Do You Know What Today Is?

Today, 09.09.09, is Worldwide Beatles Day and marks the release date of some very special and much anticipated Beatles merchandise.

First of all, the original Beatles catalogue, which has been digitally remastered for the very first time, is now available to purchase. There is a Stereo boxed set, as well as a Mono boxed set. The albums available in the Stereo boxed set can also be bought individually, instead. Below is the link to each item on Amazon.

The Stereo Albums



* = CD includes QuickTime mini-doc about the album

Please Please Me* (CD debut in stereo)

With The Beatles* (CD debut in stereo)

A Hard Day's Night (Remastered)* (CD debut in stereo)

Beatles For Sale* (CD debut in stereo)

Help!*

Rubber Soul*

Revolver*

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band* (also includes 1987 notes, updated, and new intro by Paul McCartney)

Magical Mystery Tour*

The Beatles Past Masters*

Yellow Submarine* (also includes original US liner notes)

Abbey Road (Remastered)*

Let It Be*

‘The Beatles in Mono’

+ = mono mix CD debut



Please Please Me
With The Beatles
A Hard Day's Night
Beatles For Sale
Help! (CD also includes original 1965 stereo mix)+
Rubber Soul (CD also include original 1965 stereo mix)+
Revolver+
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band+
Magical Mystery Tour+
The Beatles+
Mono Masters

Also, available for individual sale is the remastered version of:



The long awaited 'The Beatles: Rock Band' is now available to purchase for your XBox360, Nintendo Wii and Playstation 3 today. In celebration of the release of the game, there is a hand painted Beatles edition of the XBox 360 gaming console up for grabs on eBay. The current bid is well above four thousand dollars. 100% of the final sale price will go towards Doctors Without Borders USA.



The Beatles website has also relaunched. It is now packed with music, photographs, video and memorabilia. You can create your own playlist of favourite Beatles tracks, and weave your way through an audio visual experience. A widget will also launch shortly where you can post your favourite tracks to your Facebook profile!

More Beatles related merchandise:

Let It Roll: Songs by George Harrison

I received this CD a couple of months ago and was astonished by how many "famous" songs were written by George Harrison. I never even realized he wrote any songs at all. My favorite track is the first on the album, "Got My Mind Set On You". It's a great song to wash dishes to. Apparently, while Harrison was in the Beatles, he wrote "Something", "Here Comes the Sun", and my personal favorite, "While My Guitar Gently Weeps". I respect this Beatles member a ton more, now that I know what songs he has penned.

These are all solo recordings of Harrison's work. I love the fact that there are many (nineteen) tracks to show the diversity of Harrison's tunes. His music is beautiful whether he is solo, a part of The Beatles, or a member of another of my favorite bands, The Traveling Wilburys.



Track Listing:

* Got My Mind Set On You (from Cloud Nine, 1987)
* Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth) (from Living In The Material World, 1972)
* The Ballad Of Sir Frankie Crisp (Let It Roll) (from All Things Must Pass, 1970)
* My Sweet Lord (from All Things Must Pass, 1970)
* While My Guitar Gently Weeps (from Concert For Bangladesh Soundtrack, 1971)
* All Things Must Pass (from All Things Must Pass, 1970)
* Any Road (from Brainwashed, 2002)
* This Is Love (from Cloud Nine, 1987)
* All Those Years Ago (from Somewhere In England, 1981)
* Marwa Blues (from Brainwashed, 2002)
* What Is Life (from All Things Must Pass, 1970)
* Rising Sun (from Brainwashed, 2002)
* When We Was Fab (from Cloud Nine, 1987)
* Something (from Concert For Bangladesh Soundtrack, 1971)
* Blow Away (from George Harrison, 1979)
* Cheer Down (from Lethal Weapon 2)
* Here Comes The Sun (from Concert For Bangladesh Soundtrack, 1971)
* I Don't Want To Do It (from Porkys Revenge soundtrack, 1984)
* Isn't It A Pity (from All Things Must Pass, 1970)

Funny People Soundtrack

The Funny People Soundtrack features 3 out of 4 of The Beatles, as well as Adam Sandler's moving cover of their song, "Real Love" (this cover seriously brought tears to my eyes and was totally different from anything else Sandler has done musically). Speaking of moving, Judd Apatow (the director of the film) and Leslie Mann's (leading female actress in Funny People) daughter did a beautiful rendition of "Memory" from Cats. She has quite the pair of lungs for someone so young, and she really pours her heart into the song.

As a huge Jason Schwartzman (formerly of Phantom Planet) fan, I was excited to see his newest band (Coconut Records) on the tracklist. The song did not disappoint either, just lovely. The CD also features popular artists such as James Taylor, Neil Diamond, Warren Zevon and Robert Plant.

This album is definitely on my top 10 list of favorite soundtracks of all time. There is only one song I did not like and that was Adam Sandler's "George Simmons Soon Will Be Gone", but I can see being swayed into liking it once I actually see the movie and watch him perform it in a scene.



Imagine That Soundtrack

Upon hearing this CD, my first reaction was, "Didn't Across the Universe just make this soundtrack like a year ago?" I'm pretty sure all 11 tracks are Beatles songs performed by today's artists such as Tyler Hilton, Colbie Caillat, Landon Pigg, Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs, as well as a few others.

I love Tyler Hilton's music...okay, I love Tyler Hilton. Period. So, my obvious favorite track on the CD is his version of "I'm Looking Through You". Colbie Cailatt's rendition of "Here Comes the Sun" was also cute, to say the least. Her voice just really fits the song.

So, while I feel the CD could have been a bit more original and not used Beatles covers, how can it be a bad thing when artists are paying tribute to one of the greatest bands of all time?



So, what purchase will you be making to celebrate worldwide Beatles day?