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Category Archives: Extras

Other posts about non-scheduled miscellaneous items.

Jan 22 0 comments
Extras, New Releases

“Ringo 2012″ – a preview

Back on November 25th, I made a post alerting everyone of Ringo’s upcoming new album Ringo 2012 and giving some details about it (check that out here). Since we are coming up on the release date in 10 more days, I thought it a good time to give everyone a sneak preview.

The lead single for the album, “Wings” is actually a remake of an earlier single made in 1977, that was taken from his Atlantic album Ringo the 4th. Since this was released digitally back on January 10th (2012), I’ve decided to share another of the nine tracks on the disc.

“Anthem” is the album opener and a good representation of the upbeat nature of the entire collection. Co-written with Glen Ballard, Ringo delivers a good driving beat behind lots of punchy guitar, effectively giving it an overall “feel good” kind of sound. Get the whole story »

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Dec 16 2 comments
Extras, News/Events, Site information

TheBeatlesRarity Holiday Contest Winners 2011

Happy Nat

I wanted to thank everyone who participated in this year’s holiday contest here at The Beatles Rarity. It was “stepped up” a bit from last year and quite frankly, I wasn’t sure if it was going to be a success or not, but, thanks to you, and all of our sponsors, it worked out great! As promised, here is a list of our prize winners and what they won:

1) Chip Morris won a new copy of the deluxe edition of Paul McCartney’s Chaos And Creation In The Backyard CD. It comes with a bonus DVD that contains additional music and footage from the recording sessions.

Chaos And Creation In The Backyard CD

2) Curtis Honeycutt won a $20 gift certificate from Band-Tees.com. Band-Tees is a great place to pick up tee shirts and other items such as stickers, keychains, guitar picks and more with images and logos of your favorite bands, including The Beatles! This gift was furnished, of course, compliments of Band-Tees and you can find their Beatle-items online here.

Band-Tees

3) Cara Schneider won a collector’s item edition of Jude Southerland Kessler’s John Lennon biopic Shoulda Been There. It is the first book ever (of a 9 book series) to tell the Lennon saga with carefully researched footnotes and detailed, informational endnotes, while using a fiction format to keep the reader turning the page. Researched for over 20 years with 7 trips to Liverpool and countless interviews with John Lennon’s friends, early band members, first manager, and club d.j.’s, Shoulda Been There traces Lennon’s life from 1940 to December 1961 (when The Beatles signed with Brian Epstein). This book is the very last copy of the second edition. This gift was furnished by Jude herself and her website, for more info, is at ontherockbooks.com. Hear what Jude has to say about her books in my interview with her here.

Shoulda Been There

4) Anna Beetchenow won a new copy of The Beatles One CD. It’s a nice collection of 27 number one hits by The Beatles and an informative booklet with lots of original cover art images from the singles issued worldwide.

One

5) Elliott Marx won a copy of the Beatles photo book Unseen Archives. It is one of the best Beatles photo albums I’ve ever seen. It covers that period from 1963 through the breakup, and then up to George Harrison’s death in 2001. Some of the pictures are familiar, others aren’t. It’s a wonderful journey to start at the beginning and see the Beatles’ milestones and how they change. 384 pages. Barnes & Noble edition.

Unseen Archives

6) Stacia Marlett won a copy of Judith Kristen’s exciting paperback A Date With A Beatle which gives us a charming look back at the glory days of Beatlemania, as seen through the eyes of a loyal and devoted fan. You’ll feel as if you’re right there with Judy: at her first sighting of The Beatles at Kennedy Airport, witnessing their first press conference, sneaking into The Plaza Hotel, drooling over their first appearance on Ed Sullivan, her wild trip to The Beatles First American Concert in Washington, D.C., and the crazy antics she pulled off, all in loving effort to meet her idol, George Harrison – and she actually made it happen! A Date with a Beatle is a hilarious, fast-paced, totally entertaining story of the magic that was created by four lovely lads from Liverpool and the dreams that can come true when tenacity and heart are headed in the same direction. This prize is furnished compliments of the author herself and the book is available from her website at adatewithabeatle.com. Hear what Judith has to say about her book in my interview with her here.

A Date With A Beatle

7) Matt Ferrell won a collector’s item edition of Jude Southerland Kessler’s John Lennon biopic Shivering Inside. It is the second book ever (of a 9 book series) to tell the Lennon saga with carefully researched footnotes and detailed, informational endnotes, while using a fiction format to keep the reader turning the page. It picks up where Should Been There left off in Dec. 1961, and goes through April 1963 (the birth of Julian Lennon). This book is the very last copy of the second edition. This gift was furnished by Jude herself and her website, for more info, is at ontherockbooks.com. Hear what Jude has to say about her books in my interview with her here.

Shivering Inside

8) Austin Heape is the winner of a new copy of the 2011 CD release Ocean’s Kingdom from Paul McCartney. This is an orchestral piece commissioned by the New York City Ballet. The recording was conducted by John Wilson, produced by John Fraser and performed by The London Classical Orchestra. Ocean’s Kingdom is the first time Paul has written an original orchestral score or any kind of music for dance, and is the result of a collaboration between himself and Peter Martins, the Ballet Master in Chief of the New York City Ballet. This prize is furnished compliments of Fab4Radio.

Ocean's Kingdom

Congratulations to all of our winners!

For those of you who tried but didn’t make it through, what can I say? Thank you for participating and better luck next year when we do it again!

In closing I’d like to thank Simon at Band-Tees, “Beatle Ed” at Fab 4 Radio, Jude Southerland Kessler and Judith Kristen for their wonderful books and (last, but by no means least) Heather, for making this website work the way it is supposed to.

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Dec 15 3 comments
Extras

Announcing TheBeatlesRarity 2011 Holiday Contest Giveaway

Gift pic

Update: The contest puzzle has now been dismantled. Thank you for participating and congratulations if you were one of our 8 winners! More info on prizes and winners can be found here.

 

Just like last year, I’ve put together a little contest for you all and if you are interested, you may win a prize! What is it? Well I guess to be the first one to find out you need to go ahead and win it! In fact, this year’s contest is better than last year’s because not only is it a lot easier, but there are eight prizes instead of just one! Whether you are a winner or not, I will make a post to let everyone know when and what the winners have won, as well as who was involved in contributing the this year’s prizes. If you are the first winner, then you have the largest choice on prizes and if you are the eighth winner, well you only get what is left. But they are all nice prizes and guaranteed to be something you’ll like more than say, a pack of gum. Last year’s contest involved a hunt for a secret BROW and the winner had a choice of three prizes. The one he chose was a hardback copy of John Lennon’s first book In His Own Write. For more info on this contest, click here. To actually see the secret BROW everyone was looking for, click here.

As I said, this years contest is easier. At least I think so. But that is good and bad. Good because it won’t be as hard to be a winner. Bad because someone else can more easily beat you to it! First off, here are the rules (i.e. the “fine print”).

Caveats/exceptions:

  1. Sorry, but, finding any “secret areas” via any search engine (on site or off) will not lead to a valid win (I believe I have made the contest Google-proof anyway, but just in case).
  2. If you’ve won once, please do not try to win again with a different email address, or whatever. Be a good sport and let someone else have a go. I will only send one prize per household address. No exceptions.
  3. Please note the offer is no longer valid after December 31, 2011 (but I’m sure it won’t take any where near that long).
  4. Only the first eight solvers are eligible for a prize. I will announce when all of the prizes are won right here. If you still want to try to solve the puzzle after that. It will remain on site until December 31, 2011.
  5. I reserve the unconditional right to disqualify anyone participating if I deem fit.

Now that that is out of the way, we can actually get started. I assume you want to, since you’ve read this far.

You should see at the top of this post an image of a bright green present (unless you are reading from an RSS feed that removes images, that is, in which case you may want to just get on the main site). This means that you are only in the “green” part of the contest. Should you come across another present like this, but with a different color wrapping paper, say red for instance, then you know you are getting much closer to the prize. Then again you may end up with a gift page wrapped in blue, where the news may not be as good. However, if you see a gold star, then you know you have just about got it licked. You could very well be on your way to a prize, unless you are too late!

All of the “fill in the blank” word puzzles below have one-word answers. You must start off with a good old fashion pen and paper (pencils are okay too), and write down each answer, because you will likely need them later (you never know when you might need a password or something). Each answer requires just a modest bit of Beatle-knowledge to get correct. So, go ahead and complete the following:

  1. BBC radio show that featured The Beatles: ____________ Turn. bbc logo
  2. Let It Be album lyric: _______ and me, chasing paper. Let It Be cover art
  3. Media superlative term for The Beatles: The _______ Four. question mark
  4. George Harrison lyric on Living In The Material World: So hateful of anyone that is _______ or free. Living In The Material World cover art

See how easy that was! But I know you must be thinking…”okay, what now?”. The next step is also very simple. One of the four words you’ve hopefully written on your paper is a “special word” that when used on this site’s search engine, will bring up one and only one post in the results. What? You didn’t know this site had it’s own search engine? Well you’d best find it! And once you’ve arrived at this singled out post, scour it for another clue on what to do next. Good luck!

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.

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Dec 08 0 comments
Extras

Nick Churchill’s “Beatles Bournemouth” book deserves a second look

"Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, The Beatles & Bournemouth" by Nick Churchill

"Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, The Beatles & Bournemouth" by Nick Churchill

If you happen to be looking for a unique holiday gift for any avid Beatlemaniacs in your life, then allow me a suggestion. Back in June (2011) I made a brief post about Nick Churchill’s upcoming book Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, The Beatles & Bournemouth, which was released back in September (2011). Now, after having a chance to actually read through the book, it comes across not only as a great holiday gift idea, but an entertaining read for any occasion.

Bournemouth, as I’m sure many reading already know, is a resort town on the southern coast of England. But did you also know that there are so many historical events that link The Beatles to this beautiful settlement in the British county of Dorset?

As pointed out on the back cover of the book, The Beatles played more theater shows at the Bournemouth Gaumont (16, in all) than any other concert venue in the U.K. outside of London, and a taping of one of their shows there is the earliest known recording of a theater performance by the group. A gig at Bournemouth’s Winter Gardens Theater on November 16, 1963 was the source of footage used by all three U.S. television networks covering the new “Beatlemania” craze in Europe. The resulting Nov. 21st telecast predated the Beatles’ Ed Sullivan Show appearance by two and a half months. The famous cover art photo used on the With The Beatles album was taken in Bournemouth by Robert Freeman in 1963. George Harrison’s first Beatles song, “Don’t Bother Me” was written while staying in Bournemouth. And, believe it or not, the story told in the 1969 Beatles single “The Ballad of John and Yoko” began while John was traveling to Mimi’s house where he ended up “standing in the dock at Southampton”.

The Beatles at the Palace Court Hotel in Bournemouth in August, 1963

From the book: The Beatles at the Palace Court Hotel in Bournemouth in August, 1963

John Lennon, was a regular visitor to Bournemouth after buying his Aunt Mimi a home in the area. Nick has shared with me that he has had very positive feedback about the wonderful photo in his book of John, with baby Julian and Aunt Mimi. It was shot by the ferry, near Mimi’s Bournemouth home in 1967. Additionally, there are around 200 previously unpublished photographs of The Beatles during their visits to Bournemouth, John’s gold discs displayed from inside Mimi’s house, and other rare images (such as this one to the right).

The book also features a foreword written by Howie Casey (of Howie & the Seniors). Howie, originally from Liverpool and a long-time friend of Paul McCartney’s, played with Paul’s band Wings in the 1970′s and has lived in Bournemouth since coming off the ill-fated 1980 Wings tour. He shares his memories of seeing the Silver Beetles in Liverpool and how they had improved by the time they arrived in Hamburg a few months later.

More about Nick’s book can be found on the blog
http://beatlesbournemouth.blogspot.com.

And the book can be ordered from the publisher’s website at
www.beatlesandbournemouth.com.

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Nov 10 0 comments
Extras

Beatles Official Fan Club Secretary Freda Kelly, reaches her movie goal!

Freda Kelly with Paul McCartney, 1962

Freda Kelly with Paul McCartney, 1962

A huge THANK YOU to the 572 backers who helped “The Freda Team” raise their $50,000 goal yesterday- with 2 days to spare before the Nov. 11 deadline on Kickstarter.com! Many of the backers heard about the project right here on TheBeatlesRarity and I am personally grateful for your support as well. The film’s producer Kathy McCabe has informed me that everyone on the team is truly grateful for all the support they have gotten from friends, families, colleagues, and (most of all!) Beatles fans worldwide who helped reach that goal. As of this writing there is still some time left to raise as much money as possible before the Kickstarter deadline runs out (on November 11). The film will undoubtedly cost more than $50,000 to make in the end, so every penny raised will go directly into making Good Ol’ Freda an even better film and pay for additional costs such as licensing footage, still photos, and music. Continue to check in on the Kickstarter site for new rewards until tomorrow’s deadline as well as other info about the project (including a video!). There are still a few pieces of Eric Cash’s artwork available, and Pete Dicks has added a spot on his radio program Beatles and Beyond as a reward (during which you can request every song he plays!), and you can pre-buy the DVD for $25!

Recap: Freda’s documentary film will be called Good Ol’ Freda, as that is what The Beatles shouted out to her on their 1963 Christmas message sent out to all of the fan club members. The film promises to be of intriguing interest to historically minded Beatles fans who have seen her name on all of the fan club newsletters and literature of the 1960′s. Tripod Media is using Kickstarter.com to fund the film. Rewards are given for all donations ranging from signed DVDs, photos of Freda with the Beatles, movie credit, even lunch or a personal tour of Liverpool with Freda! For more details on pledges and prizes, visit the Good Ol’ Freda Kickstater page here.

The Director of Good Ol’ Freda is Ryan White, the producer/director of Pelada, an award-winning documentary about a trip to 25 countries told through the lens of pick-up soccer. The film premiered at the prestigious SXSW Film Festival in 2010 and has played in over 20 film festivals worldwide. It’s been broadcast in as many countries and received rave reviews from Variety, The New York Times, and Sports Illustrated. Prior to Pelada, White had a longstanding collaboration with eight-time Emmy winner Sherry Jones.

Good Ol’ Freda is scheduled for release in late 2012 or early 2013 and will be the first Beatles documentary of its kind.

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Oct 05 2 comments
Extras, Films

Tonight on HBO – Martin Scorsese’s George Harrison: Living In The Material World

George Harrison: Living In The Material World

The long-awaiting documentary film on George Harrison that we’ve been hearing about for a few months is finally here! In the U.S. tonight, premiering on HBO – Part 1 of Martin Scorsese’s George Harrison: Living In The Material World. Part 2 will air tomorrow evening. (check local listings for showtimes).

Here are a few video clips to get you ready.

Comments from Director Martin Scorsese:

Additional comments from Director Martin Scorsese:

HBO Trailer

More info on home video version here.

Buy at Amazon UK or check your local retailer.

George Harrison: Living in the Material World – A new book by Olivia Harrison. Drawing on George Harrison’s personal archive of photographs, letters, diaries, and memorabilia, Olivia Harrison reveals the arc of his life, from his guitar-obsessed boyhood in Liverpool, to the astonishment of the Beatles years, to his days as an independent musician and bohemian squire. Here too is the record of Harrison’s lifelong commitment to Indian music, and his adventures as a movie producer, Traveling Wilbury, and Formula One racing fan. The book is filled with stories and reminiscences from Harrison’s friends, including Eric Clapton, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and many, many others. Among its previously unpublished riches are photographs taken by Harrison himself beginning in the mid-1960s. It is a rich tribute to a man who died far too young, but who touched the lives of millions.

Vote/review thebeatlesrarity.com on BeatleLinks.net by clicking here. I sincerely appreciate the feedback. It supports the site and only takes a few seconds.

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