I remember hearing an interview a while back from professor and author, Ken Womack concerning his Mal Evans biography. He said, and I am paraphrasing, that no giant of the industry makes it to the top of their profession without numerous often little-known individuals helping to contribute to their enormous success. That is one of the reasons that my fascination with collecting autographs extends to many of the individuals that played even a smaller or bit part or role in the fairy-tale story of the Beatles. Today’s post will deal with the role played by the Mike Sammes singers in the Beatles story!
Managed to find a copy of the Mike Sammes book/story about his career. Author Spencer Leigh informed me about this title! (See below)
Background information on the Mike Sammes singers on Wikipedia:
Backing into the Limelight : The story of the MIKE SAMMES Singers by Mike Sammes. Published in 1994 by The Book Guild
Back cover of the book:
Inside flap of the dust jacket with additional background information about the Mike Sammes Singers:
Outside flap of the dust jacket with additional background info:
Quotes from the above Wikipedia link as it relates to the Beatles:
“Michael William Sammes (19 February 1928 – 19 May 2001) was an English musician and vocal session arranger, performing backing vocals on pop music recorded in the UK from 1955 to the 1970s.”
BEATLES reference:
“The singers departed from their usual commercial style when they provided backing vocals for the Beatles’ song “I Am the Walrus”, which required them to do “all sorts of swoops and phonetic noises” and chant the phrases “ho ho ho, he he he, ha ha ha”, “oompah, oompah, stick it up your jumper” and “everybody’s got one”. They also sang on the Beatles’ “Good Night”, as well as on their last album, Let It Be, at the behest of Phil Spector. “
THE NOTORIOUS PHIL SPECTOR LET IT BE OVERDUBS
It has long been speculated that the Mike Sammes singers are singing as part of the backing choir of The Long and Winding Road at the request of Phil Spector. Mark Lewisohn has shed some illumination on the Spector overdubs to the Let it be sessions and the reasons for the uncertain nature of who the backing singers were on the Let It Be overdubs. The complexity of the issue is due to the session sheets not adequately informing the reader of the names of many of the participants of the actual overdubs.
The speculation about the Sammes singers being on The Long and Winding Road has received support with the obituary piece that Spencer Leigh wrote for Mike Sammes in the Independent back in 2001 where he quotes Mike Sammes about their participation in the Let It Be Spector-based overdubs.
FROM: THE INDEPENDENT – published on Monday 11 June 2001-Part of Mike Sammes’ Obituary written by Spencer Leigh:
A few quotes from the Spencer Leigh obituary of Mike Sammes:
“In 1969 John Lennon passed the second-rate tapes of the Beatles’ Let It Be sessions to the American producer Phil Spector and asked him to turn them into a decent album.”
And:
“Sammes took it philosophically: “We found out later that it wasn’t what McCartney wanted, but that’s not my problem. He had a different idea for the arrangement and because of the friction in the Beatles, he wasn’t consulted.”
The Mike Sammes Singers also provided the chants on Lennon’s “I am the Walrus” and the harmonies on Ringo Starr’s “Good Night”.
Love to collect the signatures of the many participants in the Beatles story. Here is a signed photo of Mike Sammes that I recently acquired on eBay and that I plan to use this as a signed bookplate to the book that I acquired of the Mike Sammes Singers thanks to the suggestion of author Spencer Leigh that is presented at the beginning of this post!
Mike Sammes
The Mike Sammes singers singing backing on this fabulous track that closes the White Album!!!
This photo of a younger Mike Sammes along with a few of his singers appear in the above Wikipedia link and is being used in this blog in conjunction with (fair use).
If anyone knows the photographer, please advise and we will give proper attribution and acknowledgement. Mike Sammes is the individual -third from the left.
The Mike Sammes Singers
The Mike Sammes singers contributions to this Beatles classic will be remembered forever!
Now- it’s time to say Good Night! Good Night Everybody, Everybody, Everywhere!!
BUZZ
OUR BOOK OF THE WEEK AT THE BEATLES BOOKSTORE
The Cutting Edge (Paperback)
The Beatles’ hair changed the world. As their increasingly wild, untamed manes grew, to the horror of parents everywhere, they set off a cultural revolution as the most tangible symbol of the Sixties’ psychedelic dream of peace, love and playful rebellion. In the midst of this epochal change was Leslie Cavendish, hairdresser to the Beatles and some of the greatest stars of the music and entertainment industry.
What is a pre-condition for me as a Beatles book collector for buying non-English language Beatles-related books, like The Beatles in Holland?
Well, with the Beatles in Holland book shown below, written in Dutch, I decided to purchase the book as it deals with the 13 day time frame in 1964 where Ringo was not with the Beatles, dealing with his health problems. So like my Beatles in Australia book which features Jimmy Nicol on the cover and not Ringo, the Beatles in Holland also features Nicol on the cover. Those oddities and the photos in general of this rare occurrence in the Beatles history make the books very appealing to me despite the lack of knowledge of one of the languages one of the books is written in. The Australian Beatles book was written in English! Since Nicol backed the Beatles in both the Netherlands and Australia during those fateful 13 days, I wanted to collect as many photographs of that group configuration as possible.
There is also another form of collecting dependent on communicating with orders about Beatles-related print issues in order to be able to discover them. For example the issue of LID magazine #9 with Marilyn Monroe (shown below) on the cover gives no indication that anything Beatles-related is in the magazine but there is a 14 page article about Klaus Voormann’s, A Sideman’s Journey project in the magazine.
These type of in-depth articles with a Beatles connection are very appealing to me and I found out about it by someone telling me about the magazine. This emphasizes the concept of networking when collecting. Knowing more people that share a common interest in the Beatles increases the odds that items of this sort won’t pass you by! I have Klaus Voormann’s Sideman Journey collectors box set and the article in the Marilyn Monroe cover issue of LID was an excellent accompanying piece.
The Beatles in Holland
The Beatles in Holland
This is the English language book featuring Jimmie Nicol as part of the Beatles! Contains the beautiful photos from the Mark Hayward collection:
PUT A LID ON IT – LID MAGAZINE
Lid is a high end photo arts magazine, every issue had a low print run and back issues can be very expensive on the secondary market!
This is the magazine that contains the 14 page article about Klaus Voormann’s “A Sideman’s Journey” project. There is no indication on the Monroe cover, that the Klaus article is contained within. So, as a collector you have to depend on the communication from others who either are subscribers or stumble across the article and then pass the word on!
This magazine usually appears on Ebay. It is a high demand type of magazine because of the legendary status of Marilyn Monroe as a Hollywood legend!
LID Issue #9-Now isn’t that ironic
LID MAGAZINE #5 2007 JOHN LENNON BY KLAUS VOORMANN-January 1, 2007
JOHN LENNON BY KLAUS VOORMANN
Lid Magazine #13 George Harrison Cover Autumn/Winter 2011-BBC photographer Harry Goodwin.
LID Autumn/Winter 2011-An alternate cover. I was very fortunate to be able to track down both of the alternate George Harrison covers on Ebay! Needless to say, they were not cheap!
Hope you enjoyed today’s post with different subject matters!
BUZZ
OUR BOOK OF THE WEEK AT THE BEATLES BOOKSTORE
The Cutting Edge (Paperback)
The Beatles’ hair changed the world. As their increasingly wild, untamed manes grew, to the horror of parents everywhere, they set off a cultural revolution as the most tangible symbol of the Sixties’ psychedelic dream of peace, love and playful rebellion. In the midst of this epochal change was Leslie Cavendish, hairdresser to the Beatles and some of the greatest stars of the music and entertainment industry.
Many Baby boomers who grew up in the 50s & 60s were well aware of the hit US network TV show American Bandstand hosted by Dick Clark!
Prior to the British Invasion, teenage dance music from American acts were the focus of this popular program.
Bandstand host Dick Clark helped to make this music become very popular with the younger generation of the time. Older members of the population hated rock ‘n’ roll and Dick Clark contributed enormously to making it more acceptable and less threatening to the older generation. Clark was also responsible for breaking down some of the barriers that black artists had in being able to expose their music to the masses on his show. Born in 1929 and passing away in 2012, Dick Clark’s position in popular music history is certainly assured.
Dick Clark always insisted on being in complete control especially in his business interests. He is credited with opening up opportunities for black performers on his show yet ironically, in the early years, he was also accused of restricting black teens appearances on his shows (see the last Amazon book description in this blog piece).
Here is some Wikipedia bio information about Clark:
As far as the British Invasion and Clark are concerned, I personally believe that Clark felt initially threatened by the British acts invading the US. Witness that the Beatles and the Stones never made guest appearances on his show. I believe that Clark preferred formula popular music being the standard on which music should be judged. Keep in mind that Clark always appeared to be perpetually very young on camera but he was actually born in the 1920s.
If he was more conservative than he appeared, he hid it well on his programs! Despite those perceptions, he was keenly aware of what was immensely popular and did not want to be on the sidelines during the Beatles invasion of America! Nor could he afford to ignore the many tremendous acts that came to popularity in the mid-to-late 60s!
Dick Clark was a great businessman and he owned virtually all of the businesses he was personally involved with. He had a great talent for generating publicity and image creation.
A FEW DICK CLARK ITEMS FROM THE COLLECTION
Here is an item I acquired from a 1961 show where Dick Clark appeared along with many supporting musical acts. This was a program from the live 1961 show:
The lineup for the 1961 show:
A sample page from my copy of the program:
A signed photo of the Bandstand legend. I was so happy to recently receive this signature to add to my collection of signed items from many of the figures who were ancillary contributors and/or participants to the story of the Beatles influence on popular music!
A promotional package of Dick Clark’s 1979-produced Beatles movie entitled Birth of the Beatles, which I acquired on ebay. The movie however was critically panned!
Part of the promotional material from Birth of the Beatles:
My good friend, and author of the books Beatles Undercover, Beatles Deeper Undercover & Beatles Fully Uncovered, Kris Engelhardt, knew that I collect the signatures of many of the individuals that played a role in the story of the Beatles and popular music. Kris asked me if I was interested in acquiring a hand-signed letter he had received from Dick Clark back in 2004 when Kris was exploring Clark’s potential interest to have a book written about him. Kris was so gracious to allow me to print the personal reply from Dick Clark on this post. I sincerely thank him for his kindness and consideration!
The signed letter from Dick Clark follows the photos of Kris’s excellent trilogy of Beatles books:
Dick Clark’s letter to Kris Engelhardt which I acquired from KE recently:
Someone has posted the link to The Birth of the Beatles on YouTube, a 70s film that Clark cooperated with Pete Best to help create which dealt with the early years of the band. In later years Clark admitted that he had to reach a settlement with the Beatles – apparently the result of a lawsuit concerning the film – though details have not been revealed.
Dick Clark’s production company was involved in many popular culture projects over the years, including films about Elvis and a film about the early years of the Beatles.
A few samples that appear on YouTube with Clark interacting with his audience members discussing the Beatles!
You will find many of the audience members’ perceptions to be very amusing. Some of the audience observations seem to have both merit and foresight. Others seem to be impulsive and emotional and incredibly naive, however it does help to serve as a mirror of the times!
FINAL WORDS BELONG TO BEATLEFAN EDITOR – BILL KING
A piece from Beatlefan editor Bill King about Dick Clark after he passed away, including the revelation that Dick Clark settled with the Beatles as a result of his production of the Birth of The Beatles in which he apparently was sued by the band.
My last personal memory of Dick Clark is when he hosted the New Year’s Eve celebration to the New Year a few years before his passing where a tradition began of using John Lennon’s song Imagine to introduce the New Year!!!
A FEW BOOKS ABOUT DICK CLARK
Dick Clark’s American Bandstand (Souvenir Collectors’ Edition) Hardcover – January 1, 1997 Harper Collins
authors Dick Clark & Fred Bronson
Rock, Roll & Remember Hardcover – January 1, 1976
by Richard Clark, Dick Robinson (Author)
Publisher : Crowell
Publication date : January 1, 1976
The co-author of this book Dick Robinson, was a prominent disc jockey at my local radio station in Hartford, Connecticut called WDRC. WDRC and another local station with the call letters of WPOP used to have a heated rivalry to see who could acquire the new Beatles recordings firs. They termed this as being exclusives when they obtained them! BIG D…EXCLUSIVELY!!! I can still hear that chant ringing in my ears when a brand new Beatles record was being premiered all those years ago!
American Bandstand: Dick Clark and the Making of a Rock ‘n’ Roll Empire Hardcover – October 9, 1997
by John Jackson (Author) Oxford University Press
Bandstandland: How Dancing Teenagers Took Over America and Dick Clark Took Over Rock & Roll Paperback – April 19, 2019by Larry Lehmer (Author) Publisher: Sunbury Press, Inc.
The book description of the above book on Amazon seems to reveal a much more calculating DIck Clark than people viewed on their TV sets or the accepted national image that people think of when they recollect memories of him:
Amazon description of Bandstandland:
How Dancing Teenagers Took Over America and Dick Clark Took Over Rock & Roll:
“American Bandstand, one of the longest-running shows in television history, spotlighted well-scrubbed, properly dressed dancing teenagers on every show. They mirrored the show’s perpetually youthful host, Dick Clark, who spun the music Clark often described as the “soundtrack to our lives.”
These are the memories Clark carefully nurtured as he crafted the alternate teen universe of Bandstandland during the formative years of American Bandstand, from 1952 to 1964. Bandstandland was a mythical creation by Clark, who saw the show as a springboard to immense wealth rather than a tribute to teen culture.
Clark was a relentless businessman who once had ownership stakes in 33 corporations, most created by him. He created rules to keep black teens off the show, promoted the teens that danced on the show when it served his purposes and banned them when it didn’t and effectively turned American Bandstand into his own personal infomercial.
Bandstandland sheds light on the little-known backstory of the TV program that was America’s top-rated daytime television show in its heyday and enjoyed a 37-year run from 1952 to 1989.”
AND IN THE END…
Question: Was myth-making in popular culture more prominent in the pop-culture of yesteryear or is it more prominent today? What are your reasons for believing the way you do?
Looking forward to your comments and opinions!
Like most public figures and/or celebrities, one’s public image may not always coincide with their real life personalities or personal beliefs. One thing that can not be disputed though is that Dick Clark will always be remembered for his significant contributions to popular culture and music!
BUZZ
OUR BOOK OF THE WEEK AT THE BEATLES BOOKSTORE
The Cutting Edge (Paperback)
The Beatles’ hair changed the world. As their increasingly wild, untamed manes grew, to the horror of parents everywhere, they set off a cultural revolution as the most tangible symbol of the Sixties’ psychedelic dream of peace, love and playful rebellion. In the midst of this epochal change was Leslie Cavendish, hairdresser to the Beatles and some of the greatest stars of the music and entertainment industry.
DEFINING THE MUSICAL AND CULTURAL LANDSCAPE OF THE BEATLES
BEATLES SCHOLARS SCOTT FREIMAN & KENNETH WOMACK MAKE LEARNING ABOUT THE BEATLES AN ENTERTAINING, EDUCATIONAL, AND INFORMATIVEEXPERIENCE WITH DECONSTRUCTING THE BEATLES!!!
There are two Beatles scholars that instantly grab my attention when I hear their names spoken in Beatles-related circles and conversations. They both have the distinction and status of being academic specialists in their respective fields and they also possess the uncanny ability to present their material in a highly entertaining, engaging, and informative manner. They have the talent for reinforcing the notion that learning about the Beatles can be rewarding, challenging and fun, for EVERYONE. These two gentlemen are named Scott Freiman and Ken Womack!
SCOTT FREIMAN AND KEN WOMACK
Both of these individuals have extensive lists of accomplishments in their respective portfolios. I will provide a few links for you to explore at your leisure and a portion of the significant amount of their musical and literary contributions as it relates to the Beatles. You will be impressed!
Now that you have familiarized yourselves with Scott and Ken’s illustrious backgrounds, we will present some of the products that I have purchased from their stellar catalogs. I have all of Scott’s Deconstructing the Beatles dvds and I have all of Ken Womack’s numerous scholarly Beatles books. Not merely to just have them as a collector, but as a result of them being quality-laden pieces which I return to time and time again!
SCOTT FREIMAN-DECONSTRUCTING THE BEATLES STORY:
Several years ago a very close friend of mine (the best man at my wedding who was also an avid Beatles devotee) invited me to a local theater to view one of Scott Freiman’s Deconstructing the Beatles programs. To be frank and honest, I was initially resistant to going, thinking “what else could I learn that would be different from what I already know”? It was the subtle arrogance often exhibited by first generation fans who believe they no longer can be surprised, startled or impressed by new Beatles-related information. Luckily, my smarter instincts prevailed and I went to see the filmed presentation of Scott at the theater.
After that first presentation, I never missed another one of his Deconstructing the Beatles film series when it appeared locally. The mark of a good teacher is when the learning of new information is NOT a task, but becomes the welcome assimilation, absorbing and pondering of that information, motivating you to think about what you have just seen or heard. Scott has those skills. He has a mastery of his material and a two hour presentation by him feels like you have only been there for fifteen minutes, leaving you consistently yearning for more… I loved the trivia question section of his presentations that ranged from simple questions to those that might be quite difficult for some. To demonstrate how good of an instructor Scott Freiman is, I have no doubts that even non-Beatle fans who may have attended his lectures, left the theater wanting to know more about the band that contines to fascinate us all.
Here is an example of Scott’s talent as he discusses the connection between Beethoven and the Beatles.
Here are photos and descriptions of the fabulous Deconstructing the Beatles dvd series as exhibited at the CultureSonar website. As stated before, they are all truly excellent!!!
Unfortunately for those who live outside the United States and Canada it is my understanding that the DECONSTRUCTING THE BEATLES dvd series is currently onlyavailable in the USA and Canada.
The photos of the front and back of the dvds are from the CultureSonar website as well as the description of the dvd contents!
“Deconstructing The Beatles” is a multimedia lecture series conceived and delivered by Scott Freiman
The Beatles “Deconstructing Abbey Road” 2-Film Set
Abbey Road: Side One. This album is so great, we needed two films to cover it. Begin with the so-called “song side” of Abbey Road, with deep dives into “Come Together,” “Something,” “I Want You (She’s So Heavy),” and the rest of Side One, including an analysis of “The Ballad of John and Yoko” and “Old Brown Shoe.”
Abbey Road: Side Two. Learn about the Eastern rhythms on “Here Comes the Sun,” the influence of Beethoven on “Because,” and the reason why “Her Majesty” ended up as the album’s hidden track. Then explore the entire Side Two medley. Also includes deconstructions of “Give Peace a Chance” and “Come and Get It.”
Deconstructing the Beatles: “The Early Years” Exclusive 2-Film Set
The Birth of the Beatles. From a garden party meeting in 1957 to the “toppermost of the poppermost” by the end of 1962, explore the band’s remarkable Origin Story.
1963: Yeah, Yeah, Yeah: This was the year that defined the “mania.” It began with their early sessions with George Martin and ended with worldwide acclaim. Follow each frenzied step.
Deconstructing The Beatles’ “White Album” – Feature Film
The White Album. After the studio wizardry of Sgt. Pepper, the band wanted to get back to basics. The approach may have been simpler, but the breadth of styles — from music hall to metal — is dazzling.
In “Chords and Progressions,”acclaimed “Beatleologist” Scott Freiman explores the Beatles’ chordal songwriting secrets and the music theory behind those progressions. He “deconstructs” more than fifty of their hit songs including Hey Jude, Day Tripper, In My Life, She Loves You and more.
Those of you familiar with Scott’s “Deconstructing The Beatles” films will get an extra kick out of this video. He goes even deeper here, diving into the musicology behind these immortal songs. While you don’t need to know any music theory to understand what Scott’s discussing, it’ll be even more rewarding if you do.
“Chords and Progressions”will help you master the techniques behind many Beatles hits. Then you can apply these songwriting secrets to your to your songs and you, too, can share some of the Lennon & McCartney magic.
Only 200 copies were issued of this special collectors item that I purchased. Scott had 200 special super collectors editions of the Abbey Road Super Collector 2-dvd set made. Those that purchased this edition had their names placed on the cover of the dvd, and also on a special poster (shown below). The purchasers of this edition also had their names in the credits at the closing of the film. There was a very large frameable canvas-like print of the Abbey Road album cover which would be wonderful to view in anyone’s music room which was provided to the super deluxe purchasers as well.
Abbey Road Super Collectors Edition–ONLY 200 MADE
Here is a description of the package this is on YouTube:
Ken Womack has several qualities as a Beatles-book author that I distinctly admire. He is an expert researcher. He does not know how to write a bad uninteresting book. He is patient until he gets the answers to the questins he is pondering. He has an insatiable appetite and resolve to find out MORE about the Beatles story, even when critics declare we have heard it all before. When I learned that Ken Womack was chosen to write the biography of Mal Evans, I was ecstatic as I knew the story would be told properly with the sensitivity necessary to fully understand the GENTLE GIANT and his devotion to the greatest band ever. He did an excellent job and he has us all eagerly awaiting the 2nd volume of his Mal book, expected in 2026.
He is an academic and an intellectual but he truly understands the information that the typical Beatles fan yearns for and treasures! He has tremendous Beatles instincts and I am proud to consider him a wonderful Online friend!
LIST OF KEN WOMACK’S BEATLES-RELATED BOOK TITLES
Here are some of the Kenneth Womack book titles that I own. Detailed descriptions of the book contents can be viewed by clicking the respective links provided with each title!
I have given the the links for Amazon US, Amazon UK and the link for The Fest For Beatles Fans. Not all of the titles may be available at all 3 of the sites but the links are provided for your convenience!
Living the Beatles Legend: The Untold Story of Mal Evans―The Untold Story of the Beatles’ Roadie Hardcover – November 14, 2023
Maximum Volume: The Life of Beatles Producer George Martin, The Early Years, 1926–1966 Paperback – September 3, 2019by Kenneth Womack (Author)Chicago Review Press
Sound Pictures: The Life of Beatles Producer George Martin, The Later Years, 1966–2016 Paperback – September 3, 2019by Kenneth Womack (Author)Chicago Review Press
The Beatles, Sgt. Pepper, and the Summer of Love (For the Record: Studies in Rock and Popular Music) Hardcover – July 3, 2017Lexington Books
by Kenneth Womack (Editor), Kathryn B. Cox (Editor), Kenneth L. Campbell (Contributor), Jacqueline Edmondson (Contributor), Michael Frontani (Contributor), Katie Kapurch (Contributor), Mark Osteen (Contributor), Kit O’Toole (Contributor), Joe Rapolla (Contributor), Robert Rodriguez (Contributor), Bruce Spizer (Contributor), Jerry Zolten (Contributor)
New Critical Perspectives on the Beatles: Things We Said Today (Pop Music, Culture and Identity) Hardcover – June 23, 2016by Kenneth Womack (Editor), Katie Kapurch (Editor) Published by Palgrave Macmillan
SCOTT FREIMAN AND KEN WOMACK COLLABORATE AND CONDUCT:THE FAB FOUR MASTER CLASS
You take two bright minds who foster, stimulate and encourage intellectual growth and development, and put them together to teach an Online Beatles Master Class, and you have a clear recipe for success. This fee-based course which you can choose the episodes you wish to purchase, view, and “participate in” are valuable resources to expand your Beatles knowledge. They also have a flat rate where you can decide to pay a single discounted reduced rate to enjoy viewing all of the presentations being offered in that particular Master Class. Details are provided in the links below.
Did I forget to mention that Professor Womack also teaches a Beatles class at Monmouth University in New Jersey? So little time…so much to know! JHB (Yellow Submarine)!
Just want to conclude by saying I enjoy the work of both of these highly-skilled educators. I hope they will continue to release more wonderful and powerful works that will make us smile and “think.”
Closing motto:“The Day You Stop Learning, is the Day You Stop Living!”
BUZZ
OUR BOOK OF THE WEEK – RECIPE RECORDS
Recipe Records – A Culinary Tribute to The Beatles
Invite your friends to “jam” with recipes such as “Stuffed Sgt. Peppers,” “Strawberry Pie Forever,” “Savoy Truffles,” “You Say Goodbye, I Say Jell-O,” and more! The cookbook contains recipes which “pair well” with song selections, trivia, stories, quips, and quotes about the Fabs. 50 recipes to celebrate 50 years of the Fabs are cleverly set out, and feature recipes from Beatles Book Store friends, Jude Southerland Kessler and David Bedford! This book makes a terrific gift for anyone who likes to eat….and dig The Beatles!
Thorsten Knublauch is the person that I turn to for information about the Beatles in Germany. I also depend upon his expertise when learning about some of the prominent Germans who played a significant role in the Beatles history. Through Thorsten’s efforts, he was able to secure a German Klaus Voormann rarity for me which I thought I would never see and I am extremely grateful for his kindness.
Richard Forrest has stated on his website Klaus Voormann’s Early Record Covers. | recordart that the record cover that I obtained from Thorsten (shown above) is one of the rarest Klaus cover designs, it is not a jazz album like many other Klaus album covers of the time, it is a kind of radio air play. released in Germany. Richard has implied that the album described below by Thorsten may be the Golden Fleece for a Klaus Voormann designed LP cover collector to be able to find for their collections
Only a handful were made and Thorsten assumes that it was an in-house product for the Deutsche Grammophon record company in Germany.
Klaus and many of his existential German colleagues were big fans of jazz music prior to the explosion of beat music which was spearheaded by the Beatles after they had served their training period in Hamburg!
According to Thorsten, Klaus Voormann got a commission from Reinhart Wolf in 1960/1 to illustrate the covers for a series of jazz re-issue EPs called Pioneers of Jazz. These archival recordings were released on the German Coral label, another Deutsche Grammophon imprint at the time. Klaus illustrated all twenty covers. This photograph is from Richard Forrest’s excellent website at the link provided above:
MORE OF THE STORY:
According to Thorsten Knublauch,in late 1961, probably as a Christmas gift for employees at Deutsche Grammophon, Klaus was commissioned to design the cover for the LP album entitled: Wer nie im Bett Programm gemacht. The LP is a a kind of radio air play which distinguishes it from the 20 LP Pioneers ofJazz series that Klaus designed around the same time (see above).
The title of the LP translates thanks to a translation by Thorsten Knublauch: “Who never made (a, or the) program in bed…“
The front cover of the LP where you can see where Klaus acknowledges himself midway up the post that resides at the right hand side- near the foot of the bedit states: VOORMANN
The back cover of the LP:
Apparently the guy on the back cover is replying to what is being said on the front cover (translation provided by Thorsten Knublauch):
It seems this is the listener who writes a letter to the radio station:
“and when I turned off your lame broadcast in disgust, I threw the radio down, which is why I have to charge you the replacement value of the same type….”
Thorsten’s Description
Thorsten’s description to me of what he believes the release was and why? I trust this man’s judgement completely regarding anything that has to do with German based recordings. He is clearly the best!!!
Thorsten Knublauch’s analysis and conjecture regarding the origin of the LP:
“Ok – as far as I found out and theorized – according to the content of the album – I assume this was an in-house product for the Deutsche Grammophon record company in Germany that was located in Hamburg. There were quite a few jokes that relate to other music business companies, radio stations or papers or records mainly in North Germany.
The album itself has no catalogue number – perhaps the stamped number 004169 was it. What is more important is the M1 stamp. As you might know, this is a system on records from the company that means M=12th letter of the alphabet = December (they counted I and J as one as it looks the same in large letters.) 1 means first year of the decade. So the record was pressed December 1961. And guess what – this is the same stamp that you find on the second My Bonnie pressing with the English intro – this had been pressed in December 1961, too, but was released late January early February 62.
So my fair guess is: this was a Christmas gift for staff or customers of the company in 1961…”
ThorstenKnublauch
It is the cover that is interesting for the collector, states Thorsten, as the content was not very impressive!
These images were kindly provided to me by Thorsten Knublauch: The description that Thorsten provided above has the following illustrative images for support:
Here is the indicator that Klaus was involved in the album cover design. As well as his notable artistic style reflected on the cover, his surname also appears on the cover as indicated here:
Here is a different view of the location where the surname of Voormann appears on the cover:
A parting commentary from Thorsten Knublauchand a few comments from me:
“You might know. Klaus worked as a graphic artist for various companies – no idea if freelance or as a staff member. The record sleeves he did at the time – the Jazz EP series or the Walk Don’t Run sleeve were also from the Deutsche Grammophon group in the years 1960-1961. He got the jobs through Reinhart Wolf – the photographer where Astrid, Klaus and Jürgen worked around 1960 as assistants.“
Thorsten has said that collectors should be careful when purchasing the Walk Don’t Run picture sleeve which is historical as this sleeve was presented by Klaus to John Lennon when Klaus introduced himself to the band in Hamburg. Thorsten has informed me that the sleeve has been frequently bootlegged. Be careful not to buy a photocopy or a reprint with colour logo or bands‘ name on the sleeve – as shown here. The original is also shown below the bootleg cover.
A sample of the bootleg cover:
What an original Klaus Voorman “Walk Don’t Run” picture sleeve looks like: (photo sent to me courtesy of Thorsten Knublauch)
In closing this blog post I want to mention the masterwork of Thorsten Knublauch. You should see the incredible prices that this book is currently commanding on Ebay! THE BEATLES MACH SCHAU IN HAMBURG
Published by Apcor Publishing in April of 2021
Back cover of this great book:
Completely sold out!! All 500 copies of the book have been sold and it will not be reprinted! That is one of the reasons it commands high prices if you are fortunate enough to be able to locate one…
Quality-the best term I can use to sum up the book!!!
