Last year, Beatles fans had to set aside a chunk of their holiday budget for the Beatles remasters. This year, it's Apple Records reissues.
Fifteen CD titles originally issued on Apple Records by artists including Badfinger, James Taylor, Billy Preston, Mary Hopkin, Doris Troy and Jackie Lomax will be reissued in remastered form on Oct. 25, EMI/Capitol Records announced Tuesday.
The new CDs will be made available by digital download and most of the new CD discs will include bonus material.
Each of the 15 albums of reissues has been digitally remastered at EMI's Abbey Road Studios in London by the same team involved with the Beatles' remastered catalog last year.
The list of albums being reissued are "James Taylor" (1968), Badfinger's "Magic Christian Music" (1970), "No Dice" (1970), "Straight Up (1972) and "Ass" (1974); Mary Hopkin's "Post Card" (1969) and "Earth Song, Ocean Song" (1971), Billy Preston's "That's the Way God Planned It" (1969) and "Encouraging Words" (1970), "Doris Troy" (1970), Jackie Lomax's "Is This What You Want" (1968), "Under the Jasmin Tree"/"Space" by the Modern Jazz Quartet (both on one CD) and "The Whale"/"Celtic Requiem" by John Tavener (both on one CD).
What's interesting in this announcement is what Apple albums aren't being reissued. These include the Lon and Derek Von Eaton album "Brother", David Peel's "The Pope Smokes Dope", "Elephant's Memory" and "Radha Krishna Temple." A spokesman wouldn't comment on the possibility of these being reissued later. Ravi Shankar's "Raga," also issued on Apple, is being reissued separately on his own label.
With Apple Records, the Beatles took the opportunity to sign new and established artists who appealed to each of them. The Apple Records releases crossed a wide spectrum. The Beatles themselves also lent a direct hand to many of the releases. Unlike many so-called vanity projects, these albums have stood the test of time. It's good to see them back.
- Beatles Examiner: Twitter, Facebook and MySpace.
If you like the Beatles, you won't want to miss this Beatles Examiner column or our Paul McCartney Examiner, which features news and features not included here. You can subscribe to the Beatles Examiner at the top of this page or the Paul McCartney Examiner, column, at the link. Don't miss either one. They're the first word in the Fab Four news you need to know from the webmaster of Abbeyrd's Beatles Page, the oldest and the best internet site keeping you informed of what's really happening with the Beatles for over 13 years. - Give us subscription love: Beatles Examiner, Paul McCartney Examiner, Vintage Rock 'n' Roll Examiner, TV on DVD Examiner
Comments
No "Maybe Tomorrow - The Iveys"??
Doesn't look that way, though the discs will have bonus tracks and maybe one of the Badfinger discs will include it. And it's always possible it could come later.
the liner notes in the orginal Apple Cd release make mention of a great unreleased version of Fire and Rain (which appeared two years later on Sweet Baby James). The notes go onto say that teh song was being held back for an Apple Rarities collection. It's been 23 years now! Will this be one of the bonus cuts?
What about (besides Maybe Tomorrow from The Iveys) The Best and the Very Best of Badfinger, Mary Hopkin´s Those Were the Days and the soundtracks to COME TOGETHER and EL TOPO?
What about the Apple LPs that Yoko released (YO/POB, Fly, Approximately Infinite Universe, Feeling the Space)?
I have all the Badfinger CDs (including The Iveys' "Maybe Tomorrow"), the Billy Preston, Jackie Lomax, and Doris Troy CDs, plus Mary Hopkin's "best-of" disc, "Those Were the Days." Unless the new discs have different bonus material, or have significantly better sound quality, I will probably keep the ones I have - these are not as high a priority for me as the Beatles CDs were.
In 1997, Rykodisc issued eight of Yoko's solo albums on CD - the four Apple albums, the previously unissued "A Story" from 1974 (some of the tracks did appear on the Onobox set from 1992), the three albums from the 1980s (Season of Glass [Geffen], It's Alright, and Starpeace [both Polydor], plus the three "Unfinished Music" albums with John (Two Virgins, Life with the Lions, and Wedding Album). If Yoko decides to reissue these, she will probably do so on her own and not through Apple.
Ken: In my interview with Yoko (see the link at the right in the Interview section), she says they're working on how to reissue her Apple CDs. Probably a logical guess you won't see them this year with the Lennon CDs coming.
Being a big APPLE RECORDS collector, this news is a bit disappointing for me. The press release mentions some bonus material, but most of the CD's on this release schedule had bonus stuff 20 years ago when they came out. There's no mention of any NEW bonus material. And, as several folks have pointed out, several LP titles are still awaiting their FIRST appearance on CD, and we're STILL waiting for that "rarities" set promised to us decades ago. I'll be saving my $$$ this time around ...
I am a big Badfinger fan, and have all the previously released CD's (from 20-odd years ago). I would hope the sound quality is vastly improved-- particularly on STRAIGHT UP. This music was in DIRE NEED of remastering. I will definitely re-purchase if the sound is improved.
I've been hoping for the Apple rarities collection, too, but it looks like it isn't coming this time around. And I'm still waiting for "Thingumybob" ... bummer! :-) But it will be nice to get sonic upgrades for James Taylor, Mary Hopkin, and (most of all, to me), Badfinger.
Yoko Ono's albums are presently in print(and with bonus tracks) on Rykodisc. I bought all of them.
As for the soundtrack albums for the films "El Topo" & "Come Together", they are owned by ABKCO, not Apple. Any reissue would have to come from ABKCO.
Any possibility of a boxed set of Apple CD's?
Got something to say?
Examiner.com is looking for writers, photographers, and videographers to join the fastest growing group of local insiders. If you are interested in growing your online rep apply to be an Examiner today!