By Terry Ott

AbbeyRd webmeister Steve heralded the upcoming three volume Mark Lewisohn Beatle bibles with bold headlines.

I think that Lewisohn basically deserves this treatment because in my opinion, no other author has matched ML's incredible attention to detail.

When ML's first Complete Beatles Recording Sessions guide first appeared in the late 80s, it was the book of dreams for many Beatles fans.

Given complete access to Abbey Road Studios, ML ferreted out just about everything that was possible to ferret about the Beatles recording sessions from 1962 to 1969.

Updated volumes of the book added even more crucial information to the Beatlmaniac who just has to know what was done by any of the Fabs at any particular recording or mixing session.

However, as ML is attempting a more conventional, biographical work with the forthcoming project- which preliminary reports say will be divided as 1940-63, 1963-68, and 1968 to NOW-he will most likely stray into the territory that some Beatle fans get their bowels in an up-roar over.

In a nutshell, ML will have to produce new and controversial aspects of the Beatles lives for his 3 volumes, and of course that will bring out the apologists for that particular Beatle, as well as those fans seeking to reinforce their pre-existing beliefs.

What if ML discovers that John Lennon really was a really nasty bastard; Paul McCartney a cunning phony; George Harrison a hypocrite, and Ringo Starr a big goof?

I think you get my meaning.

Even a journalist and author with the Beatle bona fides of ML may find the going rather tougher when he ventures into the flesh and blood of perhaps the 4 most famous-and loved- musicians who ever walked the planet.

Still, I wish Mark well, and look very forward to reading what he has dug up this time.

At the risk of beating an old Dark Horse, I'd like to reiterate once more just how amazing a couple of George Harrison recordings are.

Well, technically three, as most everyone knows I'm talking about All Thing Must Pass, which in my humble opinion is the absolute best, hands-down, all-time, most superb Beatles solo effort. (You get the idea.)

And thanks to regular reader Chris-who ironically in this whole wide triple W world is from my own hometown-I am the happy possessor of The Making of All Things Must Pass, which is-in my humble opinion-most likely the best "unauthorized" Beatles solo offering.

Chris had read my review of Songs For Patti, which reader Marty had sent me a month ago, and kindly took the time to get me the tripledecker Harrison opus. which contains even more material than SFP.

So between the two titles, I have been able to come to appreciate the incredible burst of talent that George unleashed in the early 1970s in a whole new way.

But therein also lay the inevitable Catch 22 for Harrison.

ATMP was so outstanding, he could not match, let alone top it. Like Michael Jackson would come to learn, artists usually get only one mega monster hit.

Listening to The Making of All Things Must Pass, I am also struck by how vibrant and in control George is during the recording process. I guess he had a lot of pent-up creativity that was obviously just bursting out for these sessions.

Also of note is the lack of Phil Spector polish of the versions of the songs we have all come to know and love. Regardless of whether you are a fan or foe of Phil, you will find the listening to be a revelation.

I heartily recommend both Songs For Patti and The Making of All Things Must Pass to all those interested in the evolution of George's music.

Man (woman), did I ever pinch a major nerve when I asked you all to give me your opinions and ideas as to what John Lennon would have been up to politically and otherwise in the year of our Lord, 2004.

I received the most responses to any query I have cast out there, and the e-mails came from all over.

Many were very insightful and intelligent, although a minority reflected some of the rather needy nature of some Beatle fans.

And I guess predictably, most of you thought that John would have found the current political climate in the United States too charged to take a pass on.

A majority also thought that Lennon would still have have nothing of war, on terror, or otherwise.

But one of the most interesting and witty responses came form Brian, who is pretty sure that John would have been behind activist Ralph Nader for president.

Brian also had some thoughts on the merchandising of Mr. John Lennon.

"Never would his artwork be on cribs and bibs and lamps," thought Brian.

Brian also thought that John would be touring and "reveling" in the Beatle legacy just as much as Paul McCartney-a point with which I'm not sure I agree, but I guess it could be possible.

Finally, Brian thinks that if John was still with us, Julian Lennon would be much better off and that Sean Lennon "would have to get some kind of job." Ouch!

My question would be whether democratic presidential nominee John Kerry would want to be seen in public with Lennon and vice the versa.

There is a famous picture of Kerry and Lennon together circa 1971 that AbbeyRd Webmaster Steve tells me resides on John Kerry's desk.

But would Kerry's handlers feel Lennon still too scorching politically and distance Kerry from Lennon?

Or would Lennon shrink from the Kerry campaign because the senator had voted for the Iraq war?

Very interesting and vital questions.

But sadly, we'll never know the answers.

Spock, you da (Mirror) man.

MS has once again proved his genius; behold! Die Beatles (Please Please Me) in both stereo and mono on the same disc!

And not some left channel-right channel "stereo" crap that even polluted the best vinyl pressing, but rather an actual sound stage stereo courtesy of the pointy ear'ed ones audio tactics, which must surely come from an alien land.

Simply put, this latest offering from the MS labs make the commercially available Please Please Me (mono only) sound like a pack of cats on crack.

I won't go into all of the audio acrobatics that MS has vistied upon this disc-I'm sure the Vulcan would be glad to tell you hisself-but suffice to say, everything works out if you let it.

Packaging is swell too, with a reproduction of the Die Beatles cover, as well as the labels for the DB and Parlophone releases in the jewel case booklet.

The stereo German Die Beatles has vocals centred for the most part and Twist and Shout and Anna sound great in stereo for the first time. In fact, Die beatles sounds more like a 4 track mix than the 2 that it is.

The mono PPM comes from an orginal Parlophone UK pressing and it sounds killer, but don't take my word for it.

Ask MS to beam you one up-or is that down?

Power to the people!

So, John Lennon would have been 64, the month before the 2004 United States elects a president-new or otherwise-in November.

I got to thinking about John and American politics after it was revealed a while ago that Democratic nominee for president, Senator John Kerry, was once put under surveillance by the FBI, due to Kerry's brief flirtation with the Vietnam anti-war movement in 1972.

What do you think?

If John were around, would he have been hard against the war in Iraq?

And even though it was John's beloved New York City that bore the most ghastly wound from 9/11, would Lennon in fact been for any kind of military operations in the so-called "war on terror?"

I think I can safely say that John would never have been a fan of President George W. Bush, but I wonder what Lennon would have seen as the best way to protect the homeland and vital interests of the US in the 21st century.

But would Lennon have been out in the streets and on the airwaves protesting?

We could know what Paul McCartney may be out doing when he's 64-mainly cuz he keeps doing the same thing-and Ringo Star is also on perpetual tour, but I'd like to know what you think John might have been up to in 2004.

So let me know.

One of the fringe benefits of being your correspondent is that nice people want to send me things.

I wrote a piece for the Vancouver Sun recently, and I just received an e-mail from a gentleman who wanted to sell me 40 original Beatle cards.

The reader figured he would give me first dibs, which was nice. But I had to tell him my (buying) collecting daze are over.

However, if he wants to give them away...I never did get my hands on a mint set.

Anyway, it is nice when readers think enough of what I do to offer to share some piece of the Fabs with me.

I have accumulated some of the most amazing CDs over the past 6 months, and I thank one and all for being so generous.

Readers also want to give me their opinions-most nice and some not so nice- and that was the basis of my Sun story.

Unfortunately, the electronric edition of the Sun is a subscriber service, so I can't post an Internet link, but perhaps Stevie M will cut and paste a hard copy of the story, whcih I suspect most of you may find very entertaining.

That's all for now, folks.

Have you been following the rise of Apple (computers) iTunes in the music selling marketplace?

I have, and it looks like for the first time, consumers may be voting with their feet (and ears) and most importantly, their credit cards and buying into the idea of paid online music purchasing. (Incredibly, 99% of current downloads are not legal,l says the record industry.)

Apple C has pretty much cornered the market-although the Sony music group is gaining- and have a huge inventory of pop music to choose from, just about everything except anything from the Beatles.

For as you may or may not know, Apple music is suing Apple C over Apple C's even being in the music download business, and the mother of all court cases is sure to follow, say within 2 years or so, as that's how long it usually takes cases this immense to make it to the court docket.

But as no injunction has prevented Apple C from running iTunes, they are free to sell until a verdict, or negotiated settlement-a virtual sure thing- is reached.

(The New York Times reported on April 19 that Jupiter Research forecast that by 2008, legally purchased downloads would comprise 12% of the total music pie, so there are obvious mega-bucks here.)

And AbbeyRd reported a few months back that Apple ubergruppen Neil Aspinall promised something big from the Fabs within 2 years.

I hope to heck that he is not thinking of waiting until after the lawsuit-or even 2008- is heard to begin remastering the Beatles back catalogue. But hey, this is Apple (music)we are talking about here, so as I always point out, anything is bloody well possible.

So God only knows what Apple music is thinking other than a making up a ten-fold of when the Beatles were ripped off by record companies and agents, now some 35-40 years ago.

And evidently, the technology will be ripe for providing 5.1 downloads within the year, so just add that too, to a list of goodies Beatle fans are missing because, as the Who once noted, "it's a legal matter, baby."

Where's Ron DeCline when we need him?

Well, as they used to say at Alcatraz, "it's good to be back." Nah, just kidding. I took a break along with Steve over the Easter week, or so.

A few George Harrison items to come back with...

About a week ago, some character-I'm not even going to use a name-posted on e-Bay what was purported to be George Harrison "original" death certificate, with a minimum bid of $3500 US.

So I e-mailed the seller a list of questions that I thought prudent, and after a few days I got back a ridiculous response so I dropped it as a legit story. Dropped also was the price of the "original" but I understand there have been no bids.

Way to go Fabs fans! This item may be worse than Chapman's Double Fantasy album auction.

And although I am about 15 years late, I finally got my hands on a copy of Songs For Patti, courtesy of my good friend Marty, from deep in the heart of old Texas.

As most of you already know, SFP is one of the best out-take/alternate CDs, quality wise out there, and for me what is revelatory is the number of songs George demo'ed but did not use for All Things Must Pass. A few of them should have replaced the fun but frivolous Apple Jam sides.

One of my fave tunes that was used, however, is Awaiting On You All. On SFP, there is a terrific instrumental only version, that has sort of a bossa nova beat.

Obviously, when ATMP was reissued in 2000, there was so much more they could have added as bonus material, but I guess that may be coming in a super-bonus version, maybe even in time for ATMP's 35th anniversary, next year.

As Jesse Jackson so eloquently stated: "keep hope alive!"

And it is good to be back, get (it)?

NB: I picked up a copy of Gone Troppo, and I like it, and I gave myself a good pranging for slogging it back in March.

This is my Easter Special.

Ever wonder how John Lennon would view organized religion today?

I do, and I suspect he may have modified his views from the 60s when he first said that Christianity would vanish, and then used a rather blasphemous "Christ, you know it ain't easy," in the song, The Ballad of John and Yoko.

As John aged, perhaps he may have revisited his religious roots, and took up some type of traditional worship.

And we all know that George Harrison embraced Hare Krishna from 1968 until his death.

But what about Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr?

Seldom-if ever-do we here anything about their views on traditional religion.

I guess that is just not a question that journalists ask of former Beatles, it seems.

But I surprised that no one asked Paul or Ringo about what they thought of Mel Gibson's very controversial movie, The Passion of the Christ.

At least I have not heard of anything. If you have, please let me know.

And in the meantime, do have a Happy Easter, and Passover.

Neat little item on Abbey Rd a few days ago on a Rutle reunion.

This got me to thinking about why we have not had any solo Rutle offerings over the past 25 years, although I guess the pre-Fab Four never officially split up.

But in any event, would it not be grand if we had a Ron Nasty and Chastity DVD that captured their Getting Wet For Peace days, as well as when Nasty sat in his wheelchair alone with his thoughts. We could call this Nasty Legend.

(And surely Nasty must have been recording in secret as well.)

Oh, and think of the hullabaloo of Dirk McQuickly and his post Rutles band, The Punk Floyd, touring all over the world, singing "dee-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee."

And don't forget Stig O'Hara, who gave up on guitar and became a hostess for Air India. Can you even imagine what his home movies would be like. All the places he's been? This could be presented in a 3 DVD set entitled, "All The Places I've Passed."

Finally, we can't forget Barrington Womb, who after opening up two hair salons, formed an all star band called the Wombats, and played many hotels and casinos, with a little help from his friends.

On a personal note, I will soon be engaging the Rutles former manager, Ron DeCline, to act as my editor, well, because I need a keen eye and a steady hand.

I'm told Ron's left hand does not know who his right hand is doing.

A few columns back, I mentioned that CBS television would be broadcasting in May a new 3 hour film based on the best seller, Helter Skelter, by former Los Angeles assistant district attorney, Vincent Bugliosi.

I also mentioned that the broadcast would be sure to send fans scurrying to dig out their White Album so as to hear the clues and messages that Charles Manson claims the Beatles were sending him.

If I recall correctly, a representative of Apple even presented some evidence to the original Manson trial in 1970, obviously stating that the Beatles neither knew nothing of Manson, or any of his psychotic interpretations of their music.

And in preparation for a 35th anniversary piece on the Manson tragedy that I will be writing this summer, I have come across more material related to the Beatles, and specifically the White Album.

Charles "Tex" Watson, who was the lone male Family member along on both nights of murder in August, 1969, is now a "born again" Christian, and maintains a website, at which his 1978 book, "Will You Die For me?" is posted.

Although his musings are now over 25 years old, it is still fascinating to read how songs like Honey Pie were interpreted by Manson to be coded messages to the Family from the Fabs.

Also, I will be mighty interested to see how the Beatles/Apple react to what is sure to be a media event surrounding the CBS broadcast.

In 1976, just after the original 2 part, 4 hour Manson Helter Skelter TV movie was broadcast, the Fabs re-released the single Got To Get You Into My Life, with guess what on the flip?Helter Skelter!

Was this just the usual Beatle cheek, or dumb oversight?

In any event, if the Beatles re-release any song this summer, will it have as a flip side Helter Skelter?

I'm betting no, but if you want to get fine and truly spooked, read or re-read Bugliosi's book, and listen to Revolution # 9, and once again for good measure, take this brother, may it serve you well.

Against my initial better judgment-and bank balance-I have ended up getting all of the George Harrison Dark Horse Years reissues excepting for Gone Troppo.

And I'll probably end up getting that one too, and in so doing, deprived myself of the fancy box set and bonus DVD.

Dumb double bad on me, but well, as they say, that's the way it goes.

But I'm not really complaining, because I have now come to appreciate George's rather laid-back efforts in a way I hadn't before.

Excepting for Cloud Nine and Live in Japan, the reissues are great CDs to put on when one is relaxing, or reading, or working on the computer-or cooking, or gardening, or whatever.

And its not like George Harrison, 33 1/3, and Somewhere in England are like Muzak, but rather the trio of LPs are just pleasant and undemading in a listenable way.

We have been so conditioned over the past 40 years or so for anything Beatles or related to reach out and grab ya by the throat, such was the Fabs and solo Fabs legacy.

So it is rather pleasant when one can put on a Beatles related release and just sit back and relax.

And in between and in the meantime, I'll be gone troppo.

At the risk of tinkling once again up the tight rope that is Apple/EMI/Capitol hibernation regarding the Beatles catalogue, I present for discussion the latest offerings from the grey market Beatle production unit.

The renown physician of music, Dr. Ebbett's, has brought forth new and updated versions of Sessions and Casualties, two (in)famous Fabs releases that as it were, never were-at least officially.

These new Dr. E offerings are made to look exactly like legit Capitol/EMI releases, and this time out, are presenting some rather interesting add-ons.

Fake stereo mixes of From Me To You and Love Me Do, found on Casualties, are supposedly superior to any other try at faux 2 channel.

According to an Internet review, Sessions has the 1963 version of One After 909 in "true stereo" for the first time, as well as a version of Let it Be that combines both George Harrison guitar solos-from the single and album takes of LIB.

Once again, I wonder how long that Apple/EMi is going to either let the free enterprise's like Dr. Ebbett's and others, either peddle their wares, or unleash the legalist hounds that Apple is so well known for.

Of course there is a third option, although history tells that it is seldom utilized.

That is Apple could choose to beat the boots at their own game, and release their own versions of Sessions and/or other special projects that have herertofore fell by the wayside.

After all, no matter what the bootleggers have up their sleeves, Apple/EMI has much more up their sleeve and tape vaults.

Tomorrow never knows?

I got some very good story suggestions from you faithful readers out there.

Jonathan e'd to ask what I though about Sean Lennon, James McCartney, Dhani Harrison, and Zak Starr getting together.

He wondered about the chemistry that may exist between the four famous offspring.

Personally, I think it would be a great idea to cram them all into a studio and see what happens.

How could it hurt?

And fellow reader John e-mailed to ask why the final Beatles photo session-some of which was used for the Hey Jude album front and back-has never been presented in a coffee table book format.

Why not indeed!

And John also wanted to know if the album Live at the Hollywood Bowl-which is still awaiting a CD release-had been overdubbed and added to like most other live albums.

John, in a word, ABSOLUTELY!

Producer George Martin welded together the 1977 HB album from raw 3 track tapes recorded by Capitol in 1964 and 1965.

A listen to the original tape reveals that Sir George fixed up the ancient 3 trackers to max.

And when the concerts finally make it out on CD, I'm sure that the tapes will have been fixed up even more.

Finally, Paul McCartney has announced today, April 1, that not only will Ringo Starr be joining his band for Macca's upcoming tour, but that Yoko Ono will be guesting and playing keyboards and adding backing and lead vocals.

McCartney said Yoko would join him in a new duet arrangement of Fool on the Hill.

Spinning 'round, spinning 'round.

I must admit, I have been lately somewhat remiss.

After a simply torrid pace set between last October and this March, I petered out.

But I just could not bring myself to crank out new BBs every day, regardless whether I actually had something to say.

And so many of you have e-mailed asking:where the hell are ya?

Well, I'm still here, and it's not like I don't want to write for you, but rather I want to make sure that what I post is worth your time-and mine.

So instead of cranking out stuff that did not have my heart and head enclosed, I kept quiet.

(OK.OK, I'll also admit to having journalist disease, ie: laziness.)

But I can report to you that I think my muse is slowly coming back, and in the near future, I will be exploring some pretty neat issues. So stick with me, gang!

And if you have ideas that you think I should tackle, please feel free to pass 'em on.

In the meantime thanks for all your support and interest and, twist and rut.