Merry Christmas and welcome to BROW. As the 1970′s ended, so did Paul McCartney & Wings. This week’s BROW recounts a farewell performance of one of the most successful acts of that decade. This last hoorah by Wings was recorded on December 29th, 1979 at a series of benefit concerts for the people of Kampuchea. The event took place at the Hammersmith Odeon in London and was organized by Paul and Kurt Waldheim to raise money for the victims of war-torn Cambodia. The line-up of Wings at the time was Paul & Linda along with Denny Laine (bass, guitars, piano), Laurence Juber (guitar, vocals) and Steve Holly (drums). This particular performance also includes a phenomenal amount of other English rock musicians on it such as Kenney Jones, Dave Edmunds, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones, John Bonham, Gary Brooker, Pete Townshend and more. The combination of all of these musicians came to be known as the Rockestra Line-up and this rocking instrumental was their theme. Also present for the concerts were Queen, The Clash, The Who, Ian Drury & The Blockheads, The Pretenders, The Specials and more. The double album release covering the performances at the shows was not released to vinyl until March of 1981 and has never been released to CD. I have no idea why not, but since it hasn’t it is now a rare recording that has been out of print for many years. The way Paul yells “Happy New Year” at the conclusion made me feel that it was an appropriate time to feature this on the BROW. Enjoy, thanks for reading and Happy New Year to you all.

Cover for the 1981 double vinyl LP Concerts For The People of Kampuchea (never released to CD)

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!

Related posts:

1. The Rockestra Theme Wow! How many legends can you spot in this line-up?...
2. Let It Be – Rockestra, 1979 This is Rockestra which includes Paul McCartney and Wings along...
3. Beatles Rarity Of The Week – Cage (out-take) Since 2007, I have been bringing you a new Beatles-related...

Welcome to this year’s Christmas BROW. Most Beatles fans realize that 1963 was a big year for the Fab Four. They had already accomplished a string of #1 singles as well as a number one album early in the year and another one out by late November that also topped the charts in many European countries. The Beatles Fan Club was also in full swing in the UK. On December 6, 1963, British members of the fan club were sent a one sided flexi-disk with The Beatles wishing their fans a Merry Christmas, singing Christmas songs and thanking them for their support. The response was so good that the Christmas records became a tradition and a new one was recorded and sent to fan club members every year The Beatles were together (i.e. through 1969) and then in 1970 an album was created that recapped all of the previous Christmas records on one disk. Since they were only released to fan club members officially, they became quite rare after The Beatles separated. Here for your review is the first one The Beatles released in 1963. It was recorded on October 7th in Abbey Road studios for you historians. Merry Christmas everyone.

Picture sleeve for 1963 Beatles Christmas Record issued exclusively to fan club members.

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!

Related posts:

1. Beatles Rarity Of The Week – Another Beatles Christmas Record (1964 fan club record) Welcome to your Christmas-week BROW! As most fans are aware,...
2. Freda Kelly – Beatles Fan Club Secretary, 1963-1972 Liverpudlian Freda Kelly was the Beatles Fan Club Secretary from...
3. Good Ol’ Freda – the film, the memories and the magic Okay, so may I test your Beatles knowledge here for...

Welcome to this week’s Beatles Rarity Of The Week. Most Beatles fans are aware of the early session where the Beatles (including Pete Best on drums) were invited to back up singer/guitarist Tony Sheridan. The resulting Polydor single My Bonnie released first in Germany and later in the UK, became the cause for, then Liverpool record shop manager, Brian Epstein and future Beatles manager to seek them out and meet them for the first time. There are three official mixes of this song. The initial German single (called the Rock version) opened with a slow verse sung by Tony in German. A few months after this, around the beginning of 1962, the single was re-issued in Germany with the slow opening verse sung in English. In Germany this was labeled as the Twist version. Both of these releases were credited to Tony Sheridan and The Beat Brothers. As the The Beatles’ popularity grew, subsequent releases were billed as Tony Sheridan & The Beatles or as The Beatles (with Tony Sheridan). This song along with others from those sessions were released on many other singles, albums and EPs. Later issuances often truncated the slow intro-verse altogether, creating the third mix that is still heard today. Of the three mixes, the rarest is the Rock version (i.e. the one with the German vocals) since it was only issued on vinyl in Germany and is now long out of print and nearly forgotten, until now, on the BROW.

By the way, the earliest American single release of My Bonnie contained the Twist version and copies of this Decca 45 in mint condition are worth in excess of $15,000.

German first issue of My Bonnie 45, 1961

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!

Related posts:

1. Beatles Rarity Of The Week – Sweet Georgia Brown (w/original Sheridan vocal) Welcome to the Beatles Rarity Of The Week. Most Beatles...
2. Collector’s Corner – U.S. Decca 1962 My Bonnie single…the first Beatles appearance on American vinyl While the last Collector’s Corner article covered the first time...
3. Beatles Rarity Of The Week – Wild Cat (1960 ‘Beatals’ session) Welcome to the Beatles Rarity Of The Week. The rockabilly...

Welcome to this week’s BROW. Many of the mono versions of Beatles recordings are actually a completely different mix than the stereo mixes that are much more commonly heard today. In 1967, when the Pepper album was released, mono was on the way out and much fewer mono copies of the album were manufactured than stereo editions. This is why the mono version of the title track is quite rare and yet there are some subtle differences. The lead guitar that follows the line I don’t really want to stop the show in the final verse is much more prominent on the mono mix and barely audible on the stereo version. The crowd noise sound effects are different and the crossfade into the following track With A Little Help From My Friends is not quite as well hidden as it is on the stereo mix. By the following year when The White Album was released, mono albums were a thing of the past in America.

Sgt. Pepper Photo Session, 1967

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!

Related posts:

1. Beatles Rarity Of The Week – Your Mother Should Know (early acetate) In celebration of the Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band...
2. Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band on Beatles Rockband The word in the news is that Harmonix and MTV...
3. Beatles Rarity Of The Week – Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (unconnected) Welcome to the BROW. It’s pretty common knowledge that by...