The Squire Presents

It has been a while since I did a Beatles post, and even longer since I mentioned about the possibility of putting together a compilation of the songs that The Beatles covered on their albums. I actually covered this sort of thing in a podcast back in 2017 when looking at the original versions of the songs*. This play list creates a virtual album of all of the cover version the band released on their studio album, with the exception of Maggie Mae**. 

I took the view that this album would have been one of the numerous compilations that EMI put together in the late 70s after the bands contract ran out. I was surprised when looking into putting this together that EMI didn’t do this themselves back in the day. I pretty much followed the chronology of when these songs came out back in the day, except swapping some around so the length each sides is similar to the other corresponding side. That is down to the fact that this release if it had happened would have been put onto cassette tape. I also made the tracks on mine be the mono versions as these were the mix the band were happiest with. Annoyingly, I could only use stereo versions on Spotify which is the format EMI would have no doubt used if they had put this out themselves.

The cover is taken from an Italian release called The Beatles in Italy. 

Side A

1. A Taste Of Honey
2. Baby It’s You
3. Roll Over Beethoven
4. Anna (Go To Him)
5. Chains
6. Twist & Shout

Side B

1. Please Mister Postman
2. Till There Was You
3. Boys
4. Devil In Her Heart
5. You Really Got A Hold On Me
6. Money (That’s What I Want)

Side C

1. Slow Down
2. Honey Don’t
3. Long Tall Sally
4. Mr. Moonlight
5. Matchbox
6. Rock & Roll Music

Side D

1. Bad Boy
2. Everybody’s Trying To Be My Baby
3. Words Of Love
4. Act Naturally
5. Dizzy Miss Lizzy
6. Kansas City/Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey!

* http://www.thesquirepresents.co.uk/podcast/episode-54-songs-the-beatles-covered/.

** I did use this as part of an album of the covers the band made during the Get Back/Let it Be sessions which I had a look at back in November 2021. 

I find it hard to fathom that this month is the 30th Anniversary since the release of Belly’s first LP, ‘Star’. I remember watching the video to their song ‘Feed The Tree’ on some late late music show and then going down to my local Virgin Megastore (which was in Cardiff at the time) and picking myself up a copy. I absolutely loved this album and was excited when, a couple of years later, they released the follow up which was called “King’. That was it though. Two albums, a few single B-Sides and the odd song that had appeared on soundtrack albums. I was gutted that they did not make another album (at the time) and even though I followed the solo career of Tanya Donnelly, it just wasn’t the same. There was a ‘Best Of’ album (which was really more of a compilation of single mix, B-Sides and rarities) in 2002 and then in 2018, there was a new album. I was also able to see the band live, which was something I missed out on the first time around.

However, it was in their initial spell that I was most interested so I wondered if there was enough material from the B-Sides and rarities to make a third album. Well, there was and on the whole it is pretty good. I did consider including a couple of cover version, as I particularly liked their version of ‘Hot Burrito #1” and ‘Think About Your Troubles’. These would have made the record a bit on the long side.  

As it is, the album includes a raft of B-Sides, including ‘Broken’ which was initially only available on a vinyl single and one previously unreleased song, (Lilith) which would see the light of day on the ‘Sweet Ride’ compilation in 2002.

As for the title, I picked ‘Broken’ as it symbolises that the band had split up and also because Belly have only ever had one word album titles. 

Side A

1. Spaceman – Seal My Fate
2. Dancing Gold – Slow Dust EP
3. Lilith (Previously Unreleased) – Sweet Ride (The Best of Belly)
4. Broken – Seal My Fate (7” Version)
5. John Dark – Now They’ll Sleep

Side B

1. Baby’s Arm – Now They’ll Sleep
2. Sexy S – Feed The Tree
3. Dream On Me – Feed The Tree
4. Diamond Rib Cage – Seal My Fate
5. Sweet Ride – Gepetto
6. Thief – Now They’ll Sleep

The cover is adapted from the 7″ sleeve of the ‘Feed The Tree’ single.

The second and final sampler looking at all of the LPs Blood Records released in 2022, and this one does not have any exclusive releases so I was able to produce a Spotify playlist for you. 

Side A

1. Goodbye Bluefish – Low Island
2. Closer – The Kooks
3. Dig! – Sports Team
4. You (Just Looked Right Through Me) – Stanleys
5. Make It Easy – Phoebe Green
6. Nothing To Lose – The Howlers
7. Ghosts (How Can I Move On) – Muse

Side B

1. Alygatyr – Kasabian
2. Wild Horses II – First Aid Kit
3. Innocence & Sadness – Dermont Kennedy
4. Phantom – Rona Sawayama
5. Call Me By Your Name – Leah Weller
6. The Hard Way – Pale Waves

Side C

1. Strawberry Lemonade – Editors
2. Ready For Something – The Amazons
3. The Good Times – Paul Heaton & Jacqui Abbot
4. Bubble Wrap – Easy Life
5. About You – The 1975

Side D

1. St. George Wharf Tower – Jamie T
2. Gary Ashby – Dry Cleaning
3. Step Mum – Lauren HIbberd
4. Hideous – Oliver Sim (feat. Jimmy Summerville)
5. Memories – Yungblud & Willow
6. Heart Filled Up – Paolo Nutini
7. You’re Here That’s The Thing – beabadoobee

Happy New Year everyone. If I thought that Blood Records went into overdrive in 2021, then 2022 was something else. Last year, the label put out 57 records which is just five les than their entire output before then. It also means that this years sampler is going to be split over two separate releases with the first being a triple album and the second being a double. As with previous years, I have included one song from each of these albums. 

Due to the amount of releases this year and the likelihood of next year being about the same, if not more, this will be the last set of Blood Records samplers I will be producing. I am beginning to run out of space in the record room. 

The sleeve is one of the Blood Records logos taken from their Facebook page. 

Side A

1. Free To Be Lost – Calva Louise
2. Roman Holiday – Fontaines D.C.
3. They Sing At Night – Sundowners
4. Under The Radar – Foals
5. You Thought I Was Dead – Holy Youth Movement
6. More Pressure – Kat Tempest (feat. Kevin Abstract)

Side B

1. The Grass – Michael Head & The Res Elastic Band
2. Every Window Is A Mirror – Joywave
3. Mecca – Nick Mulvey
4. Moscow Rules – Liam Gallagher
5. Throw Myself Away – Girl
6. Short Ballad – The Coral

Side C

1. If We Get Caught – Bloc Party
2. All the Time – Fatherson
3. I Can’t Drive – Crawlers
4. Hand Of God – Gang Of Youths
5. New Ways – Bear’s Den

Side D

1. Cold Sweats – The Royston Club
2. Payday – Yard Act
3. Glow – Fickle Friends
4. Sick – Sea Girls
5. Get Better – alt-J

Side E

1. Gold Rush Kid – George Ezra
2. Always Ascending – Franz Ferdinand
3. Don’t Let It Get You Down – Miles Kane
4. Sunset – The Feens
5. Surfacing – Larry Pink The Human

Side F

1. Bad Summer – Spector
2. Come Over (Again) – Crawlers
3. If You Ever Leave, I’m Coming With You – The Wombats
4. Visions – Blossoms
5. Memento Mori (Live) – Architects

This playlist could not be reproduced as Spotify did not have all of the songs on its platform.

A year ago, I posted a collection of what could only be described as, not the best Christmas records that have ever been made. One of the songs on that collection was ‘All I Want For Christmas Is A Beatle’ by British actress, Dora Bryan. I knew that there were a number of Beatles related novelty records and I wondered if there was enough to make an LP full of ones with a Christmas theme. To my surprise, there is. 

Even though The Beatles released their first single in 1962, it was in the following year that their popularity skyrocketed with the term Beatlemania being coined in October of 1963 to describe the hysteria the band caused where ever they went. It was in this year that the first Christmas Beatle themed record was released with the aforementioned Dora Bryan. What I find quite surprising, is this is the only one from that year I could find. 1964 would be different matter all together with every other song from this collection coming from that year, with the majority coming from North America. 

The Beatles had not had the best of starts in North America. British artists before them had had some chart success in the U.S., but not that much. Capitol, EMI’s label in the U.S. initially refused the release Beatle records so Vee-Jay, one of the first African-American owned labels were offered a chance to release the bands records. The records did not sell particularly well to begin with but this was about to change. 

The Beatles themselves came to North American when they made a short visit in early 1964, but word of their music and style had been reported in the US press from late 1963. Their single, ‘I Want To Hold Your Hand’ was a radio hit before being released three weeks early than initially planned (by a now on board Capitol) and Vee-Jay started to see the benefit of their deal because the songs they had the licenses for started selling in huge quantities. With an appearance on the Ed Sullivan show and a US tour, it was no surprise that 1964 was also the year where a good many people though that releasing a Beatles themed Christmas record was a sure fire way of achieving massive sales and profits. As it turns out, none of these made much of a dent in the charts with the record being public more keen on the real thing. 

What of the song themselves. For some reason, and this is true of non Christmas related Beatles songs,  Ringo is defiantly the most popular Beatle. He is the only member of the band mentioned by name in any of the titles. It also seems to be a case of finding anything to rhyme with Ringo. For example, there was bingo, by jingo, thingo etc. According to Gerry Ferrier, Ringo also became the name of one of Santa’s reindeer due to not having antlers, but Beatle hair. John might not have been such a popular choice as news that he was married (and with a son) had already became known after initially being kept secret. I’m not sure why the other two aren’t mentioned much. Considering these songs were written in isolation, there is quite a number who share the same title. There are also plenty of references to holding Beatle hands as well.

After 1964, it seems that the time of wanting a Beatle for Christmas had passed. There weren’t any Beatles Christmas related novelty songs from 1965 onwards, unless you know any better. Was it that the bands audience were growing up? Was it down to the image of the band changing, in no small part to the music they were making becoming more mature? Whatever the reason, this is a fascinating snapshot of a time when Beatlemania ruled the world. 

Side A

1. All I Want For Christmas Is A Beatle – Dora Bryan
2. I Want A Beatle For Christmas – Patty Surbey
3. Santa Bring Me Ringo – Christina Hunter
4. Ringo Deer – Garry Ferrier
5. Ringo Bells – Three Blonde Mice
6. Santa Bring Me Ringo – Tich

Side B

1. I Want A Beatle For Christmas – Becky Lee Beck
2. Bring Me A Beatle For Christmas – Cindy Rella
3. Bring Me The Beatles For Christmas – Jackie & Jill
4. I Want A Beatle For Christmas – The Fans
5. Christmas With The Beatles – Judy & The Duets

The cover image was taken from a Pinterist post by Nanna, and is based on the Beatles cartoon that ran on US TV between 1965 to 1967. I also included the VJ Records logo because if this had been released back in the 1960’s, I am sure they would have been the company who would want to cash in after losing their cash cow not long after gaining it. 

A massive thanks to Darryl Bullock for his help in putting this compilation together. Check out his rather fine website dedicated to the wonderful world of bad records. https://worldsworstrecords.blogspot.com/

When it comes to the Bee Gee’s 60s catalogue, it has been well served with re-releases in both mono and stereo versions along with alternative mixes and unreleased tracks. A number of these had a Christmas theme so I have put them together as an EP that the band could have released in 1968 instead of the single ‘I Started A Joke’.

The opening song is All My Christmases (Came At Once) which the Gibb brothers had given to The Majority to be used in the film ‘The Mini Mob’, or ‘The Mini Affair’ depending on which market you are looking at. The next two songs were both recorded for a Christmas themed television show called ‘How On Earth’, that was filmed at Liverpool Cathedral. We finish up with a demo of a 1968 song called ‘Come Some Christmas Eve Our Halloween’, which might not have the most festive of lyrics by Robin Gibb, but he would come back to this song for his festive album ’My Favourite Christmas Carols’ in 2006. 

Side A

1. All My Christmas (Came At Once)
2. Medley – Hark The Herald Angels Sing/Silent Night

Side B

1. Thank You For Christmas
2. Come Some Christmas Eve Or Halloween

I could not find a Christmas picture of the group from the late 60s, so I adapted the cover of an unofficial album that shows them performing in a studio. Not very festive, but it does look good. 

Following on from our look at The Bee Gees album that never was in our last post, we are now going to have a look at what Robin did in his first attempt at a solo career. Initially, Robin’s solo career started with a bang with his first song ‘Saved By The Bell’ making number 2 in the UK singles charts. This single is thought to be one of the first to have been a hit with a drum machine on it. The drum machine sound might have been something new in 1969, but it has dated the recording on which it was used. After this impressive start, the momentum was lost. ‘One Million Years’, the follow up single was a minor hit and the parent album which was called ‘Robin’s Reign’ did some good business in Germany and Canada but failed to chart in the rest of the world. Unperturbed, Robin continued to record as a solo artist even though he did admit that at this stage he missed the camaraderie of working with his brothers. 

The songs on these sessions dispersed with the drum machine and for the most part included orchestral arrangements to flush out the sound. Were these songs meant for a second album? Robin himself was unsure and hinted that he was not really trying to be a solo artist, but doing something to bide the time. The production on these songs would say otherwise considering Robin is backed up with what sounds like a full orchestra. As it was, none of these recording saw the light of day until 2015 when the ‘Saved By The Bell’ compilation was released, which was a collection of Robin Gibb’s solo work between 1968 and 1970. If only the solo works of Maurice and Barry would get this sort of treatment. This second album has been given the name ‘Sing Slowly Sisters’ down the years and using the material included on the aforementioned release, I have put together what could have been his second album, especially if Barry and Maurice had continued to release material as The Bee Gees*. In reality, by June of 1970, he and Maurice were back in the studio and by August, Barry had joined them reuniting The Bee Gees who would keep recording until Maurice passed away in 2003.

Side A

1. Engines Aeroplanes
2. I’ve Been Hurt
3. Return To Austria
4. Everything Is How You See Me
5. The Flag I Flew
6. Anywhere I Hang My Hat
7. Life

Side B

1. Sing Slowly Sisters
2. Loud & Clear
3. C’est La Vie, Au Revoir
4. Irons On The Fire
5. It’s Only Make Believe
6. All’s Well That End’s Well

Single

1. Great Caesars Ghost
2. Sky West & Crooked

‘Great Caesars Ghost’ was talked about as being a single at the time, so if we were to continue with the time line of the second LP, why not have a single to go with it. ‘Sky West & Crooked’ was included as the B-Side because it sounds more like a demo and not the finished, orchestrated material that made up the rest of the album. It just sounded too out of place to be on the album but too good to be forgotten about completley. The front cover of the LP is taken from ‘I Design Album Covers’ website (https://idesignalbumcovers.tumblr.com). 

*See the previous entry for further information.