Beatles

[JCVaughn]

Beatles to Re-Release Stripped Down Album

Ah, finally some good news to report!

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20030131/ap_en_mu/beatles_music_1

NEW YORK - The surviving Beatles are planning to re-release "Let It Be" the way they intended: stripped down. The album will have the same track listing, but it will not have the orchestration that producer Phil Spector added to it after the band broke up.

Ringo Starr tells Rolling Stone it will be "de-Spectorized." Starr says it fills his heart with joy to hear it and it's a beautiful CD. The produced version was always a source of irritation to Paul McCartney, and Starr says he recently told McCartney how right he was about that.

Starr says George Harrison approved releasing the stripped-down version before his death. The project has been underway for at least two years. The revised "Let It Be" will be out in the fall.

The "Let It Be" movie will also be released on DVD, and this summer the originally 1996 "Beatles Anthology" documentary will also be released on DVD.

--Having heard the pre-Spector bootleg of "GET BACK," the original title of the album LET IT BE, I can attest that is superior to the released album in just about every way. I don't know if this new version will include the material from that version or not, but I'm really looking forward to it.

[JCVaughn]

LONDON, Feb. 18 /PRNewswire/
On March 31st, eight years after The Beatles themselves told the story of the world's greatest rock and roll band in "The Beatles Anthology," EMI will release the complete work on DVD -- but now featuring the final chapter; never-released footage of the last jam session of Paul, George and Ringo, playing non-Beatles material.

"The Beatles Anthology" DVD boxset features all of the original eight episodes that candidly reveal the story of how the four lads from Liverpool changed everything.

"The Beatles Anthology" was shown in 1995, when John, Paul, George and Ringo told The Beatles' story for the first time. At that time the Anthology project caused a worldwide sensation as it launched a TV series, three double-CD sets that each topped the album charts in the USA, plus "Free As A Bird" and "Real Love" -- the first new Beatles recordings in 25 years. All 10 hours of the original Anthology series will now be released across four DVD discs, plus an additional disc with 81 minutes of Special Features. Nearly all of the material included on this 5th disc has never been seen before.

For years, rumour has been rife among fans of the existence of intimate footage of Paul, George and Ringo jamming together during breaks in the making of the Anthology. This session and other get-togethers were filmed over a 12-month period when the three Beatles met in private and at Abbey Road studios. It includes the trio warmly remembering personal moments from their early days, reflecting on how they made their music and footage of them shot in the studio as they recorded "Free As A Bird" and "Real Love."

David Munns of EMI Recorded Music said: "We are really pleased to be releasing 'The Beatles Anthology,' which tells the story of their lives and careers in the medium of DVD. This was always a great series and the Special Features Disc will be a huge addition to the collection of any music lover and Beatles fan -- it provides an intimate and fascinating chapter to the story that continues to captivate the world."

Technically, the DVDs offer a spectacular audio/visual experience, featuring re-graded picture quality and new audio mastering including 5.1-surround sound and a new stereo PCM soundtrack.

The Beatles Anthology DVD will be released on March 31st, 2003.

[JCVaughn]

Associated Press, Posted on Tue, Feb. 18, 2003  

LONDON - Beatles fans received a double treat Tuesday with announcements of a new world tour by Paul McCartney and the release of a DVD of a 1994 jam session by McCartney, Ringo Starr and George Harrison.

McCartney said he plans to include several Beatles songs in his first British tour in a decade, scheduling 22 songs from his Fab Four days for each two-and-a-half hour arena concert.

Seven dates in April have been announced for the "Back in the World" tour, including stops in London and Manchester, northern England. McCartney then plans to tour France, Spain, Germany and Scandinavia.

The world tour follows McCartney's 2002 "Back In The U.S." tour - a series of performances that earned him Billboard magazine's Tour Of The Year prize.

McCartney said he's learned to give audiences what they want.

"So that means we'll be playing some of my Beatles stuff - rather a lot of Beatles stuff, actually - some Wings stuff and some more recent stuff. So basically the show pretty much spans my whole career," the 60-year-old said.

Tickets for the concerts go on sale Friday, priced 35 to 45 pounds ($56-$72).

Fans also will be able to buy a DVD of the reunion performance by McCartney, Starr and Harrison that was filmed in 1994. The band broke up in 1970.

Harrison died in November 2001 after a long battle with cancer. John Lennon, the fourth Beatle, was shot dead in New York in 1980.

Due to be released at the end of March, the hour-long DVD was shot at Harrison's studios at his mansion in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire. The songs are mainly staples from their early performing days, including "Blue Moon Of Kentucky," "Ain't She Sweet" and "Thinking of Linking."

[JCVaughn]

by Emma Gunby, Liverpool Echo, Feb. 21, 2003
http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/page.cfm?objectid=12662982&method=full&siteid=50061



THESE are the first pictures of a reunion performance by Beatles Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and the late George Harrison.

The session, which was filmed in 1994, is the only time the three played together after the band split up in 1970.

The exclusive picture comes from a previously unseen film of the band.

The hour-long footage was shot at Harrison's studios at Friar Park - his mansion in Henley-on-Thames, in Oxfordshire.

The film is due for release on DVD next month but the ECHO have obtained exclusive footage which shows the trio jamming together.

McCartney, Starr and Harrison got together 14 years after the death of fourth Beatle John Lennon to record a string of rock and roll classics.

The songs, which the band used to play in their early days, include Blue Moon Of Kentucky, Ain't She Sweet and Thinking of Linking.

The session was filmed in June 1994 for possible inclusion in the 1996 Beatles Anthology video but in the end only a minute-long segment was shown on US TV.

Harrison died in November 2001 after a long battle with cancer. Lennon was shot dead outside his home in New York in December 1980.