Music Reissues Weekly: The Hamburg Repertoire

THE HAMBURG REPERTOIRE Perplexing compendium of songs The Beatles covered there

Perplexing compendium of songs The Beatles covered while playing the German port city

The blurb on the front of the double-CD set The Hamburg Repertoire says it collects “The original recordings of songs performed by The Beatles on stage in Hamburg.” Disc One opens with Little Richard’s “Long Tall Sally.” Disc Two ends with Chet Atkins’ version of the “Theme From ‘The Third Man’.”

Album: Lucinda Williams Sings The Beatles from Abbey Road

The hits keep on coming from Lu's Jukebox

When first I clicked on the stream for this album, I really wasn’t sure about it. In fact, I thought I wasn’t going to like it, much as I had wanted to. But I’ve had it playing almost continuously while I’ve been dealing with mindless stuff – and I’ve come to like it.

Not without reservations of course – there are always reservations – but it’s got under my skin and I’m now properly in the groove, appreciating what Lucinda Williams is doing, delving into this most hallowed of song catalogues and bravely tackling numbers that are rarely, if ever, covered. As is her way.

Music Reissues Weekly: The Beatles - Stowe School 1963

THE BEATLES - STOWE SCHOOL 1963 A schoolboy’s momentous tape recording

A schoolboy’s momentous tape recording

“We hope if you like it, you'll buy it,” says Paul McCartney. It’s 4 April 1963 and The Beatles are on stage and about to perform their third single “From Me to You.” It’s out in a week.

To his left, John Lennon instantly responds to the entreaty. “And if you don't like it,” he retorts. “Don't buy it.”

Little Richard: I am Everything review - a riveting account of 'the brightest star in the universe'

★★★★★ LITTLE RICHARD: I AM EVERYTHING The rise, fall, and rise of the self-proclaimed king of rock ’n' roll

The rise, fall, and rise of the self-proclaimed king of rock ’n' roll

Lisa Cortés’s fast-paced documentary Little Richard: I Am Everything opens with a TV interview made in 1971, 16 years after the rock 'n' roll pioneer became an overnight success with groundbreaking hits like "Tutti Frutti" and "Good Golly Miss Molly".

Music Reissues Weekly: George Martin - A Painter In Sound

GEORGE MARTIN - A PAINTER IN SOUND Dizzying pre-Beatles tribute to the musical polymath

Dizzying pre-Beatles tribute to the musical polymath

A strange new single went on sale in Britain’s record shops in April 1962. Credited to Ray Cathode, “Time Beat” combined a metronomic rhythm with peculiar, otherworldly sounds. It was not a standard pop record. The flipside, “Waltz In Orbit”, was also about its tempo and was just as weird. Not many copies were sold.

Music Reissues Weekly: The Best of 2022

MUSIC REISSUES WEEKLY: THE BEST OF 2022 It was about more than The Beatles

It was about more than The Beatles

The Beatles loomed over everything else. It wasn’t inevitable, but the arrival of the revealing Revolver box set and Peter Jackson’s compelling Get Back film confirmed that there is more to say about what’s known, and also that there are new things to say about popular music’s most inspirational phenomenon of the 20th century.

Music Reissues Weekly: The Beatles - Revolver

THE BEATLES - REVOLVER Perception-shifting box set of the Fabs' momentous 1966 album

Perception-shifting box set of the Fabs' momentous 1966 album

John Lennon does not appear on “Love You Too” and “For No One”. With “Taxman”, “Eleanor Rigby”, “Here, There and Everywhere”, “Good Day Sunshine” and “I Want to Tell You”, his contributions are limited to backing vocals and, on odd occasions, some percussion too. He appears semi-detached from seven of Revolver’s 14 tracks.

Music Reissues Weekly: The Beatles - Get Back

THE BEATLES - GET BACK Peter Jackson’s triumphant re-evaluation of the ‘Let It Be’ film's source

Peter Jackson’s re-evaluation of the ‘Let It Be’ film’s source material is a triumph

“At all times, the film-makers have attempted to present an accurate portrait of the events depicted and the people involved.” The on-screen statement beginning each of Get Back's three parts acknowledges that definitions of accuracy can depend on points of view.

The Beatles: Get Back, Disney+ review - 1969 revisited in Peter Jackson's three-part documentary

★★★ THE BEATLES: GET BACK, DISNEY+ 1969 revisited in Peter Jackson's three-part documentary

Eight hours of vintage Fab Four footage may be a trifle excessive

A caption tells us that while filming the Beatles at Twickenham Film Studios in January 1969 for a planned TV broadcast, director Michael Lindsay-Hogg and his crew amassed 60 hours of film and 150 hours of audio recordings. Some of it was seen in the 1970 film Let It Be, but the bulk of it has remained locked in the vaults ever since. Until now.