Welcome to The Beatles Rarity Of The Week. John Lennon’s White Album track “Happiness Is A Warm Gun” is the subject of this week’s offering.

John referred to the song as a pastiche, consisting of several different song fragments he had going around in his head in 1968, as identified below:

1. The first section includes a fingerpicking style of guitar he had recently picked up in Rishikesh India with the help of Donovan, played with a lilting pattern and including the line “She’s not a girl who misses much…”
2. The second section includes some lyrics supplied by Beatles press officer Derek Taylor which he came up with during an acid trip that he experienced with John (“She’s well acquainted with the touch of a velvet hand like a lizard on a window pane…”).
3. The third section came from a song fragment called “I Need A Fix” built around a nice and mean sounding guitar riff.
4. John follows this up with the fourth “Mother Superior Jumped The Gun” section.
5. The fifth and final section sends off the song with a doo-wop approach of singing the title with full backing vocal accompaniment from John, Paul McCartney and George Harrison. This inspiration for this section came from the title of an American firearms magazine title of Happiness Is A Warm Gun In Your Hand that John was shown by producer George Martin.

With each section comes a change in the time signature, yet despite it’s schizophrenic nature, it came together quite well and was much admired by the other Beatles. In fact, Paul McCartney mentioned in an interview that it was his favorite White Album song.

Forty-five takes of the song were recorded on September 23, 1968 and twenty-five more the following day. Take 53 was chosen as the best of these except for the final section which was edited to it from take 65. Overdubs were added from this version to create the master. If listening to the album or CD of the White Album, the edit between the takes occurs at 1:34.

For this week’s BROW, I am sharing one of the rough mix tapes that isolates one of the overdub tracks. It contains organ for the first two sections, distorted electric guitar for the third section, hi-hat and tambourine for the fourth section, and piano for the final section. These can be heard in the released stereo and mono mixes (centered in stereo) but since the organ and piano are quite buried there, I thought you may appreciate hearing these parts of the mix a bit clearer in this isolation account. As an added bonus, I’ve prefaced this with John’s acoustic guitar demo of the song recorded on May 25, 1969 while at his and Yoko Ono’s Canadian Bed-In at the King Edward Hotel in Toronto. On this same day John was recording demos for his anthem “Give Peace A Chance” just one week before recording the final version in Montreal, Quebec.

A very special thanks goes out to Spike who requested this week’s BROW and waited patiently for me to get to it.

The Beatles - Happiness Is A Warm Gun

John Lennon & Paul McCartney, 1968

Extra info: The Beatles Anthology 3 includes an acoustic demo of John playing sections 3 and 4 sometime around the third week of May 1968 at his Weybridge home, Kenwood.

Credits for finalized version of “Happiness Is A Warm Gun:”
John Lennon: double tracked vocal, backing vocals, guitar
Paul McCartney: bass, backing vocals
George Harrison: fuzzed lead guitar, backing vocals
Ringo Starr: drums, tambourine

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

1) The White Album (Remastered) 2009 2-CD remaster of original 1968 stereo LP, including “Happiness Is A Warm Gun.”

2) Anthology 3 2-CD compilation of alternate and out-take Beatles recordings between 1968-1969, including early acoustic demo of “Happiness Is A Warm Gun.”

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!

No related posts.

Welcome to the first installment of #AskNat, a new series on TheBeatlesRarity where I chose one or more Beatle-related questions sent in by site-readers to give it my best answer. Feel free to join in with any added information by commenting to the post. Information on submitting your own questions is given below.

This week’s first question comes from one of our Twitter readers with the name Kostya221. His question is:

It is fairly common knowledge that the single version of “Love Me Do” by The Beatles has Ringo Starr on drums and the Please Please Me album version of “Love Me Do” has George Martin-appointed session man Andy White on drums and Ringo playing a tambourine. Are there any other Beatles recordings that Andy White plays on?

The Beatles first recordings at EMI Studios occurred on June 6, 1962 while Pete Best was still the drummer. The band recorded both “Besame Mucho” and “Love Me Do.” Both of these songs are featured on Beatles Anthology 1.

After this session producer George Martin told the Beatles manager Brian Epstein that he would be replacing Pete Best on the drums with someone else for any future studio recordings. Ringo Starr became the new Beatles drummer on August 18th and his first studio session at EMI with The Beatles came on September 4th, 1962 when The Beatles recorded “How Do You Do It” written by Mitch Murray and their own “Love Me Do. ” The version of “Love Me Do” recorded here was used on the British single released on October 5, 1962. Ringo played on both of these tracks.

By the next EMI session which came the following week on September 11, 1962, George Martin, although recognizing Ringo as a big improvement over Pete Best, was having second thoughts on his drumming and replaced him with session drummer Andy White. The Beatles recorded “P.S. I Love You’ first (the version that is on the B-side to the “Love Me Do” single and mono copies of the Please Please Me LP). Ringo, wanting to be sure he was on the record, played maracas. Next they did a re-recording of “Love Me Do” still using Andy White as drummer. Ringo plays a tambourine on this recording which was selected for use on the Please Please Me LP. Thirdly The Beatles recorded an earlier and harmonica-less version of “Please Please Me”. This version is available on The Beatles Anthology 1 and has a much tamer drum pattern, again delivered by Andy White. George Martin instructed them to pep the song up and add some harmonies, which they did and when it was recorded again on November 26th of that year. Ringo played drums on this recording and it became The Beatles first number one single.

Andy White, session drummer for EMI, circa 1962

Secondly, Craig from Santa Ana, California asks:

Why do both The Beatles’ Vee Jay and Capitol records in America have identical rainbow colorbands on the record labels when they were not affiliated with each other?

While the colorband design is similar for both Vee Jay and Capitol, they are not identical, as the colors are positioned in different positions around the circular labels (e.g. green is around the 3 o’clock position on a Capitol label and around the 7 o’clock position on a Vee Jay label).

The rainbow label was introduced by Capitol in 1958 with the advent of stereophonic records. Vee Jay apparently liked the design and adapted their own version of the rainbow labels by 1960. Many Vee Jay records did not include the rainbow label design however as it was dependent on which factory pressed the records (Vee Jay used more than one) and other factors. Capitol did not use rainbow labels on the Beatles singles but did on both mono and stereo Beatles albums. Vee Jay used their rainbow labels on both albums, singles and EPs.

Capitol LP rainbow label

Vee Jay single rainbow label, 1963

Thank you Kostya221 and Craig for your questions!

To submit your own questions to #askNat follow these guidelines:

1) There is a designated form that you fill out right on the website where you can give your name, location, email address and submit your question. The form is right here and is the same form used to submit requests for BROWs (Beatles Rarity Of The Weeks), but modfied to do both BROW requests and #askNat questions.

2) If you are a Facebook user, you can submit your question right on TheBeatlesRarity FB wall at www.facebook.com/beatlesrarity. If you think about it, try to remember to flag your question with “#askNat”.

3) Similarly, if you are a Google+ user, you can submit your question on TheBeatlesRarity Google+ page at www.gplus.to/beatlesrarity. Google+ supports hashtag searchability so it will be helpful if you preface your question with “#askNat” here too.

4) For you Twitter users, www.twitter.com/beatlesrarity gets you to the right place. Post your question and be sure to add “#askNat” somewhere in the tweet.

To read more or purchase music related to this post check out these Amazon links below:

1) Please Please Me (Remastered) – 2010 remaster of original 1963 stereo album featuring “Love Me Do” and “P.S. I Love You” w/Andy White on drums.

2) Past Masters (Remastered) – 2-CD 2010 remastered set of Beatles non-album tracks including “Love Me Do” single version with Ringo Starr on drums.

3) Anthology 1 – 1995 2 CD set of Beatles out-takes and live recordings from the earliest years up to 1964. Includes early version of “Please Please Me” with Andy White on drums and early version of “Love Me Do” with Pete Best on drums.

4) 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!

Related posts:

1. Collector’s Corner – The “Love Me Do” single on Parlophone – The Beatles begin an incredible recording career Excluding the January 5, 1962, Polydor “My Bonnie” single release...

This week instead of the the VOW, I’m continuing with a new series called Record Roundup, which made it’s debut last week, showcasing the U.S. Capitol “I Want To Hold Your Hand” single. This week the featured record is the British Parlophone “Love Me Do” single, which as many of you know is The Beatles very first record other than the recordings where they were only backing up Tony Sheridan. Just like last time, I’ll give a quick talk about the record before spinning it up on a real honest to goodness portable turntable, just like it was done in the sixties. You can think of this as sort of an infomercial made back in the day to promote the 45. Enjoy!

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) Past Masters (Remastered) 2009 remastered 2-CD compilation of The Beatles non-album tracks, featuring the single version of “Love Me Do” with Ringo Starr on drums.

2) The Beatles 1 – 2011 remastered version of original 2000 compilation of Beatles #1 singles, including “Love Me Do” with session drummer Andy White on drums and Ringo Starr playing tambourine.

3) Please Please Me (Remastered) – 2009 remaster of original 1963 British LP including “Love Me Do” with session drummer Andy White on drums and Ringo Starr playing tambourine.

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!

Related posts:

1. Collector’s Corner – The “Love Me Do” single on Parlophone – The Beatles begin an incredible recording career Excluding the January 5, 1962, Polydor “My Bonnie” single release...

Welcome back to TheBeatlesRarity.com. My name is Happy Nat and it’s time for another Beatles Rarity Of The Week.

One of the factors that tends to complicate the Beatles recording catalog for the completist is the mono vs. stereo issue. When The Beatles showed up on commercial vinyl in the early sixties, mono was certainly king. Beatles albums were released in both mono and stereo versions, but the stereo albums cost more (usually about a dollar more in the U.S.) and let’s face it – most of the people that were in the Beatle-audience didn’t have the right equipment to play stereo records anyway. That was for “old people” who were into symphonic music and had the money for expensive “hi-fi” equipment. Yet, one need only listen and compare to hear hundreds of differences between the mono and stereo versions of many Beatles songs. They can occur in the pitch, overdubs, vocal tracks, fade-out times, etc. To cite just one example, “From Me To You” has harmonica in the intro in mono and this is completely missing in stereo.

Another complicating factor for the completist is the differences in the way the songs were compiled (or sequenced) on LPs in various countries (primarily the U.S. and U.K). In the U.K., they generally aimed for about 14 songs per album with singles tracks not included on albums. In the U.S., albums did contain the singles tracks and usually totaled around 11 songs. So after two albums came out in the U.K., there were enough “leftovers” in the U.S. to create a third album. Another complication is that often, U.S. versions had different mixes and edits than the U.K. versions. A good example of this is “I’ll Cry Instead”. The U.S. Capitol single version has an extra verse that is not included on either the mono or stereo U.K. version.

A third complicating factor is sort of a hybrid of the above two. Since single were only issued in mono until 1969, stereo mixes of them would often not be bothered with. This presented a problem in the U.S. Capitol Records would need a stereo mix of a track for their stereo edition of an album that was only issued on a single in the U.K. A good example of this might be the single “I Feel Fine” and it’s b-side “She’s A Woman”. These songs were recorded during the sessions for the U.K. album Beatles For Sale, but no stereo mix was made because they knew those two songs were going to be issued on the mono single. However, in the U.S., Capitol Records made their shortened version of Beatles For Sale called Beatles ’65 and wanted to include both “I Feel Fine” and “She’s A Woman” on the stereo album. So what was their solution?

The answer is “fake stereo!” Fake stereo, also referred to as “rechanneled stereo” or “mock stereo” is nothing more than duplicating the single channel mono recording to produce two identical channels and then enhancing the high frequency sounds in one of them (the treble) and the low frequency sounds in the other (the bass). Of course, this isn’t really stereo because the same sounds are still heard in both speakers, but it enhances the sound a bit. Fake stereo was used often in cases like this in the sixties, and even on compilation albums in the seventies, where a mono mix needs to “pass” for a stereo mix. After this period though, fake stereo was frowned upon and avoided.

This week’s BROW feature is a recording that became a victim of fake stereo not only once, but twice. In the case of “Yes It Is”, the mono mix was prepared on February 18, 1965 for use as the b-side to the upcoming “Ticket To Ride” single. It had been recorded two days earlier with take 14 being selected as the master.

Beatles VI, released in US on June 14, 1965

Even though it was intended for a single, a stereo mix was made five days later, but apparently tucked away and forgotten about afterwards. This might have been because of an audio dropout tape defect in verse 1 on the word “I” in “remember what I said tonight”. Or it might have been due to the extraneous tone-pedal under the word “if” in the first line of the song. For whatever reason, this stereo mix was not given to Capitol in the U.S., who could’ve used one for the U.S. only Beatles VI album they were piecing together. This is why stereo pressings of Beatles VI contain a “fake stereo” mix of “Yes It Is”. Some 12 years later Capitol prepared a theme compilation album called Love Songs and decided to prepare a new “fake stereo” mix of “Yes It Is” for inclusion on the double-LP, likely still unaware that a real stereo version even existed.

So, you may ask – when did the stereo mix of “Yes It Is” get re-discovered? Well, it must have been in the mid-eighties because – would you believe? – it first surfaced on a promotional cassette tape offered by Heineken Beer in 1986! In June 1986, Heineken launched a promotion in which you could order an exclusive Beatles compilation (on cassette only) in exchange for beer can ring pulls. The tape was titled Only The Beatles and included the previously unreleased true stereo version of “Yes It Is.” Within weeks of the offer first being made, EMI/Apple sued and the tapes were quickly withdrawn. This resulted in Only The Beatles becoming perhaps the most collectable Beatles cassette of all.

Fortunately two years later in 1988, when the Past Masters Volume 1 CD made it’s appearance, the stereo “Yes It Is” made it’s debut on CD and thus, finally became part of the mainstream Beatles catalog. It was also included on the 2009 remastered version of the Past Masters CD set.

You can also hear the first “fake stereo” mix of “Yes It Is” on the Beatles VI disc included with The Capitol Albums Volume 2 box set. The second “fake stereo” mix never appeared anywhere after the Love Songs double album, which is now an obsolete part of the Beatles catalog that is long out of print, and with no plans for re-issue. This is why I’ve included this rare Love Songs mix for this week’s BROW. Naturally, it sounds very similar to the straight mono version, but enhanced as I’ve described. Enjoy…

The Beatles "Love Songs" (US 2-LP compilation set), released Oct. 21, 1977

Extra info: A complete account of take 1 of “Yes It Is” was featured on an earlier BROW that you may check out here. A hybrid of takes 2 and the completed take 14 in stereo can be heard on the CD set Beatles Anthology 2.

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

1) Past Masters (Remastered) – 2009 remastered 2-CD set of Past Masters (Vol. 1 & 2), including re-discovered 1965 stereo mix of “Yes It Is”.

2) The Capitol Albums Vol. 2 (Brick) 4 CD box set of 2006 remastered U.S. Capitol Beatles mono and stereo LP releases of 1965. Includes mono and first fake stereo mix of “Yes It Is”.

3) Anthology 2 – 1996 collection of Beatles out-takes and extras from 1965-1968. Includes a hybrid of “Yes It Is” take 2 and the completed take 14 in stereo.

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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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”.

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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I’m hoping most of those reading this have had the opportunity to check out Martin Scorsese’s recent biographical documentary George Harrison: Living In The Material World by now. Back in October it made it’s debut in cinemas across the U.K. and was also released on home video. In the U.S., it made it’s first appearance on HBO, with the promise posted on GeorgeHarrison.com of a home video release in the Spring. The 3 1/2 hour feature is divided into two parts with the first part focusing on George’s “Beatle-years” and the second part mainly focusing on the time after The Beatles, up to George’s death in 2001. However, part two actually begins with a 1968 acoustic demo of George’s “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”. Since this demo is only presented as a 45 second edit containing one verse, and not available on any official releases anywhere else, I thought some of you out there might like to hear it in it’s entirety.

This demo of George’s White Album classic is the earliest known recorded account of the song. It was recorded in late May 1968, when The Beatles had recently returned from their time learning about Transcendental Meditation with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, in Rishikesh, India. Since the band had written some 35 new songs while on the trip, they were eager to record some demos and make plans for the next album. They had decided to convene at George’s bungalow (named Kinfauns) in Esher Surrey, U.K. to do just that.

A tape of 23 demos from the recordings The Beatles did then has survived (known as the Kinfauns demos) and circulates among Beatles-collectors. The sound quality on the tape is far from superb, but yet good enough to get an idea of how developed many of the songs that ended up on the White Album were at this point. The tape concludes with five George Harrison demos, and only two of the five ended up making the final cut for the forthcoming 2-LP set. Specifically George’s 5 songs were: “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”, “Circles”, “Sour Milk Sea”, “Not Guilty” & “Piggies”.

“While My Guitar Gently Weeps” has George adding to his guitar and vocal track with an organ on the bridges and ending. The lyrics are yet to modified to the version we are accustomed to now. This earliest known demo of the song pre-dates the demo heard on the Beatles Anthology 3 CD set by two months. The electric version we hear on the White Album was recorded during the first week of September 1968 and features Eric Clapton on lead guitar and Paul McCartney on fuzz bass.

George Harrison at his Kinfauns home in Esher, circa 1968

Extra info: Of George’s 5 offerings on the Kinfauns demos, only “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” and “Piggies” ended up on the “White Album”. “Not Guilty” and “Circles” were both recorded later by George on solo albums (George Harrison and Gone Troppo, respectively). “Sour Milk Sea” was covered by Apple artist Jackie Lomax and released as a single in 1968 (with George, Paul, Ringo and Eric Clapton backing Jackie up on the recording – see this post for more info on that). In addition to the 23 demos recorded at Kinfauns, four additional demos from this period were recorded at John Lennon’s home (Kenwood) and appear on the Beatles Anthology 3 CD set. They are “Happiness Is A Warm Gun”, “Mean Mr. Mustard”, “Polythene Pam” and “Glass Onion”.

Links to Amazon.com items in The Beatles catalog related to this post are listed below. Click for further info or, if you like, to purchase the music:

1) The Beatles (White Album) (Remastered) – 2009 2-CD remaster of original 1968 stereo double LP. Contains the stereo master of “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” (electric version).

2) Beatles Anthology 3 1996 2-CD collection of out-takes and alternate versions of Beatles tracks in their final two years 1968-1969. Includes an acoustic demo from July 1968 of “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” (not the same demo featured here). Also includes Beatles studio version of “Not Guilty” – a White Album out-take mentioned above.

3) Let It Roll: Songs by George Harrison – 2009 remastered collection of George Harrison’s best, including a live version of “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” from the Concert For Bangla Desh (1971).

4) George Harrison – 2004 remaster of original 1979 LP featuring George Harrison’s solo version of “Not Guilty”.

5) Gone Troppo – 2004 remaster of original 1982 LP. Contains George Harrison’s solo version of “Circles”.

6) Ringo 2012 – Ringo Starr’s new album, pre-order only until Jan. 24, 2012.

7) Find more Beatles-related music on Amazon: 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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“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.

On October 30th, 1967, during filming of the Magical Mystery Tour television special, Paul, along with camerman Aubrey Dewar, traveled down to Nice, France, without the other Beatles. The idea was to shoot sequences of him prancing and skipping about in a rocky mountainous area, for use in the “Fool On The Hill” segment of the film. As seen in this video excerpt, the scene is portrayed as a daydream of Paul’s that occurs while he sits on the Magical Mystery Tour bus, waiting for the magic to begin.

The finished film premiered on December 26th (Boxing Day) in the U.K. on BBC1 and has been on several VHS releases throughout the late 1970s and up through the 1990s. The most recent official release of the film was on DVD in 1997, and it is currently out of print. Fortunately, it still can be found if you visit the right stores. (I have added a link below to a 3rd party Amazon vendor who still has copies, if you are interested.)

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) Magical Mystery Tour (Remastered) – 2009 remaster of original 1967 LP, including “The Fool On The Hill”.

2) The Beatles – Magical Mystery Tour – 1997 DVD of the complete 1967 film, including “The Fool On The Hill”.

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

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Happy Nat holds one of his copies of the British "Love Me Do" Parlophone single

Excluding the January 5, 1962, Polydor “My Bonnie” single release (Polydor NH 66833 in the U.K.), where The Beatles were only backing musicians for Tony Sheridan, “Love Me Do” was the first song to be released by The Beatles. It was issued first as a U.K. single coupled with “P.S. I Love You” on EMI’s Parlo­phone label on October 5, 1962. To the delight of The Beatles and pro­ducer George Martin, the single made the U.K. charts, peaking at num­ber 17 in Record Retailer in December and then again in January. It also peaked at number 21 in Melody Maker in January. This was the single that laid the groundwork for an incredible string of #1 singles beginning with its follow up single, “Please Please Me,” which had topped the Melody Maker and other U.K. charts by February 1963.

Parlophone 45-R 4949 "Love Me Do" released Oct. 5, 1962

Beatles manager Brian Epstein was accused of manipulating the U.K. charts by ordering 10,000 copies of “Love Me Do” for his NEMS stores in Liverpool, though Brian likely did this because he was well aware of the impact the Beatles were making in the Liverpool area and was simply insuring his stores were prepared for a very high local demand for the record. The Beatles were already a huge success in Liverpool, and the city’s Mersey Beat music newspaper’ chart had “Love Me Do” at number 1 by the time the October 18, 1962, issue hit the stands.

Initial pressings in America & Canada

Capitol Of Canada 72076 "Love Me Do" single, released Feb. 4, 1963

In America, EMI’s subsidiary Capitol records declined the offer to release “Love Me Do,” but Canada released it on their Capitol of Canada label on February 4, 1963 (Capitol of Canada 72076). It would not be until the first few months of 1964, when “Beatlemania” awoke in the U.S., that Americans would become aware of the song.

US Tollie label "Love Me Do" single released in U.S. on Apr. 27, 1964

When the Canadian single started charting as an import in America, Vee Jay records issued it as a single on their Tollie subsidiary label on April 27, 1964 (Tollie T-9008). By May 30, 1964, the single topped the U.S. Billboard charts.

Two versions
UK stereo Please Please Me LP (parlophone PCS 3042) released on Mar. 22, 1963	U.S. Rarities album, issued on Capitol on March 24, 1980

There were two standard versions of “Love Me Do.” Since Ringo Starr had only joined The Beatles the previous month, producer George Martin decided to record the song with session man Andy White on drums and Ringo playing a tambourine. This session took place on September 11, 1962. A previous session (the first EMI session with Ringo) from just one week earlier had Ringo on drums and no tambourine. When the Parlophone single was released, George Martin decided to use the version with Ringo on the drums. This was also the version used on the Canadian single. However, when the Please Please Me album was released the following March 22, George Martin selected the Andy White/tambourine version of the song. The tambourine version is also what appeared on all U.S. releases of the song until the 1980 Capitol Beatles compilation album Rarities. The b-side track, “P.S. I Love You,” was also recorded on September 11, 1962.

More on different pressing on vinyl & CDs over the years
Love Me Do Parlphone 45-R 4949, A-side	Love Me Do Parlophone 45-R 4949, B-Side

Logo has "Made In Gt. Britain" under it on some pressings

Logo is missing "Made In Gt. Britain" under it on some pressings

The initial pressings for the Parlophone “Love Me Do” singles had red labels with silver print. The catalog number for these pressings is listed on the right side of the label (at the 3 o’clock position) as 45-R 4949. The “45-R” designation identifies it as a 45rpm single and not a 78rpm disc, which were still in use in the U.K. at this time. By 1963 EMI no longer manufactured 78rpm records, and this designation was not longer needed. This is why later pressings of the “Love Me Do” single only have R 4949 as the catalog number. The Parlophone “L” logo (see photo) has the text “Made In Gt. Britain” just below it, but this is missing on many of the pressings. In 1963, Parlophone updated the appearance of their singles labels to black with silver print and a large “45″ to the right side. This design remained throughout the rest of the 1960′s while the “Love Me Do” single itself was deleted from the EMI catalog in late 1965 or early 1966.

Love Me Do single with earliest sleeve

Love Me Do single with later sleeve

The initial red label Parlophone “Love Me Do” singles had colorful sleeves, as seen in the photos above. The first sleeve was a striped design while the other was a pattern of multi-colored triangles.

In addition to the Parlophone, Capitol Of Canada and Tollie singles, there were additional pressings of “Love Me Do” made with other labels. One was released on another of Vee Jay’s subsidiaries known as Oldies. The Oldies disc also had a red label, and catalog number OL 151. It was released on August 10, 1964, just a couple of months before Vee Jay would lose their rights to release Beatles product. Capitol records also released the single with a green swirl label on their Starline series with catalog number 6062 on October 11, 1965. This single is now fairly rare as it was issued in limited quantities. Both of these singles, like the ones discussed previously, contained “P.S. I Love You” on the b-side.

Oldies label Love Me Do single, OL 151

Capitol Starline 6062 Love Me Do single

By 1976, when EMI reissued all of their Beatles singles, the master tape for the single version of “Love Me Do’” had become lost, and therefore the tambourine version with Andy White on drums was used instead.

Note: This master tape was never recovered, but in the late 1970′s, a pseudo-master was prepared by digitally transferring a cleaned up copy of the original single. This version was used on the U.S. Rarities album. In the early 1980′s an near ‘virgin’ copy of the original single was discovered and acquired by EMI to use for preparing an even better sounding master of this original version. This is the version we hear on the 1988 and 2009 remastered version of the Past Masters CD. The Mono Masters CD issued with the 2009 Beatles In Mono box set also uses this version.

In 1982, the single was reissued with red labels and silver print in honor of the 20th anniversary of the record’s release. The anniversary issues, unlike the originals, have an “A side”, “B side” and “mono” designation on them. They also add a “Produced by George Martin” credit.

In 1992, a box set of all the Beatles singles on separate CDs was issued and even though the master for the single version of “Love Me Do’ had been recovered, the tambourine version was used. The 2009 remastered Beatles CD Past Masters features the original single version of “Love Me Do.”

1992 Beatles CD singles box set

Love Me Do 1992 CD single

Numerous other releases over the years have featured “Love Me Do” in one form or another, to include The Beatles Hits (British EP), Introducing The Beatles (US Vee Jay LP), Twist And Shout (Canadian LP), The Early Beatles (US Capitol LP), The Beatles 1962-1966 (compilation), Twenty Greatest Hits (compilation), Live At The BBC (compilation of BBC recordings), Anthology 1 (compilation of out-takes/live performances), and One (compilation of #1 hits).

Worth

Here is a general idea of what different pressings of the “Love Me Do” single are valued (near mint/very good):

1. White label promo w/large red “A” on “Love Me Do” side Parlophone 45-R 4949 (composition credit lists Lennon-McArtney mis-spelling on both sides) $4750/$2400
2. Red label Parlophone 45-R 4949 single (with or without “Made In Gt. Britain” under Parlophone logo at 3 o’clock position) $250/$125
3. Black label Parlophone R 4949 second pressing (Parlophone Co. Ltd perimeter print in upper & lower case) $250/$125
4. Black label Parlophone R 4949 third pressing (Parlophone Co. Ltd perimeter print in upper case) $130/$65
5. Red label 1982 20th anniversary reissue Parlophone 45-R 4949 (similar to item 2 above but has “mono” and “A Side/B Side” designations and “Produced by George Martin” credit, also plays tambourine version of “Love Me Do”) $16/$8
6. Orange & Yellow swirl Capitol of Canada 72076 $50/$25
7. White label U.S. Tollie promo w/block letters logo $1700/$800
8. White label U.S. Tollie promo w/’tollie’ inside box logo $2000/$800
9. U.S. Tollie stock copy $150 – $80/$40 – $20 depending on pressing
10. U.S. Tollie picture sleeve $600/$250
11. Oldies red label $75/$30
12. Capitol Starline label – $300/$120

Believe it or not, there are still more variations than those I have listed. For more information, talk to a reputable dealer from the list near the bottom of this post.

Final info/acknowledgments

The subject of all photographs of singles, album jackets, sleeves, etc., in this article are of actual items within my very own record collection. These items are listed as entries in my online vinyl inventory as linked below:

1. Parlophone 45-R 4949 Love Me Do/P.S. I Love You (UK)
2. Capitol of Canada 72076 Love Me Do/P.S. I Love You (Canada)
3. Tollie T-9008 Love Me Do/P.S. I Love You (US)
4. Oldies OL 151 Love Me Do/P.S. I Love You (US)
5. Capitol Starline 6062 Love Me Do/P.S. I Love You (US)
6. Parlophone PCS 3042 Please Please Me (UK Stereo LP)
7. Apple Parlophone 5 0999 2 03034 2 6 Love Me Do/P.S. I Love You CD single 1992 (UK, from singles box set)
8. Capitol SHAL 12060 Rarities (US compilation LP)

A few dealers in Beatles collectibles

Perry Cox: email to perrydcox@aol.com
Gary Hein: visit online at www.beatles4me.com
Rockaway Records: visit online at www.rockaway.com.

Happy Nat would like to credit the following people and resources for assistance with this article:

• Bruce Spizer (for help with the best resource for assigning value to U.K. releases)
• Beatles For Sale On Parlophone Records by Bruce Spizer (Bruce’s newest edition and a great resource)
• www.jpgr.co.uk (A great Beatles discography site)
• www.mybeatlescollection.com (another great site w/plenty of discography info)
• Record Collector (the U.K. magazine)
• Introducing The Beatles Record Price Guide by Stanley Panenka
• Price Guide For The Beatles American Records by Perry Cox & Frank Daniels
• Ask.com for help with converting English pounds to U.S. dollars
• Heather for photography and coding

Please let me hear from you if you have questions, comments, corrections or anything to add about the Parlophone or other “Love Me Do” singles. I’d love to hear from you!

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

1) Past Masters (Remastered) 2009 remastered 2-CD compilation of Beatles hit single releases featuring the Ringo on drums version of “Love Me Do”. Note: There are no true stereo mixes of this version of “Love Me Do”, so it and a few other tracks are actually in mono on this CD.

2) Please Please Me (Remastered) 2009 remastered CD featuring the Andy White on drums/Ringo on tambourine mix of “Love Me Do”. This mix was used on the American singles and later issued British singles. Note: There are no true stereo mixes of this version of “Love Me Do” or “P.S. I Love You” so those two tracks are actually in mono on this CD.

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!

Related posts:

1. Record Roundup #2 – “Love Me Do” (Parlophone R-4949) This week instead of the the VOW, I’m continuing with...
2. Collector’s Corner – ‘Introducing The Beatles’ (the world’s most counterfeited album) The U.S. album Introducing The Beatles (aka Introducing…The Beatles) will...
3. Collector’s Corner – The first U.S. single to bear “The Beatles” name…and the name wasn’t even spelled correctly Background Information When The Beatles follow-up single to Love Me...

For those of you who are into collecting Beatles records, I want to let you know about a new price guide that just came out this month (Sep. 2011). Introducing The Beatles… Record Price Guide is a 232 page large paperback covering all of various pressings of The Beatles American records, their near mint worth based on today’s market, and lots of full color photos that show nice samples of most of the releases. There is also plenty of information to help you determine the authenticity of each record.

The book is authored by Stanley Panenka, who is himself the holder of one of, if not the finest Beatles collection in existence today. Stanley enlisted the help of a few friends including John Tefteller, a well-know dealer in rare vinyl records for 35 years. The editor-in-chief, Jerry Osborne, is also the publisher for the guide. Jerry, an avid Beatles collector himself, has been publishing price guides and reference books since 1975.

The book serves as a welcome update to a similar price guide by Frank Daniels and Perry Cox titled Price Guide For The Beatles American Records, which, as great a reference as it is, was put out in 2007. Any collector of Beatles will tell you, the value of original Beatles vinyl changes every year. The value of each release in Stan’s book is generally twice as much as it was in 2007, and often more. Perry has even seen fit to assist Stan with the new book, and offers a few words about Stan and his approach to each record’s valuation in the introductory pages. Stan’s book has also added a few more releases that were missed in the Perry Cox/Frank Daniels volume and covers Beatles releases from 1962 through 1996 (up to Beatles Anthology 3).

The cost of Introducing The Beatles…Record Price Guide is only $39, and if you’d like a copy, I’ve included a convenient Amazon link below.

Introducing...The Beatles Price Guide

Introducing … The Beatles Record Price Guide – Stanly Panenka’s new price guide published in 2011 with valuations on all of the Beatles American releases up to 1996.

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

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