BDJ's Cellar Full of Remixes

Attica State (BDJ remix)

Written about the prison riot of September 1971 in which at least 39 people died, Attica State was included on John Lennon and Yoko Ono's album Some Time In New York City and released in June 1972. The song was composed on 9 October 1971, John Lennon's 31st birthday. That night a party and jam session took place at a Syracuse hotel room. Lennon and Ono were joined by Klaus Voormann, Allen Ginsberg, Jim Keltner, Mal Evans, Neil Aspinall, Eric Clapton, Ringo Starr and others. A seri...

Not A Second Time

"Not a Second Time" is a song by John Lennon performed by The Beatles on their second United Kingdom album, With The Beatles. Lennon said he was "trying to write a Smokey Robinson or something at the time.The song was recorded in nine takes on 11 September 1963. Robert Palmer covered the song, and I heard him (Robert...) play it Live in Amsterdam in 1980-something. Sweet memories ! Here's Robert's arrangement, with John's vocals.

Here Comes the Sun ft Guitar Solo

"Here Comes the Sun" is a song by George Harrison from The Beatles' 1969 album Abbey Road. Harrison, McCartney and Starr recorded the rhythm track in 13 takes on 7 July 1969. The following day he taped his lead vocals, and he and McCartney recorded their backing vocals twice to give a fuller sound. A harmonium and handclaps were added on 16 July. Harrison added an electric guitar run through a Leslie speaker on 6 August, and the orchestral parts (Martin's score for two piccolos, t...

Johnny's Birthday

All Things Must Pass is a triple album by George Harrison, recorded and released in 1970, the first solo work from him since the break-up of The Beatles in April that year. Johnny's Birthday was recorded in August 1970 with Ringo Starr and presented to John Lennon on his 30th birthday. (Based upon “Congratulations” - Bill Martin/Phil Coulter, new lyrics by Mal Evans, Harrison, Eddie Klein). On the record, the tape speed is constantly varied, sresulting in shifting pitch and tempo (p...

Happy Stewball (War is Over)

Lennon made it no secret that many (all?) of his songs were inspired by music he hard heard. This goes for the riff of I Feel Fine, the intro of Instant Karma, Come Together... and for most of Happy Xmas. Here, the inspiration derives from Stewball, an English traditional. Stewball was perfomed by man artists (such as The Greenbriar Boys, Lonnie Donnegan, Peter, Paul & Mary, Woody Guthrie), but the version by the Hollies (1968) appears to be the one for Lennon. Here's a mash-up of th...

I Need You (BDJ arrangement)

“I Need You” was recorded on February 15th at EMI Studio Two. Both George and John played acoustic guitar, Paul played bass and Ringo played drums. Five takes of the song were recorded before everyone was satisfied, “take five” being deemed as best. This ended the night at 10:30. The next day, February 16th, 1965, they recorded all of the overdubs to “I Need You.” First on the agenda was for George to record his lead vocals and then double-track them. The double-tracked take als...

All My Loving (BDJ Upgrade)

Another installment of the BDJ Upgrade series. A new version, produced from the stereo and mono tracks of the Remasters. Instead of the orginal vocals-right/backing left stereo, we now have a balanced stereo spectrum + a bass line with real oomph !

Quarrymen Live in Woolton

On the afternoon of 6 July 1957 the Quarrymen skiffle group played at the garden fete of St Peter's Church, Woolton, Liverpool. In the band were John Lennon (vocals, guitar), Eric Griffiths (guitar), Colin Hanton (drums), Rod Davies (banjo), Pete Shotton (washboard) and Len Garry (tea chest bass).  Their repertoire consisted mainly of Skiffle songs; skiffle blossomed in England, just before Rock &R oll replaced it from 1958 onwards. They played various Lonnie Donnegan songs,intersp...

Christmas with Thomas & The Beatles

In 2010, BDJ's Cellar presented 2 special Christmas Podcasts; one based on the Nativity story in the Gospel of Matthew, the other on Nativity according to the gospel of Luke. This left us in a predicament for 2011: the other 2 gospels in the Bible (Mark and John) don't speak about the birth of Jesus, so we ran out of Nativity stories. Or did we ? For 2011, we resorted to ancient texts, which were - for good or bad reasons - not included in the Bible. Nonetheless, these texts origina...

Whole Lotta Love ft. John F. Kennedy

I still find JFK an inspirational speaker. Listening to his inaugurational speech, delivered on the steps of a snow covered Capitol, it struck me that his words appear to be so relevant to the world of today; the overthrow of (mostly secular) dictators in the Arab world, to be replaced by ? We don't know yet, but could very well be military or religious dictatorships. But as JFK says; "those who ride the back of the tiger, often end up inside !".

Vic van Kampen Plays the Beatles

Victor van Kampen is a guitar virtuoso, now living in the Netherlands. Vic released a number of CD's (go out and buy'em !), but is yet to make the big time. He's about my age, so he should get a move on... Hence this plug: Vic plays the Beatles, I believe these tracks unreleased so far. Did some mastering and fussing about, that's all. Vic not has great technique and tone, he also makes the songs his own. Track listing: I Feel Fine; I'll Follow The Sun; Blackbird; Here There and ...

Eleanor Rigby (BDJ Remix)

In the summer of 1966, the Beatles scored a No 1 with a double A-side single. On one side was "Yellow Submarine", and on the other there was "Eleanor Rigby", a sombre song with string backing about lonely people. It featured Eleanor Rigby, who sat by the window, and Father McKenzie, who may or may not have been the priest who officiated at her funeral, to which nobody came. Paul claimed that he had originally considered calling her Daisy Hawkins, although it is difficult to see how ...

Oo Karma (Baby Don't Cry vs Instant Karma)

A nice instrumental track of "Oo You" appears on the new "McCartney" Deluxe as a bonus track. This instrumental track is called "Don't Cry Baby" on it; im the blurbs, it is labelled as an 'outtake', why is a mystery. Anyway, it is rather simple and straightforward, so we did a little mash-up. Oo You is based on a guitar riff,, much like several of Lennon's songs (I Feel Fine, Day Tripper etc.). Hence, we selected a Lennon song, from roughly the same era as Oo You.

There's a Place (BDJ Remix)

This song was recorded on 11 February 1963 in ten takes. There's a Place was first released as a track on Please Please Me. It's release in the US came a year later on the legendary Vee-Jay album “Introducing…The Beatles,” released on January 6th, 1964. The second US release was as a single, which wasn’t released in Britain, as the flip side to “Twist And Shout.” This single was released on the newly formed Vee-Jay subsidiary Tollie Records in late February of 1964 as a way to capi...

Money (BDJ Remix)

The Beatles recorded "Money (That's What I Want)" in five takes on July 18, 1963. I suppose they intended it to be a smashing final track to With The Beatles, just as Twist & Shout had closed Please Please Me. Money had been featured in their shows since the Hamburg days, and they had converted it into a raunchy rocker song. The regular visitor to BDJ's Cellar immediately notices something odd about Money: it has centered vocals in the stereo (Album) mix ! In fact. It is the only ...

The First Beatles Mash-Up Evah

The first ever Beatles mash-up was broadcast on 29 February 1972, at 3.30 PM. The occasion was the 'Beatles Day" on Radio Veronica. Radio Veronica was a - pirate- radio station, broadcasting from a ship in the North Sea, off the Dutch coast. From April 1960 the station aired its programmes from the ship the 'Borkum Riff', an ex German lightship built in 1911. Though its programming then still was very conventional, the station acquiered a growing audience. From the 1st Januari 1965,...

Ask Me Why (BDJ Remix)

"Ask Me Why" was released in the United Kingdom and The US (VJ Records) as the B-side of their single "Please Please Me". It was also included on the UK album, Please Please Me. It was recorded on 26 November 1962, in 6 takes. Take 6 was used for both the mono single and the stereo LP mix. No outtakes have surfaced, so there's not a lot to create a remix from.... Apparently, Ask Me Why was always intended as a B-side, and the production is not of the same standard as Please Pleas...

Please Please Me (BDJ Remix)

"Please Please Me" is the second single released by The Beatles in the United Kingdom, and the first to be issued in the United States. Both its recording history, and its release record, are complex and often confounded. We'll shed some BDJ light on it here..... RECORDING HISTORY: Lennon first conceived "Please Please Me" as a bluesy, slow tempo song. Lennon recalled: "I remember the day I wrote it, I heard Roy Orbison doing "Only the Lonely", or something." When George Marti...

Love Me Two Times - The Doors (BDJ cover)

Here's a loosely played cover of this great track by the Doors; my Other Favourite Band. Not much in common with the Beatles, just that only 2 band members are still alive... "Love Me Two Times" first appeared on the 1967 album Strange Days. It was released as their second single. Special challenge for this cover was that I did notwant to play keyboard on it. Ray Manzarek played this song on a clavinet. I compensated by adding several guitar tracks. All played on my Strat, giving tha...

I Want To Hold Your Hand (BDJ Remix)

By the time I Want To Hold Your Hand was recorded (October 1963), EMI had installed 4-track recorders at Abbey Road. The results are immediately audible: guitars are double tracked amd distributed over different tracks. The Single was - of course - released in glorious mono. Since I Want To Hold Your hand was not included on With The Beatles, no stereo version was released in the UK. it features on a Capitol album in the US in stereo, but this sounds like 'fake stereo' to me (highs ...

I Saw Her Standing There (BDJ Remix)

A brand new - true stereo - remix of this classic Beatles song. During the remixing of I Saw Her Standing There, I made a major discovery, which I will describe below. I Saw Her Standing There was recorded at EMI Studios on 11 February 1963, as part of the marathon recording session (10 hours) that produced 10 of the 14 songs on Please Please Me. In December 1963, Capitol Records released the song in the United States as the B-side on the label's first single by The Beatles, "I Want...

No Matter What (BDJ Cover Version)

Badfinger was a rock band formed in Swansea, Wales in the early 1960s.Their history is closely linked with the Beatles; to some, their music imitates the Beatles; for others, it is a welcome extension to the Beatelesque repertoire. Pete Ham sings in a McCartney-esque voice, their guitars sound a lot like Eric Clapton....... The other ties to the Beatles are too many too mention all: - The name Badfinger was suggested by Apple's Neil Aspinall, and was a reference to "Bad Finger Bo...

She's A Woman (BDJ Remix)

"She's a Woman" was released as the B-side to "I Feel Fine" in 1964 (see remix below). McCartney's bass produces a countermelody, which now bursts out of your subwoofers. Lennon's Rickenbacker 325 guitar plays chords on the backbeat, now in full stereo, combined from takes 2 and 4. In the original release a piano (Paul or george Martin ?) also plays chords on the upbeats, but I didn't like that. Harrison also plays a bright guitar solo during the middle eight, taken from Take 6. Th...

I Feel Fine (BDJ Remix)

I Feel Fine is - probably - Lennon's first riff-based song. He would go on to write riff-based tunes for the rest of his career; listen to "Day Tripper', or 'Whatever gets you through the night' for example. Lennon made it no secret that his riffs were inspired by songs he had heard; he credited the riff of I Feel Fine to Bobby Parker's 'Watch Your Step', and this also appears to have inspired Day Tripper. Not just that, the spectecular opening 'buzz' of I Feel Fine seems to be deri...

The Everest Concert (Part One)

n 1969, the Beatles found themselves in a slump; they were growing out of the 'innocent, funny boys' role, and the band was at risk of falling apart. To bring the group back to life, they embarked on the 'Everest' project, which comprised a live performance somewhere in the world in a 'safe' location (such as Mt Everest). They expected to draw such large crowds, that a concert in a normal venue would have run quickly out of control. They explored several options for a suitable loca...

The Everest Concert (Part Two)

Come and get It ft Paul McCartney & Badfinger

Remix of Macca's demo with Badfinger's only hit.

The Dutch Remasters - Part One

The core of this podcast consists of Beatles tracks covered by Dutch artists, mostly form the 60's and 70's. Some are exciting, some are just presented here for the completists........ The Beatles became popular in the Netehrlands at a very early stage in thier career; the Dutch have a fine ear for musical talent (and still do). Friday 5 June 1964: Following the previous day's concerts in Copenhagen, Denmark, The Beatles flew to Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam, Netherlands, arrivin...

The Dutch ReMasters - Part Two

Christmas with Luke & the Beatles

The gospel of Luke tells of the nativity in its own way, necessitating its own Beatles Christmas podcast version: while Matthew (see preceding Podcast) talks about the wordly aspects (king Herod, the wise men and their rich gifts) and the nativity rooted in Judaism, Luke speaks more about the spiritual impact and the break with Jewish traditions. Therefore, we selected more 'spiritual' tracks for this podcast, and included tracks recorded after the break-up. The incidental music is...

A Beatles Christmas Remastered ft James Earl Jones

Christmas Time Is Here Again ! A special time for Beatles fans: the Beatles did Christmas shows in their early days, and released special 'nonsense' records for their fanclub all through the Fab's career. Enough reasons to release this BDJ Chritsmas special; it is a new - yet ancient - way to celeberate Christmas. Gone are the Ho-Ho-Ho's of Father C, decorated trees, mangers and shepherds. In its stead, we find Christmas Remastered as it sounds best: the Gospel of Matthew, perfor...

She's Leaving Home (Live)

Many (if not most) of the Beatles songs were never performed Live by the Fabs themselves. Even when thye still toured they basically reproduced the recorded versions as accurately as possible. What if they had continued performing gigs, and had updated their songs as they went along ? Here, we present a version of She's Leaving Home that could have been performed at the rooftop of Apple Studios, if....... The guitars, bass and drums are courtesy of BDJ's Tearoom orchestra.

She's Leaving Home

She's Leaving Home is one the few songs of the later Beatles albums where Lennon contributes to a McCartney song. Standing out by Mike Leander's string quartet arrangement, it maintains its unique posiotion in modern pop/rock. Lewisohn mentions that 2 extra bars of cello (after each Bye-Bye)were edited out of the final release (on Sgt Pepper). This was done at the remix stage, indicating that the complete song (including vocals) was recorded including these cello parts. Recently, t...

Please Please Me And my Monkey

Sometimes Lennon's songs are not that different......

Everybody Got Something to Hide Except for Me and My Monkey (Take 9)

Lennon lets it rip in this sensational rocking track. Featuring guitars and a cowbell, this was one of the loudest songs of 1968. Outtakes form Take 12 are well known, but some say that Take 9 was even louder. Unfortuatley, that take has not surfaced (yet); so, the BDJ Teamroom Orchestra set to work to recerate take 9 as best as they could. Cranked up the distortion on the guitars (BDJ), thumping bass and drums(BDJ) and screaming vocals (John Lennon), here we go !

Please Please Me This Way

One of the elusive Beatles tracks that still remains unbootlegged, is the 'slow version' of Please Please Me. The fabs played it to George Martin, who rejected it as being too slow for a number one hit. Perhaps for the last time, the Beatles complied and changed the song around into the Please Please Me that we all know. Here, we present a rare live recording of the original Please Please Me. It is strikingly different, not only in tempo, but also in the raw guitar riffs, that were ...

For You Blue ft Ringo Starr

For You Blue sounds like a more or less improvised blues session; the Fab did this every mow and then, as we hear in the Let it Be sessions, but these rarely led to a quality recording. And it was a close shave for For You Blue: Phil Spector needed to apply quite some trickery to construct a full song out of the various takes. Still, "For You Blue" was listed with "The Long and Winding Road" as a double-sided hit when the single reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 in 1970...

Maggie Mae

Maggie Mae is just a snippet of a song on Let It Be. Phil Spector picked the best 38 seconds out of a session that did not last for more than a minute or two. After all, it's a pretty tragic story about a working girl, who was banished to Australia for her efforts. So she 'did not walk Lyme street anymore', a connection with the Beatles since John and Cynthia were married in the registrar's office on Lyme street... What if the Fab had spent a bit mnore time and effort on this 'trad...

Maybe Baby 29-1-69

Another World Premiere for BDJ's Cellar; The beatles perform the Holly classic 'Maybe Baby'. This is unearthed form the Let It Be rehearsals. Lossless version of this remaster is found on the Let It Be Remixed release (BRG16). Don't confuse this one with the Maybe Baby that McCartney wrote for the film in 1999.....

Don't Let Me Down ft Talking Heads

A rare Live Performance, not released on Let it Be. Not only did Billy Preston join the Beatles for the Roof Concert, but - apparently - so did Talking Heads. They would later use this tune for their own greatest hit.

Her Majesty (Slow Down)

'Her Majesty' is a beautiful McCartney compositon. It didn't make it onto Let It Be, but Macca remembered it a few months later when recording Abbey Road. On Abbey Road, it sounds like a throwaway, barely 30 seconds, kicked off by a slightly out of tune chord (Mustard), and lacking the final chord. Here, we combine the Let it Be and Abbey Road sessions, underpinned by a solid backing track (Slow Down), for a full 2m58s of Her Majesty !

That Boy (Go To Him)

'Anna (Go To Him)' is possible the poorest song the Beatles ever covered. It is surprising that it was included on Please Please Me, while the Beatles had stronger cover songs in their repertoire at that moment. There is no recording of any Live performance, they only played it twice on BBC's Pop Go The Beatles (as filler). So why did they select it for PPM ? Since Lennon does the lead vocals, it was probably his choice. What could have been his motives ? The song structure is conve...

Come Together ft. Michael Jackson

A funky re-mix, featuring Michael Jackson and others. Lossless version on 'Beatle Blends'.

Something ft. Paul McCartney

Something was Sinatra's 'favorite Lennon-McCartney Song'. It appears that it has now become McCartney's Favourite Harrisong. Macca perfoms Something at almost any concert now, in a sober production featuring mainly ukele and some piano parts. So here - in a World Premiere - are the Macca vocals in a lush George Martin production. NB: the BDJ engineers unveiled an urbain myth while mixing this track. In his book "Here There and Everywhere' Geoff Emerick remembers that Harrison wan...

I'm Only Sleeping

I'm Only Sleeping is one of Lennon's most Lennonesque songs: the chords keep meandering up and down, the lyrics look simple at first, but become more mysterious as you try to interpret them. The theme is a well-known Lennon view: Lennon is right and the world is wrong. In this case, he contrasts his own relaxed approach to life, to the senseless business of the rest of us. (as in Strawberry Fields, "Nothing is real, nothing to get hung about....") Lennon seems to have a thing with ...

Dancers And Lovers (ft Mondoleone)

Basic track formed by 'Je Danst' by Mondoleone. This killer song is complemented by some famous friends: Beatles (The End and Because), Supertramp (Logical Song), Alquin (percussion), Sandy Coast (bottles), Gruppo Sportivo (piano), and a cameo by Stevie Wonder at the end. Extra credit for those who recognise the intro..... The lyrics argue that dancing and loving are closely linked: they both require smooth hip action. This track is featured in lossless format on the Summer Booty ...

I Want To Hold Your Man

September-October 1963 was a busy period for the songwriting duo Lennon-McCartney. Amongst the songs composed in that period, I Wanna Be Your Man and I Want To Hold Your Hand take a special place. I Wanna Be Your Man is pure erotic energy, and this more then compensates for the lack of melody or chord structure. On the other hand, I Want To Hold Your Hand is the first major Lennon-McCartney song, of the quality that earned them a place amongst the greatest composers of all time. T...

And Your Bird Can Drive My Car

"And Your Bird Can Sing" was released on the 1966 album Revolver in the UK and on Yesterday...and Today in the U.S. The song was written by John Lennon. Lennon was later dismissive of the song, as he was of many of his compositions at the time, referring to it as "another of my throwaways...fancy paper around an empty box". Many composers would kill their bird for a throwaway of this quality; still, the lyrics are jibbersih and rather repetitive. The double-tracked guitar solo rates...

Let It Be ft. Aretha Franklin

Aretha's version, reinfoced with an extra instrumetal track. Perhaps words of wisdom and consolation, for those who need it most.

With A Little Help From the Beach Boys

What if the Beatles and the Beach Boys had cooperated in the Pepper era ? Imagine the results, if McCartney had plucked some chords on his guitar, Brian Wilson completing the melody, then Lennon putting the finishing touches on the lyrics ? Sadly, we will never hear the likes of "Sgt. Pepper Only Knows", "Imagine My little Honda", or "Back to the Surfin' USA". However, we can listen to the - posthumous - collaboration on With A Little Help. In September 1967, the Beach Boys recorded...