More to come
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| Photo: Apple Corps Ltd |
In an interesting article in Variety by Christopher Morris, President-CEO of Universal Music Enterprises, UMG’s catalog division, Bruce Resnikoff confirms the upcoming release of the Beatles mono albums vinyl set. He also has this to say:
“The latest boxed set (US Albums) marks an opportunity to re-introduce them to a new demographic”, says Resnikoff. “(There’s) an entire generation who hadn’t seen these particular records the way they were released in the U.S., in one place, in one fashion, with a sound quality that would be satisfying,”
About the “Bootleg Recordings 1963” release in December, Resnikoff remarks “That collection performed very well from our perspective, and the people associated with Apple Corps and the Beatles felt the same way. I think there’s an opportunity as we cull through the vaults to find additional material like that.”
Universal Music Group paid $1.9 billion in 2012 for EMI Records’ label holdings, and the Beatles’ music is now jointly released by UMG’s Capitol Music Group and the Beatles’ own Apple Corps.
The article goes on to speculate about a possible 50th anniversary release of the Beatles’ first movie, “A Hard Day’s Night” is to be released by Criterion Collection, something we have speculated about in this very blog.
The future seems bright for Beatles fans, as Resnikoff says “We have a combined global Beatles team in a partnership with Apple Corps and the Beatles to not only discuss what we’re doing now, but to bring forth a global strategy going forward, well beyond six months, 12 months or 18 months.”
Unfortunately, they seem to have failed to ask Resnikoff about the upcoming “1”- themed collection of The Beatles’ music videos, or the rumoured release of the “Let It Be” film.
There will definitely be more Bootleg Series releases. For one thing, it ensures money making.
For another: if you look at the predominance of BBC recordings in the 1963 release, as well as the absence of With The Beatles outtakes, you get the sneaking suspicion that 1963 is comprised of all the studio outtakes and BBC leftovers that didn't make the cut for Anthology/Live At The BBC.