Move over, Ms L!

Hi all, wondering why you are looking at this jumbled up page? This is due to the fact that Facebook didn't like our url since it starts with wog, so we have been forced to move the blog. This was some time ago, and we have placed a script which would automatically send you to our new location. Obviously, this hasn't worked for all of you, since we have just finished moderating some of your comments which appeared on this site recently, and not on our new (and improved!) site. So what we're saying is head on over to our new site, and update your bookmarks!

Thursday 31 March 2011

McCartney III for 2011?



All instruments played by Paul. Release is likely in autumn of 2011 due to all the reissues coming out this year. That's about all we have heard.
Meanwhile, here's the work in progress track list for McCartney II remastered bonus Disc number 2:

Coming Up (Wings Live Version)
Robber's Ball
Waterfalls ( Original Demo, made at Waterfalls , May 1979)
Front Parlour (Long Version)
Summer's Day Song (Instrumental)
Blue Sway (Instrumental)
All You Horse Riders
Darkroom (Different take, 11 min long)
Check My Machine
Secret Friend
Wonderful Christmastime

...and Bonus Disc 3...

Coming Up (long version)
Temporary Secretary (Different take)
You Know I'll get you baby
No Values (Waterfalls Demo)
Seems like Old Time (Waterfalls Demo)
Mr H Atom
Check My Machine (Long Version)
Frozen Jap (Long Version)
Darkroom (Longer version, from the commercial take)
Attention (Waterfalls Demo)
Private Property (Waterfalls Demo)

2 Tracks are reserved to be given free for deluxe buyers:

-Bogey wobble
-Bogey Music (long version)

...and the DVD:

1. Waterfalls video
2. Coming Up live
3. Coming up video
4. The making of Coming up (12 minutes)
5. Cannes May 1980 Home Made Trip movie (with "Attention" and "This is the Man" (without M Jackson) demos from May), with a great sequence with Ringo at a french restaurant.
6. Wonderful Christmastime

Wednesday 30 March 2011

UK Tour book soon out

Back in September we told you a bit about Martin Creasy's new book about The Beatles UK Tours. The book cover is now revealed (see above) and we have also come across an alternative cover, possibly available in other countries (see below).
Here's what Martin Creasy, speaking on his website, has to say: "I'm delighted to announce that my second book - Beatlemania! - The Real Story Of The Beatles UK Tours - will be out on April 4, 2011, published by Omnibus Press, the world's largest publisher of music related books."
"Beatlemania! has been years in the making, featuring a gig-by-gig account of the six UK tours of the Fab Four between the beginning of 1963 and the end of 1965.
Included are interviews with pop stars who joined The Beatles on those tours, plus the memories of national music writers and regional reporters and photographers who covered the shows, cinema managers and staff who hosted them, the fans lucky enough to have been there and the policemen who had the duty of protecting those fans (and The Beatles) from themselves. There is even the odd anecdote from hoteliers who had the privilege of putting up the world's favourite pop group for a night."
"Beatlemania! - The Real Story Of The Beatles UK Tours is already available to order on the internet. I will be putting more info on the site in the coming weeks and months ".

The book is available for pre-ordering on Amazon (UK) at £12.69.

Sunday 27 March 2011

McCartney Archive remasters in May and June


The next McCartney re-issues will be out in May (Chaos And Creation In The Backyard, Run Devil Run and Driving Rain) and June (McCartney and McCartney II, as previously reported). This according to a news item on the Dutch Beatles International website. The information comes from the Dutch branch of Universal Music.

Saturday 26 March 2011

The Bob Bonis photo book

© 2269 Productions, Inc. / NotFadeAwayGallery.com
Back in March 2009, we blogged about some photos that were in the news then, the so-called Bob Bonis collection. April 1st 2011 sees the release of a book containing the Beatles photos from the collection, "The Lost Beatles Photographs: The Bob Bonis Archive, 1964-1966", by Larry Marrion. It's $18.62 from Amazon USA and £14.99 from Amazon UK. Click the links to have a look inside the book.
© 2269 Productions, Inc. / NotFadeAwayGallery.com

Wednesday 16 March 2011

More Abbey Road photos!

Courtesy of our friendly neighbour blog Kenwood, we are today able to present some sensational newly discovered Abbey Road photos, in all likelyhood taken by Linda McCartney. The one above seems to have been shot simultaneously as Iain MacMillan took the famous cover photos.
This one is probably immediately before the previous one, and before they start to walk. Here's a more familiar one from Linda, and not part of the new discoveries.

Finally, three more shots from the Abbey Road stairs:


Tuesday 15 March 2011

Ringo summer tour: Riga and Hamburg

Added dates and ticket sales to Ringo's summer tour:
14. June Arēna Rīga, Riga, Latvia
7. July Stadtpark Freilichtbühne, Hamburg, Germany
Click links for tickets. The full updated list is kept in this blog post.

Monday 14 March 2011

Another take on the Elton and Lennon footage

The video editors among the Beatles fans have gotten a new toy to play with now that there's actual footage from the Thanksgiving '74 concert. Here's someone who has the full concert audio of "Whatever Gets You Through The Night" set to a mixture of footage. Most has been taken from the reenactment of the concert in the "John and Yoko - A Love Story" TV movie from the mid-eighties, and the newly discovered footage from the real gig has been mixed in. The uploader says: "Obviously there's only a minute and a half or so of Lennon footage to play with so a full audio sync isn't possible. However I've used stock footage from various things and combined everything to make a watchable video of 'Whatever Gets You Thru The Night' with the live soundboard audio of the night in high quality flac. The audio is in the best quality possible, the video is the best we can do for now. It at least gives us an idea of what it would have been like to witness Lennons final appearance on stage."

Sunday 13 March 2011

Radio Scotland Beatles Special

This week, BBC's Radio Scotland aired a 5 & 1/2 hour Beatles special on 'Culture Zone'. John Cavanagh marks the 50th Anniversary of the first performance of the Beatles at Liverpool's legendary Cavern Club with a special 'Beatles Zone' celebrating Pop's iconic boy band! The Zone also offers a fascinating insight into the special connection between the Beatles and Scotland. If you've got nothing else going on today, you might have a listen. Click the photo.
Official site

On a sadder note, I'd just like to extend warm feelings towards my friends in Japan, I hope you are all safe.

Friday 11 March 2011

Lennon and Elton film synched

 
Zappaf78 synched this to the real concert audio for us. Here's the film twice; with and without sound.
Backstage before the concert

Thursday 10 March 2011

The Johns: Lennon and Elton - Film exclusive!


(Scroll to bottom for film) In the middle of John Lennon's work on his 1974 album "Walls And Bridges", he encountered a certain man named Elton John, who was (at the time) the hottest-selling recording artist of the decade. The two got along swimmingly, and Lennon invited Elton to help him create his latest work. With Elton John as a catalyst, the album (and associated singles) began to take a different shape. Upon hearing the catchy pop song "Whatever Gets You Through the Night" (on which he also sings), Elton told Lennon that the song would hit #1. It did. The song sounds more like an Elton John number than a John Lennon single, but no matter. People went right out and bought it! The collaboration also led to Elton John covering The Beatles' "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" and Lennon's "One Day at a Time". In what would be Lennon's last live performance, the pair performed "Whatever Gets You Through The Night" and "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" along with the Beatles classic "I Saw Her Standing There" at Madison Square Garden on Thanksgiving night, November 28, 1974.




Lennon made the rare stage appearance to keep the promise he made that he would appear on stage with Elton if "Whatever Gets You Thru The Night" became a number 1 single. The concert was recorded, but not filmed. In 1976, Elton released his concert album "Here And There", which featured a recording of his Madison Square Garden concert, but Lennon's guest spot was not included. After Lennon's death, a single featuring the three songs from the concert was released, and later CD editions of "Here And There" also features those songs.








There are many myths. One of them is that John went back to Yoko after the Elton John concert. Thruth is, Lennon was still living with his girlfriend May Pang at the time, and the pair spent Christmas and New Year's Eve 1974 together in Disneyworld, Florida, together with Lennon's son Julian and Beatles aide Mal Evans.
Yoko Ono attended the concert, with her date Gary Lejeski, and friends Peter Boyle and Loraine Alterman. May Pang had got her the tickets. It was too dark in the hall to discern any faces, so Lennon didn't notice her there. The two never met back stage, but at a reception at the Pierre Hotel after the concert.

Here's a snippet from an interview with John Lennon in 1975, it's from Rolling Stone Magazine:

JOHN: "Elton sort of popped in on the session for Walls and Bridges and sort of zapped in and played the piano and ended up singing 'Whatever Gets You Thru the Night' with me. Which was a great shot in the arm. I'd done three quarters of it, 'Now what do we do?' Should we put a camel on it or a xylophone? That sort of thing. And he came in and said, 'Hey, ah'll play some piano!' Then I heard he was doing 'Lucy' and I heard from a friend - 'cause he was shy - would I be there when he cut 'Lucy'? Maybe not play on it but just be there? So I went along. And I sang in the chorus and contributed the reggae in the middle. And then, again through a mutual friend, he asked if it got to be Number One, would I appear onstage with him, and I said sure, not thinkin' in a million years it was gonna get to Number One. Al Coury or no Al Coury, the promotion man at Capitol. And there I was. Onstage."


"I read somewhere that you were very moved by the whole thing."

JOHN: "I was moved by it, but everybody else was in tears. I felt guilty 'cause I wasn't in tears. I just went up and did a few numbers. But the emotional thing was me and Elton together. Elton had been working in Dick James's office when we used to send our demos in and there's a long sort of relationship musically with Elton that people don't really know about. He has this sort of Beatle thing from way back. He'd take the demos home and play them and... well, it meant a lot to me and it mean a hell of a lot to Elton, and he was in tears. It was a great high night, a really high night... Yoko and I met backstage. And somebody said, 'Well, there's two people in love.' That was before we got back together. But that's probably when we felt something. It was very weird. She came backstage and I didn't know she was there, 'cause if I'd known she was there I'd've been too nervous to go on, you know, I would have been terrified. She was backstage afterward, and there was just that moment when we saw each other and like, it's like in the movies, you know, when time stands still? And there was silence, everything went silent, y'know, and we were just sort of lookin' at each other and... oh, hello. I knew she'd sent Elton and I a flower each, and we were wearin' them onstage, but I didn't know she was there and then everybody was around us and flash flash flash. But there was that moment of silence. And somebody observed it and told me later on, after we were back together again, and said, "A friend of mine saw you backstage and thought if ever there was two in love, it's those two." And I thought, well, it's weird somebody noticed it... So it was a great night."
Thanks to 18 year old Mary Ann and her super 8mm film camera, silent live footage from the famous concert finally appeared on YouTube March 9th, 2011.


Mary Ann shares her recollections from the night with WogBlog:
"I was 18 when I took it, and had bought the Super 8 camera specifically for the concert. Yoko was in the 11th row, just across the aisle from us, and seeing her take her seat confirmed the rumor Lennon would be there was for real. When Lennon came on stage, we were standing on our chairs, so the footage of him is fairly shaky, and maybe a minute in length, if that. And it was taken from the 12th row orchestra, so there were various heads I was shooting over while trying not to fall off my seat. I clearly remember my friend yelling at me "the floor is shaking" during the Lennon set."

Tuesday 8 March 2011

Ringo's Summer tour in Europe


This list is added to whenever we get information about new dates and venues.
4. June Palace Ukraine, Kiev, Ukraine
6. June Crocus City Hall, Moscow, Russia
7. June Russia Big Concert Hall, St Petersburg, Russia
10. June Liseberg, Gothenburg, Sweden
11. June "Norwegian Wood" festival, Frognerbadet, Oslo, Norway
12. June Værket, Randers, Denmark
14. June Arēna Rīga, Riga, Latvia
15. June Sala Kongresowa, Warsaw, Poland
17. June Hampton Court Palace Festival, London, UK
18. June Liverpool Empire, Liverpool, UK
20. June Birmingham Symphony Hall, Birmingham, UK
22. June Manchester Opera House, Manchester, UK
23. June Glasgow Clyde Auditorium, Glasgow, UK
24. June Bournemouth Bic, Bournemouth, UK
26. June Palais des Sports, Paris, France
28. June Papp László Budapest Sportaréna, Budapest, Hungary
29. June KCP Congress Centre, Prague, Czech Republic
3. July Arena Civica, Milan, Italy
2. July L'Amphithéâtre, Lyons, France
4. July "July Sounds Good festival", Cavea in the Auditorium, Rome, Italy
7. July Stadtpark Freilichtbühne, Hamburg, Germany
9. July "The Bospop festival", Weert, Netherlands
10. July Philipshalle, Düsseldorf, Germany
12. July Zitadelle, Berlin, Germany
13. July Circus Krone, München, Germany
16. July Jahrhunderthalle, Frankfurt, Germany
17. July Open Air Arena, Wien, Austria

The current All Starr Band for the summer season: Edgar Winter, Wally Palmar (The Romantics), Rick Derringer, Gary Wright, Richard Page (Mister Mister) and Greg Bissonnette. Same as last year's band.

In Poland, The Beatles are mentioned on Ringo's tour poster.

VIP PACKAGES INCLUDE:
One premium reserved ticket located within the first (12) rows of the stage
Exclusive Ringo Starr Concert Shirt
Collectible Tour Print (numbered, limited to ticket packages)
Commemorative Tour Laminate

Sunday 6 March 2011

The Beatles and "Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame"

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum located on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. A handful of artists are inducted into the Hall of Fame in an annual induction ceremony, historically held at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City. The first group of inductees, inducted on January 23, 1986, included James Brown, Little Richard, Elvis Presley, Fats Domino, Ray Charles, Chuck Berry, Sam Cooke, The Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly, and Jerry Lee Lewis. Two years later, The Beatles were inducted into the Hall of Fame, and it was Paul McCartney who suggested to George Harrison and Ringo Starr that they should all attend the ceremony. If it had happened, it would be the first televised public appearance by the three surviving members of the group together. However, business differences between McCartney and Harrison arose, and McCartney elected not to show up. However, Harrison's speech revealed they still had love for Paul, and the controversy was later forgotten about. Yoko Ono, as well as Sean and Julian Lennon were present to represent John Lennon.

To close the show, George and Ringo joined Bob Dylan, Mick Jagger, Bruce Springsteen and, from The Supremes, Mary Wilson, among many others in an informal all-star jam session. Songs performed during this end of evening concert included "I Saw Her Standing There", "All Along The Watchtower", "Twist And Shout", "Stand By Me", "Stop In The Name Of Love", "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On", "Hound Dog", "Honey Hush", "Barbara Ann", "Blue Bayou" and "Satisfaction".
Paul McCartney showed up to induct John Lennon as a solo artist into the Hall of Fame in 1994 in the presence of Yoko Ono, and gave an emotional and heartfelt speech.
In 1999, after the death of his wife Linda, Paul McCartney was inducted as a solo artist into the Hall of Fame. Accepting the award, following an induction speech by Neil Young, Paul remarked: "This is a brilliant night for me but it's sad too. I would have liked my baby to be with me. She wanted this." During his investiture, Paul was joined on stage by his daughter Stella. Paul also remarked: "By the way, while we're here, you've got me, you've got John in this, what about George and Ringo?"

Later, Paul took to the stage where, along with the evening's all-star line-up, he performed "Blue Suede Shoes", "What'd I Say" and, as the finale, "Let It Be". Paul had left the stage while Springsteen, Wilson Pickett, The Staple Singers, Mellissa Etheridge, Lauryn Hill and others performed Curtis Mayfield's "People Get Ready". He reappeared on stage when he heard the opening chords of "Let It Be", played by Billy Joel, and sang "Let It Be" standing at the microphone backed by a showcase of talent including Bono, Eric Clapton, Robbie Robertson and Joel on piano. (Paul did not bring a guitar with him and, apparently, a member of the Hall Of Fame staff admitted that they "could not find him one!") At the conclusion of "Let It Be", Paul shouted to the audience: "Thank you, it's time to go home. This is a great night, yeah?"

Also inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame this evening was the Beatles' producer George Martin, who remarked: "I am very honoured to be placed in a galaxy alongside many of my own heroes."
George Harrison didn't survive to see his own induction, which he got in 2002, the year after he died. Ringo Starr has still not been inducted for his solo work. Beatles-related groups like The Traveling Wilburys or Wings have not been inducted.
Following each seremony is usually a jam session featuring all the attending superstars. Several DVD's have been released, containing inductions and musical performances, but the Beatles-related appearances are spread out over many releases.

Wednesday 2 March 2011

Ringo's UK Tour 2011

Final Beatle days: I Me Mine sessions, 1970
Live Nation and Hampton Court has today announced that Ringo Starr will be hitting the road this June for six very special UK dates with his All Starr Band, including a show at the Liverpool Empire Theatre on Saturday 18 June 2011, Paul McCartney's birthday! The UK tour is part of Ringo's Pan-European tour this summer. Tickets go onsale 9am on Friday 4th March 2011 priced at £60.00 / £55.00 (subject to booking fee) and are available from LiverpoolEmpire.org.uk. Venue Box Office open at 12pm.
UK Tour schedule and tickets:
June 17 London, UK Hampton Court Palace Festival (Tickets/VIP Packages)
June 18 Liverpool, UK Liverpool Empire (Tickets/VIP Packages)
June 20 Birmingham, UK Birmingham Symphony Hall (Tickets/VIP Packages)
June 22 Manchester, UK Manchester Opera House (Tickets/VIP Packages)
June 23 Glasgow, UK Glasgow Clyde Auditorium (Tickets/VIP Packages)
June 24 Bournemouth, UK Bournemouth Bic (Tickets/VIP Packages)

Source: ClickLiverpool and RingoStarr.com
VIP PACKAGES INCLUDE:
One premium reserved ticket located within the first (12) rows of the stage
Exclusive Ringo Starr Concert Shirt
Collectible Tour Print (numbered, limited to ticket packages)
Commemorative Tour Laminate

John and Paul on the Tonight Show


John Lennon & Paul McCartney visiting the Tonight Show in May 1968 during their trip to New York to launch Apple. Guest host was Joe Garagiola, while Johnny Carson was on vacation. The video tape was erased by the network, but on fan filmed his TV screen. Another captured the audio. This footage is for die-hard fans only.