text:
US: Wal-Mart to be More Like Target
CHICAGO - Wal-Mart Stores, which has
gained a reputation for leaving opponents limping into bankruptcy
court, is taking on Target Corp in a fight that it just might lose.
the No. 1 retailer, is widening its array of stylish-but-cheap goods in
hopes of winning over middle-income customers, putting it head-to-head
with a rival that has proved it can compete and thrive against a
company six times its size.
"Can Wal-Mart make merchandise
improvements that will drive incremental sales? Absolutely," said
Darrell Rigby, head of the global retail practice at consultants Bain
& Co. "Can Wal-Mart beat Target at Target's game? I doubt it."
secret is to match Wal-Mart's prices on commodity items such as food
and cleaning supplies, and then use sales of trendy-but-affordable
designer merchandise to boost profits.
The strategy seems to be
working. For the first quarter ended on April 30, Target turned in a
strong 6.2 percent sales gain at stores open at least a year. That was
more than double the same-store sales increase for Wal-Mart in the
United States.
Wall Street has noticed the discrepancy, rewarding
Target's shares with a higher valuation than Wal-Mart's. Target trades
at nearly 21 times earnings forecasts for the next fiscal year,
compared with a multiple of about 18 for Wal-Mart, according to Reuters
The sales gap isn't lost on Wal-Mart executives. Mike
Duke, head of the company's U.S. discount stores, said visits to Target
stores are the No. 3 use of his time, behind meeting with Wal-Mart
employees and customers.
"I'll be straight up -- they are a great competitor," Duke said in a presentation to analysts this month.
Wal-Mart wants to bring in its own "cheap chic" goods, using the
British design team behind its George apparel line to come up with more
fashionable offerings.
A Target spokeswoman said the retailer is confident of its strategy and declined to comment on Wal-Mart's plans.
Some analysts worry that Wal-Mart will stray too far from its low-price roots and alienate its core low-income shoppers.
Kozloff, retail analyst with Sanford Bernstein, said fashion is fickle,
and Wal-Mart could be stuck slashing prices if its "contemporary"
clothing fails to win new customers.
"It's a hit-and-miss
business, with no company ever able to always get it right," she said,
noting Wal-Mart's scant fashion experience.
The retailer has been
relying on staples like groceries to drive sales as rising energy
prices cut into discretionary spending, particularly among low-income
But food is a notoriously low-margin business, and
Wal-Mart's profits have suffered. First-quarter earnings missed the
company's -- and Wall Street's -- expectations.
Wal-Mart was unusually frank in taking the blame for its disappointing results.
of pointing a finger at high energy prices or bad weather, the company
said it put too much emphasis on its lowest-priced items, which it
calls "opening price points," and lost some customers who were willing
to pay more for style.
"When it comes to buying domestics or
apparel, that customer isn't shopping with us," Chief Executive Lee
Scott said. "They are going somewhere else where they believe the
offering is more suited to their taste."
said Wal-Mart prominently displayed impulse items priced at less than
$1 in hopes that cash-strapped customers might be tempted to pick up
one or two. The idea was that with more than 100 million shoppers
visiting stores each week, sales would grow one dollar at a time.
what happened is that the further we went that way, the less relevant
we got to be to the customer who was not really being impacted by these
negative economic issues," Scott said, adding that stores began to look
"junky" because of all the displays of low-priced goods.
isn't the first time Wal-Mart has taken on a strong rival. Two years
ago, its Sam's Club warehouse division was losing ground to Costco
Wholesale Corp., and executives set out an aggressive plan to undercut
the competitor's prices and go after coveted small-business customers.
Costco eventually recovered and remained the No. 1 player in the U.S.
warehouse club sector, Sam's Club sales grew too, suggesting that when
the two giants wrestled, consumers welcomed the lower prices and both
sides gained ground.
Wal-Mart is hoping that will happen again.
says consumers fall into three categories -- loyal Wal-Mart customers,
those who shop there for food but not general merchandise, and those
who don't shop there at all.
"Quite honestly, I believe that Wal-Mart has the opportunity to have all three of those customers," he said.
over fashion-conscious shoppers will be hard. Target has a 10-year head
start and has built strong relationships with well-known designers,
including Michael Graves and Isaac Mizrahi.
Still, Bain's Rigby said Target knows better than to bet against Wal-Mart.
"I'm sure everyone at Target is taking this new threat very seriously," he said.


text:
Rosebud Inn opened March 1st for the 2012 season!! We are so Excited and Ready to get the season kicked off.
What a beautiful day in the Ozarks! Our weather is going to be great. Love to enjoy and feel the warmth of the sunshine. Spring is here!! We will be warming into the 60's this week, and forecasted to hit 70 on Tuesday. Great weather for shopping and checking out our AWESOME shows.
As most of you are aware, we had a a tornado hit parts of the strip a few days ago (leap day). Rosebud Inn sustained no damage. We lost power, but it was restored the same day. We feel very blessed and fortunate.
We want to get the word out that Branson is OPEN! With just a few theaters doing repairs. Remember that just because the theater is under repairs, does not mean you can not see the shows. I know the shows that were at Americana have relocated to the RFD Theater until repairs are complete. Just a little hiccup for some... I've been encouraged to hear how positive the community has been! As the old saying...The show must go on! The chamber website has put a list together of places affected. It will change probably day to day, as repairs are completed. Check it out at www.explorebranson.com . I have listed the following Theaters who were affected (website as of 3/2/12):
- The Americana Theatre is closed pending repairs
- The Baldknobbers Jamboree opening night is postponed to Thursday March 8 at 8pm. Phones and box office will be open 9am to 4pm Monday through Friday
- The Branson Variety Theater is closed pending repairs, affecting current shows for the Twelve Irish Tenors,Hooray for Hollywood and Four Seasons/Beach Boys Tribute
- Dick Clark's American Bandstand Theatre is closed pending repairs, affecting Legends in Concert and Brett Family Morning Show.
- Hot Hits Theatre is closed pending repairs
- Owens Theatre is closed pending repairs
- The Icon Theatre is closed pending repairs

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Editor's Note:
Readers of The Kentucky Explorer have been introduced to the
Rev. John J. Dickey in past issues. Remember that he was a traveling
preacher throughout the eastern part of the state during the
years between 1880 and 1925. He helped to establish numerous
churches and at least two colleges. He was also a teacher and
a newspaper editor. However, his most enduring gift to us today
may well be his diary that he kept faithfully during some 50
years of his later life beginning in the 1880s. In all, over
6,000 pages written in his own hand make up this interesting
December 16,
December 17,
December 20,
Links | Visit Message Board | Subscribe | Kentucky Explorer On CD
2000 Issues | 2001 Issues | 2002 Issues| 2003 Issues| 2004 Issues | 2005 Issues
2006 Issues | 2007 Issues| 2008 Issues | 2009 Issues| 2010 Issues


text:
Do we have an estimated date for the World Cup comp to be open by? All the teams have announced their squads; I'm keen for it.
Do we have an estimated date for the World Cup comp to be open by? All the teams have announced their squads; I'm keen for it.
Should be today hopefully
Moderators - email@example.com (will go to all moderators)
Email/Hangouts - firstname.lastname@example.com
Just one quick question
With two games tomorrow, do all the changes have to be made before the first game or can we make changes before both games?
All before the first game. Actually that reminds me, I'd better look at my team.
marc71178 - President and founding member of AAAS - we don't only appreciate when he does well, but also when he's not quite so good!
Anyone want to join the Society?
Beware the evils of Kit-Kats - they're immoral apparently.
Thank you, appreciate your help
Hafeezs run out - on cricinfo it says sanga/jaya/murali all involved. Is that possible? And would all 3 get the points?
Yes, all players involved would get the points.
Thanks James, Good job I got all 3 then lol
No bonus points for a hat trick?
Last edited by chandtara; 28-02-2011 at 08:42 AM.
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)


text:
Rebecca Akdeniz
Class of 2012
Major/Minor: International Studies, Anthropology
Born in Turkey, Rebecca is a dual citizen with the United States. That is why she feels that it is important to foster relations with the Middle East and the West to bridge the gap between the two parts of the world, both culturally and politically.
As an International Studies Major with a concentration in the Near East and a double major in Anthropology, Washington College provided a complete education, and full experiences to explore all aspects of this field.
Campus Involvement
- Majors: Anthropology and International Studies
- Concentration: Near Eastern Studies
- Languages: Turkish and Arabic
- Internship: Summer 2010, Tanzania with the United Nations focused on the Rwanda Tribunal
- Study Abroad: Spring-Summer 2011, Bogazici University in Istanbul, Turkey
- Summer Study Abroad: Summer 2010 Tanzania and Zanzibar, Africa
Akdeniz was an active delegate of Washington College's Model United Nations Team, and has had the privilege of participating in the Model Conferences at Yale University and McGill University.
Future plans? After college, I plan on applying and attending graduate school at a higher institution offering degrees in International Studies, Law, and Diplomacy. I plan to be working as a key player in diplomatic relations with Middle Eastern Countries and the United States. I also plan on attending Law School after completing my graduate degree to gain a better understanding of law and diplomacy.


text:
Reversible Letter Throw Pillow
In stock and available to ship.
Eligible for free ground shipping over $150.
Additional Information
Personalization With Panache!
These groovy, reversible throw pillows are natural and black on one side and black and natural on the other. Grab a few to spell out your favorite word (ours is L-O-V-E) or pick two letters to personalize your space.
All of our graphic pillows are hand-loomed in Peru by weavers associated with Aid to Artisans.


text:
A Virginia legislative subcommittee is set to consider a proposal to arm public school employees.
Del. Bob Marshall's bill would require school boards to designate one person in every school who would be authorized to carry a concealed handgun on school property. The Prince William County Republican submitted the legislation after the mass school shooting in Connecticut.
A historically pro-gun House Militia, Police and Public Safety subcommittee is scheduled to consider the proposal late Thursday afternoon.
Also on the agenda are several gun control bills. Among them are measures to prohibit the sale of assault rifles and high-capacity ammunition clips, expand background checks for gun buyers and tighten the requirements for obtaining a concealed weapons permit.


text:
We have had a real actual honest to goodness week off! It has been amazing. Sexy Husband closed the Studio. I've barely cooked or done a thing. We've played in the snow, gone out for coffee, and celebrated 2 new babies to join our circle of friends(the Village). Honestly, it's been amazing.
Today, however, it felt like a muffin day. So Picky Princess and I whipped up this little recipe. The muffins turned out perfectly. The pecans and pears tasted nutty and wintery. If it's a muffin day for you…try them out!
Pear Pecan Muffins
Makes 12 large muffins plus 6 mini muffins
1.5 cups spelt flour
1/2 cup oats
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup almond oil(I'm sure you could substitute with olive oil. My mom gave me this almond oil for Christmas and it smells amazing!)
1 egg
1 pear coarsely shredded
1/2 cup chopped pecans
brown sugar for sprinkling.
Directions: Preheat oven to 350. Mix dry ingredients together with a whisk. Set aside. Mix wet ingredients together, including pear. Add wet ingredients to dry and stir until not quite combined. Add pecans and stir just a few turns more. Scoop into paper or silicone muffin cups. Sprinkle with brown sugar. Bake for about 20 minutes (about 15 for mini muffins). Serve warm!


text:
I was wondering which Style of Pump Head i should be getting and why. There seem to be multiple types. I have been looking at a pump with the inlet being centermounted and the outlet being on the top. I have also seen outlefts on the left and inlets ont he right of the head orientation. Is one prefered over the other, and why is it prefered?thanksJeff
Since you are talking me into a pump can you recommend one or two? "Friends don't let friends drink bad beer"
AFAIAC, the gold standard is the March 809 HS. Although there's another version with a larger impeller that's probably even better. I intend to upgrade the impeller in my 809.


text:
Trouble: Can't Login to Windows 8 or Locked out with a wrong Windows password?
"My friend, Jerry changed the username and password on my Windows
8, but I had no idea with this. Now I could not access my laptop and
edit my thesis. Is there any way that I can bypass windows 8 password?"
"I bought a second-hand Windows 8 PC for my mother from an auction.
When she started up the computer there was a Windows 8 login password
required, but we do not know the passwords. Can I get rid of the
existing password and login into Windows 8?"
Sometimes we confront with the similar issues that we need to recover lost or forgot Windows 8 password
in our daily life or work,. And most of us can do nothing but complain
or get worried. Have you ever confused with windows 8 password reset
trouble? And how did you deal with if you have not created a Windows
password 8 reset disk or a password hint before? Here introduces an easy
and portable solution with an erasable USB flash drive.
How to Reset Windows 8 password with USB flash drive?
In fact, all you need is a Windows Password Recovery Tool 3.0
which can help you directly reset your lost or unknown windows 8
password. After that, you can login your Windows 8 without a password
As is known, Windows Password Recovery Tool 3.0 is thought as a popular
and highly recognized Windows password recovery toolkit which allows
you only to use a USB (or CD/DVD/) to remove Windows 8 password. Now go
with the following steps, and you can view how to easily make Windows 8 Password recovery Using a USB Flash Drive.
Step 1: Create a Windows 8 Password Reset Disk with a bootable USB flash drive in any available computer
1. Download Windows Password Recovery Tool 3.0 and install it in any available PC from www.windowspasswordsrecovery.com.
2. Insert a bootable USB into computer, and select your target USB
flash drive. Now click the Burn button to start burning an ISO image
file to the USB.
3. Click Yes to confirm and continue your operation.
4. Click OK when the burning task completed. And now the bootable USB
flash drive is burned and you can use it to remove your forgotten
windows 8 password.
Step 2: Set BIOS to boot from USB in your unknown or lost windows 8 password PC
1. When your computer is powered on, press F2 or Delete during the boot to enter BIOS Setup.
2. You will see some similar BIOS screens like the window below, which
is varying according to different computer manufacturers.
3. Choose BOOT Option -> select Boot Device Priority -> set 1st Boot Device to USB [Hard Drive]. Press F10 to save it.
Step 3: Reset Windows 8 Password with the burned USB flash drive in your unknown Windows 8 password PC
1. Insert the newly created USB flash drive into the locked computer and re-boot it from the USB drive.
2. After launched the USB, the interface of Windows Password Recovery
Tool 3.0 Professional appears. And you'll find all user names of your
accounts displayed with the passwords showing unknown or empty.
Unknown means you have a password for the user name, maybe you lost it.
Empty means you do not have a password for the user name, you can login
the account without password.
4. Click OK when the password of the selected account is successfully removed.
Now, you can login your Windows 8 without a password required. Have
you got any trouble when operating with this Windows password reset
Isn't easy and convenient to reset Windows 8 password with a bootable
USB flash drive? Of course, suppose you have a bootable CD/DVD, Windows
Password Recovery Tool 3.0 can also be your reliable assistant to crack
Windows 8 password with CD/DVD.
Comment Below


text:
Show all on map
Add a route and the map and elevation profile will display here.
Sign In
But, if you'd still rather sign-up without it, no problem. Just tell us a little about yourself:
Sign up
By signing up, you are agreeing to our Terms of Service.
Click here to read them.
Rock solid GPS logging, helpful navigation, live logging and more are all available when you install our app.


text:
Top Graduate Employers
Below is a list of the top 100 graduate recruiters. You can filter the table by region, industry and occupation.
The financial services industry is the main recruiter of university graduates into professional employment. The second main recruiter is the healthcare industry.
- Click on one of the top 26 companies to read their employer profile and details of graduate training.
- See what graduates do and earn after university.
- Find out how we created the graduate employers table.
North East – Education – Corporate managers & directors
|Graduate-level posts
|Durham University
This table is compiled using data taken from the annual Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education (DLHE) survey (2015–16) conducted by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA). Numbers are rounded to the nearest five in line with Higher Education Statistics Agency confidentiality requirements. Read more about how we compile these tables.


text:
Our centres have an extensive range of Caple products on display showcasing different combinations of our appliances, Caple centres will help you to decide what looks the best together and what is right for your kitchen.
We deliver to England, Scotland and Wales, please contact us regarding delivery options to Northern Ireland and off-shore locations.
Single Control, Taps
Newark Single Control Tap
Related Items


text:
Thursday, 31 July 2008
Beatles at Budokan
Video/Laserdisc Only released in Japan.
This laserdisc contains one of the Beatles' concerts in Budokan Hall,1966, in colour, as well as black and white documentary stuff from the Beatles visit to Japan.
As the story goes, VAP released this as a VHS and a Beta video cassette in Japan in the eighties and got away with it. When they wanted to release it on laserdisc, Apple got involved. It was eventually released with their approval, as witnessed by the Apple logo on the sleeve. But only released in Japan for the domestic market.
Still, a copy found it's way to a specialist import store here in Oslo, Norway - and I was able to pick it up and take it home to my collection for a mere £70 or thereabout. I had invested in a laserdisc player for the sole purpose of being able to play "The Beatles First' US Visit" (which was only available in that format at the time) and Disney's "Mickey Mouse - The black and white years," which was also a laserdisc-only release.
Then DVD happened, and Disney did the sensible thing, releasing my laserdisc Mickey Mouse collection in the new format. Apple also came around regarding the Beatles First U.S. Visit, and - lo and behold - they even included more footage as bonus material. It was a beautiful release, and much recommended by me!
But Budokan still hasn't happened on DVD. Not in Japan, even. My old trusted laserdisc player doesn't work any more, I'm sad to say, but it was still in working condition by the time I bought my first DVD recorder, so I was able to transfer it to DVD before it was too late. Legislation here in Norway states that as long as you own an original, you can make as many digital copies for personal use as you care. So with the contents of the laserdisc transferred to DVD, all I needed to do was to scan the laserdisc sleeve and reuse the art to make a DVD cover for it. And since I've already done that, I've saved you other people from the trouble. Here it is:
I haven't a clue why Apple hasn't got around to release this as a DVD yet. Incidentally, even though the photos on the laserdisc cover is from the superior July 1st concert (often referred to as "the white suits" concert), the actual concert on the disc is the inferior opening concert on June 30th (The Beatles wearing black suits), the one that Brian Epstein didn't permit to be broadcast because Paul's microphone was behaving badly, and the band delivered an abysmal performance. Brian took home with him a copy of the good concert, and who knows where it's at now. A few bits of it was shown on The Beatles Anthology.
Wednesday, 30 July 2008
Odds & Sods
Don't Put Me Down Like This
The tape was discovered by a man going through his father's effects after his death. Mr King again: "The vendor was sorting out his late father's things and they included a number of audio tapes. Fortunately he played the tapes to find out what was on them and realised that he had something when he heard what appeared to be The Beatles. It's very thrilling to come across something from The Beatles that is completely unique after all this time. When I first listened to this tape it really made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. It sent a shiver down my spine. Potentially the value of a unique Beatles recording is enormous.We have estimated it at £8,000 to £12,000 but the value could go much higher than that because we are getting worldwide interest."
The identity of the man who found the tape is not being revealed but it is thought that he father was in the music industry. Or perhaps the radio industry?
Tuesday, 29 July 2008
Majestic Ballroom, Luton
We recently came across another one of those familiar Parlophone promo post cards from this Luton concert. Janet was the lucky girl who got their autographs, and she remembers sitting on John Lennon's lap as she allowed him to use her back as a rest for signing the post card.
Signed to the verso by all four individually, John Lennon, Paul McCartney (who adds an inscription To Janet, love from The Beatles), George Harrison and Ringo Starr. Each have signed in bold blue or black inks and all have added kisses beneath their signatures.
One of our blog readers have gotten in touch with us and sent us this item from his collection. It's from the same Luton concert, and the post card again has been used to write down the group's set list for the evening. Lucky Lorraine (maybe a friend of Janet's ?) was given this item, and The Beatles all signed the card for her.
Set list:
01. I Saw Her Standing There (McCartney-Lennon)
02. A Shot of Rhythm and Blues (Terry Thompson)
03. Do You Want To Know A Secret (McCartney-Lennon)
04. Beautiful Dreamer (Stephen Foster)
05. Anna (Go To Him) (Arthur Alexander)
06. Thank You Girl (McCartney-Lennon)
07. If You Gotta Make a Fool of Somebody (Rudy Clark)
08. Sweet Little Sixteen (Chuck Berry)
09. From Me To You (McCartney-Lennon)
10. Long Tall Sally (Blackwell - Johnson - Penniman)
All of these songs have since been released on albums by the Beatles (some on the "Live at the BBC" collection), except for two: Beautiful Dreamer exists as a BBC radio performance, but the quality of the recording was deemed too poor for release on the Live at the BBC album. Still, it circulates among collectors. And then there's James Ray's hit single "If You Gotta Make A Fool Of Somebody", which The Beatles never recorded for BBC radio. A tape of the Beatles performing this song and others at the Cavern Club in 1962 is in the hands of Paul McCartney, who purchased the tape at an auction on August 29,1985. The fidelity of the tape was probably below the standards for it's inclusion on the Beatles Anthology albums.
The story of James Ray is one of the sadder ones in R&B history. Blessed with a voice that was uncannily similar to Little Willie John's, James Ray made his first record in 1959 for the Gallant label ("Make Her Mine", under the name Little Jimmy Ray). However, the record flopped, and by 1962 James Ray was homeless, singing in the street for pennies and nickels. Ray was rediscovered by Gerry Granahan of Caprice Records, who brought him to a New York studio to record "If You Gotta Make A Fool Of Somebody", which reached #22 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1962 and was also a top 10 R&B hit. The single was issued in the UK in 1962 as well, and was performed in concerts by The Beatles, with John and Paul sharing the vocals. The song was written by songwriter Rudy Clark who also penned "I've Got My Mind Set On You" for James Ray.
George was the first Beatle to set foot on American soil. In September 1963, he spent a fortnight with his sister Louise, a resident of Benton, a small mining town in southern Illinois. George wandered the trim streets, checked out the stores, and returned to the UK with a Rickenbacker 425 and a copy of James Ray's album, which also contained the song Harrison was to revive in the 80's, "(I've )Got My Mind Set On You".
John Lennon was also a fan and included "If You Gotta Make a Fool of Somebody" on his jukebox, the contents of which were issued as a double CD in 2004 after the jukebox itself was purchased at an auction.
Manchester band Freddie and the Dreamers got around to record "If You Gotta Make a Fool of Somebody", and the single reached number 3 in the charts in mid-1963.
James Ray is thought to have died in 1964 due to a drug overdose, only 23 years old.
"If You Gotta Make a Fool of Somebody" was also covered by Ron Wood in 1974 on his "I've got my own album to do", an album George Harrison was involved in. The song "was sung with staggering sincerity by Wood, Rod Stewart and Keith Richards", according to the Rolling Stone review.
If you would like to share some of your recollections or memorabilia from the 1963 Beatles concerts, feel free to get in touch!
The Beatles at the Cavern Club
A young teenager who was a regular patron at the Cavern, wrote down all the songs that The Beatles performed at the club and later presented it to Cavern D.J. Bob Wooler. Here is the track listing that she compiled, sorted alphabetically:
A Taste Of Honey (Paul)
Ain't She Sweet (John)
Anna (John)
Baby It's You (John)
Beatle Bop (Instrumental)
Beautiful Dreamer (Paul)
Besame Mucho (Paul)
Boys (Ringo)
Chains (George)
Clarabella (Paul)
Claudette (Paul)
Darktown Strutters Ball (George)
Don't Ever Change (George/Paul)
Dream (George)
Dream Baby (Paul)
Falling In Love (George)
Glad All Over (George)
Hello Little Girl (John)
Hey Baby (Paul)
Hey Good Lookin' (George)
Hey Hey Hey Hey (Paul)
Hippy Hippy Shake (Paul)
Honeymoon Song (Paul)
Hully Gully (John)
I Call Your Name (John)
I Forgot To Remember To Forget (George)
I Remember You (Paul)
If You Gotta Make A Fool Of Somebody (John/Paul)
I'm A Hog For You Baby (Paul/John)
I'm Gonna Sit Right Down And Cry (John)
I'm Henry The Eighth (George)
It's Now Or Never (Paul)
Johnny B.Goode (John)
Kansas City (Paul)
Keep Your Hands Off My Baby (John)
Lend Me Your Comb (John)
Like Dreamers Do (Paul)
Locomotion (John)
Long Tall Sally (Paul)
Love Me Tender (Stuart)
Love Of The Loved (Paul)
Loving You (Paul)
Lucille (Paul)
Matchbox (Pete or Ringo)
Maybellene (John)
Memphis (John)
Money (John)
Mr. Moonlight (John)
My Bonnie
Nothin' Shakin' (George)
Oh! My Soul (Paul)
Open (George)
Over The Rainbow (Paul)
Picture Of You (George)
Pinwheel Twist (Instrumental)
Please Mr. Postman (John)
Quarter To Three (Paul/John)
Red Hot (George)
Red Sails In The Sunset (Paul)
Rip It Up (Paul)
Roll Over Beethoven (George)
Save The Last Dance For Me
Sheik Of Araby (George)
Sheila (George)
Shimmy Shimmy (John)
Shine (George)
Shot Of Rhythm And Blues (John/Paul)
Slow Down (John)
Soldier Of Love (John)
Some Other Guy (John/Paul)
Stand By Me (John)
Sure To Fall (Paul)
Sweet Little Sixteen (John)
Talkin' 'Bout You (John)
The Saints
Three Cool Cats (George)
Till There Was You (Paul)
Time (George)
Tip Of My Tongue (Paul)
To Know Her Is To Love Her (John)
Too Much Monkey Business (John)
Tutti Frutti (Paul)
Twist And Shout (John)
What A Crazy World (George)
What'd I Say (Paul)
What's Your Name (John)
Where Have You Been (John)
Wooden Heart (Paul)
Yakety Yak (George/John)
You Better Move On (John)
Young Blood (George)
Your Feet's Too Big (John/Paul)
Source: Cavern Timeline
Monday, 28 July 2008
Lobby cards
This black and white lobby card of George is identical to one I have got, and it hangs on my wall under the Let It Be poster. It has needle marks in each corner and is stamped on the back with the rubber stamp of the norwegian movie distributor.
LINK to the full collection
Saturday, 26 July 2008
Let It Be
is probably the most accessible Beatles DVD in the world, even though it was only released to the home video market for a short while.
Here's the timeline of events regarding the release of Let It Be for the home video market:
In 1981, the movie Let It Be was released to the home video market through 20th Century Fox and Magnetic Video Corporation (MCA). It was first issued on VHS and Betamax, next on laserdisc, and finally, RCA secured the rights to release it for their CED* (Capacitance Electronic Disc System) "Videodisc" format. The latter format failed miserably due to poor quality discs, which always skipped, and the players which had a very high failure rate. All of the issues of Let It Be went out of print within a couple of years.
|Laser Videodisc (USA)
On a personal note, I remember coming across a VHS cassette of Let It Be here in Oslo, Norway around 1981. It was in a video rental shop, but it always seemed to be out whenever I asked for it. One day it disappeared, and the owner of the store told me that one customer had paid a ridiculous sum of money for their copy.
|VHS video cassette (USA)
|German video cassette edition.
|Betamax Video cassette (Holland)
|Note that the US release was a pan and scan of the 4:3 adaption of the widescreen theatrical release on 35mm film (and from a print with a distinct yellow hue), whereas BBC showed the full widescreen version. German TV seems to have gotten hold of the original made-for-tv 16mm version, where a bigger frame allows you to see more of the picture.
As the 80's went on, I managed to secure a video cassette taped from the final televised version in the UK of the film in May 1982. The 80's went over into the nineties without anything happening.
|End credit from Furmanek's 1992 restoration of the film.
In an interview with USA Today in March 2002, Paul McCartney told writer Edna Gunderson that a reissue of "Let It Be" seems to be finally moving forward. "We're cleaning up the film and going back to the original tape, before (producer) Phil Spector got hold of it," he said. Of course, only the first part of that sentence referred to the film, the rest was about the album.
In April 2002, This Is London reported that Apple is on the verge of re-releasing "Let It Be" on video, though the article mistakenly says "for the first time." (which is only true for the UK, but as we have documented, it was released in at least three other countries). Author Keith Badman told This Is London, "Apple has done an amazing job of cleaning up the picture quality. John and George hated the film, which is why it's been hidden away all these years. Lennon used to describe it as 'a project set up by Paul, for Paul'." There have been rumors through the years that it was George's dislike of the film that kept the film from being re-released. An Apple spokesman, asked about a possible re-release, said, "There has been no release date arranged. It is all up in the air and I can't say anything more at this stage".
Later on that month, McCartney talked to the Newark Star-Ledger about the film: "I happened to be on a plane about a year ago, and I met the director of the film, Michael Lindsay-Hogg, and he said, "Every time I go into a video store in L.A., all the guys say, 'When are you going to release "Let It Be" (on video)?'" I said, "Isn't it out?" 'Cause you know, I don't know all that stuff. He said no. So I mentioned it to (a business associate), and I said, "You know what would be really cool? If we put the naked version of the record out as well." So that is actually getting worked on at the moment. It's not (officially) announced or anything yet, but that's what's in the pipeline."
When the release date for the "Let It Be…Naked" album was there, the film restoration project was still far from finished, so the DVD project was delayed.
After the release of the new "Let It Be...Naked" album, and no sight of the DVD, the film's director, Michael Lindsay-Hogg had this to say:
Q: So why wasn't a Let It Be DVD released alongside "Naked"?
Michael Lindsay-Hogg: The idea, as far as I know, is to put out two DVDs sometime in 2004, one of which will be the movie Let It Be with the print restored and the sound mixed to current standards. And then a companion DVD with interviews and extra material from anyone who had anything pertinent to say, one of them being myself.
Again, this didn't happen. In June 2004, details of a 3 disc 5.1 special edition of Let It Be was leaked to the internet, in the shape of this anonymous review, originally posted in the rec.music.beatles google group:
BEHIND CLOSED DOORS: A collection of rare footage of The Beatles recording in the studio (none of this is "Let It Be" era material). The footage listed includes And I Love Her, Paperback Writer, Rain, All You Need Is Love, Hey Bulldog, Lady Madonna, Helter Skelter, Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da, Blackbird, Tutti Frutti, Hey Jude (this track alone went for 20 minutes), St Louis Blues.
Unconfirmed rumours say that the above "review" was a hoax - someone's wet dream about what the release could have been.
The Toronto Sun reported in 2005 that the "Let It Be" film was on its way to DVD that year. According to an interview with Bob Smeaton, who directed the "Beatles Anthology", the DVD was to be in 5.1 sound along with tons of lost and bonus features.
The following year, Smeaton told Archer of 99.5 The Mountain radio station in Denver, Colorado that the DVD release had been delayed due to the sheer volume of film stock shot, and colour restoration issues. He gave three possible release dates in September 2006. Nothing came of it, although The Beatles' company Apple Corps Ltd bought the domain letitbemovie.com in 2007, and they still own it..
In a February 2007 interview with Neil Aspinall regarding the remastering of the film for DVD release, he stated, "The film was so controversial when it first came out. When we got halfway through restoring it, we looked at the outtakes and realized: this stuff is still controversial. It raised a lot of old issues."
A year later, Yoko Ono told writer Bill DeYoung this, when he asked about a DVD release of the movie: "You know, life is a long time. And I hope you have a very long one, Bill."
In June 2008, plans for a DVD version of Let It Be were cancelled at the request of Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, according to The Daily Express UK newspaper. An unnamed source told the newspaper that while Paul and Ringo were planning to release it, both had second thoughts. The source goes on to say "The Beatles are still a massive global brand and it's felt it won't be helped if the public sees the darker side of the story. Neither Paul nor Ringo would feel comfortable publicizing a film showing The Beatles getting on each other's nerves."
Upon further investigation, it turned out that the two surviving Beatles members weren't as dismissive as the article implicated. So there's still hope...
Posted on a discussion board in 2009 by someone claiming to have connections with people at Abbey Road: "It's been done and ready to go for at least five or six years now. LOTS of extras; research was impeccable; Bob Smeaton (who worked on the Anthology DVDs) says they went through EVERY surviving reel of film shot by EVERY camera while doing the restoration (a fair bit can be seen in 'Anthology'). It was basically reassembled from scratch using each camera negative. Disc one would be the original film, while disc 2 would have a S******D of unseen stuff, both video and audio including outtakes from the rooftop concert. The plan was for it to be issued along with/shortly after 'Let It Be......Naked'. Unfortunately, it only takes one member of the Apple board to veto a Beatles release and that's what happened. Who was it?. Wild horses wouldn't drag his/her name from my lips. Oh no."
"Secret Cinema" - a Philadelphia movie club showed an excellent print of the film on Friday, October 23 2009. Reports tells about a mediocre sound, though - due to the original monophonic soundtrack. Latter day DVD bootlegs have substituted the original movie soundtrack with treated tapes from the Nagra reels, as well as stereo versions from Get Back bootlegs, the Let It Be album and the Let It Be ... Naked album to enhance the audio experience.
BBC Radio 2 broadcast a radio documentary on the 24th of May 2010, celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Let It Be movie and album. At the very end of the hour long broadcast, announcer Guy Garvey says "The word is from Apple is that work has begun on the restoration of the film with a future re-release at a future date still to be determined."
A source who was once close to Apple and connected to the "Let It Be …Naked" project, said that the Let It Be DVD was likely to see release in 2012 for the anniversary. Which anniversary? Well, in 2012 it was 50 years since The Beatles signed with EMI. Of course, this didn't happen, but then again, 2013 was yet another anniversary year and The Beatles have started releasing their films on Blu-ray, starting with "Yellow Submarine" in June 2012, "Magical Mystery Tour" in October 2012 and "Help!" in June 2013. "A Hard Day's Night" followed in 2014. "Let It Be"? Who knows?
In October 2011, "Let It Be" director Michael Lindsay-Hogg, who has been making the rounds to promote his autobiography "Luck and Circumstance: A Coming of Age in Hollywood, New York, and Points Beyond" spoke about the film in an interview with radio station WNYC-FM. "We have been been working on it pretty much every year for the last couple of years. And the plan is, at the moment, to have it come out, I think, in 2013," Lindsay-Hogg said.
He says that second disc will be filled with the film's outtakes. "When we first put 'Let It Be' out, I had to cut out a lot of stuff that I really like and wanted to stay in there. The stuff in the new DVD has a lot of the stuff that had to be cut out. So for me, it's like the egg is now complete."
At the Paul McCartney concert at the Royal Albert Hall in March 2012, Richard Porter (Beatles walk London tour guide) learned from what he describes as a very reliable source that the film is now scheduled for release in 2014, although other sources mention 2015 as more likely.
Let It Be has by now been remastered several times. In 1992 Ron Furmenek remastered the entire film from the original negatives. He said back then, and in more contemporary interviews, that it came out great. Much better than anything previously seen. That was the version which VCI wanted to release five years later on VHS, in 1997.
During the making of Anthology in the mid-nineties, select clips, including alternate performances, were also remastered taking advantage of then-new technology. Some of these clips as seen in Anthology are quite excellent. In 2013, "Let It Be...Naked" was made available on iTunes for the first time, and along with the album, two film clips were available for purchase, "Get Back" and "Don't Let Me Down".
In 2003, original producer Bob Smeaton and others remastered the entire film again, including outtakes. This is the version that almost came out in 2005, as announced by Smeaton himself. The newly remastered clips can be seen on many boots and on the official EPK package that came out in support of Let It Be...Naked.
Apparently, another new transfer of the original 16mm film and additional outtakes was done in 2011. Again, nothing was released.
In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine in May 2012, Ringo Starr was asked about the Let It Be film on DVD:
Are you thinking about releasing the Let It Be movie on DVD?
"I think that's also a possibility. One day that will come out. But we're not talking about it right now. As you know, there's very little that hasn't come out. I'd forgotten that one though. You just mentioned the one thing that hasn't come out. I'm too busy living now…"
In July 2015, Access Hollywood asked Ringo again:
Is the "Let It Be" movie ever going to see the light of day?
"Well, it'll see the light of day, everything sees the light of day, you know. And ... yeah I'm sure it will come out, it's not planned for this year. But yeah, it'll be out".
In August 2016, Paul McCartney said this in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine:
You mentioned the Let It Be film. Is there any chance it will ever be rereleased?
I keep thinking we've done it. We've talked about it for so long.
What's the holdup?
I've no bloody idea. I keep bringing it up, and everyone goes, "Yeah, we should do that." The objection should be me. I don't come off well.
Meanwhile, Apple Corps keeps teasing the fans by including remastered footage from the Let It Be film whenever they are promoting their new releases. A version of "One After 909" from the rooftop concert was sent to TV stations to promote the remastered catalogue, and also there was some hitherto unseen footage on the mini-documentary for the Let It Be album.
A collection of The Beatles' promotional films was released officially in 2015, featuring painstakingly restored versions of these, with new stereo and surround mixes. Despite LET IT BE having undergone several restorations over the years, material from that film didn't look restored, compared to other 16mm sourced films. Speculation among fans is that perhaps Apple is saving the restored version for an upcoming stand-alone release of the film.
In 2016, bootleg company HMC got hold of a copy of Ron Furmanek's 1992 restoration of the film, and released it as part of a DVD and CD package. Although the picture is cropped at the bottom (possibly to get rid of running numbers?), it's the best version so far, with a mostly stero soundtrack.
In an interview with the film's Cinematographer Tony Richmond in February 2017, it was revealed that "Since then, we remastered it for DVD and there were so many outtakes that weren't used in the film that really show the acrimony between all of the Beatles. But that's still being held up by George Harrison's estate and his wife and Yoko Ono because they don't want the acrimony shown."
In an interview with a radio station in Quebec, Canada on September 15, 2018, Paul McCartney was asked about the fate of the Beatles' "Let It Be" film. "We keep talking about that," Paul confirmed, "we have meetings at Apple". He went on to say that nothing was definite, but he "had heard rumours" about how a new version of the film may some day come out. "People have been looking at the footage." Paul says, estimating that it's around 56 hours worth af material there. And someone told him "the other day" that the overall feeling (when examining all the available footage) is very joyous and uplifting and mostly "a bunch of guys making music and enjoying it". So Paul thinks there is "some talk" about making a new movie, re-editing it from the same footage. "Who knows, that may be happening in a year or two," Paul concludes.
On January 30th, 2019, in celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the rooftop concert, The Beatles announced that a new film will be made, culled from the 55 hours of Get Back film footage available. The new film will be directed by Sir Peter Jackson. A release date is not announced, but a restored original "Let It Be" film will also be made available in conjunction with the new film. Let's hope it's not just a theatrical release, like Shea Stadium was.
TIMELINE: LET IT BE (movie)1969: 16mm footage of the Beatles filmed in January for proposed TV Special and album, "Get Back".
1969: Film and album shelved for now, new album Abbey Road recorded and released.
1969-70: Footage reworked for movie screening, to fulfill 3 film contract with United Artists.
1970: Theatrical release. Film has been blown up to 35mm, sound is in mono, retitled "Let It Be".
|UK premiere at the London Pavilion
1975: BBC2 shows Let It Be for the first time on December 26. Mono.
1976: BBC1 shows Let It Be on August 24. Mono.
1978: The first screening on HBO in USA, July 29. Ran another six times the following month.
1979: BBC2 shows all Beatles films during Christmas season, again Let It Be on Dec 26.
1980: John Lennon is killed.
1980: As a tribute to John Lennon, Australian Channel 10 shows Let It Be. Simulcast. The film may also have been shown elsewhere in the world at this traumatic time, but the Australian screening is the one we know about.
1981: Home Video release (USA) of 35mm film pan-and-scan: VHS, Betamax, Laserdisc and Videodisc by 20th Century Fox/Magnetic Video Corporation. Mono. Betamax may have been even earlier.
1981: Aired in USA on "The Movie Channel" in November and on "Cinemax" in December.
1982: BBC2 shows Let It Be for the fourth and last time on May 8. 16mm version, mono.
1983: Südwest III local TV screening (south-west part of West Germany) on Dec 26. 16mm, mono. Subtitled in German.
1984: Home Video Release (Holland) by Warner Home Video. 16mm, mono.
1984: Home Video Release (West Germany) of 16mm version: VHS, Betamax by Warner Home Video. Mono. Subtitled in German.
1985: Another Channel 10 TV screening in Australia, Sunday 14 July at midday, after the Live Aid concert finished.
1992: Original 16mm film restored by Ron Furmanek, remastered sound, stereo when available.
1995: Restored footage from film and outtakes shown on The Beatles Anthology TV series.
1997: VCI (UK) announces plans to release the 1992 restoration of the film on VHS. It doesn't happen.
2001: George Harrison succumbs to cancer. Before he dies, he agrees to several upcoming projects, including reworking the Let It Be album to "Let It Be...Naked" and a Cirque du Soleil show in Las Vegas, "Love".
2002: Paul McCartney says there are plans for a DVD release of the film alongside the upcoming new album, "Let It Be...Naked".
2003: Original 16mm film plus outtakes restored by Bob Smeaton.
2003: "Let It Be...Naked" is released. Newly restored outtakes footage used to promote the album. No DVD.
2003: Movie director Lindsay-Hogg says 2 DVDs with the film and outtakes ready for 2004.
2004: A review of a 3 disc version appears online.
2005: "The Toronto Sun" features interview with Bob Smeaton who says a DVD will come out that year.
2006: In a US radio show, Bob Smeaton gives three possible release dates in 2006 for the DVD.
2007: Apple Corps Ltd register the domain name letitbemovie.com.
2007: Neil Aspinall says the film is still too controversial for release.
2008: Yoko Ono says the DVD will not be released yet.
2008: "The Daily Express" (UK) says DVD was cancelled by Paul and Ringo.
2009: Unidentified "insider" claims Yoko Ono is the one blocking the release.
2009: Theatrical screening at a film club in Philadelphia, PA. Good print, poor mono sound.
2010: BBC radio show says DVD is still considered for release at a future date.
2011: Original film and outtakes re-transferred again in higher resolution for future release.
2012: Film due out for 50th anniversary of "Love Me Do", but plans are again scrapped.
2012: Richard Porter learns from insider that the film may be released in 2014 or 2015.
2012: Ringo says: "One day that will come out, but we're not thinking about it right now".
2013: "Help!", "Magical Mystery Tour" and "Yellow Submarine" released on Blu-ray.
2014: "A Hard Day's Night" released on Blu-ray.
2015: Ringo confirms that it will eventually be released, just not this year.
2015: The last 34 minutes of Furmanek's unpublished 1992 restoration uploaded on YouTube
2015: Apple releases a collection of The Beatles' promotional films on Blu-ray and DVD. The material from "Let It Be" looks unrestored. This triggers speculation that Apple saves the restored version for a later stand-alone release.
2016: Bootleg company HMC releases the 1992 restoration of the film on a DVD+CD package in NTSC and an aspect ratio of 4:3. The lower part of the picture is cropped.
2016: Paul tells Rolling Stone that he keeps promoting a release of the film internally.
2016: "Don't Let Me Down" (partial) and "I've Got A Feeling" (partial) from the rooftop concert included in the "Eight Days A Week - The Touring Years" film. The latter song is edited differently with other camera angles than in the "Let It Be" film.
2017: Cinematographer Tony Richmond reveals in an interview that the official DVD release is held up by Yoko Ono and the estate of George Harrison.
2018: Paul McCartney said in an interview with a Canadian radio station that a re-edited version of the film may come out "in a year or two".
2019:On January 30th, in celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the rooftop concert, The Beatles announced that a new film will be made, culled from the 55 hours of Get Back film footage available. The new film will be directed by Sir Peter Jackson. A release date is not announced, but a restored original "Let It Be" film will also be made available in conjunction with the new film.
Benton gets busy
Committee members met Wednesday to continue plans to bring a second Beatle to Benton.
Committee chairman Jim Kirkpatrick said the news is certain to put Benton on the map.
"We have confirmation that Pete Best, an original member of The Silver Beatles, will perform that evening," he said. "The Pete Best Band: Best of the Beatles will perform at 8 p.m. in the East Gym of Benton Consolidated High School. A visit from Pete Best follows another member of The Beatles. George Harrison visited his sister, Louise, in September 1963, before he was 'fab.' I even wrote a book about the visit."
Friday, 25 July 2008
New tape discovered
Side 1
New Beatles Photo exhibition
Bodelwyddan Castle in Wales is the place to visit from tomorrow and until 28th September, as they are staging a new exhibition of famous Beatles photos on loan from the National Portrait Gallery in London. The exhibition features rare and unseen photographs by famous photographers, who helped to shape the group's public image.
From early '60s images of Paul McCartney and John Lennon as they rehearsed from one of McCartney's High School exercise books (taken by his brother, Mike McCartney) to a number of group and individual photos captured as they performed on Top of the Pops (by Harry Goodwin), as well as the iconic "butcher sleeve" photo (by Robert Whitaker).
There's also their final performance at the Cavern (by Norman Parkinson), and one taken at the studio (by Linda McCartney) while recording the White Album, which reached number one in the chart during December 1968.
One of the more humorous photographs is the one taken in February 1963 by Michael Ward, which features Lennon, McCartney, Ringo Starr and George Harrison standing in front of a sign stating: "Please use the litter bins."
As one of the world's most successful bands of all time, The Beatles were captured on camera on many occasions.
And among the most famous images are the photographs of Lennon and his second wife Yoko Ono staging their famous "bed-in" for peace not long after their wedding in 1969.
But this exhibition focuses on the Fab Four themselves and features rare portraits.
And there is much more to the exhibition than the photographs.
"As well as providing visitors with a fantastic mixture of photography, many of the images have a fascinating tale to tell," says Morrigan Ellis, Deputy Director at Bodelwyddan Castle.
A number of hands-on Beatles' family activities are planned to take place during the exhibition.
There will be workshops in which visitors can design, construct and create their own musical instrument from everyday "junk", an experiment with combinations of colour to create psychedelic prints and people will also be encouraged to design their own musical heroes T-shirt inspired by the exhibition.
"The workshops will enable families to produce their own Beatles' themed artwork, using the exhibition as inspiration."
Another post card
The autographs were obtained by the vendor who attended a concert on May 26th 1963 at the Liverpool Empire. The postcard comes with the original seat ticket for that concert, together with an official programme which also features Roy Orbison and Gerry and The Pacemakers. The programme contains an inset ticket application form for a forthcoming concert starring Jerry Lee Lewis, Freddie and the Dreamers and the British Blue Caps. This lot also contains a number of contemporary press clippings relating to the Beatles.
Each band member's signature is clearly legible, as are sets of kisses (XXX) from John, Paul and Ringo, but not George.
The Wirral-based owner has been told by experts that it will attract bids of up to £3,000 when it is sold in Halls fine art auction house in Shrewsbury.
Stewart Orr, Halls' collectibles expert, said: "There is no doubt whatsoever about the authenticity of these autographs, which were obtained before The Beatles were really famous."
Included in the same lot as the autographs are the ticket and programme from the concert that also featured Roy Orbison and Gerry and the Pacemakers. The items will be lots in a toys and collectibles sale on August 8.
Live before America
The Beatles
Live Before America
Purple Chick
You probably don't need another live Beatles collection, but here's one anyway: every surviving non-radio performance between the Star Club and Ed Sullivan.
Carefully compiled and restored from the best sources we could find. As always, we didn't just copy the audio from the listed souces - instead, we tried to work some of our patented sonic magic when necessary. Of course, the quality still varies from dire to delightful, but you knew that already.
Anyway, enjoy this peek at the Beatles at their peak: before they landed in the U.S.A.
Pops and Lenny - 16 May, 1963
From Me To You taken from a video of this TV-show
The Mersey Sound- 27 August, 1963
A movie about the emerging Mersey Beat scene, The Beatles perform Twist And Shout, I Saw Her Standing There and She Loves You.
Sunday Night at the Palladium - 13 October, 1963
The Beatles play on ITV's "Sunday Night at the London Palladium" which is broadcast to 15 million viewers. Here's the audio, pieced together from various sources: intro, From Me To You, I'll Get You, She Loves You, Twist And Shout , outro.
Pop '63 - 24 October, 1963
The legendary Swedish Radio Show: intro, I Saw Her Standing There, From Me To You, Money (That's What I Want), Roll Over Beethoven, You Really Got A Hold On Me, She Loves You and Twist And Shout.
Drop In - 30 October, 1963
They also performed on TV in Sweden: intro, She Loves You, Twist And Shout, I Saw Her Standing There and Long Tall Sally+ outro.
The Royal Variety Performance - 4 November, 1963
Rattle your jewellery with From Me To You, She Loves You, Till There Was You and Twist And Shout + outro.
The Early Beatles - 9 Nov, 1963
I Saw Her Standing There.
The Jack Paar Program - 16 Nov, 1963
From Me To You.
The Beatles Come To Town - 20 November, 1963
Derek Taylor's first Beatles experience in Manchester: She Loves You, Twist And Shout and From Me To You.
Morecambe and Wise - 2 Dec, 1963
Combined from Mythology & Anthology 1, here's intro, This Boy, All My Loving, I Want To Hold Your Hand, not like it was in your day (spoken), Moonlight Bay and outro.
It's The Beatles! - 7 December, 1963
Back in Liverpool, The Beatles are again captured for TV. A recent youtube version of this performance seems to have improved sound and PC has mixed this anew with Mythology and Ultimate Live Masters as secondary sources: From Me To You, I Saw Her Standing There, All My Loving, Roll Over Beethoven, Boys, Till There Was You, She Loves You, This Boy, I Want To Hold Your Hand, Money (That's What I Want), Twist And Shout and From Me To You (reprise).
Sunday Night at the Palladium - 12 January, 1964
Another performance on this prestigious venue: intro, I Want To Hold Your Hand, This Boy, All My Loving, Money (That's What I Want), Twist And Shout+outro.
Cinéma Cyrano, Versailles - 15 January, 1964
All that's available is From Me To You.
L'Olympia Theatre, Paris - 16 January, 1964 (afternoon)
DarthDisc's excellent City Of Light is the source for From Me To You, I Saw Her Standing There,
this boy intro, Twist And Shout, From Me To You, Long Tall Sally, From Me To You (reprise).
L'Olympia Theatre, Paris - 16 January, 1964 (evening)
Again from City of Light: From Me To You, She Loves You, This Boy, I Want To Hold Your Hand, Twist And Shout, From Me To You (reprise), and Long Tall Sally + From Me To You (reprise) from the German news reel "Tumult um Die Beatles"
Purple Chick's releases are fan-made compilations and are not for sale. Available at the ususal places.
Thursday, 24 July 2008
McCartney Quebec DVD
Drive My Car
Only Mama Knows
All My Loving
Flaming Pie
Got to Get You Into My Life
Let Me Roll It
C Moon
My Love
Let 'em In
Fine Line
The Long and Winding Road
Dance Tonight
Calico Skies
I'll Follow the Sun
Mrs. Vanderbilt
Eleanor Rigby
A Day in the Life > Give Peace a Chance
Good Day Sunshine
Too Many People > She Came In Through the Bathroom Window
Penny Lane
Band on the Run
Back in the USSR
I Got a Feeling
Live and Let Die
Let it Be
Hey Jude
Encore 1
Lady Madonna
Get Back
I Saw Her Standing There
Encore 2
Wednesday, 23 July 2008
Two new books due
Read about The Beatles' Irish heritage here.
Read about The Beatles and Scotland here:
The Beatles and Scotland
The faces are young – instantly recognisable, but not yet fully-grown into what will become the four most famous faces in the western world – and happy as they grin towards the camera in the cold. One of them holds a thumb aloft as they pose beside the roadside sign that proudly proclaims 'HASTE YE BACK!'
The time is January 1963, the thumb (and one of the grinning faces) belongs to John Lennon, and the three other faces belong to Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. The Beatles – at the Scottish Border, returning from playing four Scottish dates in glamorous venues like the Museum Hall in Bridge of Allan and Dingwall Town Hall. Within a year they would be phenomenon on Britain and playing at the London Palladium, within two years they would conquer America. But for now, frozen in time in candid black and white, they were just four lads, barely out of their teens and happy to be travelling the country playing music.
Not that 1963 was the Beatles first visit to Scotland. As any real Beatleologist will tell you the band's first concerts outside of England – even before they went to Hamburg – happened in the spring of 1960 when The Silver Beetles (as they were still called) came to tour north east Scotland as the backing band for a singer called Johnny Gentle.
The trip was not without incident. Indeed the whole of musical history – if not popular culture – was nearly changed forever one night in May 1960, when the Silver Beetles' heavily laden tour bus was involved in a collision near Fraserbugh. Luckily – or unfortunately, depending on which seat you were sitting in! – the only member of the band to be seriously injured was temporary drummer Tommy Moore (Ringo was still two years away from joining the band) who lost a few teeth and had to be taken to hospital for stitches. It would not be a Beatles' last brush with Scotland's roads and hospitals. . . .
But the Fab Four's connection with Scotland goes back much further than the 1960's. The group's original bass player Stuart Sutcliffe – the member generally credited with having much to do with the Beatles' early imaging – was born in Edinburgh. Perhaps even more significantly from a creative perspective was John Lennon's connection with Scotland. . . .
Back in the late 1940's and early 1950's, between the ages of nine and fourteen, Lennon would regularly spend his summer holidays at Durness in Sutherland, the most north-westerly village on mainland Britain, staying at a croft in Sango Bay that belonged to relatives. He would be packed off on the bus from Liverpool to Edinburgh, where he would be collected by his cousin Stanley Parkes before the family travelled north together.
Back in the early fifties Durness was one of the most remote, inaccessible parts of the country and Lennon, Parkes says, "Loved the complete wildness of the place. We went hunting and fishing and John loved going up into the hills to draw or write poetry. He loved hillwalking, shooting and fishing and would have been quite a laird!"
It is fascinating to think of the teenage John Lennon – just a few years away from meeting Paul McCartney and changing history – writing poetry in the Scottish hills, developing the lyrical talent that would in time make him one of the most important songwriters the world has ever known. Lennon's youthful connection to Scotland was highlighted earlier this year when North Highland Tourism Operators – headed by Prince Charles – launched a new website to help celebrate Lennon's links to Durness.
Mr Parkes says "John never forgot those times at Durness. They were among his happiest memories and I hope many tourists will visit the area that meant so much to him and enjoy its beauty and charms as he once did."
Lennon was to return to Scotland many years later – bringing his wife Yoko Ono and his young children, six-year-old Julian and five-year-old Kyoko, back to Durness for a holiday in the summer of 1969. By this time, of course, Lennon was one of the wealthiest and most famous men in the world and yet he took his Scottish break with very little ceremony. . . .
Just as he had done years before Lennon and family stayed with the Parkes' in Edinburgh before heading north in an Austin Maxi, a far cry from the psychedelic Rolls Royce more commonly associated with rock stars in the late 1960's!
However, the trip was to culminate in Lennon's second cataclysmic experience on the roads of Scotland. Just as the Beatles' 1960's had begun with a Scottish car crash, so they were to end when Lennon, who had notoriously poor eyesight and who rarely drove himself, crashed the Austin Maxi on a tight Highland road.
It was a serious smash, writing off the car and leaving Lennon requiring 17 stitches for facial injuries and Yoko needing 14 in her forehead. Lennon was rushed to Lawson Memorial Hospital in Golspie, Sutherland where he was to spend five days convalescing. Ironically the peace and tranquillity of the hospital provided Lennon with a welcome break from the hectic life he was leading in 1969 – the height of his celebrity and notoriety when he and Yoko were regularly front-page news with their famous 'bed-in' peace protests.
While a media frenzy was being whipped up in London around the release of Lennon's new single Give Peace A Chance, the singer himself was enjoying fresh fruit scones, home-made marmalade and line-caught salmon while reading the newspapers quietly in the secluded grounds of a Scottish hospital! On returning to London Lennon told reporters, "If you're going to have a car crash, try and arrange for it to happen in the Highlands. The hospital there was just great!"
Around the same time as Lennon's accident, over on the other side of Scotland, on the west coast, his former songwriting partner was also beginning to fall for the charms of life north of the border.
Sir Paul McCartney originally bought High Park Farm near Campbeltown in 1968 as a tax break, but he soon grew to love the atmosphere of the property with its westerly views over the Kintyre peninsula and has credited the place with helping him recover from the depression he suffered in the wake of the Beatles split. "It's like a little hideaway," McCartney said. "I love it. I love the people there. I can sort of breathe when I get up there. Breathe pure air."
By the mid 1970's the McCartney's were regularly enjoying long summer holidays at their Scottish farmhouse and it was there, while watching the spring lambs gambolling in the fields, that the family made the decision to become vegetarians, a decision that would have an enormous impact years later when McCartney's wife Linda launched her best-selling range of vegetarian food. Fittingly she was photographed in the farmhouse kitchen in Kintyre to promote the dishes.
The area was to repay McCartney's love for it handsomely in 1977, when it inspired him to write Mull of Kintyre. The song went on to stay at number one for over two months, selling upwards of two million copies (far more than even the Beatles biggest hits) and becoming the biggest selling British single of all time in the process; a record it held until Band Aid's Do They Know It's Christmas? in 1984.
One can only wonder how it might have sounded had John Lennon penned his own musical tribute to the charms of Scotland's East Coast. . . .
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Tuesday, 22 July 2008
Azena date corrected
A) The Azena Ballroom gig didn't take place on the previously assumed date, it was in fact April 2nd.
B) That means that the poster (colourized version above) is a fake, which explains the use of the "dropped T" logo.
C) The set list is in Paul McCartney's handwriting, not Lennons. This still means that Lennon may have been the one who chucked it away
D) Lewisohn is puzzled by the absence of "Thank You Girl" and "Twist And Shout" on the set list.
The Helen Shapiro Tour 8
The Beatles hit recorders of "Love Me Do" are no newcomers to show business, the group was formed way back in 1956 when the grind and scratch of skiffle was just starting to graze the pop horizon. So their breakthrough on records is backed by six years of maturing musical notions and practical experience which has taken them from Liverpool ballrooms to Hamburg night clubs, from church hall hops to colourful strip club stints in Liverpool's China town.
Now the boys have outgrown their rock and skiffle phases to explode onto the highly competitive musical scene as a thoroughly groomed super-charged quartet.
They have played package shows alongside such top line artistes as Bruce Channel, Little Richard, Joe Brown (who thought they were fabulous), Mike Berry, Gene Vincent, Mr. Acker Bilk and Kenny Ball on their respective tours.
Their latest recording "Please Please Me" looks destined for parade honours.
Azena promo post card
Shapiro tour buddies
Monday, 21 July 2008
The Beatles at the Azena Sheffield
During research for the Helen Shapiro Tour, I obtained some information about a gig performed during the tour's break. Amazingly, I was also sent a scan of the actual set list from this concert, in Lennon's handwriting. The original set list was written on the back of a Beatles promo post card from Parlophone Records, and the scan is off a photo copy of that card. Here's a Sheffield newspaper item about the concert:
Peter Stringfellow, founder and owner of The Mojo Club, booked the Beatles - a band creating a stir on the music scene in Liverpool - originally to play his first music club and forerunner to The Mojo, The Black Cat Club (St. Aiden's Church Hall). In between Stringfellow booking the band and the night of the concert, The Beatles had their first number one with 'Please Please Me', and screaming, shouting, hair-pulling Beatlemania swept the country. The police suggested Stringfellow move the gig to accommodate the demand for tickets, so he booked the Azena Ballroom on the outskirts of Sheffield. Brian Epstein, the Beatles' manager, also upped the price from the first agreed price of £65 to £90, as, he said, they had a record in the charts now. (Stringfellow later managed to haggle him down to £85).
On February the 11th, the day before the Azena Ballroom gig, The Beatles recorded the remaining 10 tracks that would make up their debut album - all in one day. On the 12th they were in Sheffield for the gig. Stringfellow had sold 2000 tickets for the show - the Azena's capacity was 500, and a further estimated 1000 people turned up on the night to try their luck. It was bedlam. Amazingly, The Beatles also played another gig in Oldham that same day.
The Beatles also autographed the wall backstage at The Azena Ballroom. When the ballroom was converted into a supermarket years later (first Kwik Save, later on a Somerfield), it was rumoured that The Beatles' signatures still remained on a wall in the back of the supermarket.
Clearly and unmistakably the concert poster shows The Beatles famous dropped T logo - but The Beatles didn't start using this logo officially until May 1963 - a good few months after this posters design. At the time of the gig The Beatles were using their 'Bug' logo. Stories of the origin of the "dropped T" logo date it to Ivor Arbitor who allegedly designed the logo for Ringo Starr's new Ludwig drum kit - but this was in April 1963! Other rumours says that "a man in Hamburg" designed the famous logo. Well, this poster still seems to be the first appearance of that logo. The poster was made by Colin Duffield, who hand printed the poster on a bench screen using pro-film stencils. The original measures 80cm x 54.5cm and was sold by auction company Cooper Owens at a Rock'n'Roll Memorabilia auction, accompanied by a letter of authenticity from Duffield.
UPDATE JAN. 19-2009: This poster was eventually revealed as a fake in one of our later blogs, and the date for the concert has also been corrected.
Set list
- I Saw Her Standing There
- Sweet Little Sixteen
- Chains
- Beautiful Dreamer
- Misery
- Hey Good Looking
- Love Me Do
- Baby It's You
- Three Cool Cats
- Please Please Me
- Some Other Guy
- Ask Me Why
- Roll Over Beethoven
- A Taste of Honey
- Boys
- Keep Your Hands Off My Baby
- Do You Want To Know A Secret
- From Me To You
- Please Please Me (possible encore)
- Long Tall Sally
Many thanks to Peter Gray and John Hodge for providing the set list!
The actual card was picked up by the drummer with the local support group The Aidens (sometimes referred to as Mike or Mark Jones and The Aidens). He remembered being sat backstage with John Lennon as he just discarded a Beatles Parlophone postcard on which he had written down the evenings setlist. Luckily, the drummer picked up the card and kept it. The set list shows that the cold-suffering Lennon avoided going through the throat-shredding "Twist and Shout", which he had recorded as a closer for their debut album the day before.
Britain wouldn't be Britain unless someone saw a business opportunity here, so here's a T-shirt (!) featuring the design from the Sheffield Azena poster.
Peter Stringfellow announces The Beatles at the Azena Ballroom
Here are some more recollections of the Azena gig in Sheffield, as posted on a discussion board:
David Bowler: I was at the Azena for the beatles concert and I remember paying 6s 6d for a ticket on the black market outside, the original price was 5s 6d and someone opened the firedoor and hundreds poured in till the police restored order, I recall standing on a chair on a table. The Azena was called after the owners Arnold & Zena Fidler, Zena died this year (2003).
Timbuck: Yes the beatles did play at the azena, co's i was there, the gig was moved there after the Stringfellow Bro's found they were selling to many tickets and their place wasn't big enough...I think they got the Fab Four because they booked them just before they became famous, and the beatles honoured all bookings taken, and The Stringfellows got them for about £65 Quid.
My mate "John Bealy" was the singer in the support band at this gig and Paul Macartney borrowed his Bass players gear that night
later on that bass amp and speaker became mine.
From what i remember all the songs were "Chuck Berries" except for "Love me do".
But the Azena will always be the place for "Dave berry and the Cruisers" for me.
mojoworking: The Beatles played in Sheffield a total of seven times.
The first Sheffield concert was at the Azena Ballroom, White Lane, Gleadless on 12 February 1963. Peter Stringfellow paid £85 to book them. Although Peter had originally been quoted £65, Brian Epstein put the price up to £90 "because they've got a record in the charts", which was then haggled down by a fiver.
Stringfellow originally planned to book them to play at his Black Cat Club (St. Aiden's Church Hall), but because he couldn't fit enough people in to cover the huge booking fee of £85 (most "name" bands charged between £35 - £50 back then), he hired the Azena for the night, which cost him £29.
The Azena normally held 500 people, but Stringfellow sold 2,000 tickets and it's estimated another 1,000 showed up on the night. Tickets were four shillings (20p) rising to five shillings (25p) when demand took off.
Just pause and think about that: 25p to see the Beatles!
God knows how they did it, but the Beatles also played another gig on the same day in Oldham, Lancs.
The exact set list for the Azena show is lost in the mists of time, but they were only playing one Chuck Berry song live around that time (Too Much Monkey Business). The rest of the set would have been songs from their first LP including: Chains, Keep Your Hands Off My Baby, Please Please Me, Love Me Do, A Taste Of Honey, Do You Want To Know A Secret, I Saw Her Standing There.
By an amazing coincidence the Beatles had just recorded the remaining 10 tracks which would make up their debut LP on 11th Feb - the day before the Azena gig! All ten tracks were recorded in the one day, the remaining 4 tracks (it was a 14 track LP) being the A & B sides of their first two singles (Love Me Do & Please Please Me), which were already released.
Interestingly, The Beatles were back in Sheffield only a few weeks later on 2 March and then again on 16 March. Both concerts took place at the City Hall during the first wave of Beatlemania.
Tofty: I had the pleasure of being at their first performance at the Azena in Gleadless and I must say it was total chaos. People that had paid for tickets just couldn't get through the door. At the time I was working at Wilson Pecks who were the booking agents for the City Hall and I was fortunate enough to get a job as a programme seller when they appeared at the City Hall on the Roy Orbison concert the same year. I even got backstage and met them and Roy Orbison and still have the autographed progamme to this day.
crucible77: Despite the last posts on here being a few years ago I found them whilst searching for information on the first ever Beatles concert to be played in Sheffield which was at The Azena Ballroom,white Lane Gleadless on Saturday 12th February 1963.
I used to work with a man nearly 20 years ago who was the drummer in the support band at this show "Mike Stone and the Aidens". He told me the story of how he remembered being sat backstage with John Lennon as he just discarded a Beatles Parlophone postcard on which he had written down the evenings setlist.
Luckily he picked up the card and kept it.
He told me he had played with a lot of bands in the 60s and kept the odd item.
As I collected anything Beatle related at the time I asked him to go through his box of stuff and sure enough one morning he brought it into work for me to see. Thankfully I got a photo copy of it (front and back) as well as a cutting from a newspaper for the show.
I remember him saying it was the first time it had been out for years and he was putting it back, so I guess he will have never have let it go. I don't know if he ever thought of it being valuable really.
Anyway I am sure that someone somewhere would love to know that this exists, and the tracklisting is there clearly in Lennons own handwriting with a line between the first and second sets.
Sunday, 20 July 2008
The Helen Shapiro Tour 7
A Coventry poster from ebay had different colours than the other posters I've presented here. Don't know if it's real or a fake.
"Brian telephoned Arthur Howes about booking the group. The Beatles had 'Love Me Do' on the charts at the time but were relatively unknown. Howes, one of Britain's leading concert promoters, offered the Beatles £30 a night for the Helen Shapiro tour and wouldn't pay them at all for a performance with Frank Ifield beyond traveling expenses. Brian responded by giving Howes first option on all future Beatle tours." (Lewisohn. Chronicle p. 62)
With their first prestigious British tour scheduled to start on February 2nd, The Beatles decided once more to improve the appearance of their stage equipment. Starr's name had to be taken off the front of his drum-head. After all, the group were going to be seen by thousands of new potential fans during their first real tour. They didn't want people walking away after the performance wondering what the band was called ... or thinking it might be The Ringo Starr Band. It was time to design a Beatles logo for the front of the bass drum.
Various drawings that McCartney made for a Beatles logo were published in his brother Mike's 1981 book, The Macs. These interesting documents show the preliminary sketches that would eventually become the group's "bug" logo. The ideas were taken to a local signwriter in Liverpool, Tex O'Hara, whose brother Brian was guitarist in another Epstein-managed band, The Fourmost.
Tex explains, "We played around with different ideas to find out. which ones they liked. I did about live to ten drawings - which I've slill got - and showed them to the group. They settled on one logo, which was put on a piece of linen and stretched across the front of the drum." 2 This second bass-drum head on Starr's Premier drum set was plain while, without the Premier brandname and with the new Beatle "bug" logo. This had a script-style "Beatles", the "B" of which was decorated with two bug-like antennae. It was simply drawn on a piece of cloth that was stretched across the drum head, and held down with the bass-drum's mounting hoops.
Here's a look at the drum head logo. This photo was taken during the taping of an episode of "Thank Your Lucky Stars" on February 17th, during the break in the Helen Shapiro Tour.
McCartney played his Hofner bass, Harrison and Lennon both used their Gibson J-160E acoustic-electric guitars, and Starr played his Premier drum set with the new "bug" Beatles logo displayed on the front drum head.
The Shapiro tour carried on, and the group continued to use their familiar equipment. But Lennon was again having problems with his Rickenbacker. The Homer volume knobs that he had put on the guitar when it was painted black started to fall off: first one, then another. Lennon used the Rickenbacker with two knobs missing for a while before he once again replaced them all with a new set of Burns knobs.


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Type "retirement" into any stock photo site's search bar and most of the results include either white-haired golfers or two beach chairs facing a sunset.
The sedentary life of beaches and leisure sports might suit some as a reward for years of hard work, but it might in fact be detrimental to the health of others. Removing yourself from working life not only means the actual work—any associated routine, social interaction, and activity (say, walking to the office) goes with it.
So what if retirement looks more like work and less like golf and beach chairs? It's not a totally bonkers idea—entrepreneurship among the 55-64 age bracket has actually increased by 10% in ten years.
Retiring at 60 is not the same as it was decades ago—we're living longer, we have better health care. And for people who have worked their entire lives, the passive life of retirement might feel like the opposite of freedom.
If sitting still just isn't your thing, it's the perfect time to quash the "should haves" and "would haves". Starting a business in retirement carries less risk than it might have in your youth, keeps you active, and can help offset the cost of a passion project.
We talked to one Shopify merchant who did just that, finding happiness in working after retiring from working.
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Meet Maximus and Penelope
When Bernie Rothrock retired from 30 years of teaching, he accepted his brother-in-law Tom's offer to manage his alpaca ranch. The ranch was Tom's own keep-busy project after retiring from an executive position in corporate travel, Bernie tells me.
"He was the kind of guy who could not sit still. When he retired, he had this three acre garden, and eventually said, 'I've got to raise something.' He started investigating and that's when the alpaca bubble started. Everybody was saying 'Oh, this is the best investment," so he invested. He was going to start small, just have a small herd. Then the business savvy kicked in."
He was going to start small, just have a small herd. Then the business savvy kicked in.
Tom built the ranch up to 133 animals at its peak, and it thrived as a breeding operation. Bernie and his wife moved closer to the ranch to begin their new "working" life in retirement.
"We didn't have any definite retirement plans, didn't know what we were going to do, so we decided that would be a good thing. I had never worked with any animals whatsoever in my lifetime."
When Tom passed away three years ago, much of the herd was sold, and the ranch was purchased by new owners to use as a getaway home. The alpaca market had crashed, and animals that once fetched up to $15,000 were now going for less than $1000. There was no longer money in breeding, but Bernie and his family just focused on finding good homes.
In his time working with the alpacas, Bernie became quite attached. And the role kept him just busy enough. Since the new owners had no use for the barn, they allowed Bernie to keep 11 alpacas on the property. He continued to care for the alpacas as a hobby, as pets, with no intention breed them for profit.
"Alpacas are just really nice, neat little animals. They're fun to watch, fun to interact with. And our grandkids love them. The new owners provide the facilities and I provide the work, so that works out pretty well."
In the meantime, Bernie's son Drew graduated from college and moved north to Ottawa, home of Shopify HQ. He now works as a guru on our support team.
"Around that time my son approached me to ask if there was anything we could do with Shopify. I started brewing beer a couple years before, and I had a little home brew brand that I called Alpaca Wiz. He said, 'Can we do something with that?' but it's illegal to sell home brew. Then he said, 'What about socks?' My sister-in-law had a store at the ranch. She went to lots of festivals and sold a lot of different alpaca products, but the socks always sold really well."
Each year, before the hot Missouri summers take hold, the alpacas are sheared to remove their warm wooly coats. It's a process that takes only 5 minutes in each year of the alpaca's life, but it's a harrowing 5 minutes nonetheless. The result is win-win: a cooler summer haircut for the alpacas, and super warm fiber for producing goods.
"Alpacas don't like the summers. A lot of time they're in the barn where we have fans blowing on them. I'll go in a couple times a day on real hot days, spray their bellies with water to cool them down. As soon as you get that hose out, man they line up like a car wash. It's funny. Some of them will just keep circling back and crowd back in line."
The resulting fibre is sent to a fibre co-op and turned into products like socks, hats, and mittens. Co-op prices are lower than wholesale for ranchers like Bernie, because he's providing the raw materials.
"We knew that alpaca socks were just really high quality. People who bought them went on and on about how nice they were. At the beginning didn't quite know what to expect, so we probably brought about $1000 worth of socks, and said 'If they don't sell, we have lots of nice Christmas presents for the next few years.' We started last year on Cyber Monday. Within a day, I'm calling my wife and saying 'We need more socks!'"
We started last year on Cyber Monday. Within a day, I'm calling my wife and saying 'We need more socks!'
Maximus & Penelope—named for two alpacas in the herd—is now a thriving Shopify store, run by a retiree with no previous entrepreneur or marketing experience. Drew helped his father get the store off the ground, but says his Dad should take more credit—Bernie has been managing the day to day of the business and the ranch easily on his own, with little to no intervention from his son.
"We just said, 'Well, nothing ventured, nothing gained. Let's see what happens.' We've been pleasantly surprised how well it's worked out."
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How to Start a Business After You Retire
Retirees are actually very suited to entrepreneurship. Boomers grew up in an era of mom and pop shops, and starting from the bottom. They are a generation with scrappiness and resourcefulness built-in—handy skills for running businesses.
Seniors also have more life experience, and in many cases more business experience, and hard-earned self-awareness. Let's also not forget that the risk is much, much lower: pensions provide back up, the kids are on their own, and living expenses are typically lower.
But let's first talk about why you should start a business in retirement.
Why Entrepreneurship?
There are plenty of benefits to starting a business in retirement, and you'll still have room for tons of R&R.
Staying Active
It's no surprise that study after study says staying physically active can stave off health issues and prolong your life. But keeping an active mind can also reduce the risk of dementia and Alzheimer's.
Entrepreneur life can involve both physical (packing orders, trips to the post office) and mental (writing product page copy, planning marketing campaigns) exercise.
Pursuing a Passion
My father retires in exactly a month from today. He's been a working man for 42 years, doing roughly the same desk job, week in and week out, for more than two thirds of his life.
But actually, he's a gifted artist. Art is what he would have done, if like many people, he didn't take the practical route to provide for his family.
Over the years, my dad has been tinkering on art projects in his studio in the evenings. He thrives on tinkering, and, in a month, he'll be doing it full-time. The freedom from his 9 to 5 will afford him time to pursue his creative calling, without the pressure to provide. He'll be able to sell his creations, if he chooses, and the profits will be gravy.
The freedom from his 9 to 5 will afford him time to pursue his creative calling, without the pressure to provide.
Supplement Your Pension
Depending on your situation, you may be relying on reduced income after you retire. A small business could provide extra spending money for travel. Bernie and his wife say they don't worry about spending money on travel to see their kids—the extra cash from the business helps ease the burden.
Funding a Hobby
In Bernie's case, the goal of Maximus & Penelope was never to provide for his family. His kids are grown up, and he and his wife live comfortably on teachers' pensions. Regardless of the success of the online store, he'd still care for alpacas—it's his hobby and provides him joy.As a bonus, however, the online store provides enough profit to offset the cost of raising the animals.
Same goes for hobbies like woodworking or needlecraft—sell handmade items online or at local fairs to help pay for materials and fund a retirement hobby.
Business Ideas for Seniors
Ecommerce is an excellent option for retirees, as it doesn't necessarily require a ton of mobility, and has the flexibility to be run from anywhere, from home or an RV. Or, well, an alpaca ranch.
What you decide to sell is up to you, but if the goal is not to make money, dig into your interests and hobbies and choose something that brings you joy. Do you enjoy travel, for example? Start a travel blog and use it to push to a store where you sell related products.
If the goal is not to make money, dig into your interests and hobbies and choose something that brings you joy.
Or, tap into your career experience: did you work in corporate interior design? Sell consultations for smaller residential projects.
Here are some other ideas to consider:
- Services: you can sell services like landscaping or pet sitting—activities that can keep you physically active—focusing on your community and picking your own hours
- Dropshipped goods: this is one of the most hands-off of ecommerce businesses, and ideal for new entrepreneurs who want to make a little extra travel money with minimal effort
- Handcrafted goods: take the church bazaar to the next level. What are you already doing in your spare time? Sell your handcrafted dollhouses or crocheted blankets online
- Teaching: You have a wealth of life and work experience! How can you monetize what you know? Sell video or PDF instructional courses—digital products require more work up front, but have excellent margins for minimal effort in the long run
Read More: How To Find A Product To Sell Online: The Definitive Guide
Getting Started
I don't have to tell you that the best way to get started is to just, well, start. Begin a free trial on Shopify and play with your new store on us for 14 days.
Financing Your New Business
We've told you time and time again that you can start a business on $0 budget. It's possible. If the point of starting your business is staying active, there's no need to invest a lot up front anyway. I wouldn't necessarily advise downsizing your living situation to fund your project.
- Plan Ahead: if you're still a few years out from retirement, factor your business needs into your retirement planning, and start saving now.
- Start Small: don't invest a ton into a business idea simply because you're passionate about it. Test your idea with a small audience, make or purchase a few prototypes to see how they sell. Bernie made only a $1000 investment and started with one product:
"Alpaca products are a little bit pricey. Socks come in at about $20 a pair. When you compare those to wool socks, there's going to be a little reluctance. If you talk about an alpaca sweater, you're talking 150, 200 dollars. We thought we'll just start out with socks and judge interests there."
- Keep it Lean: forget hiring a designer or developer for now—use a free Shopify theme and create simple branding with pre-made graphics and our logo generator tool, and DIY your product photos with an iphone and a few simple tricks.
- Borrow Against Retirement Savings: in the United States, you can borrow against your 401(k) like a small business loan, up to 50% of your total funds. Check with your local government for rules specific to your country or region.
- Consider a Micro-loan: Keep an eye out on the SBA's website (or your local government's small business site) for small loans and grants specific to retirees or seniors.
- Get Advice: before starting any business, talk with your financial advisor, or tap into free small business advice resources like SCORE
Don't invest a ton into a business idea simply because you're passionate about it.
Keep it in the Family
Bernie and Drew might live in different countries, but Maximus & Penelope has been the catalyst for keeping them connected regularly. His wife has even joined the team, and between caring for her grandkids, she's managing the store's social accounts.
Consider starting a business that brings your family together, and builds a legacy for future generations to carry on in your name.
Both Jaswant Kular and "Mommy" Choi run businesses on Shopify with the help of their grown-up children. "I have always tried to instil the thought in my children that you can do anything you set your mind to and that nothing is impossible," Jaswant says of her own entrepreneurial aspirations.
Play up your Strengths (Learn the Rest)
Bernie's 30 years as a teacher has made him quite the wordsmith. He writes all of the site's copy, product descriptions, and blog posts.
It's never too late to learn something new, however. In New York, the public libraries and parks Department offer free courses for seniors from basic computer skills to web design. Check with your local government or community centres for programs catering to seniors in your area.
Have an Exit Strategy
Not to get morbid here, but frankly we all have a finite time on this earth. What's your plan when you are no longer able to manage the business? Are your family members interested in taking the reins? Are the business accounts factored into your will?
"A lot of people got into the alpaca business as a retirement plan, so they were old or older. You're just one health issue away from no longer being able to care for your herd. Be aware of that. We don't want to get stuck in a place where we have 26 alpacas that we can't manage."
We don't want to get stuck in a place where we have 26 alpacas that we can't manage.
For the Kids and Grandkids
I have to confess that I doubt my own parents' ability to start a Shopify store without some serious hand-holding (sorry mom and dad). They have a handle on the internet in general, and use Facebook on the regular, but I'm nonetheless dubious.
Drew tells me, however, that although his dad may have needed a little nudging, he is easily running the store on his own. And, Bernie says that managing the Shopify store is the easiest part of his day.
Lesson: old dogs can learn new tricks.
If your parent or grandparent is retiring, you can help them build a new life in retirement. What can you work on together? What technical skills can you bring to the table?
For Bernie and his herd, they're happy breaking even and having a little extra money to travel and enjoy a peaceful retirement. Growth isn't on his radar at the moment, but he's still a budding entrepreneur, after all.
"I really did not have that entrepreneurial bug, if you will. It was happenstance. Things just worked out."