The Beatles Rarity » Films

“Baby’s In Black” – The Beatles Live in Munich, 1966

Happy Nat — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 10:00:08 +0000

The Beatles began their 1966 tour dates in Munich, Germany on June 24, 1966, just three days after finishing up with recording their Revolver album in London. The Beatles played both an afternoon and evening performance on this date, taking the stage at the Circus-Krone-Marsstrasse right after opening acts Cliff Bennett and The Rebel Rousers, The Rattles and Peter & Gordon. Portions of the evening show were broadcast for West German television and included opening act material as well as just over half of The Beatles set. On the original German broadcast tape the first few seconds of “She’s A Woman” were spliced awkwardly onto the intro to “Baby’s In Black” and therefore appears that way here. The Beatles Anthology documentary includes a great performance of “Nowhere Man” from this same show.

Click the image above to play the video.

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

1) Beatles For Sale (Remastered) – 2009 remaster of original 1964 LP, including studio version of “Baby’s In Black.”

2) The Beatles Anthology 2003 5-DVD set of original 1995 8-VHS collection of exclusive documentary footage about The Beatles, includes “Nowhere Man” from the 1966 Circus-Krone show in Munich.

3) More Amazon links for any of your favorite Beatles-related music: The Beatles, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr.
Visit www.thebeatlesrarity.com for a new Beatles rarity each week, plus lots more!

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Natalie Portman/Johnny Depp sign errors in “My Valentine” Paul McCartney video

Happy Nat — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 18:41:41 +0000

According to authorities in an unnamed deaf-led organization, Johnny Depp and Natalie Portman have used incorrect sign language gestures in Paul McCartney’s latest music video for his recent single “My Valentine” extracted from his Kisses On The Bottom album. Paul recruited the Hollywood stars to portray in sign language the lyrics to the song in a black-and-white promo that he directed himself.

However, deaf devotees have now pointed out two errors made by the actors: Portman signs the word “tampon” instead of “appear” in the second verse while Depp makes the motion for “enemy” while attempting “valentine” at the song’s conclusion.

A representative for The British Deaf Association has nevertheless praised the duo for their efforts.

A spokesperson said, “It’s great that famous people such as Johnny Depp and Natalie Portman are highlighting the use of sign language. Their use of it is more a poetic expression.

“The sign for tampon does seem to come up from both Johnny and Natalie in the pre-edited footage, which causes some confusion, especially as American and British sign languages are different.

“It would have been nice if genuine deaf people had been used. But it’s still great.”

Natalie Portman's improper "sign" language in "My Valentine"

Johnny Depp's incorrect signing of the word "valentine."

The complete video can be viewed below.

Click the image above to play the video.

More Amazon links for any of your favorite Beatles-related music:

1) Kisses on the Bottom – Paul’s latst CD of satandards and a few originals including latest single “My Valentine.”

2) The Beatles, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr.
Visit www.thebeatlesrarity.com for a new Beatles rarity each week, plus lots more!

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If I Fell (clip from “A Hard Day’s Night”, 1964)

Happy Nat — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 10:00:56 +0000

“If I Fell” was the last song recorded on The Beatles February 27, 1964 session set up to record songs for their first feature film A Hard Day’s Night. This clip, taken directly from the film shows the Beatles when they are supposedly rehearsing the song in preparation for an upcoming London television show. In the opening we see that Ringo Starr is initially bitter about the theater tech mishandling his drums.

Paul McCartney, harmonizing on the vocals with John Lennon, had trouble reaching the high note on the word “vain” the second time around, so George Martin mixed out the words “new love was in vain” for the mono mix (heard here). This was done by replacing the faulty section with a copy of when it was sung the first time around. In the U.S., “If I Fell” was released as a Capitol single coupled with “And I Love Her” on July 20, 1964, around three weeks before the movie made it’s American theater debut.

Click the image above to play the video.

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

1) A Hard Day’s Night (Remastered) 2009 remastered CD of original 1964 UK LP, includes stereo mix of “If I Fell”.

2) A Hard Day’s Night – 2002 DVD remaster of original 1964 feature film. Contains a bonus DVD with lots of special features. Includes this clip of “If I Fell”.

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Yellow Submarine – 1968 film clip

Happy Nat — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 10:00:32 +0000

In celebration of the upcoming Blu-Ray/DVD re-release of Yellow Submarine, I thought it would be a good week to show a small snippet from the film. Details on the re-release can be found here. The animated movie’s box office premier was in July of 1968. At the film’s intro, the village of Pepperland is introduced as a cheerful music-loving paradise under the sea, protected by Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. A yellow submarine rests on a hill near a range of high blue mountains.

The land falls under a surprise attack by the music-hating Blue Meanies and it becomes the mission of Pepperland Sea Captain resident Old Fred to go for help. He takes off in the Yellow Submarine and luckily finds The Beatles, who return with him and revive the then-captured Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Together they defeat the Blue Meanies, restoring Pepperland to all of it’s original glory. The animated personas of The Beatles were the only Beatles seen until the final few minutes, when the real Beatles make an appearance to go out singing “All Together Now.”

Yellow Submarine was a box-office hit, drawing in crowds both for its lush, wildly creative images, and its soundtrack of Beatles songs. The soundtrack album release was delayed and did not see release until January 1969.

Click the image above to play the video.

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

1) Yellow Submarine (Remastered) 2009 CD remaster of original 1969 stereo album containing 6 Beatles songs from the film and orchestrations used in the film soundtrack by Sir George Martin.

2) Yellow Submarine Songtrack
1999 CD collection containing 15 fabulous remixes of Beatles songs used in the movie (a more complete account of music than the 6 tracks on original soundtrack). All mixes are by Peter Cobbin.

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Yellow Submarine Blu-Ray/DVD re-release in the works

Happy Nat — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 11:18:08 +0000

If you have been looking for a new video release of The Beatles animated classic Yellow Submarine, then here is some good news. An announcement by Apple for a re-release of the original movie on both Blu-Ray and DVD is rumored to be in the works for sometime today (Tuesday, Mar. 20, 2012). Earlier DVD copies of film had been taken out of circulation a few years ago ahead of the, now aborted, Disney 3-D re-make version that was initially announced on this site here. The U.S. release date is currently planned for May 29, 2012. The film was originally premeired at the box office in July 1968 and is an animated account of The Beatles and their mission to save the music-loving paradise under the sea known as Pepperland from the Blue Meanies.

Yellow Submarine (Blu-Ray edition, 2012)

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

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Beatles Rarity Of The Week – Spies Like Us (the ‘Party Mix’ version, 1985)

Happy Nat — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 10:00:25 +0000

I’m going slightly off the beaten path for this week’s BROW, back to November 18, 1985, when a 12 inch vinyl single was released containing three considerably differing mixes of Paul McCartney’s theme song “Spies Like Us,” composed and recorded for the motion picture of the same name. The standard 7 inch single was also released on the same date in the U.S., timed to be out just over two weeks before the movie’s box office debut.

Most of us are probably somewhat familiar with the Spies Like Us movie which stars comedians Chevy Chase and Dan Aykroyd, who play two American rookie intelligence agents sent to the Soviet Union, where they accidentally launch a nuclear missile on the United States.

The theme song was recorded in October 1985, during sessions for Paul’s upcoming Press To Play album. Paul not only sings but plays bass, guitar and drums on the track. The keyboards on the record are played by Eddie Rayner, a former player with the band Split Enz. Linda McCartney, Kate Robbins and Ruby James assist with backing vocals.

The 7 inch single featured another out-take as the b-side from the Wings Venus And Mars sessions (1975) called “My Carnival”. During the peak of the movie’s popularity the single reached #7 on the U.S. Billboard charts and to this date is Paul’s most recent top 10 single. “Spies Like Us” did not appear on an album until 1993 when it was included as a bonus track on the Press To Play CD issued as part of a series of CD remasters released that year called The Paul McCartney Collection.

The 12 inch single contains three alternate mixes of the song and even an extended version of “My Carnival”. None of these versions have been officially released since their initial issuance in November 1985. For this week’s BROW, I’m sharing with you one of these mixes labeled as the “party mix” on the record label. It clocks in at about 7 minutes and includes spoken audio segments from the film itself.

Paul McCartney - Spies Like Us (Party Mix)

Spies Like Us 12 inch single, released in Nov. 1986

Extra info:
1) In the Spies Like Us film, the outro of the single version is heard over the closing credits before the entire song is played. The outro features the backing vocalists singing “spies like us” repeatedly along with the uptempo beat of the song.

2) Although this record has not been re-issued since its initial release over 26 years ago, used copies can be found if you look around at the right places online (I’ve included a possible alternative below – see #3 in list of Amazon links below).

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

1) Press to Play 1993 remaster of original 1986 album release, contains 7 in. single version of “Spies Like Us” as a bonus track.

2) The McCartney Years 2007 3-DVD box set of Paul McCartney music videos and concert footage. 5.1 surround mixes included. Includes “Spies Like Us” (video edit).

3) Spies like Us (Party Mix) PROMO 12″ singleV-15212 – original 12 inch vinyl single containing the featured ‘party mix’ of “Spies Like Us” (Note: availability varies).

4) More Amazon links for any of your favorite Beatles-related music: The Beatles, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr.
Visit www.thebeatlesrarity.com for a new Beatles rarity each week, plus lots more!

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Another Girl (1965 Bahamas “Help!” clip)

Happy Nat — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 10:00:40 +0000

From February 4 – February 14 (St. Valentine’s Day) ,1965, Paul McCartney went on holiday to Hammamet, Tunisia with his girlfriend Jane Asher. Inside the house on the grounds where they were staying was a lavish bathroom with perfect acoustics for songwriting. This was where Paul wrote “Another Girl”.

The Beatles convened the day after his return on February 15th to begin the sessions for the upcoming Help! album and film. Having polished off “Ticket To Ride” in the afternoon session, they used the evening session to work on “Another Girl” and George Harrison’s “I Need You”.

“Another Girl” was knocked off in one take and 10 edit pieces. The 4-track recording had bass and drums on track 1, John Lennon’s Fender and George’s Jumbo Gibson acoustic on track 2, and Paul’s lead vocal along with John and George’s backing vocals on track 3. Track 4 had a few extra vocals from Paul and John, tom-toms from Ringo Starr and George playing his Gretsch at the end. The song was finished off the following day with the recording of Paul’s lead guitar track. This was most likely combined with track 2.

Mono and stereo mixes of “Another Girl” were prepared by February 16th with the mono mix having a much quieter rhythm track than the stereo. On the mono edition of the U.S. Help! soundtrack, however, the mono mix is simply a reduction of the stereo mix.

“Another Girl” went on to be one of the seven new songs used in the Help! film, released in the summer of 1965. In the movie clip shown here, Paul can be seen lip-syncing the song while standing on a coral reef on Balmoral Island in the Bahamas and playing a girl in a bikini as if she is a guitar. This clip features the stereo master of the song.

Click the image above to play the video.

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

1) Help! (Remastered) 2009 remaster of original 1965 U.K. stereo album, featuring “Another Girl”.

2) Help! 2007 DVD remaster of original 1965 film with 5.1 surround mix plus bonus DVD with lots of extras. Contains stereo and 5.1 mix of “Another Girl”.

3) The Capitol Albums Vol. 2 (Brick) – 2006 4-CD box set containing both stereo and mono mixes of the US Capitol Beatles albums released in 1965. These include The Early Beatles, Beatles VI, Help! and Rubber Soul. Contains both stereo and mono reduction mixes of “Another Girl”.

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Please Please Me – McCartney ‘US’ tour encore, 2005

Happy Nat — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 10:00:54 +0000

Paul McCartney threw the first Beatles #1 into the setlist for one of the encore performances recorded during his ‘US tour’ and it appears from the footage that this ‘pleased’ the audience very much. The ‘US’ tour began on September 16th, 2005 in Miami FL and finished on November 30th, 2005 in Los Angeles, CA. The tour name “US” stands for both “us” and the “U.S.”, where all the gigs were played. Put together for promotion of his latest album Chaos And Creation In The Backyard, the tour included 37 shows with a great account of it appearing on Paul’s DVD The Space Within Us. Paul’s band members on the tour were the same as they’ve been since 2002 and include Abe Laboriel Jr. (drums), Rusty Anderson (guitar), Brian Ray (guitar/bass), and Paul ‘Wix’ Wickens (keyboards).

Click the image above to play the video.

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

1) Chaos And Creation In The Backyard Paul’s original 2005 CD containing the hits “Fine Line” and “Jenny Wren”.

2) The Space Within Us – 2006 DVD disc with lots of footage from Paul McCartney’s 2005 ‘US’ Tour, including this performance of Please Please Me.

3) The Space Within US – 2008 Blu-Ray disc with lots of footage from Paul McCartney’s 2005 ‘US’ Tour, including this performance of Please Please Me.

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Beatles Rarity Of The Week – Take This Hammer Medley, 1969

Happy Nat — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 10:00:07 +0000

Welcome back for another edition of The Beatles Rarity Of The Week. After the filming of their surprise concert on the roof of Apple during the cold afternoon of January 30, 1969, The Beatles thought they had enough footage for their Let It Be documentary film. Well, almost anyway. There were still a few songs not appropriate for the rooftop show that they knew should be covered in the film with finalized versions. Those three numbers were “Two Of Us”, “The Long And Winding Road” and “Let It Be”.

So on the following day, The Beatles and Billy Preston returned to the Apple basement to perform these songs for the camera until they had releasable takes. “Two Of Us” was worked on first and knocked off fairly quickly. The other two required a bit more time. The final results of these recordings are seen in the Let It Be documentary just before the rooftop show which is used to wrap up the film.

This week’s BROW comes from a warm-up rehearsal from this January 31st session, recorded just before getting serious with the initial takes of “Two Of Us” were made. While in a skiffle mood, with acoustic guitars in hand, Paul McCartney leads the group into a singalong medley of Lonnie Donegan’s “Take This Hammer” which continues with Donegan’s “Lost John” with both John Lennon and Paul singing. George Harrison then joins in to steer the band into Johnny Cash’s “Five Feet High And Rising”. After they’ve played about as much of the song as they remember, Paul moves them into the musically similar tune “Bear Cat Mama” (a Jimmie Davis number from the 1930′s). Keeping the same backing, John leads them into the chorus from Koerner, Ray and Glover’s “Black Dog”. This is a traditional song that’s melody was later appropriated for the chorus of his own song, “Crippled Inside” that made it’s way onto his Imagine album in 1971. George and John then go into a few bars of Carl Perkins’ “Right String, Wrong Yo-Yo”. To wrap up the medley John duets with Paul for a verse of their own “Run For Your Life”, the closer for their 1965 Rubber Soul album. The medley ends with a brief reprise of “Black Dog”. The audio dropouts heard here are a result of the source tape coming from an extraction from an old stack of camera reels. A proper studio recording of the warm up sessions was not considered a necessary expense at the time.

By the end of the day, The Beatles had completed acceptable takes of “Two Of Us”, “The Long And Winding Road” and “Let It Be”, all three of which were used in both the film and Let It Be album in 1970, thus bringing to a close the so-called “Get Back” sessions of January 1969.

The Beatles - Take This Hammer Medley

John Lennon, January 1969

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

1) Let It Be 2009 remaster of original 1970 Let It Be album.

2) Let It Be…Naked – 2003 remastered stripped down version of original 1970 Let It Be album, w/bonus Fly On The Wall EP containing studio chat and session fragments.

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Real Love (Official Anthology Video Clip, 1996)

Happy Nat — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 10:00:09 +0000

Most Beatles fans are well aware of the John Lennon demos Yoko Ono gave to Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr in 1994, and the magic that was breathed into them for use on the Beatles Anthology project. Although even casual fans have seen both of the resulting video clips more than once, it has been awhile since I have seen them and thought a revisit of one of them wouldn’t be out of line.

“Real Love” began as a piano demo recorded around 1979 by John with an audio cassette recorder that he sat on top of his piano. The tape Yoko Ono gave to the surviving Beatles also included “Free As A Bird”, “Grow Old With Me” and “Now And Then”, but only “Free As A Bird” and “Real Love” were used for the Anthology project.

Original Beatles producer George Martin was initially offered the opportunity to produce, but declined due to his hearing limitations and Jeff Lynne, who had worked with George Harrison and the Traveling Wilburys, was given the job to co-produce with The Beatles instead.

Since John’s piano and vocal were on a single track, his voice could not be separated from the piano and so it was used on the final production. On the original demo recording, John had added a simple drum-machine beat and a second vocal track.

In February 1995, the additional work began on the demo by first carefully removing the hum, hiss and clicks from the cassette recording and transferring the mono source to two 24-track analogue tapes. George and Paul then added acoustic guitars, George the lead guitar and Ringo the drum track. Paul added two bass tracks, first playing an electric bass guitar and then adding the stand-up bass he had recently acquired, that had been used by Bill Black on Elvis Presley’s recording of “Heartbreak Hotel”. George, Paul and Ringo all added some additional percussion sounds while Paul and George sang backing and harmony vocals. Paul then recorded a vocal track as an addition to John’s lead, not to duet with him, but to strengthen the occasionally thin sound that was a consequence of the cassette recording.

The video features shots of the surviving Beatles recording the song in Sussex, mixed in with various footage taken throughout The Beatles’ career. There are actually two variations of the video but both use the same approach. The video was used in the second installment of the Beatles Anthology television mini-series and also in the Beatles Anthology VHS/DVD sets.

“Real Love” opens the Beatles Anthology 2 CD set and was also released on a CD single in 1996. One of the six original demo takes recorded by John was used in the 1988 film Imagine: John Lennon and is included on it’s soundtrack CD.

While the composition credit for “Free As A Bird” was modified to Lennon/McCartney/Harrison/Starr due to additional lyrical development and chord structure additions, “Real Love” remained solely a Lennon composition.

Click the image above to play the video.

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

1) Beatles Anthology 2 CD set 2-CD set covering Beatles years 1965-1968 and opening with The Beatles version of “Real Love”.

2) The Beatles Anthology (DVD set) 2003 5-DVD set giving expanded version of original 1995 television mini-series, including videos for both “Real Love” and “Free As A Bird”.

3) Imagine: John Lennon Soundtrack CD soundtrack of 1988 film Imagine: John Lennon, featuring acoustic demo version of “Real Love”.

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