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Category Archives: VOW

(Beatles) Video Of The Week

Jan 20 2 comments
VOW

Penny Lane (original 1967 promo video)

Strawberry Fields Forever/Penny Lane US picture sleeve

Back on November 11th, 2011, I featured the promo video for one side of the double A-sided Strawberry Fields Forever c/w Penny Lane single. I decided to follow that up this week with the other side.

The promo clip for Paul McCartney’s “Penny Lane” was shot at a few locations on the 5th and 7th of February, 1967, in preparation for the upcoming mid-February single release (specifically the 13th in the U.S. and 17th in the U.K.).

Although there were a few sequences shot in Liverpool’s Penny Lane (the subject of the song), The Beatles never traveled there to make the video. The footage, where The Beatles are in the city, was shot at a district of London called Angel Lane. This includes the scene where they are riding horseback through the streets (I’ve always wondered if it was a coincidence that George Harrison rode the “dark horse”). These scenes are interspersed with footage of the “real” Penny Lane in Liverpool, which show the #46 bus, the “shelter in the middle of the roundabout,” the barber’s pole, the fireman on the white horse, etc. Get the whole story »

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Jan 13 1 comments
VOW

The Fool On The Hill (1967 Magical Mystery Tour film sequence)

Magical Mystery Tour, 1967 double EP set, cover art

“The Fool On The Hill” was a Lennon/McCartney original, used in the Magical Mystery Tour film and accompanying LP/EP set. It was actually conceived by Paul McCartney, who stated in an interview that he wrote the song with someone like Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in mind. He claims that he looked at the Maharishi as someone that was considered a fool to his detractors. However, the earliest memories of the song occur around the time of the sessions for the Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album, a few months before The Beatles first met with the Maharishi. Paul had actually played the song for John Lennon on piano during a writing session for the “Pepper” track, “With A Little Help From My Friends.” The Beatles Anthology 2 CD set has the first recorded demo of the song, taped on September 6th, 1967, along with an account of take 4, made on September 25th, by which time the recording of the song in earnest had begun. The basic track for the master was completed by September 27th, and the flutes were added on October 20th as the finishing touch. Get the whole story »

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Jan 06 2 comments
VOW

Follow Me (Live at the Glastonbury Fesival, 2004)

Chaos And Creation In The Backyard album art

For over forty years the Glastonbury Festival, held each year in the southwest of England, has been a great source of good rock and roll entertainment. In the 1970′s you may have seen T.Rex or David Bowie there. In the 1980′s, there was The Cure, Elvis Costello and Jackson Browne. In the 1990′s it got even louder with Radiohead, Primal Scream, Sinead O’Connor and R.E.M.

On June 26, 2004, Paul McCartney showed up and introduced a song that he stated was written specifically for “Glasto.” “Follow Me” had never appeared on a McCartney release or been performed in public before this night. Paul performs it on acoustic guitar accompanied with his touring band of Rusty Anderson (guitar), Brian Ray (bass), Abe Laboriel Jr. (drums, percussion), and Paul ‘Wix’ Wickens (keyboards). A studio version was released 15 months later on his September 2005 album Chaos And Creation In The Backyard, and he also included it in the setlist of his 2005 “US” tour.

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 2005 CD release containing the studio version of “Follow Me”.

2) Paul McCartney – The Space Within US 2006 DVD featuring live performances from Paul McCartney’s 2005 “US” tour, including a nice live version of “Follow Me”.

3) More Amazon links for any of your favorite Beatles-related music: The Beatles, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr.

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Dec 30 7 comments
VOW

Ding Dong Ding Dong (George Harrison original promo video, 1974)

Dark Horse album art

Welcome to the last offering from The Beatles Rarity in 2011.

Two years ago on Dec. 28, 2009, I featured George Harrison’s “Ding Dong, Ding Dong” in demo form as a BROW (Beatles Rarity of the Week), which you can catch here. I also mentioned it on last week’s VOW (Video of the Week), and that got me thinking about it. Since it is George Harrison’s only anthem for the new year, I thought I’d feature the finalized version and promo video for today’s VOW.

This festive track was released on an Apple single in time for the New Years’ festivities on Dec. 6, 1974, and also hails from George’s Dark Horse album released three days later. The lyrics have George telling us to “ring out the old, ring in the new” and we see him doing this in the video as he appears in various Beatle-garb, such as his gray collarless suit and Sgt. Pepper uniform. Since his former bandmate, Ringo Starr, plays drums on the track, we can see him in the video too. There are lots of other musicians, including keyboardist Gary Wright on piano, Ron Wood on guitar (credited as “Ron Would If You Let Him” on the Dark Horse liner notes), Mick Jones on guitar, Alvin Lee on guitar, and old friend Klaus Voormann on bass. Additional drums were on the record from long time friend and session man Jim Keltner. The horns you hear are played by Tom Scott. The spirit of Sir Frank Crisp is also credited.
Get the whole story »

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Dec 23 4 comments
VOW

Wonderful Christmastime (Paul McCartney’s original 1979 promo video)

Wonderful Christmastime single sleeve art

For your holiday VOW this year, I’ve dug up Paul McCartney’s 1979 promo video for “Wonderful Christmastime.” Many of you have probably been hearing it lately, playing over the PA in all of the department stores, while getting your holiday shopping done, and so I thought I’d post up the visuals to go with it.

Although it has a Christmas theme, it was recorded most likely in the summer of 1979, during Paul’s sessions for his McCartney II album. Like the other songs from these sessions, Paul plays all the instruments, although his band Wings are present in the video. While the McCartney II album was not released in final form until May of 1980, a double album test pressing version, prepared in extremely limited quantities, was out in late 1979. However, “Wonderful Christmastime” was not on it, or on the final version of the album. It was only issued as a single on November 16, 1979. Years later, in 1993, it appeared on the U.K. remaster CD of the Wings album Back To The Egg as a bonus cut. More recently two different edits of it appeared on the June 2011-issued deluxe edition of McCartney II (along with a DVD that contains this featured video). The video was filmed at the Fountain Inn, located in Ashurst, West Sussex, U.K.
Get the whole story »

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Dec 16 0 comments
VOW

Yesterday – Blackpool Night Out performance, Aug. 1, 1965

Blackpool Night Out

On August 1, 1965, after over a year of no live performances on U.K. television, The Beatles took the stage at the ABC Theatre to perform six numbers on the program Blackpool Night Out. Along with both sides of their new single (“Help!” and “I’m Down”), they performed the A-sides of the previous two singles (“Ticket To Ride” and “I Feel Fine”) and two songs from their latest LP, Help! The first of these was Ringo Starr’s vocal performance of the Buck Owen’s song “Act Naturally”. The second, featured here for the VOW, is Paul McCartney’s solo performance of “Yesterday.”

The audience during “Yesterday” is quite interesting, as they are likely used to screaming, but aren’t sure how to react to such a gentle song. As the stage lights darken, John Lennon and George Harrison make their exit, and Ringo remains sitting quietly at his drums. Paul plays his acoustic guitar upside down, and is accompanied only by the house band’s string quartet. The audience remains unusually quiet until Paul’s final note. At that point, as the screaming applause fills the room, the lights come up, and John Lennon runs on stage to present Paul with a bouquet of flowers, saying “Thank you, Ringo. That was wonderful.”

This performance of “Yesterday” (along with”I Feel Fine”, “Ticket To Ride” and “Help!” from the same show) appears on the Beatles Anthology 2 CD set. All six Blackpool performances except “I Feel Fine” appear, at least partially, on episode 4 of the Beatles Anthology home video documentary. This show would be The Beatles’ last non-mimed U.K. television performance until “All You Need Is Love” in 1967.

Click the image above to play the video.

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) Anthology 2 1996 2-CD set featuring out-takes, live performances and other historic Beatles recordings between 1965-1968. Includes the version of “Yesterday” heard in this post.

2) The Beatles Anthology – 2003 reissue of 5 DVD set with over 10 hours of Beatles commentary and historic performances, including the performance of “Yesterday” seen in this post.

3) Help! (Remastered) 2009 stereo CD remaster of original 1965 album, featuring original stereo master of “Yesterday”.

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

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