By Terry Ott

Got a few e-mails from readers about the apparent dye job recently applied to Paul McCartney-NOTE: CUE LEGION OF MACCA MADDHATTERS TO LOCK AND LOAD-but as far as I'm concerned what gos on between a man and his hairdresser should remain private, at least between heterosexuals.

But the major question remains: does he, or doesn't he?

Personally, I don't give a shite, but evidently many do, as evidenced by the handy pix link on AbbeyRd.

And just as Kermit the Frog knows that it ain't easy bein' green, the world's most famous living ex-Beatle has to live it every day, letting the broken hearts stand, as the price he got's to pay.

OK, OK, so I mixed a few rock metaphors and lyrics, but honest to God, it can't be easy being perhaps one of the most famous mere mortals to walk the face of the earth in the last 100 years.

And while Wild Bill Clinton may have felt our pain, no one but Macca his-self can feel the the utter heaviness of being, or as he so eloquently once put it: "boy, you're gong to carry that weight; carry that weight, a long time."

I mean, I doubt that even my most ardent supporters would care if at 49, I reached for the rinse, or in the immortal words of Mick Jagger when asked about the possibility of another Rutles: "I 'ope not."

Yet I wonder if PM is getting ready for his "When I'm 64 Tour," which will be the one after the next one, coming up when he is 62 or 3.

Oh well; that's showbiz, folks!

So we have had another major Fabs anniversary under our belt, but I wonder if many realize this winter marks the 35th since perhaps the least loved of Beatles releases, Yellow Submarine, came out.

Released-I guess-to support the feature film, the Yellow Sub album was comprised of the title track, then over 2 years old, and bookended with All You Need Is Love, itself going on 2 years old.

Of the other 4 "new" tracks, All Together Now, Only A Northern Song, Hey Bulldog, and It's All Too Much, only the latter two tunes were of much note, although there is a school of thought and opinion that any Beatles song was as good or better than anything else from the era. So let's leave it at that subjective juncture.

Side B of the album was padded out with the George Martin orchestrated score for the film, and although pleasant enough to listen to, had really nothing to do with the beatles, as John Lennon was to later say.

And of all the Beatles albums that I have heard, the orginal pressing of the album-as well as the first CD issue-sounded like, well, crap. To me, the record sounded as if it had been mastered through a dishwasher, especially It's All Too Much and All You Need Is Love.

But the 1999 Yellow Submarine Songtrack fixed up many of the sonic felonies, although some fans were not happy with the remixing, and use of noise suppression mastering.

Still, here we are 35 years later.

All together now: 1, 2, 3, 4 hope your life is not a chore...

Ah, so I see that the legalists/jackals from EMI have issued one of their faves-a cease and desist order-to the homies who so brilliantly welded and melded samples from the White Album into something called the Gray Album.

I'm not a big rap fan myself, but it seams to me that it is currently a major art-form at present, so, if ya can't lick 'em, join 'em, I guess.

In fact, the Beatles should feel honored, I guess.

So , we have Apple/EMI taking on Apple Computers over the very use of the term "Apple" and now the rappers-whom I'm surprised never came up with this notion a long time ago-are threatened with the stick from the legal eagles that "protect" the Fabs and their agents from "ripp-offs," something they have been mighty sensistive about since they actually were ripped off, now some 40 years ago.

In any event, I first heard of this Gray Album thing about 2 months ago, and until the EMI threats, it had pretty much dropped off the radar screen.

Now, for sure you can bet that it will be copied gazzilions of times, will be an instant underground hit, and be available all over the Internet.

Good luck to the Apple/EMI legalists trying to put this fire out now, especially since it was a featured item on Yahoo! news.

I'll bet none of us first gen Fabs fans would ever see the day that the genuine rap crowd and the faux middle-class punk rap wannabees would become Beatle fans!

Who's for Eminem doing, "Yo! Helter Skelter, dawg!"

I think it was around this time of year, about 35 years ago, that an older friend of mine brought over a record to my house.

And I think it was the one and only time that someone came calling with an LP hidden in a bag.

I had been bugging this guy to lend me the record for some time, and I was quite surprised when he rang the doorbell one afternoon. I was also happy that my parents were not home at the time, because the item inside the bag was the infamous Two Virgins record, by John lennon and Yoko Ono.

My friend said I could borrow the record for a few days, and I thanked him profusely, and shut the door and ran up to my room.

The edition I had on loan was one of the original issues with the brown paper sleeve, and I gently pulled the record jacket from the bag to reveal as John so aptly put it, "the Beatle c**k."

Actually, at the time I was more impressed with Yoko's nudity, and i recall thinking that maybe Lennon was right in his love for Ms. Ono, because she had a pretty fine body.

In any event, I whipped the platter on to my turntable and that is when everything started to go bad.

Quiet simply, there was nothing of any consequence of all on the record-just a lot of gibberish and mumbling and sound effect-and to me, expecting some raunchy rock, the "experimental" music was, well, crap.

And to make thing worse, my parents arrived soon there after, and I had to hide that LP but good, and I couldn't wait to get it out of the house because I knew if I were ever caught with it, my father might, well, crucify me.

Many, many years later, Two Virgins was reproduced and showed up in mainstream record shops, although the legitemcy of the release was hazy, and it soon disappeared.

Then, about 10 years ago Yoko put out an authorized CD version of Two Virgins, complete with "bonus" tracks.

But 35 years on, it remains perhaps the most audacious release in pop music history.

The cultural if not biological spiritual father of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band has left us.

Dr. Humphry Osmond passed away at age 86 at his home in Wisconsin on Feb. 6.

Dr.Osmond was an early pioneer in the use of LSD for treating mental illness, and in fact is credited with coining the term "psychedelic," which of course was a very important period in Beatle recording history, beginning with Revolver and climaxing with Magical Mystery Tour.

According to a New York Times obituary, Dr. Osmond actually came up with the idea of "psychedelic" to describe the effects of LSD in 1957, a full 10 years before the release of Pepper -which has come to be known as the Beatles acid LP,-and the worldwide counter-culture experimentation with hallucinogenic drugs.

Previously published reports say that George Harrison was the first Fab to try LSD, having been given the drug by his dentist in late 1965.

By the time of the recording of Sgt.P in 1967, all of the Beatles had tried LSD, and it is believed that it had a major impact on not only shaping their music, but their general outlooks as well.

Harrison was to say that he "saw God in every blade of grass" while under the influence of LSD.

However, Harrison would later disavow LSD as a way of achieving a higher consciousness.

John Lennon was a regular user of LSD throughout the period from 1966 to late 1967, but denied that his seminal Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, was a literal metaphor for LSD. However, it is doubtful the song title was wholly a happy accident.

And in a weird sort of psychedelic symmetry, word of Dr. Osmond's death comes on the same weekend that Beach Boy Brian Wilson premiered his live production of the lost album Smile, a record that was said to be inspired by Wilson's use of LSD when it was originally composed in 1967.

The Times obit made no mention of whether Dr.Osmond was aware of the Beatles use of LSD and its influence on their music, but it did mention that the doctor had been part of an experiment that involved giving LSD to several movie actors, including Carey Grant.

Got an E today from Fluffin Fluffer, or some such thing, and it got me to thinkin'.

The Fluffster asked, why not a BB comparing the great unfinished Beach Boys masterpiece Smile- which composer Brian Wilson is premiering this day in England,-and the Fabs seminal, Sgt. Pepper.

And I have a theory as to why Sgt. P became a successful reality, and Smile but just an unrequited legend.

With Sgt. P, you had the sum of 5 parts; the Beatles and their very able producer, George Martin.

No matter how weirded-out or acid-stuffed any one or combo of Fabs got, there would always be at least one relatively sane remember of the group to grab the reins and yell, "whoa!"

But Smile was a one man show, and obviously Brian Wilson-while arguably is/was a real "genius"-was also arguably rather mentally ill, and was not really told "no" by anyone.

This lead to a dog's breakfast, rather than a linear audio production, that to this day has not had a legit release.

Yet 35 years after trying to make an album that would top anything in the history of pop music, Brian Wilson is out on the road with a live production of Smile.

Will the material still hold up, or even measure up to Sgt. Pepper?

I guess time will tell, but it will for sure be a damn tall order.

Whilst I was wiling away some time surfing the tripple W the other day, i cam upon the Rhino Records Handmade site.

The Handmade series is a limited edition run of usually 5000 units of some rare, or obscure pop masterpiece, and is a mail-order only sale.

The item that caught my eye was a new one from the Doors, a collection of live recording from 1967-1970, which are in fact bootleg or audience recordings of shows that were not otherwise taped by the band.

And although it is always tricky at best figuring out sound quality over the Net, many of the sample tracks I listened to were, well, crappy sounding tracks,many just as crappy as the live Beatle recordings that I have heard, circa 1964-66.

The Beatles performed about 100 live shows during their touring years of North America, and I have heard some of the bootleg recordings of these shows, and they sound, well, really, really crappy, with a few exceptions.

The shows from the Sam Houston Coliseum circa 1965 seem to come from a soundboard, and are at least listenable.

But most of the live recordings of the Beatles concerts are bad, very bad.

The music is drowned out by the screaming, if in fact you can hear the songs at all.

Case in point was one show from Montreal in 1964 that last year received a lot of hype , but that sounded like shite.

However, will modern technology allow for some of these shows to made into a special collection like the Doors box-set? Pehaps the recording could be tweaked to the point of marketablity.

For sure the market is there,elsewhile the bootleggers would all have gone out of business long ago.

However, unlike the Doors who tended to vary their set-list from show to show, the Beatles mostly played the same songs every night, except for the time they threw in Kansas City, when they did a special show in KC in '65, for a reported $100,000.

Still, one day I could see a live collection of Beatle shows being released, and maybe we will be treated to a few special surprises.

I let the cat out of the bag in #136, and so far I have but few scratches.

In fact, most readers taking the time to e-mail, are saying that they have been thinking the same thing for some time now.

That is, which Fab will be the next to go to his reward.

And while this may unleash the Macca Madhatters again, most of the reader mail has been somewhat tough on Sir Paul McCartney.

Some readers think that if PM is going to be the last Fab standing, then we will be force-fed a steady diet of Macca revisionism.

ATTENTION MMs: I DO NOT NECESSARILY AGREE WITH THIS VIEWPOINT! DID YOU READ ME?

Lissa, from the Left Coast, wrote very elequently that if PM's number was called first then "there will be much rending of garment and beating of chest with a loud grief-stricken wail from all parts of the wolrd."

Wow! And you thought I was a writer!

One of the more interesting e's I got came from reader,Ricky, who put forth the proposition that George Harrsion may have faked his own death, to which I replied that yes, I had heard that "Stig is not dead," but I am quite certain that George is.

But basically, all were in agreement that heretofore no Beatle should ever die.

And to that notion, I add amen, brother/sister.

I'll most likely get a whack of hate mail for this, but wot the 'ell, here goes.

Ever hear of celebrity death pools?

Well, there is a whole bunch of them on the Internet, with loads of sicko pickers predicting when and who will meet up with the grim weeper.

And what got me thinking about such macabre things was actually the complete opposite.

Watching the Beatles First US Visit, and seeing the youth and vibrancy of the Lads was great, but one cannot help but also notice now that two of the Fabs are missing and the remaining members of the group are pushing old age pension time.

Ringo Starr turns 64 this year, and Paul McCartney ain't no spring chick either.

Yet, both ex-Beatles are hardly mentioned in any death pools I saw, although interestingly, Macca is on more death lists than Ringo, despite Starr's age and long list of health problems that continue to this day.

One site called the "Disassociated Press" says the big question is not which Beatle will be the next to die, but rather, which one shall be the one to survive.

A fine line, indeed.

And I'd venture to say that it will be much more of a shock if we lose the "cute" one before the "funny" one.

Plus, talk about "boy, you're gonna carry that weight," how'd you like to be the last one standing?

Every news item about the last Fab would be prefaced or ended with "the last surviving member of the Beatles..."

What a bummer that would be.

To this day I still can't believe we lost John Lennon the way we did, and perhaps the utter normalcy of George Harrison's passing is even more distressing to one and all.

So let's hope for a long tenure for the Tootles.

Well, I might be a tad behind the times, but I finally got 'round to watching the newly remasterd beatles First US Visit DVD.

And I hate to say this, but I was a tad disappointed in that there could have, and should have, been much more in the way of bonus materials.

The original film, which was about 80 minutes long and shot in black and white, benefits from the recenlty cleaned up Ed Sullivan show performances, as well as the Anthology footage from the Washington concert that previously was almost unlistenable.

Plus, some of the bonus footage provided on this disc, appeared last year in the Anthology DVD-especially the hilarious bit where John Lennon refers to Murray The K as "Wanker the K."

Considering all the hours and hours of stock shot by the Maysles brothers, much more outtake material should have been included. However, Appple may have had a hand in this oversight, as ususal. As in oversighting it for yet another reissue down the line.

What was great was the commentary track by Albert, although once again it could have been longer-he stopped talking during all of the Beatles performances.

It is obvious from listening to Albert that the Beatles had a major impact on his career as a film-maker.

"It was an extraordinary moment in Amercian history, maybe even world history," recalls Maysles.

"Me and my brother had a lifelong realtionship with the Beatles. they were personal friends."

In any event, a worthy addition to the record, but like everything Apple does, still just a half empty vessel.

Anyone for "The Beatles First US Visit: Deluxe Edition?"

The last couple of days, Beatle Internet forum have been buzzing about a CD bootlegging bust in Finland.

While hard details appear to be sketchy, it appears the authorities grabbed a whole bunch of concert performance CD, including Bob Dylan, and the Beatles.

I always get a kick out of the Internet thingies freaking out everything there is a bust: "Oh my God! Will I not be able to get my bootleg fix?

My advice is chill, Phil and Phyllis.

Recall last year at this time when the cops busted the big bootlegger in Holland?

Supposedly got the "master tapes" to all the good Beatle shit.

But I gotta tell ya that I think I have seen more beatles Get Back sessions CDs available since the bust than ever before.

And if the fuzz did get the "master tapes," than in this digital replication world, the booters have got custody of the "son of master tape."

I say that unless and until, Apple/EMI/whatever release every damn thing on tape in the Abbey Road studio, there will be bootleggers plying their trade, and fans buying, forever.

For the bootleggers, it give all new meaning to Baby You're A Rich Man.

Not that there's anything wrong with that...

As the song so aptly says: "Look out! (It's) coming down fast!"

What, you say, is coming down so fast?

Well, according to the New York Times, Michael Jackson's finances, that's what.

The Times story basically says that the only leverage left Jackson is his 50% stake in the Beatles catalogue, which the story says contains "about 250 songs."

And while the only way the tally could reach 250 would be to include all of the Anthology tracks as well as the BBC stuff, no matter how you count it, the Fabs catalogue is bound to be for sale, and soon.

As I speculated in a BB about a month ago, it really is inevitable that Jackson will lose the Beatles songs.

But will this mean good, or bad news to all of us eagerly awaiting the long delayed remastering of the Fabs back catalogue?

Well, since Sony is already a part owner of the Beatles songs along with Jackson, and EMI has not been able to merge with any other record company despite several failed attempts, I'd venture that a Sony/EMI/Apple marriage makes too much sense not to happen.

Then presumbly, the Fabs themselves would have some ownership stake in their own material, especially if all of the Beatles can get on the same page.

I am convinced that Paul McCartney has been been the stumbling block for the back catalogue remaster because he may have felt duped by Jackson back in the 80s, when, it is said, Jackson bought the tunes out from under Macca, and PM does not want Wacko Jacko making big bucks of a remaster landslide.

But that is just speculation, albeit probably a sensible one.

So my orginal prediction still holds:Christmas 2004 will be a Fab one!

A few more thoughts about living in a Beatle world...

Yesterday, I was visiting my mother at the old folks home, and as usual had to sign in and out of the institution for security reasons.

After my visit, I was hurrying to catch a bus, and as I was signing out, the woman at the desk asked if I was the "Beatle expert that her husband had heard on the radio," the day before.

"He would love to talk to you," said the pleasant lady. To which I replied, "Any time."

In fact, I am uncomfortable with being referred to as a Beatle "expert," although I always try to answer any question that I can.

Compared to sages like Allan Kozinn, Martin Lewis and Bruce Spizer, I know Jack-Poo.

But what I like to think I bring to the Beatles table is an admiration for the group, some basic knowledge, and a curiosity to delve into many different issues concerning the life and times of the Fabs.

Oh, that, and the need to create a little Fabs releated mischief every once and a while. (The Macca Madhatters will know what I mean!)

I was told after the radio show on Monday that "everyone (at the station) was smiling," over how the show had gone.

And I suppose that is what makes it all worthwhile to me.

One of the things that came to mind during the past week of celebration of the Beatles 40th anniversary of changing the music and culture of the world, was how unique their impact was, and even continues to be.

A perfect example of this would be record sales.

Although I have seen a few differing charts, it is generally accepted that Elvis and the Beatles have sold the music records in pop music history, well into the hundreds of millions.

But so have the Eagles, Led Zep, and even Michael Jackson.

Yet, I don't ever recall a media love-fest for the anniversary of say, the firth time the Eagles performed in concert, or where everyone was hen they first hear Stairway to Heaven, or when millions saw Jackson do the boogaloo on TV.

Even though the above mentioned artists are closing in on the numbers of units sold comparable to the Beatles, they simply do not, and presently can not, match the level of devotion shown by Beatle fans to their idols.

So I guess the next logical question would be can the Beatles still be number 1 in the hearts and minds of pop fans forever. Or will it wane as the remaining Fabs die off, as do many of the first generation of fans.

If Beatlemania continues well into the 21st century, it will give all new meaning to roll over Beethoven.

Well, well, well.

The three of us -- Steve Marinucci, Andrew Croft and myself -- were on the radio this morning celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Fabs coming to America, and a splendid time was had by all.

We were on "The Roy Green Show" on AM 900 CHML, blasting 50,000 watts outta Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

"The Roy Green Show" is like the local "Larry King Live," and has a large listeners across south central Ontario, including Toronto.

We yacked about all things Fab(s), and I even got the shot of slipping some "rare" Beatle tracks into the broadcast, such as the German version of "Get Back," a wacky Lennon interp of "Maxwell's Silver Hammer," and a raucous alt mono version of "Everybody's Got Something To Hide 'Cept For Me And My Monkey."

GB and Max went over big, as most people have never heard these rare "collector" versions. Hee-hee.

"Little" Stevie M even stumped the listeners with a tough trivia question: What did Patti Boyd say as her only line in A Hard Day"s Night? Answer: "Prisoners"

(A cheeky Roy Green offered, "Eric?")

Also really cool was a sound clip that Roy played from a CHML reporters original 1964 report from the Fabs' Sept. 1964 performance in Toronto.

And the sound of the screams and the barley audible music was almost exactly as I remembered it as a 9 year old lucky ticket holder.

All in all, a great time was had by all on this very special Beatles birthday.

By the time that most you read this, it will be 40 years to the day that the Beatles first played the Ed Sullivan show on CBS television.

And by now, just about everyone knows that for a fact.

But what a lot of people-even serious fans of the Fabs-don't know is that prior to the Fabs appearance as the first guests on the Sullivan show at around 8pm eastern standard time on Feb. 9, 1964, was that the boys had already played the Sullivan stage at least 3 times in rehearsal.

According to published reports, the Beatles held rehearsals at the TV studio on Saturday, Feb. 8, and again on the morning and afternoon of Feb.9, with the afternoon run through in front a studio audience with cameras running in a live to tape format. This was done for back up, in case of some technical problem befell the live show.

And I have read that most of the non video taped rehearsals, were captured on two mono audio tape decks.

In fact, I recall seeing a recent bootleg that claimed on its cover to have a take of From Me To You, from the rehearsals for the Sullivan show.

No idea whether such a thing does exsist, but it sure would be interesting to find out what happened to the audio tapes made of the rehearsals, as well as the Sunday afternoon run through performance for the cameras.

I have never even read any speculation about what happened to the afternoon tape, although it was common practice back in those days to wipe, or record over rehearsal tapes, both audio and video.

Still, it sure would be a treat in this special Beatle anniversary year, to find out what actually happened to those old tapes.

Here's hoping the relics turn up somewhere.

Well I heard from a reader who effectively chastised me for comparing Janet Jackson's boob on the tube to that of John Lennon's appendage, which while having nothing to do whatsvere with the Super Bowl half-time show, did adorne the cover of the Two Virgins album, now some 35 years ago.

The reader basically said I was helping to propagate the myth, because, the reader intimated, flesh is flesh and it's all been (well) done before.

Yet I want to say emphatically that there is a very distinct difference between boys and girls, and would venture to say that if Ms. Jackson;s partner in crime, Just A. Terribelfake, had bared his puppetry, it would have surely caused the end of the world as we know it.

Thank God that in Beatle circles, all we have to crow about is their trousers.

Christ, you know it ain't easy. You know how hard it can be.

The way things are going, they're going to crucify, me.

Amen.

I think the silly boob Janet Jackson has got Beatles fans thinking about how low pop music has sunk in the last 10 years or so because I sure got a lot of e's this week stating as such.

Isn't it ironic that sister Jacko would choose the week before the big anniversary of the Beatles taking the US by storm to pull her stunt?

And if you are really a paranoid conspiracy theorist, you might even believe that brother Wacko-who apparently weaseled the Fabs publishing from perhaps a too tight Paul McCartney-wanted the Beatle song owning Jackson name out there to steal thunder from the rightful owners.

More on that in the second half, tomorrow.

The main thing that keeps me motivates for this just about 365 day gig-grind, is the mostly very intelligent, thoughtful, and entertaining feedback I get from readers from all over the world.

And although I am loath to advertise myself as a Beatle "expert," I am someone who is obviously extremely interested in the life and times of the Beatles, and do my best to project that attitude through my daily writings.

Yet, I do not consider myself to be one of those "experts," who while serving a purpose, tend to be so immersed in the group as to near obsession in their detail and knowlege of just about everything the Fabs did during their careers.

Some regular readers only contact me when I make an error of fact or omission, and I appreciate it when readers take the time to point out when I don't quite get it right.

But I like to think that what I do is put the group and their times in some sort of contextual sandwich, from he point of view of a first gen fan, and from some one who considers the Beatles to be one of the great and vital elements of 20th century culture.

And although in my career, I have written for, and broadcast to, literally millions of people, it is always those stories and broadcasts about the Beatles that seem to capture the attention of the most people.

Yes it is it's true. Yes it is, it's true.

So this is the big week for remembering the Beatles.

They're on the cover of the Rolling Stone, and Goldmine as well as getting a special salute by the Grammy Awards to the group's 40th anniversary of hitting "the big time, in the USA."

And on the very hallowed day of Feb. 9 your friendly Abbey Rd Webmaster , "Little" Stevie Marinucci, Andrew Croft, publisher of Beatlology, and even me, myself will all get together for a special morning radio hour on 900 CHML, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

Yes, it will be a day to remember and reflect, and maybe even regret that we are all getting much closer to that mythical "when I'm 64," and one of these days we may even have to grow up. (But I doubt it.)

I'm turning 49 this April, and I shudder to think of the 50th anniversary of the British Invasion, when I will be....oh, forget it!

But being this age does have some good points and advantages.

Such as I was actually around during those fantastic 1964 days and was able to drink up all the atmosphere that was plastered so energetically around the culture.

I will never for as long as I live forget the first time I heard I Want To Hold Your Hand. Or for that matter, the 100th, which I'm sure clocked in a few days after I got the record.

Yet maybe that is the downside of the celebration for me. Knowing that perhaps that special year of 1964 was the highest and most excited I ever will be in my life, and I was only 8 or 9 years old!

Frank Sinatra used to be fond of saying that life begins at 50, but as far as I'm concerned, I'd like to hang on to 49, and my youthful Beatle memories for as long as I can.

It's very much in vogue today for record companies to release so called "deluxe editions" of seminal rock albums, filled with alts and out and rare live tracks from the era of the album in question.

Well I was rummaging around my scattered collection of Beatle "archive" CDs the other day, and stumbled on some great stuff from the White Album.

Now if there ever is a Beatle release that deserves to be given the "deluxe edition" treatment it is The Beatles (White) album.

In my little stash alone, I found a wild alt mono version of Everybody's Got Something To Hide 'Cept For Me And My Monkey as well as a rehearsal of I'm So Tired that features a wonky tape backing.

I also found a monitor mix of Helter Skelter, although it was not the Holy Grail 27 minute take that to my knowledge, no one outside of Apple has heard. In the version I have we hear a take of HS playing while Paul McCartney and George martin discuss the track.

Also, of note was a run through of Blackbird, with lots of accompanying chatter by Macca.

Oh yeah, and a raucous mono take of Birthday, which to my mind blows away any other version I've heard so far.

So how about we make a pitch for a Super Deluxe Beatles White reissue.

The SDBW would consist of 6 discs.

The mono and stereo versions of the orginal albums, as well as two discs of alts and outs and rehearsals and anything else of note, whcih as far as the fans are concerned, could be just about anything.

And although we have missed the 35th anniverary of the release of the White album in November of 1968, we have lots of time to shoot for the 40th birthday!

But don't hold yer breath.

Saw a very interesting interview with former Beatles recording engineer Geoff Emerick on ProSoundWeb.com the other day.

Several of the revelations are new, at least to me.

Emerick, who started working with the Beatles during the making of "Revolver" in 1966, tells ProSound that he actually walked out of the group's sessions during the White Album, partly due to what he described as "arguing" by the Fabs. So that means that Ringo Starr was not alone in his displeasure with the sessions.

And according to Emerick, the Beatles re-wrote the recording book at EMI.

Believe it or not, prior to the Beatles, EMI had a rule that did not allow microphones to be placed close to the drum kit, for fear of damaging the mic.

Emerick managed to convince EMI that he needed the mics three inches from the bass drum to get the desired sound, and they reluctantly agreed. Emerick said the placing of the mic helped to get the now familiar drum sound on "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" album, and others.

According to Emerick, there were also EMI rules about bass roll-off, because one early Fabs single pushed the limits on bass,and a whole batch had to be recalled after pressing because excessive bass caused the tone-arm to skip.

But Emerick, who was a big fan of the Motown sound, found a way around most of EMI's stodgy rules to cut the records louder and come up with the amazing sound that even approaching 40 years on, still holds up.

Emerick also reveals that "Abbey Road" was the first Beatles album to be recorded with a transistorized board, which he said added "texture" to the recording.

Although Emerick did work on the Anthology project, the interview does not contain any new information on whether he has been asked to participated on the upcoming back catalogue remastering, which according to some sources, is in the midst of production.

In any event let's hope that Emerick, whose first Beatles work was "Tomorrow Never Knows," gets another shot at the faders and switches on behalf of the Fabs.

Man, where are the Beatles when you need 'em?

Of course I know it's not possible but would it not been great if the Fabs had been around to play at half time of Super Bowl?

We would have got the best show ever, but instead, what we get now is dreck.

Or maybe super crap is more to the point.

I mean, Pffft Duddie, and Kid Rockhead is bad enough, but throw in Just A. Terribelflake and Janet Jackin' Jackson, and then have Just A. whip off Jan's top just before commercial break, and you know the pop scene is just pitiful to say the least.

Sure the Fabs had tight trousers, but all you could see was outlines.

The Beatles were good enough that they didn't have to pull their pants down to get the crowd's attention. They got it with good music.

All I can say is, let's hear it for yesterday.