Roll your own: Make a "Songs the Beatles Gave Away" compilation

John Lennon and Paul McCartney, you may be aware, wrote a lot of good songs. The most familiar of these, of course, they recorded themselves with the Beatles.

But early on in their careers, the duo was so prolific--and so successful--that they gave away dozens of their tunes to other artists.

Some of these songs were given to other groups represented by Beatles manager Brian Epstein, such Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas, Cilla Black and The Fourmost. Others were given away to friends, like Peter and Gordon (Peter Asher was the brother of Paul McCartney's girlfriend Jane Asher).

The sharing stopped, however, after 1964. From that point until the late 1960s, most Lennon-McCartney tunes were recorded by the Beatles alone.

But when the band started its Apple Records company in 1968, Lennon and McCartney once again started giving away songs in an effort to launch Apple acts such as Mary Hopkin and Badfinger.

Beatle George Harrison also gave away a few tunes around this time, including "Badge" to Cream and "Sour Milk Sea" to Apple act Jackie Lomax.

There have been a few legit and gray-area albums that compile these songs the Beatles wrote but didn't record themselves. The most recent I've spotted is this one, released late last year. It's a good selection, but incomplete.

I also recall seeing an Internet-distributed bootleg called "The Complete Songs the Beatles Gave Away," which not only included the tunes conventionally considered as give-aways, but also covers of Beatles tunes that individual Beatles performed on or produced, along with songs the Beatles gave away during their solo years, such as the various tunes Paul McCartney wrote with Elvis Costello in the early 1990s. It's a worthy set, to be sure, and you could probably easily hunt it down.

But if you want a collection of the most significant "gave away" songs from the Beatles era, it's easy enough to assemble one yourself--legally--by downloading the following:

Like Dreamers Do - The Applejacks
Come And Get It - Badfinger
Catcall - The Chris Barber Band
Bad To Me - Billy J. Kramer with The Dakotas
From A Window - Billy J. Kramer with The Dakotas
I'll Keep You Satisfied - Billy J. Kramer with The Dakotas
I'll Be On My Way - Billy J. Kramer with The Dakotas
I'm In Love - Billy J. Kramer with The Dakotas
It's For You - Cilla Black
Badge - Cream
I'm In Love - The Fourmost
Hello Little Girl - The Fourmost
My Dark Hour - Steve Miller Band
Nobody I Know - Peter and Gordon
Woman - Peter and Gordon
World Without Love - Peter and Gordon
I Don't Want To See You Again - Peter and Gordon
That Means A Lot - P.J. Proby
Tip Of My Tongue - Tommy Quickly
One And One Is Two - The Strangers with Mike Shannon

Plus...
these tracks, which unfortunately aren't available via download, but are on CD--just click the title.

Best of Cilla Black
Love Of The Loved - Cilla Black
Step Inside Love - Cilla Black

Mary Hopkin Those Were the Days (import only)
Goodbye - Mary Hopkin

Jack Lomax Is This What You Want?
Sour Milk Sea - Jackie Lomax

A gallery of Beatles friends


Cilla Black


The Fourmost


Peter and Gordon


Badfinger


Mary Hopkin

New Get Smart pictures

Here are a few new pics from the upcoming "Get Smart" movie.

Pop links

Hear a new BBC Radio 4 adaptation of Ian Fleming's James Bond novel "Doctor No."

You also can hear these Beeb shows in celebration of Fleming's centenary:

The Bond Correspondence - Lucy Fleming sets out to discover more about her uncle Ian.

James Bond, the Last Englishman - Sets James Bond and his creator in their historical context.

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Pappy presents a "Three Rocketeers" story by the great Jack Kirby.



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From LP Cover Lover: That's cover model Elizabeth Montgomery.

DVD new releases May 27, 2008

The Invaders - The First Season
Buy New: $26.99

The Thief of Bagdad - Criterion Collection
Buy New: $27.99

Gunsmoke Second Season Vol. 2
Buy New: $26.99

Rawhide Season 3 Vol. 1
Buy New: $29.99

The Color Honeymooners Collection 3
Buy New: $35.99

Color Honeymooners Collection, Vol. 4
Buy New: $29.99

CD new release May 27, 2008

Lay It Down Al Green
Buy New: $9.99

Same Old Man John Hiatt
Buy New: $11.99

Don't Do Anything Sam Phillips
Buy New: $13.99

The Complete Hits The Browns
Buy New: $13.99

The Lost 40s and 50s Capitol Masters Peggy Lee
Buy New: $24.99

Make It with You/ Where Did They Go? Peggy Lee
Buy New: $13.99

Then Was Then Now Is Now/Bridge Over Troubled Water Peggy Lee
Buy New: $13.99

All Aglow Again Peggy Lee
Buy New: $13.99

Rebel Poet, Jukebox Balladeer Larry Norman
Buy New: $13.99

Staccato/Paris Swings Elmer Bernstein
Buy New: $17.99

James Bond Goldfinger lobby cards Pt. 2

See part one here.

Hero Initiative, Marvel Comics come to aid of Gene Colan

Man, it's good to report news of comic book publishers behaving nicely. We've mentioned a number of times here that veteran artist Gene Colan had developed liver failure and he and his family face mounting medical costs.

Various fans and comrades have launched efforts to help out. And now the Hero Initiative, a non-profit organization created to help comic book creators in need, and Marvel Comics--where Gene did much of his best work on titles ranging from "Iron Man," and "Daredevil" to "Tomb of Dracula" and "Howard the Duck"--is joining in.

Here are details from the press release:

The Hero Initiative in conjunction with Marvel Comics is launching a series of Gene Colan-themed products, starting with a limited edition print of Gene's cover art to Invincible Iron Man #1, available at Wizard World Philadelphia, May 30-June 1. Only 200 prints will be available at the show at a cost of $25 each. Net proceeds from sales of these prints by The Hero Initiative will benefit Gene Colan. Another 50 prints will be available at a later date, with plans to have them autographed by both Gene Colan and Stan Lee.

Also at Wizard World Philadelphia, guest writers and artists at the Marvel Comics booth will be signing and sketching two large poster-sized boards, which Hero will auction benefiting Gene at a later date.

And that's just the start. Wizard World Chicago, June 26-29, will see the release of a second print featuring the cover art to Daredevil #47, the legendary "Brother, Take My Hand" story by Stan Lee and Gene Colan. A third print will be available later in the year, along with other products.

For August, a Gene Colan Tomb of Dracula poster will be available for order via Marvel Previews with proceeds routed to Gene; and in September, a special book reprinting some of Gene's greatest stories will be made available. In addition to these items, The Hero Initiative will take additional steps to help Gene in his convalescence.

"Gene Colan," said Roy Thomas, longtime Marvel Comics writer and Hero Initiative Board member, "is one of the most amazingly talented comic book artists in the history of the field. When I was scripting one of his stories, there was no one-not even Neal Adams or John Buscema-whose pencils could make me feel more strongly as if I were looking into a real world. He combines often-photographic realism with dynamism worth of a Kirby...and that makes him unique."

Pop links

NPR spotlights comics historian Mark Evanier's new book about Jack Kirby. Listen here.



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Cartoonist Fred Hembeck has made some new additions to his cool Across the Page gallery.

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Today in sharity:



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The Los Angeles Times asks Mel Brooks what he thinks about the upcoming "Get Smart" movie.

It's got a good director, Peter Segal. Wonderful director. The writers were great. The producers were young and aggressive and smart. But the brilliance is Steve Carell. To choose a guy who's right in the Don Adams groove. You couldn't get a better guy than Steve Carell. And yet he doesn't do Don Adams. He does none of his delivery. He just does Steve Carell.

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Golden Age Comic Book Stories presents Roy C. Krenkel art for Edgar Rice Burroughs' "Tarzan and the Tarzan Twins." Pt. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.



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USA Today reports on Sebastian Faulks' new James Bond novel "Devil May Care."

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$432: That's how much it's gonna set you back to buy all the comics involved in Marvel and DC Comics' latest "big event" crossovers. Does it make sense to expect comic book fans to shell out that much dough when the country's in a recession (not verge of, as some folks keep saying. We're there guys.)? Occasional Superheroine doesn't think so.

Do I ever buy "big event" books? No, I do not. Are they a cheap gimmick to hook gotta-have-it-all fans into buying titles that are actually of exceedingly poor quality? Yes they are. Should you send the publishers a message to cut this crap out buy not buying them? That's your call, but I bet you can figure out what I think.

New York Kartoon Kaption Kontest Entry Kredited to Kirby!

We recently did a couple of posts on a New Yorker cartoon caption contest that featured a cartoon by Harry Bliss that was a direct lift from an old Jack Kirby comic book cover.

The 'toon was a fun homage to the King, but didn't credit its original source. But now, thanks to Kirby fan Tom Lammers, it does! Check out the new attribution:

Drawing by Harry Bliss, after Jack Kirby

Way to go Tom! I'm hoping the Kirby Kredit also appears in the print edition of The New Yorker when the winning caption is selected.

UPDATE! The New York Post has an article about Lammers' efforts to get Kirby kredited by The New Yorker.

Thomas Lammers, a professor at the University of Wisconsin in Oshkosh, said he thought the cartoon looked familiar.

He then dug out the original from his collection, which had the same monster as the New Yorker cartoon and the same background.

He said he e-mailed the magazine about the similarities two weeks ago, but never heard back. He said the editors "probably had no idea what the source" of the image was when they saw the cartoon, but the lack of any credit to Kirby in the piece stuck in his craw.

"This is a guy who was a very popular comic-book artist. He co-created the Fantastic Four and a lot of other things people made a lot of money off of, and never got proper credit then, and isn't getting proper credit now," he said.

New Yorker spokeswoman Alexa Cassanos said the magazine contacted Bliss, a Kirby fan who said he'd done the piece as an homage to the artist nicknamed "King."

"Harry did it with all good intentions. He thought it was an overt reference, and not an attempt to plagiarize. He thought it was a tribute," Cassanos said. "To people in the comic world, it's a recognizable image."