Ringo Starr has announced the release of a new album called “Y Not”. It’s due for release on January 12th, 2010.

It’ll be produced by Ringo, and will feature an appearance by Paul McCartney on one song – the first single to be released – called “Walk With You”.

The cover looks like this:

Ringo's "Y Not" Cover Shot

There’s an article about the new album on The Beatles Official site here.

This is actually the stereo cover. Couldn't find a scan of the mono one anywhere.

Of course, as it turned out, Help! wasn’t even the best album the Beatles released that year, but judged against any other band’s work, it’s just astonishing.

Help! and Rubber Soul differ from the other Beatles albums in that they were remixed when the band’s original CD releases came out in 1987. The first four albums were originally issued on CD in mono, as God Martin intended, and everything from Revolver on was issued in stereo, which is at least a defensible position for those albums. For the two 1965 albums, however, it was felt that they deserved reissuing in remixed stereo. So on the mono box we have been given the mono mixes, but also the original 1965 stereo mixes, of those two albums.

Having previously owned all the Beatles albums on vinyl, this gives me a chance to compare the mono and stereo mixes more accurately, and figure out what about the difference in sound is down to the hugely improved clarity of the new masters (and they do sound ASTONISHING) and what is the mix. So with each song on these albums there will be a note about the differences between the mono and stereo mixes.

The main difference between the mono and stereo mixes, noticeable throughout, is that the mono mixes are very bass-heavy, compressed and murky, matching the dopey feel of much of the music, while the stereo mixes are all treble with no bass-response whatsoever – light and fun-sounding, but missing much of the actual musical information.

Help!, the first song on the album, and the second single, is the pivot around which the Beatles’ singles revolve. Before this, every Beatles single had involved romantic relationships of some kind. After this, no songs about romantic relationships (with the possible exceptions of the Day Tripper/We Can Work It Out pairing and Hello Goodbye) would appear on either the A- or B-side of a Beatles single until Don’t Let Me Down, by which point the band had effectively split.

Help! is the first attempt by the band to marry the two biggest influences of the band’s mid-period, Bob Dylan and the Beach Boys. The Dylan influence is most noticeable – the song is based around strummed acoustic guitar, has a confessional lyric, and (other than the intro – many of the songs on Help! have distinct intros, the only Beatles album for which this is really the case) has a very simplistic structure – 16-bar verse and 16-bar chorus alternating. There’s even no third verse, just a repeat of the first – this is structured as a folk song.

The Beach Boys influence is more subtle (unsurprisingly – while Lennon was a fan of the band, he was never as open about his admiration of them as were Harrison and especially McCartney), but starts with the title. Just before this was recorded, the Beach Boys knocked Ticket To Ride off the US number one spot after just one week, with Help Me, Rhonda. But the influence is also shown in the backing vocals. On most other Beatles records up to and including this album the band’s vocal arrangements had been essentially girl-group ones – call-and-response, straight harmony or ‘ooh’ chords. Here they’re anticipating the main vocal line in a way the band had never done before, entering into a much more interesting relationship with the lead.

Sometime around 1965, someone asked Lennon why he didn’t write lyrics more like his books, and his whole writing style changes. I suspect it was just before writing this song…

mono/stereo differences This one has the most obvious differences of all – the lead vocal is actually a totally different take (which means that this is the first legitimate CD release of the version of this track that actually went to number one). The backing vocals are mixed far higher in the stereo mix, and the bass is almost inaudible. The mono mix is generally murkier, with far less separation of instruments, and the opening has less impact in mono (the backing vocals jump out more in stereo), but in stereo there’s practically no drum sound at all, and overall the mono is punchier.

The Night Before, Paul’s first song on the album, is notable mostly for introducing the electric piano based soul-influenced sound that would dominate this album and Rubber Soul. Even though it’s only 2:36 it could have done with cutting down to about half that length, truth be told, although one of Paul’s better vocals redeems it somewhat.

mono/stereo differences The stereo mix of this is pretty horrible. Again there’s much less bass response, and the electric piano is mixed down (making the track sound like much less of a departure from their earlier work). The hi-hat is mixed up at the expense of any other drums, and the whole thing is just a wash of trebly echo.

You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away is the most obviously Dylanesque Lennon song ever, with Lennon practically doing a Dylan impression. Apparently about Brian Epstein’s homosexuality (an interpretation first advanced by bisexual activist singer Tom Robinson in the 1980s, but apparently confirmed by the other Beatles since), this is one of Lennon’s very strongest songs, although the best line (“feeling two foot small”) was apparently an in-studio slip that was then kept in. There’s very little to critique here – it’s just as close to perfection in song, arrangement and performance as you can get, and the remastering allows us to hear every perfect detail that much more clearly.

mono/stereo differences Once again, the stereo version sounds like it’s coming through a tin can in comparison – too much reverb on Lennon’s voice, all treble and no bass. The stereo version is still an improvement on the vinyl – there’s a percussion part I never noticed before that’s very clear on both the mono and stereo versions – but it loses all sense of weight from the tracks, which sound lighter and frothier. This is arguably not so much of a problem with McCartney’s tracks, which are more lightweight on this album, but Lennon’s songs here are very much inspired by a depressive period (what he later called his ‘fat Elvis’ period) and the weightier, heavier sound of the mono versions works infinitely better for them.

I Need You is George’s first song on the album, and his second on any Beatles album. Perfectly serviceable as a song, it doesn’t show many of the signs of his later ability, though it does have the depressive, introspective feel of many of his later songs. Much like The Night Before this could have done with having the repeat of the middle-eight and last verse cut. The most interesting thing about it is the use of the volume pedal on the lead guitar.

mono/stereo differences Again, the stereo mix is echoey, treble-heavy and vocal-heavy (the backing vocals are far more prominent, and sound very lazy and slightly out of tune). One can at least hear Ringo’s bass drum in the stereo mix though, which makes a pleasant change. It’s not until you do direct A-B comparisons of the mono and stereo mixes that you realise just how appaling the stereo mixes really are…

Another Girl, Paul’s second song, is notable mostly for its arrangement – the rhythm guitar is almost reggae, with its emphasis on the off-beats – presumably the same ska influence that crept into She’s A Woman and I Call Your Name, while George’s lead guitar is pure Chet Atkins, mirrored in the bluegrass harmonies. (McCartney is credited as lead guitarist here, but it sounds like there are two separate guitarists here – I think McCartney just played the thicker parts around the 1:19 mark, which sound like his style) The song is typical McCartney – breezy, light and callous, but enjoyable.

mono/stereo differences Surprisingly little. The stereo mix is more reverb-heavy and trebly, but other than that there are no huge differences.

You’re Going To Lose That Girl is John in Shirelles mode – this is from the same mold as My Boyfriend’s Back, and in fact could be an answer song to that from the point of view of the boyfriend. It has an element of Lennon’s occasional psychotic jealousy to it, but played mostly for laughs.

mono/stereo differences The stereo version of this sounds very slightly sped up (and looking at the timings, it’s a second shorter), and the piano and bongos are almost buried in the mix. In the mono mix, Ringo’s bongos percolate away under the whole thing, adding an absolutely delightful extra element, and McCartney’s piano holds the whole thing together. The stereo mix just isn’t as fun.

Ticket To Ride, despite being an utterly John song, is mostly Paul’s record. McCartney definitely did play the lead guitar on here, and while Ringo plays the astonishing drum part, that broken style (which lessens throughout the track and is almost entirely subsumed into a standard rock drum part by the end) is McCartney’s One Drum Idea. I’d also bet good money on McCartney having come up with the coda (which, ending side one, bookends it nicely – it starts and ends with separate sections of songs that aren’t directly connected to the main body of the song).

I imagine, actually, that this started as a fairly straightforward Motown stomper before McCartney got his hands on it – the obsession on one chord until the chorus is very much of a piece with records like Dancing In The Street, though it does of course also presage the band’s later Indian influence.

Either way, though, this is an astonishing record. Just listen to the shiver in John’s voice on ’sad’. The song is also typically Lennon in its self-obsession – the girl the song is about has only one characteristic, that she doesn’t care for him, and that she thought living with him was ‘bringing her down’.

While I’ve been complaining about the length of some of these, this is actually one song where the repetition pays off – this too could have had the last middle-eight and verse/chorus cut, but it would have been a mistake. The repetition works well with the self-obsessed, circling tone of the record too – it’s the first Beatles original to top three minutes (3:08 in mono, 3:11 in stereo) and the longest thing they’ll do until Sgt Pepper.

mono/stereo differencesMore than any of the other songs except Help! itself, this differs between mixes. Here it’s almost all down to the drumming. In mono, RIngo’s drum fill at the beginning jumps out and practically throttles you. In stereo, it’s sedate and sounds like he’s playing on cardboard boxes.

Act Naturally is the song given to Ringo to sing, a cover of a comedy song by Buck Owens, and seems to have had very little attention paid to it, although George Harrison once again gets to do a Chet Atkins impression while Paul’s high harmony actually manages to make RIngo’s voice sound good in those sections.
mono/stereo differences Not that many – there’s not that much to the recording, although McCartney’s vocal is buried in the stereo mix.

It’s Only Love is one of the great disappointments in the Beatles’ discography. The melody is actually one of Lennon’s strongest, and his double-tracked vocals in the chorus show what it could have been, sounding absolutely astonishing, but he obviously knocked off the verse lyrics in about half a nanosecond, and his evident contempt for them shines through in the verses. It’s a shame, as there’s a great *idea* for a song here, just not an actual great song. The most notable thing about this is it’s the first Beatles track with a Leslied lead guitar.

mono/stereo differences Not a huge difference, though once again the lead vocal is mixed up at the expense of every other instrument, and the lead guitar almost vanishes in stereo as a result.

You Like Me Too Much is another George song, and another one with the slight country flavour that permeates much of this album. Nothing much to say about this, which has some of the same feel as Harrison’s then-unreleased You Know What To Do. Nice electric piano by Lennon, and the intro is fun (Lennon, McCartney and Martin all playing the same piano part), but this is the third filler track in a row on side two.

mono/stereo differences Again, the stereo mix is too trebly and echoey, but otherwise little difference.

Tell Me What You See on the other hand should be a filler track, being mostly McCartney winking his way winningly through two chords (though like a lot of his songs from this time it has a fairly impatient lyric, hinting at his strained relationship with Jane Asher at the time), but the combination of McCartney’s superb melodic gifts and the arrangement make this something rather special. Especially of note are the way McCartney is almost impersonating Lennon when he double-tracks himself (though of course Lennon also harmonises in spots) and the instrumental breaks where it drops down to just electric piano before McCartney’s One Drum Idea comes in again briefly.

mono/stereo differences The big differences here (apart from the constant echo/treble difference and the usual way the vocals overpower everything else) are that Lennon’s harmony vocal is mixed far higher relative to McCartney’s melody, and that the various bits of hand-held percussion are far more audible in stereo.

I’ve Just Seen A Face is McCartney finally stepping up and offering a song as good as his collaborator’s songs from the first side. Still as lightweight as his other songs on the album, this one has a quite astonishing melody and lyrics that fit it perfectly, with some of McCartney’s cleverest internal rhymes. It continues the country feel of the rest of the album, being a bluegrass track (with McCartney singing two part harmony with himself) and like much of the rest of the album has a separately composed introduction. It’s just a fun, clever, enjoyable track that sits in your head for days after hearing it. Stylistically a world away from Lennon’s depressed tracks on this album, and less ‘intense’ than them, it sounds like nothing so much as a precursor to Mike Nesmith’s work. A minor classic.

mono/stereo differences relatively few. There’s little bass end to the track as it is (bluegrass style songs being very trebly anyway, this has no bass guitar but three acoustics) so while the melody on the bass strings of an acoustic guitar, and Starr’s scuffing on a snare drum, are slightly lower, this is one of the closer mixes.

Yesterday is one of those hidden little tracks that nobody knows about…
To tell the truth I’ve never regarded the track as anywhere near as special as most people do – and it’s yet another song on this album that has an unnecessarily repeated middle eight and last verse – but you can’t really argue with the consensus on this one. It may not be McCartney’s best song, but it’s still a good ‘un, and you can’t fault the craftsmanship. But the track is really more about George Martin’s string arrangement than anything McCartney’s doing.

I do find it odd, though, that pretty much nobody notices the little joke in the second verse – he’s not singing ‘oh yesterday came suddenly’ (which would make no sense) but ‘oh yes today came suddenly’…

mono/stereo differences There are very few, for the most part, other than McCartney’s vocal being higher in the mix relative to his guitar on the mono mix, but one that does stand out is the treatment given to the vocal track. On the mono track this is dry until the strings come in, gets a smidgen of reverb from there on in, and gets a thick extra layer of reverb to emphasise ’something wrong, now I long’ on the middle eight, where he double-tracks himself (the double-tracking, just on this spot, is almost inaudible and sounds like a mistake on the stereo mix, like leakage from an earlier take, but is clearly deliberate on the mono mix). On the stereo mix, on the other hand, there’s a constant (small) level of reverb throughout. Other than that, the viola countermelody in the last verse seems more prominent on the mono mix, but that’s all.

And Dizzy Miss Lizzy is the last cover version ever on a Beatles album, a pounding Larry Williams cover led by doubled bass and piano, with Starr’s clomping cowbell, some fantastically powerful fills from Starr, slightly out-of-tune but effective lead guitar, and one of Lennon’s best screamer vocals. It feels like it’s constantly about to fall over into incoherence, but never quite does, thanks mostly to Starr’s fantastic performance holding everything together. It’s no coincidence that this was one of only two songs he’d recorded with the Beatles that Lennon performed at his first solo gig.

mono/stereo differences Oh dear. What a difference a mix makes. The bass end of the piano is completely lost, the out-of-tune guitar is higher in the mix (and more obviously double-tracked, with the two guitars not even in tune with each other), Starr sounds like he’s playing cardboard boxes, and the hi-hat is ludicrously high in the mix. The exact same performance sounds like a sloppy, incoherent mess.

Help! might not be the Beatles’ strongest album, but it’s the one where their production tricks come together, where John realises that lyrics can be *about* something, where George starts writing songs, where Paul finally comes up with a couple of classics rather than one good one per album, and with some of Ringo’s best playing. Really, what’s not to like?

Of course, the next album was *very* special…

The Vinyl District Report:

Click here to go to TVD to check The Jam covering the Beatles “And Your Bird Can Sing”, Jimi Hendrix “Little Wing”, Queen “Spread Your Wings (Live 78)”, and more.

In the last six months there have been a barrage of Beatles events and news. The popular videogame The Beatles: Rockband was released after Dhani Harrison (George’s son) stressed his desire to bring the music of the Fab Four to the newest generation. Also, Yoko Ono has reassembled and released a record with The Plastic Ono Band, the group she and her husband John performed with throughout the 1970s, and has added a new member – her son Julian Lennon. Finally, Apple Corps has re-released the entire Beatles collection in a newly remastered box set. This new release boasts digitally remastered sound that surpasses all past releases.

In the spirit of this recent revival I’ll be posting some interesting Beatles facts, videos, and thoughts. For starters, here is one of John Lennon’s final compositions and recordings, titled “Real Love.” The first video is the song as it was originally recorded by John (but not released) in 1980.

After his death, The [remaining] Beatles collaborated to complete the song for the Anthology documentary series. The revised track was recorded in the spirit of John, and was intended to sound as he would have wanted it to sound. This track, along with its sister release “Free As A Bird,” are the final Beatle releases (final new releases, actually). As Ringo said, “Recording the new songs didn’t feel contrived at all, it felt very natural and it was a lot of fun, but emotional too at times. But it’s the end of the line, really. There’s nothing more we can do as The Beatles.”

But what a beautiful way to go out.

Paul McCartney trabalha novamente com seu ex-parceiro de banda Ringo Starr, nos vocais de “Walk with me” e tocando baixo em “Peace dream”,  no novo álbum deste: “Y Not?”. Ringo chamou Paul de gênio, disse que McCartney foi ao microfone e inventou a parte que canta com ele em “Walk with me”.

A Motown comemorou 50 anos com uma festa que incluiu The Temptations, Aretha Franklin e Stevie Wonder , dia 21, sábado. O ingresso custou US$ 350,00 e o montante servirá para a construção de um museu da Motown. Berry Gordy fundou a Motown há meio século, lançando e apostando na música negra americana nos anos 60 e 70.

Pesquisador diz que Jesus Cristo, seguindo José de Arimateia, teria estado em Glastonbury, cidade que abriga um dos maiores festivais de Rock da atualidade. O filme “And did those feet” (e aqueles pés o fizeram), que defende que Cristo teria acompanhado José de Arimateia em uma visita à região para encontrar os druidas. Gordon Strachan comenta que Jesus teria ido à Grã-Bretanha aprofundar seus estudos e sua visita seria plausível, pois todos desconhecem o que teria feito Jesus dos 12 aos 30 anos. Ele teria ido aprender sobre Astronomia e Geometria nas ‘universidades’ da época. A ilha atraía gente que queria estudar espiritualidade e filosofia,  não só dos judeus, mas também das civilizações grega e clássica.

Depois daquele fatídico 08 de abril de 1970, quando Paul McCartney disse “o sonho acabou”, martelando o fim dos Beatles, começou o estranho mundo solitário dos quatro fabulosos rumo a sua identidade musical e política. Cada um buscou uma vertente e foi até o fim. Para o bem ou para o mal, a representação social, política e antropológica da ex-banda ainda continuou viva.

Paul McCartney era o mais musical, o primeiro a chegar e o último a sair do estúdio. Seus discos poderiam facilmente pertencer a discografia dos Beatles, pois se sabe que era dele a maioria das melodias e arranjos, isso ficou claro nos seus discos com os Wings e sozinho. O melhor exemplo que Paul nos deixa é que um artísta nunca deve envelhecer musiucalmente. Ele sabe acompanhar as tendências e se inserir nelas. Sendo fazendo discos de musica eletrônica, como o projeto Firebird, como o pedido dele para tocar com o MGMT, uma banda que não tem nem três anos de existência.

George Harrison acentuou sua imagem mística e usou de sua influência beatle para promover a World Music. Aprendeu cítara e divulgou a música indiana, produzindo concertos por lá, inclusive.

Ringo Starr sempre esteve no meio artístico. Seja como músico, gravando regularmente discos solos ou fazendo participação com outras bandas. Se aventurou pelo cinema e para falar a verdade nunca mais fez nada de mais. Passou a vida toda vivendo da “posse” de um Beatles e para ele sempre esteve bom assim. Nada de anormal, quando os Beatles estavam na “ativa” a postura dele era a mesma.

Jonh Lennon se transformou num cara de meia-idade. Lutou por um mundo melhor, fez passeata nas ruas, fez protesto numa cama, buscou derrubar as fronteiras dos países enquanto tinha várias mansões “cercadas” pelo país e mostrou ao mundo o seu excêntrico relacionamento com a também excêntrica Yoko Ono. Depois do nascimento do segundo filho resolveu ter uma vida pacata em casa, como se fosse possível. Retratou todas essa fases em suas músicas, outra característica que adquiriu enquanto estava nos Beatles.

Over the years, Macca’s solo renditions of Beatles’ classics have gotten bigger — bloated really — for stadium shows.  All polish, no grit.

But here Paul straps on his guitar and gets after it with his 2009 touring band on the highly underrated Beatles tune “I’ve Got A Feeling.”  This performance has all the balls of the original and retains the feel of a barroom blisterer.  There’s no sense that this was performed by arena-ready hired guns.  It’s as if Paul was back on the roof with the lads.

I’m stunned at how good this rendition is.  There’s one major downside: Abe Laboriel, Jr. (badly) singing John’s middle eight.  Isn’t there a better singer in Paul’s band?

It was a most significant year for me: I discovered two passions that have remained with me ever since: football (or what our American friends call soccer) and reading. The latter came first, in the shape of comic books. I never had much time for the Marvel comics type, which weren’t that big in West Germany anyhow. My first comic purchase, in 1973 when I was I Grade 2, was a rendering of Laurel and Hardy, known in Germany by the less than gratifying moniker Dick und Doof (Fat and Dim), which I bought on a train journey with my sister. But that wasn’t as good as the old film shorts which were shown on German TV on Friday afternoons. So I went on to the comic book version of Looney Tunes, with Porky Pig (or Schweinchen Dick), Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Yosemite Sam, Tweety and Sylvester, Roadrunner et al. This coincided with a failed campaign to persuade German TV not to pull the weekly Looney Tunes show from its schedule, a decision made due to the cartoons’ violence.

At about the same time, I picked up on the Fix & Foxi cartoons, a rather tame comic book with a cast of characters of varying attractiveness. My older brother by six years scoffed at Fix & Foxi, and waged a brutally relentless propaganda campaign against the comics and their originator, Rolf Kauka, whose good reputation my brother impugned in slanderous ways of such factually challenged nature, it would make Rush Limbaugh seem like a model of thoughtful tact and scrupulous truth. His objective: to get me reading the weekly Micky Maus comics (I now suspect that he figured he wouldn’t need to buy a copy if I did, and at the age of 13-going-on-14, he didn’t really want to be seen buying Micky Maus). So Fix & Foxi were dumped for the Disney comic, henceforth to be ridiculed and scorned. And he was right: I absolutely loved the adventures of Donald, his nephews and Onkel Dagobert (Scrooge), though I followed Micky and Goofy’s stories only halfheartedly. One winter-related memory stays with me: standing in the local, rather small supermarket by the very hot gas heater, which was covered with a polished stone slab, above which the magazines were kept (clearly the relationship between intense heat and paper did not worry the managers). Never since have I felt so comfortable in a shop.

Also in 1974 I read Astrid Lindgren’s Pippi Langstrumpf (Pippi Longstocking) trilogy, which I knew from the Swedish TV series (I had a big crush on Anika). A few years ago, when Any Minor Dude was younger, I read the books with him. I still enjoyed them very much, probably as much as he did.

And so to the music that soundtracked my year1974. As always I am anxious to issue the caveat that I do not necessarily endorse the songs featured.

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Lobo – I’d Love You To Love Me.mp3
This was first released in 1972, but entered the German charts only I late 1973, and topped the hitparades in early 1974. But before we amuse ourselves at the tardiness of German hipness, let it be recorded that I’d Love You To Love Me became a massive UK hit only in the summer on the back of its European success. I’d Love You To Want Me came into demand after playing in the background of an episode of the hugely popular police detective series Der Kommissar (the cultural inspiration behind the title of Falco’s huge 1982 hit), which just about every German watched on Friday nights. I think the youngest of my older sisters had the single. The singers name, Spanish for wolf, sounds like he belongs in the cast of the contemptuous Fix & Foxi comics. It will surprise most readers to learn that Lobo was not the singer’s real name. At passport control, he was better known as Roland Kent Lavoie. And one may be tempted to maintain a low opinion of a singer calling himself Lobo, but our man’s first group, The Rumours, also included Gram Parsons and Jim Stafford, who featured on the first Halloween mix.

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Walter Scheel – Hoch auf dem gelben Wagen.mp3
As far as I can recall, this was the last record I brought at grandmother’s prompting, possibly because I could take very little pride in it. Still, it is a record of some historic interest. There can’t be many leading politicians whose careers featured a sojourn into the pop charts. Walter Scheel was West Germany’s foreign minister when he recorded this, a traditional German song (of the Volksmusik genre) about hitching a lift with a postal carriage, which he recorded with the Düsseldofer Männergesangsverein (Düsseldorf men’s singing club). It is said that Scheel recorded the single in a bid to obtain support for his ultimately successful bid to become German president, a lagely ceremonial position, in 1974. Before becoming president, Scheel also briefly served as interim chancellor after the great Willy Brandt resigned over a spying scandal (one of his top aides was exposed as an East German spy). Scheel’s successor as foreign minister was the treacherous Hans-Dietrich Genscher, who never had a Top 10 hit. (Thank you to Teena for turning up the MP3 of this.)

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The Sweet – Teenage Rampage.mp3
Teenage Rampage was the hit in early 1974, The Six Teens (which will feature in 1974 Part 2) later in the year. It may be the nostalgia speaking, but I think these are my favourite Sweet songs. Teenage Rampage is the anthem for the revolution of the youth with The Sweet as the insurrection’s heralds, as though they are The Who for the bubblegum brigade (The Sweet were big Who fans, and Townsend in turn praised the group). “The kids are finally startin’ to get the upper hand. They’re out in the streets, they turn on the heat and soon they could be completely in command. Imagine the sensation of teenage occupation.” It was like punk need never happen.

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Ringo Starr – Photograph.mp3
A good case could be made for Photograph being the best solo single by an ex-Beatle. In fact, some people argue that Ringo’s was the most impressive of the Fab Four’s post-Beatles careers. I don’t think I would agree with those people as much as I disagree with those who dismiss Ringo’s solo output, which did produce a handful of fine songs. The truth is that Ringo started from a base of low expectation: for the haters, it’s the easy (and lazy) option to claim that he failed to proceed from that, and the advocates of Ringo’s genius might be overegging things because John, Paul and George did not quite meet the genius of the Beatles era. In any case, Photograph — Ringo’s best solo song and biggest hit — was co-written with George Harrison.

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Dan The Banjoman – Dan The Banjoman.mp3
Where is the banjo the title is promising us? The synth-like sound was apparently created by the overlaying of several guitar tracks. Sounds more like someone blowing on a comb to me. You don’t really hear instrumentals in the charts anymore — well, not since the 1970s. Back then, every year one or two instrumentals would become big hits. Before Dan the Banjoman there was Popcorn and Mouldy Old Dough. And Springwater’s mournful I Will Return, (which, like Popcorn, featured HERE). Dan The Banjoman was a project of the same guy who did Springwater, the multi-instrumentalist Phil Cordell, who died in 2007. It became a West German #1 hit twice, returning to the top spot after featuring in a commercial for orange juice.

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Vicky Leandros – Theo, wir fahr’n nach Lodz.mp3
Otto Waalkes – Das Wort zum Montag.mp3
Goodness, this is an awful novelty Schlager song. Vicky informs the titular Theo with deafening stridence which broaches no dissent that they are going to Lodz, a city in Poland. But Vicky clearly hasn’t thought this through, even as she correctly identifies the sound a cow makes (oh, but she does). To travel from the capitalist, imperialist Federal Republic of Germany to the socialist workers’ paradise of Poland was not as simple as packing an overnight bag and hopping into your Volksie bus. Just organising the visa was a bureaucratic nightmare. And then there were the border controls as Vicky and Theo would enter the workers’ and peasants state of the Democratic Republic of Germany! No, Theo, you don’t really want to go to Lodz. I wonder how many German readers of my age adapted the lyrics to: “Steh auf, Du altes Murmeltier, bevor ich Dir die Fresse polier’”? For our German friends, the skit by the once very funny comedian Otto Waalkes, riffing on Theo in sermon mode.

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The Rubettes – Sugar Baby Love.mp3
The reader may be surprised to learn that Any Major Dude With Half A Heart has quite a vocal range. Your correspondent can drone a manly baritone, whirr like a tenor, and squeal a mean falsetto, even without testicular interference. But your humble servant’s falsetto cannot reproduce the ear-bursting, dog-attracting eunuch’s call in Sugar Baby Love without risking damage to the vocal chords. This was one of the big summer hits of 1974, alongside Lodz-bound Theo, the universally beloved Seasons In The Sun, MFSB’s Philly soul anthem TSOP, and the next song.

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Charlie Rich – The Most Beautiful Girl In The World.mp3
I would sing this at a karaoke, with good cheer and no measure of embarrassment. I’d be the Thinning-hair Fox. They called Charlie Rich “The Silver Fox”, and I cannot think of any other grey-haired performer in the upper reaches of the charts at the time, or many at any time (if we discount the legions who dye their hair, of course). So here we have a true innovator, a man who not only embraced his middle age, but flaunted it — grey hair, midlife-crisis denim shirts & cowboy boots combo, the whole old geezer thing. It’s tempting to dismiss the song because it was popular, but it’s a damn good country song. The man’s heartbreak and regret are palpable, possibly because he realises that the age of disco is approaching and he won’t ever again pull most beautiful girls in the world like he used to.

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Candlewick Green – Who Do You Think You Are.mp3
Bo Donaldson & the Heywoods – Who Do You Think You Are.mp3
Opportunity knocked for Candlewick Green. The group won the famous British TV talent show, and were signed by Decca (a label forever condemned to finding the new Beatles in compensation for Dick Rowe’s failure to see talent in the original Beatles, at an audition at which they really did suck; a failure which even the signing of the Rolling Stones could not make up for). It took Candlewick Green a couple of years to score their solitary hit, and even then stalled at #24 in Britain. The song, written by Des Dyer and Clive Scott of fellow one-hit wonder band Jigsaw, was a North American hit in the version by Bo Donaldson and The Heywoods, whose version I include here for my transatlantic friends (they also covered Paper Lace’s Billy Don’t Be A Hero). If any of the songs here sounds like 1974, I’d say it’s Who Do You Think You Are.

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Santana – Samba Pa Ti.mp3
Samba Pa Ti was originally released in 1970, but became a hit in West Germany only in 1974. I suspect somebody in my immediate surroundings had the record, but who? Of those in my family who bought records, only my mother would have bought this, but I knew all her records, and she didn’t have that. So I can only guess that the amiable couple who lived above us, Peter and Karin, with whom our family regularly socialised, had a Santana thing going on. Either way, I was impressed with Samba Pa Ti (another instrumental, of course), which sounded terribly adult to me. When I hear it, I smell a particular strawberry-scented bubblegum which was very popular at the time, which goes to show just how suggestive of faint memories music can be.

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More Stepping Back

i found some dragon people!! they’re famous too! =)

Famous Dragon People: Ringo Starr, Edward Heath, Dr. Seuss, John Lennon, Harold Wilson, Helen Keller, Pearl S. Buck, Salvador Dali, Francois Mitterrand, Hosni Mubarek, Maya Angelou.

i have to laugh at dr. seuss. maybe that’s how i have strange tendencies to write stories as well.. kiddy stories too most often.. lol

oh and nursing clinical in maintenance is done!! i got a B+.. my cef said i was 90% independent and only 10% more and i could’ve gotten an A.. darn. lol anyways, i’m happy as long as i learned a lot during this rotation.. looking forward to community next term. =)

Dagens tips: Ta en låt som du tycker om och som du har lyssnat på så många gånger att den nästan, men bara nästan är uttjatad. Lyssna på den än en gång, men ansträng dig att inte lyssna på texten eller den musik som hörs bäst (t.ex. huvudgitarren). Lyssna istället på resten av musiken, den som man sällan lägger märke till i vanliga fall. Du kommer upptäcka nya delar av låten som förhoppningsvis gör den ännu bättre och mer intressant.

Jag gjorde detta med i princip hela Beatles-albumet Abbey Road på bussen idag och alla låtar blev direkt snäppet bättre, trots att de redan innan har varit bland det bästa jag någonsin har hört. Jag trodde jag hade tjatat sönder Gloden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End under alla repetitionstimmar i slutet av 9:an. Men icke! Nu hörde jag en massa fantastiska basgångar som jag inte hade någon aning om innan (lyssna bara på You Never give Me Your Money, Carry That Weight eller Here Comes the Sun så förstår du vad jag menar). Och jag fick också flera bevis på vilken betydande roll Ringo hade (vilket jag redan visste eftersom jag inte är dum i huvudet). Så alla där ute; underskatta aldrig en trummis! De är en viktig del för all musik som görs!

Ett annat tips är att lyssna på ett helt album från början till slut istället för att slumpa fram låtar. I många fall kan man följa en handling. Många låtar blir mycket bättre då

För övrigt är det helt underbart hur I Want You (She’s So Heavy) övergår i Here Comes the Sun på det nämnda albumet. Ville bara få det sagt.

AW Music Report:

Click here to go to AWM to check the Beatles “Can’t Buy Me Love”, and “Love Me Do”

El dia de mañana sera la premier de un nuevo documental de los fav5 llamado “The Beatles on Record”  a las 9 pm hora del centro.

El documental sera transmitido por THE HISTORY CHANNEL, gringo claro, y narrara la aventura que fue grabar sus discos desde el Please, Please Me hasta su Abbey Road LP, lo interesante de este es que sera narrado en su totalidad por John, George, Paul, Ringo y el llamado quinto Beatle, Sir George Martin.

No sabemos cuando sera estrenado en nuestro pais, pero existen opciones como Justin.tv para verlo el dia de mañana por la red.

Para baixar, clique no título do CD.

Ladies and gentlemen. Here they are, The Beatles!

* Please Please Me (Parlophone, 1963)

* With the Beatles (Parlophone, 1963)

* A Hard Day’s Night (Parlophone, 1964)

* Beatles for Sale (Parlophone, 1964)

* Help! (Parlophone, 1965)

* Rubber Soul (Parlophone, 1965)

* Revolver (Parlophone, 1966)

* Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Parlophone, 1967)

* Magical Mystery Tour (Capitol, 1967)

* The Beatles (“The White Album”) (Apple, 1968)

* The Beatles (“The White Album”) 2 (Apple, 1968)

* Yellow Submarine (Apple, 1969)

* Abbey Road (Apple, 1969)

* Let It Be (Apple, 1970)

Saber mais sobre os Beatles

Nevver Daily Report:

Click here to go to ND to check Ludella Black’s cover of the Beatles “I’ve Just Seen a Face”

This story originated from the mind of the late Harry Nilsson who said, “I was on acid and I looked at the trees and I realized that they all came to points, and the little branches came to points, and the houses came to point. I thought, ‘Oh! Everything has a point, and if it doesn’t, then there’s a point to it.” (source Jacobson, Alan (May 2004). “What’s The Point? The Legendary 1971 Animated Feature on DVD”) It took me a while to hunt up a copy of this as the original airing of it was on television back when a special program was typically shown at best, once a year. The Point follows the tale of a little boy name Oblio, a round headed boy in a village where by law, everyone and everything had to have a point. The sketchy style and expressive background coloring is very reminiscent of the old School House Rock short snippets on Saturday Morning where staying in the lines was ignored for patchy swatches of color as representational form. Voices provided for the characters include such notables as Ringo Starr (four people actually did the voice of the narrator, however, Starr’s voice was used for the home release of this movie), Davey Jones, Mickey Dolenz and Paul Frees. The storyline follows a highly imaginative group of individuals including giant bees, a pointing man and rock people. Be prepared for puns and double entendres as well as the melodious old songs of Harry Nilsson.

Ringo Starr lanzará Y Not, album producido por él siendo este el más personal de toda su carrera. En Y Not, acompañan a Ringo viejos amigos como Paul McCartney. Con él cantará el primer single del album: “WalK With You”, una conmovedora canción sobre el poder de la amistad.

Ringo Starr sempre foi um cara de sorte. A passagem de Pete Best pelo Brasil mês passado só fez reforçar o fato. Musicalmente, Ringo tem o mérito de sempre reunir os ex-companheiros de banda e de ser o responsável pelo melhor disco solo de um ex-Beatle (Ringo, de 1973).

Nos últimos anos Ringo vem caindo na estrada com sua All Starr Band (grupo formado pelos amigos que estejam disponíveis na época e que já contou com Jack Bruce, Peter Frampton, Billy Preston, Levon Helm e Dr. John, entre outros astros. Ele também lança discos com uma certa frequência e um nível mediano de qualidade. Seu último grande disco foi Stop and Smell the Roses (1982), que contava com canções dos parceiros George Harrison e Paul McCartney.

Agora, Ringo anuncia mais um lançamento – Y Not – para janeiro de 2010. O CD será lançado pelo conhecidíssimo selo Hip-O Records/UMe e conta com participações de Joss Stone, Joe Walsh, Van Dyke Parks e Paul McCartney, entre outros.

Não tenho idéia de como será o disco, até porque é Ringo vai se auto produzir pela primeira vez. Afinal, Y Not – segundo Ringo – é outra maneira de dizer Yes, We Can! O primeiro single, Walk With You, é uma reflexão sobre o poder da amizade e parte dela é cantada em dueto com Sir Paul, que também toca baixo em Peace Dream.

Ringo parece ter sido picado pelo mesmo mosquito nostálgico que infectou seu outro companheiro de banda dos anos 60. No novo CD há uma canção chamada The Other Side Of Liverpool.

Y Not, mais um gasto marcado para 12 de janeiro.

Conheça a discografia de Ringo.

From/De: MTV Games

MTV Games and Harmonix Unveil New Holiday Campaign for The Beatles™: Rock Band™

“The Making of The Beatles: Rock Band” Special to Premiere November 27th on VH1 Classic at 7:30PM ET/PT

New York, NY – November 20, 2009 – Harmonix Music Systems Inc., the leading developer of music-based games, and MTV Games, a part of Viacom’s MTV Networks, today unveiled a new marketing campaign for The Beatles™: Rock Band™ targeted to families this holiday season and complementary to the award-winning launch campaign. The new TV commercial can be viewed at www.thebeatlesrockband.com/press and will begin on-air rotations on Saturday, November 21st.

Celebrating the massive development effort behind The Beatles: Rock Band, VH1 has created a special look at how the game was created, including never-before-seen footage of Sir Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr at Abbey Road Studios being presented with work in progress by the Harmonix creative team. “The Making of The Beatles: Rock Band” is a 30-minute special that features interviews from Giles Martin, co-producer of The Beatles innovative LOVE album project and Music Supervisor for The Beatles: Rock Band, and Alex Rigopulos, co-founder and CEO or Harmonix Music Systems, as well as additional interviews with the development team. The special reveals the origins of the game and a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of the music video game that the New York Times called “the most important video game yet made.” “The Making of The Beatles: Rock Band” will premiere Friday, November 27th on VH1 Classic at 7:30 PM ET/PT.

“The Beatles: Rock Band is the perfect family gift this holiday, and our new TV creative, featuring the song ‘Day Tripper,’ really demonstrates how the game crosses generations to bring the whole family together,” said Paul DeGooyer, Senior Vice President of Electronic Games and Music for the MTV Networks Music Group. “We are also very excited that VH1 documented the making of The Beatles: Rock Band. Whether you are a Beatles fan, music game fan, or both, this VH1 special is a fascinating behind-the-scenes at look at this exciting project.”

The Beatles: Rock Band has been a hit with fans and critics alike, with USA Today calling the game “A superb, vibrant presentation,” and the New York Times proclaiming that “The Beatles: Rock Band is sheer pleasure.” Additionally, the game was recently awarded the honor of being one of the “Top Brands of the Year” by Ad Age.

The Beatles: Rock Band allows players to take an experiential journey through the storied career of the world’s biggest band. Now you can play along with the Fab Four on guitar, drums, bass, and on vocals using 3-part vocal harmonies for the first time ever. Play through story mode to experience the many stages of the band’s career, and collect rare and never-before-seen Beatles photos and videos.

Play along to 45 of The Beatles’ biggest hits, including classics such as “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” “Can’t Buy Me Love,” “Eight Days a Week,” “Day Tripper,” “Paperback Writer,” “Get Back,” “Come Together,” “A Hard Day’s Night,” and much more.

Additionally, players can complete The Beatles albums via downloadable content.
Abbey Road, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, and the single track “All You Need is Love” are all available for download now! The complete album of Rubber Soul will be available in December.

The Beatles: Rock Band is available for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system and Wii™ console from Nintendo.

SKUs available include:
The Beatles: Rock Band Limited Edition Bundle – US MSRP $249.99, continental Europe MSRP €199.00, UK MSRP £179.00
The Beatles: Rock Band Software for Xbox 360/PS3: US MSRP $59.99, continental Europe MSRP €69.99, UK MSRP £49.99
The Beatles: Rock Band Software for Wii: US MSRP $59.99, continental Europe MSRP €49.99, UK MSRP £39.99

Additional peripherals available include:
Rickenbacker 325 Standalone Guitar Controller – US MSRP $99.99, continental Europe MSRP €99.99, UK MSRP £89.99
Gretsch Duo Jet Standalone Guitar Controller – US MSRP $99.99, continental Europe MSRP €99.99, UK MSRP £89.99

In addition to The Beatles: Rock Band, MTV Games and Harmonix are proud to bring you the 2009 holiday lineup for the best-selling Rock Band™ franchise that delivers a fun and exciting way to interact with your favorite music, whether you’re an old school Beatles fan, a hardcore metal-head, a pop music lover, or someone who loves it all!

ROCK BAND™2

For true music fans, Rock Band 2 is the ultimate holiday gift. Between on-disc tracks and downloadable content, over one thousand songs are currently available for the Rock Band platform. Spanning genres from classic rock to heavy metal, punk to country, and including tons of huge artists, such as Queen, The Who, Green Day, The White Stripes, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Iron Maiden, AC/DC, Guns ‘N Roses, Foo Fighters, and No Doubt, no other music game franchise can even come close to matching the sheer breadth and variety of music you’ll find in Rock Band.

And if you’ve ever thought about trying Rock Band before but worried about the price, have we got a deal for you! Now you can pick up the Rock Band 2 bundle at all major retailers for only $99 for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system! Rock Band is also available for the Wii™ console from Nintendo.

Also available at retail for Xbox 360, PlayStation3, Wii, and PlayStation2 for $29.99:
Rock Band Country Track Pack
Rock Band Classic Rock Track Pack
Rock Band Metal Track Pack

ROCK BAND UNPLUGGED™ for PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) System

Put Rock Band in the palm of your hand with Rock Band Unplugged for the PSP! Rock Band Unplugged combines the Rock Band look and feel with classic beatmatching gameplay. You are a one-man band as you juggle all four instruments throughout the song. No clumsy miniaturized instruments required! Just tap the corresponding buttons on the PSP. Take your band on tour through 24 different venues and over 40 songs, and add new songs via the online music store! Rock Band Unplugged is the perfect present for a rocker on-the-go!

Available exclusively for the PSP system for US MSRP $29.99, continental Europe MSRP €39.99, UK MSRP £29.99.

Rock Band, Rock Band 2, Rock Band Unplugged and The Beatles: Rock Band is developed by Harmonix Music Systems and published by MTV Games. Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) serves as distribution partner.

LEGO Rock Band was developed by TT Games in partnership with Harmonix, and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and MTV Games.

For more information on Rock Band and Harmonix Music Systems please visit www.rockband.com and www.harmonixmusic.com.

About MTV Networks

MTV Networks, a unit of Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), is one of the world’s leading creators of entertainment content, with brands that engage and connect diverse audiences across television, online, mobile, games, virtual worlds and consumer products. The company’s portfolio spans more than 150 television channels and 350 digital media properties worldwide, and includes MTV, VH1, CMT, Logo, Harmonix, Nickelodeon, Nick at Nite, Noggin, The N, AddictingGames, Neopets, COMEDY CENTRAL, Spike TV, TV Land, Atom, Gametrailers and Xfire.

About MTV Games

MTV Games is dedicated to creating, marketing and publishing high-quality, innovative interactive products that are relevant to the MTV audience and complement the core values of the MTV Networks brands.

About Harmonix Music Systems, Inc

Harmonix Music Systems, Inc., based in Cambridge, MA, and established in 1995, is the leading developer of groundbreaking music-oriented videogames. Harmonix was founded by Alex Rigopulos and Eran Egozy, who formed the company to invent new ways for non-musicians to experience the unique joy that comes from making music and have pioneered music and rhythm gaming in the US. For more information please visit www.harmonixmusic.com.

About Electronic Arts

Electronic Arts Inc. (EA), headquartered in Redwood City, California, is a leading global interactive entertainment software company. Founded in 1982, the Company develops, publishes, and distributes interactive software worldwide for video game systems, personal computers, wireless devices and the Internet. Electronic Arts markets its products under four brand names: EATM, EA SPORTSTM, EA MobileTM and POGOTM. In fiscal 2009, EA posted GAAP net revenue of $4.2 billion and had 31 titles that sold more than one million copies. EA’s homepage and online game site is www.ea.com. More information about EA’s products and full text of press releases can be found on the Internet at http://info.ea.com.

© 2009 Harmonix Music Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Harmonix, Rock Band and all related titles and logos are trademarks of Harmonix Music Systems, Inc., a MTV Networks company. Rock Band developed by Harmonix Music Systems, Inc. MTV: Music Television, MTV Games and all related titles and logos are trademarks of MTV Networks, a division of Viacom International Inc., EA, , EA SPORTS, EA Mobile and POGO are trademarks or registered trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. Microsoft, Xbox, Xbox 360 and Xbox LIVE are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies. “PlayStation” and “PLAYSTATION” are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Wii is a trademarksof Nintendo. Guitar Hero is a registered trademark of Activision Publishing, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Or as close as we could possibly get to one. According to several “professional” sources (as if I’m not fucking professional), Paul McCartney will be working with Ringo Starr on his new album, entitled Y Not. Well, Ringo, I can think of one good reason; you’re not a very good songwriter. I’m a huge Beatles fan, but as Starr will tell you himself, he didn’t have much to do with the Beatles’ success. If his tragedy of a record Liverpool 8 is any indication of how this new record will sound, I, for one, am not going to waste time getting my panties wet over this pseudo Beatles reunion.

Plus, from what I’ve read, the duet they’re doing together is just going to be some really lame call-and-response thing. If I wanted that, I’d listen to “Baby, It’s Cold Outside.” It’s getting close to Christmas, after all.

Its either a cynical marketing exercise in the lead up to Christmas, or a really helpful move for those who can’t afford the steep asking price of the full Remastered boxed sets…

EMI in Europe has announced it is issuing (on 7 December) a limited edition boxed set of four of the new stereo remasters called The Beatles Christmas Pack.

The Beatles "Christmas Pack: Limited Edition"

The set will contain “Rubber Soul”,  “Revolver”, “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” and “Abbey Road”.

Each album will include the bonus “Making Of” video that uses exclusive original footage from the Beatles’ own archive plus other rare footage and voice-overs by the Beatles and George Martin.

Have you ever met one of your heroes? As a teenager I was a huge Beatles fan. I knew all the songs, all the lyrics. In fact I was so nerdy I could have told you the track order of every single (British version) album they produced between the years of 1962 and 1970. I was an uber-Fab Four geek. The inspiration of their incredible songwriting led me to write and perform songs of my own. Of the four, John Lennon was my biggest hero but I was well aware that all four of them made the band what it was – take any of them away and I do not believe their career would have been quite as successful.

In 1990 the guitarist in my band, Niall, offered me a ticket to see Paul McCartney play at Wembley Arena. This was his first major tour in some time (possibly his first since having ditched the ‘Wings’ format of his ever-changing backing band) and punters were told to expect plenty of Beatles songs. Niall’s brother-in-law was McCartney’s press agent at the time, which meant that we not only had tickets, we had backstage passes (which explains how I met Donald Sutherland backstage at a McCartney gig).

I spent weeks anticipating the fact that I was going to meet one of my childhood heroes. Yes of course I’d have loved for John Lennon to still be alive and to be able to meet him (meet him? I’d have put super-glue on my palm before shaking hands with him in order to get plenty of time to chat to the guy!). What does one say to such an important, if distant, figure in their lives? “Your music changed my life, Paul.” Hmm, bit corny and probably something he’s heard his whole life. “I love you.” Me and several million other people. I couldn’t work out whether there was anything worth saying and decided to just realize how lucky I was to be able to be in the same room as the guy.

As it turned out, even if I’d had a perfect speech planned to harangue the man with, I wouldn’t have been likely to get it out as when he was suddenly stood in front of me (Linda by his side), my tongue stuck itself to the roof of my mouth and it was all I could do to mumble “Hello” as we shook hands. In my defence, as he entered the room he really did bring that superstar presence into the place. This was one of the most famous people in the world and I guess if I was going to be reduced to a speechless buffoon I’d rather it was by a Beatle than by anyone else in the world.

The gig that evening reduced me to tears of joy so many times. ‘Live and Let Die’ was amazing, as were quite a few of his solo classics (even ‘Ebony and Ivory’ took on a poignancy I’d never credited it with before). But it was hearing Beatle’s songs live that brought the tears to my eyes again and again: ‘The Long and Winding Road’, ‘Hey Jude’, ‘Yesterday’ and then the entire medley from the second half of Abbey Road, concluding with ‘The End’, fittingly the last thing his former band ever recorded. By the end of the night I was practically speechless again and I’d realised something. The middle eight of ‘The Long and Winding Road’, which I’d always felt was ‘mine’ as a teenager, do not apply. ‘Many times I’ve been alone and many times I’ve cried’? Actually, despite the many times I had cried in those formative years, I’d never been alone – I could always stick a Beatles album on the turntable and let their songs chase away my loneliness.

Every so often you come across a CD or LP where you just can’t identify the country it was released in. Its kind of frustrating because collectors usually like to know this kind of detail…especially when you come across usual or different packaging of a release you think you know well.

That’s the case here with this three-LP set from 1971 of George Harrison’s “Concert for Bangladesh”.

Every copy I’ve seen to date comes in a hard cardboard box, with a lid that lifts off and looks like this:

The usual "Concert for Bangladesh" box

The box contains the three vinyl discs, and the white-covered 64-page book of concert photos, text and credits for the album. The rear of this box is plain and has no writing on it.

However, I have a copy in the collection that’s a bit different. Its a box, but made of soft cardboard that doesn’t have a lid. The front cover looks familiar enough:

Front cover "Concert for Bangladesh"

So far so good. But this release has flaps on the back which you pull out to get access to the records and book inside:

The flaps in the closed position

You flip open these flaps and the “box” looks like this:

"Concert for Bangladesh" open

From what I can tell the US, UK and Australian versions all have the lidded box, and not this top-opening, slide-out style box. Also the US and UK versions have dark khaki brown inner sleeves in which the records sit (the Australian release doesn’t have any paper sleeves).

Inside this box  though the LPs are in light yellow colored thin paper sleeves:

The LPs are in yellow paper sleeves

The place you can usually tell the country of origin is in the small print on the labels of the records themselves. This one has no hints – with no mention of a country of origin. However, it does have a lot more copyright information on each disc, located just near the record number information (see top the left-hand side in the pics below as compared to the Australian release):

The label of the "strange" version - with copyright info top left

Compare this to the official Australian release:

The Australian release label - note no copyright info

The final main difference is that the words “Sole Distributors, Gramophone Record Company, Ltd” are written on the labels and prominently across the back of the box. The image below is from the rear of the box:

"Sole Distributors, Gramophone Record Company, Ltd" printed on the rear of the box

So, a weird one.

Being a huge worldwide Apple release, this concert disc set would have been issued in a large number of countries. I have my suspicions that this one here could be either the New Zealand or the Indian release.  But I don’t have anything to prove that.

If anyone has any information on this release please let me know by submitting a comment. Cheers for now.