Category: Lost Album

“Listen to the music. Would George have ever flourished like that if we’d carried on with the group? No chance! There was no room! If people need The Beatles so much, all they have to do is buy each album and…put it on tape, track by track, one of me, one of Paul, one of George, one of Ringo if they really need it that much…the music is just the same only on separate albums. Instead of having ‘The White Album’ or ‘Abbey Road’, where I sing a song, George sings a song, Paul sings a song, Ringo sings a song, boom, boom, boom like that, we make an album each. That’s the only difference. And it’s far better music because we’re not suppressed…” John Lennon.  

If the second Derek & the Dominos is one of the many what-ifs from music history (see Bruno McDonald’s wonderful The Greatest Albums You’ll Never Hear book for a whole tome dedicated to the topic), what is the greatest music what-if? What if Buddy Holly and Jimi Hendrix had not died young? What if Peter Green and Syd Barrett not been waylaid by drugs? What if Brian Wilson had finished the ‘Smile’ album in 1967 or any of the other years is was rumoured to be coming out throughout the early 70s? It is doubtful that any of these would be a great as The Beatles continuing to make records together after 1970. Now, I am not the first person to give this a go by a long shot, but there really isn’t any harm in creating an alternative timeline for The Beatles going into the early 70s? I do feel though that there needs to be some ground rules before starting on this venture. 

1. All of the songs must be from a solo Beatles release. Therefore, no outtakes or demos from the later Beatles albums (especially as I have used these elsewhere) but a solo release whilst The Beatles were still a recording band is fair game in being made an official band release. However….
2. I will not be using anything from the more experimental works. I know that the ‘White Album’ had Revolution #9 on it but I don’t feel that Harrisons’ ‘Wonderwall Music’ or ‘Electronic Sound’ along with Lennon & Ono’s ‘Unfinished Music’ and ‘Wedding Album’ fit into what could be considered a Beatle record (Revolution #9 not withstanding). These therefore stay as solo releases in this alternative timeline. 
3. The sides of the records must not exceed the limited playing time of the LP. This first volume does have some long playing times with the longest side clocking in just under 26 minutes. Long for an LP but not unheard of. 
4. This might be called the Lost Beatles albums, but singles will also be included. Like the early days of the band, songs used on singles will not to be used on LPs. There was so much material to choose from, this proved to be rather easy to accomplish. 
5. Everything is available to use. This can therefore include songs from the early 70s where the band members openly criticise or at least mention one other. Would these songs have been written at all if the band had stayed together? Ringo’s song ‘Early 1970′ has been described as a sort of peace treaty to the other three members of the band after their official break up in April 1970, but this has been used. The same goes for tracks that have been included on the album in McCartney’s’ ‘Too Many People’ from his ‘Ram’ album, Harrison’s ‘Wah Wah’ and Lennon’s’ How Do You Sleep? I have had to take the view that these songs were already written or may have been written anyway (with different lyrics) so there is no reason not to include them. 
6. Taking all of the above into account, the following is an alternative history of The Beatles from mid-1969 until 1971. All the release dates are fictitious and for the UK only. 
7. There was another problem when putting this compilation together and that is Paul McCartney’s output in 1970. Even though he released his first solo album that year, that was it for the year and to be fair, it is not a great record. This is in marked contrast to Lennon and Harrison who were very busy that year. Lennon released one classic album and a couple of singles (depending on the territory). Harrison released a triple album and a massive selling single in ‘My Sweet Lord’. Ringo released two albums (the first all covers, the second consisting primarily of songs written with his voice in mind) and a single. In the archives there is at least one more record that Ringo has yet to release (as of 2020). To give McCartney more representation on the record, which may have occurred naturally as he was suffering from a depression caused by the breakup of the band, I opened up the scope of the record to what the band recorded as solo artists in 1971 as well. This is why there are a number of songs from the ‘Imagine’ and ‘Ram’ albums. The fact that some of the songs from those albums were presented during the ‘Let It Be’ sessions means that some of these songs may well have been ready to be recorded in 1970. As this is an alternative history, I feel that this is acceptable. It also makes for a stronger set of releases. I hope you agree. 

With the ‘Abbey Road’ recording session nearing their end, three of the four Beatles meet to record a message to Ringo (who is ill at the time) that outline the future of the band, with Lennon reasserting himself after his drug addictions and side projects with Yoko Ono distracted him from the task at hand. Namely, being in The Beatles. He proclaims that the band need a break, to take stock of where they are, allow the ‘Let it Be’ project to come out, warts and all, and that the next album will be more of a band effort. That means it will have more contributions from George Harrison as his song writing abilities have improved massively since the early years of the band and Ringo will have some space for anything he comes up with. McCartney has had reservations about Harrisons songs but decides to keep his own council on this as he does not want the group to split up. The band has essentially taken up his entire adult life and he doesn’t want to let that go just yet. Lennon also says how much his dislikes some of McCartney’s more anodyne efforts such as ‘Maxwell’s Silver Hammer’ and continues by saying that they should be given to other artists on the Apple label, in the same way he had done with previous efforts for the likes of Mary Hopkin and Badfinger. 

McCartney tries to defend the song but Harrison points out that no one else in the band liked it. McCartney leaves it at that and Lennon then says that the lead single from the ‘Abbey Road’ sessions should be Harrison’s song ‘Something’ which Lennon feels is the best song on the forthcoming album. It should also be released before the album comes out as a double A-Side with Come Together. He finishes the tape by stating that from now on, songs will be credited to whoever wrote it and not Lennon & McCartney. McCartney mentions that for this to work, the band dynamic needs to go back to what it was before hand where it is the guys in band working on material without outside influence. Lennon knows that this is directed at his new wife Yoko Ono, but he also knows that Harrison and Starr have not been happy with her being in the studio. He acquiesces to this knowing that he has been working on a side project with her called the Plastic Ono Band for anything he feels is not Beatley. With that, the band takes a break from each other until they meet up early in 1970 to sign off on the ‘Let it Be’ project. 

‘Something/Come Together’ comes out in late August 1969 and reaches Number 4 in the UK Charts, their lowest placing since their debut, ‘Love Me Do’. Fans are used to the band not putting their singles on their albums so are surprised in September when the parent album comes out that these are the first two songs on the album. The press speculate that this, and the Side 2 medley show that The Beatles are running out of ideas, or at worse, are a spent force. The fact members of the band are seen doing everything they can to not to be The Beatles only adds weight to this suggestion. Lennon has been in Toronto to take part in the city’s Rock and Roll Revival Festival, accompanied Ono, Eric Clapton, Klaus Voorman and Alan White. There, Lennon introduces two new songs that he says will be released by The Beatles in the near future. These are ‘Give Peace a Chance’ (which Lennon had recorded in the June, but had kept back whilst trying to work out if he saw a future in The Beatles) and ‘Cold Turkey’. He takes the tapes from this show and releases an EP of songs, which includes ‘Blue Suede Shoes’, ‘Money’, ‘Dizzy Miss Lizzie’ and ‘Don’t Worry Koyoko (Mummy’s Only Looking For Her Hand in the Snow)’. The EP is released as the Live Peace in Toronto EP with profits going to refugees from the Nigerian-Biafran War. 

Lennon then finishes work on his third collaborative effort with Ono, which is called the ‘Wedding Album’. This comes out in November and is met with less than favourable reviews by the music press. Feeling that he needs to highlight the pain and suffering to millions around the world to the many wars that were occurring at the time, he digs ‘Give Peace a Chance’ out of the archive and releases it in time for Christmas. It is released under The Beatles name, even though none of the other Beatles play on it and has the song writing credit Lennon-Ono on the label. When asked why he did this by London based journalist David Wigg, Lennon felt that the message would reach a wider audience than if he had released it under his own name. He is also asked by Wigg about the song writing credit for which Lennon replies “Well, she helped me write it and Paul didn’t”. Energised by all that he has done over the previous four months and feeling focused once again after giving up drugs, Lennon retreats to his home in Ascot to write some new material.

Starr recovers from his illness and spends his time recording tracks for what will become his first solo album. Unlike previous Beatles solo recordings up to this point, Starr’s record would not be a soundtrack, live or experimental. Instead, it would be an album of standards that would be music his mother would like. Employing George Martin to produce, Starr asked a number of famous musicians such as Quincy Jones and band mate Paul McCartney to lend a hand arranging the records. As well as recording, Starr went to the premier of his film The Magic Christian, hanging out with his co-star in the film Peter Sellers and plonking around on various musical instruments trying to come up with some material for use when The Beatles re-convene in the New Year. 

Harrison spends his time in late 1969 writing songs, looking for a new home more suited to his need for privacy and going out on the road in December with Delaney & Bonnie and Friends. Harrison was still a bit annoyed that he had not been able to secure Delaney and Bonnie to Apple Records but loved the freedom of playing in their band. He joined them for the UK and Scandinavian legs of the tour before returning home to buy Friar Park in Henley-on-Thames. There he installs a recording studio so he can record when he wants and with whom he wants just in case Lennon’s insistence that Harrison have more of a presence on Beatles records does not amount to anything. He already has a massive backlog of songs due to his limited space on Beatles LPs but sets to work on a new batch for a possible solo LP which he had first thought about doing in early 1969 when he walked out of the ‘Let it Be’ recording sessions. 

McCartney on the other hand had taken the criticism from Lennon and Harrison badly and retreated to his High Park Farm on Kintyre in Scotland. He is suffering from depression and mostly drunk, which was not the best environment to raise his wife Linda’s seven-year-old daughter and his own child by her. After two months where McCartney believes he suffered a nervous breakdown and produced little to no music, the family returns to London. McCartney has a small recording set up in his London home and begins recording. These include tunes designed to test the equipment as well as songs that were put forward at the ‘Let it Be’ sessions, but not professionally recorded. On hearing that Lennon is preparing to release ‘Give Peace a Chance’ for a single release under The Beatles name, McCartney returns to Abbey Road to record some of these sketches by himself with ‘That Would Be Something’ finished first. Lennon, needing a B-Side for ‘Give Peace a Chance’ asks what is knocking about and instead of using a song from the archive, uses ‘That Would Be Something’. Lennon does feel a bit guilty that he has cut McCartney out of the song writing partnership that has been so profitable for the both of them throughout the 60s. 

McCartney feels the song is not one of his best songs, but will do for a B-Side and agrees not to take any royalties, instead donating them to the same charity as the A-side. However, this does inspires him to start working more seriously on his songs once more. His confidence takes a knock when he hears what Phil Spector has been doing in the studio when mixing the ‘Let it Be’ tapes. 

Starr finishes recording his first solo album and with ‘Let It Be’ still not ready, it is decided to put out Sentimental Journey in March of 1970 as stop gap. Whilst not as successful as a Beatles album would have been, his reputation as the band’s drummer is enough to ensure healthy sales, especially as he did not release a single to promote it. Feeling inspired by this success, Starr finishes off two songs (with a little help from Harrison who declines to take a writing credit) that he has been working on for the previous few months. It is when mixing his album that Lennon sends out the call for the band to get back together as he has two songs he wants to put out as a double A-Side as soon as possible. The result is ‘Instant Karma’ and ‘Cold Turkey’, which does well in the charts but fails to make the converted Number 1 spot due to Lee Marvin’s recording of ‘Wandering Star’. 

When Spector presents the final mix of ‘Let it Be’ to the band, McCartney is particularly unhappy with the way in which his songs have been drenched in strings and choirs, but the other three Beatles wanting to draw a line under this project and without any other new material recorded, decide to release the album as is. Even though not the strongest of Beatles records, the album is released in May of 1970 and reaches Number 1 around the world and gives the band some breathing space to get back to the studio to record the songs that have been stockpiled since the final sessions for ‘Abbey Road’. Booking out Abbey Road for five months, the band present their ideas and it is clear to all that McCartney does not have as many songs as Lennon and Harrison, and only ‘Maybe I’m Amazed’ is up to the standards he had set himself in the 60s. The first songs recorded are ‘Jealous Guy’, an old song that Lennon has finally completed with a lyric he is finally happy with and Starr’s ‘Early 1970’, written when he was unsure if the band would ever record together again. 

Lennon has been writing feverishly and wants some of his songs to sound as though Phil Spector has thrown his Wall of Sound at it. Lennon feels that some of the other songs would benefit from as sparse a backing as possible; essentially, one guitar (or piano), bass and drums. This second set of recordings is inspired by Lennon’s Primal Scream therapy and deals with very personal subjects. The other Beatles feel these might have been better on a solo Lennon release, but on hearing the strength of the material, it is decided to use them. His other recordings are more spiritual in nature, dealing with his love for Ono and his continued message for peace. Spector is brought in to oversee these sessions, which annoys McCartney as he is still angry over what he sees as the over-production of the ‘Let It Be’ material. Harrison also likes the production techniques of Spector and supports Lennon choosing him as producer. 

With such a backlog of songs to choose from, the band record enough of his material to fill a double album of Harrison songs. McCartney realises that he needs to raise his game or he will just be a sideman with little input into the album, so he goes away and listens to his sketches and Let it Be outtakes to see what he can resurrect. One of the songs is ‘Another Day’ which the bands decides would make a good single and so is released as another double A-Side with Lennon’s ‘Power to the People’. With the album taking shape, Harrison presents ‘My Sweet Lord’ as a potential single in competition to ‘Another Day’, but the band decide that it would be better to release this as a Christmas single due to the spiritual message of the song. Harrison agrees to this and ‘Another Day’ reaches Number 2. The Beatles may not be hitting Number 1, but they are still selling a good number of records to show that they are still relevant to the music buying public. 

McCartney finally rediscovers his muse and starts bringing in some quality new material, meaning that he is well represented even though that did not look like being the case at the beginning of the sessions. Starr even brings in his first classic self-written song, ‘It Don’t Come Easy’. Recording sessions finish in October and the band agree that they have too many songs for a single LP, so it is decided to put out a double. The album is released in December 1970 and even though it does not receive as many advance sales as the ‘White Album’, they are still high enough that the album goes into the LP charts at Number 1. ‘My Sweet Lord’ also goes straight in at Number 1 and the band enters 1971 as they left the 60s: the biggest band in the world.  

Side A

1. Mother (Album Version) – John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band
2. Imagine – Imagine
3. Some People Never Know – Wildlife
4. I Don’t Wanna Be A Soldier – Imagine
5. All Things Must Pass – All Things Must Pass

Side B

1. Wah Wah – All Things Must Pass
2. Working Class Hero – John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band
3. Heart Of The Country – Ram
4. It Don’t Come Easy – Single A-Side
5. Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey – Ram
6. Love – John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band
7. My Mummy’s Dead – John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band

Side C

1. I’d Have You Anytime – All Things Must Pass
2. Every Night – McCartney
3. Oh Yoko – Imagine
4. How Do You Sleep? – Imagine
5. Maybe I’m Amazed – McCartney
6. Beware Of Darkness – All Things Must Pass
7. Singalong Junk – McCartney

Side D

1. Too Many People – Ram
2. Awaiting On You – All Things Must Pass
3. Smile Away – Ram
4. Look At Me – John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band
5. Ballad Of Frankie Crisp (Let It Roll) – All Things Must Pass
6. Oh My Love – Imagine
7. Isn’t It A Pity (Version 2) – All Things Must Pass
8. Ram On (Reprise) – Ram

Singles 

1. Give Peace A Chance – Single A-Side
2. That Would Be Something (Mono Mix) – Single B-Side
3. Instant Karma – Single A-Side
4. Cold Turkey – Single A-Side
5. Jealous Guy – Imagine
6. Early 1970 – Single B-Side
7. Another Day – Single A-Side
8. Power To The People – Single A-Side
9. My Sweet Lord – Single A-Side
10. Junk – Single B-Side

Putting together this ‘What-if’ compilation was a bit of a revelation because even though I had played their music to death as a child, their solo albums passed me by until I was given a copy of Harrison’s ‘All Things Must Pass’ album in my mid 20’s. It was a revelation to hear how many good songs he had waiting for an airing. I must admit to not being a bit fan of his work within The Beatles. I then slowly pulled together all of the other members’ solo album and wondered what it would be like to hear if the best bits were pulled together for a lost Beatles album project. No doubt some of the songs on here would not have been liked by all the members of the band. I feel that Lennon and Harrison would have had a massive disliking for McCartney’s ‘Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey’ and has been noted before, some of these songs may well have not been written if the band had not split up with the amount of acrimony there was, especially in the early days of their separation. 

It was enjoyable experience though and even though this was meant to be a one off as I felt they would have split up after this record anyway. A few years later though, I was inspired to look further into the solo releases of The Beatles by blogger http://albumsthatneverwere.blogspot.com/ who took the story all the way up to 1980. I then decided to have another go at making some more Lost Beatles albums. I have shown where the songs were originally released in case you wish to put your own version together on a playlist. 

Even though this would work as a CD, this has been presented as though it was a double album with associated singles placed at the end. For the record, Sides A, B & C are CD 1 and Side D and singles are CD 2. The artwork is based on the picture taken of the band for the Get Back LP with the background changed to clouds which inspired the title of the album, Imagine. Found on the internet many moons ago, I have no idea who to acknowledge for this I’m afraid. 

To celebrate the last of 2020’s Record Store Days, I’ve decided to post another album that I would put out as an RSD release it I had the opportunity. It is a pet project that I have had on the back burner for a while now. That is, an album of songs by the legendary Caroline Munro. Munro started off in the mid 60s as a model, but by the end of the decade she had started appearing in films. Now, I didn’t realise until recently how many of her films I had seen and that I caught most of them on wet Sunday afternoons during my childhood. ‘The Golden Voyage of Sinbad’ and ‘At The Earth’s Core’ seemed to be on all of the time, and then there was her appearance in the Bond film, The Spy Who Loved Me. She also appeared in two early 80s music videos. ‘Goody Two Shoes’ by Adam Ant and ‘If You Really Want Me To’ by Meat Loaf. She was even a hostess on the rather bizarre, but exceedingly popular British TV show ‘3-2-1’. Appearances in Hammer films and Italian Star Wars knock off Starcrash have cemented her place as a cult icon. However, it is with her music career that I am concentrating on here. 

Now we did feature Munro’s version of ‘This Sporting Life’ in the first of our Eric Clapton spotlight shows http://www.thesquirepresents.co.uk/episode-75-eric-clapton-the-early-years-part-1/ but at the time, that was as far as  my interest went. However, after watching a number of  videos by YouTuber Brandon Tenold*, I found that she had performed a song called ‘Warrior of Love’ in the film ‘Don’t Open ‘Till Christmas’. After digging a bit further, I found that during the 70s she had released a number of singles with her then husband Judd Hamilton. I set pulling together all of these singles as well all the variations of the songs she recorded on Gary Newman’s Numa Record Label. What I was able to pull together was an LPs worth of material, with the instrumental, 12”, and Italian remix of the Numan produced Pump Me Up as a bonus single. This would be a complete collection of Munro single from 1967 to 1984.

There was also a single in the late 90s with Gary Wilson, but I have been unable to obtain a copy of this record. If anyone can help me out with this, please let me know. Warrior of Love is, as far as I can tell, still unreleased but thankfully the audio is available in the film so with a bit of careful editing by a YouTube user called Alex Nik (and a little bit more myself), a complete song can be heard. 

You will notice that “Love Songs’ is a retread of ‘Come Softy To Me’ with the additional of lyrics from other songs included during the middle section. These additional songs were ‘I Love How You Love Me’ and ‘In The Still Of The Night’. On the promo copy of the single I have, all of the songs and song writers are listed individually. On all of the photographs of the record labels on Discogs though list Hamilton and Munro as the songwriters, even though they did not write any of the songs. This might have lead to a course case if the single had been a hit, but as it wasn’t. ’Come Softy To Me’ had only been released in France so it is doubtful that the UK record buying public would have heard it before the ‘Love Songs’ variation was released in the UK. 

This is the sort of release that that should be picked up by a specialist reissue company for a limited release, especially on Record Store Day. Judging by some of the obscure releases that come out on RSD every year, there is no reason to expect this would not sell, especially with Munro’s status in cult film circles.

For the cover, I found a picture of Caroline Munro in her iconic outfit from the Starcrash film, looking every bit the Warrior of Love. The songs on this compilation are not available on Spotify so I have not been able to reproduce the complication here.

Side A

1. Tar & Cement
2. This Sporting Life
3. Come Softy To Me
4. Sad Old Song
5. You Got It
6. Where Does The Love Begin

Side B

1. Love Songs
2. Sound Of The Sun
3. Warrior Of Love
4. Pump Me Up (7” Version)
5. The Picture

Bonus 12”

1. Pump Me Up (12” Mix)
2. Pump Me Up (Italian Mix)
3. Pump Me Up (Instrumental Mix)

* (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC51tRQjet4Z45Of3n1Qxn8A – I would recommend his channel highly. All the videos are well worth a watch).

As with any band who have a major songwriter in it, there tends to be another one waiting in the wings for any chance to get a song or two on a release. Some examples of this are The Kinks, The Jam or Creedence Clearwater Revival. Another would be our featured band of this month, Smashing Pumpkins. Look at the discography of the band between 1991 and 2000 and you will find very few credits to second guitarist Iha, especially songs that he wrote on his own. He did have the odd co-credit on the earlier albums but didn’t receive one on either the Adore or Machinea/The Machines of God albums. He did release a solo album in 1998 called Let It Come Down, but what if there was an album made up of songs that he wrote for and performed with the Pumpkins that he could have used for a second solo record. 

Well, the first thing I noticed was how few songs there were to choose from. Most of them were B-sides and so The Aeroplane Flies High collection has more Iha songs on it than any other. To make this album, I decided to work within the constraints of an LP, so it means that each side will need to be about 22 mins long. This did not prove to be much of a problem as Iha has not been the most prolific of writers. It also meant that I needed to include a cover that Iha sings and that is A Night Like This. When listening to majority of this material, I do wonder if Iha was in the wrong band. Main Pumpkin songwriter Billy Corgan didn’t always have the electricity turned up to eleven, but Iha seems to be writing as though he is in an alternative folk group. 

The only song that has not been officially released up to this point is Wave Song, which was included on the unofficial band completion Mashed Potatoes. The Mashed Potatoes set has been described as the Holy Grail of Smashing Pumpkins collectables, because there was only ever about ten of them made. Billy Corgan compiled the five disc set and gave them out to the rest of the band and friends. It contained live tracks, demos and alternative versions of previously released material. Considering how extensive the reissue programme was, not a lot of the Mashed Potatoes material was used. Like the material used on the ‘End’ album, I seem to remember this being on Corgan’s website back in those early days of the internet. I wonder if this compilation will ever see the light of day in an official capacity?  

There were a few of songs left over. Terrapin is another cover sung by Iha, which was written by Syd Barrett. Two are instrumentals that were released on the Deluxe Edition of The Aeroplane Flies High. The other two are from the Earphoria and all of these songs could be B-Sides for single, whichever song that would be.

The front cover of the album is adapted from the single from his first solo LP, Be Strong Now and is not one my strongest efforts. It did remind me of a bootleg cover, which is pretty much what this is.

Side A

1. The Boy – The Aeroplane Flies High
2. Summer – Single B-Side (Perfect)
3. Blew Away – Single B-Side (Disarm)
4. …Said Sadly – The Aeroplane Flies High
5. One & Two – Single B-Side (I Am One)
6. Go – Machina II/The Friends & Enemies Of Modern Music

Side B

1. Wave Song (Demo) – Mashed Potatoes
2. A Night Like This (The Cure Cover) – The Aeroplane Flies High
3. The Bells – The Aeroplane Flies High
4. Take Me Down – Mellon Collie & The Infinite Sadness
5. Believe – The Aeroplane Flies High
6. Farewell & Goodnight – Mellon Collie & The Infinite Sadness

B-Sides

• Bugg Superstar – Earphoria
• Terrapin (Syd Barrett Cover) – Single B-Side (I Am One – UK 10”)
• Star Song – The Aeroplane Flies High (Deluxe Edition)
• The Grover – The Aeroplane Flies High (Deluxe Edition)
• Why Am I So Tired – Earphoria

These discs could not be reproduced because not all of these songs are available on Spotify. 

On the 8th September 2000, a film had its premier at the Toronto International Film Festival. That film was ‘Almost Famous’, and it was director Cameron Crowe’s love letter to the rock scene in America in the early 1970s. Crowe himself had been contributing music reviews for an underground newspaper, San Diego Door by the time he was 13. By the time he was 16, he was writing for Rolling Stone magazine and was their youngest ever contributor. Being younger than all of the other contributors, he covered the bands that most of the other journalists didn’t like. These included Led Zeppelin, Fleetwood Mac, The Eagles and the Allman Brothers band. The latter band were used as his first cover story. 

The script and some of the characters were based upon his experiences at that time. The songs used in the film were drawn from the time that the film is set, except for the songs that were performed by the fictional band Stillwater. These songs were written by Crowe with his then wife Nancy Wilson, who was also the guitar player in the band Heart. Two more were written by Peter Frampton who was also worked as the technical consultant on the film. He would also make a cameo as a roadie for Humble Pie, a band he was actually in between 1969 & 71.  a Stillwater were actually a real band from the era and Crowe asked permission to use the name, which they agreed to after negotiating a fee for themselves. Though the film was a critical success and nominated for a number of awards as well as winning an Academy Award for best screenplay, it was not the commercial success. 

It is not the film itself that I am focusing on today but the soundtrack album. This won the 2001 Grammy for the Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media and is a classic of the genre. It mixes period music with some of the songs written specifically for the film. The music is so integral to the scenes that Crowe managed secure the rights to using Led Zeppelin songs, something the band did not grant very often. Elton John’s ‘Tiny Dancer’ featured prominently in a scene where band tensions on the tour bus has reached a point where no one is talking to one another. ‘Tiny Dancer’ starts playing and then as it continues to play, the band and hangers on start to sing along. 

What I set out to do here was to produce a deluxe edition of this soundtrack album to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the film. As with all the deluxe editions, the original sequence of songs needs to stay, even though I added a couple fo bonus songs on at the end as there was room to spare and too many good songs not leave any off. I also wanted to spread the renaming Stillwater songs out so that they would not be too many on the second disc. 

‘Almost Famous’ is one of the great films about music and is rightly hailed as one fo the greatest films of all time. 

Disc 1

1. America – Simon & Garfunkel
2. Sparks – The Who
3. It Wouldn’t Have Made Any Difference – Todd Rundgren
4. I’ve Seen All Good People – Yes
5. Feel Flows – The Beach Boys
6. Fever Dog – Stillwater
7. Every Picture Tells A Story – Rod Stewart
8. Mister Farmer – The Seeds
9. One Way Out (Live) – The Allman Brothers
10. Simple Man – Lynyrd Skynyrd
11. That’s The Way – Led Zeppelin
12. Tiny Dancer – Elton John
13. Lucky Trumble – Nancy Wilson
14. I’m Waiting For The Man (Live) – David Bowie
15. The Wind – Cat Stevens
16. Slip Away – Clarence Carter
17. Something In The Air – Thunderclap Newman
18. Paranoid – Black Sabbath
19. You Had To Be There – Stillwater

Disc 2

1. Roundabout – Yes
2. Burn – Deep Purple
3. Sweet Leaf – Black Sabbath
4. Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere – Neil Young & Crazy Horse
5. Chance Upon You – Stillwater
6. The Oogum Boogum Song – Brenton Wood
7. Reelin’ In The Years – Steely Dan
8. Looking At You – MC5
9. Love Thing – Stillwater
10. Easy To Slip – Little Feat
11. Search & Destroy – Iggy & The Stooges
12. Go All the Way – The Raspberries
13. Wishing Well (US MIx) – Free
14. Tangerine – Led Zeppelin
15. Mona Lisas & Mad Hatters – Elton John
16. Dear Jill – Blodwyn Pig
17. Hour Of Need – Stillwater
18. Teacher – Jethro Tull

These playlists could not be reproduced on Spotify due to one or more songs not being available on that platform.

When Record Store Day (RSD) was cancelled back in April, I was interested to see what would happen with all of the stock which had already been pressed up and was ready to be distributed to participating shops. Not a lot for a while, but then it was announced that there would not be one RSD, but three. The first of these is today so I have been thinking about what I would like to see as a RSD release if I was allowed to pick anything from the archives. Therefore, for each of these RSD’s I will be putting together a compilation of songs that I think would be a welcome release. The first of these is Pink Floyd and a compilation of the singles that were put together for the US market. 

Pink Floyd had started life releasing singles and breaking in the British Top 20 with ‘Arnold Layne’ and ‘See Emily Play’. These songs were written by Syd Barrett but he was soon to leave the band for reasons that have been documented in great length elsewhere. The group continued to record after Barrett’s departure and though they remained a successful album band (non of their LP’s have failed to reach the UK top ten), on the singles front, the hits dried up. After ‘Point Me At The Sky’, the Floyd decided to stop releasing singles in the UK because, as Roger Water said “we were no bloody good at it”. This would remain the case until 1979 when ‘Another Brick In The Wall (Part II) became an unlikely number 1 single in many of the major record buying markets around the world, including the UK.

In other parts of the world, this was not the case. For this compilation, we are going to focus on the US as a number of singles and an EP were pressed up. Some of these were promotional releases designed for DJs to promote the parent album. Others were commercially released singles and one was an EP of ‘Dark Side Of The Moon’ songs. Most were edited, and some of the earlier songs on this collection are mono mixes as AM radio was still king in the early 1970’s.

Side A

1. One Of These Days (Mono Promo Single Edit)
2. Fearless (Mono Promo Single Edit)
3. Free Four (Promo Single Edit)
4. Money (Promo EP)
5. Breathe (Promo EP)
6. Time (Promo EP)
7. Us & Them (Promo EP)

Side B

1. Have A Cigar (Mono Single Edit)
2. Run Like Hell (Single Version)
3. One Of My Turns (Single Version)
4. Comfortably Numb (Single Edit)
5. Not Now John (Obscured Single Edit)
6. Flaming (Mono Single Promo)

One Of These Days (Single A Side) — This was a commercial released single that has similar playing times to the songs when they appeared on the parent album and was in stereo. However, the promo single was mixed in mono and there were various small edits throughout the song to reduce playing time. 

Fearless (B Side of One Of These Days) — Like the A Side, this was mixed into mono for the promo release. The album version has two verses, but the promo single has only one. It mainly consists of the first verse (until “just wait a while for the right day”) but the last lines were replaced by those of the second verse (“and as you rise … faces in the crowd”). This version also fades out earlier. 

Free Four – There isn’t too much different here between the album version and this single mix. This version does fade out earlier and it has been mixed into mono.

Dark Side of the Moon EP – The songs included on this EP are ‘Breathe’, ‘Time’, Us & Them’ and ‘Money’. Released after the parent album had came out. A note on the back of the EP cover says “Pink Floyd’s latest No.1 album, ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ went platinum a few months after release – with smash sales surpassing three times those of a standard gold album. Here are four representative selections take from the ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ LP, edited down for your airplay convenience”. Apart from the edits to bring down the playing time, ‘Time’ has been edited so that the introduction to the song has also been placed at the end. The profanity in the song ‘Money’ has been edited out and all of these songs have been mixed into mono. 

Have A Cigar – The introduction of this songs has been reduced from eight bars to four. There are also some small edits in the guitar and keyboard themes. There is also an early fade out during the final guitar solo. Once again, this song has been mixed to mono. 

Run Like Hell – This is the first song on this collection to have been released in stereo. The mix does not include any crowd noise during intro and outro. There is also only one guitar theme before the first “Run, run, run, run…” instead of two, but it is repeated twice at the end (after the scream) instead of once. The “hunt” part has also been edited.

Comfortably Numb – The final guitar solo is stuck to the end of the first verse (no first guitar solo, no second verse).

One Of My Turns – The dialling tone that starts the album version of this song has been removed. The synth in the songs opening bars has been brought forward in the mix and the vocal effects on the ‘Why are you running away’ lyric are now sustained for about three seconds longer. 

Not Now John – This is known as the Obscured version, because this song is notable for using some very strong profanity. The original album version has lyrics that say “Fuck all that”, To make a radio-friendly version, this lyric was changed to ‘Stuff all that’. Note that they just recorded “Stuff all that” loud enough to drown the original, which is still there. The intro is slightly different from the album version as the laugh has been edited out. This version also fades out before the lyrics “Where’s the fucking bar John?”.

Flaming – Pink Floyd’s debut album was butchered by their US record label when it was released in 1967. Out went the songs ‘Astronomy Domine’, ‘Flaming’ and ‘Bike’. Instead, the US album included ‘See Emily Play’. The running order was also completely different. ‘Flaming’ was released as a single in mono and is noticeable as the sound effects are much louder than those of the stereo mix. It is very similar, if not identical to the mono mix used on the UK album. Why was ‘Flaming’ stuck at the end even though it was the first song to be released? Well, it didn’t really fit in anywhere else, especially as ‘One Of These Days’ is a perfect song to start this record with.

The album art was taken from https://www.askideas.com/very-funny-human-face-tree-picture/. I was looking for an image that reminded me of the style used by Hipgnosis, the design company that famously worked with Pink Floyd (and numerous other bands).  

Mind Of My Own (1971)

This idea for the following two what-if records came about because I was trying to put together a fourth Fleetwood Mac album from the Peter Green line up. I did have a go but this ultimately failed because looking at all of the available material, there was a lack of new material from Green and nothing new from Jeremy Spencer, which is not much of a surprise as he only just released a solo album. On the other hand, Danny Kirwan had lots of material from the Green era that did not make it onto a Mac studio album. From 1968 to 1970, he wrote enough material to fill an album. For this album to come out though, we need to do a little bit of rewriting of the band’s history. 

Fleetwood Mac had spent the majority of 1970 touring America and then Europe, but all was not happy in the camp. Founder member and talismanic guitar player Peter Green was struggling with the trappings of fame and the band have noticed his behaviour has changed. He has grown a beard, started wearing a crucifix (which was odd in the fact that Green was Jewish) and had spoken about giving his money away. In March, he spent some time in a commune in Munich, Germany where he ingests some LSD that, according to the manager Clifford Davis, is where Green’s fragile mental state finally broke. Green decided to leave the band he had founded and the remaining quartet soldier on for a few gigs and record the album ‘Kiln House’ before bringing in Christine McVie, bass player John McVie’s wife and famous musician in her own right to fill out the sound. The band records the single, ’Dragonfly’ and ‘The Purple Dancer’ before the end of the year which is released in March of 1971. The song is not a hit and it is the only Kirwan pen A-Side released in his native UK. 

This line up continues to tour and record radio sessions before returning the USA in February for another Stateside tour. It is here that Spencer starts to become disillusioned with life in the Mac. He is unimpressed with how he sounds on live recordings and when a major earthquake hits Los Angeles, he fails to persuade the band not to go there. When the band arrives in L.A., Spencer says that he is going to a bookshop but never returns. The band have to cancel all their L.A. shows because they are looking for their missing guitar player. When he is eventually found, Spencer has joined the religious group, the Children of God. Despite appeals from the band to fulfil his obligations to the band, Spencer will not return. The band play a few gigs as four piece before convincing Peter Green to rejoin them for a few gigs before they can recruit a permanent replacement. It is here that Bob Welch comes into the picture. The band continue to record and have a core of four members throughout this period. Welch convinces the band to move to America as they have become more successful there than their native UK. Welch leaves the band shortly after this move the band recruit Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham, becoming one of the biggest bands on the planet. 

What if the band had decided that after losing two founder members that were not only front men for the group but songwriters to boot? This is where these what if albums come in and the history of Danny Kirwan could have been a bit different.

With the band returning to Britain after the end of their 1971 USA tour, Kirwan and the remainder of Fleetwood Mac decide that losing Green and Spencer is too much for the group to carry on so they disband. The rhythm section of Mick Fleetwood and John McVie are well known enough to become session musicians (which they did do in reality when they played on Warren Zevon’s song ‘Werewolves of London’). Christine McVie resurrects her solo career but like her previous attempt at fronting a band under her own name, it does not last and she retreats into studio work. What of Danny Kirwan though. Under the direction of Mac’s manager, Clifford Davis, he is left to fulfil the band’s recording contract with Reprise and promises to deliver two albums in the next two years.

Kirwan did not have a great deal of new material so he decided to resurrect some songs that he had performed with Fleetwood Mac either live or on radio show but had not made their way onto an official album. Roping in the other ex members of Fleetwood Mac for the sessions, Kirwan produces an album that is quite eclectic. I have listed next to songs where these songs can be found.

Side 1

1. Like It This Way (The Vaudeville Years of Fleetwood Mac)
2. Early Morning Come (Live At The BBC)
3. Mind Of My Own (Show Biz Blues)
4. Open The Door (Madison Blues)
5. Down At The Crown (Madison Blues)

Side 2

1. Tell Me From The Start (The Vaudeville Years of Fleetwood Mac)
2. Love It Seems (The Vaudeville Years of Fleetwood Mac)
3. Loving Kind (Live In Boston)
4. Only You (Live At The BBC)
5. When I See My Baby (Live At The BBC)
6. Farewell (The Vaudeville Years of Fleetwood Mac)

Kirwan was rooted in blues music but he did have quite an eclectic taste. This are shown by the songs included on this record. ’Like It This Way’, ‘Early Morning Come’ and ‘Mind of My Own’ highlight Kirwan’s blues influences but this changes with ‘Open The Door’ which shows some distinctly country roots. ‘Down At The Crown’, a song about the pub located near the Fleetwood Mac’s communal house in Hampshire shows a rockier side to Kirwan. 

Side two opens with ‘Tell Me From The Start’ which sounds very out of time for the late 60’s, early 70s. It harks back to an earlier age and shows an influence of swing. ‘Love It Seems’ hints at the songs Kirwan would write and contribute to the ‘Future Games’ album. ‘Loving Kind’ and ‘Only You’ reintroduce more blues to the mix before ‘When I See My Baby’, which sounds like something Jeremy Spencer would compose; a pastiche of a 50’s doo-wop band. The album finishes with Farewell would could be said to be a bit of a cheat because it was an early version of Earl Grey, that was included on the ‘Kiln House’ LP. It is different enough to stand on its own and means that the two sides of the album have similar run times.

Sands of Time (1972)

Sales of the first album are strong enough for Kirwan to go into the studio to record again. Kirwan once again uses the ex-Mac members as his backing band and this album is split between the more rock orientated songs on Side A and the more mellow songs on Side B. The album is not as successful as the previous effort so Kirwan is sent out on tour to promote it. However, this is where it all goes wrong. Kirwan has been a heavy drinker for the last couple of years and this has now turned into full blown alcoholism. He had also experimented with LSD and mescaline. This did not help Kirwan who was possible too sensitive a soul to have survived long in the music business. After cancelling the rest of the tour, Reprise do not take up the option of renewing Kirwan’s contract. Kirwan spends the next couple of years playing on songs of old acquaintances and trying to get a new band together. He would eventually release his next solo album in 1975 called ‘Second Chapter’. 

Side A

1. Child Of Mine (Bare Trees)
2. Bare Trees (Bare Trees)
3. Danny’s Chant (Bare Trees)
4. Trinity (25 Years – The Chain)
5. Sunny Side Of Heaven (Bare Trees)

Side B

1. Woman Of 1000 Years (Future Games)
2. Sands Of Time (Future Games)
3. Sometimes (Future Games)
4. Dust (Bare Trees)

I initially did not intend to do a second part to the Danny Kirwan what ifs album, but whilst putting together the first one, I thought about all of the material that was written by him between 1971 and 1972 that had originally been released by Fleetwood Mac in what is know as their wilderness years. There was also a song released on the 25th Anniversary Box Set that meant that even though there are less songs on this LP, this album is actually longer. Both of these albums hold together quite well, even though the second is a lot more consistent seeing as the majority of those songs were officially released by the band at the time. The first album is essentially a load of outtakes. 

In the real world, Fleetwood Mac continued on after Jeremy Spencer left, recruiting American Bob Welch. With Spencer gone, so were the 50’s pastiches and Elmore James blues work outs. This line-ups first album was ‘Future Games’ which was more acoustic and melodic than previous efforts, with only the filler jam of ‘What A Shame’ spoiling what could be considered a lost classic.  After the release of ‘Future Games’, the band began an eleven month tour of the US and Europe. ‘Future Games’ had sold well in America and Fleetwood Mac broke house attendance records at some of the venues they played in. They even had time to record another album in the shape of ‘Bare trees’. Not all was well with Kirwan though.

His fragile mental state, his drinking and being worn down by the constant touring, Kirwan fell apart. Backstage at a University gig on the ‘Bare Trees’ promotional tour, Kirwan started to argue with Welch over his guitar being in tune. He then proceeded to smash his head against and wall and then destroy his guitar. Refusing to go on stage, Kirwan sat by the mixing desk and then criticised the band for not putting on a good enough show. Kirwan was promptly fired from the band. He played with a few bands and released three solo albums, and even though the first two do have some merit, by the third, his fire was gone. The album was only recorded to fulfil his record contract and Kirwan’s distinct lead playing is nowhere to be seen. It has been debated if he even played any guitar on the record at all. 

Kirwan would spend some time homeless in the 80’s and 90’s, and even though he was able to find accommodation in the care home for alcoholics, he never recorded again. A shame, as this guy did write some good tunes (even if he did borrow some of his lyrics from poets) and was a talented player. 

Both of the album covers are inspired by the ones Fleetwood Mac used in the same time period. 

I have not been able to put together a Spotify playlist for either of these what ifs due to that platform not having all of the material available on it. 

Fleetwood Mac were very creative down the years and from 1967 to 1977, as they pretty much released an album a year. Not bad for a band that rarely had the same line up between releases. During this time, they seemed to go through guitar players in the way Spinal Tap went through drummers but without the tendency to pass away in bizarre circumstances. When it comes to unreleased albums or projects, the Mac did not leave that many ideas in the can. It was reported that Jeremy Spencer and Peter Green were going to produce a ‘orchestral-choral’ biography of Jesus Christ. However, it looks as though nothing came of this idea and Spencer would go on to produce a solo records full of tributes/parodies of rock n roll. Considering that the rest of Mac backed Spencer on this record, it could be considered a lost album by the band if if Peter Green only appears on one song. This record could even be considered a dry run for 1970s ‘Kiln House’. Anyway, I digress. 

One record project that was made and then went unreleased at the time was a live album. In February 1970, the band played a series of gigs at the Boston Tea Party, Boston, MA. As Peter Green notes in one of the in-between songs bits of banter, the band are not as loose as they normally are due to the pressure of ensuring that they produce a top notch performance. The Mac knock out a nearly four hour show of blues and rock n roll pastiches. Imagine going to gig that long now. Compare this to The Beatles who would knock out about thirty minutes when they last toured just four years before this. Could the Mac of this period be classed at the British equivalent of The Grateful Dead. 

Anyway, this gig never made it onto the market mostly down to the fact that Peter Green left the band just three months after this recording was made. The tapes would stay in the vault until the mid-80s when they would slowly creep out on numerous releases before a 2013 CD release that pretty much compiled all of the available releases. So, what would have happened if this set had come out back in 1970? Well, this was when the technology to record live gigs effectively and with the amount of martial recorded that night, it would have been a shame to only release this as a single record. So, a double album it is. Live records at the time would also look to fade out the crowd at the end of the songs so none of the on stage banter would have been kept in. 

The band at this point had three front men, guitar playing songwriters so there needs to be a fair representation of all three. The band also would finish up shows with some old rock n’ roll songs so if this is to be representative of a Mac live concert, this would need to be kept as well. So, what do we have. The album starts off with the Boston tea Party MC introduces the band and he also re-introduces the band later on. This was used for Side C as this was a great way of starting the second disc. The MC also comes on to finish the gig as well and so this stayed in as well. The music itself shows the band moving on from their blues roots to something else entirely. Most the blues tracks that do remain in the set are delivered by Jeremy Spencer, who still seems to be stuck as a Elmore James copyist. Spencer does not take part in the songs of the other two guitar players but it is when Peter Green and Danny Kirwan get going, that he hear some fantastic interplay between the two. It is a shame that Green and Kirwan only appeared on one Mac album together and it is a tragedy that the careers were curtained by bad drugs and metal illness.  

Side A

1. Black Magic Woman
2. Sandy Mary
3. Like It This Way
4. Only You
5. Oh Well

Side B

1. Rattlesnake Shake

Side C

1. World In Harmony
2. I Can’t Hold Out
3. Got To Move
4. Loving Kind
5. Jumping At Shadows

Side D

1. Stranger Blues
2. Teenage Darling
3. Keep A-Knocking
4. Jenny Jenny

The artwork used a shot of the band live in this period. It may even have been taken at the Boston Tea Party. It was the only picture I could find with all five members of the band playing live and this is also the first time I have completed the back sleeve as well. I took inspiration from the band 1971 ‘Greatest Hits’ album cover and like that, this would have been a gatefold. 

All of the songs were available on Spotify but has not been edited down in the way it would have been back in the day. Therefore, banter between the songs has been left in so there are occasions is where someone will introduce a song and then the band doesn’t play it. The end of Jenny Jenny also has Peter Green talking about the band ending up having a jam with a guest guitar player and future Eagle, Joe Walsh. If you can get through this, the record stands up as a great document of a band at it peak. Enjoy!

To finish off the month, I have put together a special Beatles What-If project. Being in lockdown allowed my imagination to wander somewhat, but I do hope that you enjoy this alternative history project of what The Beatles Anthology albums could have been.

The Long & Winding Road Vol.1

In 1995, The Beatles released their Anthology project that consisted of a TV series, albums, and a coffee table book. They had also thrown open the doors on the archives to allow unreleased studio recordings to be officially heard for the first time. The project had been running from 1970 when Neil Aspinall, future head of the Apple Company, put together a compilation of archival footage that he called The Long & Winding Road. The film was ready by 1971, but as relations between the band members were not as good as they could have been, they were not involved in the project. This film itself became a part of the archive but permission was given to use some of the footage so that Eric Idle could complete his Rutles project. The project was resurrected in 1980 when John Lennon said that he would be getting back together with the other Beatles for a reunion concert and that it would be used as the end of the Long & Winding Road film. Tragically, Lennon was killed before this could happen. 

Up to this point, Beatles fans had been poorly served by archival material being released. Between 1970, when the band split up, and 1995 when the Anthology project saw the light of day, there were a couple of live albums.  The Live at the Hollywood Bowl and Live! at the Star-Club In Hamburg, Germany albums, both from 1977. In 1980, EMI had asked house engineer John Barrett to listen to and catalogue The Beatles session tapes whilst he recovered from cancer treatment. This led to a multi-media event called ‘The Beatles at Abbey Road’, which included some unreleased material being heard for the first time since they had been recorded. All of the surviving Beatles attended the event and Harrison said that he was happy for his solo take of While My Guitar Gently Weeps to be released. EMI prepared an album called Sessions, but The Beatles undertook legal proceedings to prevent it coming out. All of the songs that were put forward for the Sessions album would be released on the Anthology albums. 

These albums contained material that had not been released before and this took the form of some live cuts, TV appearances, demos and alternative mixes of previously released songs. What these albums showed was that there was little in the way of songs that were not used anywhere else. Most of these songs came from the early days of the band and their recordings before signing with EMI in 1962. What was also missing were any curiosities that had come out down the years, and are little known outside of the most dedicated Beatles fans.  

What if the project had been released in 1980 as planned, but instead of what we got in 1995, these records were made up of some of the aforementioned curiosities, some unreleased mixes and demos. I have seen this as a continuation of my Collection of Beatles Oldies LPs, so as these would still be readily available in this alternative timeline, none of the songs included on those collections are included here.  These albums would be released three single LPs and would have a cover photo close to the period when the music was recorded.  That is why Pete Best is included on the sleeve for Vol.1 as Ringo Starr does not play on many of the songs on that record. All of the sleeves are based on the U.S. version of the Rarities album that was released in 1980. 

I have tried to show where these songs can be found as a number of them have been released officially down the years, but some are still in the archive (or on bootlegs, if you know where to look). There is a gap in these collection between 1963 and 1966, mostly down to the fact that the best archival recordings from that period had already been used on the first Collections of Beatles Oldies LP. I would hope that The Beatles in this timeline would see fit not to double up on material to give their fans the best value for money compilations they could. 

Side A

1. That’ll Be The Day – The Quarrymen – Demo
2. In Spite Of All Danger – The Quarrymen – Demo
3. Hallelujah, I Love Her So – Home Demo
4. You’ll Be Mine Home – Demo
5. Cayenne – Home Demo
6. My Bonnie – With Tony Sheridan
7. Ain’t She Sweet – With Tony Sheridan
8. Cry For A Shadow – With Tony Sheridan
9. ‘Till There Was You – Decca Demo
10. Like Dreamers Do – Decca Demo

Tracks 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5 would be released on the Anthology 1 album (1995).

Track 6 was originally released as a single, but the band was credited as The Beat Brothers (1961)

Track 7 was originally released as a single (1964) 

Track 8 was originally released on the ‘Mister Twist’ EP (1962)

Track 9 is currently unreleased. 

Track 10 would be released on the Anthology 1 album (1995).

Side B

1. Take Good Care Of My Baby – Decca Demo
2. The Sheik Of Araby – Decca Demo
3. Love Of The Love – Decca Demo
4. Crying, Waiting, Hopping – Decca Demo
5. Three Cool Cats – Decca Demo
6. Hello Little Girl – Decca Demo
7. Besame Mucho – EMI Demo (Pete Best on Drums)
8. Love Me Do – EMI Demo (Pete Best on Drums)
9. Please Please Me – Andy White on Drums
10. Bad To Me – Home Demo
11. I’m In Love – Home Demo

Tracks 2, 5, 6, 7, 8 & 9 would be released on the Anthology 1 album (1995).

Tracks 1, 3 & 4 are currently unreleased. 

Tracks 10 & 11 would be released on the The Beatles Bootleg Recordings (2013)

The Long & Winding Road Vol.2

Side A

1. A Beginning (Take 4)/Don’t Pass me By (Take 7) – Studio Recording
2. Child Of Nature – Esher Demo
3. Step Inside Love – Studio Jam
4. Los Paranoias – Studio Jam
5. Circles – Esher Demo
6. Junk – Esher Demo
7. Can You Take Me Back (Take 1) – Studio Recording

Tracks 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, & 8 would be released on the ‘The Beatles – 50^th Anniversary Box Set’.

Track 7 would be released on the Anthology 3 album.

Side B

1. It’s All Too Much – Full Length Version
2. What’s The New Mary Jane – Studio Outtake
3. The Inner Light – Stereo Mix
4. Tomorrow Never Knows – Matrix XEX 606-1 – Mono
5. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise) – U.S. 8-Track Stereo Mix
6. Inner Grove Sgt Pepper’s

Track 1 is currently unreleased.

Track 2 would be released on Anthology 3 (1996).

Track 3 would be released on The Beatles EP Collection (1981)

Track 4 was released on the first pressing of the Revolver LP. When ‘Revolver’ was initially mixed, a different master for ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’ was sent off to be pressed. The mix is known as Remix 11. Although subtle, it is different to the standard Remix 8 which was ultimately to replace it. The story goes that each group member was given the first copies from the production line and John Lennon went off to listen to it. But, it turned out that he was unhappy with the mix or that the wrong one had been used and he informed George Martin. Production was then stopped as the new masters were cut and the pressing plates were replaced. First pressings have XEX 606-1 whereas the standard press has XEX 606-2 and beyond (www.thebeatles-collection.com). This version has not been made available since. 

Track 5 was released on the 8-Track version of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart Club Band (1967) The 8 track edition of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band features a longer edit of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise), created to fill more of the tape and “even out” the recording sides. At about 1:15, where Paul’s “Woo!” is heard, the previous 15 seconds are replayed and that “Woo!” is heard again before the song completes (www.aboutthebeatles.com).

Track 6 was released on the initial UK pressing of the Sgt Pepper album (1967). Later pressings, especially in the USA did not include this track. 

The Long & Winding Road Vol.3

Side A

1. Come Together – Brazilian Mono Mix
2. Teddy Boy – Get Back – 1^st Version
3. Dig It – Get Back – 1^st Version
4. Something – Inc. Coda Jam
5. The Ballad Of John & Yoko – NZ Censored Edition

Track 1 was released in Brazil (1970). Both Abbey Road and Let it Be were released in Mono in Brazil. They were not dedicated Mono mixes though, but a fold down of the Stereo one.

Tracks 2, 3, & 4 are currently unreleased. Tracks 2 & 3 were the original versions of songs that would be released later as the Let It Be album. Track 4 includes an extended piano jam that an was exorcised from the final version. 

Track 5 was made specifically for New Zealand radio with references to Christ edited out. This version has not been made commercially available. 

Side B

1. Come & Get It – Studio Demo
2. Old Brown Shoe – Australian Mono Single Mix
3. Don’t Let Me Down – Get Back – 1^st Version
4. Watching Rainbows (Edit) – Demo
5. All Things Must Pass – Studio Demo
6. Goodbye – Home Demo
7. Get Back (Coda) – Get Back – 1^st Version

Tracks 1 & 6 would be released on Abbey Road 50^th Anniversary Deluxe Edition (2019)

Track 2 was released in Australia (1969). It is not a dedicated Mono mix, but is a fold down of the Stereo. 

Tracks 3, 4 & 7 are currently unreleased. Tracks 3 & 7 were versions of songs that would be released later as the Let It Be album. Track 4 is a songwriting jam from the Let It Be sessions.

Track 5 would be released on Anthology 3 (1996).

A Spotify playlist could not be created for these collections due to the amount of songs that have still not been officially released. 

As I posted a compilation of The Velvet Underground earlier this month, I thought I would continue by looking at the lost forth album the band had been recording in 1969. This seems to be a staple of many of the what-if album websites but the beauty of these things is just that. It is a what-if album. It was never released and so anyone can take the songs and speculate as much as they like about the running order would be, cover imagery etc. The story of this album has also been told many times but here is a summery. 

By the time the band had come to record their third album founding member John Cale had been fired, they had moved to MGM from Verve (an MGM subsidiary) and the sound had changed. This was down to the removal of Cale, who seemed intent to drive the band towards a more drone, noise infused future. Reed on the other hand, seemed to want to achieve some sort of commercial success with the band and having Cale in the band would have stopped this from happening. The fact that the band did not achieve much success during their life time is neither here nor there. They have definitely sold a lot more units since. Multi-instrumentalist Doug Yule was brought in as Cale’s replacement and he was there in time to record the third album. This album had few of the rough edges that had been present when Cale was in the band, and the subject matter of the songs had become more intimate. With the album recorded by the end of 1968, the band hit the road opening a good deal of 1969 playing live. 

In between live dates, the band was also in the studio laying down fourteen songs that the band members do not seem to have been in agreement as to what the purpose of recording them was. Lou Reed and Maureen Tucker both said that these songs would have been the basis of the next album. Doug Yule says that these songs were professional demos and Sterling Morrison says that this was just a way of looking busy whilst they were looking to get out of their contract. Whatever the reason, these songs have been released numerous times down the years but it is the versions that were included on the 2014 Super Deluxe Edition of the ‘Velvet Underground’ album that will will form the basis of this release. 

Out of the fourteen songs that were released as part of the compilation, two did did not make the cut. That was Rock & Roll as this came out as part of the ‘Loaded’ album and I did not want an overlap of songs. The other is I’m Sticking With You’ which sounds a though it should have been added to an album that was directed towards children or a B-Side. Out of the remaining songs, Andy’s Chest was relegated to a B-Side of whatever song was released from this album as an A-Side. Most probably an edited version of Foggy Notion, even though it no doubt would have been banned due to its lyrical content. That means there is a gap to be filled in with the running time as labels like to release albums with similar playing times on each side. Therefore I had a look at other unreleased material and there was a demo recording of Countess From Hong Kong, Though it was a co-write between Reed and Cale, the demo dates from the second half of 1969 so would fit into the time frame of this record. This takes the album up to about 23 minutes per side, which is long for an album of the time but not unheard of. 

So why didn’t the album come out? If, as Morrison says, the band were just killing time, then there was no intention of releasing it at all. However, if we go with Tucker and Reed’s version of events, then it could have been down to the fact that in 1969, MGM were in financial trouble. One of the ways of reducing this would have been to strip their artists roster of any band that were proving to be unprofitable. The Velvet Underground would have fit this category and so they were out. What MGM did not allow the band to do was to take the master tapes with them. By the time The Velvet Underground had signed with Cotillion Records, they had moved on and only a few of the songs were taken forward to what would be the ‘Loaded’ album. What this ‘lost’ album does is nicely bridge the gap between the recording of the ‘Velvet Underground’ and ‘Loaded’ albums showing the progression the band was making. As it was, these songs lay in the MGM vaults until the mid 80s when they were released along with some other outtakes from the Cale era. 

Would this album have turned The Velvet Underground into a commercial group? Doubtful but Lou Reed did not abandon the songs completely as many of them would appear on his solo records throughout the 1970s’. The front cover of this collection was adapted from a gig poster that band played at the Paramount Theatre in Springfield. Unfortunately, I don’t know the date of the gig as the poster didn’t say.

Side A

1. Foggy Notion
2. One Of These Days
3. Countess Of Hong Kong
4. Ride Into The Sun
5. Ocean

Side B

1. I Can’t Stand it
2. Coney Island Steeplechase
3. I’m Gonna Move Right In
4. Lisa Says
5. Ferryboat Bill
6. She’s My Best Friend
7. We’re Gonna Have A Real Good Time 

Single B-Side

Andy’s Chest

The Squire Presents YouTube Channel

Normally I would only look to share one what-if album a month because they take a bit longer to put together than the compilations I post. However, the lockdown has given me a little bit more time and this particular piece also fits in nicely with the recent posts about Bowie that went online in February and April. 

Bowie did not see much in the way of success during the 60s, but he was laying down the groundwork for what would come later. He reeled a number of singles on the Vocalion Pop, Parlophone and Pye labels but none of them troubled the charts. Even with these singles behind him, he managed to secure a deal with Deram, a subsidiary of Decca Records. He released three singles and one album whilst on the label but none were chart hits, even though The Laughing Gnome made number 6 in the UK when it was re-released in 1973. The majority of these records were released in 1967, which was one of the most experimental years for music but this curious mix of music hall/ Anthony Newley style numbers fell on deaf ears. Bowie wrote a number of new songs and presented them to the label as potential singles but they were rejected effectively ending his association with Deram & Decca. However, this compilation looks at what might have happened if these songs had not been rejected and Bowie continued to be a Deram recording artist into 1968. 

Even though the recording sessions for the follow-up album were meant to start in the Spring of 1968, I have taken a view that anything that was demoed in that year could be used. I have also discounted any song that was used on the 1969 ‘David Bowie’ album as well, so no Space Oddity I’m afraid. What we have here is a solid, if not spectacular album which is a little rough around the edges, but that was down to the fact that very few of these songs were actually recorded in a studio. Most are simply demos. Would these songs have been changed once Bowie brought them into the studio? Who knows, but what we have here is a rough idea of what a second Bowie on Deram album would have been like, with accompanying singles. 

London, Bye, Ta, Ta – Originally this song was going to be the B-Side of the unreleased ‘In The Heat of the Morning’ single, but it sounded like a great place to start the album off and would have been wasted on the flip of a seven inch. It looks at how London is changing and has become something of a strange young town to the song’s narrator. 

Mother Grey – The influence of Ray Davies on Bowie’s early songwriting was evident on his debut album. With the release of these 1967/8 demos, you can see that Bowie had still not got all of this out of his system with Mother Grey. The song covers the domestic drudgery of Mother Grey as she cleans the house, makes dinner and polishes the picture frame of the son who has moved out of the family home. Similar to Ray Davies’ ‘Two Sisters’ then. 

The Reverend Raymond Brown (Attends The Garden Fete On Thatchwick Green) – This would not have sounded out of place on his debut album, seeing as it follows a cast of characters in an imaginary village. Various characters are mentioned including Rev. Brown who leads the village band during a fete whilst lusting after a local beauty and the local women gossiping about Sally who has got herself pregnant. All a bit Ray Davies. 

Goodbye Threepenny Jones – An observation song from Bowie where he watches a performing  artist performing a show with stories of sadness and despair. Bowie’s companion is heard laughing during these stories and then Joe is thanked for the show and asked not to come again. 

Angel, Angel, Grubby Face – Would this one have made the cut if the second album sessions had gone ahead, seeing as it has a very similar melody line (in places) to London, Bye, Ta, Ta? This song looks at the hustle and bustle of city life with the relatively peacefulness of the countryside. The Village Green Preservation Society before it came out I suppose. 

When I’m Five – Bowie must have thought highly of this song at the time because he not only recorded a studio version, but he also cut a version at the BBC for a radio session. This BBC version would be used as the soundtrack to the short promo film ‘Love You ‘Till Tuesday’. Is it a song for children, or just a child. Bowie sings as though he were a child and would have been this album’s ‘Laughing Gnome’.  

Ching-A-Ling – For a short time in 1968, Bowie was part of a folk trio with Hermione Farthingale (his girlfriend at the time) and initially Tony Hill who was soon replaced by John ‘Hutch’ Hutchinson. The only known studio recording session completed by the band was ‘Ching-A-Ling’ which producer Tony Visconti had booked without the approval of Bowie’s management as a way of getting a record contract. As it was, it didn’t. Bowie would record another demo in 1969 but that would be the last time he revisited the song. 

Love All Around – A lovely Bowie melody that seems to be a love song, but some of the lyrics in the chorus are a bit hard to hear due to his enthusiastic strumming. This causes the recording to become a bit distorted in places.  

The Mirror – Bowie spent time studying mime with Lindsey Kemp and this would be a source of income for him between 1967 and 1969. Kemp asked Bowie to write some songs for a show he was putting on called ‘Pierrot in Turquoise’ and this is one of those songs. The only known recording of these songs date from 1970 when the Pierrot show was broadcast on the BBC under the title of ‘The Looking Glass Murders’. These date from the time period of the second Deram Album and one of the songs, ‘Threepenny Pierrot’ was re-written to be London, Bye, Ta, Ta. 

Karma Man – Bowie had been studying Buddhism since the mid 60s and this song looks at a man who sits crossed legged with all of his world possessions on him. That being his clothes and beads. Could it be Bowie commenting on capitalism or just putting forward what he had seen from his studies of Buddhism? This song looks to have taken inspiration from Syd Barrett without sounding too much like the one time Pink Floyd front man. 

Love Song – When Hermione Farthingale broke up with Bowie and left Feathers, he and ‘Hutch’ Hutchinson continued to record demos and play the odd gig together. When they recorded a demo tape, it included a number of Bowie originals as well as a couple of covers. Bowie would include covers in a number of his early 70’s LPs including this song. Love Song written by Lesley Duncan; who the musicians can be heard talking about at the beginning of the song as she was a back-up singer for Dusty Springfield at that time. 

Life Is A Circus – Another song from the Feathers demo tape. This was originally recorded by an obscure folk group called Djinn. Bowie may well have come across them as Djinn had asked Tony Visconti to be their producer. It would be this demo tape that secured Bowie a contract with Mercury Records. 

Let Me Sleep Beside You – A blatant attempt at a hit single, and would have made a good A-side so it keeps that position here. Artists didn’t always put singles on their albums in the 1960’s. With some suggestive lyrics about a girl now being a woman, this was rejected by his label because of the song’s message. Strange as this was the label that in January 1967, had allowed The Rolling Stones to release “Let’s Spend the Night Together’. I suppose the difference being that the Stones sold a lot of records and Bowie, at this stage, had not. 

Columbine – Another song from the ‘Pierrot in Turquoise’ project. 

In The Heat Of The Morning – One of the songs put forward by Bowie to Dream as a potential single. This was one of the first recordings Bowie made with Tony Visconiti and this, like ‘Let Me Sleep Beside You’, was Bowie looking for a more commercial sound. Deram were not impressed though and the working relationship between the label and Bowie came to an end. 

April’s Tooth Of Gold – A song detailing young people and their interesting fashion sense and the older generation not having a clue as to what is going on. The characters and language used may well have been out of date by the time of the second album sessions, so relegation to a B-Side would have been a fitting home for it. The strumming is a bit reminiscent of Autumn Almanac by The Kinks.  

The release of ‘Conversation Piece’ in 2019 shows the leap that Bowie made between his two self titled albums was not as great as would first appear. With the demos opening a door on a songwriter honing his craft, would a second Dream album have allowed Bowie the development time to make that leap? Maybe, maybe not. 

Some of Bowie’s earlier material can be heard on the Songs of David Bowie podcast. http://www.thesquirepresents.co.uk/episode-87-the-songs-of-david-bowie/

Side 1

1. London, Bye, Ta Ta – 1
2. Mother Grey – 2
3. The Reverend Raymond Brown (Attends The Garden Fete On Thatchwick Green) – 2
4. Goodbye Threepenny Joe – 2
5. Angel, Angel, Grubby Face – 2
6. When I’m Five – 1

Side B

1. Ching-A-Ling – 2
2. Love All Around – 2
3. The Mirror – 3
4. Karma Man – 1
5. Love Song – 2
6. Life Is A Circus – 2

Singles

1. Let Me Sleep Beside You – 1
2. Columbine – 3
3. In The Heat Of The Morning – 1
4. April’s Tooth Of Gold – 3         

Key

1 – Taken from David Bowie (1967) Deluxe Edition

2 – Taken from Conversation Piece

3 – Demo from Looking Glass Murders (Currently Unreleased)

The cover of this compilation is adapted from The Dream Anthology release from 1997. 

Due to the still unreleased nature of some of these songs, it has not been possible to produce a Spotify playlist

The Squire Presents YouTube Channel