Beatles Abbey Road BBC2 TV special 1969

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by ajsmith, Mar 5, 2017.

  1. ajsmith

    ajsmith Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Glasgow
    I am really interested in the Beatles Abbey Road edition of Late Night Line Up, which is missing from the BBC archive, but if it was found would be a fascinating source of contemporary visuals for Abbey Road songs, an album that is otherwise not well represented by contemporary footage. The Beatles direct involvement was minimal, but apparently it included original visual items made in house by the BBC for songs; for instance a Maxwells Silver Hammer animation, which would be great to see and would fulfill the same purpose as the Yellow Submarine film by providing contemporary visuals for songs the Beatles never made films or tv appearances for.

    The main info I have on this special comes from Mark Lewisohn's Beatles Chronicle book, his entry on this item reads:

    'the BBC2 arts series Late Night Line-Up afforded Abbey Road unprecedented television publicity for a pop/rock album. One week ahead of its release, on Friday 19th September (BBC2 10.55 - 11.30pm) and then again on Saturday 10th October in a full repeat (11.25 12.00 pm), the entire programme was devoted to the album, with , for the most part, non - Beatles footage used to illustrate the music , of which everything but three numbers (Oh Darling, I Want You, and She Came In Through The Bathroom Window) was included. None of the Beatles participated in the programme, however, although Apple did supply photo stills and a little over four minutes of 16mm Beatles footage for screening. he content of this footage is not known, but it may have been amateur home-movie film shot when the four Beatles last came together for a photo session at Johns Tittenhurst home on Friday 22nd August'

    I've heard that's it's latterly been discovered that the footage provided by Apple was most likely the 'Day In Te Life' footage synched up to 'Come Together' rather than the Tittenhurst film.

    Does anyone have any further info on this special? Anyone watch it at the time and have any memories? I've heard that a still from the 'Maxwells' animation was posted to ebay some years back.. anyone recall that? Wonder why those 3 songs mentioned above were omitted from the presentation? Any info or speculation welcomed!
     
    Last edited: Mar 5, 2017
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  2. varitone

    varitone Forum Resident

    Location:
    Lincs, UK
    I didn't see Late Night Line-Up but I do recall that the Maxwell's Silver Hammer animation was also shown separately by the BBC.
     
  3. ajsmith

    ajsmith Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Glasgow
    Bumps!
     
  4. I am surprised this particular thread doesn't seem to receive more attention. I had never heard of any of that before, and it quite intrigues me...
     
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  5. ajsmith

    ajsmith Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Glasgow
    Tiny bit more info from the Britmovie forum from someone who watched it at the time:

    '
    Hi there, couldn't find the old thread from Crunchie about this. I saw this program, and remember the cartoon animation with cut-outs, just like Crystal Tips and Alistair, which went with Mazwell's Silver Hammer. No one in Beatledom has much on it, never mind finding someone who watched it. I was just 16, b/day 11th September. It was a Friday night. Abbey Road would have been in the shops on the Saturday.'
     
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  6. ajsmith

    ajsmith Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Glasgow
    This is Crystal Tipps and Alistair for the curious who want to get a handle on the comparison:

     
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  7. ajsmith

    ajsmith Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Glasgow
    Further small bit of discussion here: Late Night Line Up (BBC2) Beatles ABBEY ROAD LP premiere

    'Does anyone remember watching Late Night Line-Up (BBC2) on 26th September 1969, where Rowan Ayers played the Beatles Abbey Road LP from start to finish, and people danced to the songs as the camera showed the revolving LP on a turntable?/
     
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  8. Beatlebug

    Beatlebug Another box set won't do any harm

    Location:
    Garswood, UK
    I remember watching something like Pebble Mill one day in the late 1970s, and seeing film of the album cover photo shoot. I was only about 10 years old, and not yet a Beatles fanatic, and so can't say for sure whether it was real footage or not.

    One thing I can say is that it was the first thing I looked for in Mark Lewisihn's 'Chronicles' book when it first came out in the mid 90s to see if it was real. When I read about the Late Night Line Up programme, and the unknown 3 or 4 minutes of film, I assumed it was the same photo shoot footage I had seen years earlier.

    Since then I've not heard anyone refer to it. Wishful thinking? Maybe but I still hold out hope it'll turn up one day.
     
  9. ajsmith

    ajsmith Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Glasgow
    Bit more discussion/rememberance here: 45 Years ago today The Beatles Abbey Road was released

    'I thought the programme was fantastic and I'd love to see it again if it still exists. If I remember rightly they had some crude kind of animation along with the lyrics to stuff like 'Maxwell's Silver Hammer'.'

    'Don't know if your still on this site. I remember the TV program that showed / played most of the tracks from Abbey Road. It started with the album spinning round on a turn table, people were dancing in a studio . When the track Because was playing they showed film from man walking on the moon. Maxwell Silver Hammer was a cartoon film. Don't think they played every track , but most of them . Show was on a Friday night and repeated on Sunday. There was no commentary. I think the BBC deleted the tape. I'd loved to see it again. I also recall ( not on this program ) an advert for Abbey Road. Where a load of school girls were standing at a bus stop and started to scream at the camera ......presumably The Beatles. '

    ''Hi Johnny. Thanks for your memories. I also remember the moon landings footage being used to great effect when they played "Because"
    I seem to recall that some clips of Georges Méliès films were used. I think there was some undersea stuff for Octopuses Garden. I also remember seeing the familiar man in the moon with a rocket in his eye clip.'
     
  10. audiomixer

    audiomixer As Bald As The Beatles

    Maybe because it was started today at 4:01 am PST and people are still sleeping? :p
     
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  11. ajsmith

    ajsmith Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Glasgow
    Didn't hurt the Sgt Pepper's '2 extra tracks' thread which was started at 5.04 am PST and is 18 pages long now!

    I'm UK based btw, hence me starting this thread at an ungodly PST time. (not that I haven't started threads at 4am Greenwich MT in the past!).
     
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  12. ajsmith

    ajsmith Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Glasgow
    bumpa!
     
  13. beccabear67

    beccabear67 Musical omnivore.

    Location:
    Victoria, Canada
    This must be hiding with all those great Colour Me Pop shows featuring Fleetwood Mac and Eclection etc. :cry:
     
  14. ajsmith

    ajsmith Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Glasgow
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  15. chrism1971

    chrism1971 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Glos, UK
    I saw it, can't remember anything about it except that I think they played the whole thing. I also remember seeing the trailer for the programme! All I know is I bought the LP a couple of weeks later, and hearing a few tracks on Kenny Everett's show. The early use of the Moog seemed very prominent then.
     
  16. edgwareman

    edgwareman Forum Resident

    Location:
    London, UK
    I watched it on the evening of transmission but the only thing I can remember about it is the lp playing on a turntable. It was very unusual in those days for a new record to be previewed on TV in that way.
     
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  17. Haristar

    Haristar Apollo C. Vermouth

    Location:
    Hampshire, UK
    I'm surprised this special has never seen the light of the day. Someone out there must have recorded at least a fragment of it, surely?

    Or a Beatles fan might have kept the master tape?
     
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  18. OneStepBeyond

    OneStepBeyond Senior Member

    Location:
    North Wales, UK
    I was thinking about this while listening to the album, the other day... that and it was nicely in tune compared to a lot of its appearances on record at the time. :)

    I know we've all seen this before, but....

    [​IMG]
     
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  19. OneStepBeyond

    OneStepBeyond Senior Member

    Location:
    North Wales, UK
    I'm surprised at a lot of full series of tv shows that have turned up online, in recent years... but in audio-only form. In this case, it would be at least something (no pun intended!) People sometimes either put a microphone by the speaker of a tv or for better quality, directly connected the speaker terminals to a lead connected into a tape deck. Apologies to those who already knew this. :)

    One show that was discovered/recovered (that otherwise is only known to exist on their first BBC DVD release) is the pre-Goodies series called Broaden Your Mind. Links for those who'd like to read further:

    The Goodies - Wikipedia
    Broaden Your Mind - Wikipedia

    This sort of thing is of major interest to Monty Python fans and I was very pleased to be told of them. Same with late 60s Morecambe & Wise episodes. But of course, as comedy is often very visual anything like that will be a bit hit-and-miss. I've seen bits and pieces and full shows on You Tube that were recorded back in the day, by someone simply pointing an early video camera at a tv screen. For example...




    ... and as tapes turn up now and then, unlabelled, it only requires someone to have a compatible machine to look at what's on them. Not just the BBC but almost worldwide, tv companies until the mid to late 70s wiped tapes for all sorts of reasons. Some valid (to some people) and others are seemingly pointless.

    So here is hope!
     
  20. richierichie

    richierichie My glass is always full.

    I remember seeing the Late Night Line Up show at the time. Unusualy for me I had arrived home from a Friday night out early and saw the show on TV, trouble is I don`t remember anything about it apart from The Beatles and their new LP*. I had gone off The Beatles at that time, the last LP I had at the time was Sgt. Pepper. There was no reason apart from my musical tastes at the time mostly were Psychedelia and US West Coast garage rock. I did of course rectify this a few years later when I bought Abbey Road and was blown away by their finest(?) LP.

    *We didn`t have CDs then kids.
     
  21. ajsmith

    ajsmith Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Glasgow
    Tiny further bit of info here: BootlegZone • View topic - August 22, 1969 more last photo session film

    'Film critic Philip Jenkinson told how he was threatened with financially ruinous legal action if he didn't immediately send back a promo clip for 'Come Together', which he had been sent for BBCTV's 'Late Night Line-Up' in 1969. "I couldn't afford to get involved in a court case" Jenkinson said. "These were like freebies. They were handed out like ice lollies at the time."
     
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  22. culabula

    culabula Unread author.

    Location:
    Belfast, Ireland
    I distinctly remember watching it and being gobsmacked. It was a Friday night and, apart from the great new LP, it was a programme without precedent. I'm pretty sure I asked about this a few years back on these very forums but no-one knew anything (in them days).
     
  23. Tim Douglas

    Tim Douglas Active Member

    Location:
    london
    I saw this programme when broadcast and like others here all I remember is the vinyl LP, with the Apple logo, revolving on a turntable with the tone arm down on the track and the needle ,bouncing in the groove !
     
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  24. culabula

    culabula Unread author.

    Location:
    Belfast, Ireland

    Correct. I'll never forget it. Wonderful memory, wonderful Friday night, wonderful LP. Did it sell ?
     
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  25. AuldJohn

    AuldJohn New Member

    Location:
    Ayrshire
    I recall the show. Was on a Friday Night and repeated on the Sunday Night. Started with the Abbey Road LP being played on a turntable. I remember seeing people dancing. Maxwell Silverhammer had a cartoon and Because had NASSA Moon footage. Not sure they played every track but most of them. There was no commentary, just the music. When footage of A Day In The Life was first shown around Anthology time I somehow thought I'd seen it before. Perhaps from this show. I hope someone somewhere can find this show. Also recall Kenny Everett playing the whole of the LP on his radio show.
     
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