October is upon us, and October is John Lennon month. Here is a little sneak preview of the stripped down Double Fantasy on it’s way to the stores on Oct. 5th. Without the orchestration and heavy backing vocals in (Just Like) Starting Over, I can actually hear the guitars. I loved hearing it this way, as it sounded so “clean”. As I stated last post, I’ve no doubt it will make an impact this month. I’m hoping you got to hear it first right here.

Double Fantasy (Stripped Down), released Oct. 5, 2010

To read more about the new John Lennon releases and/or order your own copies from Amazon, click any of the links below:

1) Signature Box

2) Gimme Some Truth

3) Double Fantasy Stripped Down

4) Power To The People: The Hits (CD & DVD)

5) Power To The People: The Hits (CD only)

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

Related posts:

1. John Lennon solo remasters to be released in October 2010 Eight digitally remastered solo albums by John Lennon are to...
2. Beatles Rarity Of The Week – (Just Like) Starting Over (12 inch extended U.S. promo mix) Welcome to the Beatles Rarity of the Week. I suppose...
3. More on the upcoming John Lennon remasters These will be out in only 12 days! There is...

I’m happy to announce that during October, in honor of the 70th anniversary of the birth of John Lennon and also in recognition of his upcoming releases (i.e. the Signature Box, the Gimme Some Truth CD set, the Power To The People: The Hits (CD & DVD) set, and the Double Fantasy Stripped Down CD), TheBeatlesRarity.com will be focusing primarily on his music. BROWS, VOWs and even The Beatles cartoons will all be highlighting the incredible music of John both during and after The Beatles. By the way, I had the privilege of hearing a sneak preview of the stripped down Double Fantasy last week and it is fantastic. Without the orchestration and heavy backing vocals in (Just Like) Starting Over, I can actually hear the guitars. I loved hearing it this way, as it sounded so “clean”. I’ve no doubt it will make an impact this month.

John Lennon & George Harrison check out guitars at Rushworth's & Drapers Music Stores, Liverpool, UK

To celebrate this occasion, I have included a “Bonus BROW”. I say bonus because this is in addition to the regularly scheduled BROW posts that usually hit the web on Mondays. On the morning of January 2, 1969, John Lennon and George Harrison are at Twickenham studios tuning up over tea and cigarettes while waiting for the other two members of the band to arrive. John begins a new song called I’ve Got A Feeling. The performance has a gentle breeziness not apparent in later arrangements. John sings off-mike and there are quite a few discordant notes from George, since he is trying to play along, never having heard the song in his life and not knowing what to play. The brief performance, of course, needs a lot of work, but it is interesting because John has evidently reverted to his conception of the song before Paul began to work on it with him. In it’s final arrangement, there are two distinct parts, sung (and in fact, composed) by Paul and John respectively. John deviates from the familiar arrangement and begins this performance with his own lyrics, using a variant of Paul’s part as a chorus. About a half hour later, when The Beatles actually begin rehearsing the song in earnest, with Paul present to sing his own part, it becomes substantially the song we know from the Let It Be album. This is the earliest recording of I’ve Got A Feeling (not including an earlier recording of John singing his fragment Everybody Had A Hard Year, circa late 1968). Thanks go out to Chip Morris for requesting that I post this track, in order to make good on my comment from this post.

Want to make a suggestion for a future Beatles Rarity of the Week? If so, I will do my best to deliver, so let me hear from you. To browse for ideas, check out this search-able listing of thousands of Beatle-related recordings to choose from. Then let me hear from you here.

To read more about the new John Lennon releases and/or order your own copies from Amazon, click any of the links below:

1) Signature Box

2) Gimme Some Truth

3) Double Fantasy Stripped Down

4) Power To The People: The Hits (CD & DVD)

5) Power To The People: The Hits (CD only)

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

No related posts.

While on the way to Tokyo, The Beatles stop for the night at a temple, and get mistaken for the spirits of some ancient Japanese ancestors.

Click the image above to play the video.

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

No related posts.

Welcome to the Beatles Rarity of the Week. I’ve decided to deliver another classic selection from our legendary drummer, Ringo Starr. This time, instead of playing with John, Paul and George, he is backed by his 4th incarnation of the All-Starr Band. Ringo’s 4th All-Starr Band was probably my favorite line-up out of the current count of 11 All-Starr Bands and along with Ringo included:

1) Gary Brooker (Procul Harum) on keyboards and vocals,
2) Jack Bruce (Cream) on bass guitar and vocals,
3) Peter Frampton (Humble Pie and solo) on guitar, talk box and vocals,
4) Simon Kirke (Free, Bad Company) on drums and vocals,
5) Mark Rivera (Billy Joel Band) on saxophone, keyboards, backing vocals and everything else.

I had the pleasure of catching this All-Starr line-up in 1997 at the House Of Blues in Myrtle Beach, SC and was lucky enough to get to greet Ringo and the band after the show. This performance of It Don’t Come Easy comes from the August 25, 1998 performance in Moscow, Russia and it was the show opener. In the beginning we hear Jack Bruce testing the mic and greeting the crowd and afterward we hear Ringo testing out a few Russian words on the audience.

It Don’t Come Easy was Ringo’s first top 10 hit single released after the break up of The Beatles. Released in April of 1971, it made it to number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. Although the composition credit is solely to Ringo he likely had a good bit of uncredited help from George Harrison with writing the song. George also plays guitar on the original version along with Klaus Voormann on bass, and piano by Gary Wright. Tom Evans and Pete Ham from Badfinger participated in the backing vocals.

Ringo Starr in concert on Aug. 25, 1998 in Moscow, Russia

Additional note: Wikipedia has a complete listing of all of the impressive artists that have been a part of the All-Starrs at one time or another. Check this out here.

Want to make a suggestion for a future Beatles Rarity of the Week? If so, I will do my best to deliver, so let me hear from you. To browse for ideas, check out this search-able listing of thousands of Beatle-related recordings to choose from. Then let me hear from you here.

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

No related posts.

An excerpt from the 1968 film Music! which was a celebration of music in Britain that along with The Beatles included Tippett, folk clubs, brass bands and even bell ringing. This is a few moments of take 9 of Hey Jude recorded on July 30, 1968. The final take was on August 1, 1968 with additional overdubs added the following day. It would become the first single on their new Apple label on August 26, 1968. Unlike the original U.K. broadcast, the musical portion of the audio here is presented in stereo.

Click the image above to play the video.

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

Related posts:

1. Beatles Rarity Of The Week – It’s All Too Much (w/restored verse) 0savesSave At the ending of the Yellow Submarine movie we...

Power To The People, The Hits, out on Oct. 5, 2010

These will be out in only 12 days! There is a review by Shelley Germeaux of examiner.com, based on a sampler, giving more information on this series of releases, that will be in the stores on October 5th. Shelly gives us a heads up on what is (and isn’t) included with each (The John Lennon Signature Box Set, the two versions of the Power To The People Hits compilation, and the Gimme Some Truth themed set). There is some good info here for those that plan on purchasing any of these sets. One thing to point out is the stripped down version of Double Fantasy is not part of and of the sets and must be purchased separately. The review is here, and I have also included links for pre-ordering from Amazon below, if you like.

John Lennon Signature Box Set, out Oct. 5, 2010

To read more about the new John Lennon releases and/or order your own copies from Amazon, click any of the links below:

1) Signature Box

2) Gimme Some Truth

3) Double Fantasy Stripped Down

4) Power To The People: The Hits (CD & DVD)

5) Power To The People: The Hits (CD only)

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

Related posts:

1. A ‘Lennonized’ October on TheBeatlesRarity.com (& a ‘Bonus-BROW’) I’m happy to announce that during October, in honor of...
2. John Lennon solo remasters to be released in October 2010 Eight digitally remastered solo albums by John Lennon are to...
3. I Feel Fine – promotional film This month’s rarities, videos and cartoon features focus on John...

Just so you know….

Coming October 19, 2010!

The Beatles 1962-1966 (aka Red Album) and The Beatles 1967-1970 (aka Blue Album) will now contain digitally remastered tracks from the 1973 original compilation release, and expanded booklets with original liner notes, and newly written essays by Bill Flanagan, and rare photos. The Red and Blue albums were first released on Apple Records on April 2, 1973.

The Beatles 1962-1966 (Red) and The Beatles 1967-1970 (Blue) Remastered

Click to read about or purchase from Amazon:

1) The Beatles 1962-1966 (Red) Remastered

2) The Beatles 1967-1970 (Blue) Remastered

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

Related posts:

1. Beatles Rarity Of The Week – Going Down To Golder’s Green (1970 out-take) Welcome to the BROW and I’m hoping all of you...
2. The Beatles on Blackpool Night Out – Act Naturally (1965) On August 1, 1965, after not performing on British television...
3. Shivering Inside by Jude Southerland Kessler I wanted to let everyone know that Jude Southerland Kessler’s...

The Beatles meet the Hunchback of Notre Dame.

Click the image above to play the video.

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

No related posts.

Welcome to the Beatles Rarity of the Week…or for this week I should say rarities. Read on…

Paul McCartney’s follow-up to his McCartney album was an album accredited to not only himself but also his wife Linda. Ram was released in the U.S. on May 17, 1971 and sported the hit single Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey. As a promotional strategy, Paul decided to make separate mono mixes of each track on the album, designed specifically for AM radio airplay and send out a promotional album in very limited quantities to radio stations that were not broadcasting in stereo. As with some earlier Beatles mono albums, these were not simple fold downs of the stereo tracks but actually were unique mixes that in some cases differed considerably from their stereo commercially released counterparts. I had a hard time deciding which of these rare mono tunes to share with you this week so I’ve decided on a double feature BROW. Too Many People which is the album opener, has a little rougher sound, the backing vocals are mixed differently and it has a longer fade-out. The line in the song Too many people preaching practices, was a subtle jab at John Lennon. Monkberry Moon Delight from side 2, has more echo than the commercial release and the guitar, tambourine and backing vocals are lower in the mix. It’s a nice rocker and, I’m not sure but, I think Paul is likely referring to the same dish that Steve Miller calls Wild Mountain Honey on his Fly Like An Eagle album. Incidentally, a copy in near mint condition of the promotional mono Ram record and jacket is worth around $5000.

Ram Mono Mixes (original release May 17, 1971)

To read about or purchase your own copy of the standard stereo version of Ram on Amazon, click here. If your after the rare mono version of Ram, you’re on your own.

Want to make a suggestion for a future Beatles Rarity of the Week? If so, I will do my best to deliver, so let me hear from you. To browse for ideas, check out this search-able listing of thousands of Beatle-related recordings to choose from. Then let me hear from you here.

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

Related posts:

1. Paul McCartney’s Ram gets “Deluxe” treatment by May 2012 Although it’s subject to change at this point, I wanted...
2. From Paul McCartney’s Ewe Tube channel The Ram remaster will be released in various formats in...
3. Additional goodies from Paul McCartney’s “Ram” related releases I wanted to make a final update to readers who...

Brian Ray onstage

Click the image above to play Brian’s promo video for I Found You.

Interested in attending Brian’s release party for This Way Up? It’s at the Roxy Theatre on Sunset Blvd in West Hollwood, Los Angeles, CA on Friday, October 8, 2010. Brian will be there with his new band performing songs from his new album and his first album Mondo Magneto. Click here to visit Brian’s website for further details.

This Way Up by Brian Ray, released August 10, 2010

Read more about or purchase This Way Up, or Brian’s first release Mondo Magneto from Amazon.com.

1) This Way Up – Brian’s latest, released on August 10, 2010.

2) Mondo Magneto – Brian’s first album, released in 2005.

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

No related posts.