BDJ's Cellar Full of Remixes

Here's another one for the Helen Shapiro fans. She never covered a Lennon-McCartney song, but she did cover songs that the Beatles also covered. The Beatles were Helen's backing group on her UK tour, so they probably played this track many times with Helen on lead vocals. No wonder that the Beatles version mashes well with Helen's recording.

The great White Piano features prominently in Lennon's Imagine. We all remember the clip, Lennon dressed in white, in a white room, at the white piano. Oh yes, Yoko was there too..... Still, to me, Imagine sounds like a song composed on guitar, not at the piano. Some support in the Imagine film, where Lennon has trouble playing the song on the piano for the first time to his friends (including Har...

Some of George Harrison's most beautiful songs suffer from 'overproduction', by certain producers who shall remain nameless. The recently released demo of Isn't It A Pity offers the opportunity to go back to the music, and hear it in its pure form. Added some strings, wind instruments etc.; the real tearjerker (for me) is the violin solo. See if it hits your soft spot.....

Paul made it no secret that Back in the USSR was a send-up from Check Berry's 'Back in the USA'; with some Beach Boys references for good measure. So why not make the circle round, and bring the US closer to the USSR ?

Here's another Novelty Record that never was. George Martin produced both the Beatles and Peter Sellers, so why didn't he ever combine the two ? We'll never know, but we do know - -now- what it would have sounded like.

George Harrison wrote Sour Milk Sea, recorded an acoustic demo, but did not release it himself. Jackie Lomax scored a minor hit with his version, helped by GH. What would it have sounded, if the Beatles had recorde Sour Milk Sea ? This is our best guess...

John rarely (never?) performed songs written by Paul. Paul, however, appears to have sung 'John' songs every now and then. Some of these occasions were captured on tape during the Let It Be sessions (1969). Paul did a rather serious attempt at I'm So Tired; unfortunatley, the backing by the others was rather lacking. Hence, we combined the released backing track with Paul's vocals.

Helen Shapiro and the Beatles go back a long time. The Beatles were Helen's backing group on her Uk tour, before they was fab..... They seem to have got along fine. Surprisingly, Shapiro never coverd a Beatles song, and the boys never composed one for her. Probably because she was not an artist under Epstein's management ? Anyway, the boys still helped her, for instance with cameo appearances on T...

It is October 14th, 1963. Billy J. Kramer and the Dakota's record "I'm in Love", a song given to them by John lennon. One of the few songs that JL gave away, and - perhaps - it was a rare occasion, John was present, to help Billy J through the track. What went wrong ? we don't know, but somebody (Lennon, George Martin ?) wasn't happy with the recording, and Billy J abadonded the track after 32 tra...

While cleaning out the attic of BDJ Towers, we stumbled on a tape; it carried a hand-written label, stating only: "Carnival of Light JPM". When we played the tape, we found it contained just fragments of speech, reversed loops and sound effects. So we erased it. The flip side of the tape was much more interesting: apparently a private copy of the Cavern Rehearsel sessions; this tape is special, si...

Revolution 2009 will carry us from Revolution take 20, to the day that Carnival of Light finnaly appears (and we will all be disappointed). It takes Revolution into the 21st century, going places that even John L. dare not go. Chockful of deeper meaninings and unmeasurable wisdom, it is key to solving the mysteries that still surround the Beatles. Contains contributions (and only those) by: Beatle...

George Harrison appears a man of extremes. On the one hand, he moans about having to pay taxes (Taxman), and not much later, he contemplates the meaning of Life, the Universe and Everything (The inner Light). Quite a journey, for a plumber from Liverpool. But what about the music, did it evolve as extreme as his lyrics ? Judge for yourself, and listen to this All Revealing retro-mix.

Ringo's greatest vocal performance ever, is so good, it could do well in an 'unplugged version'. Actually, Ringo did this in a duet with Sammy Davis junior; quite alright, but is now some time ago. So here's the 21st century version. Acoustic guitar(s), courtesy of Puerto Muerto.

Let me take you back, cause I'm going to the Hollywood Bowl. It is August 29, and the Beatles give their first performance of the '65 tour in Los Angeles. The Fabs are in great shape, and deliver an oustanding show, in spite of (or thanks to ?) the roaring crowd. Unfortuntaley, Paul's microphone does not work when the concert starts. The first song of the evening, Twist and Shout, has John on lead...

"Love Me Do" was recorded by The Beatles on four different occasions with three different drummers: The Beatles first recorded it on 6 June 1962 with Pete Best on drums, as part of their EMI audition at Abbey Road Studios in London. By 4 September, Best had been replaced with Ringo Starr and on that day The Beatles with Starr recorded a version again at Abbey Road Studios. One week later, on 11 Se...

Just for fun: the Karaoke-Beatles get some Help from the Beatles......

"Birthday' is a good old rocker on the White Album. It sort of evolved in the studio, with all four fabs contibuting their stuff. Was it the last track that was really a team effort by the Beatles ? Birthday is a rather simple song, but where are its roots, where did they find their inspiration ? In their childhood of course, when they played only rock and roll; Dizyy Miss Lizzy was a crowd please...

Please Please Me take 1 is "the one that got away". No recordings of the original Please Please Me survive, and it is likely that none ever existed. it is supposed to be significantly different from the released Please Please Me; George Martin claimed that he advised (demanded) that they speed it up. Lennon said he wrote it with Roy Orbison in mind; the Beatles toured with Orbison, and they repeat...

It was 40 years ago today (almost....) that the Beatles performed their Rooftop concert. Several songs were included on Let It Be, such as I've Got a Feeling". In fact, they performed this song twice, and the first perforamcne was used on the record. So, why not see what we can do with the 2nd perofmance of I've Got a Feeling ? I used the sound recordings of the cameras that filmed the conert: a c...

Happiness is a warm Gun is not a regular song, but a sequence of 3 or 4 songlettes. By chance or design, these fragments form a whole, that (for some) is more meaningful than any of its parts. The genius of Lennon at work ? Listening to Happiness IAWG, I realised that McCartney did something similar on the B-side of Abbey Road; the final this of Abbey Road is a sequence of songs, fitted tightly to...

Not a remix, but a Unique Recording. date: New Years eve 2007 place: BBC Hootananny vocals; Paul McCartney electric bass: Paul McCartney grand piano: Jools Holland & the Jools Holland orchestra Play it loud !

To celebrate the 40th 'Birthday' of Sgt Pepper, the BBC invited various bands to record tracks from Sgt Pepper; in Abbey Road studios, using the original equipment (4 track analogue recorders) and staff (Geoff Emerick). Two doumentantaries of the recording sessions were broadcast on TV. I'm not sure if an official album was ever released of these covers. They are intersting cover versions, also th...

Happiness is a Warm Gun appears to be a bit of a mixed bag, which seems to hang together for some reason. The meaning of most Lennon songs can be unravelled, just as I showed for his poetry. In this case, most will agree with a 'anatomical' intepreation of the 'gun' in the song. This also fits the "Mother superior jump the gun' refrain, since Lennon often referred to Yoko as 'Mother'. The first pa...

This is the season for love, world peace, and what does it it all mean anyway. Obviously, we look for guidance in these matters, and who better to help us along than George Harrison ? George confessed to support all religions (or the major ones at least), and - indeed - Dear One could be appreciated by many of different faiths. This version is a bit more lush, but still solemn, than the original....

Peter Sellers recorded She Loves You in a number of 'disguises'. Ranging form a Cockney version to the Irish Dentist. Here, we selected the 'German Version", because it combines well with the german version that the Beatles themselves did of She Loves You. Seller's German Version was not released in his lifetime, but can now be found on various compilations, all without music. Until today.......