Entertainment For Lively Minds
When too much Beatles simply isn't enough
I spent a productive weekend ripping these CDs to iTunes. Most of them were bought at Camden Market and similar under the counter outlets and they must have cost me an arm and a leg over the years. That's ironic when you think that all of them (and a lot more besides) are now available to download free of charge from various blog sites around the internet, if you know where to look.
Since The Anthology series of 3 double CDs arrived in 1995 I haven't really listened to too many Beatles' boots, certainly not in this quantity or at this intensity and I wasn’t expecting too much from the venture. But here's the thing, I was shocked. This stuff is unbelievably, staggeringly good. This is joyous music on an unparalleled level. Even when they were simply arsing about making stuff-ups and mistakes, The Beatles were creating magic.
For example, I listened to six (count ‘em) different takes of That Means A Lot, a 1965 Lennon/McCartney pot-boiler that wasn’t considered good enough to appear on a Fabs' record and was eventually given away to P.J. Proby. Yet, listening to this work in progress, you can can almost taste the chemistry between John and Paul as they whip a fairly average song into shape with some glorious vocal harmonies.
A simple throwaway, naïve B-Side like Thank You Girl starts off rough, then after only a few takes begins to sound like a well-rounded, polished pop song and again, the harmonies are breathtaking. This was early 1963 and they were provincial lads barely out their teens with just a couple of months of studio experience behind them, yet here they are totally at home with the process and sounding cocky as they joke, snipe and banter with old lags George Martin and his engineers (and each other).
Pop music isn’t recorded like this anymore and probably never will be again. That’s why listening to this stuff taking shape before your ears, deconstructed and creaking on the scaffolding of primitive technology is so fascinating. There’s genius at work here.
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I decided I needed to stop with the HJH boots when
I found myself with the 83 CD set of the complete Twickenham sessions, listening to each track whilst reading Doug Sulpy's book in which he describes the contents of each tape reel.
That way lies insanity and obsession!
Yes, the Let It Be outtakes
can get a little tedious, I admit.
And so can endless versions of What's The New Mary Jane (thank you Yoko).
But apart from that....
Then there's this
Nine CDs of BBC material. I haven't got around to them yet, but Brian Matthew is always good value.
Maybe next weekend.
always wondered if...
..they were worth bothering with. You have halfway persuaded me.
And just for the record, there really is no boot of Carnival Of Light, is there?
I've never seen a boot
of Carnival Of Light and from what I read, it makes Revolution #9 sound like She Loves You.
More here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnival_of_Light
When you say
'when you know where to look' ... hem hem
So, Moje...
...what would you say are the ESSENTIAL dozen or so unreleased takes and why?
Imagine EMI rang you up and said, 'Mr Working? We've got the green light to pull together a 1CD Beatles best-of-the-unreleased-stuff - Paul and Ringo say you're the guy to pick the tracks. Mr Lewison, you say? No, he's up to his neck in his MotherOfAllBeatleOgraphies at the mo - trying to get their primary school years finished before Page 3000... You'll do it? Great!'
Over to you, Moje...
I love the Beatles
But the Anthologies convinced me that the cupboard was bare. When one of the highlights is an alternate version of Ob-La-Di, you know you're in trouble. My picks are One After 909 and Come and Get It.
It Won't Be Long
A 'friend' of mine saw these posts and is alarmed to learn that most of this material is available, if you know where to look, from various blog sites around the internet. He is now concerned that he may, quite by accident, tap into one of these blog sites and find himself in trouble.
Rather than let this happen I have suggested that I will 'ask around' and hope that someone will provide me with one or two of these sites addresses so that I can forward them to my 'friend' so he can then be sure he doesn't access them in error.
He is particularly keen to avoid any sites that may furnish him with 'Hard Days Night' and 'With the Beatles' alternatives.......:)
Your 'fwend' probably wants to avoid going to www.demonoid.me
and searching for (say) "Beatles Hard Days Night Sessions". Once he hasn't done that then there's PLENTY more stuff he'd like there, just search fir the relevant song/album.
Music : Rock : Lossless
The Beatles
A Hard Day's Night Studio Sessions: Back To Basics
Helter Skelter Records
HSR08/09/10/11
4CD
This set contains all known studio recordings and rare mixes from the A Hard Day's Night era. All recordings have been taken from the best and most complete sources.
DISC 1
01. A Hard Day's Night - Take 1 (mono) [2:48]
02. A Hard Day's Night - Take 2 (mono) [0:10]
03. A Hard Day's Night - Take 3 (mono) [0:08]
04. A Hard Day's Night - Take 4 (mono) [2:33]
05. A Hard Day's Night - Take 5 (mono) [2:36]
06. A Hard Day's Night - Take 6 (mono) [1:28]
07. A Hard Day's Night - Take 7 (mono) [3:00]
08. A Hard Day's Night - Take 8 (mono) [0:13]
09. A Hard Day's Night - Take 9 (mono) [2:40]
10. A Hard Day's Night - Take 1 Anthology 1 Mix (mono) [2:43]
11. A Hard Day's Night - Monitor Mix of Take 1 (mono) [2:48]
12. A Hard Day's Night - Monitor Mix of Take 2 (mono) [0:10]
13. A Hard Day's Night - Monitor Mix of Take 3 (mono) [0:08]
14. A Hard Day's Night - Monitor Mix of Take 4 (mono) [2:33]
15. A Hard Day's Night - Monitor Mix of Take 5 (mono) [2:37]
16. A Hard Day's Night - Monitor Mix of Take 6 (mono) [0:58]
17. A Hard Day's Night - RS from Take 9 (v2) (stereo) [2:31] Film Mix
18. A Hard Day's Night - RS from Take 9 (v1) (stereo) [2:40] Extended Doc Film Mix (10 guitar riffs at the end)
19. A Hard Day's Night - RMa Take 9 US (mono) [2:40] Extended 8 Track Film Mix
20. A Hard Day's Night - RS1 (stereo) [1:20] Anthology 'TV Mix'
21. A Hard Day's Night - Rockband Mix (stereo) [2:30]
22. I Should Have Known Better - Take 8 fragment DVD Mix (mono) [0:15]
23. I Should Have Known Better - Take 11 fragment DVD Mix (mono) [0:15]
24. I Should Have Known Better - Take 8 fragment VHS Mix (mono) [0:15]
25. I Should Have Known Better - Take 11 fragment VHS Mix (mono) [0:15]
26. I Should Have Known Better - Unknown Take fragment (mono) [0:05]
27. I Should Have Known Better - RS from Take 22 (v1) (stereo) [0:14]
28. I Should Have Known Better - Reel Music 1982 Mix (Different Stereo Mix from Movie Soundtrack - Train Scene) (stereo) [2:44]
29. I Should Have Known Better - RS from Take 22 (v2) (stereo) [0:20]
30. If I Fell - Compilation of unknown studio chats (mono) [0:21]
31. If I Fell - RS from Take 15 (v1) (stereo) [0:31]
32. If I Fell - RS from Take 15 (v2) (stereo) [2:19]
33. And I Love Her - Take 2 (mono) [1:52]
34. And I Love Her - Take 11 + Take 21 announcement - DVD mix (stereo) [0:16]
35. And I Love Her - Take 11 + Take 21 announcement - clean VHS mix (stereo) [0:16]
36. And I Love Her - Unknown Take Partial (stereo) [0:05]
37. And I Love Her - RS from Take 21 fragment (v1) (stereo) [0:29]
38. And I Love Her - German Stereo Mix (Six Guitar riffs at end) (stereo) [2:36]
39. Tell Me Why - Take 2 Studio chat (mono) [0:14]
40. Tell Me Why - Take 4 DVD Mix (mono) [0:15]
41. Tell Me Why - Take 4 VHS Mix [no reverb] (mono) [0:16]
42. Tell Me Why - RM from Take 8 (stereo) [1:45]
43. Tell Me Why - RM from Take 8 (mono) [1:45]
44. Tell Me Why - RS from Take 8 fragment (stereo) [0:16]
45. Can't Buy Me Love - Take 1 Monitor Mix (mono) [2:21]
46. Can't Buy Me Love - Take 2 (mono) [2:31]
47. Can't Buy Me Love - Take 3 (mono) [0:41]
48. Can't Buy Me Love - Take 3 Extended Monitor Mix (mono) [0:45]
49. Can't Buy Me Love - Take 4 Monitor Mix Intro (mono) [0:09]
50. Can't Buy Me Love - Edit of Takes 1-2 (mono) [2:10]
51. Can't Buy Me Love - RS from Take 4 V1 (stereo) [0:33]
52. Can't Buy Me Love - RS from Take 4 V2 (stereo) [1:18]
53. Can't Buy Me Love - Rockband Mix (stereo) [2:13]
54. Any Time At All - RS from Take 11 (stereo) [0:36]
55. Things We Said Today - RS from Take 3 (stereo) [2:34]
DISC 2
You Can't Do That
01. You Can't Do That - Take 6 (mono) [2:40]
02. You Can't Do That - Unknown Take Intro (stereo) [0:09]
03. You Can't Do That - 1976 Rock & Roll Music Mix (stereo) [2:39]
04. You Can't Do That - RS from Take 9 (stereo) [2:38]
05. I'll Be Back - Take 2 (mono) [1:12]
06. I'll Be Back - Take 3 (stereo) [1:57]
07. I'll Be Back - Take 2 DVD Mix (stereo) [1:12]
08. I'll Be Back - Take 3 DVD Mix (stereo) [1:57]
09. I'll Be Back - Take 12 (stereo) [0:11]
10. I'll Be Back - Take 13 (stereo) [0:12]
11. I'll Be Back - Take 14 (stereo) [0:04]
12. I'll Be Back - Take 15 announcement (stereo) [0:09]
13. I'll Be Back - Take 12 (mono) Anthology VHS Mix [0:11]
14. I'll Be Back - Take 13 (mono) Anthology VHS Mix [0:12]
15. I'll Be Back - Take 14 (mono) Anthology VHS Mix [0:04]
16. I'll Be Back - Take 15 announcement Anthology VHS Mix (mono) [0:09]
17. I'll Be Back - RS from Take 16 (stereo) [1:22]
18. Komm Gib Mir Deine Hand - Take 1 (mono) [0:09]
19. Komm Gib Mir Deine Hand - Take 2 (mono) [0:08]
20. Komm Gib Mir Deine Hand - Take 7 (mono) [0:04]
21. Komm Gib Mir Deine Hand - Take 9 (mono) [0:04]
22. Komm Gib Mir Deine Hand - Take 10 (mono) [0:04]
23. Komm Gib Mir Deine Hand - Unknown Take (mono) [0:08]
24. Komm Gib Mir Deine Hand (mono) [2:28] Odeon Mono Single Mix
25. Komm Gib Mir Deine Hand - RS1 (stereo) [2:27] Stray "coming" in Intro Mix
26. Komm Gib Mir Deine Hand - RS1 (stereo) [2:29] UK Rarities Mix - Alternate Stereo Mix
27. Sie Liebt Dich - Unknown Take DVD Mix (stereo) [0:11]
28. Sie Liebt Dich - Unknown Take VHS Mix (stereo) [0:13]
29. Sie Liebt Dich (mono) [2:17] Odeon Mono Single Mix
30. Sie Liebt Dich - RS1 (stereo) [2:19] US Rarities Mix - Alternate Stereo Mix
31. I Call Your Name -Studio Chat (mono) [0:03]
32. I Call Your Name - US Rock N Roll Music Mix (stereo) [2:11]
33. Long Tall Sally - US Rock N Roll Music Mix (stereo) [2:04]
34. Long Tall Sally - Anthology 'TV Mix' (stereo) [2:02]
35. Slow Down - US Rock N Roll Music Mix (stereo) [2:57]
36. Train Music (mono) [0:08]
Around The Beatles Studio Sessions
37. Twist and Shout (mono) [2:34]
38. Roll Over Beethoven (mono) [1:52]
39. I Wanna Be Your Man (mono) [1:48]
40. Long Tall Sally (mono) [1:46]
41. Love Me Do / Please Please Me / From Me To You / She Loves You / I Want To Hold You Hand (mono) [4:01]
42. Can't Buy Me Love (mono) [2:08]
43. Shout! (mono) [2:05]
44. I Wanna Be Your Man (stereo) [1:49]
45. Long Tall Sally (stereo) [1:47]
46. Boys (stereo) [1:50]
47. Shout! (stereo edit) [1:30]
48. She Loves You / I Want To Hold Your Hand (mono) American Music Awards [2:24]
49. No Reply - demo Take 1 (mono) [1:47]
50. You Know What To Do - demo Take 1 (mono) [1:59]
DISC 3
A Hard Day's Night MPI Movie Soundtrack (Stereo)
01. I'll Cry Instead (stereo) [2:05]
02. A Hard Day's Night (stereo) [2:31]
03. I Should Have Known Better (stereo) [2:46]
04. I Wanna Be Your Man / Don't Bother Me / All My Loving (stereo) [3:04]
05. If I Fell (stereo) [2:17]
06. Can't Buy Me Love (stereo) [2:12]
07. And I Love Her (stereo) [2:28]
08. I'm Happy Just To Dance With You (stereo) [1:58]
09. Can't Buy Me Love (stereo) [2:12]
10. Tell Me Why (stereo) [1:46]
11. If I Fell (stereo) [1:45]
12. I Should Have Known Better (stereo) [2:45]
13. She Love You (stereo) [2:22]
14. A Hard Day's Night (stereo) [2:29]
Source: A Hard Day's Night MPI Movie Soundtrack
A Hard Day's Night Soundtrack (Mono)
15. A Hard Day's Night (mono) [2:30]
16. I Should Have Known Better (mono) [2:42]
17. I Wanna Be Your Man (mono) [0:42]
18. Don't Bother Me (mono) [0:41]
19. All My Loving (mono) [1:40]
20. If I Fell (mono) [2:16]
21. Can't Buy Me Love (mono) [2:09]
22. And I Love Her (mono) [2:27]
23. I'm Happy Just To Dance With You (mono) [1:53]
24. Can't Buy Me Love (mono) [2:12]
25. Tell Me Why (mono) [1:46]
26. If I Fell (mono) [1:45]
27. I Should Have Known Better (mono) [2:51]
28. She Love You (mono) [2:22]
29. A Hard Day's Night (mono) [2:28]
DISC 4
A Hard Day's Night Mirramax Mix (Duophonic)
01. A Hard Day's Night (fake stereo) [2:35]
02. I Should Have Known Better (fake stereo) [2:42]
03. I Wanna Be Your Man (fake stereo) [0:42]
04. Don't Bother Me (fake stereo) [0:40]
05. All My Loving (fake stereo) [1:40]
06. If I Fell (fake stereo) [2:17]
07. Can't Buy Me Love (fake stereo) [2:08]
08. And I Love Her (fake stereo) [2:27]
09. I'm Happy Just To Dance With You (fake stereo) [1:55]
10. Can't Buy Me Love (fake stereo) [2:12]
11. Tell Me Why (fake stereo) [1:46]
12. If I Fell (fake stereo) [1:45]
13. I Should Have Known Better (fake stereo) [2:41]
14. She Love You (fake stereo) [2:31]
15. A Hard Day's Night (fake stereo) [2:27]
Good Grief!
My 'friend' will be stunned when I pass this information on!
At least he'll know which site to stay away from!
Thanks.
Unbeatable
I've also recently acquired a large number of Beatles boots and I absolutely agree - they are fascinating. To have a 10 CD set of the White Album and similar sized sets for Revolver and Abbey Road is just an unbeatable immersive experience. 48 takes of 'Strawberry Fields'. What's not to like.
If anyone needs a source for this stuff - cough - just contact me with PM.
In case's Mojo's off to bed...
...on the other side of the world, my question (up above) is open to everyone with knowledge on the subject: what are the most essential handful of Beatles outtakes, if you wee asked to compile a best-of?
I'm not asking for any reason - just curious. I'm constantly amazed at the quality and quantity of Beatles stuff out there, though don't own much of the audio stuff myself...
I'm still ruminating
on your question Colin.
I should have guessed!
...to be fair, if someone asked me to name, say, the most essential six MO live recordings I'd have to go off an ruminate for some time, too.
But don't end up spending Lewison-esque time on it - go with your gut feeling, it's usually right anyway. :-)
The problem is,
many of the best outtakes have already appeared on the Anthology CDs, so I have to make sure there's no duplication. A time-consuming business in itself.
I suppose in a couple of years there'll be...
...20th anniversary remasters of the Anthology series.
I must say, I think Apple missed a track by not compiling a 1CD 'best of' of the Anthology series (even after all three, if not as a pre-3 spoiler). They STILL should. The 12 or 14 track (I forget) 'Sessions' planned-but-dropped LP from the late 80s was fantastic - Come & Get It, Not Guilty, If You've Got Troubles, Leave My Kitten Alone...
A 1CD set like that would clean up at Christmas - even now, in the death-days of the recorded music business.
But Macca's probably more focused on his series of multi-disc deluxe versions of his solo albums.
They sorta did, Colin
but it's download only....
http://itunes.apple.com/ie/album/anthology-highlights/id438295461
I guess it's one of those things they can shove out as a download and completists won't feel cheated by not owning it, seeing as it only exists digitally anyway.
Instead
of picking the best Fabs' outtakes which, to use a sporting expression, is a big ask (and a time consuming one), here's a list of 20 songs that Lennon & McCartney wrote and gave away to other artists.
None of these songs was ever released officially by The Beatles at the time.
Notice the concentration of songs in 1963/64 when L&M were being groomed as jobbing songwriters. After The Beatles became the biggest band the world had ever seen, that clearly became less of a priority and the 'songs for others' sideline tailed off.
I really like some of these early songs and of the 20 I'd say at least 12-15 of them hold up today as fine pieces of 60s pop songwriting (eg Bad To Me, World Without Love, Love Of The Loved), while a few (Come And Get It, Step Inside Love and Goodbye) are almost worthy of inclusion on a Beatles' album.
1. I'll Be On My Way (Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas) (1963)
2. Bad To Me (Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas) (1963)
3. Tip Of My Tongue (Tommy Quickly) (1963)
4. Hello Little Girl (The Fourmost) (1963)
5. Love Of The Loved (Cilla Black) (1963)
6. I'll Keep You Satisfied (Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas) (1963)
7. I'm In Love (The Fourmost) (1963)
8. World Without Love (Peter & Gordon) (1964)
9. Like Dreamers Do (The Applejacks) (1964)
10. One And One Is Two (The Strangers & Mike Shannon) (1964)
11. Nobody I Know (Peter & Gordon) (1964)
12. From A Window (Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas) (1964)
13. It's For You (Cilla Black) (1964)
14. I Don't Want To See You Again (Peter & Gordon) (1964)
15. That Means A Lot (P.J. Proby) (1965)
16. Woman (Peter & Gordon) (1966)
17. Step Inside Love (Cilla Black) (1968)
18. Thingumybob (John Fosters and Sons LTD. Black Dyke Mills Band) (1968)
19. Goodbye (Mary Hopkin) (1969)
20. Come And Get It (Badfinger) (1969)
There's an Australian Beatles tribute band
that released a CD of many of the above-listed songs, performed as if they were proper Beatles releases...
http://www.amazon.com/Its-Four-You-Beatnix/dp/B00000IBDI
That's interesting
It's a Raven release I've never seen. But the collector's price on Amazon is a little scary.
Here are the original versions on this LP:
And here's
Mary Hopkin with JPM himself...
That Boy
Erm... my friend (incredibly timid) is particularly interested in early takes of the songs (i.e. demo tapes etc). I think he'd want something for Xmas.
(cough)
P.S. He's told me he already has the Esher tapes.
Helter Skelter
Does the very long (18-20 mins) version exist out there or is it simply mythical ?
Doesn't look like it
Just checked my copy of the White Album De Luxe set ( 12 CDs! ) and no sign of it there. However, there are 36 takes of 'Revolution'!
heard this the other day - take20
bloody loved it!
Revolution 1 (Take 20) by SirLancealot
On the other hand
This from Mark Lewisohn :
"Helter Skelter is perhaps the most legendary Beatles outtake of them all. At the time of the White Album being issued, I think it was Neil Aspinall wrote in the Beatles Monthly magazine, that The Beatles had recorded a 27-minute version of Helter Skelter, which quite obviously, they were not releasing, but they had done it anyway. From that moment on, it became like the holy grail for Beatles fans, they had to hear this song. To this day I know of many people who don't want to die until they've heard the 27-minute Helter Skelter, then they can die.
"I made it clear to George Martin when we doing Anthology 3, that the fans are desperate to hear this and I urged him to listen to it, because I don't think initially he was going to do so. He listened it, and he said 'well, why is this important?'. I said forget the quality of the sound, or forget the fact that it's not quite in tune or whatever, what a producer would normally be looking for, just respect the fact please that it is hailed as the most important outtake of them all, and the fans will go crazy if you don't include this on the Anthology. So he took all that on board, which George always does, and he's very good at that sort of thing, he listens. But, the next time I went in there, they said 'here it is' and it was like 5 minutes, and they'd trimmed it right down. And in fact they didn't use the 27 minute one, there was another one as well that was 12 minutes, which they used, and they'd trimmed it down to 5 minutes. They said 'this is all people will stand, they won't stand the whole thing'. And I said 'well, I think a lot of them will actually...' "
There’s a lot of live material
There’s a lot of live material on these bootlegs and one thing that really leaps out is how utterly natural and non-showbiz The Beatles were on stage. Brian Epstein may have put them in suits and got them to bow on cue, but things were changing and the Fab Four were right there leading the charge away from traditional showbiz and into the brave new world of rock music. Onstage, they were just like us, or rather, just like we dreamed of being.
They joke around, they tease the audience, they rib each other and they insult their American record company by regularly expressing ignorance of (or disinterest in) the endless versions of their albums that were cobbled together for the US market.
Everyone knows John’s “Rattle yer jewellery” line from the 1963 Royal Command Performance (cheeky to the Queen Mum! Such a thing had never been heard before!) but a couple of years later when Paul steps forward to deliver his Yesterday solo party piece, he’s ribbed mercilessly by John and George in a way that only brothers or real mates can get away with. We all remember George’s great line from the Blackpool Night Out concert “And so for Paul McCartney of Liverpool, Opportunity Knocks!”, but John had a few of those, too. “Thanks Paul, that was just like him” he quips at the end of Yesterday on the 1965 Ed Sullivan Show appearance.
You are all
absolutely mental
Wait! There's more!
Say what you like about Apple, I really like this iTunes ad for the Beatles' downloads.
http://www.apple.com/itunes/videos/#beatles-spot
That is brilliant.
It underlines again that the Beatles legacy is visual almost as much as musical:
1. The EMI staircase!
2. The side lit moody B&W shot!
3. The 'film reel' effect!
4. The soft focus, autumnal effect
5. (misspelt?) Semaphore!
6. See (4) but with added psychedelic lettering and unsettling choice of focal length...
7. Line-drawn, monochrome!
8. Kaleidoscopic colour!
9. Er, as above!
10. Embossed slightly off-white, slightly off-centre lettering on a slightly off-white background!
11. Cartoons!
12. Window effect!
13. Zebra crossing, with added, allegedly, heavy symbolism.
Nicely summed up Dougie!
Good job.