Welcome to this week’s Beatles Rarity Of The Week and Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you’re ready for something a little different this week because I’ve decided to throw a bit of diversity into the BROW segment this time in honor of the holiday and Tuesday’s release by The Fireman. You may say it’s too “un-Beatle-like” to be BROW material but (hey!) it is very Beatle-related and if you think that the Beatles were not into experimental music such as this, then I have to tell you, there is a lot by them you haven’t heard. The Fireman is the moniker given to the electronic music experiments created by Paul McCartney and the British producer Youth, who is also a bassist for the UK band Killing Joke. When the first release, Strawberries Oceans Ships Forest, appeared in stores in 1993, no one knew the identity of The Fireman as it was not made apparent in the CD packaging, nor in any promotional materials. By the time of their second release, Rushes in 1998, the press had leaked the secret. Both albums are dubbed as techno or electronica and have dance-oriented beats and no vocals. In 2000, Youth also assisted Paul with the similar sounding Liverpool Sound Collage CD. The song featured here is one of three alternate mixes of the track Fluid from the Rushes CD. It was released in the UK on a 12 inch vinyl single in early 1999, not released in the US at all, and is now long out of print. Of the three mixes on the single I chose this one since it was the only one that features a sitar.

Fluid 12 inch single cover art by The Fireman (1999)

The new CD released Tuesday by The Fireman is very different than its predecessors. Now there are vocals and the project as a whole is more rock-oriented. It doesn’t sound like anything from Paul’s mainstream catalog nor earlier Fireman projects but it is good stuff all the same.

Want to make a suggestion for a future Beatles Rarity of the Week? Then let me hear from you. Read about more Beatles rarities and suggest one for me to post. You can begin by searching for different versions of specific tracks right here.
Visit www.thebeatlesrarity.com for a new Beatles rarity each week, plus lots more!

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Welcome to this week’s BROW. By early 1968, George Harrison still had never had one of his own compositions on a Beatles single. This was about to change. The Beatles decided that before they take off to visit the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi’s Indian retreat, near Rishikesh India on February 21st, that they should get another single out to hold down the fort during their absence. Four songs were being worked on: Hey Bulldog, Across the Universe, Lady Madonna and George’s The Inner Light. John wanted Across The Universe to be the single A-side but was hurt by Paul’s lackluster contribution and finally decided that the version they had completed was not suitable for release. Hey Bulldog was set aside for the upcoming Yellow Submarine soundtrack and Paul’s Lady Madonna was given the honors as the A-side. George Harrison’s The Inner Light was issued as the B-side. It was the best, and last, of George’s attempts to incorporate Indian music into the context of The Beatles. The lyrics were pinched almost verbatim from a Japanese poem by Roshi. The version featured here is the instrumental track recorded with authentic Indian classical virtuosos in Bombay, where George had flown in January to supervise recording of his Wonderwall film soundtrack. Paul was said to be delighted with George’s song and is quoted as saying “Forget the Indian music and listen to the melody. Don’t you think it’s a beautiful melody?” The finalized version is on The Beatles’ Past Masters Vol. 2 CD.

George Harrison, 1968 (from Wonderwall Soundtrack LP insert)

Want to make a suggestion for a future Beatles Rarity of the Week? Then let me hear from you. Read about more Beatles rarities and suggest one for me to post. You can begin by searching for different versions of specific tracks right here.
Visit www.thebeatlesrarity.com for a new Beatles rarity each week, plus lots more!

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On last week’s BROW I featured Paul McCartney performing a medley of A Day In The Life and Give Peace A Chance in Liverpool in honor of John Lennon. In the post I mentioned another Lennon-medley from my collection performed by Paul during his 1989/90 world tour. Since then I’ve had several requests to post it, and so now I have. This live performance from June 28, 1990 was also recorded in Liverpool and includes Strawberry Fields Forever, Help! and Give Peace A Chance. It is not a bootleg but was released officially on a CD single which also featured live versions of All My Trials (as the A side) and C Moon. Another version of the single replaced the Lennon-medley with Mull Of Kintyre. All of these tracks were recorded live during Paul’s 1989/90 world tour and released on December 3, 1990 but since they were not released in the US at all and have been out of print for many years, I considered them to qualify as a rarity. Paul also performed this medley on other shows during the 1989/90 world tour including the Knebworth ’90 charity event (part of which was televised on MTV). Paul’s entire performance at Knebworth has been widely bootlegged and therefore the account of this medley from that show should be relatively easy to find.

CD single All My Trials released December 1990 in the UK.

Want to make a suggestion for a future Beatles Rarity of the Week? Then let me hear from you. Read about more Beatles rarities and suggest one for me to post. You can begin by searching for different versions of specific tracks right here.
Visit www.thebeatlesrarity.com for a new Beatles rarity each week, plus lots more!

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The work week is rapidly coming to a close which means it’s time for the BROW. In 2008, Liverpool UK is being recognized as the European Capital of Culture and for that reason both Paul and Ringo gave homecoming performances there, the place of their births, earlier this year. During Paul’s Liverpool gig on June 1, he performed a Lennon medley in honor of John that included A Day In The Life. As most of you realize, originally in 1967 John sang the verses of this song while Paul contributed vocals on the middle section (beginning with Woke up, fell out of bed….). It’s ironic that Paul’s own middle section of the song is the very part where he had a slight lyrical flub-up when he left out the found my coat, grabbed my hat line making him have to repeat the made the bus in seconds flat line. Otherwise, it’s not a bad performance although hearing it just makes me wish John could have been there to sing his part himself. In any event, that performance marked the first time A Day In The Life had ever been performed live by any member of The Beatles. Instead of going into the final verse, he goes into Give Peace A Chance at the break. I have another Lennon medley performed by Paul as a b-side to a UK CD single which features Strawberry Fields Forever, Help! and Give Peace A Chance and it was also recorded in Liverpool back in 1990. I may feature this soon too if I hear that any readers out there would like to hear it.

Paul McCartney in Liverpool, UK, June 1, 2008

Want to make a suggestion for a future Beatles Rarity of the Week? Then let me hear from you. Read about more Beatles rarities and suggest one for me to post. You can begin by searching for different versions of specific tracks right here.
Visit www.thebeatlesrarity.com for a new Beatles rarity each week, plus lots more!

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