Marketing of "In The Beginning" versus "One"

Me · Post by Me » Sat Dec 30, 2000 7:03 am

I bought "The Beatles Featuring Tony Sheridan In The Beginning" the other day. Great CD, I think they should have marketed it more than they did "One". "One" is a great CD, but let's face it, most Beatles fans already have copies of all those songs anyway. "In The Beginning" has some songs on it that I've never heard the studio versions of (most of them I've heard them do live on early recordings, but not the studio cuts). It's also neat because it's Pete Best on drums. He's not as tight as Ringo, but he did keep a beat. Anyway, it's a good CD. Definitely worth a listen if you want to hear some of the roots of the Beatles.

simer4001 · Post by **simer4001** » Sat Dec 30, 2000 12:39 pm

I don't believe that Apple Records has the rights to that CD. And I don't think they would endorse anything they don't have control over.

admin · Post by **admin** » Sat Dec 30, 2000 4:36 pm

For early material The Beatles with Tony Sheridan is an interesting CD to have. Pete Best did a number of songs from this recording on his Peter Best 2000 Tour which just wrapped up this Christmas past. An affable man and an adequate drummer he was not as dynamic as I would have expected from my reading of Beatle history. Then again, however, we don't all have the same energy and enthusiasm at 60 as we did at 20.

Me · Post by Me » Sun Dec 31, 2000 12:11 am

Hmmm...I think Brian is right. I don't see the Apple logo anywhere. Looks like it's "Polydor, A Universal Music Company". I'm guessing that Tony Sheridan is pushing this one (Is he still alive?). I would imagine anything actually endorsed by the Beatles would have to be released under the Apple label. I could be wrong on that though. It's a shame, because it is a very fine CD.

simer4001 · Post by **simer4001** » Sun Dec 31, 2000 12:02 pm

Besides, they've done pretty well with "1". It is a win, win situation. All the songs are proven hits and they didn't have to take any risks. With "In the Beginning", it may not have the universal appeal that "1" has. We, being true Beatle fans, have more of an appreciation for all things Beatles and for the importance of "In the Beginning", and for it's true place in history.

admin · Post by **admin** » Mon Jan 01, 2001 3:24 am

Brian: I have just had the opportunity to view the "In The Beginning" CD and this will be my next CD, having purchased almost the same CD a number of years back. This "reissue", is nicely done and has better documentation and a few new tunes compared to its predecessor. And in the end, we Beatles nuts just have to have it for the sake of completeness, right?

simer4001 · Post by **simer4001** » Mon Jan 01, 2001 12:16 pm

Absolutely Peter! Happy New Year!

fus44 · Post by **fus44** » Tue Jan 02, 2001 8:38 am

One thing that is irritating is that the Beatles, although displayed prominently on the cover did not play on all those songs. Off hand, I'm not sure which ones are the Beatles, but other than "Ain't she sweet" and "Cry for a Shadow" I'm sure some songs are NOT the Beatles.
Also Sheridan re-recorded some tunes "Sweet Georgia Brown", including jokes about the Beatles' hair. What the Beatles played on is open to conjecture.
This record was also isssued at some point as The Savage Young Beatles.
Anyone else want to chime in?

Me · Post by Me » Tue Jan 02, 2001 9:07 am

fus44: The back cover does list the credits. "Ain't She Sweet" and "Cry For A Shadow" are just the Beatles. "Let's Dance", "What'd I Say", "Ruby Baby" and "Ya Ya (parts 1 & 2) are Tony Sheridan and The Beat Brothers. the other 6 songs are Tony Sheridan And The Beatles. I think the object was to release studio recordings from that era, but since they only had the 8 studio recordings of the Beatles, they went ahead and added the other 4 songs that Tony Sheridan did with the band he got to replace the Beatles to fill space. I do know the Beatles used to play those four songs live, I had a vinyl called "The Birth Of The Beatles" that had those songs played live on them at one time (not sure where that disappeared to though).

I have been told that this album had been released under various names in the past. For some reason they all must have eluded me somehow. I do remember a couple of those songs being on "Anthology" and I'm sure they've popped up on other recordings. I just checked http://www.cdnow.com and "The Savage Young Beatles" only has five of those songs on there. Though I have seen some of these songs on other CDs, this is the first time I've seen all of them in one complete package. I think that's what appealed to me here, it's pretty much all the studio recordings the Beatles did during that era on one CD.

admin · Post by **admin** » Tue Jan 02, 2001 9:08 am

With respect to the more recent release of "In The Beginning" CD, The Beatles played on eight of the tracks.

Fus44 · Post by **Fus44** » Wed Jan 03, 2001 11:19 am

Hey You(Me):I am intrigued by this "Birth of the Beatles" ablum you are talking about. Can you remember anything else about it? I collect as much pre-63 as I can find. I thought I had it all...
I did not realize that "In the Beginning" is a re-release. I have a vinyl version from the 80's and the Savage Young Beatles on disc.

Me · Post by Me » Wed Jan 03, 2001 5:54 pm

I wish I still had it now. I bought it out of a dollar bin in the early 80's when vinyl was starting to disappear. I'm not 100% sure of the title, but I'm pretty sure it was "Birth Of The Beatles", maybe it was something that went along with the movie that came out in the late 70's. I remember the notes saying that side one was Pete Best on the drums and side two was supposed to be the first known live recording with Ringo Starr on the drums. I wish I could remember all the songs...I remember "Cry For A Shadow" was on there and that was the first time I'd heard it. I remember when I started buying all the Beatles albums I wondered why "Cry For A Shadow" wasn't on any of them. Memory is fading, but I'm pretty sure "Ain't She Sweet", "Ruby Baby", "Why", "Sweet Georgia Brown" were on there. I want to say most of the stuff on "In The Beginning" was on there done live with just the Beatles. All the stuff on "In The Beginning" sounded so familiar when I heard it, that's the only way I could have remembered it. The only other early live Beatles stuff I've ever heard are a couple of live tapes I have called "The Beatles Live At The Star-Club 1962 Vol I & II" and none of those songs are on there. I'm guessing the recordings were done not long after they broke from Tony Sheridan. That's as much as I remember, except that I'm kicking myself now for not keeping it. I really have no idea where it is now. If I find out more, I'll post.

fus44 · Post by **fus44** » Thu Jan 04, 2001 9:29 am

Cool. I'm always on the lookout for new-old material. Thanks!

admin · Post by **admin** » Wed Mar 07, 2001 1:46 am

Whatever marketing The Beatles used resulted in 70 million dollars of income for them in the year 2000. Not bad at all.

leftybass · Post by **leftybass** » Wed Mar 07, 2001 6:25 am

When talking about the Beatles I think it must be looked at as a unique situation, due to the fact that what happened in music and culture while they were together will never happen again...They were around at the right place at the right time in history. It is all such a benchmark to measure by, and that I think is why they can do just about whatever they want, whenever they want. It still sounds just as fresh today as it did when it was originally released. Be grateful WE are seeing it as it happens. Neat stuff.