Friday 28 March 2014

The Long and Winding Road: The Life And Times of The Beatles



Released in the UK in 1994, The Long and Winding Road features archive footage of the World's most loved popular music group, The Beatles. Included in this documentary are exclusive and lost interviews with the band. They talk about going to america, getting married and the different phases the band went through. A Must watch for all Beatles fans.
Produced by Ray Santilli and Dennis Pugsley.

Wednesday 26 March 2014

George Martin - In My Life (1998)



George Martin - In My Life (1998)
Come Together - Robin Williams & Bobby McFerrin
A Hard Day's Night - Goldie Hawn
A Day In The Life - Jeff Beck
Here There & Everywhere - Celine Dion
Because - Vanessa Mae
I Am The Walrus - Jim Carrey
Here Comes The Sun - John Williams
Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite - Billy Connolly
The Pepperland Suite - George Martin
Golden Slumbers, Carry That Weight, the End - Phil Collins
Friends And Lovers - George Martin
In My Life - Sean Connery

Tuesday 25 March 2014

A Hard Day's Night Bonanza



Behind the Scenes Photos.



Behind the Scenes Footage.



1982/1964 Trailers, featurette and London premiere.



The Beatles arrive at Liverpool airport (now John Lennon Airport) for the Liverpool Premiere of "Hard Days Night". Followed by an interview and an appearance on the balcony of the Town Hall. John does a cheeky "Seig Heil" salute and Ringo tells him off.



Amateur colourisation.



Hidden secrets.



Mini-documentary.



You Can't Do That

Sunday 23 March 2014

Paul McCartney introduces Bert Berns



Meet the little-known songwriter behind "Twist & Shout," "Brown-Eyed Girl" and many more hits. There’s no denying that Bert Berns is not a household name. There’s also no denying that he should be. “Bert deserves to be elevated to his rightful place in the music industry,” says Sir Paul McCartney in the trailer for the forthcoming Bert Berns documentary.

Saturday 22 March 2014

McCartney Press Conference, 1989



Paul McCartney speaking to the press before his show in Lexington, Kentucky, in the midst of his "Flowers In The Dirt" tour of 1989/1990. This was McCartney's first venture back out on the road in America since Wings' highly successful 1976 "Wings Over America" tour.

Friday 21 March 2014

The Point - narrated by Ringo Starr



Great seventies feature length cartoon, narrated by Ringo and featuring songs by Nilsson.

Thursday 20 March 2014

Ringo Starr in Son of Dracula



Son of Dracula is a British musical comedy film, starring Harry Nilsson and Ringo Starr, produced by Ringo and released in 1974 by Apple Films. It has never been commercially released on video, laser disc, DVD or Blu-ray.

Wednesday 19 March 2014

Ringo Starr in Blindman



Blindman is a 1971 Italian spaghetti western film directed by Ferdinando Baldi. The film achieved a cult status over the years, because of Ringo Starr's participation.
A blind but deadly gunman is hired to escort fifty mail order brides to their miner husbands. His business partners double cross him, selling the women to bandit Domingo. Blindman heads into Mexico in pursuit.

Tuesday 18 March 2014

Beatles Live at Budokan



June 30th "Black suits" (actually green) concert. Out of synch.
Set list:
1. Introduction
2. Rock 'N' Roll Music
3. She's A Woman
4. If I Needed Someone
5. Day Tripper
6. Baby's In Black
7. I Feel Fine
8. Yesterday
9. I Wanna Be Your Man
10. Nowhere Man
11. Paperback Writer
12. I'm Down

Monday 17 March 2014

Paris 1965



The Beatles' final European tour in 1965 opened with a concert at the Palais des Sports in Paris. While leaving London Airport the group learned that fans had been turned away by airport authorities, who had claimed that The Beatles has asked them to stay away. This was later denied by the group and Brian Epstein. The Beatles and their entourage arrived at the Paris-Orly airport at 9.55am and were taken to the George V hotel. Around 50 fans were waiting at the hotel, far fewer than on their previous visit. They played two concerts at the Palais des Sports, at 3pm and 9pm, each of which was seen by 6,000 people.

Set list:
Intro/Setup 0:07
Twist and Shout (Outro) 0:25
She's a Woman 1:43
I'm a Loser 5:03
Can't Buy Me Love 7:49
Baby's in Black 10:22
I Wanna Be Your Man 13:12
A Hard Day's Night 15:39
Everybody's Trying to be My Baby 18:13
Rock N' Roll Music 20:46
I Feel Fine 23:02
Ticket to Ride 25:28
Long Tall Sally 29:28

Sunday 16 March 2014

Drop In 1963



Sweden

Lennon: Live Peace in Toronto 1969



It was a pleasantly warm September afternoon in London circa 1969 when I dropped in at the Apple Corps offices on Savile Row — not knowing that music history was about to unfold.
I'd come in to confirm an interview with George Harrison that had been scheduled after the weekend to discuss the about-to-be-released Abbey Road album. But hearing me chatting in the corridor outside the Bag One offices — I had interviewed him earlier that year in CanadaJohn Lennon called me in for "some advice." Can you imagine? The honor of being asked by a sage such as John for any kind of advice.
Turned out that a Toronto promoter named John Brower was on the phone trying to convince John and Yoko they should attend a September 13 musical event in Canada featuring a host of '50s rock 'n' roll legends. Maybe, suggested the ever-keen and eager Brower, John might even consider a performance piece? I knew Brower and his partner, and I instinctively felt they would try to do right by an inquisitive and frustrated John.
Two days later, the Lennons had gathered at Heathrow Airport with guitarist Eric Clapton, Klaus Voormann (bass player with Manfred Mann), Alan White (drummer working with Alan Price), Beatles manager Allen Klein and roadie Mal Evans for the flight to Toronto and a show later that evening. Only three first-class tickets were available, so the newly formed Plastic Ono Band gathered in the rear of the 707 jet, vamping their acoustic way through a cluster of classic rock 'n' roll favorites. Songs that the principal players worshipped.
Perhaps this in-flight camaraderie inspired the bout of intense honesty that unfolded en route to the Toronto Rock 'N' Roll Revival concert. Later it came out that John had informed both Eric Clapton and Klaus Voormann that he was thinking about starting a new group. It seems he went as far as to enquire about their interest in joining him in this new enterprise.
At Varsity Stadium the jet-lagged John was extremely nervous. He hadn't been onstage in three years, and he admitted to throwing up from nervousness before the show — with abundant reason. "Imagine if you were in The Beatles from the beginning, and you were never in any other band?" he postulated. "Then all of a sudden you're going onstage with this group who've never played live together, anywhere. We formed on the plane coming over here, and now we're gonna play in front of 20,000 people."
A quick backstage rehearsal, and guest emcee Kim Fowley urged the audience to fire up their lighters and matches — and in the process light their communal fire, the early uprising of a collective consciousness — to welcome onstage the Plastic Ono Band, in their debut performance.
"It was just getting dark, and the lights were just going down. This was the first time I'd ever seen an audience light candles or lights all together . . . it was incredible!" John would comment.
What a night it was! All faithfully and creatively recorded on camera by award-winning filmmaker D.A. Pennebaker , to follow his Monterey Pop and Don't Look Back triumphs. The audio would be released in December of that year as the Plastic Ono Band's Live Peace In Toronto LP.
John bounced out onstage, bedecked in a white tropical suit overpinning a black shirt, and was bedeviling with his new band. The Toronto audience was equally uplifted. After whipping through a number of rock 'n' roll chestnuts, John plunged into "Yer Blues" from the White Album. And then, to take proceedings to another level, he unleashed the debut of a new single that would be released five weeks hence, the hard-edged classic "Cold Turkey."
This was followed by a centerpiece selection that John graphically set up as: "This is what we really came here for . . . Ev'rybody's talkin' 'bout Bagism . . . " They plunged into the tune that he and Yoko — and assorted luminaries — had recorded at the historic Bed-In for Peace in a Montreal hotel room some four months earlier, the paean to nonviolence: "Give Peace A Chance." And Yoko added to the street-theatre vibe by performing two tunes in a bag!
Back in London after the momentous weekend in Canada, John was exuberant about the experience of being onstage again.
"I can't remember when I had such a good time," he enthused. "We did all the old things from the Cavern days in Liverpool. Yoko, who you could say was playing 'bag,' was holding a piece of paper with the words to the songs in front of me. But then she suddenly disappeared into her bag in the middle of the performance, and I had to make [the words] up because it's so long since I sang them that I've forgotten most of them. But it didn't seem to matter."

History has shown it was this concert that finally convinced John there was indeed life beyond The Beatles.
—Ritchie Yorke, 2009
Consultant, author, journalist, broadcaster, speaker

Saturday 15 March 2014

Friday 14 March 2014

The cast of "Let It Be"



The cast of "Let It Be - The Musical" performing at the Proms in Hyde Park 7th September 2013. Footage from BBC streaming.
Performers James Fox (Paul McCartney) Michael Gagliano (John Lennon) Stephen Hill (George Harrison) Luke Roberts (Ringo Starr) Graham Harvey (Keyboards)
They went down a storm with their 20 minute set with 40,000 crowd singing along with them.

Disco



This is Paul McCartney and Wings, miming to the hit single A-side, "Hi Hi Hi" on the TV-show "Disco '73". "Disco" - with the appropriate year added to the title, was a German music TV show which ran from 1971 to 1982. The episode with Wings was televised on 3. March 1973. You may remember that George Harrison performed "This Song" on the show on 5. February 1977. In contrast to George Harrison, Wings actually did not appear on the Disco show. They just had their promo played. According to Jörg Pieper's The Solo Beatles Film & TV Chronicle 1971-1980 the promo was shot on Nov. 25th 1972 in the ITV Studios in Northam, England. The promo was first screened in the UK on the Russell Harty Show on December 16th 1972. The clip is included in the DVD set "The McCartney Years ". Thanks to Andreas for the information!

Thursday 13 March 2014

George Harrison: Natural Law Party Concert 1992



This first item is an MTV report about the concert, which was destined to become the final full concert from George. Ringo also launches "Time Takes Time" before appearing at George's concert. At the end, there's also an unrelated news item from 1998 about George testifying in the Star Club tapes court case.



This item is from the concert itself. It does not appear to have been professionally filmed, so this is from amateur film makers in the audience. Underground amateur-filmed DVDs of the full concert circulates among video collectors.

Wednesday 12 March 2014

Paul McCartney Unplugged



Another TV Special that never made it to an official home video release. Filmed at the Mean Fiddler in London in 1991, it was released on CD and LP by McCartney as a limited edition. Excerpts from the TV show were featured on The McCartney Years DVD in 2007 and one song appeared on a compilation of Unplugged performances from various artists. Here's the full TV-special. Paul McCartney took this show on the road in the summer of 1991, performing at small venues. The final show was in Copenhagen, and I had the pleasure of attending that particular gig. The tour was going to continue to L'Olympia in Paris, but was aborted due to the death of Linda McCartney's father, Lee Eastman.

Tuesday 11 March 2014

Ringo Starr: Going Home



Filmed in Liverpool and in concert at the Liverpool Empire Theater with his All-Star band July 5 and 6 1992. Ringo tours his hometown around the occasion of his 52nd birthday. This special has been traded among collectors but never released as an official home video. His band is a collection of some of best players in rock:
Timmy Cappello
Burton Cummings
Dave Edmunds
Nils Lofgren
Todd Rundgren
Timothy B. Schmit
Zak Starkey
Joe Walsh
This is a transfer from a VHS cassette.

Monday 10 March 2014

Paul McCartney: From Rio to Liverpool



Billed in U.S.A. as "Paul McCartney: Going Home", the documentary film "Paul McCartney: From Rio to Liverpool" was a 50 minute TV special produced by MPL in 1990. I saw it once as an official looking Dutch VHS cassette, but didn't buy it - as it was rather expensive. Of course, I never saw it again. But as it was widely broadcast on TV stations here, there and everywhere - it was traded among Beatles video collectors. The 1989-90 World Tour was McCartney's comeback to concert tours after ten years.

Sunday 9 March 2014

Wings Live In Liverpool 1979



Paul McCartney & Wings: Live at the Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool, UK (Friday 23rd November 1979)

Rehearsals:
  1. - Getting Closer (0:33)
  2. - Again And Again And Again (0:39)
  3. - Goodnight Tonight (01:31)
  4. - Mull Of Kintyre (01:52)
Concert:
  1. - Got To Get You Into My Life (02:09)
  2. - I've Had Enough (04:02)
  3. - Yesterday (04:11)

Saturday 8 March 2014

The Beatles At The Ed Sullivan Theater panel discussion



CBS News, 50 Years Later: The Beatles At The Ed Sullivan Theater Presented By Motown The Musical

CBS News Correspondent Anthony Mason moderated "50 Years: The Beatles."Watch this eclectic panel discuss the band's appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show at the very same theater where that historic performance took place, a panel gathered Sunday night to talk about the Beatles. Panelists: Pattie Boyd, Peter Asher, Felix Cavalieri, Neil Innes, Mick Jones, Tad Kubler, John Oates, Nile Rodgers and Julie Taymor.

Friday 7 March 2014

50 years since The Beatles came to Melbourne



Fans of The Beatles reminisce 50 years on since the band came to Melbourne in 1964. Thousands flooded the streets as the band came to Melbourne's Town Hall.

Thursday 6 March 2014

Music Alley Spotlight: Beatles 50 Years Later



A half-century after Beatlemania swept the US, VOA's Music Alley looks at how the rock band The Beatles changed music and culture in the 50 years since they arrived in America.

Birth of The Beatles



Biopic of 'The Fab Four'. Never released on VHS or DVD. Produced by Dick Clark's company (Dick Clark Productions) and directed by Richard Marquand. The film was released into cinemas worldwide except in parts of the United States, where it was shown as a TV movie. The film focuses on the early history of The Beatles. It was released only nine years after the announced break-up of The Beatles themselves and is the only Beatles biopic to be made while John Lennon was still alive. I saw it in a movie theatre in Norway back in the day. The soundtrack is by "Rain". The guitar and vocal parts for John Lennon were performed by Eddie Lineberry, Paul McCartney by Chuck Coffey, George Harrison by Bill Connearney and Ringo Starr by Steve Wight.
Pete Best served as a technical advisor for the production, thus, the film tends to reflect his personal account of certain events, and shows some evidence of bias. The movie implies that Best was terminated from the band because of resentment toward Best's popularity in Liverpool at the time. In one scene the band are referred to by John Lennon as "Peter Best and his sods" and makes no mention of dissatisfaction with his playing, which has been thoroughly documented, even during the band's early years. George Martin has repeatedly stated that he was not satisfied with the calibre of Best's drumming at the band's EMI audition, and wanted the drum parts played by a studio drummer for future recordings. Ringo Starr, already a longtime friend of the band, proved a better personal and musical match. (Incidentally, Martin also prohibited Starr from playing drums on an early recording session for 'Love Me Do' replacing him with session player Andy White.).
However, it must be noticed that there are several accounts that confirm this version of the events, since it has been well documented that Best's popularity with fans was indeed a source of friction, as many female fans considered Best to be the band's best-looking member, and there was one particular event where, after a gig, Best was surrounded at the stage door afterwards by attentive females while the other members were ignored after signing a few autographs.
McCartney's father, Jim McCartney, was present at the time and admonished Best by saying: "Why did you have to attract all the attention? Why didn't you call the other lads back? I think that was very selfish of you".
The movie received modest ratings when it premiered on American television, and was repeated in January 1981, as a tribute to John Lennon in the weeks after his murder. It later repeated on CBS, on The CBS Late Movie during the 1980s. The version we have linked to here, is the full European cut of the film. It differs from the televised USA-version as follows:
  1. Some of the dialogue and text in this version is different.
  2. The opening narration is now done by a British narrator, with the opening text superimposed on a black screen as opposed to a blue screen.
  3. The prologue, which includes John saying that he wants to see Mickey Mouse is omitted.
  4. The opening theme song is "My Bonnie" instead of "She Loves You".
  5. A scene in an art school with a naked woman is included.
  6. The scenes where The Beatles perform at the Kaiserkeller are longer. They also include two additional song scenes: "Kansas City" and "Shake, Rattle and Roll" (the former has them trip on the stage floor, while the latter has them break it).
  7. The scene where they find Stuart badly beaten has extra dialogue. It also fleshes out Stuart's refusal to see a doctor even more, unlike the regular versions where it abruptly cuts right after John says "Let's get him to a hospital", making the viewer think that Stuart went to a hospital after he got badly beaten, when it is clear that he did not.
  8. The scene where Stuart and Astrid have their moment in bed together is different. The other version has him showing her her new necklace, while this version, has the two of them making love to each other.
  9. John's bedroom scene with Stuart has extra shots of the others in bed.
  10. The scene where they first talk to Brian Epstein is a little bit longer.
  11. The scene where Brian goes to find The Beatles performing "Love me Do" at a venue is longer.
  12. The scene where Brian goes to tell the Beatles about George Martin and EMI, has him getting out of a taxi.
  13. In the scene where Cynthia tells John about expecting a baby, John asks her "What are we gonna call him?"
  14. The scene where the Beatles arrive at New York City is longer.
  15. The end credits feature "She Loves You", instead of "My Bonnie".