The Beatles Sessions LP - Rare album cover version

$

30

Up for auction is a copy of The Beatles Sessions LP with the harder-to-find "official" cover of this
never officially released album.

Disc has purple "IME" label. Disc has minor visible surface wear and plays great. (I only played in a few times, back in the days when I hard a
turntable.) Jacket has some scuffs and ring wear and a 1-3/8" piece of the spine is starting to separate but it's still attached.  (I'm no record
collector / grader so I'm selling this "as is.") A great addition to any Beatles fan's collection.

Scroll down to the bottom of the page for more photos.

About the Sessions album (from Wikipedia):

Sessions was a compilation album by The Beatles planned for release by EMI in 1985, but never released due to objections by the surviving Beatles. The album consisted of
thirteen finished, but unreleased, Beatles songs. A single — "Leave My Kitten Alone" (with an alternate version of "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da," which was not to appear on the
album, as its B-side) — was also planned; but it, too, was also unissued.

"Come and Get It" was a demo recording performed by Paul McCartney solo and eventually recorded by the group Badfinger. George Harrison would re-record "Not Guilty"
on his album George Harrison  in 1979. How Do You Do It" had been recorded for a possible early single at the request of George Martin, but scrapped in favour of "Love
Me Do."  The album also included the Christmas single "Christmas Time (Is Here Again)," finally ending up as the flip side of "Free as a Bird,"  issued with Anthology 1.

The tracks (both here and on the Anthology releases) are altered from their original states. For example, "Not Guilty" is completely re-edited, removing around a minute of
the song. "What's the New Mary Jane" was drastically remixed to make the song more musical and less of a discordant "Revolution 9"-type track.

Track listing:

All tracks by John Lennon and Paul McCartney except where noted.

1. "Come and Get It" (McCartney)
2. "Leave My Kitten Alone" (John/Turner/McDougal) – An outtake from the Beatles for Sale sessions.
3. "Not Guilty" (Harrison)– An outtake from The Beatles ("The White Album"), heavily edited.
4. "I'm Looking Through You" – Alternative version, with hand claps
5. "What's the New Mary Jane" – An outtake from The Beatles ("The White Album"), heavily remixed.
6. "How Do You Do It?" (Murray)
7. "Besame Mucho" (Velázquez/Skylar) – From the Beatles' first EMI session.
8. "One After 909" – Earlier version recorded 5 March 1963
9. "If You've Got Trouble" – A Help! outtake, with verses edited into a different order than they were originally recorded.
10. "That Means a Lot" – A Help! outtake.
11. "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" (Harrison) – Take 1, with an artificially looped ending.
12. "Mailman, Bring Me No More Blues" (Roberts/Katz/Clayton) – An outtake from the "Get Back"/"Let It Be" sessions, heavily edited.
13. "Christmas Time (Is Here Again) (Lennon/McCartney/Harrison/Starr)

Liner Notes:
Between September 4 1962 and May 8 1970, the Beatles recorded and released over 200 different recordings through EMI Records. The fact that
during that time, and the period 1962 to 1966 in particular, they were also busy giving live performances, making movies and TV appearances
and satisfying the demands of the world's media, makes their recording output even more extraordinary.

Even before the Beatles split up and stopped recording as a group in 1970, there was talk of unreleased tracks lying undiscovered in studio
vaults. These stories, depending on your source, put the number of unissued titles anywhere between 50 and 250. The truth, however, is a
vastly different story; only a handful of titles were recorded that, until now, have remained unreleased.

The claims from fans and media alike that EMI was sitting on a veritable "gold mine" of unreleased material have steadily grown over the
past 15 years fired by material continually appearing on bootlegs or being played on the radio.

The sources of this material are well known to Beatles fans and collectors:

1. BBC RECORDINGS - Between March 1962 and June 1965 the Beatles recorded in BBC studios in Manchester and London 36 songs for radio
broadcast only. They were not recorded by EMI for commercial release. The Beatles also re-recorded many of their early hits and album
tracks at the same time, but it is the original material that has stirred the public's interest.

2. PUBLISHER'S DEMONSTRATION TRACKS - It has been wrongly and widely assumed that the Beatles recorded all the songs they composed for other
artists. They did, however, as composers, demo some songs for their publishers. Based on the tracks that have been unearthed these few demos
consist purely of vocals with an acoustic guitar accompaniment and were probably recorded at home or in the publisher's demo studio.

3. OTHER STUDIOS - Towards the end of their career as a group, the Beatles did record in other studios apart from Abbey Road; for example,
Trident, Apple and Twickenham Film Studios. where much of the "Let It Be" material was recorded. It is therefore quite possible that some
songs were recorded in rough form, but these were never delivered to EMI.

However, it is the tracks that EMI do have, those that appear on this album, that are of the most interest, and we take up the story in 1976,
when the Beatles' contract with EMI finally came to an end. At that time executives in the company sat down and listened to all the material
that had not been released. In the main it existed in the form of rough mixes only, and few were considered suitable for commercial release.

One track - "Leave My Kitten Alone" - was seriously considered as release for a single in 1980 but with the tragic death of John Lennon in
December of that year the idea was abandoned.

At the beginning of 1982, with the 20th anniversary of the release of "Love Me Do", the Beatles' first single for EMI fast approaching and in
response to scores of letters from fans, it was decided to appoint one person to undertake the mammoth task of listening to every tape the
Beatles had recorded for EMI and note any reference to material that was previously unknown.

The task was undertaken by Abbey Road studio engineer John Barrett and although no new tracks were found, John did discover many interesting
alternate versions of previously released songs. In fact, when Abbey Road presented "The Beatles At Abbey Road" in the summer of 1983, much
of the audio material had been discovered by John during his research. Tragically,John died in February 1984, but the fruits of his painstaking
research remain.

After appraising the original unreleased tracks once more and listening to the alternate versions discovered by John Barrett, it was decided
that all the titles recorded in anything but mono would benefit from being remixed. Geoff Emerick, who had worked with the Beatles and
engineered many of their recordings, was approached and asked to listen to the multi-tracks and remix them in order to improve their overall
sound quality.

Geoff set to work in Air studios in London and Montserrat and when he finally presented the tapes to EMI it was clear that the end product
was an album that justified its release both artistically and musically.

SIDE ONE

"COME AND GET IT" (Paul McCartney) 2:26
Lead Vocal: Paul
Recorded in Studio 2 Abbey Road on July 24 1969, the same day as "Sun King". This song was given to the Apple band Badfinger and became their
first hit in 1970. It was featured in the movie "The Magic Christian", which starred Peter Sellers and Ringo Starr.

"LEAVE MY KITTEN ALONE" (Turner-McDougall) 2:54
Lead Vocal: John
Recorded in Studio 2 Abbey Road on August 14 1964 during sessions for the "Beatles For Sale"album. This late 50's rocker was previously
recorded by, amongst others, Little Willie John and Johnny Preston.

"NOT GUILTY" (Harrison) 3:17
Lead Vocal: George
This track, recorded on August 8 1968 in Abbey Road Studio 2, was intended for release on the"White Album" in November 1968 but never made
it onto the final album. It has long been rumoured that a certain well-known guitarist featured on this recording. Incidently, George
re-recorded a gentler version of this song for his 1979 Dark Horse album "George Harrison".

"I'M LOOKING THROUGH YOU" (Lennon-McCartney) 2:53
Lead Vocal: Paul
The final version of this song appeared on the "Rubber Soul" album in December 1965. This is take one, recorded on October 24 that year,
again in Studio 2. Although this version is longer than the one on the album, the "bridge" or middle part of the song does not appear,
probably because it had not been written at the time.

"WHAT'S THE NEW MARY JANE?" (Lennon-McCartney) 5:59
Lead Vocal: John
Like George's "Not Guilty", this track was also recorded during the "White Album" sessions (in Studio 2) on August 14, 1968. However, it
was again omitted from the final album.

SIDE 2

"HOW DO YOU DO IT" (M. Murray-Edmond) 1:55
Lead Vocal: John
Recorded on September 4 1962, the same date as the original commercial version of "Love Me Do", with Ringo drumming. Much has been written
about the group deliberately performing this song badly in order to have their own song chosen as the second single, but as this track was
recorded a month before the release of "Love Me Do", this theory would appear to be somewhat far fetched. This song was later recorded by
Gerry and the Pacemakers and became their first Number One in the UK.

"BESAME MUCHO" (Valazquez/Skylar) 2:33
Lead Vocal: Paul
On June 6 1962 the Beatles recorded for the first time at EMI's Abbey Road Studios. At this stage the group consisted of John Lennon,
Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and on drums Pete Best. Four titles were recorded - early versions of "Love Me Do", "P.S. I Love You",
"Ask Me Why",plus "Besame Mucho". The song, which dates back to the thirties, was revised in the late fifties and had long been part of the
Beatles stage set. It was included in their audition for Decca in January 1962.

"ONE AFTER 909" (Lennon-McCartney) 2:53
Lead Vocal: John and Paul
Despite being on of the earliest Lennon/McCartney compositions, "One After 909" didn't make it onto vinyl until 1970 when it was included
on the "Let It Be" album. This version, however,was recorded on March 5 1963, the same day as the first takes of "From Me To You" and
"Thank You Girl".

"IF YOU'VE GOT TROUBLES" (Lennon-McCartney) 2:21
Lead Vocal: Ringo
This previously unreleased Lennon/McCartney original was recorded on February 18, 1965,during sessions for the "Help" album. It was no
doubt intended as Ringo's vocal contribution on the album, but it was ultimately replaced by "Act Naturally".

"THAT MEANS A LOT" (Lennon-McCartney) 2:27
Lead Vocal: Paul
Recorded on February 20, 1965 during sessions for the "Help" album. The track was given to P.J. Proby and he had a minor hit with his
version a year later.

"WHILE MY GUITAR GENTLY WEEPS" (Harrison) 3:21
Lead Vocal: George
Recorded on July 25 1968, this version demonstrates how a song can change between the first take and the final released version. Take
one features only George singing and just two instruments - acoustic guitar and keyboards. It's interesting to note that the last verse
of the song was not retained when it was re-recorded for inclusion on the "White Album".

"MAILMAN BLUES" (Lloyd Price) 1:50 Lead Vocal: John
Recorded on January 29 1969 during the sessions for a "Get Back" album that was later re-titled "Let It Be".

"CHRISTMAS TIME (IS HERE AGAIN)"
(Lennon-McCartney-Harrison-Starkey) 1:08
Lead Vocal: The Beatles
Between December 1963 and December 1969 the Beatles fan club issued seven Christmas flexidiscs to their members. These records, which have
become collector's items, ranged from more or less audio "thank you's" to their fans to mini pantomimes. Although the records featured
strongly the Beatles' madcap humour, some music was featured, particularly on the 1967 release,which originally featured this track.

Since I first started recording the Beatles on the "Revolver" album on through to "Sgt. Pepper"and "Abbey Road", I have seen the recording
process go through many stages, from 2 tracks to 24 tracks, even 48 tracks.

The advances that have been made technically, over the years, have enabled me to enhance the original sound of these songs and to present
them to you at their full potential, musically and artistically.

Hope you enjoy it.

Geoff Emerick

Remixed at Air Studios, Montserrat
Engineered by Geoff Emerick
Second Engineer - Steve Jackson
Assistant to Mr. Emerick - Nicole Graham

Cover and Creative Concept - Brian Southa
Sleeve design - Bill Brooks and John O'Brien
Back Cover photograph by Robert Freeman
Tape Research - John Barrett and Ken Townsend
Project research and liner notes - Mike Hendley
Production Liaison - John Burgess
Sleeve production - Quick On The Draw and Tony Wadsworth

Front cover photograph taken between sessions at Abbey Road Studios.

Additional photos: