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).