Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) - take 2, RS'82 (2:35)
14. Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) - take 4, RS'82 (2:27)
Presented here are John Barrett remixes (made for his own personal enjoyment) of three of the four takes of John's classic song (see Disc Two, Track 2).

15. Girl - take 2, backing tracks, partial monitor mix (2:03)
From John's personal tape collection comes this monitor mix of the instrumental tracks for his ballad.

16. I'm Looking Through You - take 1, RS'82(a) (3:10)
17. I'm Looking Through You - take 4, RS'82 (2:48)
Two more mixes made in 1982 by engineer John Barrett, to take home and enjoy at his leisure (see Disc Two, Track 10).

18. In My Life - take 3, rough mix (partial) (1:04)
This undocumented rough mix (see Disc Two, Track 11), features a piano part that was later replaced.

19. Run For Your Life - take 1, chat only (0:17)
20. Run For Your Life - take 5, rough mix (partial) (2:14)
The first item is just the engineer calling out the take number, while the second features John's original guide vocal, predates the addition of backup vocals (see Disc Two, Track 14), and has been artificially lengthened a bit at the end (by a previous bootlegger).

The "Think For Yourself" vocal overdub session excerpts
21. fragment 1 (1:26)
22. fragment 2 (1:45)
23. fragment 3 (0:58)
24. fragment 4 (2:04)
25. fragment 5 (1:03)
26. fragment 6 (1:25)
27. fragment 7 (0:55)
28. fragment 8 (0:54)
29. fragment 9 (1:15)
30. fragment 10 (0:23)
31. fragment 11 (0:31)
32. fragment 12 (1:45)
33. fragment 13 (1:08)
34. fragment 14 (0:10)
35. fragment 15 (0:32)
36. fragment 16 (0:23)
37. fragment 17 (0:22)
38. fragment 18 (2:19)
As explained in the "Think For Yourself" session notes (see Disc Two, Track 5), George Martin left the tapes running between takes when recording the track's backup vocal overdubs on November 8th, hoping to capture something he could use on the '65 Christmas EP. Presented here is the tape copy made for that purpose, editing out the actual overdubs and leaving only the between-take chat. For your convenience, we've divided the 20-minute tape up into its component fragments. One six-second bit from "fragment 9" was eventually used in the Yellow Submarine film soundtrack in 1968.

Mixing the "Rubber Soul" outtake
39. 12-Bar Original - take 2, RM1 (6:41)
40. 12-Bar Original - take 2, RS'95 (2:54)
The first remix of this instrumental was produced soon after the track was recorded (see Tracks 9-11). It then sat untouched (except by John Barrett, see Tracks 9-11) until it was remixed to stereo and given a surprisingly clumsy edit in 1995 for release on the "Anthology 2" CD collection.

DISC TWO

The mono "Rubber Soul" album

Unless otherwise noted, the lineup is George Harrison: lead guitar, John Lennon: rhythm guitar, Paul McCartney: bass guitar and Ringo Starr: drums; and all tracks were produced by George Martin and recorded at EMI's Abbey Road Studio #2.

1. Drive My Car - take 4, RM1 (2:32)
The album opener was taped in one session on October 13th, 1965, the first Beatle session to run past midnight. They started with four takes of the rhythm tracks (with John on tambourine instead of guitar), the fourth being the only complete one. Onto it were layered lead vocals by Paul and John and backup vocal by George, plus piano by Paul and Ringo on cowbell. The mono remix, RM1, was produced on October 25th, with RS1 being produced the next day (while the Beatles were receiving their MBEs from the Queen). The original stereo mix featured a louder cowbell than the mono mix, while the 1987 stereo remix done for CD moved the vocals to the center and added some reverb.

2. Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) - take 4, RM1 (2:03)
Recording began on October 12th when they produced the finished take 1, with a double-tracked Lennon vocal, acoustic guitar by John, a double-tracked Harrison sitar, backup vocals by Paul, and Ringo forsaking drums for finger cymbals, tambourine and maracas (see Disc One, Track 12). Nine days later, on the 21st, they remade the song, taping takes 2-4. Take two (see Disc One, Track 13) had a sitar intro and no drums or bass, take 3 had two acoustic guitars and bass, and take four, the keeper (see Disc One, Track 14), used the acoustic guitar opening introduced in take 3 and brought back the sitar, along with Ringo on tambourine. They produced the mono remix, RM1, on October 25th, and on the following day came the stereo remix, RS1. In the mono mix, you can hear a cough after the line, "she told me to sit anywhere." In 1977 a new stereo remix was produced for the "Love Songs" LP (see Track 27).

3. You Won't See Me - take 2, RM1 (3:28)
Paul's song was recorded in one session on November 11th. It took only two takes to get a best rhythm track (with John on tambourine instead of guitar), to which they added Paul's lead vocal and piano and backup vocals from John and George. On November 15th they produced the mono and stereo remixes, RM1 and RS1, with the mono mix slightly longer than the stereo. The 1987 stereo CD remix moved the vocal to the center.

4. Nowhere Man - take 4, RM1 (2:45)
Recording began on October 21st with the taping of takes 1-2 (the first a false start). These were rhythm track takes, but with a three-part high register harmony intro from John, Paul and George. A remake was begun the next day, when they taped takes 3-5 of the rhythm tracks, with John on acoustic guitar. Calling take four the "best," onto it were overdubbed vocals, with a lead by John and backups by Paul and George. The mono remix, RM1, was produced on October 25th, and the next day they put together the stereo remix, RS1. In that original stereo remix, all the vocals are in one channel, while the 1987 stereo CD remix spreads them across the stereo space, adds some reverb, and moves the drums more toward the center.

5. Think For Yourself - take 1, RM1 (2:12)
George's song was recorded on November 8th in just one take, with overdubs. The final master included the usual lineup plus a fuzz bass, tambourine (John, who didn't play guitar), maracas (Ringo) and electric piano. George provided the lead vocal, while he, John and Paul sang backup. George Martin, knowing that this night's work also had to produce the material for the 1965 Christmas EP, left the tape running all through the overdubbing of the backup vocals, when all but Ringo were on mike (see Disc One, Tracks 21-38), but in the end none of the material was usable, and after finishing this song they taped "The Beatles Christmas Record," takes 1-3. The next day they produced mono and stereo remixes RM1 and RS1. The 1987 stereo CD remix moved the fuzz bass a little more towards the center.

6. The Word - take 3, RM1 (2:48)
John's song was recorded in three takes on November 10th, with Paul adding a piano track, George Martin contributing harmonium and Ringo shaking maracas onto take 3, which was also treated to a Lennon lead vocal and backup vocals from Paul and George. The next day they produced mono and stereo remixes, RM1 and RS1, then on November 15th they improved on the stereo remix, producing RS2. But in the meantime, RS1 had gone off to Capitol Records to be released on their version of "Rubber Soul." The U.S. mix, RS1, is a couple of seconds shorter and has all the vocals in one channel, while RS2 splits them between the two stereo channels. The 1987 stereo CD remix moves the maracas to the center of the stereo "window."

7. Michelle - take 2, RM2 (2:41)
Paul's ballad was recorded on November 3rd. They only needed one take to perfect the rhythm tracks, with John and George switching to acoustic guitars. A reduction mix of take one produced take two, onto which they overdubbed Paul's lead vocal and more guitars. On November 9th they produced mono and stereo remixes, RM1 and RS1. Like the early stereo mix of "The Word" (see Track 6), this tape went off to Capitol and was released on the American "Rubber Soul" mono album. On November 15th they produced a second mono remix, RM2, with the percussion not quite as loud as it was on RM1. Both mono remixes are slightly longer than RS1. The 1987 stereo CD remix moves the vocals and guitar more toward the center.

8. What Goes On - take 1, RM1 (2:51)
The song that was Ringo's vocal contribution to the LP was actually first tried out more than two years earlier, when they'd considered recording it during the March 5th, 1963 sessions that yielded the unreleased "One After 909." Now the song was resurrected and the backing tracks recorded in just one take. Onto this they overdubbed Ringo's lead vocal, with backups from John and Paul. Mono and stereo remixes, RM1 and RS1, were produced on November 9th, with the stereo version including a final guitar fill not heard on RM1. The 1987 stereo CD remix combines the two guitars that open the song into one channel, while RS1 separates them.

9. Girl - take 2, RM1 (2:33)
John's ballad was recorded on the final day of "Rubber Soul" sessions, November 11th. They taped two takes of the rhythm tracks, with John on acoustic guitar (and no George), then onto take two they added George's sitar, John's lead vocal and Paul and George's backup "tit, tit, tit" vocals. Also added was George playing a fuzz guitar part, but it was mixed out of the releases. And that mixing process took place on November 15th, when they produced mono remix RM1 and stereo remix RS1. That original stereo remix had all the vocals in one channel; the 1977 "Love Songs" stereo remix (see Track 26) moved them all toward the center while on the 1987 stereo CD remix the vocals were spread across the stereo space.

10. I'm Looking Through You - take 4, RM1 (2:33)
Work began on October 24th, when they recorded and completed take one (see Disc One, Track 16). Lead vocals came from Paul, John played acoustic guitar, Ringo was on the Hammond organ and probably added the maracas. On November 6th, they took another stab at the song, taping takes 2-3. Still unsatisfied, on November 10th it was time for a re-make, and take 4 (with two false starts) was the keeper, with John again on acoustic guitar and George on tambourine. The next day, November 11th, they added Paul's lead and John's backup vocals. Mono and stereo remixes, RM1 and RS1, were produced on November 15th, with the mono remix running slightly longer. On the Capitol Records stereo version of "Rubber Soul," RS1 retains the two false starts edited out of other releases (see Track 25). While RS1 has all the vocals in one channel, the 1987 stereo CD remix spreads them out, and moves the handclaps to the center.

11. In My Life - take 3, RM1 (2:29)
Recording of John's song began on October 18th, when they taped takes 1-3, with a lead vocal by John (who didn't play guitar), backup vocals by Paul, and someone on tambourine. At this point, the song's middle eight contained a scratch piano part (see Disc One, Track 15) to be replaced later. This was done by George Martin on October 22nd. First he tried a Hammond organ part, then a piano. Finally, he decided to do the overdub with the tape playing at half speed, so that the piano part would be speeded up on playback. The mono remix, RM1, was produced on October 25th, and on the next day they did the stereo remix, RS1. The 1987 stereo CD remix splits the vocals between the channels, while RS1 has them all in one channel. Plus, on RS1 you can hear John inhale before he starts to sing, which was mixed out of the CD. In 1988 a new stereo remix was prepared for the soundtrack to the "Imagine: John Lennon" film (see Track 28).

12. Wait - take 4, RM2 (2:17)
The basic rhythm and vocal tracks for this number were actually recorded during the "Help!" album sessions, on June 17th, when they taped takes 1-4 with John and Paul sharing lead vocal. A first mono remix, RM1, was produced on June 18th. Five months later, on November 11th (the last day of "Rubber Soul" sessions) the number was pulled from the vaults and completed by adding tone pedal guitar, tambourine (John), maracas (Ringo) and more vocals (John and Paul). On November 15th, the final day of "Rubber Soul" mixing, they produced mono and stereo remixes, RM2 and RS1. Where RS1 has the vocals on one channel, the 1987 stereo CD remix moves them into the center.

13. If I Needed Someone - take 1, RM1 (2:25)
George's song was begun on October 16th, when they recorded the basic rhythm tracks in one take. Two days later they added George's lead vocal, backup vocals from John and Paul, and Ringo's tambourine. The mono remix, RM1, was produced on October 25th, while the next day saw production of the stereo remix, RS1. That original stereo remix had all the vocals in one channel, while the 1987 stereo CD remix moved the lead vocal to the center, leaving the background vocals in one channel.

14. Run For Your Life - take 5, RM1 (2:22)
The album's last track was actually the first one recorded, on October 12th. First taping takes 1-5 of the rhythm tracks and John's guide vocal (see Disc One, Tracks 19-20), to take five they added lead vocal and acoustic guitar (John), backing vocals (Paul and George) and tambourine (George Martin). The song was not mixed until almost a month later, when they produced mono remix RM1 on November 9th and stereo remix RS1 the next day. The 1987 stereo CD remix moved the lead vocal toward the center and mixed out the thump heard during the break on RS1.

The "Rubber Soul" era single
15. We Can Work It Out - take 2, RM2 (2:12)
Paul's contribution to their first double A-sided single was begun on October 20th, when they recorded two takes of the rhythm tracks, with John on acoustic guitar and George on tambourine. Onto take two they overdubbed Paul's lead vocal and backup vocals and harmonium by John. On October 28th they produced RM1, not for release but for the Beatles to mime to during filming of the "Music of Lennon and McCartney" TV special. Listening to that RM1 convinced them that the track needed more work, and on October 29th they added more vocals to take two, then produced mono remix RM2. The first stereo remix, RS1, was produced on November 10th and was sent to Capitol for use on the "Yesterday and Today" album (see Track 21). Exactly one year later, on November 10th, 1966, a new stereo remix, RS2, was produced for the "Collection of Beatles Oldies" album. RS2 has the harmonium on one channel throughout the song, while RS1 has it on one channel during the verses but centered during the chorus.

16. Day Tripper - take 3, RM2 (2:50)
On October 16th they recorded John's contribution to the single, starting with three takes of the rhythm tracks. Onto take three were added shared lead and backup vocals by John and Paul. The first mono remix, RM1, was produced on October 25th, and the next day they produced the first stereo remix, RS1, which went off to Capitol for the "Yesterday and Today" album (see Track 22). Like "We Can Work It Out," this track received a new stereo remix, RS2, on November 10th, 1966 for inclusion on the "Collection of Beatles Oldies" album. RS2 starts off with two guitars playing, while RS1 starts off with just one guitar then fades in the other. Where there is a tape dropout during the line "tried to please her," RS1 fades cleanly in out, while RS2 fades up on a guitar note. In addition, RS2 has more reverb than RS1, and a vocal mistake near the end, uncorrected in RS1, is corrected in RS2 by creating an annoying new dropout. In the mono remix, RM1, this mistake is mixed down, but not entirely out, the earlier dropout is corrected by grafting in a replacement segment, and the track runs just a tad longer than the stereo mixes.

Mixing the "Rubber Soul" alternate takes
17. I'm Looking Through You - take 1, RS'82(b) (2:52)
18. Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) - take 1, RS'82(b) (1:59)
19. I'm Looking Through You - take 1, RS'84 (2:57)
20. Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) - take 1, RS'95 (1:58)
The first two remixes were prepared in 1982 by John Barrett for the 1983 Abbey Road Studios Tour (as opposed to Disc One, Tracks 12 and 16, made for his own pleasure). The 1984 stereo remix of "I'm Looking Through You" was prepared by Geoff Emerick for the aborted "Sessions" LP, while the 1995 stereo remix of "Norwegian Wood" was made for the "Anthology 2" CD release.

Other "Rubber Soul" era mixes
21. We Can Work It Out - take 2, RS1 (2:13)
22. Day Tripper - take 3, RS1
These are the early stereo mixes provided to Capitol Records for release on their "Yesterday and Today" album (see Tracks 15-16).

23. The Word - take 3, RS1 (2:43)
Presented here is the early stereo mix released on the Capitol Records version of the "Rubber Soul" album (see Track 6).

24. Michelle - take 2, RM1 (2:44)
This is the early mono mix released on the Capitol Records version of the "Rubber Soul" album (see Track 7).

25. I'm Looking Through You - take 4, RS1, U.S. edit (2:27)
Included here is the American version of the stereo mix, retaining the two false starts, released on the Capitol Records version of the "Rubber Soul" album (see Track 10).

26. Girl - take 2, RS'77 (2:28)
27. Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) - take 4, RS'77 (2:02)
28. In My Life - take 3, RS'88 (2:25)
Gathered here are three "after-the-fact" stereo remixes, the first two prepared in 1977 for the "Love Songs" album, and the third in 1988 for the "Imagine: John Lennon" film soundtrack.

Monitor mix = microphone recording from control room speakers.

Reduction mix = mixing a four-track tape down to one or two tracks, thus freeing up room for more overdubbing.

RM2 = official mono remix #2.

RS'95 = 1995 stereo remix, official mix number unknown.

SI = Super Imposition, an overdub added to an existing take.

Tape reduction = see Reduction mix.

Liner notes: Miles Hai.