Plenty for Beatles Fans to Be Excited About

Written by Jon Williams

Paul McCartney’s latest album, Egypt Station, came out on September 7. It was his first release of new material since 2013’s NEW. As hard as it may be to believe, based on his iconic career, Egypt Station was Sir Paul’s first solo release to debut at #1 on Billboard’s album chart, and the first to attain that position at all in 36 years, since 1982’s Tug of War got there more than a month after its release.

Although this is his first new album in five years, he has been anything but idle in the meantime. In that span he released remastered editions of his classic albums Venus and Mars and Wings’ At the Speed of Sound (2014), Pipes of Peace and the aforementioned Tug of War (2015), and Flowers in the Dirt (2017), as well as putting together the post-Beatles career-spanning hits collection Pure McCartney. All of this on top of his constant tour schedule, and it’s hard to believe this man is 76 years old.

Another project McCartney had a hand in is the upcoming 50^th anniversary re-release of the Beatles’ seminal self-titled ninth album, familiarly known as “The White Album” due to its plain white album cover with just the band’s name embossed on it. Originally released as a double album on November 22, 1968, the new edition will be available on November 9 in two configurations. A 3-disc set will include the original album plus the “Esher Demos,” a set of 27 songs recorded acoustically at George Harrison’s home (some of which were included on Anthology 3). The 6-disc deluxe edition includes all of that as well as outtakes and demos from the album’s recording sessions, plus a Blu-ray featuring the original mono mix of the album, the new stereo mix, and a 5.1 surround-sound mix. This comes on the heels of last year’s similar anniversary release of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.

And that’s not all that’s on the horizon for fans of the Beatles and their solo careers. Coming next week, in celebration of what would have been his 78^th birthday on October 9, are new Ultimate Editions of John Lennon’s classic 1971 album Imagine. On the strength of its title track, it has proved to be his most popular solo album. The reissue will include a remastered standard edition, a 2-disc edition that includes B-sides and outtakes, and a Super Deluxe version that explores the evolution of each song through four CDs and bonus Blu-ray content. In addition, the films Imagine and Gimme Some Truth have been restored and are being re-released on DVD and Blu-ray at the same time. The project was overseen by Yoko Ono, Lennon’s widow and creative partner.

The Beatles’ popularity continues unabated more than 48 years after they broke up, and their music, both as a band and from their individual solo careers, truly is a gift that keeps on giving. Your patrons will be clamoring for the new album from Paul McCartney, as well as these explorations of the Beatles’ and John Lennon’s classic albums. You can get them from the links above, and you can SmartBrowse on our website for more timeless music from these artists (and don’t forget George Harrison and Ringo Starr, who also have plenty of celebrated solo work).

Two Classic Albums Reissued

Written by Jon Williams

Classic rock fans are in for a treat—or, more accurately, two treats—over the course of the next two New Music Fridays. Two rock legends are releasing remastered and expanded versions of albums that came out in the 1980s.

First up, available tomorrow, is Paul McCartney’s Flowers in the Dirt. Originally released in 1989, it was McCartney’s eighth solo album (or fifteenth, if you include his Wings outings) after the dissolution of the Beatles. Ever the collaborator, Sir Paul enlisted the help of Elvis Costello for this album, and together the two co-wrote four tracks. The special edition reissue features a second disc comprising nine demos, five of which are songs that were not originally included.

This is also the tenth installment of the McCartney Archive Collection, which are classic album reissues supervised by Sir Paul himself. It follows the Wings classic Band on the Run, the solo albums McCartney, McCartney II, Ram, the live album Wings Over America, Venus and Mars, Wings at the Speed of Sound, Tug of War, and Pipes of Peace. Each of these contains a treasure trove of extra songs not found on the original release. The first release in the collection came out in 2010, and McCartney has continued to put them out while also maintaining a full worldwide touring schedule and releasing two new albums: Kisses on the Bottom, a collection of covers with two original songs, and NEW, containing all-new material.

Next week offers a similar treat when Fleetwood Mac reissues their 1987 album Tango in the Night in honor of its 30th anniversary. The standard edition is a remaster of the original album, while the expanded edition will include a second disc that offers a number of outtakes and rarities from the recording sessions. The album is notable for being the last to feature Fleetwood Mac’s “classic” lineup of Mick Fleetwood, Stevie Nicks, Lindsey Buckingham, and John and Christine McVie. It also experienced a resurgence in 2014 after the song “Seven Wonders” was featured in the season finale of American Horror Story: Coven, a season in which Stevie Nicks appeared as herself on the show.

This year also marks the 40th anniversary of their iconic album Rumours, which was released in February of 1977. One of the bestselling albums of all time, it received the reissue treatment in 2013, an expanded three-disc edition that includes live tracks as well as early takes of the album’s songs. The band’s other albums to feature their most well-known lineup are Fleetwood Mac (1975), Tusk (1979), and Mirage (1982). Although Tango in the Night was their last album together, they do still perform live.

Paul McCartney and Fleetwood Mac are stellar artists who have been making outstanding rock music for decades. These new reissues of classic albums are the perfect opportunity to share their work with your music-loving patrons.

McCartney Remasters Wings Over America

Written by Jon Williams

On May 28, Paul McCartney will re-release Wings Over America, a 2-disc live set originally released in 1976. McCartney’s post-Beatles band Wings recorded their concert from June 23, 1976, at the Forum in Los Angeles. The 28-track album contains many hits from Wings and McCartney’s early solo career, as well as mixing in a few Beatles classics.

This will be the latest release in McCartney’s Archive Collection, a project giving McCartney’s albums a similar remastering treatment that the entire Beatles catalog received in 2009. The first album in this collection was Band on the Run, widely considered to be the best of Sir Paul’s post-Beatles oeuvre, in 2010. This was followed in 2011 by McCartney (his first solo album) and McCartney II (his second “solo” album, released in 1980). Then in 2012, he re-released his 1971 album Ram, which was credited to himself and his wife Linda.

These re-releases are being overseen by Paul McCartney himself, and often include bonus tracks including B-sides, unreleased songs, and live versions.  The schedule for upcoming releases runs through 2016. The exact order seems to be in flux, but the next ones on the list are rumored to be Venus and Mars and Wings at the Speed of Sound.

Of course, these re-releases aren’t the only things McCartney fans have to look forward to. He’s working on an album of new material with producer Mark Ronson to follow up his 2012 Grammy-winning album Kisses on the Bottom. He’s also embarking on a world tour beginning tomorrow and running through August, with dates in South America, Europe, and both the U.S. and Canada.

With the Beatles’ debut album, Please Please Me, being released in March of 1963, Sir Paul McCartney has been a heavyweight in the music industry for more than fifty years. Make sure you have a broad selection of his music on your shelves for patrons to enjoy.