The Beatles With Tony Sheridan - Eine Dokumentation

I notice from some bumph from Bear Family Mail Order that Polydor have released a DVD-Video of the Beatles / Tony Sheridan material, featuring 50 minutes of music, and rather more interviews etc.

PAL, Region 0, 5.1 / Stereo

Do any of our German friends know whether this DVD is worth seeking out?

 

Hi Ox,

I am unfamiliar with it I will have to check it out !

 

I to would also like to here about this release, however ther is a writeup in ICE on p.25 about it and its Jan. release date. Best Todd.

 

Finally this DVD has arrived - The interviews with Alan Williams are particularly interesting, especially his tongue-in-cheek description of Macca.

 

Pray tell!

 

"B*st*rd" !!!!

 

All of the tracks recorded by the Beatles are here except for "Cry For A Shadow". Does anyone know why it's missing?

"Swanee River" is also here, yet it's not supposed to have been recorded by the Fabs.

Evan

 

Isn't this another mis-leading mock Beatles release???

From what I gather on the packaging it's still photos and interviews and not any live performances from the Star Club (doubtful if there's much if any in existance.)

Gonna pass on this one.

 

I picked it up for $15 at Best Buy. What the hell.

I haven't played it yet.

mud-

 

My guess is, "Cry For A Shadow" is the only song out of the bunch from the Sheridan tapes that carries a Beatles songwriter credit (Lennon/Harrison).

 

Strange, I must have been imagining things when I listened to Cry For A Shadow.

 

Well, "Cry For A Shadow" isn't on the copy I bought at Best Buy this weekend. No big deal, I've got that one elsewhere.

And I didn't see anything on the release, or in any of the advance publicity or reviews of this title that said there would be "live performances from the Star Club." Just exactly what I expected it to be, DVD audio of the Tony Sheridan tapes, and interviews with various people connected to the Beatles' Hamburg years. So, I certainly don't feel like I was misled into buying it, I knew exactly what it was.

 

Looks like for whatever reason, "Cry For A Shadow" was dropped from the USA copies only.

 

My copy has 16 tracks. Does yours have 17? The 5.1 mix is a little over-echoey & the vocals tend to get a little lost, but the 2.0 PCM is the best I have ever heard this material. Also good is that they put all the Beatle tracks together, rather than spreading them out, like on the CD.

 

Probably for reasons of copyright control, "Cry for a Shadow" has been omitted from the US version of the DVD.

http://abbeyrd.best.vwh.net/news/1023tonysheridandvd.html

 

Is "Cry" not listed on the package? I don't know why this song would be dropped for copyright reasons if it is on the CD that came out a couple years ago. It kind of irks me that it's missing. It's only one of 2 real Beatles tracks from that session. I getting it from Amazon tomorrow, though I may return it for the UK version. Anybody know if that version plays ok here in the States?

 

It won't. It's PAL.

 

It is not listed.

And remember, rights for a music CD, and rights for a DVD are two entirely different things. Music licensing is the reason many TV shows have yet to be released on DVD. Perhaps the copyright owners wanted too much money for its use on the DVD. I still think it has something to do with the fact that it's the only song from the sessions with an actual Beatles songwriter credit.

 

Cry For A Shadow is track 2. It's on as I'm typing. In glorious surround sound. Obviously there has been a bit of electronic trickery, but it's a lot better than anything on a well known Total Music Experience label. 17 music tracks. By the way, it is the earlier version of Sweet Georgia Brown.

Incidentally, for the best PCM stereo of this material get the Bear Family double CD. It is available with or without a LP sized book. Truly superb sound quality, and the book is more than worth the price.

 

If it helps it is PAL format, region 0.

 

Ye olde Abbeyrd site confirms my suspicions:
http://abbeyrd.best.vwh.net/news/1023tonysheridandvd.html

Update (3/12/04)
An explanation for the absence of "Cry For a Shadow" from Matt Hurwitz:

Hi, Steve--

Regarding the missing "Cry For a Shadow" on Universal's new U.S. release of "The Beatles with Tony Sheridan DVD, I've just heard from a spokesman at the label. The spokesman explained that they simply were unable to obtain the necessary publishing clearances for that track in time to make the scheduled release date (the goal being to make the release at/near the 40th anniversary).

Once again, the rush to meet an "anniversary target date" means we get a shoddy product, instead of waiting to do it right.

 

There is NO worse excuse for getting something wrong than doing it to meet an artificially imposed deadline!

 

I was at Border's yesterday and they had it for $19.99; went back today with the 10% off coupon, plus it was on sale for $14.99. So with the 10% off the $14.99, I am happy. This info, for those who are interested in purchasing this.