Beatlemania 09-09-09

Well, today as you know, was the day that Apple Records were due to release the entire Beatles album catalogue in glorious remastered sound. And of course, I had to attend the festivities. (i.e., buy some albums!) Just yesterday I sent off about $200 for a new scanner, which I've needed for a while now, so my finances were a little short. But I did have enough to buy my two favorite albums, The Beatles first one and their last one. I speak of course about Please Please Me and Abbey Road. Please Please Me was their first album, which they recorded in a day and Abbey Road was the last album they recorded together. Apple was also releasing the new Beatles Rock Band game, which I'm not really interested in. I'm already in a real rock and roll band, you see!

The first thing that greeted me upon entering into the store was.... The Beatles themselves! It was great to see them again, even if it was only in a poster advertising their new game.

Back in the record department, (cd department?) I saw plenty of the Rock Band game boxes lining the shelves, such as the one above. I've seen clips of it, so if you're into that kind of thing, it looks like it will be the best experience yet.

Moving on to more important things, (at least to me, anyway!) were the actual audio recordings of The Beatles, what in my younger days used to be called "albums." This particular store devoted an entire end cap to display their remastered albums and you could find all of them but two. The White Album, which is a double album and The Past Masters, Volumes 1 and 2 which is now also a double album, were back on the shelf, along with some copies of "1," their greatest hits collection. I knew how much they were and how much I had to spend, so I had selected the two I would be able to afford before I even left the house. I oogled at the display, (a lot!), got some pictures so I could blog about the experience, and then selected my two albums. I paid for them in the electronics department and then I was on my way.

Outside in the parking lot, I couldn't resist taking a picture of the two latest additions to my Beatles Record Collection. I have all of their original albums, sometimes in almost every format they were released, and even the cd copies of the albums that were released in 1987. After I got my pictures of the new albums, I hurried back home so I could listen to them. Starting with their first release, (naturally!), I was amazed at how clear everything sounded! Especially their voices! Let me just say that these new discs are worth every penny, so now is the time to get those Beatles songs you always meant to get! (If you don't already own some of the older ones!) As I type this, I am preparing to be assaulted by the sound experience that will be Abbey Road in all it's remastered glory, so I'll just say goodbye for now. You say hello, but I say goodbye. (To listen to more music!) Remember.... all you really need is love!

Best Of The Beatles

 

 

 He even autographed it for me!

If anyone has read my profile, then they'll know that my all-time favorite band is The Beatles. And they have been since January 1964, when I Wanna Hold Your Hand hit the top of the American Rock and Roll charts. It was that song and that moment, when yours' truly, at the ripe old age of 2, heard this new group called The Beatles and became aware of music. And thanks to The Beatles, I am a professional musician today, playing lead guitar and singing in a rock and roll band of my own. On Saturday night, October 4th, 2008, I got to hear a member of The Beatles live in person! How cool is that!? You might have already realized that it wasn't John Lennon or George Harrison. But, it wasn't Paul McCartney or Ringo Starr, either. No, the Beatle I'm talking about was their drummer from 1960 to 1962, their formative years when they learned to rock and roll hard, loud and fast. Pete Best was their drummer during this period and it was when they became known for their loud and energetic stage performances. If anyone has heard bootlegs from this period, they know what I'm talking about.

Pete Best was dropped from The Beatles and they got Ringo to replace him. Pete carried on in rock and roll for about 6 more years before settling in to a regular job as that of a civil servant. But once Rock and Roll gets in your blood, you can't really ever get rid of it, and he got back into the music scene in 1988. He has been back in it now for 20 years. With his group, The Pete Best Band, he travels all over the world and rocks just like he did back when he was in The Beatles. When I saw him, it was practically in my own back yard, but what a show him and his band delivered!

They were touring in release of a new album, if you can believe that, and they played three songs from it during the show. They were awesome songs, enough so that I had to buy his new cd, Hayman's Green, after the show! But what really got the packed house off their feet and rocking were the songs they did from The Beatles' early days, when they stormed up and down Germany and England and started setting the world on fire, one crowd at a time. They played such early Beatle staples as Three Cool Cats, Roll Over Beethoven, Dizzie Miss Lizzie, I Saw Her Standing There, Some Other Guy, Twist And Shout, Till There Was You, My Bonnie, Rock And Roll Music and many more. But what really knocked me out was their note for note rendition of a song The Beatles, with Pete Best on drums, performed at their Decca audition on New Year's Day of 1962. Namely, Besame Mucho. Only their guitars didn't get buried in the mix like John and George's did all those years ago - this version rocked! Here is the Pete Best Band on stage:



Here's their lead guitarist:

Their bass and rhythm guitarist:

And second drummer Roag, Pete's younger brother:

And here is the man himself, drumming with so much intensity:

After leading the crowd through rousing renditions of Twist And Shout, My Bonnie and I Saw Her Standing There, they came back for an encore of Johnny B. Goode. The show lasted about 90 minutes, but I still felt it was over way too soon! After it was over, they came out and graciously signed autographs, all five of them. I got them all to autograph their new cd, which I purchased from their table and Pete signed two albums, (yes those 33 1/3 rpm black things!) from my collection. I didn't see anybody else with rare albums like mine, in fact, there weren't any others at all! Several people asked to see my albums, which I proudly showed them. I had 3 with me and they all featured pictures of The Beatles on the cover, when Pete was a member of the group. One of the albums which Pete autographed was the one at the top of this post. He signed his name in the bass drum area. How cool is that!? Here's Pete autographing my cd:

And, finally, here is the whole band at the autograph table. Some younger fans were getting their picture taken standing behind them, but I got my picture any way! They were all pretty nice about signing autographs and I can confirm that they rocked the house! Here they are, freshly cleaned up just after the show:

All in all, I can highly recommend The Pete Best Band and their new cd, Hayman's Green. I've not stopped listening to it since Saturday night after the show. It's almost Wednesday morning as I write these words and the songs on this album still blow me away every time I hear them. Such feeling and poignancy! It's contemporary sounding and it's classic sounding at the same time. But, most of all, The Pete Best Band have their own sound and it rocks! Buy this cd if you get the chance, you won't be disappointed!

Oh, but please don't buy it at Wal-Mart. Buy it from Pete's website and help him out more. He would appreciate it and you will too, after you listen to it!