www.mirror.co.uk/

The Beatles album artwork worth £70,000: Top 10 most valuable record sleeves revealed

By Mirror.co.uk     3/11/2011

The Beatles Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band album which has been declared the world's most valuable record cover (Pic: PA)

A STUDY today has named the world’s most expensive record sleeves – with The Beatles taking 5 of the top 10 spots.
The list, compiled for Record Collector magazine, values albums by the collectability of their sleeves. It found vinyl releases by the Fab Four dominating the top 5 at positions 1, 2, 4 and 5.
Editor Ian McCann said: "Every so often I get asked why vinyl persists as a music medium despite it being archaic and inconvenient compared to MP3.

"One of the answers is the artwork: people like to hold a vinyl record, look at the sleeve, take in the information and the photo on the cover.
“That is something that an MP3 will never be able to compete with."

The top 10 is as follows:
1. The Beatles - Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band [limited edition Capitol version] (1967) £70,000.
This sleeve, featuring the faces of music executives in place of the Fab Four, has been declared the world's most valuable record cover. The adapted artwork for the Beatles' Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album is valued at around £70,000.
The heftily-priced limited edition Sgt Pepper sleeve was created for Christmas 1967 to celebrate the success of the album. Sir Peter Blake's original collage image was revamped to insert the faces of US label bosses from Capitol Records, replacing the band and many of the other notable figures who had originally featured, although Bob Dylan and Sonny Liston were among those who were retained.
Only around 100 are thought to have been made, with just three known copies in the hands of collectors.
2. The Beatles - The Beatles (1968). Numbers 1-10 £7,000.
The Beatles are also runners-up in the list, with the first 10 numbered and embossed copies of the white album valued at around £7,000.
The plain cover was designed by pop artist Richard Hamilton, who died in the summer.
3. Madrigals - Magic Key To Spanish Volumes 1 and 2 (1953) £3,500; The Nation's Nightmare (1951),£3,000.
This pair of sleeves were designed by New York artist Andy Warhol, although they are less celebrated than his covers for the Velvet Underground & Nico and the Rolling Stones' Some Girls and Sticky Fingers.
He had been a freelance illustrator before finding huge fame in the 1960s and provided images for a number of LPs, including a language tutorial, Madrigal's Magic Key To Spanish Volumes 1 and 2, and a bizarre spoken-word anti-crime lecture called The Nation's Nightmare.
4. The Beatles - Introducing The Beatles (1964) £3,000.
The Liverpool legends feature at number four with US album Introducing The Beatles on Vee-Jay records fetching up to £3,000,
5. The Beatles/Frank Ifield - England's Greatest Recording Stars: The Beatles & Frank Ifield On Stage (1964) £3,000.
An odd and rare US compilation of Beatles and Frank Ifield tunes released by the same label is fifth and valued at a similar level.
6. Tinkerbell's Fairydust - Tinkerbell's Fairydust (1969) £3,000.
7. AC/DC - 12 Of The Best (1978) £3,000.
8. The Beatles - Yesterday And Today (1966) £2,000.
9. Dark - Dark Round The Edges (1972) £2,000.
10. Hank Mobley - Hank Mobley (1957) £2,000
The full list is published in the December issue of Record Collector, which goes on sale tomorrow.

www.telegraph.co.uk
Ringo Starr: I'm not going to give up on peace and love
Ringo Starr says he is committed to his 1960s ideals as he kicked off his new tour with his first performance in Latin America.
10:28AM GMT      02 Nov 2011
For the tour, the former Beatle has joined forces with multi-instrumentalist Edgar Winter and lead singer of 1980s band Mr Mister, Richard Page.

He said he was drawn to performing in Mexico because of conversations with fellow Beatle Sir Paul McCartney.

"Paul is forever talking about Mexico and I'm looking forward to the lighters, I'm looking forward to the joy and I'm looking forward to the peace and love.

"We come on, we have a good time and we hope every night that the audience has a good time too," he said.

After the Mexico City concert, Starr and his band will perform in Chile's capital of Santiago and Buenos Aires followed by seven concerts in Brazil including Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.

He said that events in the Middle East had just reconfirmed his commitment to spreading a message of peace and love.

"It's still a dream of mine and one day it can happen, I'm not going to give up on that," he said.

www.beatlesnews.com

Unfinished Lennon song recovered by Spanish Beatles tribute band [Posted by Adam Forrest on Wednesday, 11/02/11 6:11 pm] The Spanish Beatles tribute band, aptly named Los Escarabajos (Spanish word for "beetles") has recorded "Now And Then", an unfinished John Lennon song from 1979 that Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr tried in vain to complete in 1996 for the third volume of the Anthology project. Los Escarabajos released a version of this original in 2001 for their CD Lennonphile (The Album That John Could Never Record), but the current rendition captures the concept of the singles included in Anthology by the remaining Beatles, "Free As A Bird" and "Real Love". The 2011 remake of "Now And Then" is presented with an animated work by Alvaro Ortega, reputable Spanish visual artist, who shows his own colourful style reminding us of the ever classic Yellow Submarine and the recent The Beatles: Rock Band. (Click on the image above to watch the video.) On the last World Animation Day, 28th of October, the song and video were published on YouTube, marking the 15th anniversary of The Beatles' Anthology 3 and the 10th anniversary of Los Escarabajos' Lennonphile. In 2010, Los Escarabajos were given honorary degrees by the University of Seville for their work, having performed live the entire Beatles discography over the course of the Spanish group's 18-year history. The band was a headlining act at the International Beatle Week in Liverpool between 2003 and 2010.

IMAGINE

blogs.houstonpress.com

John Lennon's Imagine Turns 40: Ten Facts About The Album

By Craig Hlavaty    Tue., Nov. 1 2011

​Forty years ago this past week, John Lennon's second solo LP away from the Beatles, Imagine, hit number one on the UK album charts. The album was released on October 8, 1971 in England and September 9, 1971 here in the States.

The album was seen as a commercial answer to his previous outing, John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band, which wowed critics with its wailing and barenaked honesty ("Mother") but didn't sell very well. Remember that at this point Lennon, with his wife Yoko Ono was very much an avant-garde figure, and not at all as brazenly poppy as former writing mate Paul McCartney.
Imagine is known best for its title track, which has become a worldwide anthem for peace, rejection of borders, religion, and all the trappings of a domineering culture. To some it's a great humanistic plea, and to others its communism made simple. Even Lennon admitted it was very red in it's scope, though he didn't consider himself a communist.
Upon release of Imagine, critics and fans alike were floored by the album. Billboard had this to say about Imagine:

"Lennon has emerged as the real British Dylan, chronicling his own personal search for self-expression with that of the times which threaten to divide the self into oblivion. Down-to-earth honest introspection is steeped in insight, while magnificent string arrangements complement Lennon's latest concept of rock on "Imagine," "Give Me Some Truth," "How Do You Sleep?," "Oh Yoko" and "Crippled Inside." Move over Sgt. Pepper."

Years later rock critics would reassess Imagine and instead deem it the high water mark of a solo career that wouldn't see another smash success until 1980's Double Fantasy. Lennon would be assassinated three weeks after it's release.
The first copies of the Imagine album contained a postcard of John holding the ears of a large pig, echoing the cover Paul McCartney's album, Ram, which featured Macca on the cover holding the horns of the titular animal. To add petty insult to injury, Macca also included a picture of two beetles screwing on the back of the Ram LP, meant to mean, you know, whatever.

Imagine was produced by Yoko Ono, Lennon, and Phil Spector over the summer of 1971, with the basic tracks being laid down at Lennon's home at Tittenhurst Park. The making of the album was documented almost completely by a film crew as well. The rest of the album was finished at the New York's Record Plant over seven days.
The song "Imagine" was inspired by Ono's Grapefruit book, released in 1964. If you own it, you are a nerd, yo, or Yoko Ono.
Few people remember that in 1971, Spector was named director of A&R for the Beatles' Apple Records imprint. He held the post for only a year, and during that time he co-produced the Lennon single "Power to the People" as well as Imagine.
After the September 11 attacks, "Imagine" was included on the 2001 Clear Channel memorandum of songs that you "do not play" which went out to their radio stations. Other songs on the memo included Louis Armstrong's hateful "What a Wonderful World" and Peter, Paul and Mary's violent version of Bob Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind."

George Harrison plays on five tracks of Imagine, including the anti-Paul dig "How Do You Sleep?" which sorta made McCartney a little angry. Check out the video above for Lennon's own interpretation of the song.
Lennon wrote "Imagine" on a small brown Steinway upright piano. In 2000, George Michael paid over $2 million for the piano, and it now tours the country as a symbol of Lennon's message. One year it made an appearance at Dealey Plaza in Dallas on November 22, while JFK assassination buffs were on the grounds for the anniversary of the Kennedy shooting.
Oasis sampled/used the piano intro on their 1996 song "Don't Look Back In Anger," further embedding the notion that the band was a backwards Beatles tribute act.
"Oh My Love" was written by John Lennon and Yoko Ono in 1968 during the "White Album" sessions but for obvious reasons was never put on the sprawling double-disc.

Lennon wrote the plaintive "Jealous Guy" while still in the Beatles. They had roginally recorded it as a demo called "Child of Nature" about their trip to India to study with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Left unused by the band, Lennon instead changed teh lyrics to reflect on his relationship with Ono, and how possessive he became of her while his band was imploding.

​

SOMETHING OF GEORGE

www.philly.com

Behind the music of a Beatle

BY RANDY LEWIS

Los Angeles Times

Posted: Tue, Nov. 1, 2011

LOS ANGELES - Remember George Harrison's unforgettable opening line in the Beatles' 1969 hit "Something"? "Something in the way she moves / attracts me like no other woman." Of course not, because he sings "lover," not "woman." But "woman" is what Harrison wrote before changing one word that could have spelled the difference between a hit and a miss, an edit that's on display at the Grammy Museum in "George Harrison: Living in the Material World," a show focusing on the man pigeonholed early as "the quiet Beatle."
The handwritten lyrics to "Something," among a half-dozen samples of Harrison songs lent to the museum by his widow, Olivia Harrison, also include a verse that Harrison rejected before putting perhaps his best-known song into final form.

Along with lyrics for other songs, including "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," "Here Comes the Sun" and "All Things Must Pass," the exhibit, which continues through Feb. 12, boasts a handful of his guitars, such as the black Grestch Duo-Jet electric, for which he paid 75 British pounds.
There's the high-collared tan jacket he wore for the 1965 concert at Shea Stadium, and the elegant cream suit he wore at the Concert for Bangladesh he spearheaded in 1971, the first all-star rock-benefit show. Many items Olivia Harrison lent for the show have not been out of their home in Friar Park, Henley-on-Thames, England, since Harrison died of cancer 10 years ago. "I don't know how they got me to let any of this stuff go," she told the Los Angeles Times recently, chuckling gently. "They must have used some kind of reverse psychology."

daytrippin.com
The Case for Authenticity: ‘Love Me Tender’ by Stuart Sutcliffe
Posted by Daytrippin'
October 31, 2011
by Liscio
What Stuart Sutcliffe fan hasn’t wished to learn as much as possible about the fascinating young artist and Beatle?  His time with us was short yet incredibly creative; every surfacing artwork, picture, letter or anecdote is pored over with relish by admirers. But some things Sutcliffe-lovers were sadly certain they would never get to know: for instance—his voice.
That’s why the digital release of “Love Me Tender“, sung by Stuart himself, is an astonishing event generating stunned excitement and questions about the song’s origin and authenticity.
“Love Me Tender” was Stuart’s signature song; a ballad he performed so well in Hamburg it received the best applause during the Beatles’ sets at the Kaiserkeller and Star Club. Sutcliffe also performed Carl Perkins’ “Matchbox” and Elvis Presley’s “Wooden Heart”.  But “Love Me Tender” is the song most associated with his name.
His newly-released song, now available to the public for the first time in 50 years,  is compelling listening: Stu’s voice strains just slightly ending the first refrain, and he gives us a very sexy exhale at the end of another. In between, the notes are confident, strong, on pitch and melodic. Sutcliffe has made this version of Presley’s tune unabashedly his own.
In fact the track is so good, some listeners maintain they don’t even care if it is Stuart (though they hope it is) and skeptics are accusing the Sutcliffe family of overdubbing the voice of a professional singer. (One might point out that as a paid member of a hard-working rock band, Stuart was a professional singer).
Another quick discrediting attempt claimed the song originated from a 1979 American movie—that version has none of the soft nasality indicative of Liverpool accents, clearly evident in Stuart’s singing.  Noting this, listeners say Stuart sounds like John or George.  David Bedford, author of “Liddypool: Birthplace of the Beatles”—and a life-long Liverpudlian—confirms, “Yes, nasal talking is a scouse thing for sure.  As Stuart’s parents were Scottish, his accent was different to John’s and would sound different too – it differs on where in Liverpool you are from.”
So—where has such a sensational piece of musical history been hiding for the past 50 years?
Stuart’s sister Pauline says, “I never expected to receive this recording of Stuart singing ‘Love Me Tender’ because I was told the only recording which existed was locked away forever by a private collector.”
But quite unexpectedly in 2009, Stuart’s Estate became aware that a copy was available through another source. Once they’d obtained it, a substantial effort of time and money was spent trying to trace its provenance. “As far as we know for certain, Stuart’s ‘Love Me Tender’ track was recorded in Hamburg, probably 1961—after Stuart officially left the Beatles to pursue his art, ” says Pauline. “On one occasion we were told that it was a one-sided German Polydor acetate. Another source tells us that we have a copy from a reel-to-reel recording. We’ve also been advised that new instrumentation has been overdubbed.”
Though gaps in the history remain, one thing is unequivocally certain: it is Stuart. Says Pauline, “The family do know Stuart’s voice when they hear it – and this is Stuart’s voice.”
Those who are surprised that Sutcliffe could sing suffer from the same myopic misconception that had them believing he couldn’t play bass guitar. David Bedford  reminds us that as a young lad in Liverpool, Stuart was head chorister for St. Gabriel’s church in Huyton, leading the singing for Sunday services and weddings. The former choirboy still sounds youthful and earnest—some say his voice on “Love Me Tender” is “angelic”—some say “haunting”—while others are reminded of Phil and Don Everly’s sweet harmonies.
In a recent phone conversation, Pauline revealed that once the Estate possessed the recording, they were just “trying to get comfortable with it”.  One can only wonder what it was like for a sister to hold in her hands an object containing a special voice from so very long ago . A missing piece had at last come home.
In time, those responsible for overseeing Stuart’s Estate were curious to know whether the tape could be cleaned up. Help came in the form of Dan Whitelock-Wainwright, Pauline’s techno-expert great-nephew, currently at University and a member of the rock band Groan. Dan’s cousin Alex Whitelock-Wainwright (at University in Liverpool) also possessed a copy of the original tape and he wrote in his blog: “The original I have has a constant hiss throughout; that’s all that has been modified with the released version and the sound levels are higher. Talking to my cousin, who first tried to clean the track up, (he) believes that the noise frequencies have been totally cleaned out which has removed some instruments and they have been overdubbed back onto the track.”
It was the 24/7 division of IODA that finished the mastering, leaving Stuart’s voice unmanipulated, only louder.
There was never any doubt that the voice was Stuart’s. But the Estate has another reason to know the tape is genuine: they know Stuart.
The young bohemian led an accelerated life, traveling incredibly far in a very short time.  And his time in Hamburg was likely his most innovative.  Eduardo Paolozzi, Stuart’s art instructor at the School of Fine Arts in Germany, wrote: “He (Stuart) had so much energy and was so very inventive.”(1)  Musician and  artist Klaus Voorman said, “Every second of Stuart’s short time he was doing something.  His imagination was fantastic.”(2)  Everybody was aware of and amazed by Stu’s energy and the ease with which he was able to work in a variety of artistic areas.  It was completely in character for Stuart to have made this recording.
And the family’s got it in Stuart’s own writing that he planned to do just that.

Copyright: Stuart Sutcliffe Estate

Copyright: Stuart Sutcliffe Estate

Some of his Hamburg letters, reproduced here, reveal Sutcliffe’s interest in a new art project: his desire to make a movie with an accompanying soundtrack. The text reads:

“Yes! Tomorrow comes Paolozzi and Tuesday we go once
more to that ship-breaking yard which we visited last semester. I
will have with me a film camera I borrowed of Theo, Astrid’s
cousin. I’m very quickly trying to learn the technique as I’m
enthralled by the possibilities but it’s so expensive. He has many
films including some of Astrid from a few years ago, very sweet
as you can imagine. I’ll have to take advantage of the few days
I’ll have it; I’ll probably tire of it all the more quickly because of
the complete inaccessibility of all the equipment required.”
‘I made a film last week when I was at the ship-breaking yard
and I have really caught a feeling for filming, the desire that is.
I made another today and wish to make a long film accompanied
by a tape-recording.“
“Thank you for your letter and the catalogues. I should have
written before but have been busy with various odds and ends.
We started the week very tired after working all weekend making
photos, or rather Astrid worked while I grew tired looking on. She
was working on a commission for Polydor making photos of this
singer Sheridan and made some marvelous ones in black and
white and color.”

Stuart was well acquainted with Tony Sheridan.  While performing in Hamburg between 1960 and 1963, Sheridan employed various backup bands, most of which were really “pickup bands”, or simply an amalgam of various musicians, rather than a group proper.(3)   It was Polydor’s A&R (Artists and Repertoire) man, Bert Kaempfert, who arranged in 1961 for the Beatles to back Sheridan for an LP called “My Bonnie”. The standard (and decidedly incomplete) story is that Stuart was present during this session, but did not participate. But both John Lennon and Tony Sheridan swore that there were several other Beatle tracks that were recorded during the two-day session, and that either they were not preserved OR something else happened to them.(3)

Tony Sheridan (left) and Stuart Sutcliffe
Copyright Astrid Kirchherr; Pauline Sutcliffe private collection
Another group recording for Polydor was a German band called The Bats. “They (the Bats) went through the usual Star Club routine…(they) recorded mainly for Polydor. Drummer Toni Cavanaugh came from the circle of musicians connected with Tony Sheridan (and) also played drums for Sheridan’s Beat Brothers/Star combo. The band’s crew changed…once in a while ex-Beatle Stuart Sutcliffe joined in.”(4)
Hamburg’s music scene in ’61 was open and inclusive, with musicians intermingling on stage and in the studio. Astrid was there with her camera, recording visual tracks while the bands made musical ones. Stuart was right in the midst of it. He’d been to the studio, played with the bands, knew Kaempfert, had all the right connections.  It’s not implausible to think that at some time during that year his voice was captured on “a German Polydor acetate”.
Or perhaps Stu recorded his own voice, and instruments were tracked in later. The fact is that Sutcliffe intended to make a recording. Since “Love Me Tender” was the cool bassist’s spotlight song, one he’d sung a hundred times or more and was the ballad he’d dedicated to his darling Astrid, it was the natural choice.
Those free Hamburg days were unparalled—a pivitol time for art and music.  Timing can be so deadly crucial—why did Stuart’s Estate choose to release “Love Me Tender” now?
It wasn’t a decision made lightly. Pauline has balanced two missions for nearly 50 years: working determinedly to ensure her talented brother’s legacy, and striving to protect his image from harm.  In the documentary “The Lost Beatle” she reminisces that Stuart “used to be my elder brother. But now he’s my kid brother…I want to take care of him…to protect him.” Regarding “Love Me Tender”, she was wisely aware of those who would cry foul even if the Sutcliffes presented a recording contract with Stuart’s signature at the bottom.
But recent events: a partnership with promotional agency CMG Worldwide; the successful stage production of Backbeat, now showing in London’s West End; the launch of Stuart’s Official Fan Club (www.stuartsutcliffefanclub.com); and next year’s world tour art exhibition “Conversation With Stuart Stucliffe”, convinced the Estate there was no better time to release Stuart’s song than now.
There has been a shift in perspective regarding the Beatle who left the band because he loved art and Astrid Kirchherr. The media is now far less likely to depict Sutcliffe shoved aside in his shades to an obscure corner…the reluctant, incapable bassist. Commentaries adhering to that badly-sketched-in picture show their inaccuracy and age. With every unexpected and exciting new event, the remarkably talented Sutcliffe is now receiving the worldwide accolade he deserves.
Some things are worth waiting for—even if it takes 50 years.  “Love Me Tender” was definitely worth the wait. Thanks, Stu, for making certain we’d hear your voice.
[Editor's Note: Those in Beatles history who knew Stuart at the time this song was believed to be recorded, (i.e., Astrid Kirchherr, Klaus Voormann, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr) have not yet commented on their personal knowledge of the existence of this recording. ]
© 2011 Daytrippin’ – This article including photos/images may not be reproduced without permission from the author and Daytrippin.com. A brief excerpt may be reprinted with a link to the article and proper credit.
References:
(1) John Willett 1967 “Art In The City”
(2) The Beatles In Hamburg/Bill Hillman Tracks (hillmanweb.com)
(3) Tony Sheridan Wikipedia
(4)  Discogs/The Bats (discogs.com)