Gary Owen's Blog

Well, well, well! It's been so long!  Hoping this message finds you all feeling groovy. With that in mind, take a meander at my new website. Yes, please do. :) Gary Owen - Musician

The "I Feel Fine / She's A Woman" single was released on November 23, 1964 (US) and November 27, 1964 (UK). Naturally, the "A" side, which we concentrate on here, became a worldwide #1 hit single. This time, for us Yankees, George Martin intentionally mixed a Beatles single a bit differently. Capitol Records had a habit (sometimes good sometimes not) of adding reverb to their releases as they assumed Americans preferred a "bigger sound" (many did). With Beatles releases, it w as usually the stereo LP's which were slammed with the extra effect. Most notably, the stereo version of "The Beatles Second Album" . Many fans actually prefer hearing those songs in this beefed up manner. I must admit, I love what they did to "Roll Over Beethoven" as the dry mix- in both mono and stereo- makes George Harrison's Gretsch electric sound like he's playing inside a tin can. A Gretsch should never be "pointy" and that ...

In 1965, 437 hopefuls auditioned for what became the sitcom known as "The Monkees" . As we all know, four guys: Michael Nesmith, David Jones, Micky Dolenz and Peter Tork passed said auditions. .  Bla bla bla. Old news. Recording sessions for the project began in June, 1966 with the first single "Last Train To Clarksville" released that August. The TV show debuted on Monday, September 12, 1966. This was after "Clarksville" had already reached #1. The first LP was released that October and- along with the follow up "More Of The Monkees" - is still one of the biggest selling albums in history. Bla bla bla. Old news. Now, here's where my thread gets interesting...... Because of silly union rules, The Monkees were not allowed to perform the instruments on the first two albums and singles. This did not sit well with Nesmith and Tork. In fact, Nesmith made sure he would produce some of his original tunes and that they be included on the...

In June, 1964, United Artists' released their soundtrack to " A Hard Day's Night" . They were very anxious to get this LP out, so- excepting "Can't Buy Me Love" - EMI sent them rough mono mixes of all the songs. Meanwhile, Capitol Records- the label The Beatles were signed to in pretty much all the western hemisphere- somehow lost the rights to this gold mine of an album. They decided to release a "semi-soundtrack" with an album titled "Something New" . The company was also sent the same rough mono mixes of the tunes featured in the flick- plus one which was supposed to be in the movie....... ......and that song was "I'll Cry Instead" .  This Country-Rock flavored tune was originally going to be used during the police chase scene but director Richard Lester felt it wasn't quite right. Instead, he decided to repeat the hit "Can't Buy Me Love" . He also (stupidly) cut "You Can't Do Tha...

A continuation of my Beatles green "Starline Series" thread..... By 1969, Capitol Records had switched over to what is now known to collectors as the red and orange "target label" (my favorite). For whatever reason, in 1971, the company decided to reissue two of the unique 1965 Starline singles on said target label: "Roll Over Beethoven / Misery" and "Boys / Kansas City" . This time, they were released as regular reissues and did not bear the name "Starline". These singl es were only pressed at the Jacksonville, Illinois plant and are not common. At the same time (and plant) Capitol mistakenly pressed up a small run of the Canadian 45 "All My Loving / This Boy" which- in 1964- reached #45 in the US as an import. It bears the Canadian catalog number but has US markings. Once the error was discovered, production was immediately halted and the single withdrawn. Yes, it's rare. 

In January, 1962, Capitol Records launched it's "Starline" series as a vehicle for reissuing old hit singles. The 45's feature a greenish version of the classic yellow and orange swirl label which adorned Capitol's regular singles in the 1960's. IMHO, I think this label is more attractive, and, yes, their rarity does add to it. :) The six Beatles singles released in Capitol's Starline series were: 1. Twist And Shout / There's A Place (6061) 2. Love  Me Do / P.S. I Love You ( 6062) 3.  Please Please Me / From Me To You  (6063) 4. Do You Want To Know A Secret / Thank You Girl (6064) 5. Roll Over Beethoven / Misery (6065) 6. Boys / Kansas City (6066) The first four were reissues of singles which were released earlier on the Vee Jay and Tollie labels. The last two were unique creations by Capitol. For whatever stupid reason, three tunes:  "Misery" , "There's A Place" and "From Me To You" had not been releas...

Yes! Summer is on it's way! With that, let's celebrate by singing along with this groovy song from The Monkees new album "Good Times!"