Just acquired this special and wonderful 4 CD set on eBay compiling some of the best production work done by Tony Visconti. There is also a 6 LP limited edition version available of this set. The LP and CDs were released in 2023!
Tony has produced many well-known musical luminaries over the years, including David Bowie, Marc Bolan and Joe Cocker. As a special bonus to this retrospective, they also provided a signed print of Tony with the package.
Beatles Connections
For the purposes of this Beatles connections relevant to this blog, Tony has numerous Beatles connections and associations over the years as he has produced the Iveys, the precursor to the band, Badfinger. He was also to produce and later to marry Apple singer Mary Hopkin. They had two children. Following their divorce he was later to marry, May Pang, John Lennon’s former girlfriend when John was having problems with his relationship with Yoko in the 70s! Tony and May also had 2 children together before their eventual divorce.
Another prominent Beatles-related connection: Tony Visconti scored the arrangements for orchestra for the Wings Album “Band on the Run.” He is a man with certainly a stellar resume of achievements over the years! It must be stressed that his production credits reach far beyond his association with Apple and the Beatles!
The cover of the special limited edition Tony Visconti Boxset:
Produced by Tony Visconti
The track listing for the Tony Visconti 4 cd set:
Track Listing
Tony Visconti’s signature on the print provided with my special limited edition:
As a personal observation it is always appreciated by a collector when the person who signs an item, signs it with a clearly readable signature. Thanks to you Tony!
Visconti Signature
This is the part of the package that houses the special booklet contained within the set:
The Booklet
The excellent booklet provided in the set which gives great detail to all of the tracks presented:
Though books bound in leather are controversial, especially to vegetarians, the quality of these books is superb in their durability and their lasting power. Apologies are sent to those who may be offended by leather-bound books but that consideration and criticism would then also extend to such special publishers like Genesis who pride themselves in their leather-bound books’ workmanship and high quality. When the Get Back Beatles book by Calloway Publishers was published I was wondering if there would ever be a special edition of the book.
I stumbled across an internet site called Send a Frame, which was offering leather-bound editions of the Get Back Book. A photo of the book appears below as well as the link to the Send A Frame site. I will not spend time arguing about the validity or merit of higher-priced books like this as opinions vary from person to person. I can only speak for myself saying that as a collector, I was happy to acquire the special edition. I do have issues with the final price of the book but I am also aware of the much higher cost of manufacturing and producing these titles primarily due to their quality and durability!
BOUND BY HAND IN LUXE BONDED LEATHER
PERSONALIZATION IS AVAILABLE IN GOLD
300 PAGES
SIZE: 11.25″ W X 1.25″ D X 10.25″
GRAPHIC IMAGE™ HAND-CRAFTS GENUINE LEATHER BOOKS AND GIFTS THAT HAVE SET THE MODERN-DAY STANDARD FOR QUALITY AND DESIGN.
This is a picture of the mass-market edition of the Get Back book published by Callaway in 2021. This followed the Disney presentation of the Peter Jackson documentary. As well as containing photographs by photographer Ethan Russell, it also contained photos taken by Linda Eastman (McCartney).
Get Back by The Beatles
To bring this post to a conclusion the book at the bottom of this post was the book that accompanied a limited-run boxed-set release when the Beatles Let It Be album was released in 1970. It was only issued in a couple of countries. Photographs were taken by Ethan A. Russell. The text was written by Jonathan Cott and David Dalton. This book is/was highly sought after by collectors. One drawback was that it was issued in a softback format where the binding was not secure and many people that purchased the book in the box set had some of the pages come loose as a result of the bad binding.
Many years later on eBay, I discovered a copy that someone had custom-made as a hardback copy by taking the contents of the original softcover, reproducing the cover in hardback format and binding the contents as a hardback copy of the book. I was thrilled to buy that copy for my collection as now my fears of losing pages were greatly reduced. Collectors were hoping that all of the photos available in the original Get Back book would also be available in the book above but that was not to be the case. That type of situation always causes dissatisfaction with collectors who call themselves completists.
Photographs by Ethan A. Russell. Text by Jonathan Cott and David Dalton
A wanted poster (or wanted sign) is a poster distributed to let the public know of a person whom authorities wish to apprehend. They generally include a picture of the person, either a photograph when one is available or of a facial composite image produced by the police.
My definition is slightly different – To me as a collector the definition is more accurately reflected by- is it a poster that I WANTED FOR THE COLLECTION!!!
A collector friend of mine in France who specializes in collecting signed Beatles-related photos got me into the additional obsession of collecting signed posters of the Beatles by the photographers who took the photos of either the group or of the solo Beatles and members of their families.
A couple of years ago acting on the great advice of my friend in France, I was able to acquire this signed print by the late photographer, Richard Avedon on eBay!
John Lennon by Richard Avedon
A close-up of Avedon’s signature
Avedon’s Signature
A signed photo by the late French photographer Henri Pessar. This photo was obtained through my friend in France who is also a member of this blog. Pessar is the photographer who shot some of the photos of John and Yoko socializing with artist Salvador Dali.
Signed by Henry Pessar
A Henry Pessar Posterthat my friend in France sent me:
Kieron “Spud” Patrick Murphy
A signed and numbered Imagine session photo I also acquired from my French collector friend. The photograph was taken by the late photographer Spud Murphy who passed away in 2020 and was taken at the Imagine sessions at Tittenhurst Park in Ascot. From the content of the photo it was apparent that John knew the Imagine album would be a roaring success:
John by Spud Murphy
A son of John Lennon and a son of Paul McCartney signed posters
A signed poster from Sean Lennon and Charlotte Kemp Muhl of the Ghost of a Saber-Tooth Tiger:
Signed by Sean Lennon
A signed tour poster from 2013 of James McCartney
I was able to attend the New Haven show by James McCartney on May 21st, 2013:
Signed by James McCartney
One of my favorite signed posters in my collection is a signed photo of John Lennon and the early Beatles in the Top Ten Club in Germany taken by noted German photographer, Peter Brüchmann. I bought this photo on Ebay several years ago!
The Beatles in Hamburg by Peter Bruchmann
Through the recommendation of noted German collector, Thorsten Knublauch I was able to obtain one copy of a limited edition poster that was issued in honor of the Kaiserkeller club where the Beatles played some gigs at. The poster was signed by Kaiserkeller owner, Bruno Koschmider aka Bruno Kochschmider, Tony Sheridan who the Beatles backed and with whom they recorded the “My Bonnie” single with, Pete Best, the drummer who was soon to be replaced by Ringo Starr, and E. Ross who was the designer of the poster. According to Thorsten there may be less than 100 of these signed posters in circulation.
IF NOTHING IS REAL – THEN THE LOST LENNON TAPES CERTAINLY SHOULD BE…
What is being suggested here is certainly a potentially controversial idea as many would oppose it being implemented at all. Yet, many others would accept it and welcome it with open arms and would be excited by the potential possibilities. Here is the idea being presented for discussion… Hopefully, it will be considered by the Lennon Estate as a potential priority item as a future project!
Now and Then
The Lennon Estate’s admirable Lennon boxed-set collections of recent years have helped to preserve and shed new light of this musical icon to both old and new generations. However, many hardcore Lennon fans also have visions of what would they would consider to be a very special project for the Lennon Estate to consider. With the technology now available through the Peter Jackson company that helped to produce “Now and Then,” many knowledgeable Lennon fans who have heard the old Lost Lennon Tapes radio series hosted by Elliot Mintz, are fully aware that there are many more surviving John Lennon demos that exist.
The attraction to fans of course would be that like “Now and Then”, this is new and original Lennon material that has not been heard by a mass audience. Wouldn’t it be a fantastic project for the estate to review the best material in their demo vaults and consider a project whereby the family would choose the proper person or persons to produce a studio LP of finished studio quality Lennon demos that are heard as finished songs using the Peter Jackson technology?
Lost Lennon Radio Series
I have listed below a partial list of demos that have already been heard on underground (bootleg) recordings or on the Lost Lennon radio series or tracks that are speculated to exist that might make for a super LP of new John Lennon material for a mass audience. The key to a project like this is having the right people involved and the right decisions being made about the material in question.
For example, who would be the producer of such a project? Sean Lennon, Giles Martin, Paul McCartney? What musicians would provide the additional instrumentation to complete a studio recording? What songs would be chosen for release, and which ones would need additional contributions to bring the song to completion, if the song lacked a middle 8 for example? If additional lyrics were needed for a song, who would complete it? There is a lot of controversy surrounding such questions as some believe that the demos should remain (only) as John initially recorded them.
However the production, completion, and subsequent release of “Now and Then” seems to belie that notion or intention. It all depends on the decisions being made and who is making them that will create that truth as the end result and which will also define the project’s success! To those who would argue that this idea is scraping the bottom of the barrel, many people used that same argument concerning the release of “Now and Then” and YouTube hits to the video of the song have recently surpassed 55 million views in an 8-month time frame. “A beautiful barrel INDEED”!!!
A small sample of some of the recordings that are either known to exist or speculated to exist:
“Tennessee” – John Lennon’s tribute to playwright Tennessee Williams – There is also a variation of this song/tune called “Memories” which features a superb middle section entitled “Howling at the Moon.”
“Whatever Happened To” – Would love to see a completed John Lennon version of this number completed in the studio using Peter Jackson’s magic. Great guitar work by John on this demo
“She is A Friend of Dorothy’s” is a clever piano-based ditty by John with interesting lyrics that reference gay culture.
“Popcorn” – a tune mentioned in the May Pang book that John had written. May states this was a very catchy tune but unfortunately, it is not known if a tape of this actually exists
“Happy Rishikesh Song” – many speculate John is being satirical towards George and his fascination with Indian culture with this song-catchy chorus
“Life Begins at 40” – a song that John supposedly gave to Ringo in November of 1980 as a demo to record-would fit in nicely as a country and western-themed song for Ringo. Los Escarabajos the Spanish group mentioned before did something clever to their cover of this song. They took the “Howling at the Moon” sequence from John’s unreleased song “Memories” and used it as the middle of “Life Begins at 40” and it worked perfectly to complete the song. Perhaps the producer could produce a John/Ringo duet on this song. Would need a middle section like Los Escarabajos’ version to complete the song-at least in my opinion for whatever that is worth.
“One of the Boys” – a possible John reference to being one of the Beatles. A song that has catchy parts but would need additions to fill out and complete. IMHO
“Not for Love Nor Money” aka “Illusions” – love this tune. With a little development and a few additions would make an excellent song.
“You Saved My Soul” – The Spanish group, Los Escarabajos has recorded a calypso Latin-styled cover version of this song which is great. I believe their version has been posted on YouTube by someone
“You Know How Hard It Is” – A while back on YouTube someone produced a blistering rock ‘n’ roll version of this tune, which was subsequently taken down probably for copyright reasons. With a few additions this would make for a great Lennon rocker.
“Mirror Mirror-” one of John’s songs of self-reflection and self-analysis.
“India India” – one of my favorites of John’s unreleased material and would love to see this tune receive the full studio treatment bringing it to completion. It truly deserves that and MANY who have heard this track have echoed a similar sentiment.
“Mucho Mungo” – there are existing demos of John performing the song in full with an unreleased section that he later decided to abandon. Would love to see the song completed in the studio with the right musicians, the right instruments, and backing vocals.
“Across the River” – another unreleased Lennon tune which might be a good candidate to complete another one of his unfinished songs.
“Many Rivers to Cross” (a Jimmy Cliff Cover-Jimmy wrote the song in 1969) – John does a cover version of this song that his buddy Harry Nilsson also did for the Pussy Cats album. Perhaps, John’s version could be finished in the studio using Mr. Jackson’s magic?
“Be My Baby”– A Phil Spector outtake (One of the Spector session tapes that remains unreleased). Sean did a superb version of remixing “Angel Baby” for the JOHN LENNON. GIMME SOME TRUTH. THE ULTIMATE MIXES release. Perhaps, the same exercise and result can be achieved with this number.
“Bad To Me” – possibly complete John’s existing demo-Finish the demo using John’s original vocal with studio musicians.
“I’m In Love” – the same suggestion applied to John’s demo of “Bad To Me.”
“Serve Yourself” – Have Bob Dylan possibly cover John’s sarcastic answer to his “Gotta Serve Somebody” with a great band or use studio wizardry to create a Lennon/Dylan duet—It will never happen of course, but would love to see it. Would fit in superbly with John’s great sense of humor, especially with Bob possibly answering some of John’s vocal phrases.
“Street of Dreams” – finish it if an actual tape of the songs exists- supposedly co-written with Jack Douglas who claims that a cassette tape of a crude demo of the song exists from Double Fantasy time. John claims he had written a piece during the Beatles years for this song and was going to complete it in 1980. Jack Douglas has discussed this song in several interviews over the years.
“Sally and Billy” – with the right production would make a very good-sounding tune.
“Don’t Be Afraid (Mr. Hyde’s Gone Away)” – another song would love to see as a full studio production.
“John’s demo of What Goes On” The existing demo has different lyrics and a noticeably different part that was excised from the finished song – the existing demo differs radically from the released song. Would love to see what they could come up with as a finished studio production using the demo as the basis for that task. Do not even know if the Estate has a copy of this recording. The person auctioning the demo played an excerpt of the song on YouTube. The demo was offered at auction several years ago.
“Say It Again” – Another possible Lennon tune that could be completed
“My Life” – nice tune that apparently developed into “Starting Over”, but this tune stands on its own separate from Starting Over and could be presented as a studio recording.
“Gone From This Place” – a song in which John sings about dying which was a subject matter that seemingly occupied a lot of his time in 1980-witness “Living On Borrowed Time” as another example.
“Dear John” – autobiographical song. A song where John is telling himself that his life and legacy is certainly assured. Would have loved to see this finished with a middle and an instrumental break.
“Help Me To Help Myself” – another song that deserves the full studio treatment. a song about self-reliance.
This list does not claim to be all-encompassing or comprehensive, just a sampling of what has appeared on the Lost Lennon radio series or has appeared in magazine articles or books over the years discussing unissued Lennon material.
When Westwood One Radio originally announced back in the 1980s they were going to air unreleased Lennon material on a radio series, Musician Magazine did a cover story about it:
The Hidden Lennon
A couple of Beatles fans put together this book together in 2009. It is listed on Amazon and details the contents of all of the 218+ episodes of the “Lost Lennon Tapes” radio series:
The Lost Lennon Tapes
The Lost Lennon Tapes
The man who narrated “The Lost Lennon Tapes” radio series is coming out with his own book in 2024. Perhaps Elliot Mintz will discuss the development of the radio show in his book:
Elliot Mintz
Hoping the Lennon Estate strongly considers this as project on their “TO DO” list. If done correctly (an acknowledged subjective term used in this case), it could be a wonderful addition to the Lennon catalog.
It is known by many Lennon fans that the Spanish group named Los Escarabajos in 2001 released this CD in Spain of their interpretations of apparently many of the songs that they had heard on the Lost Lennon tape series.
The Album That John Could Never Record
What do you think? Would you like to see and hear these songs remastered and released?
This is a magazine that I personally did not see widely circulated or distributed when I was growing up. It was only in later years that I was able to scour sources such as Ebay and Abe Books to locate these 4 Beatles-related issues. The most difficult to find of the four issues was the final one listed on this page. It was an article written by the late Ritchie Yorke about the end or dissolution of the Beatles, appearing in the July 1970 issue of Jazz & Pop. I had never been able to secure a copy of this issue before because anyone who had a copy was asking over $150 for the issue. I was fortunate to be able to find a copy for $20 on Abe Books. It pays to have patience as a collector which is a virtue that I often do not have….unfortunately!!!
VINTAGE JAZZ & POP JANUARY 1968
Jazz and Pop Magazine
VINTAGE JAZZ & POP APRIL 1971
Jazz and Pop Magazine
JAZZ & POP MARCH 1970
Jazz and Pop Magazine
Jazz & Pop Magazine July 1970 issue–the most difficult issue to find at a reasonable price
Jazz and Pop Magazine
Which is your favourite Beatles magazine? The Beatles Monthly? Rolling Stone? Let me know below.
(And what an obsessive collector will do to get what they want)
I discovered this limited deluxe collector’s edition of this book by being told about it by a good friend in the UK. (Seamus Hayes) When I attempted to purchase a copy, I was told they don’t ship to the United States. So I did the next best thing. I asked my good friend if I could pre-pay him for a copy of the book as he lives in the UK and when he receives it, I would then pay him directly for the book with postage to his home and then to mail it to the US. He generously agreed to my proposal and soon thereafter, another special book was added to the collection. For those who believe the deluxe edition may be over-priced the regular trade mass-market hardback is significantly more reasonably priced and is available to the non-obsessives. Terry’s Beatles photos are excellent!
This is the boxed slipcase for the book:
The Beatles by Terry O’Neill
The book and the print inside:
The Beatles by Terry O’Neill
Book Details
Edition of 200
Includes the book, a cloth-covered clamshell box, an 8″ x 11″ black and white chromogenic print of The Beatles recording ‘She Loves You’ at EMI’s Studio 2 in Abbey Road on 1 July 1963, taken by Terry O’Neill, a protective print sleeve, a digital signature with an embossed stamp, and a certificate of authenticity
Hardcover
256 Pages
Publisher: Welbeck Publishing Group, 2023
The original link where I was unable to purchase the book because I lived in the US:
Terry had passed away quite sometime before the book was published. Therefore no signed copies of the book exist, except for this one. I had seen a signed EMI card by Terry for sale on eBay. The EMI card was from the release of an early John Lennon solo release. I purchased the signed EMI card and once the book was issued I had it attached as a bookplate signature making it the only signed copy in the world. This is what a determined collector will do. You may think I went to extraordinary means, but it made me happy, and isn’t that the ultimate goal of collecting?
Who is your favourite Beatles photographer?
Buzz
ANOTHER GREAT BEATLES PHOTOGRAPHER – BILL ZYGMANT
Bill Zygmant – Where Did You Get That Shirt? (Signed Limited Edition)
Get your copy of Bill Zygmant’s portfolio book of unique photographs covering his career from the late 1960s to the 1980s.
This will be a signed, numbered edition – maximum of 250 numbered editions.
It comes with one of Bill’s signed photographs, which usually sells for £50!
