by Steve Marinucci, Beatles Examiner
(If you were a Beatle fan, you have to admit 2008 was a strange year in regard to news from the Beatles. There was great news and there was weird news. This is one of a series of items we’re writing as a review of Beatle news from the past year.)
The year 2008 was a fairly good one musically for the Fab Four. Expectations from the general public weren’t really high, but in many instances, they were exceeded by the albums Ringo and Paul released.
There were no official musical releases from the Beatles brand this year. The Beatles 2006’s “Love” (available in CD, CD/DVD and vinyl) and 2000’s “1″ remain the prime financial movers in the Beatles’ musical marketplace and probably will remain that way until the much rumored Beatles’ digital downloads and remastered CDs are reality. At least one of those two thing should happen in 2009, if logic holds true.
One curious release that featured three of the four Beatles was the Shout Factory DVD “John, Paul, Tom and Ringo: The Tomorrow Show With Tom Snyder”. The archival release featured past Tom Snyder interviews with John Lennon, Paul and Linda McCartney and Ringo Starr. All things considered, this one was worth picking up solely for the April, 1975, Lennon interview, the last televised one he gave before his death. It featured Lennon at his wittiest and Snyder at his dopiest.
Of the surviving former Beatles, Ringo Starr was by far the busiest in 2008, releasing three albums under his name. Among the configurations of his “Liverpool 8″ album, on the Koch label, was something innovative — a USB wristband that contained the entire album on digital download plus a video. “Liverpool 8″ (the song) was a very nice homage to his Liverpool roots and the album, over all, was quite enjoyable. But the homage to his roots somewhat backfired when the usually straightforward Ringo made an offhand comment on TV that he didn’t miss the city, causing a firestorm there among residents. He later apologized. Koch also released a CD and DVD from his All Starr Band concerts of 2006 that acted as a promotion for his 2008 tour.
But the biggest surprise on a number of levels was “Ringo 5.1,” a collection of remixes of recent Ringo solo tracks that netted the drummer his first ever solo Grammy nomination.
Paul McCartney had some surprises up his sleeve as well. In midyear, he released a track for charity by the Fireman, his previous nom de plume for avant-garde releases. But the new track, “Lifelong Passion,” was different and exciting. For one, it had vocals. For another, it broke the mold of McCartney being McCartney. Here was a more edgy song than his usual output. The subsequent album, “Electric Arguments” (CD, mp3 and LP) was a triumph with critics, though its time on the upper reaches of the charts was short, possibly due to the fact McCartney’s name wasn’t prominent as a McCartney release would be. He also released a DVD of his latest classical work, “Ecce Cor Meum.”
Former Beatle Pete Best and his band released a new CD in 2008 called “Hayman’s Green,” their first original album, named after the street where the Best family’s Casbah Coffee Club was located. The album, like his live show, featured a sound that recalled the Beatles in the days when Best was their drummer.
For Beatles scholars and fans interested in more than listening to Beatles music, two excellent DVDs, “Composing The Beatles Songbook: Lennon and McCartney 1957-1965″ and “Composing The Beatles Songbook: Lennon and McCartney 1966-1970,” were invigorating discussions about the Lennon and McCartney partnership by a host of veteran journalists and musical personalities, including Klaus Voormann, Maureen Cleaves, Barry Miles, Robert Christgau and Anthony DeCurtis.
Both Paul and Ringo played concerts this year. Ringo did a full-scale All-Starr Band tour in the U.S., while Paul did shows in selected cities, including his hometown of Liverpool.
But perhaps the show that caused the most commotion was his surprise appearance at the Billy Joel going away party for Shea Stadium. Here’s a YouTube clip of the first of his two songs:
So what will 2009 provide? The Beatles rarely show their cards before they need to, but a good guess is that the iTunes stalemate, which Paul McCartney mentioned in his press conference promoting “Electric Arguments,” will be resolved and the Beatles will make a long long overdue debut in the legal mp3 universe. However, collectors aren’t standing around waiting. Internet bootleg Beatles compilations, while illegal, are out there.
A Beatles video game, by the makers of “Rock Band,” but not “Rock Band,” was announced in late October for 2009. The game will feature a reported 45 songs from the Beatles catalog. Giles Martin will be the game’s musical supervisor. “The project is a fun idea which broadens the appeal of The Beatles and their music. I like people having the opportunity to get to know the music from the inside out,” Paul McCartney said in a press release announcing the Beatles’ partnership with “Rock Band” creators Harmonix.
So it looks like more forays into the new technology — and also hopefully the old one, with the digital downloads and the rumored remasters.
One thing, though. Simon Cowell of “American Idol” recently commented he has tried hard to get Paul McCartney on the show. Presumably, he’ll try again. Look, it’s bad enough Beatle songs (in generally horrible versions) were on that show last year. I sincerely hope Sir Paul won’t give them the time of day.
At any rate, Happy New Year!
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