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Well, call us crazy or whatever, but we spent the $12.99 and bought the iTunes version of "Let It Roll: Songs by George Harrison" for the "Isn't It a Pity" demo added in.
It is beautiful, there's no doubt. It times in at 2:59 and features George backed very sparsely. The Phil Spector Wall of Sound is missing, but certainly not missed.
And from what we can tell, this isn't on any bootlegs. There has been a demo of "Isn't It a Pity" out among collectors, but that one starts with a count-in by and has a full band backing him.
Of course, offering this track for $12.99 (you can't buy it separately) is really a questionable move. At least put it on the CD, which is going for $3 less at Amazon.com.
Comments
The iTunes track really only cost $3 since the album without it is $9.99 at amazon.com. I'm guessing its worth the $3.
Note that adding a 3 minute song will put the album over the length of a CD, so something else would have to be dropped.
It's $9.99 at BestBuy also...
$12.99 is a lot for a CD, that you will always have - but $275 is not a lot to pay for concert ticket?? LOL
Anyway if you go to NY radio station Q1043: you can hear the entire CD on their player. Click On George's photo in the big photo at left side top of site.
make that Q1043 website.
BP: The CD doesn't have the demo. Only iTunes does.
I`ll wait to torrent the Demo from any torrent Site.
Vineet: Correct. The iTunes version is longer than a regular CD.
Well, they found ANOTHER way to screw up this release ! Sure, the demo is beautiful, but why put a REPEAT title on there (the studio version - all 7 minutes of it) is on there. With SO MANY hits left off, a demo of (pick one: You / Crackerbox Palace / Dark Horse / This Song / Bangladesh, etc) would have been an even better choice.
Don't forget! - iTunes sells music only is some countries. This way EMI is restricting George's music from worldwide audiences, and I won't buy the CD either, because what if iTunes Music is launched in my country in the near future? I hate iTunes.
scruphy, you can't buy JUST the iTunes bonus track. Every track on the album is available to purchase separately except - what a surprise - the bonus track. To get that you have to buy the entire CD off iTunes, even if you've splashed out for the entire CD from a shop.
$13 for a single track is a bit too pricey...even for George
At least they're putting it out around the same time so people can decide to go for one or the other if they want. Macca put out Memory Almost Full in regular and deluxe versions only to turn around months later and release an even better deluxe version with dvd, so people that thought they were getting the best one at the time had to buy the whole thing again if they wanted to dvd. I don't like it when they do that. It squeezes us a bit more after we've all spent a lot already. <sigh> but I love my Beatles...
Oh, and concert tickets are priceless! I spent a TON on front row seats back in 2005 and I have never regret it. Macca came over and talked to me from the stage! That is something I will get joy from for the rest of my life! True - expensive nosebleeds don't offer that kind of memory, but being at a live show is still an experience. I guess that's why these shows sell out like they do. I was in Vegas and that was truly amazing. Again, totally worth it!
Net result: I'm not buying the album until they release an actual CD with all the tracks on it. There are only four reasons for a person with all George's CDs to buy this new disc:
1 - the remastered sound quality - but if you buy it from iTunes you get sub-CD sound quality
2 - the packaging - which you won't get at iTunes
3 - the Dylan cover from the Porky's soundtrack
4 - the demo of Isn't It A Pity
Until they release a version which provides all four of those in one package, I'll keep my money and listen to the discs I have. And regarding the thought that something else would have had to have been cut out - is this actually an 80 minute CD? I doubt it.
Sing with me ...Were "Living In The Material World" George Harrison is selling singles on I-tunes, nothing we can do except pay for the tune.
Wouldn't be so bad if he were donating ALL THE PROFITS for the extra track to the Material World Foundation.
The "Isn't It A Pity" demo was recorded on January 26, 1969, after a Beatles session. It was noted in Lewisohn's "Recording Sessions" book. It's never been bootlegged. It probably should have been on Anthology 3, it DEFINITELY should be on a CD, but at least we have it in some form.
Shouldn't the record companies be rewarding us for buying the actual cd and not punishing us loyal record buyers?
Isn't there a feedback email address on GH.com or you can email Dhani at his band's site or Facebook and let him know opinion of how they are offering the demo & price?
The length of the CD is 77:26; and if we add 2:59 to it (the length of the demo), the total length would become - 80:25. Please note that the length of some post-1999 Beatles albums:- "1" - 79:08, "LOVE (CD, vinyl)" - 78:37, and "LOVE (DVD-audio)" - 80:34. So I think the track could have been included as it would be less than "LOVE (DVD-audio)".
Also, I agree with 'Sean' that it should have been on "Anthology 3", being very much from the Beatles era (26 Jan 69), just as all of 'Junk', 'Not Guilty', 'Teddy Boy', and 'All Things Must Pass', were included in it, though each were later included in McCartney or Harrison's later individual albums.
Rob is spot-on. I think the track selection is pretty strange, but if the demo were included on the CD, I'd buy it, no questions asked. It just makes no sense that the ONE previously unreleased song would only be available as a digital album-only bonus track and I'm disappointed in Olivia and Dhani for allowing it (yes, I'm sure EMI played a part, but Olivia was the one who finalized the track list; the demo could've easily been included on the CD).
The compilation itself is a blatant insult to George as it is, and the way they're handling the demo just goes against all his anti-material world views. A shame.
Here's how I think of it.
First, why are people not flipping out - isn't this technically the first real Beatles recording available on iTunes? Am I wrong? If this was really recorded in 1969, even if it's only George, doesn't that qualify as a Beatles recording?
Second, if in 1994, George had released a UK only CD single, I would have paid $12 if the b-side was a Beatles era demo recording. Yes, $12 is a lot to pay, but I'm glad to have it.
iTunes sells exclusive bonus tracks because that's what iTunes does. McCartney's Memory Almost Full had an exclusive on the pre-order, and the new bonus tracks on his classic albums are "album only." That's how they attract customers to their products.
And it's not mp3s, it's m4a lossless. Having bought one of the McCartney albums on iTunes for that bonus cut — because I wanted a clean version of the full "Goodnigh Tonight" — the difference between it and CD is not noticeable.
Well well well, what a dilemma. Buy the music CD for high resolution audio but don't get the bonus track. Buy access to the iTunes files and you get a bonus track - but in m4a format. What's the correct choice here? It obviously seems like the designers are pushing for people in my position to buy the album as m4a files, to get at that bonus track. It sort of beats going to a store to get it, but, honestly, I'm not sure if it is the right decision, when I've got all his other music on official CDs. In fact I smell a bit of fleecing when I put two and two together and realize what they really hope I might do - buy both formats. On CD to make my oversized collection feel complete, and in m4a files so I can get the bonus track. However if I sit and debate with myself long enough, that bonus track will be flying around cyberspace soon enough. I seriously would rather buy the CD in this case and save a few dollars.
Buy the physical album from Amazon, or a brick and mortar store, and illegally download the bonus track. (Shouldn't be too difficult to find.) Problem solved.
Rob writes, "Buy the physical album from Amazon, or a brick and mortar store, and illegally download the bonus track. (Shouldn't be too difficult to find.) Problem solved."
I have to wholeheartedly concur with this assessment, and doesn't that pretty much review record companies and their new release tactics? They unwittingly give life to the bootleggers and file shareres, and they deserve it. As if this abysmal compilation couldn't get any worse...
-Pete
And now I see that Olivia wanted it to be two disc set. Well, that makes me feel better. She's a great lady and, overall, is tending to George's legacy quite well, but they blew it on this one. If she wanted it to be a two disc set, then she should have been more forceful in pushing for that. This set is only slightly less embarrassing than the 1976 compilation (half Beatles, half George). An opportunity lost...
For some reason i find this version quite similar to the one found on ROLL 477A on the nagras, not really sure if it is from the multitracks of one of those days.... any way very good version, is a shame is to "expensive" so to speak
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