Beatles' Breakup Film, Harrison's Bangladesh Due On DVD

[Jahfin]

http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/2005/07/13/1128718.html



By TERRY OTT - Special to The Sun

Could the end of the long, long winding road to the release on DVD of the Beatles' 1970 breakup flick, Let It Be, actually be in sight?

According to Beatles Anthology director Bob Smeaton, the Let It Be DVD, punched up with "remarkable bonus material," will be released in September. Smeaton told a Denver, Colo., radio station that the DVD release had been delayed due to the sheer volume of film stock shot, and colour restoration issues.

Although Smeaton did not identify any of the extra material, Beatles fans are clamoring for a 5.1 surround sound mix, and the inclusion of what's known as the complete rooftop gig. That's the Jan. 30, 1969, 35-minute show played by the Fab Four on the roof of their London headquarters, but which was only partially shown in the film.

Good quality audio-only bootlegs of the complete show are in circulation, but film of the mini concert has remained secure in Apple Corps vaults.

The original 80-minute Let It Be film, unavailable on home video for over 20 years, is expected on DVD to be fleshed out with original Nagra audio recordings that went missing from Apple in the early '70s, but which were recovered in a police raid on bootleggers in the Netherlands in January 2003.

The recovered tapes would allow some film footage that was without original sound to be used for the DVD, including many Beatles takes of old time rock 'n' roll and jam sessions.


Also on the reissue front, George Harrison's 1971 Concert For Bangladesh on both remastered CD and DVD will be released Oct. 25.

Early reports say that the reissued Concert For Bangladesh, perhaps the first all-star rock benefit of its time, will also contain extra material, including a song by Bob Dylan left off the original three-album deluxe box set.

Details are sketchy, but some Internet Beatles news sites suggest that the reissued Bangladesh could contain unissued material from both the matinee and evening performances of the show, held at Madison Square Garden, Aug. 1, 1971, and featuring the likes of Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton and Leon Russell.

Reportedly, Harrison had been searching unsuccessfully for the master tapes of the concert just prior to his death, but they were eventually located, and the reissue may contain a heretofore unissued Dylan song from the concert.

Finally, Sir Paul McCartney will be touring this fall behind a new release, his first since 2001. Chaos And Creation In The Back Yard, said to be "a return to basics" for McCartney, will debut Sept. 13.

[Jahfin]

From RollingStone.com:
http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/ ... on=single1

Bangladesh Set for DVD
Harrison's historical concert featured Starr, Clapton, Dylan

The Concert for Bangladesh, an all-star 1971 benefit spearheaded by George Harrison, will be released for the first time on DVD as a two-disc set on October 25th.

"He was involved with this right up until a few months before he died," says Harrison's widow, Olivia. "I think it's his best performance ever."

The first DVD contains a restored print of the original film, which documented concerts held on the afternoon and evening of August 1st at New York's Madison Square Garden to sellout crowds of 20,000. Harrison performed renditions of "My Sweet Lord" and "Wah-Wah" off of his solo debut, 1970's triple album All Things Must Pass, as well as the Beatles classics "Here Comes the Sun" and "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" -- featuring Badfinger and Eric Clapton, respectively. Ringo Starr played drums, and sang his solo hit "It Don't Come Easy."

Bob Dylan's nearly twenty-minute set included moving performances of "Blowin' in the Wind" and "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall." Later Harrison confided to Rolling Stone, "Right up until the moment he stepped onstage, I was not sure he was coming."

Organized to raise awareness of and relief for the millions of Bangladeshis forced by war to flee to India, the event is widely credited with inspiring massive charity concerts such as Live Aid, Live 8 and the Farm Aid series. "There must be some other reason for being here," Harrison told Rolling Stone, "than jumping up and down, trying to become famous."

The second disc includes a documentary featuring new interviews with Ringo Starr, Eric Clapton and others who performed at the concert, as well as footage of Harrison leading rehearsals. A remastered CD will go on sale on the same date, containing an unreleased Bob Dylan performance of "Love Minus Zero/No Limit."

All artist royalties from the DVD will be donated to UNICEF.

ANDY GREENE AND ALEX MAR