Saturday, May 02, 2009

Outtake of the Week: "What You're Doing" (Take 11)

I thought I'd begin this series with one of my favorite Beatle recordings. Hands down the best outtake from Beatles For Sale to ever come to light, this is an early version of "What You're Doing" that is quite different from how the final version turned out. It has some great singing from John and Paul in the verses (whereas the album version features only Paul singing) and was recorded before they came up with Ringo's drum pattern to introduce the song.

Here's how it was first described when it surfaced:
What You're Doing (stereo) (Recorded September 30, 1964)
A truly exciting never before issued item, the 11th take of this Beatles For Sale track which was temporarily marked "best" until the Beatles remade the song on October 26. It's a bit rough around the edges but features a slate, studio chat, full vocals from Paul & John, and includes a "false ending" which was not utilized in the final version.



Until next week...

The Beatles: On Camera, Off Guard

by Mark Hayward

It perhaps seems impossible that any images of the Beatles remain unseen, but this fascinating book accompanied by a DVD of rare 8mm footage provides a whole new insight into the Beatles, in pictures. The over 200 images include several early photos of The Quarrymen - when John first met Paul; the filming of "A Hard Day's Night" at Paddington; the Beatles in the Bahamas in 1965 filming "Help"; John and Yoko at home; and Paul on holiday in Frank Sinatra's Learjet - plus many more! Encapsulating the culture, music and spirit of the 60s, this unique book brings us closer to one of the world's all-time favourite bands and is sure to delight any fan. While it could be said the the pictures 'speak for themselves', interviews with many of the photographers give us an extraordinary insight into the background of each shot, while extended captions give further behind-the-scenes information to complete this fascinating package.

Mark Hayward is an established collector of music and popular culture photography and memorabilia, who has gathered an unrivalled collection of material over the last 25 years. His previous books include The Beatles Unseen (Orion 2005) and The Rolling Stones, The Ronnie Wood Story.

Friday, May 01, 2009

Bob Dylan - Live, Finjan Club, Montreal, July 2, 1962

Label: Yellow Dog Records, YD 010
Country: Luxembourg
Year: 1991

MONO

BOB DYLAN
Live / Finjan Club, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
July 2, 1962

1. The Death Of Emmett Till (Bob Dylan)
2. Stealin' (Trad.)
3. Hiram Hubbard (Trad.)
4. Blowin' In The Wind (Bob Dylan)
5. Rocks And Gravel (Brownie McGhee)
6. Quit Your Lowdown Ways (Bob Dylan)
7. He Was A Friend Of Mine (Trad.)
8. Let Me Die In My Footsteps (Bob Dylan)
9. Still A Fool (Bob Dylan)
10. Ramblin' On My Mind (Robert Johnson)
11. Muleskinner Blues (Rodgers-Vaughan)

April 8, 1975 - The Tomorrow Show

Taped: Tuesday 8 April 1975
Aired: Monday 28 April 1975

Later in the evening, (between 1:00 and 2:00am ET), John is interviewed by Tom Snyder for the programme, The Tomorrow Show. Such is the importance of an appearance by John that the entire 50-minute programme is given over to him and, during the final part of the show, his lawyer Leon Wildes. Snyder begins the interview recalling The Beatles' impact in America during their first visit in 1964, and visiting a concert in Philadelphia in 1965 where, he remembers: "So much screaming and so much carrying on." He asks John, "Did this bother you at all while you were doing these concerts, that people couldn't hear your music and that all they could hear was themselves screaming?"

John replies: "It got a little boring. It was great when it first happened, when you first come on, all you got was 'wah!' But then it became lip-synching, miming, sometimes things would break down and no one would know... It wasn't doing the music any good."

Tom: "As I recall, there were fan clubs or clubs of followers for each of the individuals in the organisations ..."

John (interrupting): "Well, it was mainly a 'Beatle-Club' but they fanned it out a little just to keep a..."

Tom (interrupting): "Now, I'm just wondering just how unified any group can be when the audience have certain favourites. Maybe they like Paul more than they like John..."

John (breaking into laughter): "That's true."

Tom: "I just wondered if it's awfully difficult to be friends. And do you really care about whether or not you're friends when you are a group such as The Beatles, or whether you are The Rolling Stones or whatever?"

John: "We didn't break up because we weren't friends. We just broke up out of sheer boredom, you know, and boredom creates tension."









Thursday, April 30, 2009

Miss O'Dell: My Life with The Beatles, The Stones, Bob Dylan, and the Women Who Loved Them

by Chris O'Dell with Katherine Ketcham

I wasn’t famous. I wasn’t even almost famous. But I was there. I was in the studio when the Beatles recorded The White Album, Abbey Road, and Let It Be, and when Paul recorded “Hey Jude,” I sang in the chorus on the final cut. I lived at Friar Park with George and Pattie, typing the lyrics for George’s first solo album and shopping with Pattie for furnishings to fill the 120+ rooms. I was there the day George opened the newspaper to discover that Paul was leaving the Beatles due to “personal, business and musical differences.” I was alone with George in a house on the Pacific Coast Highway near Malibu when he sang the song he had written for me, which he titled “Miss O’Dell.” I was in London’s Olympic Studios when Leon Russell recorded “Pisces Apple Lady,” a song he had written to woo me. I toured with the Rolling Stones as their personal assistant. This book will follow my adventures over the twenty years that I worked and traveled with some of the greatest artists ever, which also include Queen, Santana, Earth Wind and Fire, Linda Ronstadt, Jennifer Warnes, Fleetwood Mac, ELO, Led Zepplin and more.

Chris O’Dell is a Licensed Professional Counselor and Licensed Substance Abuse Counselor in Tucson, Arizona where she has a private practice. She has a Master’s Degree in Counseling. In her current position as an addictions counselor in private practice, Chris often uses music therapy as a way of helping young people put words to their feelings.

From 1968 to 1984 she worked in the music world as an assistant and tour manager for the most influential musicians of that era. She has appeared on television, radio, and print media over the years relating her stories of her years with the Beatles and The Stones.

Katherine Ketcham is the coauthor of thirteen books, including The New York Times bestseller Broken: My Story of Addiction and Redemption with William Moyers (Viking, 2006, over 100,000 copies sold, excerpted in People magazine) and the bestselling classics Under the Influence with James Milam (Bantam, 1983; over one million copies sold), and The Spirituality of Imperfection with Ernest Kurtz (Bantam, 1992; 185,000 copies sold). Over 1.4 million copies of her books are currently in print and her books have been translated into thirteen languages.
For the last seven years she has worked part-time as a youth and family advocate for the Walla Walla Juvenile Justice Center. From 2001-2003 she wrote a bi-monthly column on addiction and recovery for her hometown newspaper, The Union Bulletin. She has appeared on local and national television and radio programs to promote her books.

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

The Beatles Across the Universe: John, Paul, George & Ringo On Tour And On Stage

Culturally the Beatles were a global phenomenon - changing all facets of popular music for good, but not just because they were a band that made great recordings. How big a part did performing in concert play? Would they have achieved what they did without an early grounding in the dance halls and clubs of Liverpool and Hamburg? After their first year as a headline-grabbing attraction, why did The Beatles soon tire of the relentless pace of Beatlemania? Through print and images from the visually-astounding Daily Mirror archive, Across The Universe: On Tour And On Stage answers these questions, examining in detail the Beatles as a live act between the key Beatlemania years of 1963-1966 and to mark the event's 40th anniversary, The Beatles' last ever performance - an impromptu session on a central London rooftop. Across The Universe: On Tour And On Stage takes the reader on a magical mystery tour though ballrooms, theaters, airports, limos, and stadiums across the globe and along the way, illustrates why The Beatles were seen but not heard throughout the 1960s.

ANDY NEILL is a music writer, researcher and historian, who co-wrote the acclaimed illustrated biography, Anyway Anyhow Anywhere: The Complete Chronicle Of The Who. He has contributed to numerous best-selling rock music biographies and documentaries including The Real John Lennon, The Rolling Stones' Rock And Roll Circus, and Amazing Journey: The Story Of The Who. He lives in London and has been a Fab Four fanatic all his life.

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

April 11, 1980 - Cannon Hill, Cold Spring Harbor

Taped: Saturday 11 April 1980?

Using his video camera, John recorded two versions of 'Dear Yoko', the second being re-recorded after he noticed on playback that he needed to put a light on!

Monday, April 27, 2009

Beatle People: Bruno Koschmider

Bruno Koschmider was a German entrepreneur in Hamburg, Germany. He controlled various businesses, such as the Bambi Kino, which was a porn cinema. Allan Williams booked The Beatles (in May 1960) into Koschmider's Indra club.

The Beatles first played at the Indra club - sleeping in small, dirty rooms in the Bambi Kino - and then moved (after the closure of the Indra) to the larger Kaiserkeller In October 1960, they left Koschmider's club and worked at the "Top Ten Club," which was run by Peter Eckhorn. When Paul McCartney and Pete Best went back to the Bambi Kino to get their belongings they found it in almost total darkness. As a snub to Koschmider, they found a condom, attached it to a nail on the concrete wall of their room, and set fire to it. There was no real damage, but Koschmider reported them for attempted arson. McCartney and Best spent three hours in a local jail and were deported, as was George Harrison (for working under the legal age limit).

Wikipedia

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Beatle People: Jenny Boyd

Helen Mary Boyd (born 8 November 1947 in Guildford, Surrey, England) was a 1960s London fashion model; she is the younger sister of Pattie Boyd, who married Beatle George Harrison.

She was given the nickname "Jenny" as an infant by sister Pattie, after her favorite doll. She dated folk-rock singer Donovan, who wrote the song "Jennifer Juniper" about her. Later she shared an apartment with Magic Alex of Apple Corps's Apple Electronics subdivision. She also worked at the Apple Boutique in London.

She married Fleetwood Mac drummer Mick Fleetwood on June 12, 1970 and they had two daughters: Amy Rose and Lucy. After divorcing Fleetwood (and remarrying and re-divorcing him), Jenny eventually married drummer Ian Wallace (formerly of King Crimson). She attended UCLA in the late 1980s and earned a Ph.D. in psychology, and became a clinical consultant and author. She co-authored a book about music and psychology, titled Musicians in Tune.

She traveled with the Beatles and sister Pattie Boyd on their famous trip to India in early 1968.

Wikipedia