Welcome to the Beatles Rarity Of The Week, and to you American readers – happy Labor Day! This week I’ve spun up a down-n-dirty bluesy collaboration between Paul McCartney and an old friend of his from the late 60′s – Steve Miller. Paul first worked with Steve on his 1969 album, Brave New World, by contributing bass, drums and backing vocals to the track My Dark Hour. For the album credit, Paul used the pseudonym Paul Ramone, which he had first used years ago when The Silver Beetles backed Johnny Gentle on his May 1960 tour of Scotland.

The recording of today’s tune, Broomstick, was begun at Paul’s Hog Hill Mill Studio in Sussex, U.K., on May 4, 1995. It features Steve on electric and acoustic guitars. Paul plays drums, another acoustic guitar, an acoustic bass, piano, Hammond organ, percussion and a few sound effects, as well as handling all of the vocals and harmonies. The song ended up being one of three Paul McCartney/Steve Miller contenders for Paul’s Flaming Pie album, released two years later, in May of 1997. The other two, Young Boy and Used To Be Bad, made it on to the album, with Young Boy being issued on a single.

In the U.K., two variations of the CD single were released for Young Boy (version 1 & version 2) with Broomstick appearing on version 2. Version 1 contained another non-album track titled Looking For You. The CDs both contained a differing mini-episode from Paul’s 1995 radio serial, Oobu Joobu. Broomstick was not released in the U.S., and the U.K. CD single is now long out of print.

Cover art for CD single, Young Boy (Part 2), 1997

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

1) Young Boy Pt.2 – although the single is out of print, check here for used copies on Amazon. Contains the hit Young Boy and Broomstick (both w/Steve Miller) along with a mini-episode of Paul’s Oobu Joobu radio serial.

2) Flaming Pie – Paul’s original 1997 CD with 2 other collaborations with Steve Miller, the hit single Young Boy and Used To Be Bad.

3) Brave New World 1994 remaster of original 1969 Steve Miller Band LP featuring his first collaboration with Paul McCartney, My Dark Hour.

4) Additional 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. Many of you may remember a radio show in the mid-90s that was created by Paul McCartney called Oobu Joobu. The program aired on the American radio network Westwood One and the name was inspired by the BBC’s production of a play by the late French writer Alfred Jarry (1873-1907) called Ubu Cocu (if someone knows what that means, feel free to leave a comment). The show was officially plugged as a weekly radio program created, directed and presented by DeeJay Paul McCartney. Paul’s shorter tag-descriptor for the show was Wide Screen Radio which is heard in a few of the jingles used on the show. Each broadcast was about an hour (except for a couple two-hour specials) and it ran every week from Memorial Day weekend (last weekend in May) through the weekend following the U.S. Labor Day holiday (September) 1995. Besides being able to hear Paul in action as a DJ, the show’s material included demos, rehearsals, live performances and many unreleased recordings by both Paul McCartney and The Beatles. Needless to say, much of the material from the shows have been widely bootlegged. Paul also included guests on the show like Stevie Wonder, Chrissie Hynde (The Pretenders) and Little Richard and he featured a lot of music by other acts such as Buddy Holly, Steve Miller, and Elvis Costello, to cite only a few. There was even a segment by Linda McCartney called Cook Of The House (of course, named after her track on the Wings At the Speed Of Sound LP), where she would share vegetarian recipes while Paul would often get to ‘stir’ or ‘taste-test’.

On the June 25, 1995 broadcast of Oobu Joobu, Paul presented a show with the theme of ‘Ecology’ and the music followed suit with some tracks like Looking For Changes, Wild Life and Linda McCartney’s touching song Cow (later released on her posthumous CD Wide Prairie), all addressing animal rights. This week’s BROW is another one featured on that show. It is The Beatles ‘White Album’ classic Mother Nature’s Son. In the soundclip, I’ve included Paul’s explanation that the words were inspired by a song he liked as a kid called Nature Boy (he is likely referring to the 1948 recording by Nat King Cole). This version of Mother Nature’s Son was recorded sometime in 1994 with Paul’s “90′s” band: Hamish Stuart, Robbie McIntosh, Wix Wickens, and Blair Cunningham. Unlike the original Beatles account of the song, this one features some outstanding accordion work by Wix. A couple years after the Oobu Joobu broadcasts in 1997, Paul included an abbreviated account of this particular Oobu Joobu program on a bonus disc, packaged with his Flaming Pie CD, and this was only available on the initial few copies sold from Best Buy stores. This bonus disc is now somewhat hard to find. There was also some edits of selected material from the Oobu Joobu broadcasts released officially as ‘b-sides’ on a few of the singles associated with the Flaming Pie CD.

Paul and Linda McCartney

For more info on the Ecology Oobu Joobu CD (track listings, cover art, etc.) click here.

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.

Music makes FAB Christmas gifts…

1) The White Album (Remastered) – the original Beatles double album on 2 CDs with the original version of Mother Nature’s Son.

2) Flaming Pie – note this edition of the CD will not contain the Oobu Joobu Ecology CD discussed above.

3) The World Tonight – CD single with a 9-minute + track from Oobu Joobo broadcast

4) Wide Prairie – Linda McCartney’s CD featuring Cow.

5) Amazon links for more 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…or for this week I should say rarities. Read on…

Paul McCartney’s follow-up to his McCartney album was an album accredited to not only himself but also his wife Linda. Ram was released in the U.S. on May 17, 1971 and sported the hit single Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey. As a promotional strategy, Paul decided to make separate mono mixes of each track on the album, designed specifically for AM radio airplay and send out a promotional album in very limited quantities to radio stations that were not broadcasting in stereo. As with some earlier Beatles mono albums, these were not simple fold downs of the stereo tracks but actually were unique mixes that in some cases differed considerably from their stereo commercially released counterparts. I had a hard time deciding which of these rare mono tunes to share with you this week so I’ve decided on a double feature BROW. Too Many People which is the album opener, has a little rougher sound, the backing vocals are mixed differently and it has a longer fade-out. The line in the song Too many people preaching practices, was a subtle jab at John Lennon. Monkberry Moon Delight from side 2, has more echo than the commercial release and the guitar, tambourine and backing vocals are lower in the mix. It’s a nice rocker and, I’m not sure but, I think Paul is likely referring to the same dish that Steve Miller calls Wild Mountain Honey on his Fly Like An Eagle album. Incidentally, a copy in near mint condition of the promotional mono Ram record and jacket is worth around $5000.

Ram Mono Mixes (original release May 17, 1971)

To read about or purchase your own copy of the standard stereo version of Ram on Amazon, click here. If your after the rare mono version of Ram, you’re on your own.

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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For every October since it’s origin in 1986 (except 1987), musician extraordinaire Neil Young and his wife Pegi have organized the Bridge School Benefit Concerts. The concerts are always held in Mountain View, California as the Bridge School is in nearby Hillsborough. Proceeds benefit the Bridge School, which assists children with severe physical impairments and complex communication needs. A main emphasis of the charity effort is the use of advanced augmentative and alternative communication systems and assistive technology. Neil always hosts the benefit and, of course, performs at each of them, as well. Over the years he has had a very impressive line-up of musicians in the line-up including Crosby, Stills & Nash, Tom Petty, Bob Dylan, Jerry Garcia, Don Henly, Jackson Browne, Sammy Hagar, Elton John, Pearl Jam, Elvis Costello, Steve Miller, REM, Metallica…and the list goes on and on. As a general rule, the performers use acoustic instruments.

The 18th Bridge School Benefit Concert from October 23-24, 2004 included The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Tony Bennett, Sonic Youth, Eddie Vedder and Paul McCartney, among others. This week’s BROW was recorded midway through Paul’s performance when he calls Neil Young up on stage with him to perform together on one of Neil’s classics from the 1970 album After The Gold Rush. This is Only Love Can Break Your Heart, a change-of-pace feature that I hope you’ll enjoy. Thanks much for stopping by this week.

Paul McCartney (left) and Neil Young performing together at the 2004 Bridge School Benefit in Mountain View, CA

Want to make a suggestion for a future Beatles Rarity of the Week? Then let me hear from you. Read about more Beatles rarities and suggest one for me to post. You can begin by searching for different versions of specific tracks right here.

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

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I received a request last week from a reader/listener to feature a rarity from Paul McCartney’s “Flaming Pie era” (circa 1997), so for this weeks BROW I’m serving up a recording made on November 20th of that year when Paul paid a visit on the Oprah Winfrey show to promote his new album. Paul was not accompanied with a band at the time but he had pre-recorded all backing instruments and backing vocals especially for the show’s performance which enabled him to sing and play guitar live with the backing in this account of Young Boy. The song has a slightly different feel than the version we hear on the Flaming Pie CD since the official version features Steve Miller on backing vocals and guitar and here Paul is playing all instruments and handling all vocals himself. Paul also performed the title track from Flaming Pie using pre-recorded backing as well, and also a quick keyboard solo of Lady Madonna. At the end of the show, the world premier of his Beautiful Night video was aired which featured Ringo Starr (although a scene of extremely brief nudity was censored from the video to make it suitable for us here in the “land of the free”). The show aired 4 days later on November 24th.

Paul McCartney on the Oprah show, 1997

Want to make a suggestion for a future Beatles Rarity of the Week? Then let me hear from you. Read about more Beatles rarities and suggest one for me to post. You can begin by searching for different versions of specific tracks right here.
Visit www.thebeatlesrarity.com for a new Beatles rarity each week, plus lots more!

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