This week’s video feature gives us The Beatles live at Budokan Hall in Tokyo on the evening of June 30, 1966. The Beatles did a total of five shows at Budokan over their three day stay until July 2, 1966. Two of these were recorded (this one and the July 1 afternoon show). Enjoy!

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George Harrison, 1943-2001

I just can’t say how much I miss George Harrison. I’m sure a lot of others reading must feel the same way. I find it hard to get used to having to think of him as someone who is not physically with us anymore. He would have been 67 today. Back in February 2001, he did a web-chat appearance for Yahoo and I remember it well because I was right there trying to get my questions in too. I’ve recently noticed that the transcript from that is on his official site and I have pasted it here, in case you want to give it a quick read. Although his appearance was somewhat short, he had a humorous and very candid approach to all the very random questions dished out to him and that makes me appreciate his disposition all the more. Happy Birthday, George!

George Harrison Webchat

In 2001, George did a live webchat with the fans to celebrate the 30th anniversary of All Things Must Pass
below is the Yahoo Chat transcript — enjoy!
(live chat with George Feb. 17, 2001)

george_harrison_live: Hello!
george_harrison_live: It’s nice to be here!
george_harrison_live: It’s my first time on a computer….I’m pretty illiterate :)

yahoomusic asks: what made you decide to re-issue ATMP now?
george_harrison_live: It’s the 30th anniversary and I’m in the process of remastering my entire catalog
george_harrison_live: which i want to get back into the stores
george_harrison_live: so we started with that one
george_harrison_live: and hopefully during the year
george_harrison_live: we’ll be able to come with the next batch and so on
george_harrison_live: so that everything i have ever done will be available.

morvyon asks: George, are you planning a new studio album?
george_harrison_live: yeah.
george_harrison_live: after i’m through with all that stuff, i hope to put out a new studio album
george_harrison_live: possibly november
george_harrison_live: and i have at the moment many songs in various states of completion
george_harrison_live: possibly 35 songs that i have been working on over the years.

yahoomusic asks: do you surf the internet much? what types of things do you do online.
george_harrison_live: no.
george_harrison_live: i never surf
george_harrison_live: i don’t know the password

willowy_blonde asks: hi, my boyfriend wants to know,(he’s a m whats your fave electric guitar and do you still have “Rocky” your ’61 fender strat?
george_harrison_live: hello willowy blonde!
george_harrison_live: i still have Rocky!
george_harrison_live: and he can be seen at Cyril’s rare guitar shop on www.allthingsmustpass.com

timbarwick asks: Will you be releasing Living in the Material World in a remastered/extra tracks version?
george_harrison_live: well, as i said before
george_harrison_live: that will be the next one to be remastered
george_harrison_live: i have to get into my tape library to find out if there are any alternate versions of anything.

silbeat asks: Hi George! Glad to hear from you again! Are you planning to do any live performances? If so, where would you like to play? (Please include Argentina!!!). With love from Argentina. Sole, Mara, Silvi, Vale, Gilda, Ale, Sami and Graciela.
george_harrison_live: Hello Argentina! :)
george_harrison_live: at the moment i have no plans for live performances
george_harrison_live: if i do later, i will certainly come to argentina

rbortega2001 asks: What did you think of Bob Dylan getting nominated for an Oscar?
george_harrison_live: I think he should win it!
george_harrison_live:I think he should win ALL the oscars
george_harrison_live: all the tony’s
george_harrison_live: all the GRAMMYs

pcpalmiere asks: How has The Rutles influenced your career?
george_harrison_live: I got all my ideas from the rutles!
george_harrison_live: particularly te 12-string rickenbacker and slide guitar styles i got from Stig O’Hara.
george_harrison_live: I met him once and he is a super chap.

oldmanalex asks: Hello from Russia, George! Russian fans invites you to play in Moscow! Can you tell, will the Traveling Wilburys reform? Is there any plans to record something with Tom Petty, Bob Dylan and Jeff Lynne?
george_harrison_live:Thank you Russian fans!
george_harrison_live: I’ll be there after Argentina!

nattyrobbo asks: Hi George! I?m Natalie, an 18 y.o. girl from Australia, and I?m a HUGE fan. Any hints for a budding guitarist???
george_harrison_live: yes.
george_harrison_live: Buy a ukulele!

mike_n_tex asks: this is for george: George, do you ever see a reunion tour with you and Paul and Ringo?
george_harrison_live: but stranger things have happened.

flatcat65 asks: George, Which version of My Sweet Lord do you like best, your original or the new version?
george_harrison_live: I like the new version better.
george_harrison_live: Because it’s new!
george_harrison_live: and i like Sam Brown singing it.

ChatYahoo_Lisa: Why did you re-visit it?
george_harrison_live: At the time, the song was so popular and also so controversial that the most important thing about it for me was that it
george_harrison_live: in it’s small way
george_harrison_live: conjured up a touch of spirituality
george_harrison_live: something we are very short of…

ChristopherClause asks: Hi George! Christopher here! Thank you for being such an inspiration! What was it like working with Phil Spector? Although I can hear his influence, your “influence” and leadership in the production is clear. God bless you, George!
george_harrison_live: Phil Spector was probably the greatest producer from the 60s and it was good to work with him because i needed some assistance in the control box.
george_harrison_live: Phil is very funny
george_harrison_live: loveable
george_harrison_live: we love him :)

mebissy asks: I have several teenage friends who’ve just discovered “All Things Must Pass”. They were wondering about radio airplay. I explained that this was a re-mastered, etc. album – a re-release essentially. They, however (as do I) feel the music is just as cool as it was when you first released the work. Wouldn’t it be great if a single was selected and the whole cycle could start again?
george_harrison_live: It’s nice to know that teenagers find All Things Must Pass *cool*
george_harrison_live: as far as a single goes,
george_harrison_live: i suppose that’s really up to Capitol Records
george_harrison_live: i have no objection!

melissay1 asks: Hi, Mr. Harrison, how do you feel about the Beatles 1 album being top of the charts?
george_harrison_live: It’s very nice
george_harrison_live: It’s also nice that young children seem to be hearing it for the first time
george_harrison_live: and i think as an alternative form of music for today
george_harrison_live: it has its place alongside all this other stuff.

captainwombat_2000 asks: Out of curiosity, why the garden gnomes on “All Things Must Pass?”
george_harrison_live: Originally, when we took the photo
george_harrison_live: i had these old Bavarian gnomes
george_harrison_live: which i thought i would put there
george_harrison_live:like kinda…john, paul, george and ringo
george_harrison_live: gnomes are very popular in Europe
george_harrison_live: and these gnomes were made in about 1860
george_harrison_live: so, while building the website
george_harrison_live: the gnomes just seem to get into it
george_harrison_live: and we just couldn’t stop them

gearfabasitwere asks: is indian music still a big influence on your music?
george_harrison_live: yes!

ChatYahoo_Lisa: anything particular?
george_harrison_live: check out U.Srinivas a south indian electric mandolin player
george_harrison_live: eat your heart out Van Halen

moosefalva101 asks: following the incident at your house on dec. 1999 has your outlook on life changed at all?
george_harrison_live: yes and no.
george_harrison_live: Adi Shankara an Indian historical, spiritual, groovy-type person once said
george_harrison_live: “Life is fragile, like a raindrop on a lotus leaf”
george_harrison_live: and you better believe it!

Nicole_Paul asks: I am curious about your website and the way the cover photo is altered by adding roads and urban development to the picture. Does that symbolize anything?
george_harrison_live: Yes.
george_harrison_live: It symbolizes that our world is being concreted over.

bluejeanbaby42001 asks: George, you have quite a reputation as a gardener…What are some of your “pride & joy” plants? Love, Dianne
george_harrison_live: Well, for the cooler climates (as in England)
george_harrison_live: the current trend is definitely toward Miscanthus
george_harrison_live: You’ll find many lovely varieties
george_harrison_live: try the Zebrensis
george_harrison_live: ad also the Malepartis
george_harrison_live: however,
george_harrison_live:if you’re gardening in the tropics
george_harrison_live: i think you’ll find a lovely little ginger
george_harrison_live: called Kahili
george_harrison_live: :P

a_t_m98 asks: Mr. Harrison..what is the opening chord you used for “A Hard Days Night”?
george_harrison_live: It is F with a G on top (on the 12-string)
george_harrison_live: but you’ll have to ask Paul about the bass note to get the proper story.

hari_girl asks: what do you think of eminem’s grammy nomination?
george_harrison_live: What’s eminem?
george_harrison_live: aren’t they chocolates or something?

beatles_lvr asks: You started the “band aid” movement; who would you help today? Love you George!!
george_harrison_live: Bob Geldof!

Moyette asks: What did you record with Bill Wyman last month?
george_harrison_live: :)
george_harrison_live: An old Ketty Lester song called “Love Letters”

sharonconcannon2000 asks: Why was “I Live For You” left out of the original mix? (I think it’s lovely, thank you for putting out at last!)
george_harrison_live: I didn’t think that we had got a good enough take on it.
george_harrison_live: Except for Pete Drake, the pedal steel guitar player.
george_harrison_live: At that time, I had so many other tracks as well,
george_harrison_live: so we just left it off
george_harrison_live: It did need patching up
george_harrison_live:in the drum department

pcpalmiere asks: How close are you to releasing that boxed set of unreleased songs and demos you talked about in Billboard some time back?
george_harrison_live: well, hopefully touring this year i should at least get out a new album and all the other boxes of unreleased demos could possibly follow in 18 months. I’m trying to get everything that has ever been done out there. It’ll just take a little time.

nikolaidisgm asks: george, what do you miss most about john lennon
george_harrison_live: John Lennon.

michaelcalcina asks: George: In the Anthology book, you talk about the unwound G string. What is that? I play guitar and I’m not sure what you’re talking about.
george_harrison_live: It’s one of those little things that goes up your butt so that people can’t see your pantylines.
george_harrison_live: No, It’s actually a 3rd string that doesn’t have a winding around it.

spongeweed70508 asks: Does Paul still piss you off (tell us the truth)
george_harrison_live: Scan not a friend with a microscopic glass — You know his faults — Then let his foibles pass.
george_harrison_live:Old Victorian Proverb.
george_harrison_live: I’m sure there’s enough about me that pisses him off, but i think we have now grown old enough to realize
george_harrison_live: that we’re both pretty damn cute!

incantataa asks: Mr. Harrison, I was wondering if you might tell us a bit about your ideas on love. Romantic love, that is. I recall you having written some of the Beatles’ most beatiful love songs. It would be interesting to hear how your religious attitudes have impacted your beliefs concerning romanticism.
george_harrison_live: Well, the lover that we miss is actually God.
george_harrison_live: The beauty that you see within each other is actually God.
george_harrison_live: So, Krishna was the greatest romanticist. He had girlfriends on every corner!
george_harrison_live: I can’t separate the two — a beautiful girl is the divine mother, a beautiful man is the manifestation of potential.

fabzzy asks: You’re joking in a most Pythonistic manner tonight George.., it’s great to hear you online!!!
george_harrison_live: PISS OFF!
george_harrison_live: you nosy bastard!

i_arcos asks: Is it true that you recorded “Homeward Bound” with P. Simon?
george_harrison_live: I recorded that with Paul Simon on Saturday Night Live back in 1853.

tnntxx asks: George, given the drug experimentation of the 60′s, how do you feel about the legalization of pot?
george_harrison_live: Well, I saw someone on TV last night pulling out huge loads of pot out of various fields in California. My feeling is…
george_harrison_live:as long as you can go into a store and buy
george_harrison_live: whiskey
george_harrison_live: bourbon
george_harrison_live: and all the rest of it
george_harrison_live: then, a little grass is nothing.
george_harrison_live:the authorities are just causing the price to be high — ‘scuse the pun.

ckeavenyuk asks: Have you any tips to budding songwriters. Do you, as John apparently advised you stick at it until you have finished it,.
george_harrison_live: Try and write some melodies. And some words that mean something.
george_harrison_live: It is true that if you are on a roll, then it’s best to finish it in one go.
george_harrison_live: That’s what Johnny said.

kdtash asks: Any chance that the Dark Horse material, esp. Shankar Family and Friends will be released on CD?
george_harrison_live: Well, along with my own catalog of records
george_harrison_live: the other Dark Horse records
george_harrison_live: hopefully
george_harrison_live: will be finding a new home
george_harrison_live:and coming out on CDs (remastered) sometime in the future.

mp0071999 asks: Hey George will you be ever be back on Yahoo?
george_harrison_live: Possibly. It’s pretty painless for me.

kyntire2001 asks: Happy Birthday (a little early). During your recent Internet video promoting All Things Must Pass, you pointed to an engraving on the back of your guitar. What did the engraving say?
george_harrison_live: It’s a Maclaren strat and it had a metal chassis number plate on the back.
george_harrison_live: Thank you all!
george_harrison_live: May God bless you all.
george_harrison_live: Don’t forget to say all your prayers tonight.
george_harrison_live: Be good little souls.
george_harrison_live: Lots of Love!
george_harrison_live: George.
george_harrison_live: :)
george_harrison_live: :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)

ChatYahoo_Lisa: Thank you sooo much for joining us….pretty please come back soon!
george_harrison_live: Check out www.allthingsmustpass.com
george_harrison_live: for further entertainment!

ChatYahoo_Lisa: Bye everyone!

btbgolfmom asks: BLESS YOU!!

rtasquer asks: Love you George!! Thanks for everything!!!

maccabarbaz asks: Thanks, George, for chatting. Best wishes to you!

shiva2731 asks: Om Shanti

mp0071999 asks: This was great for me George

trinka20854 asks: Thanks

antneed asks: Thank YOU George!

dixie2pretty asks: lots of luck in the future george

pterron asks: love you George! Come to Brasil!

purplehaze50us asks: please tell george that I do wish him and his family peace, love and prosperity. a loyal fan from new york here

gopalakrsna asks: Happy birthday!!

rvv21 asks: Best of Luck!

dream_girl_glitter asks: Lots of love to you George!

green-lantern asks: George! I hope you have the best birthday ever! Thanks for coming!!!

pwinch01 asks: thanks george

braddp186k asks: Thank you so much George for the visit. I am so delighted to be hearing from you again! All my best to you and your family!

TimHites asks: George Harrison is one cool human!

Parrothead_Will asks: You rule George. Keep on pumping out great tunes

tripblackspacegirl asks: Love your music.
Yahoo_Host1: Chatters – just a reminder -
Yahoo_Host1: we’ll post the transcript from tonight’s amazing chat
Yahoo_Host1: with George Harrison tomorrow.

wdboguy asks: George has left the building

slugbrad asks: Thanks for EVERYTHING!!

purplehaze50us asks: george thank you for giving the world all the wonderful music

jbpintus asks: It’s already finished ! All things must pass !!!

There’s more of George right on this site by clicking here.

Visit www.thebeatlesrarity.com for a new Beatles rarity each week, plus lots more!

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While vacationing on a cruise liner, The Beatles go underwater in a miniature craft to avoid screaming fans, then perform for a lady-Octopus, who gets a crush on them.

Visit www.thebeatlesrarity.com for a new Beatles rarity each week, plus lots more!

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Welcome to The Beatles Rarity Of The Week. Journalist Richard Simpson claims that John Lennon wrote And Your Bird Can Sing after hearing from Rolling Stone Mick Jagger that his new girlfriend, Marianne Faithful, is quite a singer (“bird” is slang for girl or girlfriend in the UK). Whatever the inspiration, it turned out to be a good little rocker with a nice dual-guitar melody played by George and Paul. It was first titled You Don’t Get Me and The Beatles started recording it on April 20, 1966. After creating a rhythm track (take 1), John and Paul overlaid a basic vocal track to create take 2. Additional vocal overdubs were still needed and several were worked on the same day, including one that has John and Paul giggling hysterically. That one can be heard on The Beatles Anthology 2 CD set. The liner notes say that nothing in the surviving tapes indicate the reason for the laughing. I happen to suspect it might have something to do with what they were smoking. The version featured here is the same take 2 heard on Anthology, but before the “giggles” overdub was added to it. This take has a completely different arrangement from what was to end up as the master and was eventually scrapped. The following week on April 26th, they started over on it, completing takes 3-13. Take 10 ended up being used to create the master, but the mono mix uses a different instrumental ending from one of the other takes. An early version of the mix was sent to Capitol in the US to use for the Yesterday…And Today album released on June 20, 1966. The final mix appeared on the UK version of the Revolver LP released on August 5, 1966. By the time of the following album (Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band), there would no longer be so much difference between the US and UK Beatles releases.

The Beatles, circa 1966

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 Cooler was a short promo film for Ringo Starr’s Stop And Smell The Roses album that was directed by 10cc’s Kevin Godley and Lol Creme. It was filmed in southwest London in mid-January 1981 by Paul McCartney’s MPL Communications and stars both Paul and Linda, along with Ringo’s new wife, Barbara Bach. At nearly ten minutes, it features three songs from the LP: Private Property, Sure To Fall and Attention. The first and third were written by Paul, while the second, as you are probably aware, was a big Carl Perkins hit, back in the day. All three tracks were produced and mixed by Paul and include Ringo on drums and lead vocals, Paul on bass and piano, Paul and Linda on backing vocals and Wings guitarist Laurence Juber on guitar (wow! Ringo McCartney & Wings!). Paul also mixed and produced these three songs. The film was shown at the Cannes Film Festival and I read an opinion somewhere that it was a kind of “kinky” film, but I’ll say no more about that. Although the film did little to help with the sell of the album, the album, in hindsight is probably Ringo’s best of the late 70′s/80′s era.

The Stop And Smell The Roses LP also contained contributions by George Harrison. George composed the song Wrack My Brain which, along with Private Property, was released on a single. George produced and mixed this track along with Ringo’s cover of You Belong To Me. John Lennon also had plans to help out with this one too, but sadly, the events of December 1980 kept this from happening. There are even other big name contributors including Stephen Stills, Ron Wood, Harry Nillson and Jim Keltner, to name a few more. Bottom line: if you don’t already own this album, it just might be worth checking out.

Visit www.thebeatlesrarity.com for a new Beatles rarity each week, plus lots more!

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I have recently added the famous Digg button on the site after each post. It is discreetly hanging out under the “Fab” button. What this means is there are now 3 things you can do with a post after reading, viewing or listening to it. You can click the “Fab” button if you like it, you can click the Digg Button if you “Digg It”, and you can even post your own comment, if you have something to say about it. Clicking the Digg Button submits the post on Digg.com (for the first click) and then it gets rated higher on Digg for each subsequent click (at least, I think that’s how it works). You may think that’s too much clicking for a post, but it just takes a second to do it and that isn’t really that bad if you like the post, right? Anyway, I just wanted to say that I’m not trying to get the site too big for it’s britches here but I know there are still zillions of Beatle-people out there that have never even heard of this site and I would love for them to stumble on it and relive some cool memories, whether it be a cartoon, an old video or a BROW or whatever. So Digg, like Twitter is just a means to help get the word out there. But then, you already knew that, right? I also want to say you all have been great and I appreciate every message, request and comment I’ve received on this site. Keep ‘em coming. It is a blast to communicate with fellow fans and hear varying opinions and ideas concerning the vast body of work that the best rock and roll band of all time has left us. Happy Nat

Happy Nat

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Sing along with The Beatles to Not A Second Time and Devil In Her Heart.

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Welcome to this week’s BROW, which happily comes from a request I received a couple of weeks ago. Requests are a good thing and I’m happy to oblige when I can.

As you likely know, when The Beatles launched their Apple record label in the summer of 1968, it was not only for their own recordings. A few other well-known recording artists either got their start or signed to the label in the late 1960′s and early 1970′s, including James Taylor, Mary Hopkin, Billy Preston and Badfinger, just to name a few.

George Harrison, 1968

The first album release from The Beatles on the new label, was the double-disc White Album. One of George Harrison’s contenders for this release was a song called Sour Milk Sea, and this week’s feature is an early account of George demoing it to the other Beatles at his home in the southeastern UK town of Esher, around the third week of May 1968.

Of course, this, being just a demo, does not show the song at it’s best. As George accumulated more songs for the upcoming Beatles double LP, he decided to give the song to a friend named Jackie Lomax. Jackie, a fellow Liverpudlian, was also one of the first musicians outside of The Beatles inner circle signed to Apple. He had been in a few bands before, including Dee & The Dynamites and a Merseybeat band called The Undertakers.

Sleeve for Sour Milk Sea by Jackie Lomax, 1968

The story doesn’t end there. Not only did George give Jackie the song to record , but he also produced it and played guitar on it. Joining him on the track was Paul McCartney on bass, Ringo Starr on drums, Eric Clapton also on guitar (what else?) and Nicky Hopkins on piano. Nicky is the same session musician who handled the electric piano solo on John Lennon’s Revolution. Have a listen to Jackie’s version with the Clapper, Nicky and 75% of The Beatles:

Jackie Lomax's Sour Milk Sea 45 released on Apple Records, Aug. 1968

Jackie released the song on a single in August of 1968 and on the Apple album Is This What You Want?, produced by George, in March 1969. The single and album both failed to chart in the UK and in the US, the single remained outside of Billboard‘s Hot 100, no higher than 117, and the Top 200 albums, no higher than 142. Sometimes the commercial success of some amazing music is just not in the cards. For more interesting details on Jackie or acquiring some of his music, visit Wikipedia or his official website.

I mentioned before that this week’s feature was requested by a reader. Do you ant 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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After the incident of January 30, 1972, when 27 civil rights protesters were shot by the British Army during a Northern Ireland demonstration now termed Bloody Sunday, Paul McCartney rush-released his own protest about the whole affair. Issued less than three weeks later Give Ireland Back To The Irish also happened to be the debut single of Paul and wife Linda’s newly-formed group WIngs. Of course, airtime for the single was banned in the UK, and many think it was Paul’s contemptuous response to this censorship to release a nursery rhyme as a follow-up single.

The Mary Had A Little Lamb single hit the shelves the following May and this promo clip of it aired in the U.S. on the Flip Wilson Show on October 12, 1972. It seems to be the same basic recording as the one on the single, but with some added vocal overdubs.

Another common idea is that this was recorded as a reference to Paul and Linda’s daughter Mary who had taken to one of the lambs on the Scottish farm where the McCartney’s lived. In fact, little Mary and older half-sister Heather actually sing on the chorus in this song.

A later recording, Little Lamb Dragonfly (from 1973′s Red Rose Speedway album) is possibly referring to the same lamb. In this tune, Paul tells the story of a lamb that knows, for whatever reason, that he is near death and is visited by a dragonfly, and they have an interesting conversation about it. Dragonfly’s are often used artistically as a symbol of a transition to a new and better life. A recording of this song is posted on YouTube here, if you’d like to hear it.

Final note: You may have your own ideas about how to interpret these songs. Now you know mine.
Visit www.thebeatlesrarity.com for a new Beatles rarity each week, plus lots more!

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Although this is on a trial basis at this point. If it goes over well, it just may last for awhile. Around mid-week you can look for a segment from the old Saturday morning Beatles cartoon series. The first episode is already here and another will follow next week. Also look for a link to all the cartoons by clicking the Categories tab in the upper right sidebar and the the Weekly Cartoon Clip link in the Category menu. Enjoy!
Visit www.thebeatlesrarity.com for a new Beatles rarity each week, plus lots more!

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