Cheap Trick closing Vegas deal to perform Sgt. Pepper's

Cheap Trick close to headliner deal

The iconic American rock band Cheap Trick is close to finalizing a headliner deal with the Las Vegas Hilton that would feature the group performing The Beatles' epic album "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" live with a full orchestra.

Word has it their performances could begin as soon as March and stretch throughout 2009.

Cheap Trick's original members would be involved in the exclusive agreement with the Hilton.

The band has sold 20 million records and produced 29 movie sound tracks. They hit it big in 1979 when "I Want You to Want Me" peaked at No. 7 on Billboard's Top 40. "The Flame" topped the charts in 1988 and their cover of Elvis Presley's "Don't Be Cruel" reached No. 4 a couple of months later.

VH1 listed Cheap Trick No. 25 among the "100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock."

[Review Journal]

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band Album Cover Parodies

One of the most influential album covers of all time. AmIRight shows over 50 parody covers of the Beatles, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album cover.

Various Artists
"Golden Throats: The Great Celebrity Sing-Off!"
From the Rhino series with all the awful celebrities doing covers of better songs.


Various Artists
"The Simpsons: The Yellow Album"
Top notch parody by the masters of parody.

Udo Lindenberg
"Hut ab! Hommage an Udo Lindenberg"
A Tribute-Album for a german musician, Udo Lindenberg, issued in the 90s, featuring different german pop-artists interpreting his songs.


Sonny Vincent
"The Good, the Bad, the Ugly"

The Rutles
"Sgt. Rutter's Only Darts Club Band"


The Mothers of Invention
"We're Only in It for the Money"
One of the first parody album covers released. A landmark album.

Jun Fukamachi
"Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band"
An electronic version of Sgt. Pepper's by a Japanese artist.


Celiz Cruz and friends
"Tropical Tribute to the Beatles"


AWESOME COVER (CLICK TO ENLARGE FOR DETAILS): ccc - ill chemist, Go Home Productions, Voicedude, other various Mash-Uppers
"Sgt. Pepper's Mid Life Crisis"
One of the best Pepper-parodies, and a fantastic album !


The Beachles
"Sgt. Petsound's"
Great cover art mashup!

Beatles White Album #5 sells for $28,448.20

A piece of history just sold on eBay. As we previously announced, the rare, lowest of the numbered Beatles' 1968 self-titled vinyl LP, more commonly referred to as "The White Album" just sold for $28,448.20.

PART ONE


PART TWO


PART THREE


PART FOUR


PART FIVE


PART SIX


PART SEVEN


PART EIGHT


PART NINE

Mythical Beatles track does exist

Sir Paul McCartney has confirmed a 14-minute long Beatles track many thought was a myth does exist - and says he wants the public to hear it.

He told BBC Radio 4's Front Row the track - called Carnival of Light - was not released because the other Beatles thought it was too "adventurous".

The improvised track was recorded in 1967 for an electronic music festival.

Sir Paul said Ringo Starr and John Lennon's and George Harrison's estates would have to agree to a release.

He said he had been asked to create the piece for an electronic music festival, and asked the other band members to be "indulgent" for 10 minutes at London's Abbey Road studios before giving them vague directions.

Sir Paul explained: "I said all I want you to do is just wander around all the stuff, bang it, shout, play it, it doesn't need to make any sense. Hit a drum then wander on to the piano, hit a few notes, just wander around.



"So that's what we did and then put a bit of an echo on it. It's very free."

The track was played just once, at the festival, and is said to include distorted guitar, organ sounds, gargling and band members shouting phrases such as "Barcelona!" and "Are you all right?"

Sir Paul said he was fond of the track, which was inspired by experimental composers John Cage and Karlheinz Stockhausen: "I like it because it's The Beatles free, going off piste."

He said he still had a master tape of the piece, adding: "The time has come for it to get its moment."

Sir Paul had wanted to include the track on the Beatles' Anthology compilations in the mid-1990s, but the rest of the band vetoed the idea.

He said: "I said it would be great to put this on because it would show we were working with really avant-garde stuff."

The full interview will be broadcast on BBC Radio 4's Front Row on Thursday 20 November at 1915 GMT.

[BBC]

Lowest Ever Edition of The Beatles White Album Up for Auction on eBay

There is truly a one of a kind item up for grabs on eBay as a listing for the fifth printing of The Beatles self-titled album, most often referred to as The White Album, is up for sale on the auction site. The first four printed albums were giving to The Beatles band members and this is the earliest edition that has ever seen the open market as it is marked 0000005. The vinyl records in an extremely good shape for their age and come to the market as the album celebrates its 40th anniversary of release on 22nd November (1968).

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110312162347

The listing of the auction reads:

Some years ago, this album was taken into the collectors shop named 'Vinyl Revival Records' in Newbury, Berkshire, England by a musician (they did not disclose who) who had visited John in the flat that he shared with Yoko in late 1968 (that was owned by Ringo) at 34 Montague Square, Marylebone, London W.1. The musician saw a pile of White Albums on a table and asked for one. John readily agreed, but said 'Don't take No.1 - I want that'. Instead he took No. 5'.

The album then passed into the hands of Beatles specialist dealer 'Good Humour' who then sold it to its current owner who has now commissioned me to sell it on his behalf.

If you plan on bidding on the fab four collectible you should be advised that you have to be approved to become a bidder on the item. Bidding is currently at £GBP 6,405.51 (approximately US $9,518.59) but expect that number to go up massively in the coming days as more people find out about the auction that will end nearly 40 years to the day that the album hit shops. Do you think that this was just smart marketing by the eBay seller or do you think that one of the members of The Beatles inner-circle is just drumming up some publicity for the anniversary of the classic album?

[Cleveland Leader]

What I find most interesting as that Disc 2 is heavier than Disc 1. Here's the specifics...

This unique, complete copy is UK 1968 MONO 1st pressing on the dark green Apple labels: PMC 7067 & PMC 7068

All labels carry the 'Sold in UK..' texts but omit the 'An EMI Recording' text found on later editions.

The discs are housed in a thick card stock, fully laminated, top-loading 'Garrod & Lofthouse printed mono cover numbered: No.0000005

This copy is 100% complete with both its matt black die-cut inner-sleeves, 4 colour portrait photos, matt UK printed poster and white paper photo spacer.

Matrix numbers: YEX 709-1, 710-1 & YEX 711-1, 712-1
Stamper numbers: 33,3/R, 1/M & 1/RD, 3/RR
Disc weights: 1. 150g 2. 151g

MONOPOLY: The Beatles Collector’s Edition

USAopoly, the company that puts out all those specialized versions of the classic game Monopoly, has added the Beatles Collector's Edition to their line.

In this version, instead of buying properties, you are purchasing the various Beatles albums. Every one of the Beatles albums are represented on the board, from Please Please Me to Abbey Road.

There's no money in the Beatles' Monopoly world. Everything is purchased with "Love" (as in the song The End, "The love you take is equal to the love you make...at least that's what the product description says).

For tokens, there are various items that relate to Beatles songs, including Maxwell's Silver Hammer, Strawberry Fields Forever or I Am the Walrus.

The designers used both in-house and outside Beatles fans to give the game the best possible flavor. Maggie Matthews, VP of Marketing, said "We consulted with an array of Beatles fans outside the company to create what we hope is the most compelling execution of the game -- while staying within certain parameters that Hasbro requires, such as leaving the four corner squares of the original game board untouched."

See more about the game at the USAopoly website.

[Vintage Vinyl News]

40 Years Ago Today

The Beatles perform 'Hey Jude' on the UK television show 'Frost On Sunday' in front of an invited audience and introduced by David Frost on 8th September 1968.

Wouldn't you just kill to be one of those nerdy kids that gets to join in with the Fab Four on this performance?

Beatles Album Covers Done in LEGO's

[ToyZone]

Beatles Medley...

as done by Father Guido Sarducci, aka Don Novello, from the early Saturday Night Live cast (1978-1980).

Father Guido Sarducci is a fictional character made famous by American comedian Don Novello. Sarducci, a chain-smoking priest with tinted eyeglasses, works in the United States as gossip columnist and rock critic for the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano.

Novello started his career as a performer on The Smothers Brothers Show in 1965.
Novello created the Sarducci character in 1973, after he purchased the outfit (consisting of big floppy black hat, white clerical collar, and a long, red-trimmed black coat with cape) for $7.50 at a St. Vincent de Paul thrift shop. The character was featured in 1970s cartoons by underground cartoonists Dave Sheridan and Fred Schrier, appearing in person in the early 1970s on Laugh In and later in 1975 Smothers Brothers' TV show. His most prominent appearance was on Saturday Night Live in the late 1970s, during which time Novello was also a writer for the show. In the late 1970s, Father Guido Sarducci was featured on radio commercials for High Times Magazine where he offered to perform blessings for a fee.

In 1981 Novello made newspaper headlines when he visited Vatican City wearing the Father Guido Sarducci costume to do a photo shoot for TIME magazine. After taking pictures in an area where photography was prohibited, he and his photographer, Paul Solomon, were arrested by the Swiss Guards and Novello was charged with "impersonating a priest". Although the guards attempted to confiscate the film from the shoot, Solomon managed to hand them the wrong film. The charges were later dropped. In the early 1980s, Novello was featured in ads promoting candidates for the priesthood. He listed one advantage of being a priest as getting first pick at the annual parish garage sale.

Sgt. Pepper's Drum Skin Fetches $1.1 Million

The original drumskin featured on the front cover of the 1967 album ``Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'' by the Beatles sold tonight at Christie's International in London for 541,250 pounds ($1.07 million).

The price was more than five times its lower estimate and the second-highest ever paid for a piece of Beatles memorabilia, said Christie's.

The 2-foot, 4-inch diameter hand-painted skin, mounted on another hardwood drum, was accompanied by a hand-written letter from artist Peter Blake, confirming that it appeared on the LP cover he designed. The skin itself was painted by Joe Ephgrave, according to Blake. The LP has been regularly voted by critics as among the best of all time.

The drumskin fetched the top price at a 259-lot sale of Popular Culture, Rock and Pop Memorabilia held at Christie's South Kensington auction rooms.

Later in the sale, the original handwritten lyrics that John Lennon and Yoko Ono made for the 1969 song ``Give Peace a Chance,'' sold for 421,250 pounds, exceeding an estimate of 200,000 pounds to 300,000 pounds. These were also bought by a telephone bidder, said Christie's.

The lyrics were sold by the U.K.-based comedy writer and television presenter Gail Renard.

Christie's said the lyrics had been personally given to Renard by Lennon when she interviewed him for her university magazine in Suite 1742 of the Queen Elizabeth Hotel, Montreal, during his anti-war demonstration.

Bed Protest

Newlywed Lennon and Ono's Montreal ``bed-in'' followed a similar protest in Amsterdam. The couple led a five-minute recording of the song. Among the chorus of 50 or so guests in the room were Timothy Leary and Allen Ginsberg.

The record for any piece of Beatles memorabilia is the 600,000 pounds paid in July, 2005, for Lennon's handwritten lyric sheet for the band's 1967 live satellite broadcast of ``All You Need Is Love,'' said Christie's.

[Bloomberg]

Most Expensive Record in the World

"That’ll Be the Day/ In Spite of All the Danger," The Quarrymen (1958) -- est. $180,000-$200,000

Running an electrical goods shop in Liverpool wasn't enough for Percy Phillips, and being 60 certainly wasn't going to stop him. So in 1955, spurred by the local interest in country and western music, Phillips spent 400 pounds on a portable tape recorder and portable disc cutting machine, microphones and a four-way mixer, which were installed in the middle living-room of his Victorian terraced house at number 38 Kensington, a major thoroughfare located a mile beyond Liverpool city centre.

Sparse it may have been but Phillips' recording facility was efficient. Having arrived for their appointment customers would sit in a waiting area and, when prompted, move into the living-room, face up to the microphones and perform, live. While trams rattled along Kensington - their noise was deadened by a heavy curtain over the studio door - Percy Phillips would first commit the performance on tape and then, provided that the Artiste was not distressed with the result, immediately transfer this to a shellac disc, wiping over the tape next time someone used the studio.

Word of Phillips' facility soon spread, and as skiffle and then beat music took hold so it began to attract a number of Liverpool's younger musicians, eager to commit their sound to disc and able to announce that they had "made a record". Having travelled with their instruments from the south end of the city, a quintet called the Quarry Men - John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison, who all played guitars, John Lowe who played the piano, and Collin Hanton the drummer - turned up at Phillips Sound Recording Service on day in the spring or summer of 1958. A short while later, having parted company with 17s 6d [88p] (about $2) the five Quarry Men left 38 Kensington passing among them the cherished fruit of their debut recording session: a very breakable 78rpm record, ten-inches in diameter. The disc's label clearly instructed "Play with a light-weight pick-up" ... but no mention of the words Quarry Men, and certainly not Beatles, a name they wouldn't adopt for another two years.

On one side of the disc was That'll Be The Day, homage to Buddy Holly and the Crickets, featuring John Lennon's lead vocal with Paul McCartney providing the high harmonies. On the other side was In Spite Of All The Danger, co-written by Paul McCartney and George Harrison, but, again, with John Lennon singing lead.

Colin Hanton (whose membership of the Quarry Men pre-dated both Paul's and George's) and John Lowe (who was recruited principally because he could play Jerry Lee Lewis's exacting arpeggio part in Mean Woman Blues) left soon after the band's one and only recording session, leaving the nucleus, Lennon, McCartney and Harrison, to aim for fame.

Paul McCartney owned the only known original copy. Paul had the song digitally re-mastered and 50 copies pressed as Christmas presents for friends.

This recording was released in both the US and the UK on November 21, 1995 on "The Beatles Anthology Volume 1."

Phillips acetate sleeve
(circa late 1950s). This sleeve is NOT associated with The Beatles' acetate.

At last fans got to hear the Quarry Men's That'll Be The Day in full, and In Spite Of All The Danger, a Beatles legend, was finally unveiled as the earliest known recording of a Harrison or McCartney song. Interestingly, though, In Spite Of All The Danger, the Beatles' only doo-wop ballad, appears here in edited form. The Anthology 1 version runs for just 2.45, while McCartney's priceless original shellac acetate clocks in at 3.25.

Paul: The strangest thing for me, listening to it, is that it's like drowning, it's like your life flashing by in front of you. From the earliest things by me and John when we used to sag off school and the earliest demo tape we ever made, to the first little record we made which was a version of John singing That'll Be The Day, and a little song of mine on the other side that's never been released before.

REPLICA

This item is a fascinating replica of the Quarry Men acetate. This disc was auctioned on eBay in March 2004. Paul McCartney (owner of the sole authentic acetate) had several replicas (reportedly 50 copies) of the original acetate made for friends and associates. It is unclear if the disc featured here is one of Paul's or some subsequent replica.

According to the owner of this specific disc , "In Spite Of All The Danger" is the full 3:25 version.

AUCTION DESCRIPTION:

The Beatles That'll be the Day 78rpm Acetate

Item number: 4000239174
Winning bid: US $1,500.00
Ended: Mar-11-04 13:58:08 PST
Start time: Mar-04-04 13:58:08 PST
History: 44 bids (US $10.00 starting bid)
Item location: dracut, MA United States

You are bidding on a Beatles Acetate with That'll be the day w/ In spite of all the
danger on the other side. This record plays at 78rpm but do not play on an old style
victor type gramophone, it will ruin the grooves. I bought it from a record dealer at a flea market a few years ago. I have played it on my record player, it sounds great. Very cool to take out and show it off at partys. My wife wants this thing out of the house, and we could use the extra cash. The real one is in paul's safe. Paul made several of these 10'' as well as a few 7'' at 45rpm. I do not believe this is original. No reserve.

Photos taken by John Lowe in 1981

From "The Beatles Monthly Book" August 2000


[Beatlesource]

Beatles Releases are Bootlegs according to Apple Corp

Based on our post 2 months ago, the unreleased Star Club Beatles recordings are going to court.

Apple Corp Sues To Stop Beatles Release

Apple Corps and Apple Records have just filed a federal lawsuit in Miami in an attempt to stop bootleg recordings from the Star-Club in Germany from being released to the public, Billboard has learned.

One of the defendants, Jeffrey Collins, tried to release the recordings several years ago before he was sentenced to probation for violating sound recording piracy law in connection with non-Beatles recordings, Apple claims.

The suit, filed in the federal District Court in Miami, names as defendants Fuego Entertainment, Fuego-Echo Music Group, Echo Vista, Fuego CEO Hugo Cancio and Collins.

In a January press release, Fuego announced it had acquired 15 tracks of previously unreleased performances of the Beatles at the Star-Club in Hamburg, Germany, that were made just before the group signed its record deal with EMI's Parlophone in 1962, the suit claims.

The Beatles did perform at the club just one month before the band signed its record deal. But the contract with the club did not permit any recording, the complaint says, and no one with the band ever gave permission to record their performances.

Apple says the recordings have already proven to be bootlegs. In 1991, Apple sued Sony Music Entertainment in New York to stop release of some Star-Club recordings. Sony agreed to a consent order not to release certain recordings after hearing testimony from band members.

One of Apple's attorneys in the current suit recalls George Harrison's deposition testimony in that Sony suit.

Paul LiCalsi, a partner with Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp in New York, tells Billboard, "George said it best." Harrison testified that "'the recordings were a rip-off of the Beatles. No one asked us or paid us any royalties. Kids walk into record stores thinking they're getting something of quality, but it's unlistenable'," LiCalsi recalls.

Apple claims this is not the first time that Collins tried to release Beatles recordings without permission. He was sentenced to three years' probation in 1996 on a criminal plea of violating New Jersey's sound recording piracy law in connection with non-Beatles recordings, the complaint alleges.

Shortly before that criminal sentencing in 1995, Collins tried to manufacture and distribute 15 Beatles performances at the Star-Club, the suit says. In response to Apple's cease-and-desist letters, Collins acknowledged that he could not release the album without their permission, the complaint says.

"Apple does not own the rights to the tape," Collins tells Billboard. "They're trying to bully us into giving up the masters, which they have no right to. The group is called the Beatles. We haven't used the trade name -- we haven't released it. We just made it known to the public that this tape is available."

The Fuego press release claims it acquired rights through an association with Collins, the suit says.

Several years after the Sony suit, Apple again stopped release of Star-Club recordings after bringing a lawsuit in England's High Court of Justice against Lingasong Music.

Apple is suing for infringement of various common law copyright, trademark, unfair competition name and likeness, and performance rights. They seek an injunction and damages of at least $10 million.

Source [Billboard]

Runnin' With The Beatles

Pretty cool video mashup of the Beatles "Drive My Car" and David Lee Roth's filtered vocals on Van Halen's "Runnin' With the Devil" ...



check it now before YouTube deletes it

Ringo Starr... a bit fed-up with The Beatles

When I first read the headline which essentially said 'Ringo Starr says he’s “fed up” with The Beatles', I thought 'I bet it's just his voice... he always sounds a bit fed-up.' Anyway, turns out that he is a bit fed-up as people only know him from his Fabs stuff.

Ringo believes the Fab Four’s enduring fame means his other subsequent achievements are sadly overlooked. He moans, “Some days I'm just fed up with The Beatles. I think that when when I die, the message on my tombstone will be 'Ex-Beatle'. Like I've done nothing else."

So what else could he have on his tombstone? Voice of Thomas the Tank Engine? Star of a couple of films lies here? Yasser Arafat Lookalike RIP? C'mon Ring', I know it must get tired but look at those big ol' houses the Beatle fans bought you... gizza grin! Click over for a non-Beatle Ringo videos...

Here's Ringo selling pizza with The Monkees


and here's "Ringo" making some toast...


And finally, Ringo's best solo single, It Don't Come Easy...


Source [Electric Roulette]

Beatles-themed Hard Days Night Hotel opens in Liverpool

Now there's more reason than ever to visit Liverpool, England, whether you're an avid Beatles fan or just the casual tourist. Adjacent to the legendary Cavern Club, the Hard Days Night Hotel opened this weekend. This 4-Star hotel is done up elegantly in a Beatles-themed motif.

The marble-columned building dates back to 1884 and features numerous unique artwork and has 110 guest rooms. If you are a diehard Fab Four fan and have a few extra bucks to burn, reserve a room in either of the exlusive Lennon Suite with it's white baby grand piano, or the McCartney Suite with it's tribute to Sir Paul, including Knight's full suit of armour.

The average room rate is approx. $350 USD per night. The Lennon penthouse suite goes for $1300 per night.

The lobby contains a Yellow Submarine jukebox (...wonder if any Rolling Stones or Led Zeppelin on that jukebox).

Just around the corner from the hotel on narrow, bar-lined Mathew Street is the Cavern Club — a reconstruction, on the original site, of the basement dive where The Beatles honed their skills. Down the street is the Cavern Walks shopping mall — or "boutique emporium" — complete with Beatles shop and Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds restaurant. Visitors can take Magical Mystery bus tours to Penny Lane, or visit the Beatles Story museum down on the city docks.

The logo for the new Hard Days Night hotel (above) depicts the unusual opening chord (G7 Suspended) of the Beatles’ 1964 track from which the hotel takes its name.

www.harddaysnighthotel.com

A member of staff passes a photograph of the Beatles behind a bar

Beatles artwork hangs on a wall

A bust of Beatle John Lennon is placed the reception area

A member of staff passes pictures of the Beatles on the main staircase

A statue of Beatle John Lennon stands at the facade of the Hard Days Night Hotel

A general view of the Hard Days Night Hotel is seen in Liverpool, northern England, February 1, 2008. The four-star, 110 room Beatle themed hotel opens its doors to the public today and is only a stone's throw away from the site of the famous Cavern Club.

A portrait of Beatles Paul McCartney hangs on the wall in one of the rooms

A Beatles teddy bear sits on a bed in one of the rooms

A portrait of Beatles John Lennon hangs on the wall in the Lennon suite

Sheet Music with the Beatles lyrics hangs from a light fitting

Source [Reuters]