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Aug 30 6 comments
BROW, Films

Beatles Rarity Of The Week – If I Fell (composing tape, Jan. 1964)

Welcome to the Beatles Rarity of the Week. John Lennon got a head start on writing new material for the yet untitled first Beatles movie, in early January 1964, when he wrote and recorded the initial home demos for If I Fell in his London flat. Legend has it that the recordings were taped over an audio message sent to John by a fan who had seen The Beatles November 17, 1963 show in Coventry. Her message had been recorded on New Year’s Eve, 1963. If I Fell would go on to be one of the 7 new songs completed specifically for A Hard Day’s Night (film and album) as well as the B-side of a July 1964 single paired with And I Love Her as the A-side. The other new songs for the film would be written during the upcoming tour of France and America.

This historical recording is divided into five separate demo/fragments:

1) The tape starts with a take already in progress, but this is cut off for a complete attempt (0:00-0:13).
2) John plays through the complete song with the structure and lyrics nearly finalized. The melody line he sings would eventually be given to Paul McCartney, with John taking a lower harmony. Here John is obviously straining to reach the notes. Note that the ending riff would be removed from use on this song and used instead on I Should Have Known Better (another song for the film yet to be written) (0:14-2:40).
3) John sings the final verse an octave lower which is much more suited for his vocal range (2:41-3:08).
4) John tries singing falsetto again, but only the first verse (3:09-3:45).
5) John tries just a couple lines of the first verse, singing falsetto again and snaps off the tape (3:46-4:00).

The Beatles - If I Fell
John Lennon, 1964

John Lennon, 1964

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Aug 27 2 comments
VOW

A short Texas-style interview w/The Beatles (1964)

The Beatles, 1964This week’s VOW feature comes from a local television interview in Dallas, Texas while The Beatles visited on their 1964 American Tour. This was recorded on the evening of September 18 and as you can see Paul decided to wear a cowboy hat for the occasion.

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Aug 26 3 comments
Extras

The Beatles On Juke Box Jury

I had a recent request from my friend Cara, to share some of The Beatles on the UK BBC Television program Juke Box Jury. So here is an audio recording preceded by some background info about the show:

On December 7th 1963, the Beatles gave an afternoon concert at the Empire Theatre in their hometown of Liverpool which was filmed for BBC-TV. Following the concert, the Beatles rushed to the Odeon Cinema in Liverpool for a special taping of Juke Box Jury.

Juke Box Jury was a weekly program featuring a panel of four celebrities who were given the task of rating newly released records as ‘HIT’ or ‘MISS,’ based on their personal opinions of the recording’s potential to become a popular chart hit.

When the Beatles appeared as the four panelists for this edition of the show, they rated the latest releases by artists like Elvis Presley, Steve and Eydie, Bobby Vinton, Billy Fury, and the Swinging Blue Jeans. Most of the predictions the Beatles made on this episode of Juke Box Jury proved later to be correct, and only three of their predictions turned out to be incorrect.

The video of the Beatles’ appearance on Juke Box Jury seemingly no longer exists. Luckily, the audio from this television appearance has survived.

Their December 7th Juke Box Jury appearance and a 30 minute film of their concert earlier that afternoon at Liverpool’s Empire Theatre would both be telecast by BBC-TV later that same evening.

Juke Box Jury began as a program in America during the earliest days of television. The BBC version of the show debuted in 1959 and ran until 1967. The host of Juke Box Jury in Britain was David Jacobs.

This is the audio from the final 9 minutes of this Dec. 7th 1963 appearance when the Beatles rated:

1) Do You Really Love Me Too – Billy Fury: the record was compared unfavorably to a Cliff Richard record though John & Paul liked the song and said it would be a hit..they were right as it ended up going to number 15 in the UK. Note: The audio here begins after the song has played.

2) There I’ve Said It Again – Bobby Vinton: All 4 correctly voted this a miss for the UK. But in the U.S. it was a #1 a month later and ironically I Want To Hold Your Hand was the song that dethroned it on the Billboard singles chart. Note: All but a few seconds of the track has been clipped from the recording.

3) Love Hit Me – The Orchids: The Orchids are a trio of schoolgirls from Coventry and John criticizes the group as a clone of The Ronettes or The Crystals. Paul & George are a little more enthusiastic but they ultimately vote it as a miss. Then they get suddenly and humorously apologetic when they are told afterward that the Orchids are in the audience and are told by announcer David Jacobs to stand up. John then says he’ll change it to a hit and buy two!

4) I Think Of You – The Merseybeats: As they are running out of time, they cut the discussion and go straight for the vote. All vote this one a hit for these fellow Liverpudlians.

The theme song Hit And Miss closes the show.

The Beatles - Juke Box Jury (BBC TV)
The Beatles on Juke Box Jury on Dec. 7, 1963

The Beatles on Juke Box Jury on Dec. 7, 1963

An abbreviated transcription of this show is online here which is where much of the info on the program in this post came from.

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Aug 25 0 comments
Cartoons

Singalong 10: I’ll Follow The Sun/When I Get Home

Beatles CartoonsSing along with The Beatles to I’ll Follow The Sun and When I Get Home.

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Aug 23 2 comments
BROW

Beatles Rarity Of The Week – I’m Only Sleeping (US stereo reissue mix)

Welcome to the Beatles Rarity of the Week. This week’s post is a follow up to an earlier BROW I posted way back in October of 2008, that you can check out here if you like.

The previously referenced post points out that there have been five mixes in the standard Beatles catalog of I’m Only Sleeping. Actually, I should have said there are four, since the mix on the stereo US Yesterday…And Today LP is a fake stereo mix identical to the one on the mono Y&T album.

1. Yesterday…And Today (mono) + Yesterday…And Today (stereo) which had a fake stereo mix – this mix was featured on the Oct. 2008 BROW and never released officially to CD.

2. UK Revolver mono mix – available again recently on the mono remasters box set issued last September.

3. UK Revolver stereo mix – this has been the standard mix since the CD was issued in 1987.

4. Yesterday…And Today (stereo reissue) – around 1973 the stereo Y&T album was upgraded with a newly created stereo mix of I’m Only Sleeping since early issues had ‘fake’ stereo mixes. This version has not been officially released to CD.

All four of these mixes have subtle differences to do with where the backwards guitar overdubs are faded up and down in the mix. Also, the lead guitar is mixed differently throughout the guitar solo and at the end. My earlier post included the mono US Y&T mix (#1 above). Since #2 above was recently issued and #3 above is the standard mix, I have chosen the US stereo 1973 reissued mix (#4) as this week’s BROW. In case you’re interested in comparing, I have charted specifically how these mixes differ below the photo, but, of course, you don’t have to sweat the details just to enjoy the song.

The Beatles - I'm Only Sleeping
The Beatles, 1966

The Beatles, 1966

Note: #4 below is the characteristics for the mix featured in this post. To compare with mono Y&T version (#1), check out the earlier post. To compare with UK stereo Revolver mix (#3), play your Revolver CD. With the mono box set you can compare with your mono Revolver CD (#2).

Verse 1: no backwards guitar on any mix

Verse 2:
#1-no backwards guitar
#3-backwards guitar on “everywhere at such a speed” and “find there’s no need”
#4-backwards guitar on “running everywhere at such a speed” and “till they find there’s no need”
#2-backwards guitar on “where at such a speed” and “there’s no need”

Verse 3:
#1-backwards guitar on “time” and “ceiling”
#3, #4-no backwards guitar
#2-backwards guitar on “staring at the ceiling”

Solo:
#1-guitar continues into words “please don’t” at end of solo
#3, #2-guitar ends at end of solo
#4-guitar fades in 2 bars later, continues into “please”

Verse 4:
no backwards guitar on any mix

End:
#1-guitar starts 4 beats after the last word “sleeping”
all others- guitar starts immediately after last word “sleeping”

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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 over 8100 Beatle-related recordings to choose from. Then let me hear from you here.

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Aug 20 5 comments
VOW

Only Love Remains – promo video (1986)

Pictures sleeve for Paul McCartney's Only Love Remains single, 1986This week’s VOW is related to the BROW from earlier this week. As a promotion for his newest album Press To Play, Paul filmed a promo video in November, 1986 at Pinewood Studios in Buckingham, UK where he performed Only Love Remains before a small audience. Singing backing vocals with Linda McCartney here is Judith Light from the television show Who’s the Boss. A few days later Paul performed this song at London’s Theatre Royale for the Royal Variety Show.

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