Home  |  Rarities  |  Videos  |  Interviews  |  Collector's Corner  |  Search Nat's Collection  |  Archives  |  About  |  Requests  |  Links  |  Login

Category Archives: BROW

The Beatles Rarity Of The Week

Dec 26 2 comments
BROW

Beatles Rarity Of The Week – Wings instrumental out-take “Rooster”, 1971

I hope everyone celebrating had a great holiday weekend, and I thought what better way to begin the last week of the year than with another installment of the BROW? “BROW” stands for Beatles Rarity Of The Week, and my name is Happy Nat. Each week on Mondays, I try to serve up a rare Beatles-related track for you to listen to and read about, and if you happen to have stumbled upon this post on some other day of the year, well that’s fine too. I’m glad you’re here, and I hope it goes down well.

In the early days of Paul McCartney and Wings, right around December of 1971, the band convened for some sessions just after the release of their first album, Wild Life. The testy little instrumental that’s the subject of this week’s post was recorded at this time, and at one point was to be a b-side to the next (and first) Wings single, which turned out to be the BBC-banned protest track “Give Ireland Back To The Irish.” Plans changed, however, and the b-side to “Irish” became an instrumental version of the a-side, leaving this week’s BROW shelved in the vaults. I’m using the name “Rooster” for the track, though I am aware of two other names for it: “The Great Cock and Seagull Race” and “Breakfast Blues.”
Get the whole story »

17 people think this is FAB!
Click here if you change your mind.
Dec 19 3 comments
BROW

Beatles Rarity Of The Week – The Beatles Fourth Christmas Record (1966 fan club record)

Welcome to your 2011 Holiday-week BROW!

As most fans are aware, each year from 1963 through 1969, The Beatles recorded a special Christmas greeting for their fans. The Official Beatles Fan Club in England sent flexi-discs containing the Christmas messages to its members each holiday season. Last year, I featured the 1965 message, so this year, I move one year ahead to the 1966 message, simply titled “Pantomime: Everywhere It’s Christmas.” It was recorded on November 25, 1966, at Dick James Music, only one day after recording take one of John Lennon’s newest composition, “Strawberry Fields Forever.”

Of course a newsletter was issued with the flexi-disc. It was written by fan club secretary Freda Kelly and signed by Freda, with a second signature for Anne Collingham. Anne Collingham was actually a fictitious entity made up by Beatles public relations man Tony Barrow, to serve as the head of the northern and southern U.K. branches of the fan club.

Instead of a typical script-driven Christmas greeting, as had been done on the previous three Christmas messages, The Beatles came up with a pantomime idea and acted out different humorous skits in a wide array of voices. There are also two songs: “Everywhere It’s Christmas” (the title theme) and “Please Don’t Bring your Banjo Back.” A reprise of “Everywhere It’s Christmas” is presented at the end of the record, which immediately follows a short statement from Beatles assistant Mal Evans.

If you want to follow along while it plays, here is a track listing for the record (although the flexi-disc has no banding between each track):

Song: Everywhere It’s Christmas
Orowayna (Corsican Choir and Small Choir)
A Rare Cheese (Two Elderly Scotsmen)
The Feast
The Loyal Toast
Podgy The Bear and Jasper
Felpin Mansions: Part One (Count Balder and Butler)
Felpin Mansions: Part Two: (The Count and the Pianist)
Song: Please Don’t Bring Your Banjo Back
Mal: Everywhere It’s Christmas
Reprise: Everywhere It’s Christmas

The Beatles - Pantomime: Everywhere It's Christmas (1966)
The Beatles Third Christmas Record, issued Dec. 16, 1966

The Beatles Fourth Christmas Record, issued Dec. 16, 1966

It’s been an absolute blast bringing you the BROWs, VOWs, interviews and the newest addition to the site – Collector’s Corners – along with all the other extras this year. I thank each and every one of you for being a part of my web site home for these tributary posts about the world’s best band. Fab holiday wishes go out to you all from me to you.

Yours truly,
Happy Nat

And I still say, Beatles music makes great gifts over the holidays. Here are some Amazon links to read more on, or purchase, some music related to this post, for your favorite Beatlemaniac: The Beatles, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr.

13 people think this is FAB!
Click here if you change your mind.
Dec 12 9 comments
BROW

Beatles Rarity Of The Week – Yer Blues rehearsal by ‘The Dirty Mac’, 1968

Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus cover art

Welcome to the Beatles Rarity Of The Week. Forty three years ago on Dec. 11, 1968, The Rolling Stones recorded a television special to promote their Beggar’s Banquet LP. Similar to the Beatles’ Magical Mystery Tour theme from the previous year, the Stones went for a circus atmosphere with plenty of musical guests and circus acts, to include clowns, flying trapeze acts and even elephants. The name of the special was to be the Rolling Stones Rock And Roll Circus, and along with the Stones the line-up planned included Jethro Tull, The Who, Marianne Faithful, classical pianist Julius Katchen, Taj Mahal and Traffic. Just before filming was to begin, multi-instrumentalist Steve Winwood quit Traffic, leaving them understaffed. To counter the crisis, Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger talked John Lennon into attending for a performance or two instead.

John agreed, and along with Yoko Ono, put together his own supergroup of Eric Clapton on guitar, Rolling Stone Keith Richards on bass, and Mitch Mitchell from the Jimi Hendrix Experience on drums. He dubbed the line-up as ‘The Dirty Mac’ and chose The Beatles’ White Album track “Yer Blues” as the number to perform, reasoning that it would be relatively easy for everyone to learn.

The film was roughly one hour long with each of the guest bands performing during the first half, with circus performance shorts in between bands. The second half of the show was Rolling Stones performances. The filming actually took place during an all-night party that did not end until after the Stones performed “Salt Of The Earth” at around 6:30am on December 12th. By that time, John and Yoko had left and the enthusiasm of the other guests had lost ground. Furthermore, many were of the opinion that The Who’s performance of “A Quick One While He’s Away” stole the show. For these reasons, it was never aired on television or released on home video until 1996.

For the BROW I’m featuring a Dirty Mac rehearsal performance of “Yer Blues” played sometime on December 11th before filming began. Although John is singing a guide vocal, it is barely audible and completely absent in spots. However, the guitars are loud and gritty, and the band sounds like they are ready to go.

The Dirty Mac - Yer Blues
The Dirty Mac, Dec. 1968

The Dirty Mac, Dec. 1968

Extra info:

1) Steve Winwood went on to form the band Blind Faith with Eric Clapton shortly after this was filmed.

2) Nine months after the Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus was filmed, Eric Clapton played “Yer Blues” again with John as part of The Plastic Ono Band. This performance can be heard on the first Plastic Ono Band album Live Peace In Toronto 1969.

Beatles music makes great gifts over the holidays. Here are some Amazon links to read more on, or purchase, some music related to this post, for your favorite Beatlemaniac:

1) Rock & Roll Circus – 1996 CD release of the entire show, featuring all of the bands mentioned above and The Dirty Mac’s live performance of “Yer Blues.

2) The Rolling Stones – Rock and Roll Circus 2004 DVD release of the entire show, featuring all of the bands mentioned above and a couple versions of The Dirty Mac’s live performance of “Yer Blues.

3) Live Peace in Toronto 1969 – 1995 CD remaster of original 1969 album featuring The Plastic Ono Band (John Lennon, Eric Clapton) performing “Yer Blues” live.

4) Additional Amazon links for your favorite Beatles-related music: The Beatles, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr.

12 people think this is FAB!
Click here if you change your mind.
Dec 05 3 comments
BROW

Beatles Rarity Of The Week – Please Please Me (live on BBC, missing on ’1′)

Beatles '1' cover art, 2010 remaster edition

Welcome to the Beatles Rarity Of The Week. Back in September, The Beatles 1 CD, originally released in 2000, was reissued using the recently completed 2009 remastered versions of each track. With 27 number one singles all on the same disc, it is quite an impressive collection. There are articles on various websites (including Wikipedia) that explain that all of the Beatles singles that reached the coveted top spot on the charts, in the U.S. or the U.K., are on the disc. But now, looking over the track listing, I notice that “Please Please Me” is not there.

There are countless Beatles books and video documentaries that explain the story of how “Love Me Do” was the first single and it made it into the top 20, but then, as predicted by producer George Martin, the follow-up break-through song, “Please Please Me,” was a number one hit in the U.K., and just like that, “Beatlemania” was born. John Lennon even references “Please Please Me” reaching number one in the first Beatles Christmas record that came out at the end of 1963. Other references, such as The Beatles Anthology film and book (pg. 92 in the hardback version), all refer to “Please Please Me” as a number one record.

I want to set the record straight. Here are the facts: In the U.K., “Please Please Me” reached number one on the Melody Maker singles chart on March 2, 1963, after spending the previous two weeks at number two. It remained at number one for two weeks, before dropping back to number two on March 16. The song also topped the charts on the Disc singles chart, as well as on the NME (New Musical Express) singles chart, where it was number one for two weeks beginning February 22, 1963. The Record Mirror also reported “Please Please Me” at number one. All four of these publications were reputable sources reflecting singles sales and radio airplay in the U.K., and all four of them reported “Please Please Me” as topping the charts.

A trade newspaper known as Record Retailer maintained a singles chart in the U.K. as well, and reported “Please Please Me” as peaking at number two on March 2, 1963, unable to get past Frank Ifield’s “Wayward Wind.” So in four out of five publications of equal notoriety in the U.K., “Please Please Me” was a number one single. Of these, Melody Maker may have been considered more of a standard by comparison, due to the fact that it had been around the longest (since 1926).

Things changed over the years, however, and by the 1990′s the Official Chart Company and British Market Research Bureau (BMRB) established the guideline that named the chart from Record Retailer as the official standard for dates prior to February 15, 1969. From that point forward, the BMRB would compile the chart. This decision was questioned by many in the U.K. but is still in use today.

I should also mention that “Please Please Me” failed to reach number one in the U.S. at all, but only because it was blocked out of the top spot by two other Beatles singles: “I Want To Hold Your Hand” and “She Loves You.” The source for the U.S. is Billboard magazine.

So regardless of what is considered the standard “these days,” “Please Please Me” was number one in 4 out of 5 of the U.K.’s singles charts back in “those days,” and it is also a number one in my book. I think the two minute song would’ve fit just fine on Beatles 1, right in between “Love Me Do” and “From Me To You” making the disc 81 minutes long instead of 79 (Sony DADC now accepts masters of CD’s for up to 82 minutes).

And now, to drive the point home even further… Here are The Beatles being congratulated by radio host Ray Peters for topping the charts with their NUMBER ONE HIT “Please Please Me.” This live performance was recorded at the Playhouse Theatre in Manchester, U.K. on March 6, 1963, and broadcast on the BBC program Here We Go six days later. This broadcast version has never seen an official release, but you can still listen to it right here.

The Beatles - Please Please Me
"Please Please Me" is # 1!

"Please Please Me" is # 1!

Extra info: I thought “Please Please Me” a fitting choice for BROW for a couple additional reasons:

1) The Beatles 1 CD was not the only Apple release to omit the song from its tracklisting. The 1994 Apple 2-CD compilation Live At The BBC features no recordings of this first number one either, even though there are seven BBC recordings of it in existence to choose from.

2) After over 4 years of BROWs, I have never featured a version of “Please Please Me.” I am pleased to do that now.

I hope you’re pleased too.

Beatles music makes great gifts over the holidays. Here are some Amazon links to read more on, or purchase, some music related to this post, for your favorite Beatlemaniac:

1) 1 – compilation of 27 number one Beatles hits, but MISSING “Please Please Me”.

2) Please Please Me (Remastered) 2009 remaster of original 1963 album including “Please Please Me” (stereo mix).

3) 1962-1966 (The Red Album) – 2-CD collection of 2009 remastered version of Beatles hits from 1962-1966, including “Please Please Me” (mono mix).

4) The Love We Make 2011 Blu-ray or DVD that chronicles Paul McCartney’s cathartic journey through New York City in the aftermath of 9/11.

5) Additional Amazon links for your favorite Beatles-related music: The Beatles, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr.

16 people think this is FAB!
Click here if you change your mind.
Nov 28 8 comments
BROW

Beatles Rarity Of The Week – Paul McCartney’s “Angry” (12 in. mix, 1986)

Welcome to the Beatles Rarity Of The Week. In the summer of 1986, Paul McCartney returned to the EMI label after a six year stint with Columbia records and released Press To Play, an album he hoped would be a change of pace and update his image after the somewhat disappointing response to his 1984 Give My Regards To Broad Street film and soundtrack album. Bands like The Police and XTC had recently put out some music that Paul admired, and so he decided to team up with producer Hugh Padgham, who had worked with both of those bands, along with Genesis members Peter Gabriel and Phil Collins. Paul had recently written a few songs with 10cc member Eric Stewart and was ready to record in March of 1985. The sessions took place for about two months, and after a lot of post production work, additional sessions were held from October up to the first week of December 1985.

Paul & Linda McCartney portrait on Press To Play LP jacket, 1986

Paul & Linda McCartney portrait on Press To Play LP jacket, 1986

Paul brought in a wide host of musicians to play on the album, including Pete Townshend, Eddie Rayner (Split Enz), Ray Cooper, Phil Collins and Eric Stewart. By the end of the year the album was basically finished, but the only track released from the sessions was for a non-album single you’ll remember as the title number for the Dan Aykroyd/Chevy Chase comedy film Spies Like Us. After the lead-off single, “Press,” was released in July, Press To Play was finally issued on August 22, 1986. Although the sales were somewhat disappointing, the music on the album was solid, even according to most of the critics of the day.

In addition to “Press,” three other singles were released from the album (“Pretty Little Head,” “Stranglehold” and “Only Remains”). A few of the singles tracks had different edits and mixes than the album versions. There were also three special 12 inch (maxi) single releases from Press To Play with several more alternate mixes and extended versions.

This week’s BROW, a fast paced rocker Paul wrote with Eric Stewart titled “Angry,” includes Pete Townshend on guitar, Phil Collins on drums, and is mixed for the album by Hugh Padgham. However, the version that appears on the Pretty Little Head maxi single is a mix by Larry Alexander that features additional horns and a punchier sound than the album version. Those of you only familiar with the standard version on Press To Play will likely find this ‘angrier’ version quite interesting. The Pretty Little Head maxi single was released on October 27, 1986 on vinyl only, and has never been made available on an official CD or authorized download media.

Paul McCartney - Angry
Pretty Little Head 12 in. maxi single, 1986 (w/"Angry" (Larry Alexander mix)

Pretty Little Head 12 in. maxi single, 1986 (w/"Angry" (Larry Alexander mix)

Extra info: A second issuance of the Press To Play vinyl album in the UK contained the original Hugh Padgham mix of “Press” instead of the Bevans/Forward mix issued on the CD and everywhere else in the world. See more info here.

Special thanks go out to Mike Ray who requested this track for this week’s BROW. Thanks Mike for the idea and my apologies for not getting to it right away.

Here are some Amazon links to read more on, or purchase, some music related to this post:

1) Press to Play – 1990 CD remaster of original 1986 LP including original Hugh Padgham mix of “Angry”. Note: Out-of-print CD but collectible condition and lower are available at this link for purchase.

2) Additional Amazon links for your favorite Beatles-related music: The Beatles, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr.

13 people think this is FAB!
Click here if you change your mind.
Nov 21 2 comments
BROW

Beatles Rarity Of The Week – Deep Blue (the “Bangla Desh” b-side)

Welcome to the Beatles Rarity Of The Week. Back on April 8, 2011, I made a post (viewable here) about the historic Concert for Bangla Desh, held on Aug. 1, 1971, at Madison Square Garden, New York. Indian classical musician Ravi Shankar had made George Harrison aware of the gravity of the situation there, inspiring George to organize the benefit concert that was the first of this magnitude in world history. Even before getting the details ironed out for the show, George penned a song called “Bangla Desh” to be released as a single for the sake of increasing awareness about the dying country and to raise money for the Bangla Desh relief fund. The subject of this week’s BROW is the b-side of this single – a song called “Deep Blue”.

“Deep Blue” is a completely acoustic song where George asks God to help the people down here on Earth that are ‘full of sickness and pain.’ This was, of course, heavy on George’s mind after viewing photographs of the starving, and dying, Bengalis. It was recorded around the same time as “Bangla Desh” in mid-July 1971 and rushed out as a single with a release date of July 28, 1971, in the U.S. (two days later in the U.K.).

The studio version of “Bangla Desh” eventually made it on to an LP with the 1976 hits compilation The Best Of George Harrison but “Deep Blue” remained a non-album track from 1971 until it was issued as a bonus track on the 2006 CD reissue of George’s 1973 LP Living In The Material World.

Since this already somewhat obscure gem has finally surfaced as a bonus track, this week’s BROW will share with you an alternate mix of the song that I’m sure you’ll enjoy. The mix comes from a tape made from acetates that were received along with the original multi-track for the master. Although it is very similar to the master, there are subtle differences here and there, along with a slightly shorter fade out.

George Harrison - Deep Blue
George Harrison

George Harrison

Extra info: Here are the complete lyrics to “Deep Blue”

When the sunshine is not enough
To make me feel bright
It’s got me suffering in the darkness
That’s so easy come by on the roadside
Of one long lifetime

It’s got me deep blue
You know I’m deep blue

When you stand there, watch tired bodies
Full of sickness and pain
To show you just how helpless you really are
When you get down to the truth
It hurts me

It’s got me deep blue
You know I’m deep blue

When I think of the life I’m living
Pray God help me; give me your light
So I can help you and understand
This repetition that keeps me here
Feeling deep blue

It’s got me deep blue
You know I’m deep blue

Here are some Amazon links to read more on, or purchase, some music related to this post:

1) Living in the Material World – 2006 CD remaster of original 1973 album, featuring original b-side version of “Deep Blue” as a bonus track.

2) Concert for Bangladesh – 2005 remaster of original triple album on 2 CDs with bonus material, and includes live version of “Bangla Desh”.

3) The Concert for Bangladesh (Limited Deluxe Edition) 2005 2-DVD bonus features edition of the original Concert For Bangla Desh film, includes live version of “Bangla Desh” and surround version of complete concert.

4) Best of – 1990 CD remaster of original 1976 hits compilation, including the original studio version of “Bangla Desh”.

5) Additional Amazon links for your favorite Beatles-related music: The Beatles, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr.

13 people think this is FAB!
Click here if you change your mind.