Paul McCartney: Out There - Ecuador

Sir Paul McCartney played his first ever show in Ecuador on Monday night.
The former Beatles star took to the stage at the Estadio De Liga in the country's capital of Quito, 2,800 metres above sea level, making it the highest concert Sir Paul has ever played.
He later took to Twitter and posted a photograph of himself carrying the flag of Ecuador on stage, along with the message to his 1.9m followers: 'Ecuador - what a night! Thank you.'

The complete Ecuador concert from April 28th 2014, amateur recording.

To celebrate his visit, local authorities organised for a meet and greet between the musician and the Ecuadorian Beatles Fan Club.

Romanian Angel Appeal

George and Olivia Harrison promoting the 'Romanian Angel Appeal' on "Wogan".

This version of this song was included on the "Nobody's Child: Romanian Angel Appeal" charity album released in 1990 to benefit Romanian orphans, under the auspices of the Romanian Angel Appeal Foundation.

Artists donating tracks include the Traveling Wilburys, Stevie Wonder, Paul Simon and George Harrison, Eric Clapton, Van Morrison, Guns N' Roses, Ringo Starr, and Elton John. All songs were previously unreleased, and "Nobody's Child" (backed with "This Week") and "With a Little Help from my Friends" were released as singles.

The charity album

The project was organized by Olivia Harrison, who created the Romanian Angel Appeal Foundation with the other wives of The Beatles (Barbara Bach, Yoko Ono and Linda McCartney) in April 1990.

A Beatles wives project

In Bucharest, a handful of good-hearted, dedicated and well-trained people (doctors, sociologists, nurses) helped the founding members and the international community to renovate Romanian orphanages, managing the funds, identifying people, talking, negotiating, persuading. They were the heart of the foundation which is today just as alive and active for Romania’s children and adults in need.

The single

Since 1991 Romanian Angel Appeal has been responding to the HIV/AIDS and TB epidemics across Romania through pioneering projects and programs, providing integrated treatment, care and prevention services to more than 4,000 beneficiaries per annum: children, adults, health workers and other professionals.

RAA counts of 34 staff members, and 30 collaborators nationalwide. RAA has been involved in various international programs, is an organization member of National Coordination Committee for Global Fund Romania, Member of the Penta Network. As Principal Recipient of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS TB and Malaria (2007 – ongoing) , RAA coordinated and monitored the activity of 35 governmental and civil society organizations involved in the implementation of the Global Fund HIV and TB grants in Romania.

RAA Foundation continues to work to this day in national and international projects dealing with: HIV and TB prevention; developing and delivering services and social integration opportunities for people affected by HIV, TB and ASD; advocacy campaigns; social, medical and operational research in the area of HIV, TB and ASD.

Old VHS bootleg videos

From the New Jersey based "Video Warehouse", here are some illegally released Beatles video cassettes from 1987. The contents came from old super 8 and regular 8 mm movies which were sold to the fans by some movie manufacturers in the sixties. We have featured upgraded versions of these films in this blog.

The back cover of the Shea Stadium film.

A colour concert from the 1966 Budokan concerts in Tokyo.

The backside of the Tokyo cover

Next up, the black and white Washington D.C. concert from 1964.

And the back cover.

Paul McCartney in Lima

Concierto Completo en DVD: mizares1012@yahoo.com

McCartney interview on February 1972

Uncut ABC news tape: Interview with Paul McCartney, Linda McCartney and their dog. Also rehearsals of "Give Ireland Back To The Irish".

Building the Höfner Violin Beatles Bass

More popular than Jesus

A furore occurred in August 1966 after John Lennon's remark that The Beatles had become "more popular than Jesus" was quoted by American teen magazine Datebook. Lennon originally made the remark when English newspaper reporter Maureen Cleave interviewed him for her series on the lifestyles of the four individual Beatles. When published in the United Kingdom in March 1966, Lennon's words provoked no public reaction.

The controversy erupted on the eve of the band's 1966 US tour. The strength and scale of the reaction against the Beatles led their manager, Brian Epstein, to consider cancelling the tour for fear of their lives. Two press conferences were held in the US, where both Epstein and Lennon expressed their regret at words taken out of context and offence taken. Christian spokesmen pointed out that Lennon had only stated what the church was itself saying about the decline of Christianity. The US tour went ahead but there was disruption and intimidation, including picketing of concerts by the Ku Klux Klan. At one concert the band believed they were the target of gunfire. From the close of the 1966 tour until their break-up in 1970, the group never played another commercial concert.

In August 1966, five months after Cleave's article appeared in the Evening Standard, American teen magazine Datebook printed a quote from Lennon's words on its front cover. There was uproar in response, starting with an announcement by two radio stations in Alabama and Texas that they had banned Beatles music from their playlists. WAQY DJ Tommy Charles said, "We just felt it was so absurd and sacrilegious that something ought to be done to show them that they can't get away with this sort of thing." Around two dozen other stations followed suit with similar announcements. Some stations in the South went further, organising demonstrations with bonfires, drawing hordes of teenagers to publicly burn their Beatles records and other memorabilia. The Memphis city council, aware that a Beatles concert was scheduled at the Mid-South Coliseum during the band's imminent US tour, voted to cancel it rather than have "municipal facilities be used as a forum to ridicule anyone's religion." The Ku Klux Klan nailed a Beatles album to a wooden cross, vowing "vengeance", and conservative groups staged further public burnings of Beatles records.

The Beatles' manager, Brian Epstein, was so concerned by the US reaction that he considered cancelling the tour for fear people would try to kill them. He flew to the US and held a press conference in New York, where he publicly criticised Datebook, saying they had taken Lennon's words out of context, and expressed regret on behalf of the band that "people with certain religious beliefs should have been offended in any way." Epstein's efforts had little effect. The controversy quickly spread beyond the US; in Mexico City there were demonstrations against the Beatles, and a number of countries, including South Africa and Spain, took the decision to ban national radio stations from playing Beatles music. Further concert performances scheduled for the US tour were cancelled by the venues. Even the Vatican got involved with a public denouncement of Lennon's comments. Shortly before the tour began, on 11 August 1966, the Beatles held a press conference in Chicago, Illinois to address the growing furore.

At the press conference Lennon described his own belief in God by quoting the Bishop of Woolwich, saying, "... not as an old man in the sky. I believe that what people call God is something in all of us." When the tour began, it was marred by protests, cancellation of concerts, and disturbances. Telephone threats were received, and concerts were picketed by the Ku Klux Klan. The "cancelled" Memphis concert was held anyway, but a firecracker thrown during the performance led the band to believe they were the target of gunfire. After completing the tour, the Beatles never performed a commercial concert again.

Daily Express writer Robert Pitman, responding to the US outcry, wrote, "It seems a nerve for Americans to hold up shocked hands, when week in, week out, America is exporting to us a subculture that makes the Beatles seem like four stern old churchwardens." In the US too there was criticism of the reaction; a Kentucky radio station declared that it would start to give Beatles music airplay to show its "contempt for hypocrisy personified", and the Jesuit magazine America wrote that "Lennon was simply stating what many a Christian educator would readily admit."

The Beatles' press conference in Chicago, at the Ator Towers Hotel, August 11. 1966.

The Beatles' press conference at the Capitol Records Tower, Los Angeles on August 24th, 1966.

The press put them ill-at-ease from the start, with accusing questions to Lennon about his recent "Bigger than Jesus" remarks. A condescending reporter takes a shot at Ringo., and the cameraman can't tell Ringo from John.

The Good: They make the most of it with off-the-cuff quips from all four. Lennon pouts, but his inimitable at times raucous humor comes through. Paul and George take inane questions in stride.
Later presented with steak branding irons (huh?) and gold records from RIAA for Revolver. Closeups show Brian Epstein lecturing John and Ringo. In an on-camera interview with a Dick Clark stand-in, George is in a whimsical mood, while Paul goofs with the guy.

David Crosby, who at the time was a member of The Byrds,can occasionally be spotted in the film.

Following this interview the Beatles returned to the tour with a performance at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. The group would close out their 1966 tour with their historic finale at Candlestick Park in San Fransisco - their last-ever concert. In the coming years, while there would be no more touring, the Beatles would focus on creativity in the recording studio, producing some of the finest albums of their catalogue.

Beatles In Portland - The Complete Story

This is a documentary produced in 1995 about the Beatles visit to Portland Oregon on August 22, 1965.

The Compleat Beatles

Video cassette

The 2 hour long "The Compleat Beatles" was the first commercially released home video telling the story of the Beatles. It was released on VHS and Beta video cassettes in 1982, as well as laserdisc in 1994 to accompany a two volume songbook of the same name.

The Beta video cassette cover

The documentary was never released officially on a DVD, but underground DVDs dubbed from a video cassette or a laser disc are available.

The two music publishing books were housed in a slipcase

The video cassette/laser disc was available for purchase as a separate release, and was not included with the books.

The laserdisc edition - front

The laserdisc edition - back

The Beatles clips used in the film have since been published in other documentaries like The Beatles' own "Anthology", in a superior quality. But for many, "The Compleat Beatles" brings back fond memories and it is a sought after relic from the early video age.

chapter 1 - Prologue
chapter 2 - Main Title - "RocK And Roll Music"
chapter 3 - "I Should Have known Better"
chapter 4 - Rock'n Roll roots;skiffle - "Jack O'Diamonds"
chapter 5 - John Lennon
chapter 6 - Paul McCartney;the first years together
chapter 7 - "Venus" - Liverpool Rock
chapter 8 - George Harrison;Stue Stucliffe
chapter 9 - Name changes
chapter 10 - The first gigs;Hamburg
chapter 11 - Bigger gigs;The Cavern - "Hippy,Hippy Shake"
chapter 12 - "My Bonnie" - Stu abdicates
chapter 13 - Brian Epstein
chapter 14 - George Martin;exit Pete Best
chapter 15 - Ringo Starr
chapter 16 - "Please Please Me" - Recording the first album
chapter 17 - "She Loves You" - The fans
chapter 18 - The Royal Command Performance - "Twist And Shout"
chapter 19 - The second album
chapter 20 - The Beatles land in America
chapter 21 - The Ed Sullivan Show - "All My Loving"
chapter 22 - The concert debut - "I Want To Hold Your Hand"
chapter 23 - "From Me To You"
chapter 24 - "A Hard Day's Night"
chapter 25 - The first world tour - "I Saw Her Standing There"
chapter 26 - The fans; A sprout of a new generation
chapter 27 - "I'm Loser" - A healthy competition
chapter 28 - "Things We Said Today" - "Ticket To Ride"
chapter 29 - "Help!"
chapter 30 - "Yesterday"
chapter 31 - "Norwegian Wood" - "Nowhere Man" - Rubber Soul
chapter 32 - "If A Needed Someone" - Beatlemania goes sour
chapter 33 - "Eleanor Rigby" - John experiments with drugs
chapter 34 - A new album - "Strawberry Fields Forever"
chapter 35 - Piccolo trumpet - "Penny Lane"
chapter 36 - Splicing together - "Being For The Benefit Mr.Kite"
chapter 37 - "Sgt.Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band"
chapter 38 - "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" - Industry reaction
chapter 39 - "All You Need Is Love"
chapter 40 - The Maharishi ;Brian dies
chapter 41 - "Magical Mystery Tour"
chapter 42 - "Hello Goodbye" - Adios Maharishi
chapter 43 - "Yellow Submarine"
chapter 44 - "Hey Jude"
chapter 45 - "Mother Nature's Son" - "Glass Onion"
chapter 46 - Yoko Ono - "Revolution 9"
chapter 47 - The White album
chapter 48 - Mking Let It Be ; Billy Preston - "Get Back"
chapter 49 - "I've Got A Feeling" - Internal strife
chapter 50 - The Abbey Road album
chapter 51 - The Pull Of Domestic Life ; The decline of Apple
chapter 52 - The Beatles...were no more
chapter 53 - "Let It Be" - Is released - Let It Be
chapter 54 - Epilogue / End Credits - "Blackbird"

Across the Universe the movie

Across the Universe is a 2007 American musical romantic drama film directed by Julie Taymor, produced by Revolution Studios, and distributed by Columbia Pictures. The film's plot is centered on songs by The Beatles. The script is based on an original story credited to Taymor, Dick Clement, and Ian La Frenais. It incorporates 34 compositions originally written by members of The Beatles.
The film stars Jim Sturgess, Evan Rachel Wood, Joe Anderson and T.V. Carpio, and introduces Dana Fuchs and Martin Luther McCoy as actors. Cameo appearances are made by Bono, Eddie Izzard, Joe Cocker, and Salma Hayek, among others.

Opening to mixed reviews, Across the Universe was nominated for both a Golden Globe and an Academy Award.

The film's release date and release pattern became the subject of some media and public discussion. The film had been originally scheduled for release in 2006. The release was postponed as the editing process became extended and internal disputes arose. The film was subsequently scheduled for a wide release on approximately 1,000 U.S. screens on September 28, 2007. In early September 2007, Sony announced that the release would be brought forward to September 14, 2007, with a "platform release" pattern starting on a small number of screens—with additional screens to be added in subsequent weeks.

The film received its world premiere on Monday, September 10, 2007, at the Toronto International Film Festival. The film was then given a very limited "platform release" on 27 screens in the U.S. on Friday, September 14. The film had the second-highest "per-screen" average on its opening weekend. In the following three weeks, the release was gradually expanded to select regions. After four weeks in limited release, on October 12, the film was elevated to a comparatively broader release on 954 U.S. screens, breaking into the U.S. box office top ten at #8.

The DVD, UMD, and Blu-ray formats were released on February 5, 2008.

The film received mixed to positive reviews from critics. Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 53% based on 154 reviews.  Metacritic gives the film a weighted average score of 56%, based on 29 reviews. oger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times was extremely positive towards the film, giving it four stars, calling it "an audacious marriage of cutting-edge visual techniques, heart-warming performances, 1960s history and the Beatles songbook" and calling Julie Taymor an "inventive choreographer".
The film appeared on a few notable critics' top ten lists of the best films of 2007

The Mersey Sound

Above: just "She Loves You" from a superior copy of the film. "The Mersey Sound" was a BBC television documentary that features the Liverpool sound by focusing on The Beatles & 2 unknown bands, The Undertakers & Group One.
The Mersey Beat was first broadcast on Lennon's 23rd birthday, 9 October 1963, from 10.10-10.40pm, in the London and northern England regions. Its first nationwide broadcast took place on 13 November from 7.10pm.

The above is a 14:59 edit which ends abruptly, below is a playlist in two parts of a 29:16 version of the film.

Above is a 1964 colour Pathe Newsfilm with a similar name: "The Mersey Sound", but also known as "Liverpool - Home Of The Mersey Sound" to distinguish it from the earlier title.

McCartney in Uruguay

Paul plays Day Tripper and Hi Hi Hi before two fans get their wish in the form of backside signatures.

Around The Beatles

U.K. TV show from April 28, 1964. The complete U.K. television program. Features the Beatles acting in a very silly Shakespearean spoof of the Interlude section of "A Midsummer Night's Dream."
Long John Baldry
Cilla Black
P.J. Proby
Millicent Small
George Harrison "Moonshine"
John Lennon "Lady Thisbe"
Paul McCartney "Pyramus"
Ringo Starr "The Lion"

The Shakespeare spoof was colourised in the 2000's, here is that colourised version.

George on TV - 1997

George Harrison visited John Fugelsang in the VH1 studio to promote "Chants of India" with Ravi Shankar in 1997. He ended up singing and playing an acoustic guitar which somebody's girlfriend had brought along.

Official Beatles Promo Clips

Perhaps a glimpse of things to come, here are the short video clips from Beatles promo films as published by the official Beatles YouTube channel. Click on the picture above to view the playlist on YouTube.

1. Ticket to Ride  0:40
2. Help! 0:36
3. I Feel Fine  0:42
4. Paperback Writer  0:36
5. Rain  0:39
6. Strawberry Fields Forever 1:11
7. Strawberry Fields Forever continued 0:40
8. Penny Lane 0:40
9. Penny Lane continued 0:31
10. A Day In The Life 0:38
11. All You Need Is Love 0:38
12. Hello Goodbye promo #1 0:38
13. Hello Goodbye promo #3 1:07
14. The Fool On The Hill 1:05
15. I Am The Walrus 0:39
16. Lady Madonna 0:41
17. Hey Bulldog 0:39
18. Hey Jude 0:39
19. Revolution  0:36
20. Get Back  0:37
21. Don't Let Me Down  0:42
22. The Ballad of John and Yoko  0:38
23. Something 0:36
24. Free As A Bird 0:42
25. Real Love 0:39
26. Words of Love 2:25

19 minutes

The Official favourites

From The Beatles' own YouTube channel, here's their "favourites" playlist.

• The Beatles - Words Of Love  2:25
• The Making Of Revolver 1:50
• The Beatles On Vinyl 2012 2:11
• I Am The Walrus  0:39
• Roll up! Roll up! The Beatles invite you to make a reservation for the Magical Mystery Tour! 3:22
• The Beatles LOVE wishes Paul McCartney Happy Birthday 0:35
• The Beatles Yellow Submarine 3:43
• Make The Official Video For Ringo's single "Wings" from his new album "Ringo 2012"  0:34
• The Beatles. Live At The Washington Coliseum, 1964. 3:35
• The Beatles - Remasters 0:48
• The Remastered Red and Blue Albums 0:49
• The Beatles Through The Years. 4:00
• She Loves You 0:53

The Beatles in India 1968

A playlist consisting of:

• The Beatles in India 1968 (home movies etc) 13:12
• Across the Universe - The Beatles in India 2:05
• Paul Saltzman's Beatles in India Interview on VVH-TV 29:58
• Donovan Talks about the Beatles in India and the White Album 24:15
• Patti Boyd hosts a Beatles in India slideshow 2:13

70 minutes.

Bonus video: And The World Listened

Just uploaded by the film's owner, British Pathé, here's a great colour documentary film about the life and music of Liverpool - made in 1964-65.

Description:
Views of the wake of a ship from the stern. Shots of men working on boat on the River Mersey. VS of ships on the river. Several shots show Liver Building from the River. Travel shots from car driving around Liverpool. Exteriors the home of the Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra - the Philharmonic Hall. Great CUs of classical concert posters. VS tankers and container ships. Tugs help the ships. VS ships being loaded and unloaded in docks.

VS of large houses around Liverpool - the home's of the men who built the shipping empires. VS of newly built tower blocks of flats - reconstruction after the Second World War. Shots of new suburban houses. Travel shots from a Merseyside police car driving around housing estate. Ext. of building 'The Johnny Todd'. Out walk a group of people.

VS scenes in tight streets of Liverpool city centre. CU street sign 'Mathew Street'. VS going down the steps into 'The Cavern Club'. People buy tickets at the bottom of the stairs. Various good shots of 'The Merseybeats' playing. CU sign 'The Downbeat Club'. CU Sign for 'The Blue Angel'. Various other 'Beat, Jazz and R & B Clubs'. Ext. The Florence Institute - part of the Liverpool Boys' Association. CU two boys playing chess. Two boys read a magazine. They look at advert for The Cavern - including the Beatles. VS of boys playing five-aside football. VS of boys building go karts. VS boys and girls drinking in youth club. VS of young boys in 'Beat' group playing on a small stage. VS (Techniscope) of the Beatles performing 'Twist And Shout'. VS of the folk group 'The Spinners' walking with their instruments around the docks.

VS of The Searchers performing 'Sugar and Spice' in recording studio. VS of recording engineer recording the band. VS of young children playing on playground - climbing frames, trees etc. VS of men playing bowls. The Protestant Cathedral is in the background. VS showing the building work on the Catholic Cathedral - 'Paddy's Wigwam'. VS street scenes in Liverpool. VS of entrance to the Mersey Tunnel. VS (Techniscope) the Beatles playing 'She Loves You'.

End Credits - Made For The Corporation of The City of Liverpool. Extra music by The Spinners.

Dezo Hoffmann's home movies from 1963

Shirley's Wild Accordion

Magical Mystery Tour - Home Movies

Here are some home movies shot while the Beatles were filming MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR in September, 1967.

Help! Home movie footage

All silent clips.

Strawberry Fields Forever / Penny Lane

This old black and white version of the Strawberry Fields Forever promo clip to me looks like a genuine sync of audio and video like I remember it. The full colour clip was presented on Swedish Television in 1980 and I had it on VHS for years, but the tape got damaged and was rendered useless. Since the promo was directed by Swede Peter Goldmann who later came to work for Swedish television, my guess is he provided them with his original.

The Swedish "Penny Lane" EP made use of a still photo from the video clip for its front cover.

Paul McCartney: “I remember one night meeting this Swedish director in a nightclub and he started saying, “Well, we could really be far out, you know? Yeah, wow, really heavy, psychedelic, up a tree”. That turned out to be the “Strawberry Fields” promo, which was pretty far out for its time.”

Tony Bramwell was credited as the producer of the two clips, as well as a host of earlier and later Beatles music videos. Director Peter Goldmann told Swedish magazine Vecko-Revyn, “Everything went so fast. It wasn’t until I sat on the plane for London I realized what I was up to. I felt the nervousness and the excitement crawling under my skin. How in the world could I make something funny, bizarre, clever, crazy, sophisticated enough to satisfy the Beatles. It was there in the plane that I came up with the idea of the horses.”

Filming for Penny Lane began on January 30, 1967 in Angel Street, Stratford, London. The four Beatles climbed on their horses to trot down the narrow lane. When a crowd of onlookers frightened the horses, Peter, the Beatles and the film crew fled to a nearby pub.

The next day shooting moved to Knole Park, Sevenoaks, Kent together with Ringo Starr’s diminutive poodle and Paul McCartney’s much larger dog. Peter Goldmann: “Ringo had a dog named ‘Tiger’ that he was very proud of. Tiger wasn’t the most terrifying dog in his class, not in the least. It was the smallest and the most taken cared of little white poodle I’ve ever seen. Paul had a dog that looked like a little pony; named Martha.”

The German compilation LP "The World's Best" had the same photo in reverse.

Here they completed the Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields Forever films over the next week. Goldmann recalled: “In John’s special built Rolls Royce they had a real big laugh. Through a microphone and a loudspeaker they tried to shore me up with comments and advice that echoed out over the neighbourhood.”

The ‘Tree piano’ in Strawberry Fields Forever brought its own problems: “The wind blew on the strings and they kept falling all the time and made a mess.”

Ahead of their time, the films were made in colour for the US market. But then again, so were the "Paperback Writer" and "Rain" music videos they made the year before.

Two weeks later part of the Penny Lane film was shown on the BBC’s Juke Box Jury, followed by a showing of both films on Top of the Pops on February 16. Later they appeared in the US on the Ed Sullivan show. The films proved to be a remarkable achievement, one not always recognized. In The Rolling Stones Book of Rock Video History, Michael Shore notes: “In America, they were shown on The Hollywood Palace (I can still remember host Van Johnson shaking his head and clucking, “What was that all about?”) and American Bandstand (after showing them in an atmosphere of hushed reverence, Dick Clark polled his teen audience for their generally mystified reactions to the two clips)”

Goldmann died in 2005 at 69. I saw Swedish TV make use of his Strawberry Fields Forever clip once more in the late nineties or early 2000's as well, and it looked gorgeous - but they didn't show the whole promo then. When shown on The Beatles Anthology, some home movie footage was intercut with the original promo - and some orange effects applied to some bits. The version pieced together from various sources for the underground promo collection "Unsurpassed Promos" release is now the best looking one, and the one to get - it also has the complete ending, which the b/w clip didn't have, but the audio and video don't quite sync like I remember it from the Swedish version I had for years.

The Strawberry Fields Forever footage resurfaced in the early eighties on the TV show "The Tube", but they had a silent version and didn't know which song it was meant to accompany - so they used "Good Day Sunshine" or something as audio accompaniment. I had the pleasure of visiting the "Beatles at Abbey Road" presentation at Abbey Road Studio 2 in 1983, here they showed the clip with its correct soundtrack.
This the best representation of the video I could find while searching around the internet:

And here's a 39 seconds clip from the official Beatles channel on YouTube:

With Penny Lane, it's a different story. The full, original colour clip without interference from new edits has been around since the eighties in colour.

The Beatles' official YouTube channel has a 30 second sample of it here.
Hopefully, we'll be able to see both these promo films in pristine quality on an official DVD before long.

Yeah Yeah Yeah!

An American Beatles fan is visiting Liverpool during 'Beatles Week', which incorporates the annual Beatles Fan's Convention at the Adelphi Hotel.

Paul Is Dead? Media Myths and Legends

Some YouTube videos about Paul McCartney's alledged death and replacement by an imposter in 1966/7. There is a huge underground movement of conspiracy believers who still are finding clues to McCartney's death and YouTube is littered with videos examining these clues. These are just a few.

The Beatles Bible has this entry about the rumour.

George Harrison Japan tour 1991

A playlist consisting of:

1. Rehearsal interview
2. Arrival in Japan
3-6. Press Conference in four parts
7. Taxman
8. Cloud 9
9. Devil's Radio
10. Cheer Down
11. Something (amateur video)
12. If I Needed Someone (amateur video)
13. Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth)
14. Old Brown Shoe (amateur video)
15. Roll Over Beethoven / Goodbyes (amateur video)
16. CNN coverage of the end of the tour
17. In The Studio - radio interview promoting the Live in Japan album

George and Eric before Japan

A playlist in four parts, from when a Japanese TV team visited George Harrison and Eric Clapton's rehearsals before their joint 1991 tour of Japan.

George Harrison: US Tour 1974

Compiled from many short home movies filmed by the fans during the tour. This is a playlist.

1. Hari's On Tour (Express)
2. While My Guitar Gently Weeps
3. Something
4. Sue Me Sue You Blues
5. For You Blue
6. Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth)
7. In My Life
8. Maya Love
9. Dark Horse
10. What Is Life,
11. My Sweet Lord

Ringo Starr and His All Starr Band - Legends In Concert

Amazing performances by Ringo Starr and his first All Starr band from 1989. Live music by the talented artist including hits such as 'Yellow Submarine' and 'Act Naturally.' With Joe Walsh, Billy Preston, Nils Lofgren, Levon Helm and Dr. John and more.
1. It Don't Come Easy
2. No No Song
3. Yellow Submarine
4. Iko Iko
5. The Weight
6. Will It Go Round In Circles
7. Act Naturally
8. You're a Friend of Mine
9. The Shape I'm In
10. I Wanna Be Your Man
11. Life in the Last Lane
12. Up a Cripple Creek
13. Boys
14. Bein' Angry is a Full Time Job
15. Right Place, Wrong Time
16. Quarter to Three
17. Rocky Mountain Way
18. Photograph
19. With a Little Help From My Friends

Paul McCartney Live In The New World 1993

The concert in Charlotte.

Paul McCartney The New World Tour In Japan 1993

John Lennon's 1969 documentary on James Hanratty

Did Britain Murder Hanratty?

On Side One of John & Yoko's "Live Jam" album (recorded on 15th December 1969) Yoko can be heard to shout "Britain, you killed Hanratty you murderer!", she then chants Hanratty's name throughout the opening bars of Don't Worry Kyoko.
Back in 1962, James Hanratty was convicted and sentenced to death for the notorious A6 road murder of Michael Gregsten and the rape of his lover Valerie Storie who was also shot and left for dead (she survived but was paralysed from the neck down).
Hanratty was one of the last British citizens to be executed by the state before the death penalty in Britain was suspended in 1965. As the decade progressed, the view that Hanratty had in fact been the victim of a gross miscarriage of justice began to gather momentum, another man was even seen to confess to the murder on British Television in 1967.
Together with Hanratty's parents, John and Yoko discussed the idea of making a film to back the campaign for an enquiry and this was announced at an Apple press conference on December 10th 1969. The one and only public screening of the 40-minute colour result was eventually shown in the crypt of St. Martin-in-the-Fields Church, London on 17th February 1972. Here it is again.
29 years later DNA evidence from the exhumed body of Hanratty was said to prove that he DID commit the murder, although it has been argued that the retained evidence may have been cross contaminated in storage.

John Lennon Imagine Promo Film 1972

Promo film for the "Imagine" album. Taken from the Japanese 1984 laser disc release.