John Lennon’s “Whatever Gets You Thru The Night” was the lead off single release from his October 1974 LP Walls And Bridges and features harmony vocals and piano from Elton John. Elton was so sure it was a number one hit that he made a bet with John that if it did top the charts, John would appear at one of Elton’s concert as a surprise guest. John had not had a #1 since he began his post-Beatles career and was just pessimistic enough to agree to the wager. On November 16, 1974, the song topped the Billboard singles chart and John ended up performing the song with Elton and band 12 days later at New York’s Madison Square Garden. He also accompanied Elton on two Beatles songs while he was on stage – “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds” and “I Saw Her Standing There.”

John’s inspiration for the song actually came from a quote by Reverend Ike (a famous black evangelist). John was watching him on television and he said “Let me tell you guys, it doesn’t matter. It’s whatever gets you through the night.” John loved the line and wrote it down as he often did, for later brainstorming on a set of lyrics. The studio recording of “Whatever Gets You Thru The Night” featured here was made in July 1974 and aside from John and Elton, includes Klaus Voormann on bass, Jesse Ed Davis on guitar and Bobby Keys playing the exhilarating saxophone that in my opinion “makes” the record. We actually hear more of that sax during the outro on the video as it fades a little earlier on both the single and album version of the recording.

There are actually two promo videos in existence for the song. John designed one where he lip-syncs the song while walking through Manhattan. The one seen here, designed by Yoko Ono took a more creative approach and actually brings many of John’s animated drawings to life (and yes, those copulating rabbits were originally drawn by John).

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) Walls And Bridges 2010 CD remaster of original 1974 John Lennon LP, including “Whatever Gets You Thru The Night”.

2) Here & There 1996 expanded 2-CD edition of original 1976 Elton John live LP Here And There featuring live performances with John Lennon of “Whatever Gets You Thru The Night”, “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds” and “I Saw Her Standing There”.

3) Power To The People: The Hits 2010 remaster CD + DVD hits compilation set containing video seen here and CD w/”Whatever Gets You Thru The Night”.

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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The Love We Make, a film directed by Albert Maysles Gimme Shelter) and Bradley Kaplan, follows Paul McCartney as he journeys through the streets of New York City in the aftermath of the destruction of the World Trade Center on September 11th, 2001. It’s hard to believe that this was already ten years ago, and Paul felt it to be a good time to remember how we as a country came through it. McCartney was actually en route out of the country on that fateful day and had his plane grounded when air traffic was shut down. The film also chronicles the planning and performance of the benefit concert that took place less than six months after the attacks: The Concert For New York City.

“It was an honor to be able to help New York and America at that time in its history,” said McCartney of the concert. “There was a feeling of shock and fear in the air that I thought we could help alleviate with music and the fact that so many people stepped up to join us made for a very uplifting evening for us all.”

The film features performance clips from the benefit concert and backstage moments with many of the performers and other famous attendees such as The Who, Billy Joel, Jay-Z, David Bowie, Eric Clapton, Elton John, James Taylor, Mick Jagger and many more.

A trailer for the film is now viewable on PaulMcCartney.com by clicking here.

I have included links below to order/pre-order Blu-Ray or DVD versions below (pre-order only until Dec. 6, 2011).

The Love We Make (DVD) released on Dec. 6, 2011

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

1) The Love We Make – DVD version (pre-order only until Dec. 6, 2011)

2) The Love We Make [Blu-ray] – Blu-ray version (pre-order only until Dec. 6, 2011)

3) The Concert For New York City – original January 2002 2-DVD set of the benefit concert featuring Paul McCartney, The Who, Billy Joel, Jay-Z, David Bowie, Eric Clapton, Elton John, James Taylor, Mick Jagger and many more.

4) The Concert for New York City – original 2001 2-CD set of the benefit concert featuring Paul McCartney, The Who, Billy Joel, Jay-Z, David Bowie, Eric Clapton, Elton John, James Taylor, Mick Jagger and many more.

5) 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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Beatles producer Sir George Martin fell in love with the West Indies island of Montserrat when he first visited there in 1977, and by 1979 he had his own recording studio established there. AIR Studios became a world renown facility used by a wide host of musicians, including Sting, Eric Clapton, Dire Straits, Elton John, The Rolling Stones, The Police, Lou Reed and Paul McCartney, who recorded much of his Tug Of War album there in 1981. Unfortunately, much of Montserrat was devastated by Hurricane Hugo in 1989, and then in July 1995 a long dormant volcano in the southern part of the island came to life. The eruption buried the capital city of Plymouth, making the entire southern half of the island uninhabitable. Throughout the late 1990s, eruptive events continued, and after a short respite, the Soufriere Hills volcano, in the south of the island, erupted in November 2009. It remained in an increased active state through February 2010.

In 1997, Sir George Martin organized a relief effort benefit concert for the islanders and invited a wide array of artists who had recorded with him on the island to take part. The event took place at the Royal Albert Hall in London on September 15th of that year. Musicians in attendance included Eric Clapton, Carl Perkins, Jimmy Buffett, Mark Knopfler, Elton John, Phil Collins, Sting and, of course, Paul McCartney. ‘Wix’ Wickens and Robbie McIntosh from Paul’s 1989/93 band were also present. Little Richard’s “Kansas City” had been covered by Paul before, both with the Beatles and on his own. This energetic clip was the ‘grand finale’ of the show with all of the attending artists on stage together. The complete show is available on the DVD Music For Montserrat, and proceeds continue to go to the Montserrat Foundation, established for this worthy cause.

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) Music for Montserrat-2004 DVD release of the entire benefit concert including “Kansas City”, as seen above.

2) Choba B CCCP (Back in the USSR) – 1991 CD of Paul’s oldies concert for Russia, including “Kansas City”.

3) Beatles For Sale (Remastered) – 2009 remaster of original 1964 album,featuring The Beatles version of “Kansas City”.

4) Paul Is Live – 1993 CD of Paul McCartney in concert. Includes “Kansas City”.

5) Tug of War – Digital CD issue of original 1982 LP by Paul McCartney, recorded at AIR Studios.

6) 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 March 8, 2008, I presented a BROW that featured Ringo Starr’s performance, at a Lennon tribute concert, of The Beatles classic, I Call Your Name (view that post here). Originally penned and sung by John Lennon in 1964, it was a great choice for Ringo, as it was a good straightforward rocker, and he sang it well. I’ve decided here to “complete the picture” and give you the video performance this week.

Twenty-three other artists were in attendance at this event, aptly titled Lennon: A Tribute, including Elton John (performing Imagine), U2, and Cyndi Lauper. It was held in Liverpool in May 1990. Ringo plays drums and sings I Call Your Name with Tom Petty on bass, Jeff Lynne on electric guitar and Jim Keltner playing a cowbell. Ringo also says a few words about John before the performance. If this ever comes out on DVD/Blu-Ray, I’ll be the first in line at the store to pick it up.

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) Lennon:a Tribute [VHS] – Original 1991 VHS of film Lennon: A Tribute (not currently available on DVD/Blu-Ray) with 23 artists including Elton John, U2, Cyndi Lauper and Ringo Starr’s performance of I Call Your Name.

2) 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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Welcome to the Beatles Rarity of the Week. This week’s BROW is sort of a follow-up to another I posted way back in March 2010 (you can read it here if you like). I mentioned two very rare lyrics books by George Harrison. The first one, Songs By George Harrison, was published on February 15, 1988, and not only contained lyrics to sixty of George’s songs but it was beautifully enhanced with illustrations by one of the finest botanical watercolor artists in the world, Keith West. There is a forward by Jeff Lynne, a ‘middleword’ by Elton John, and a ‘backword’ by George himself. The cover was a black, leather binding with a buckram box and only 2500 copies were made. Each one was signed by both George and Keith West. Each copy of the book came with a CD single containing four songs by George that were not included on any of his albums. One of the songs, Lay His Head, was also issued as a b-side to George’s Got My Mind Set On You single in 1987. It was actually recorded in April 1980 and planned to be released on George’s Somewhere In England LP, but was rejected by his label, Warner Bros. It was subsequently remixed for the 1987 release on the b-side and the Songs By George Harrison CD single (more on this in the March 2010 post where Lay His Head is the featured BROW). This week I give you another track from this very rare CD. It’s an upbeat number I feel sure you’ll dig called Flying Hour, recorded in March 1978.

George Harrison - Flying Hour

Further info – In 1992 George issued a follow up book Songs By George Harrison 2 that is also limited to 2500 copies and in the same high quality binding, illustrations and autographs by both himself and Keith. The forward to the second book was by Ringo Starr, the ‘middleword’ by Harry Nilsson, and the ‘backword’, again by George. It too, contained a CD single of 4 non-album tracks by George. The track listing for each of these CDs is as follows:

Songs By George Harrison:

1) Sat Singing – recorded in March 1980 for Somewhere In England LP but rejected by record label
2) Lay His Head – issued as B-side to Got My Mind Set On You, recorded in April 1980
3) For You Blue – Beatles tune live in Washington DC, 1974
4) Flying Hour – recorded in March 1978

Songs By George Harrison 2:

1) Life Itself – demo of Somewhere In England LP tune with George playing all instruments, recorded in late 1979
2) Hottest Gong In Town – recorded in 1986 and also included in the film Shanghai Surprise
3 Tears Of The World – an extended version of this track appeared as a bonus track on the 2004 remaster of George’s Thirty-Three & 1/3 CD, originally recorded in April 1980
4) Hari’s On Tour (Express) – live in Washington DC, 1974

By the way, at the time of this writing there is a mint copy of the first autographed book/cd listed on Ebay at $2256.80 (GBP 1400). This is copy 941 of 2500. There is also a mint copy of the second autographed book/cd listed on Ebay for $4,827.94 (GBP 2,995). This is copy 144 of 2500.

Songs By George Harrison book, 1988

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 thousands of Beatle-related recordings to choose from. Then let me hear from you here.

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

1) Somewhere in England – 2004 remaster of original 1981 George Harrison album with Life Itself and hit single tribute to John Lennon, All Those Years Ago

2) Thirty Three & 1/3 – 2004 remaster of original 1976 George Harrison album with Crackerbox Palace, This Song and bonus track mentioned in this post Tears Of The World (extended)

3) Let It Roll: Songs by George Harrison – 2009 collection of remastered hits from George’s solo career including My Sweet Lord, Got My Mind Set On You, Bangla Desh, Give Me Love, When We Was Fab…and all the big ones

4) George Harrison – Dark Horse Years 1976-1992 – 2004 video hits compilation of George Harrison solo material containing Hottest Gong In Town from Shanghai Surprise film plus 2 versions of Got My Mind Set On You, This Song, Crackerbox Palace, etc.

5) 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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George Harrison’s last concert tour was done in Japan in December 1991 with the Eric Clapton Band. Eric, who had been a long time friend of George’s, talked him into touring with him, and the shows included both his and George’s songs. This recording, from December 15, 1991, ended up on the Live In Japan double CD by George, released on July 13, 1992. Oddly enough, the production credits for that release go to Spike and Nelson Wilbury, the two names George used on the Traveling Wilbury releases. Besides George and Eric, there are some other musicians here that you might recognize, such as Andy Fairweather-Low (Roger Waters, Bill Wyman Rhythm Kings), Steve Ferrone (Slash, Chaka Khan, Average White Band, Tom Petty) and Ray Cooper (Elton John, Billy Joel).

Give Me Love was George’s fourth single after the breakup of The Beatles and was released in the U.S. on May 7, 1973. It was also the opening track on George’s Living In The Material World album, released on May 30, 1973 in the U.S. It replaced Paul McCartney’s My Love as the #1 single in Billboard magazine on June 30, 1973. George describes the song as a prayer in his book I, Me, Mine. It was performed by his friend and collaborator, Jeff Lynne, at the Concert For George in November 2002, one year after George’s death with cancer.

We’ve all heard it before, but the message in this song remains strong today; so let’s have just a few minutes onstage with George Harrison playing one of the warmest songs I know.

Click the image above to play the video.

Here are a few links from Amazon to read about or purchase releases related to this post:

1) Living in the Material World – 2006 remaster of 1973 album featuring original version of Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth)

2) Let It Roll: Songs by George Harrison – 2009 remastered collection of George Harrison hits including the original version of Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth)

3) More links for 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 Nov. 22 PBS aired a fascinating special about John Lennon in New York City, titled LENNONYC. Check it out below.

Steve Marinucci’s interesting review of the film is here and Shelley Germeaux’s is here.

There is also a series of podcasts with individual interviews from those that appeared on the show. More info on that is here.

Also, I understand a DVD will be released on December 7th or a special PBS issued DVD is in stock now (just click the DVD link above the video window)!

Watch the full episode. See more American Masters.

Beatles music can be a great gift idea. Click on the links below to read about or purchase these related releases from Amazon:

1) Power To The People: The Hits – featuring the big hits all remastered in 2010

2) Gimme Some Truth – a 4-CD ultimate compilation of John Lennon’s best tracks, all remastered in 2010.

…and here’s more Amazon links for 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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Welcome to the Beatles Rarity of the Week. This week’s BROW hails from late in Paul McCartney’s Wings era. I’ve Had Enough was released as the second single from 1978′s London Town LP and although it did not enjoy the same commercial success as the album’s first single, With A Little Luck, it is still a great little rock and roll tune. In fact, I like this live version better than the London Town studio account. This recording is sourced from a concert in Glasgow, Scotland on December 17, 1979 during the last Wings tour. Along with Paul, Linda and Denny Laine, the Wings line-up included Steve Holley (formerly with the Elton John Band) and lead guitarist Laurence Juber who along with Denny will be in attendance at this year’s 34th Annual Beatles Celebration in Chicago IL, later this month on August 13-15. I hope to say hello to some of you there, so look for me if you decide to go. More info on this event is available here.

Wings, from 1979 magazine spread

Enjoying TheBeatlesRarity.com? Rate it and write a short review ( a sentence or two is all it takes) to show your support of this site at BeatleLinks.net. Thanks!

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 thousands of Beatle-related recordings to choose from. Then let me hear from you here.

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

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1987 was a terrific comeback year for George Harrison. With the release of his Cloud Nine album, which sported guest musicians Jeff Lynne, Elton John, Eric Clapton, Gary Wright and former Beatles bandmate Ringo Starr. The album was top 10 in the UK and the US, where it also went platinum. He also appeared at the Prince’s Trust concert that year along with Ringo, where they performed George’s Beatles classic While My Guitar Gently Weeps with Eric Clapton contributing on guitar, just as he did on the The Beatles White Album in 1968.

The first single off of Cloud Nine was the obscure Rudy Clark cover Got My Mind Set On You which George had wanted to record with The Beatles many years before. It quickly became a U.S. number 1 which is something George had not seen in 15 years. Here is a remastered account of the promo video looking just as “80′s” as when it aired on VH1 the first time.

Also, I have the site listed on BeatleLinks.net now so if you’d like to rate this site and maybe even give a review, the link is here. Thanks folks.
Visit www.thebeatlesrarity.com for a new Beatles rarity each week, plus lots more!

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On June 5-6, 1987 George Harrison and Ringo Starr performed onstage with Elton John, Jeff Lynne, Ray Cooper and Phil Collins at The Prince’s Trust Concert. This track appeared later on the Prince’s Trust Concert 1987 double album showcasing the historic occasion. This was the second show with a Beatles-blessing as Paul McCartney appeared for the annual charity event the year before.

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

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