Chu-Bops Bubble Gum Beatles Miniature Album Collection

Between 1981 and 1983, Chu-Bops produced 9 different series of 3" X 3" grooved bubble gum records housed in replica LP sleeves with a song lyric on the back. Each LP sold for 35 cents apiece. Series six featured Elvis Presley, series nine The Rolling Stones, and series eight covered 16 Beatles albums on the Capitol (and AHDN soundtrack on United Artists) label. Presented here are scans from my collection (thanks, Jeff) of ten different Beatles mini albums, still sealed. Looks like the White Album suffers the same fate as its vinyl counterpart - ring wear!

More Trading Cards: The River Group, 1993

Here are some scans from the 1993 trading card set from The River Group. These are very easy to come by if you wish to search them out for purchase. These excellent pictures are large hirez scans, so click to enlarge them.

The last photos are some I took to celebrate the release of The Beatles' remasters. My best friend had purchased these Japanese Beatles figures for me a couple of years ago, and I hadn't taken them out of the box until 09.09.09 to take these festive photos!

Happy Birthday, John: October 1963, Their Green Street Flat

These photos were taken by Beatles Monthly photographer Leslie Bryce when he and editor Johnny Dean visited The Beatles at their London Green Street flat on October 11, 1963. Dean brought John a sack of birthday cards and gifts from fans that had been sent to the magazine's headquarters, located just a half mile from the flat.

As Dean and Bryce entered, the lads were having their morning breakfast of marmalade and toast. Bryce snapped away as they pulled faces for the sake of the camera. When John began rummaging through the pile of cards and gifts, he came across a trick bow tie, which he immediately put around his collar. Some of the cards are visible in the photos above, including a suggestive one detailing one of the Fabs' favorite pastimes! After the photo session, The Beatles departed for a concert at the Trentham Gardens in Stoke.

October of 1963 was a pivotal month in the career of The Beatles - they topped the bill on Sunday Night at the London Palladium, the term "Beatlemania" was coined, "She Love You" achieved gold status, they recorded "I Want To Hold Your Hand," and they were asked to appear at the Royal Command Performance for the Queen Mother and Princess Margaret the following month.

Inside the Abbey Road Sessions

In celebration the triumphant arrival of the long awaited remasters sets, as well as the 40th anniversary of Abbey Road, I present some scans of photos taken during the Abbey Road recording sessions. I acquired the first composite when those photos were up for auction some years back. They were remarkable, as very few photos from these sessions have emerged over the years.

The next two, one of Paul and one of John, appear in the latest edition of Mojo magazine, which features excellent articles on the remasters, Rock Band and an interview with Paul about the Abbey Road album.

The rest of the photos appeared in the September and October 1969 issues of Beatles Monthly. Here we see each of the Beatles getting a turn to mess about with George's Moog IIIp synthesizer, which he had purchased back in February but had only used at Kinfauns to record the track "Under the Mersey Wall" on the Electronic Sounds LP. These photos were likely taken on August 5, 1969, when George brought the Moog to the studio. On this day, George used the Moog to enhance John's mystical song, "Because" (Read all about this in John C. Winn's book That Magic Feeling p. 313--seriously, get Winn's books ASAP).

Because some stores have broken the street date on the remasters, I have been fortunate enough to hear some of the stereo releases--and I have been sufficiently blown away by them! I think the engineers have done a smashing job and deserve our deepest thanks.

But Oh, That Magic Feeling

Nowhere to go...
"Soon we'll be away from here/Step on the gas and wipe that tear away/One sweet dream came true today."

"You Never Give Me Your Money" is some of Paul's finest writing, summing up his personal view of the acrimony between the Beatles, the freedom he was about to attain with their break up, and the solace he found within his new marriage. It's a magic feeling to have the rug pulled out beneath you, the tether severed, and one is forced to either soar or to fall flat. It's all or nothing--fear and possibility, no regrets. Linda granted Paul the freedom to be indulgent, to fail, to shed a bit of his famous perfectionism, which proved personally healthy for him whether all of his subsequent solo/Wings albums lived up to their potential or not (which is up for debate).

In tribute to the Abbey Road album, celebrating a 40th anniversary next month, I present various perspectives--some from the past and some from the present. The Rolling Stone reviews--one effusive with praise, the other rife with criticism--are quite interesting, as well as the vintage NME piece, which also includes information on John and Yoko's Plastic Ono Band and George's Krishna Consciousness. I've also included a couple of ads promoting the album. The lengthy retrospective published in the October 2000 issue of Mojo includes reminiscences by Paul, George and Ringo.

I received this interesting bit of information via email; sounds like a wonderful trip:

Did you know that the Beatles wrote 48 songs in 7 weeks on their 1968 trip to India?

This was the most creative musical period for the group, according to Beatles expert and author, Paul Saltzman.

Beatles fans can relive the Beatles memorable visit to India on the first “Beatles in India Tour," Feb. 11-28, 2010. Travelers will visit the Rishikesh, India ashram where the Beatles wrote music and meditated, do yoga, and meet renowned Indian musicians Ravi Shankar and Ajit Singh that performed with the group. They will visit Jaipur, Agra, Bombay, New Delhi and other cities, whitewater raft and enjoy a spa treatment. Emmy Award-winning film director Paul Saltzman, who met and photographed the Beatles in India in 1968, will escort the tour. Saltzman’s pictures of the group have been shown in galleries worldwide and have been published in two books. The tour costs US$7980 (EUR5582) (per person based on double occupancy).

Learn more at www.bestway.com or call toll-free 1-800-663-0844. Outside the US and Canada, call 604-264-7378 (Canadian number).

From the Pages of the NME

I'm sorry that I have been unable to update lately. Please check out the comments section of the June 29th entry if you would like to see the entire Let It Be book. I will not be doing any more scans since it is readily available for all who would like to view it.

Today, I present scans from the vault of the New Musical Express, the UK music weekly that has been in publication since March 1952. This was the first UK magazine to develop a music chart, inspired by Billboard in the US. From the beginning, NME were champions of the British music scene, particularly that of the Beatles.

In recent years, Uncut magazine has been publishing classic articles and photos from the archives of NME, including three Beatles-related issues. The pictures and articles here were taken from Vol. 1, Issue 1. The articles offer great insight into the Beatles' world and a unique perspective as well. It is also interesting to see the vintage yellowed piece of paper that have been torn from an issue.

By Request...

I present 12 pages from the 164 page Let It Be book, a collection of photographs by Ethan Russell and text by Jonathan Cott and David Dalton, which accompanied the album in all major markets--except the United States. United Artists refused to issue the album with such deluxe packaging, fearing the resulting higher price would lead to lower sales in the US. More scans to follow...