Gearing up for The Beatles in the USA
Screenshot from The Beatles U.S.A. official store
It looks like what we posted about back in May may be forthcoming. The official Beatles Store for USA has launched a virtual shop themed to the Beatles First U.S. Visit with a collection of merchandise relating to this, as well as items commemorating their first North American tour. That tour started August 19, 1964 at the Cow Palace in San Francisco and ended at the Dallas Memorial Coliseum September 18. The site has a timeline exploring both the February visit with photos and quotes from The Beatles themselves, as well as a collection of concert tickets from the August – September tour.
As Ringo mentioned in an interview with Variety earlier this year, answering a question about the Let It Be film, “Oh, yeah. It’s coming out. We’ve all said yes. And also, the first (documentary) they did, the Maysles brothers, in New York”.
The Maysles brothers’ documentary, which eventually evolved into the 1991 “First U.S. Visit” laserdisc/VHS cassette and later DVD has not yet been out in higher resolution as a Blu-ray or a UHD Blu-ray (even higher definition). But the question is, will it be re-released on physical media or will it be another feature on the Disney+ streaming services?
The current (2010) incarnation of the Ed Sullivan Shows DVD set with The Beatles.
The “First U.S. Visit” DVD benefitted from the inclusion of several performances from the Ed Sullivan Show as well as from the Washington D.C. concert film. All the Beatles’ TV concert appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show has been out officially for decades from the late Ed Sullivan company Sofa Entertainment Inc. They used to have it for sale at The Beatles store, but it’s no longer available. The full Washington D.C. concert film which was available from iTunes and later Apple Music, is currently also not available any more.
The First U.S. Visit 1991 laserdisc (back).
At about the same time as The First US Visit was released, so was released “The Four Complete Historic Ed Sullivan Shows Featuring The Beatles”. Talking of the Beatles in America, or one Beatle, when can we expect an analysis of the wonderful Mind Games boxset?
An analysis of the Mind Games boxed set will not come from me, as I have barely half-listened to the streaming versions while working, and still haven’t gotten around to open the book in the set. But if anyone would like an audience for such an analysis, feel free to send us a script and we’ll consider to publish it!
Disappointing. The book is far more detailed than those on Imagine and Plastic Ono Band. What I really want to know is whether the three takes from the album in the Lennon Anthology box are the same outtakes in this box. And whether the “hidden tracks” I’m The Greatest and Rock ‘n’ Roll People are also the same as in the Lennon Anthology box and Menlove Avenue respectively. I think John’s voice is wonderful on every take of every song!
I have a 2004 edition of The First U.S. Visit. It is more packaged like a CD, and I recall thinking it was a CD when I received it. I tend to think whatever comes now will be a Disney+ or Hulu thing and any physical edition may follow, but is anyone’s guess as to when. I would love to be wrong though and a great expanded Bluray is what we get.
I hope that whatever comes out in the Ed Sullivan performances are as well-crafted as the Mirror Spock bootlegs that were around several years ago. Why the official Sullivan performances could not duplicate that sound and resolution, is hard to fathom.