The Business of Pre-Beatlemania

What hasn't been written about the Beatles? One of the items on display in the touring Beatles exhibit featured at Davenport's Putnum Museum earlier this year is one of two known business cards of Beatle manager Brian Epstein. While the front side is very modestly designed - a few months before their iconic logo was developed, the back side was signed by all four Beatle members at the time.

On the back side of the business card John Lennon scribbled "Best Wishes" and signed his name. George Harrison and Paul McCartney signed too. The Beatles drummer at the time, Pete Best also penned the card's back. Best was dismissed as the Beatles drummer by Brian Epstein on August 16, 1962. Two days later, Ringo Starr joined the group and the rest is Beatlemania history.

Single Seagull Gliding Over Lock and Dam 11

Spring has come to the 42N latitude. That means the Mississippi River is open to boat traffic, which also means waterway birds are back in numbers. Yesterday a single seagull glided over the empty lock enclosure at Lock & Dam 11, Dubuque, Iowa. Those of you in the know already guessed that the first four words of this blog posting title are from Paul McCartney's underrated classic song, Single Pigeon. Watch this animated video.

Happy 50th Birthday 'Love Me Do'

It was 50 years ago that 'Love Me Do' was released by EMI and launched the Beatles career. Tollie Records  followed shortly with the same release on their label. I'm sure there's a story how all of the record label distributions worked out so I'll let you discover for yourself. The song charted to number 17 in the UK and provided the basis for the many hits to come from the Beatles.

I purchased this record and jacket at an estate auction for $5 - for a whole box of 45 rpm records of various 1960s-70s artists. I consider it a score. One note of interest. The songwriting artists for both songs is credited to McCartney - Lennon. At some point soon after this release the team decided on alphabetical order of Lennon - McCartney. John and Paul used that designation on all their subsequent compositions despite many tunes being written exclusively by one or the other Beatle. In the end the music remains fresh today 50 years from the band's recording release with side B saying it all.

1990: Hello People of Iowa from Paul McCartney

Twenty-one years ago today the 42N staff sat in Cyclone Stadium in Ames, Iowa to hear legend Paul McCartney and his band sing for 2-1/2 hours. This clip is from the opening set of the concert. Paul and his 1990's band are clad in those beige suit jackets reminiscent of Paul's Shea Stadium concert with his other band back in the 1960s. Like any good Iowa summer night the humidity was high and so was the temperature (and probably a lot of fans too.) Jackets came off fairly soon after this song as this was the media set - got to look good for the cameras.

Twenty-one years later Paul is touring the USA this summer to these venues:

Sunday 24th July 2011 - Comerica Park, Detroit, USA
Tuesday 26th July - Bell Centre, Montreal, Canada
Wednesday 27th July - Bell Centre, Montreal, Canada
Sunday 31st July 2011 - Wrigley Field, Chicago, USA
Monday 1st August 2011 - Wrigley Field, Chicago, USA
Thursday 4th August 2011 - The Great American Ball Park, Cincinnati, USA

Paul McCartney's British Invasion Concludes On Sirius XM Radio...For the Moment

For past month Sirius XM Radio has broadcast McCartney Radio to celebrate the 20 millionth satellite radio subscriber. The Paul McCartney Band performed at the historic Apollo Theater in NYC on December 13th with a live broadcast to celebrate the re-issue of his Band on the Run album, the 75th anniversary of the Apollo Theater and the 20 millionth subscriber. The month long commercial free channel featured a vast array of McCartney catalog material and interviews. McCartney's appearance on Sirius XM is a part of the station's limited run, artist branded broadcasting.

For those who follow the ex-Beatle its another way to connect with the groundbreaking musical force from all those years ago. And as for the concert - read the review here and watch a few videos. The complete 2 hour long concert (in mp3 format) is available from various sites on the Internet. McCartney's performance included a wide selection of old and new songs and was both gear and fab - complete with microphone failure and restarts.

Magical Mystery Tour, Jet, Drive My Car, All My Loving, One After 909, Let Me Roll It, Long and Winding Road, Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five, Maybe I’m Amazed (restart), Blackbird, I’m Looking Through You, And I Love Her, Petrushka, Dance Tonight, Eleanor Rigby, Hitch Hike (multiple restarts), Band On The Run, Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da, Back In The USSR, A Day In The Life; Give Peace A Chance, Let it Be, Hey Jude

Encore: Wonderful Christmastime, I Saw Her Standing There, Get Back,


Encore 2: Yesterday, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise), Carry That Weight, The End

Live radio - you can't beat it. Know that.

No iTunes Here - Beatle Related 45s Found Today

Recently Apple Records announced that the Beatle catalog finally is available on Apple's (the other company) iTunes - making the leap into the 21st century for the Fab Four. Today a bit of retro smacked the 42N team with the purchase of now classic '50s, '60s and '70s pop by one Beatle, one mentor, and two students. Any artist on the Apple record label (cassette and 8-track tapes, 45s, LPs) is generally hard to find let alone in good to great condition. All of these 45 rpm records are in average condition given their age and play use.

Top row (left to right): "Without You" recorded by Harry Nilsson went to number 1 on the billboard chart. "Without You" was written and recorded earlier by the Beatle's protege band Badfinger. The next two Apple label singles here are by Mary Hopkins, one of the first artists the Beatles signed to the Apple label. She recorded "Those Were the Days", written by Gene Raskin and the Paul McCartney penned tune "Goodbye." She is best known for these two recordings. Her recording of "Those Were the Days" reached number 2 while "Goodbye" hit number 13 in the US. 

Bottom row (left to right): "Think it Over" was composed and recorded by the Crickets (Buddy Holly). McCartney highly regards Holly and purchased the entire Holly song catalog years later. "My Love" by McCartney, from the Red Rose Speedway album was issued on the Apple label in name only. The record reached number 1. The flip side contains "The Mess" which is a good rocker. And finally another copy of McCartney's "Listen to What the Man Said" was collected today - yet another number 1 song.

Granted these recordings are filled with snap, crackle and pop when played on the turntable. They also show wear on their labels from record stacking. Yet to physically hold a recording of a classic pop song is something the digital age has yet to offer outside of a CD and jacket. With iTunes a song file is purchased and downloaded for play - no physical media to scratch or label to write your name on. Know that.

Listen To What the Man Said in Frytown, Iowa

To complete the trifecta of recent Beatle-related finds in 42N country is this 1975 single, Listen To What the Man Said from Wings. Found today is this 45 rpm single with its original picture sleeve at an auction in Frytown, Iowa (latitude 41.57N, longitude 91.73W.) While the record is in great condition the sleeve is punctured through the center.

The single is from the group's 1975 album, Venus and Mars, the followup work to the landmark Band on the Run album. On July 19, 1975 Listen To What the Man Said achieved number 1 on the (US) Billboard Hot 100 chart. Also in 1975, Wings begin playing concerts in Australia in anticipation of their upcoming 1976 world tour. That year McCartney played several locations in the US marking his return to American venue concerts since performing at Candlestick Park with the Beatles a decade earlier. Watch Paul and Wings sing Listen To What the Man Said at the Seattle King Dome here.

Sometimes the search for whatever you seek (like a record or ancestral connection or a job) contains long voids. Sometimes your search brings multiple successes and in quick succession. Within the past 48 hours I have found three Beatle-related items, actually four but did not report the fourth (a Mary Wells song sheet) due to condition issues. The wonder of it all. Know that.

Beatles in a Box

On September 9, 2009 Capitol Records released the recordings of the Beatles remastered in mono (packaged in the white box) and stereo (black box.) This week the two sets are positioned at eye level in the local 42N Best Buy store just in time for the official holiday shopping period.

While these remastered albums are available in CD format with booklets and other packaged goods, digital downloads will apparently be available perhaps as early as 2010 per Paul McCartney's November 14th statement. You don't have to wait though. A form of digital downloads, available on a limited edition USB flash drive, can be found on the group's official store website.

As the trend for digital music format distribution continues, older versions of file storage (vinyl records, cassettes, 8-tracks and reel-to-reel tapes) fade quickly from popular use. Still, holding a 45 rpm piece of vinyl that was issued when the band still recorded at Abbey Road Studios provides a tangible reminder of the longevity of the Beatles' music and the generational remarketing as technology evolves. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Know that.

Paul McCartney's Silly Love Songs Celebrates 33 years

On April 1, 1976 Capitol Records released, Silly Love Songs from the LP album Wings at the Speed of Sound in the United Kingdom. The single was released in America on April 30th. The song went on to become the biggest selling record for the year according to Sales Charts and achieved the number one position twice for a total of five weeks in 1976. Silly Love Songs is Paul McCartney at his bass intro pop best and represented an old guard tip to the then current disco era. The song accompanied the band's Wings Over America Tour, which repositioned McCartney as the top act in the United States since he stopped touring with the Beatles in 1966 (August 29th at San Francisco's Candlestick Park.) The Wings tour was recorded and issued in December 1976 as a three-record LP set and later released as a movie.

All that aside, this past weekend I found the lightly played 45-single (above) at a thrift store for 38 cents. You too can find the 33-year old song on vinyl by visiting eBay where the record sells for about $6.00 - and what's wrong with that? Know that.