Whether I listen to the outtakes daily or yearly, they are precious precious gifts, ones I've waited 50 years to hear, and, if anything - I still wish for more, which is what I was saying. My idea of Heaven is, that once I'm (hopefully) there, I can opt to attend every session I choose to at EMI, as a fly-on-the-wall, all to my heart's content. And as many times as I might want to. In the meantime, here on earth, if I could buy a subscription service and just listen to individual master tapes one by one, track by track, I'd be all about that! SJB was just being sensible about the criteria used to decide what can be commercially released by companies which must pay the bills, hence SJB makes much sense. All of which illustrates that choosing amongst these artifacts is SO subjective and difficult. The fact that so many of the Anthology outtakes were composites points to the difficulty of selecting amongst multiple takes, within limited disc space. So Apple compromised and gave us sometimes 3 or 4 takes in one assemblage, having decided "the first verse from Take 1 is better than that on Take 2," etc.. Sensible, but still in all - someone made those choices for me and I did not get to hear the candidates. A fact which I regret. Ultimately, the only way to please people like you or me would be to press a dozen discs to cover all the outtakes for any given album. And who's really going to buy that in enough quantity for Apple to recoup? I hope that in the future buyers can pay for streaming privileges and listen to ALL the takes if they so desire. That could address the record company's dilemna about where to draw the line on what they're going to ask people to pay for, both physically and virtually. Musical scholars and fanatics like me could gladly buy into it, but I do think "normal" people, even fans, eventually would wring all the information out of the outtakes and ultimately want to go back to playing the finished masters - but then what would they do with that 8-CD set of Hard Day's Night outtakes they don't play anymore? Pleasing everyone will never be easy, but technology is making more specialized purchases practical, and I only hope that if a run of Beatles Anniversary sets sell well in the physical domain, plans will expand to embrace the future. Apple has always been s-l-0-w to release these materials and embrace new formats. But I think it's highly likely they're going to succeed with a White Album 50th on the same scale they achieved with the Sgt. Pepper 50th, and future paths will reveal themselves.
Correction: Disc 7 will be the Blu-ray visual content ("Hey Jude," "Revolution" and "Lady Madonna" music videos, studio footage, Apple office footage, Mad Day Out photo gallery, etc.) + HD versions of remixed stereo, original stereo and original mono mixes , and new 5.1 mixes of both album and singles.
I never remember reading anything about a one-man band John..unless you are talking about Julia. Certainly not with Dear Prudence.
Hard to believe Anthology was 23 years ago. I remember Lewisohn pressing for the 27 minute Helter Skelter and GM asking him why? Mark told him that the fans would want it. Holds a place in Beatles lore. I agree with you that I'd love to see the sessions reels available for streaming. That would be so cool. I think we'll have to settle for deluxe boxes in our lifetime. The Bootleg 63 series had me so excited at the time...not so much for it's contents..but for 64-66 years. Bern
I've never read any source either about Dear Prudence being all John. The Lewisohn book, page 152, unambiguously states that John, George and Paul all contributed to the track.
My absolutely unrealistic dream fantasy White Album release would be the option for each of us to choose our own single-album tracklist & receive unique, individual pressing, each embossed on the cover with No. 0000001.
What's the latest on whether an alternate or new mix of Goodnight with Beatles backround vocals, or a Lennon vocal will be included ? Can anyone expand on unused Beatles backround vocals on Goodnight ? Is it just a smattering like on Strawberry Fields on Sgt Pepper 50, or did the Beatles lay down a substantial backround part(s). Does Lewisohn or anyone write about it ? Chip ?
I'm sure the discs are pressed, the booklets created, the covers created, the vinyl pressed BUT...I think a 12" LP of "Revolution 20" backed by the full version of "Helter Skelter" would be a great inclusion!
Hi Bern I’m not quite sure what you mean with your last sentence but I assume you’re talking about the online release of all extra recordings from 1963 that was released back in 2013? I have a really nice bootleg 4 record boxed-set of the whole collection (also included on 2 c.d’s & I really love it; though I must admit that I play the many radio session recordings more than the multiple backing track takes of Hold Me Tight or Thank You Girl. Oh, & I was so pleased to finally have the demo’s of Bad To Me & I’m In Love on vinyl. Which prompts the question: why did Apple only release these recordings from 1963 & none of the subsequent years? I’ve often wondered this & assume some Beatles boffin here will have the answer. I was really looking forward to all of the releases being made into bootleg vinyl box-sets. They’d look great on my shelf alongside the ‘63 box. P.s I agree: releasing every note ever recorded by The Beatles MUST happen (preferably whilst I’m still inhaling oxygen & exhaling carbon dioxide).
That's a good idea and I'd guess that the place to do that would be on an alternate mix which includes the nixed guitar and organ overdub, to make it sound as different as possible from the released (stereo) version.
Yes, Lewisohn concurs with Paul on drums too on 28 August, later recording bass, backing vocals and tambourine, and finally piano. And for some reason, flugelhorn...
Yes. The work on the White Album ended in late October, with the album released in late November 1968. I think the 4 Fabs truly saw it (and Hey Jude/Revolution) as a remarkable achievement. Hence Ringo feeling that it was his favorite album, because they were a BAND again. They were very proud of it as a BAND. And in addition, I think they felt themselves to be the best BAND doing rock music. Regardless of the other great music coming out in 1968, I don't think the Beatles ever thought they weren't the Top. And what does the best BAND in the land do? Rest on their laurels? No way! The best BAND wants to show more of what they are. The best BAND does not rest. So they were already planning the Get Back/Let It Be project in December, and started the project in January 1969---which would have been a whole new album's worth of material to be rehearsed, recorded, and filmed and all of that limited to only 1 month of work due to Ringo's film commitment in The Magic Christian. Crazy! Only the most confident and big-headed of a BAND would think they could accomplish that. BUT that points to how invincible that they felt as a BAND. Even with the chaotic White Album sessions, they still thought (wrongly) that the BAND (aka The Beatles in 1968) would save them in 1969. It, however, didn't as the combination of bad vibes, Yoko, heroin, Allen Klein, business problems, loss of Northern Songs, etc., all came to a head in the first half of 1969 to divide them.
Agreed. And I'd like to point out that: Whether they were "coming apart at the seams" with regard to personal relationships, and whether they were playing together as a unit when recording, are two separate matters. You can have both at the same time, and I say this is the case with the White Album. Let's not conflate the two. By my count, and considering it's a double album, there aren't any fewer "band tracks" than on any other Beatle album. Maybe I'll do the math on that, and back this up. Then again, maybe I won't !
No need to apologize. It's near impossible to keep track of this thread's constant ramblings, rumors, and news. (but if we're going to get down to the nitty gritty, you're about 52 days late... )
Arnie, sometimes your wielding of peerless comedy chops overshadows the fact that you truly know your stuff when it comes to the Fab Four, and can express said knowledge compellingly. More of this, please!
I was wondering about this too - what exactly the official status of a White Album Deluxe is as of today. I think the Billboard article posted here by Diego Lucas the other day can be regarded as an official corporate announcement for a "remix," yes? Meaning that an anniversary project is a "going to happen" and not a "hypothetical" anymore? Paul did confirm this a couple months ago too, but I don't think either Paul himself or anyone from corporate has said anything to the effect of "outtakes will be included" (our people with inside information have confirmed this, though). The Billboard article says it is "remixed by George Martin's son Giles." I have not seen anything related to possible formats but I think a CD pressing can be assumed.
John seemed to loathe playing bass. I really doubt he'd have played bass on "Dear Prudence" unless for some reason Paul wasn't around at all, which I doubt.
I was _not_ referring only to personal relationships, but to musical relationships as well. And when I say "musical relationships", I'm not talking about their relationship as recording (that is, performing in the studio together) artists but rather to their relationship as songwriting partners and musical artists with a sense of common purpose and vision. That's what was "coming apart at the seams".
I have no clue. I remember the buzz at the end of 2014....waiting for 1964,,,,,next thing you know Jan 1 2015 shows up. Maybe it was a way to release/make money off the remaining BBC tracks. My only guess at this point. Bern
