The Beatles' Apple Promotional Film, 1968.

This is the Apple Promotional Film from 1968. In case you haven't a clue, Apple Corps was set up by the Beatles in 1968 and it quickly got out of control. In the below film, you can see that it wasn't exactly thought out.

There's a conversation in the beginning between Paul, John and Dick James (Yes, the same Dick James who sold all of their songs in 1969 without offering the Beatles themselves a chance to buy them!) and then cuts to Paul playing 'Blackbird' in the studio. (The woman seen next to him is Francie Schwartz, one of Macca's many girlfriends at the time) and then at the end of that segment, George Martin briefly appears. Then some more shots of Swinging London, including the much maligned and ill-fated 'Apple Boutique' on Baker Street.

Then a segment with new Apple artist Mary Hopkin singing and playing guitar in what appears to be Paul McCartney's back garden in Cavendish Avenue. Paul's sheepdog Martha is seen making an appearance and then Paul strolls in at the end holding what appears to be a glass of Iced Tea and says "That was Mary Hopkin and this is Alex..."

The 'Alex' in the next segment was John Lennon's new mate Alexis Mardas or "Magic Alex" as he came to be known thanks to Lennon, who was the head of Apple Electronics but when approached to design and build a new studio for the Beatles to use in the basement of 3 Savile Row, failed to do so. The "studio" turned out to be an absolute disaster and Alex quietly disappeared when Allen Klein came in.

After that, it was a piece where John, Paul and Dick James listen to a phone playing music that sounds like "on hold" music. (This may have been what George Harrison remembered in the anthology that Alex Mardas' only invention of note was a "Toilet with a radio in it or something")

The last segment is Paul demoing 'Helter Skelter' and there's a shot of John & Yoko sitting on the floor next to George Martin. The film ends with the painting that inspired it all.

Here's the film:

The Paul.....Hotel?

Meet Paul....but have we already met him?

Now, I'm a little bemused by this hotel's theme. It's not a Beatles theme or a Paul McCartney theme but....it is. I mean, this could easily be misconstrued by every Beatles fan. Especially when you have a quote like THAT on the wall that every fan knows.

Could this be a hotel that Macca himself has a stake in? or has secretly opened because he has a burning desire to go into the hotel business but doesn't want to be TOO obvious?

I'm having visions of Macca managing this hotel in a Basil Fawlty style, being stressed out to the max while Nancy sits at reception on the phone all day. Instead of "Don't Mention the War!" it might be "Don't Mention the Frog Chorus!" or imagining Paul taking his stresses out on his poor Mini like Basil does in this clip:

But, hilarious as it might be to imagine Paul dealing with dead guests, hotel inspectors and conked out cars, I think the Beatles references on The Paul's website are a little hard to ignore, like this one....

A collection of drawings from a local artist that are featured at The Paul hotel.

Now, the Apple is synonymous with New York City (The Big Apple) and since the hotel is in NYC its easy to see how and why this sketch is in the hotel. But of course there's also that other Apple, and I don't mean the fruit, or the company whose product you may be reading this blog on now, I mean the Apple Corps that was formed by the Beatles themselves in the late 60s to secure their interests and also put out their records.

For all you people who likes to look for clues on Beatles' conspiracy theories, the biggest one being the 'Paul Is Dead' myth, then here's another clue for you all....


......The Walrus is apparently staying at The Paul.

Or it may not be. It may have checked out by now.

The Beatles Live At The BBC Volume 2

Coming almost 20 years after the release of the two CD compilation that comprised live recordings and interviews with the band at BBC studios all over Britain between 1962 and 1965, Apple is set to release The Beatles Live at the BBC Volume 2.

This is reported to have more unreleased material that the BBC have dug up from their archives and it was previously thought to be lost due to the narrow minded policy that the BBC had of wiping and re-using tapes. This policy was upheld in BBC television too and has resulted in the loss of many hours of material, including the Beatles and John Lennon's solo appearances on Juke Box Jury and the Beatles last live appearance on music show Top of The Pops in 1966. It is really quite despairing that, without the use of a DeLorean fitted with a flux capacitor, we will never get to see this wonderful material.

The reported cover art for the second volume of BBC recordings.

 The Beatles, due to the constant pressures of fame, touring and studio work stopped giving live radio appearances on the BBC in 1965, despite promises from Brian Epstein, their manager, that they would continue. As their worldwide fame increased, radio was something that they had outgrown and didn't need anymore.

But at least the BBC have found something that we can at least listen to and I for one am looking forward to hearing some wonderful unreleased material that has been gathering dust all these years. Along with the new CD will be a book 'The Beatles: The BBC Archives: 1962-70' written by Kevin Howlett, who has authored two other books about the Beatles at the British Broadcasting Corporation.

The Beatles Live at the BBC Volume 2 goes on sale October 10th.

Apple vs. Apple

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The battle has been long and winding (pun, of course, intended). On one side there was Apple Inc., who felt Apple Computers had every right to use an apple as their logo. And on the other side was Apple Corps who felt, in the past, Apple Computers having an apple as their logo was fine as long as they didn't venture into music publishing. Years later iTunes was born, as was a lawsuit; Apple Corps saying Apple Inc. no longer had the right to use an apple as their logo. And around and around it went.
Read the rest of the article here:  http://voices.yahoo.com/apple-vs-apple-11842209.html?cat=15