If that's real, it appears to be one of those various cheapo quickie Beatles cash-in LPs that clueless parents bought for their disappointed kids back in the early days (1964) of the British Invasion; I had never heard of it until the other day, when Friend of PowerPop Frank De Stefano posted it over at La Livre du Visage. Whether it's real, of course -- or merely a recently photoshopped parody by some internet wiseacre -- remains an open question; my search of the aforementioned internet turned up absolutely no info on the thing whatsoever,
I should add that if it is real -- i.e. it actually came out in 1964 -- it was a pretty damn clever piece of work. Consider the putative track listing,
I dunno -- that seems awfully kind of meta and post-modern for back in the day, but you never know.
i should also add that whether it's real or not, it should not be mistaken for this actual 1964 single, which attempted to similarly cash in on Fab Four hysteria...
...which is on an honest-to-gosh, well-known record label, unlike the mystery album, and was produced by George Morton, who under the nom du disque Shadow Morton, went on to helm all sorts of great stuff, including the hits of The Shangri-Las, Janis Ian's "Society's Child," and the second LP by The New York Dolls.
In any case, a coveted PowerPop No-Prize© will be awarded to any reader who is able to shed some light on this whole megillah.
I mean, if the album really IS real, I want a goddamn copy.
10 comments:
https://youtu.be/CdXRDTFOVUg?si=swuR2ZP8b_buDX8O
Subtle!
Steve,
The album - and the label it's on - are REAL. But if you want a goddamn copy, it's gonna COST you.
According to Discogs (www.discogs.com), the album last sold in their on-line marketplace in Dec. 2019 for $271.99 Canadian (Sorry, I'm in Canada so that's the currency I get on my screen. And you can tell I'm Canadian because I just said sorry...). Right now 90 - count 'em, NINETY - people have it on their Discogs wants-list.
The label it came out on - Assault Records - was New York-based and had 25 releases (again, according to Discogs) in the early 1960s. It was run by Bob Gallo, who worked for Atlantic Records for a while and then, in 1974, moved to Canada and worked, in several capacities, for CBS Records up here. I remember seeing his name as a producer on some records by Jackson Hawke, a Canadian band that was signed to CBS in the late-1970s.
I know a gentleman in Toronto who is a long-time collector of Beatles and Beatles-related merchandise. If you want, I can email him and see if he has a copy of the album.
Hope this info helps you.
Chris --
I'm. Not. Worthy.
Seriously -- I should have known one of you guys would have the real scoop.
PS: I have a followup tomorrow that you might find interesting.
Steve,
Thanks. And I will definitely check out tomorrow's post.
If I can't have the No-Prize, I'll take a laurel. And hardy handshake.
You got the coveted No-Prize. Display it proudly on your mantlepiece.
"Outside Carnegie Hall" made me roar.
I am still skeptical about this. The Discogs listing could have been faked. It does show 90 people want it, but 0 people have it. It shows as the only lp issued by the label, the rest are 45s.
OK, I was very skeptical about this. So I called a reputable store in L.A. that specializes in Beatles stuff. They said it's a legit record but the mastering is really bad.
VR
NRBQ have an album called "At Yankee Stadium," the cover art to which is a photo of the four of them sitting in the otherwise empty stands.
Pete,
I freakin' LOVE that NRBQ LP (issued in 1978, on the Mercury label) and, despite the irreverent and very funny cover art, it is a studio album, not a concert release. Probably the best record they did among their many fine ones.
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