Move over, Ms L!

Hi all, wondering why you are looking at this jumbled up page? This is due to the fact that Facebook didn't like our url since it starts with wog, so we have been forced to move the blog. This was some time ago, and we have placed a script which would automatically send you to our new location. Obviously, this hasn't worked for all of you, since we have just finished moderating some of your comments which appeared on this site recently, and not on our new (and improved!) site. So what we're saying is head on over to our new site, and update your bookmarks!

Thursday 25 February 2010

More McCartney Dates

The new "Up and Coming" Paul McCartney Tour of 2010 is gradually unveiling concert dates and venues. In our last blog posts we were speculating that the tour may travel further south and this was confirmed yesterday, when a venue and date in Puerto Rico was disclosed. So far it's a 5 concerts tour, but undoubtedly it will keep being added to, as soon as contracts have been agreed upon.
It would be silly of us to feature a new blog post every time we get a new venue and date, but we will keep our "Solo Beatles Concerts" site updated, so check in there to see the progression of the tour as it unfolds. The tour so far looks like this:
  • 28.03.2010 Jobing.com Arena Glendale, AZ, USA.
  • 30.03.2010 Hollywood Bowl Los Angeles, CA, USA.
  • 31.03.2010 Hollywood Bowl Los Angeles, CA, USA.
  • 03.04.2010 Sun Life Stadium Miami, FL, USA.
  • 05.04.2010 Coliseo De Puerto Rico Puerto Rico.
And here's the links for tickets: Ticketmaster - Live Nation. Unrelated, but here's the link for tickets to Ringo and his All Starr Band's summer tour, while I'm at it.

As you can see, a second day has been added to the Hollywood Bowl, probably due to heavy demand for tickets. I think the last time McCartney played the Hollywood Bowl was at the "Earth Day" concert back in 1993, where Ringo joined him for the chorus of Hey Jude (pictured above). As Ringo keeps a home in LA, there are chances we could see the "Twotles" on stage together again at the Hollywood Bowl.

I attended McCartney's concert at London's O2 on the 22nd of December last year, and spotted Ringo in the audience, enjoying the concert together with his wife Barbara, her sister Marjorie and Marjorie's new husband Joe Walsh. Of course, I was hoping Ringo would get up on stage with Paul, and when Ringo and Joe Walsh disappeared some time in the middle of the show, I was thinking that they were probably making their way up to the stage. This didn't happen, the two reappeared at their spouses' side again after a while. I didn't think two men would accompany each other to the rest room, but then again, they may have just been away to get some sodas. Or shared a joint?

Anyway, don't you think a reunion of Paul and Ringo at the Hollywood Bowl would be a great way to launch a CD release of The Beatles At The Hollywood Bowl?

Another thing we can see coming when McCartney's in town is the unveiling of his own star at Hollywood's "Walk of Fame". His star will complete The Beatles collection of stars there.

Monday 22 February 2010

Paul McCartney: March Concerts

This just in: Paul McCartney is scheduled to play some concerts in the USA in March: Glendale, Arizona on the 28th and at the Hollywood Bowl in LA on the 30th. Looks like this is the start of the Up and Coming Tour.
More details, including how to get tickets on tomorrow's presale over at paulmccartney.com
The main ticket sale starts on Sunday the 28th over at Ticketmaster and Live Nation. There are more dates to be added, and the rumours are mentioning Mexico and even further south.

The Come Together Festival in Hamburg

Here's the programme for the Come Together festival in Hamburg,  which kicks off the city's "50 years since The Beatles arrived" - anniversary a little bit premature on May 22nd (they didn't arrive until August 16th, when the Indra Club is hosting a festival of it's own)
* Juvenile Chamberorchestra Berlin - Till Schwabenbauer Berlin
* The Beatles-Tribute band Liverpool from Sweden
* The Creapers, rock according to John Lennon (the 60-62 period)
* The Rattles, "the German Beatles"
* The Mini Beats, who starded 10 years ago when they were 10-12 years old
* St. Pauli Rock Kids a very young rock band from Hamburg
* Karl Terry & the Cruisers from Liverpool
* Tony Sheridan & band, recorded various songs with the Beatles
* Special guest: Juliet Gough from London
* Talk guest: Freda Kelly former secretary of Brian Epstein
* Talk guest: Joe Flannery, Brian Epsteins booking manager
* Talk guest: Stuart Epps, worked with George Harrison and produced Elton John
* VIP: Cynthia Lennon, Pete Best, Liverpool
* Horst Fascher, co-founder of the Star-Club
* A doubledecker bus (courtesy of the Hamburg bureau of Tourism)
* 2 English mounted bobbies
* special surprises during the festival
* Guitar maker Höfner with an exhibit of a 6 meter high Beatles Bass
* Paul McCartney with a videomessage especially for the occasion


Official website

The Beatles - a nostalgia act?

The weekend before this one, I had the pleasure of attending two Beatles events in Norway, one here in Oslo on Friday, and the next day in Gjøvik, the city where the Norwegian Beatles Fan Club was born. During the latter, I was eavesdropping on a conversation between an older man and a young fan club member, let's call her Louise. The former was saying something like "it's all about nostalgia," to which Louise was agreeing. I wanted to protest, but didn't. After all, it was just a casual conversation. But I have to say, to me The Beatles have never been nostalgia. I'm a second generationeer when it comes to the Beatles. Okay, I was born before they released "Love Me Do", but I was a baby and a child all through the sixties. When Abbey Road was released, I was only seven, and had yet to start to do some serious listening to music. It was all games and horseplay and reading Donald Duck and Superman comic books, that was my sixties life.
When Paul McCartney brought his Wings to Norway in 1972, I was still just 10 years of age, and not really interested. I don't think I even heard about the concert. And Ringo's visit to Norway the year before had passed me by without me noticing. It wasn't until I hit the teens that music started to become one of my passions. I can remember that "The Beatles Live! At the Star Club, Hamburg, Germany" and "The Beatles At The Hollywood Bowl" was released. So, from the late seventies and until now, I have always carried the Beatles with me, and I have known whatever was going on with the band. I've read countless books and magazines about the boys, and today I keep tabs on the band through the internet. But it was never a nostalgia trip. The Beatles are just there. A living and breathing part of history. I don't think there was ever a day I didn't hear some or other Beatles song on the radio. And hearing a Beatles song doesn't take me back to wherever I was the first time I heard it. I just try and remember what the circumstances were like in the studio that day, and who did what and wrote what part of the song. I don't think Louise really feels nostalgic about the Beatles, either. After all, she discovered the band by listening to "Anthology 1", so she was probably just avoiding annoying small talk. The Beatles just coexists with time itself. As for that first generation of Beatles fans, I think they may feel nostalgic about the quartet. But not us.

Abbey Road Not For Sale


Here is the full statement from EMI, released today, announcing it is not selling Abbey Road Studios, but looking for a third party investor to help "revitalise" it and provide, to quote EMI, "access to artists and, where possible, members of the public":

EMI welcomes the reported acceleration of English Heritage's plans to list Abbey Road and supports such a listing as an appropriate way of protecting our world famous music heritage site. In response to recent press speculation, EMI confirms that it is holding preliminary discussions for the revitalisation of Abbey Road with interested and appropriate third parties.

When Terra Firma acquired EMI in 2007, it made the preservation of Abbey Road a priority. Abbey Road studios had, for a number of years, been losing money and we have developed plans to revitalise the studios. These plans would involve a substantial injection of new capital.

Since November 2009, EMI has held discussions with a number of parties with a view to them financing these plans and maintaining this unique venue. At all times, these plans have focussed on providing access to artists and, where possible members of the public.

In mid-2009, we did receive an offer to buy Abbey Road for in excess of £30 million but this was rejected since we believe that Abbey Road should remain in EMI's ownership.


So much from EMI. But why haven't they said anything about this before? Financial Times, who broke the news story about an imminent sale of the Abbey Road studios last week, today quoted a source "close to EMI" who said, "The scale of the outcry has brought it home to everyone what a core asset it is. The door has been closed on a sale."

In the mean time, lots of newspapers and internet media have been reporting on the sale of Abbey Road Studios, but they have all been making one mistake in their non-research of their stories: Frequently, they are spreading the historical inaccuracy that "The Beatles named their last album after the studios". Quite the opposite is true, the studios were just called "EMI Recording Studios" all through the sixties. It was after the Beatles famous "Abbey Road" album (who took it's name from the street where the Beatles are crossing the road) had been such a success, that the studios changed their name. So once again, the Beatles set the standard.

Thursday 18 February 2010

3D Logo

No news today, except that I got a new, fancy 3D style logo for my blog, courtesy of "The Beatles in 3D". Get all your 3D design wishes fulfilled over at Yer Logos at reasonable prices!

Wednesday 17 February 2010

London Town launch

A rare colour film from the promotional party for the release of Wings' London Town LP in 1978 near Tower bridge. The album didn't feature the latest hit single "Mull of Kintyre", something which may have contributed to it's lack of success in the UK charts. Blissfully unaware of this were we Norwegians, where the album was a monster hit, playing from everyone and his mother's open windows that year. I have to admit I'm no good to pass judgement on the Wings albums as I lov'em all! Former member of Wings Fun Club I was, too!

Saving Abbey Road

This is your humble blogmaster, standing at the bottom of the staircase in studio 2 inside Abbey Road Studios.

Since the news were spread yesterday that EMI are looking to sell their famous studio complex, Paul McCartney has commented that to his knowledge there is a campaign underway to try to buy the house. BBC Newsnight has more. A Facebook group has just been launched, called "Save Abbey Road" - and London Beatles Tour guide Richard Porter has created an online petition to save the studios. More facebook support groups are appearing all the time, so I guess people just aren't bothering to check if there's already a group for it before they start one. So far, the "1,000,000 people to buy ABBEY ROAD STUDIOS for 20 quid each" group has the most members. I guess we'll soon know more.

Tuesday 16 February 2010

Trouble at Abbey Road

On the news today: EMI are planning to sell Abbey Road Studios! This is a slideshow of photos from a cover session for The Beatles first album, tentatively entitled "Off The Beatle Track". Taken on the steps in front of the EMI Recording Studios, as it was then called. The album cover was finally chosen from another location, EMI house in Manchester Square - and the title changed to "Please Please Me". Following the success of the Abbey Road album in 1969, the studios changed their name to "Abbey Road Studios".
Financial Times about the selling of Abbey Road Studios

Sunday 14 February 2010

Marc Weinstein at Shea Stadium

Copyright The Philip Kamin Collection.

At the age of 16, Marc Weinstein was rummaging around in the basement of his grandparents' house. He found an old Argus C3 that belonged to his grandfather who had passed away. He later obtained a 2 1/4 camera. Marc was interested in the art and armed with his grandfather's treasure, he set out to try his hand at photography. Within a month, he took pictures of Vice President Hubert Humphrey and the daughters of President Lyndon Johnson at very close range. From that point, he was smitten by photography. As he relates: "I went from being a bookish introvert with no friends to an extrovert and minor celebrity."

As an avid fan of the group from England that was growing in popularity all over the world, Marc seized the opportunity in 1964 to photograph the Beatles from the front row in Baltimore, Maryland. He was 16 years old and had only been in photography for 6 months.

The following year, the Beatles were not going to play Baltimore but he was determined to see them again. A local radio station arranged a caravan of five Greyhound buses to New York City for the Beatles' Shea Stadium concert on August 15th. Marc got a ticket and took off with the fans for New York. On the trip, he sold over $200 worth of 3x5 prints from the year before at 50 cents a piece. Below, he tells the story of how he was able to accomplish his goal to photograph the Beatles once again.

"Once inside Shea, I had no intention of going to my seat. By that time, I had a year's experience at the Baltimore Civic Center photographing the Rolling Stones, Dave Clark 5 along with Sonny and Cher among others. I had perfected my 'method of operation'. Get there very early, wear a suit, and act like you belong. Once inside Shea, I immediately went down to the lower concourse where the dressing rooms, locker rooms, concession vendors were. I walked to every door and turned the knob, hoping it would take me somewhere. Where, I didn't know, but anywhere close to the field."

"Finally, after 20 minutes of working the lower concourse, a knob turned and the door opened. Fright? Panic? I can't quite recall except a sudden feeling took over telling me to 'take control'. When I turned that knob, it changed my life forever."

"There I was; having a phony press pass from the radio station, my 4-year-old Bar Mitzvah suit (it was my 'lucky suit' though the pants cuffs were 4 inches above my shoes), two empty camera bags, and 2 cameras."

"I paused, swung open the door and stepped in the room. It turned out to be a locker room full of NYC policemen for crowd control! Wow! What do I do? Turn and leave? No! I was determined to seize the opportunity. Boldly, I walked up to the first policeman and in my best fake British accent I said, 'Excuse me, Sir. I'm with the Beatles' entourage and I got separated from the group. Would you take me to the stage, please?' He looked at me, my 'press pass' and said, ' Sure. Follow me.' I stayed right behind him while he escorted me to the left field gate and told the guard at the gate, 'Let this guy out. He's with the band.' I thanked that policeman and with authority, walked through the gate out onto the grass that warm, August night."

"The moment I stepped out, my body was electrified like I had never felt before and have never felt since. The image of walking onto that empty field, taking in the crowd of 55,000 people, and spotting the stage at second base in front of me is all I can really remember. It was a moment frozen in time; forever in my mind. After a few feet, I became aware of shouts and screams from the stands. I think they thought I was Ringo because I have a big nose!"

"That same electrifying feeling still comes to me whenever I see the Fab Four in a film or even just hear any of their songs. I feel it and it always comes back. It was my moment frozen in time."

"For the duration of the concert, I took photos from different angles and different sides of the stage. At one point, the Beatles' staff photographer, Robert Whitaker ran out of film and I actually gave him one of my rolls! I only did it so I could make future connection with the Beatles. A couple of weeks later, I sent some shots to him at Nems Enterprises, Ltd reminding him of who I was. Instead of hearing back from him, I received a letter from Tony Barrow, the Beatles' publicist, and some autographed, promotional photos of the Beatles."
Copyright The Philip Kamin Collection.

"That was a nice gesture; however, I had the best gift I could ever want…my own art photography of the Beatles during the most exciting concert of their career; right at their side."
Copyright The Philip Kamin Collection.

Marc's 49 - 35mm images of the Fab Four were later acquired by professional photographer Phil Kamin and they are now up for auction - copyright included - by Legendary Auctions. The starting bid is $10.000 and you can start bidding from February 15th. Now get over there and take a look at some of the other shots!

Wednesday 10 February 2010

The Return of Doc Ebbetts

 
So the much publicised retirement of Doctor Ebbetts was not to last. Two new "needledrops" have been released - free of charge - to his best customers. The two CD's depicted above - a copy of a first pressing of the stereo Please Please Me album, and ditto of a first pressing mono Revolver, featuring that unique mix of "Tomorrow Never Knows", which was only available on that particular first pressing of the UK album.

History

The art of "needledropping" (using a mint copy of a gramophone record as source to make a new master) was actually first used on a Beatles record as early as on the official Capitol album "Rarities" from 1980. Because the original master tape of the Ringo-version of "Love Me Do" (The Beatles' first 45 r.p.m. single for EMI) had disappeared, a mint copy of the single was used as source for that track on the album. The same was done for the end of "Penny Lane" on the same album.
This practice has continued, and also the "Mono Masters" CD in the remastered "The Beatles in Mono" from 2009 uses a needledrop as source for "Love Me Do", this time from an even cleaner single 45 r.p.m. disc.
As digital technology progressed since the CD releases of The Beatles' studio albums in 1987, audiophiles became increasingly disappointed with the sound quality of the official CDs. Several bootleggers undertook their own remasterings of the entire Beatles catalogue, of both mono and stereo original releases, typically using premium vinyl pressings played and digitised with high-end audio equipment.
Two widely distributed collections made in this fashion are the Millennium Remasters series and the series by the bootlegger known as "Dr. Ebbetts". The latter's needledrops of the USA album releases is said to have prompted the release of the official Capitol Albums boxed sets.
As reported in this blog, there was an announcement from Dr Ebbetts last year, where he said that he was so impressed with the official remasters, that he didn't want to continue his Beatles needledrop series.

Doc is back

Nevertheless, these two new releases proves that he is back. The stereo Please Please Me and the mono Revolver is the start of a new series, entitled ARCHIVE SERIES.

So, what's here that's not on the official remasters? As you'll remember from last year, the team at Abbey Road worked from the original stereo and mono masters. Some of their tasks were repairing bad tape splices, as well as pops, clicks, drop-outs etc. On needledrops, these errors are still there. Also, on the original "Please Please Me" stereo album, the songs that were represented by mono recordings, "Love Me Do" and "P.S. I Love You" was mixed in "mock" stereo. On the remastered "Please Please Me" in stereo, they were left in mono. Doc Ebbetts new release brings back the fake stereo on those songs.
By mistake, the original first mono pressing of "Revolver" in the UK contained the wrong mix of "Tomorrow Never Knows". It is extremely rare, and is believed to have been manufactured on only the first day of the UK pressing. Most copies have matrix 606-2 or 606-3 on side B (the small writing near the center of the vinyl surface, before the label), and are the standard version heard on all copies of other countries' pressings. The "Revolver" LP with matrix 606-1 on side B is mono remix 11 while the standard version is remix 8. In the rare mix, the vocal is louder and clearer over the effects, the fade is slightly longer and has more piano, and the effects are faded up quite differently. And that's the mix you get here. The remastered Revolver from The Beatles in Mono uses the more familiar remix 8.
Word is also that the doctor has invested in some new, stellar equipment for his new and upcoming releases. His audience is made up of people who are very fuzzy about sound, many of them have expensive systems at home to play back CD's. His packaging has also received a lot of praise from his customers, they are crisp detailed reproductions of the album’s artwork and the discs themselves replicating the Parlophone label and font with track listings that comes in new style jewel cases. Unlike the remasters who came as cardboard digipacks (stereo) or miniature LP sleeves (mono).

Where do I stand in this? Well, I've never been too fuzzy about these things. I'm listening to mp3's and FLAC's on my computer, mp3's and radio on my portable player and in my car - but when I sit down at home to indulge in some serious listening, I usually end up playing those old vinyl records. I just bought a new stylus for my gramophone pick-up and I'm enjoying it a lot. By accident, upon closer inspection, my mono UK Revolver album actually turned out to be a first pressing, so I can also listen to that elusive remix 11 of "Tomorrow Never Knows"!

Tuesday 9 February 2010

The Beatles at Palais des Sports Paris 1965



Filmed live at Palais Des Sports, Paris, 20 June 1965. The TV programme was shot by famous French director Jean-Christophe Averty. He hated rock and roll and dismissed the Beatles as minor musicians. He considers he did a very bad job with the Beatles concert. For years he banned the showing of the film again, until Apple got the masters back from INA (the national film archives) to include some clips in the Beatles Anthology TV series, "I'm A Loser" and "Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby".
The Beatles opened their short European tour at the Palais Des Sports in the Place de la Porte de Versailles on Sunday 20 June 1965. They appeared on two shows at the arena, the first at 3.00pm and the second at 9.00pm. The second show was broadcast by both French Television and radio and the two houses were full to the 6,000 capacity – something which hadn’t happened for several years.

The songs performed: Twist and Shout, She’s A Woman, I’m A Loser, Can’t Buy Me Love, Baby’s In Black, I Wanna Be Your Man, A Hard Day’s Night, Everybody’s Trying To Be My Baby, Rock And Roll Music, I Feel Fine, Ticket To Ride and Long Tall Sally.

The group received a tremendous reception after their final number, "Long Tall Sally". Ringo had a solo spot with ""I Wanna Be Your Man and George had sung lead on "Everybody’s Trying To Be My Baby". There was enthusiastic applause for Paul when he tried to introduce several songs in French.
After the show French chanteuse Francoise Hardy visited the group at the George V Hotel and later they visited Castell’s nightclub.

For some reason, the television show was edited in such a way that the songs no longer ran in the correct order as performed, and "I Feel Fine" was omitted.

Monday 8 February 2010

The Beatles' stars

Tonight, Ringo Starr will be the first Beatle to attend the unveiling of his own star at the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Both John Lennon's and George Harrison's stars were awarded posthumously and unveiled by their widows. Paul McCartney attended the unveiling of George Harrison's star last year, which lended more credibility to the obvious tourist trap. The Beatles are also represented with a star commemorating the group itself.
John Lennon was the first Beatle to get one, and that was following a campaign by 100 radio stations worldwide to wage write-in campaigns to get John a star. On September 30, 1988, Yoko Ono unveiled Lennon's star. The ceremony was carried live by The Westwood One Radio Network, including pre-ceremony interviews with Yoko (in the limo with Elliot Mintz), David Wolper and Capitol Record officials. John's Walk of Fame star was moved closer to George Harrison's star in December 2009, so that the four individual Beatles stars will be neighbours.
The group itself didn't get a star until 1994, and once placed there, it was removed mere weeks later by Capitol, the Beatles american record company. The company was hoping to install the star again accompanied by a ceremony attended by at least one member of the band. For nearly five years, the invitation stood for either Paul McCartney, George Harrison or Ringo Starr to attend such a ceremony, but the invitation was declined. On Christmas Day 1998, the Beatles' star was quietly re-installed. The Beatles' star was placed next to Elvis Presley's star.
George Harrison got his star on April 15, 2009, as reported here on WogBlog.
Sir Paul McCartney has also been approved for a star, but no date has been fixed yet for a ceremony.
Watch Ringo get his star on his official website
Read more about John Lennon's star
Official site of the Beatles star.

Friday 5 February 2010

The John Lennon Museum in Japan Closes

The museum dedicated to John Lennon is set to close its doors after 10 years this September, the exhibition's general manager Junichi Mizusawa has announced.
The John Lennon Museum situated near Tokyo, Japan, was the first museum in the world to be officially approved by Lennon's widow Yoko Ono - and now with the 10-year agreement not being renewed, all items on show will be returned to her.

Displaying around 130 artefacts, from guitars and clothing to hand-written lyrics and letters, the museum has been visited by over half a million visitors since opening on the 60th anniversary of his birth in October 2000.
Ono, commenting on the closure said, "After 10 years here, John's spirit is now moving on - looking onward to the next journey. Thanks to your love for the museum, what we'd thought would be five years became 10."
Speaking about the need to keep moving on, Ono also explained her reasons, "John Lennon's destiny spanned the whole world. His spirit came alive through movement, and without movement, it dies. If the Museum which houses his spirit never moved, it would be a grave, not a Museum. John does not have a grave. When he passed on, I publicly announced that I would not be holding a funeral for him. I did so because I knew his spirit would live forever."
Museum website

Thursday 4 February 2010

Ringo: Y Not in the UK

Ringo Starr
Amazon in the UK has a release date of February 15th for the vinyl LP edition of Ringo's new studio album, "Y Not". The vinyl album was due to be released on January 19th in the USA, but didn't materialize until February 1st and my copy is now in the mail. The CD edition of Y Not had a release date of February 1st in the UK, and Amazon are promoting the release with two video clips of Ringo, discussing two tracks from the album, "Peace Dream" and "Walk With Me". The videos also show Ringo laying down (or miming to?) the vocals in the studio.
Meanwhile in the UK, the Daily Mail had a feature yesterday about Ringo, under the headline: "Why I've turned to God at 70, by reformed Ringo Starr... that's 44 years after Lennon said the Beatles were bigger than Jesus". It may not stir up the same kind of trouble as John Lennon's famous remarks, but nonetheless it has managed to rake up more than a hundred reader's commentaries so far.

Wednesday 3 February 2010

Ringo concert tickets presale

Ringo Starr
If you're planning to spend Ringo Starr's 70th birthday on July 7th in the company of the man himself, tomorrow is your chance! The presale for three gigs starts tomorrow, Thursday February 4th at 9 am and ends at 9 pm. You only need to quote the word "drums" to be eligible for those presale tickets.

Wednesday, June 30
Theatre at Westbury
Westbury, NY

Monday, July 5
State Theatre NJ
New Brunswick, NJ

Wednesday, July 7
Radio City Music Hall
New York, NY

Presale link
The ordinary sale starts Friday the 5th.

Ringo Starr has assembled his 11th line up including: Edgar Winter on sax and keyboards, Gary Wright on keyboards and Gregg Bissonette on drums; and All Starr newcomers are Rick Derringer on guitar, Richard Page (Mr. Mister) on bass and Wally Palmer (Romantics) on guitar and harmonica.

Monday 1 February 2010

Zappa and Lennon


Frank Zappa apparently never thought much of The Beatles. His "We’re Only In For The Money" is a direct and plain parody of the famed Beatles’ album "Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band". However, on June 6th, 1971, Lennon and Zappa appeared live together at the Fillmore East in New York City. It stands as John Lennon's most daring live performance. Lennon released the tapes on Some Time in New York City/Live Jam in 1972. Zappa re-edited the material 20 years later for his own Playground Psychotics.
There was a falling out between Lennon and Zappa when Lennon remixed the tracks for his Live Jam album. Zappa disagreed about the renaming of a song, the Spector mix, the mixing out of some of his band members contributions and the mixing in of applause where it didn't belong. Here's an interview with Frank Zappa, telling the story of the Fillmore incident involving John Lennon and Yoko Ono.
The 2005 remastered reissue of Some Time in New York City/Live Jam on a single disc omits much of the live material with Zappa, so if you want to hear the full Lennon/Spector treatment of these tracks you need to get the 1990 2CD release, or the 2007 Japanese version.
This film appeared a few years ago, shot by a journalist in the audience.

The full 26:30 version of this film is included on the "I Read the News Today" DVD title by underground label MCP.
More concert photos from the event can be found (and bought) here.