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JANUARY /
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 THE BEATLES |
 THE WHO |
 ED SULLIVAN SHOW |
 MIKE HURST ORCHESTRA |
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JOHN LENNON Lennon Legend (Capitol)
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VARIOUS ARTISTS Concert For George (WSM)
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THE
BEATLES
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THE
WHO Live At The Royal Albert Hall (Steamhammer) Tommy (Geffen / Chronicles)
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VARIOUS
ARTISTS The Four Complete Historic Ed Sullivan Shows Featuring The Beatles (SOFA)
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MIKE
HURST ORCHESTRA Drivetime (Angel Air)
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Before
a conspiracy of hate ended the life of Beatles great John Lennon he
was able to make an indelible mark on 20th Century music. That Lennon
legacy is revisited once again on a new DVD overseen and released through
the auspices of his wife Yoko Ono Lennon. Through the marvels
of digital video wizardry, Ono and her crack crew have assembled twenty
video performances—including fifteen new videos with previously
unseen and magically altered footage—of Lennon’s greatest
and most impressionistic songs. While many of the videos actually serve
as futuristic scrapbook images of Lennon’s short time on earth,
there are some startling revelations for fans of Lennon the musical
innovator including an amazing “Cold Turkey”(newly overdubbed
footage from John & Yoko’s One To One concert from 1971),
a rousing live performance video of “Instant Karma!”, (in
fine fettle with band mates Klaus Voorman and drummer Alan
White) and, from the special features bonus section, a video of
Lennon (his last live performance?) with band performing “Imagine”
live before a jewelry-rattling crowd on April 18, 1975. John Lennon
loved New York City and many of the videos feature footage of John and
Yoko romping through the streets of Manhattan—haunting video clips
taken just a few short years before it all ended way too soon. Twenty
brilliantly conceived videos and a bunch of special feature extras—including
a hilarious selection of animated John Lennon line drawings that surely
would’ve brought a smile to the master’s face—makes the
Lennon Legend - The Very Best Of John Lennon DVD collection
a definitive dimension of irreplaceable memories. 
Recorded
live at the Albert Hall on November 29, 2002, Concert For George
is a noteworthy tribute concert honoring the music and spirit
of Beatles legend George Harrison. On November 18, 2003,
Warner Strategic Marketing released a double DVD set of the entire
concert, as well as a double CD set, featuring all the music from that
memorable night. A true keepsake of a spiritual musical night, the double
DVD set features one DVD of the entire two and a half hour concert exactly
as it happened with a second two and half hour DVD containing the theatrical
version of the concert which combines concert highlights, interviews
with the performers, rehearsals and behind the scenes footage. The Concert
For George DVD—as well as the companion CD version of the complete
concert—features superbly detailed booklets filled with stunning
artwork, remembrances and pictures of the concert event. A congregation
featuring some of George’s best known buddies—including music
director Eric Clapton, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr,
Billy Preston, Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty, Gary Brooker,
Jim Capaldi, Jools Holland, Tom Scott, Indian music
master Ravi Shankar, Ravi's daughter Anoushka Shankar
and George’s son Dhani Harrison—beautifully pool
their talents and put on a truly remarkable performance. Just watching
Paul McCartney’s transcendent version of “All Things Must
Pass” and Clapton summoning up his famous guitar solo on “While
My Guitar Gently Weeps” is worth the price of admission. Certainly
the most prominent George Harrison tribute concert to take place since
his passing on November 29, 2001, The Concert For George was
expertly filmed by David Leland, the director who worked with
George back in the ‘80s on the Traveling Wilburys video, “Handle
With Care”. Perhaps the significance of the Concert For George
is best summed up by George’s wife and concert organizer Olivia
Harrison, who adds “The Concert For George was all I hoped
it would be. I don’t think I’ve ever heard a band play with
so much emotion and respect.” 
In
a way cool move, Apple and Capitol dusts off the Beatles 1969 album
classic soundtrack Let It Be. According to the
press behind the late 2003 release of this wonderfully remixed alternative
version, Let
It Be... Naked was
“de-mixed and remixed, undubbed of orchestration, choirs and effects
and stripped back to the raw to reveal The Beatles simply as what they
were best at being - just a great band”. The eleven track CD features
a number of rarities like a startling un-Phil Spector-ized version of
“The Long And Winding Road” and an unreleased version of “Don’t
Let Me Down”. You’d think it was a bootleg but the incredible
sound quality compares favorably to even the best Beatles CD boot. Most
fans already have the Phil Spector mix of the official Let
It Be Lp and Cd, but even the staunchest Beatles fan will be in
for a pleasant surprise at the new soundstage mix of Let It Be...
Naked. Some of the craziness and spontaneity taken off this new
Naked version is included on a second bonus CD entitled Fly
On The Wall, which captures twenty minutes of The Fab
Four talking, rehearsing and reminiscing about the good old days in
the studio in early ‘69...all in superb, uncanny “Fly On The
Wall” hi-fi. 
Even
with the passing of founding member / bass great John Entwistle in
June 2002, the legend of The Who still shines brightly. A fitting
testimony to one of rock’s greatest bands, Live At The Royal
Albert Hall features the classic post-Keith Moon
lineup of Roger Daltrey, John Entwistle, Pete Townshend,
John “Rabbit” Bundrick and Zak Starkey performing
at Royal Albert Hall on November 27, 2000. A benefit for the Teenage
Cancer Trust fund, the concert—first released on DVD a couple years
back—features 2000 versions of favorites from Tommy, Who’s
Next and Quadrophenia along with live versions of the band’s
great mid ‘60s singles. The 25 track double CD set also features
guest appearances from Paul Weller, Eddie Vedder, Bryan
Adams, Oasis guitarist Noel Gallagher and more. Also included
here is a bonus third CD consisting of four tracks recorded live on
February 8, 2002—also at London’s Royal Albert Hall—marking
Entwistle’s last live recordings with The Who. With the spotlight
on Daltrey still effortlessly interpreting Townshend’s ever brilliant
songwriting catalog, Live At The Royal Albert Hall is a mature
snapshot of The Who with their musical powers very much intact.
A
quintessential piece of American culture is brought back to life on
a double DVD set released in November 2003 entitled, The Four
Historic Ed Sullivan Shows Featuring The Beatles. In
the wake of the post-JFK assassination exactly forty years ago, the
martyred President was all but forgotten by the country upon the arrival
of The Beatles, who, by the time of their first Ed Sullivan show
on February 9, 1964 had completely overtaken American radio, TV and
record shops. As the double DVD brilliantly recaptures for posterity,
The Beatles performed live on four different Sunday nite Sullivan TV
shows—two in NYC and one in Miami during the month of February,
1964 and also on the nite of September 12, 1965, the last Ed show demonstrating
just how advanced they had become in the wake of 1964 and Beatlemania.
For anyone unfamiliar with the impact of this pop culture turning point,
just be aware that the Sunday night Sullivan variety hour was a sacred
right back then and the Beatles' music and overall god-like glow provided
the perfect fodder for the masses to celebrate life again during that
cold wintry month in early ‘64. Overall, the double DVD looks fantastic
and in addition to the 20 Beatles tracks here, these four complete Sullivan
shows also features some of the greatest variety musicians, comedians
and vaudeville artists from the ‘60s—including favorites like
impressionist Frank Gorshin, heavyweight champs Sonny Liston
and Joe Louis, comedian Myron Cohen, the great Cab
Calloway, Cilla Black, Acker Bilk and Soupy Sales
with loads more, including all those wild and crazy TV commercials.
Four TV shows that signaled the end of the innocence, The Ed Sullivan
Show Featuring The Beatles reigns as the ‘60s pop culture DVD
of 2003. 
One
of the greatest producers / songwriters to emerge from England during
the ‘60s, Mike Hurst made his mark during the mid ‘60s
working with The Move, Marc Bolan, Spencer Davis Group and most notably,
Cat Stevens on his mid ‘60s Deram recordings. Over the years
Hurst has worked with everybody—for instance his 1964 band, The
Methods featured both Jimmy Page and Albert Lee on guitars and Tony
Ashton on keyboards. Over in England, Angel Air Records have
been helping to set the Hurst story straight. Most notably, their reissue
of Hurst’s 1969 album, Drivetime, with the Mike Hurst Orchestra,
is a must for aficionados of orchestral pop in the spirit of great U.K.
orchestraters like George Martin and Shadows’ producer Norrie Paramor.
Back in 1969 Hurst began laying the groundwork for the 12 track Dreamtime,
which was strangely commissioned and targeted at the American market.
Unfortunately, the album was never released, until now. And what a fine
effort it is / was! Featuring the finest U.K. pop session musicians
of the ‘60s—and members of the Royal Philharmonic and London
Symphony Orchestra—this orchestral pop masterpiece features symph-pop
renditions of ‘60s smashes like “Good Vibrations”, “Sounds
Of Silence”, “MacArthur Park” and “Theme From The
Wild Ones”. A fascinating artifact from the heyday of ‘60s
U.K. pop, Drivetime is packed with classic retro artwork and
liner notes that provides further proof of Hurst’s pop production
genius. Angel Air also have a number of other Hurst-related CD reissues
on the market including Mike Hurst: Producers Archives Volume
1 - featuring 16 classic Hurst pop productions of Paul &
Barry Ryan (1966), The Alan Bown (1969), The Four Tops
(the classic Motown group with a 1977 cover of “For Your Love”),
Colin Blunstone, Hardin & York, Samantha Fox and
many more. Other Hurst reissues on Angel Air includes Home / In
My Time (a 21 track two on one CD reissue of his two early ‘70s
album featuring Mary Hopkin on vocals, Rod Argent, pedal
steel wiz B.J. Cole and more) and a 13 track reissue of his early
‘80s work with Mary Hopkin and the group Sundance. Fascinating
CD retrospectives all, Angel Air should be applauded for their in depth
look back at the career of Mike Hurst.