Greetings everyone, in the hopes that in this year-end holiday season, you all are able to find some joy somewhere in the world. Traditionally, an awful lot of joy has come from the Beatles, starting 60 plus years ago. In that, they have been consistent well beyond anybody's reasonable expectation. So in a tough world, there is still some positivity to be found reflecting in this time and place that we can still hear "new" Beatle music and even see one of two surviving members live if we have a mind too. No small thing.
NEWS
Which is to say, semi-news because half of the story isn't exactly new. But in Beatle world, the revelation of a couple of demos, for “Misery” and “Love of the Loved” surfacing has met with a variety of reactions. To most, the surfacing of any previously unheard Beatle recordings is always a good thing. These recordings were met mostly with positivity, alongside accusations from some that they were faked - “AI!” But the “Misery” one has been in circulation for a while now (and in fact was featured recently in an episode); it was taped at The Cavern in early 1963 and features they original lyrics as intended for Helen Shapiro. LOTL, a song that Paul nowadays expresses disdain for, was first tracked at the Decca audition; this solo performance may have been intended for Cilla Black, who made it her debut single in 1963.
The bigger takeaway is that these are exactly the sort of insightful historic recordings that should be considered for part of any archival release going forward. This is what I’ve been on about this year with the Anthology discussions (part two of which is coming soon…)
Other stuff: you can always count on a steady stream of Classic Rock Album Olympics shows to arrive on a bi-weekly basis; the most recent featured Led Zeppelin. Gary Wenstrup is much better at sticking to a schedule than I am…
Also coming: some bonus shows that have been in the can for awhile, and hopefully, a launch of the forum site I have been talking about recently. Watch this space!
READING MATTER
It’s exactly for the sharing of content and input that the forum is intended, and until that day, this forum will have to do. A couple of things I read recently suggest themselves, both coming from SATB friends and occasional guests: this one features Christine Feldman-Barrett with commentary, and this one from Duncan Driver, in the Journal of Beatles Studies. (Both of these folks reside in Australia, as it happens…)
HISTORY
Released in the US on December 15, 1964: Beatles '65
Parlophone had released their 4th Beatles album - Beatles For Sale - on December 4th, 1964. Beatles '65 came 11 days after. Prior to, The Beatles’ US label had released:
Meet The Beatles!
The Beatles' Second Album
Something New
The Beatles' Story (2-record audio documentary)
That’s four long-playing discs (not counting Story) of music during the same span that the UK saw two discs. By shrinking 14-track releases to 11, and adding stray non-album singles and EP tracks, Capitol was able to make this miracle of mathematics work.
Additionally, stateside fans could enjoy the soundtrack to A Hard Day's Night, released by United Artists, as well as Introducing The Beatles on Vee-Jay. (Hardcores could complete their collections with the Tony Sheridan-era recordings from Hamburg issued that year by MGM and Atco in North America.)
That’s an awful lot of product of less value than English fans enjoyed, given the penchant for padding US releases with orchestral muzak, German-language takes, and (as with the Sheridan releases), recordings that had nothing whatsoever to do with the Beatles.
But despite all the hindsight undervaluing of Capitol's packages, Beatles '65 still holds together as well as a truncated Beatles For Sale + current single ("I Feel Fine"/"She's A Woman") and a stray A Hard Day's Night cut ("I'll Be Back") could be expected to. Maybe the biggest rap on the collection is the Dave Dexter echo-fest permeating the proceedings; one could also fault the short running time (11 songs in all - Capitol's policy except for Meet The Beatles! in keeping the cost of mechanicals down). But among Boomers, it holds a special place in their hearts as the context in which they fell in love with these songs, as well as memories of Christmas '64.
Note: On February 1, 1965, the label attempted a last ditch effort at making EPs viable in the states with the issue of 4 by The Beatles, essentially extracting 4 cuts from an extraction. The release followed 4 By The Beach Boys in September 1964; Capitol had hoped that maybe The Beatles' popularity might jump-start this format which had success in the UK and had long gone out of favor here, but it did not get the traction that made sense going forward and was taken out of print by years' end.
ONE LAST THING
As if the news out of Bondi Beach wasn’t horrific enough, it was quickly followed by the shocking double murder in Los Angeles this weekend. This is not the place to ruminate on tragedy - instead, it’s always intended as a place to find escape from the horrors of the hard times we live in. Still, it doesn’t feel right to not acknowledge the loss of one of the most creative and impactful artists of our lifetime, actor/writer/podcaster/filmmaker Rob Reiner, taken with his wife a day after the world celebrated the centennial of his father’s dear friend and collaborator, Dick Van Dyke.
Reiner first arrived in our national consciousness as part of the ensemble cast of All In The Family, Norman Lear’s adaptation of the UK’s Till Death Us Do Part, starting in 1971. (If you have never seen the show, I would recommend checking out at least one episode, “Archie Gets Branded,” as an exceptional example of performances, theme - timely as ever - and the artful threading the needle between making you think and laugh). But he outgrew the Mike Stivic role quickly as a director and writer, most notably in 1984’s This Is Spinal Tap, an astonishing directorial debut that revealed his pitch-perfect read on both satire and rock lore. Other triumphs followed, and you know them all: Stand By Me - The Princess Bride - When Harry Met Sally… - Misery - A Few Good Men - and lots more.
Any premature loss is hard, whether of innocents taken just for who they are, or artists with more to give whose loss we didn’t see coming. There will be a day when a smile comes before tears when we think about them, and maybe the only way to transcend the pain, if only for a moment, is to savor the work they gave us and reflect on why they ever moved us in the first place. 2025 saw the release of the long-anticipated Spinal Tap II: The End Continues, and no matter how it may stand among Reiner’s cinematic achievements, at least it gave us a few more laughs in a bizarre full circle moment. (And Reiner had this to say about one of the personas it featured.) We’ve had some heavy losses this year but this one seems to sting a little more. But art endures, as always. As long as we enjoy it, we keep it - and its creators - alive.
All best,
RR
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