Plenty for Beatles Fans to Be Excited About

Written by Jon Williams

Paul McCartney’s latest album, Egypt Station, came out on September 7. It was his first release of new material since 2013’s NEW. As hard as it may be to believe, based on his iconic career, Egypt Station was Sir Paul’s first solo release to debut at #1 on Billboard’s album chart, and the first to attain that position at all in 36 years, since 1982’s Tug of War got there more than a month after its release.

Although this is his first new album in five years, he has been anything but idle in the meantime. In that span he released remastered editions of his classic albums Venus and Mars and Wings’ At the Speed of Sound (2014), Pipes of Peace and the aforementioned Tug of War (2015), and Flowers in the Dirt (2017), as well as putting together the post-Beatles career-spanning hits collection Pure McCartney. All of this on top of his constant tour schedule, and it’s hard to believe this man is 76 years old.

Another project McCartney had a hand in is the upcoming 50^th anniversary re-release of the Beatles’ seminal self-titled ninth album, familiarly known as “The White Album” due to its plain white album cover with just the band’s name embossed on it. Originally released as a double album on November 22, 1968, the new edition will be available on November 9 in two configurations. A 3-disc set will include the original album plus the “Esher Demos,” a set of 27 songs recorded acoustically at George Harrison’s home (some of which were included on Anthology 3). The 6-disc deluxe edition includes all of that as well as outtakes and demos from the album’s recording sessions, plus a Blu-ray featuring the original mono mix of the album, the new stereo mix, and a 5.1 surround-sound mix. This comes on the heels of last year’s similar anniversary release of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.

And that’s not all that’s on the horizon for fans of the Beatles and their solo careers. Coming next week, in celebration of what would have been his 78^th birthday on October 9, are new Ultimate Editions of John Lennon’s classic 1971 album Imagine. On the strength of its title track, it has proved to be his most popular solo album. The reissue will include a remastered standard edition, a 2-disc edition that includes B-sides and outtakes, and a Super Deluxe version that explores the evolution of each song through four CDs and bonus Blu-ray content. In addition, the films Imagine and Gimme Some Truth have been restored and are being re-released on DVD and Blu-ray at the same time. The project was overseen by Yoko Ono, Lennon’s widow and creative partner.

The Beatles’ popularity continues unabated more than 48 years after they broke up, and their music, both as a band and from their individual solo careers, truly is a gift that keeps on giving. Your patrons will be clamouring for the new album from Paul McCartney, as well as these explorations of the Beatles’ and John Lennon’s classic albums. You can get them from the links above, and you can SmartBrowse on our website for more timeless music from these artists (and don’t forget George Harrison and Ringo Starr, who also have plenty of celebrated solo work).

American Horror Story Brings the Chills

Written by Jon Williams

Fall begins this weekend. As we close the book on summer and inch closer to October and the spooky season, it’s entirely fitting that the new season of American Horror Story is now in full swing. Subtitled Apocalypse, the acclaimed show’s eighth season began with a widespread nuclear attack wiping out much of the world’s population, and then focused in on a small group of survivors brought together by a mysterious “Cooperative.”

Praise for American Horror Story began in 2011 with its first season. Murder House dealt with a troubled family trying to make a new start by moving to the West Coast; unfortunately, the house they bought for a steal had a troubled history of its own, with its victims (both old and new) being quite a bit livelier than you might expect. The star-studded cast featured Dylan McDermott, Connie Britton, and Kate Mara, as well as Jessica Lange, Taissa Farmiga, Evan Peters, Frances Conroy, Alexandra Breckenridge, Zachary Quinto, Sarah Paulson, Denis O’Hare, and Lily Rabe.

Although each season tells its own self-contained story, many of these stars (and others) would become familiar faces in different roles as the show progressed. The second season, Asylum, added Chloe Sevigny into the mix, and also featured James Cromwell (who won an Emmy for Best Supporting Actor) and Joseph Fiennes. The third season, Coven, added Kathy Bates, Angela Bassett, and Emma Roberts to the rotation of regulars, and starred Gabourey Sidibe as well, as it detailed the exploits surrounding a school for young witches. Freak Show took on a circus sideshow act, adding Finn Wittrock and John Carroll Lynch (in a memorable role as Twisty the Clown), as well as Michael Chiklis. Then came Hotel, about a group of vampires living in a haunted hotel, led by Lady Gaga’s Countess, and starring Wes Bentley, Alexandra Daddario, and Cheyenne Jackson. The sixth season, Roanoke, tells of a reality show and documentary taking place on the site of a famous mass disappearance, and adds Andre Holland and Cuba Gooding Jr. to the cast. Then last season, Cult, took on the aftermath of the 2016 U.S. presidential election, with Alison Pill joining the fray.

With Apocalpyse, American Horror Story creators Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk are in the midst of their eighth season of acclaimed, award-winning television, and the show has already been renewed to run at least through its tenth season. Even outside of this show, they are no stranger to good, popular television. Murphy created the show Nip/Tuck in 2003, and met Falchuk while working on it. When it ended, they joined forces to create the musical sensation Glee, which ran for six seasons. They created the two-season series Scream Queens, and they also serve as executive producers for another anthology series, American Crime Story, whose first season focused on the O.J. Simpson trial and whose second season, The Assassination of Gianni Versace, took home five trophies at this week’s Emmy Awards. They also created the series 9-1-1 focusing on first responders, currently in its second season.

Television lovers are always looking for good new shows to binge-watch, and with Halloween right around the corner, American Horror Story is a can’t-miss. The varied storylines and incredible performances are sure to keep viewers coming back for more. Find all previous seasons on our website so your patrons can get caught up with all the horrific happenings that have led into this season as well as whatever the show has in store for the future.

Jack Ryan Returns to the Screen

Written by Jon Williams

On August 31, the entire eight-episode first season of Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan became available for streaming. This new iteration brings the character to life for the first time since 2014, and to the small screen for the first time ever. Positive critical and viewer reactions are already rolling in, and the series has already been renewed for a second season.

This time around Ryan is played by John Krasinski, as the series focuses on the early days of the burgeoning CIA agent’s career. Krasinski has been in the pop culture spotlight lately as the star, director, and co-writer of the hit horror flick A Quiet Place, which came out earlier this year. He is probably even better known for his breakout role as Jim Halpert on The Office, which he played for the entirety of the comedy series’ nine-season run. The rest of Jack Ryan’s main cast is rounded out by Wendell Pierce, Abbie Cornish, Ali Suliman, and Dina Shihabi.

The show may be new, but the character of Jack Ryan is anything but. He originally came to be in Tom Clancy’s 1984 The Hunt for Red October. The novel tells how Jack Ryan, at this point a young CIA analyst, helps to ensure the defection of a grizzled Soviet navy captain with a devastating new submarine. The book became a bestseller following huge critical reaction, including an endorsement from U.S. President Ronald Reagan. Ryan has since featured in more than twenty novels, including such titles as Clear and Present Danger, Executive Orders, Command Authority, the recently released Line of Sight, and the forthcoming Oath of Office. Sadly, author Tom Clancy passed away in 2013, but the mantle of writing the Ryan character has been taken on by fellow authors Mark Greaney, Mike Maden, and Marc Cameron.

Jack Ryan remained as words on a page until 1990. That was the year The Hunt for Red October made him a big-screen sensation as well, bringing in over $120 million at the domestic box office. The movie featured a star-studded cast that included Sean Connery, Sam Neill, and James Earl Jones, as well as Alec Baldwin as Ryan himself. It was followed in 1992 with Patriot Games, with Harrison Ford taking over as Jack Ryan, a role he reprised in 1994’s Clear and Present Danger. The series was rebooted with 2002’s The Sum of All Fears, with Ben Affleck in the main character’s role. That movie took Clancy’s novel of the same name from 1991 and updated it for a 2002 setting. The series was then rebooted again in 2014 with Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, an original origin story not based on any specific Clancy book, this time with Chris Pine starring.

And that’s where Jack Ryan’s screen presence left off, until the new streaming series debuted two weeks ago. As more and more people discover the show, Tom Clancy’s audiobooks and the past movies are sure to be in demand. Use the links above to find the materials, or SmartBrowse ‘Jack Ryan’ on our website for a full list of audiobooks we carry in the series.